cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Global health in foreign policy in South Africa – Evidence from state actors
Creators: name: Modisenyane, Moeketsi
name: Senkubuge, Flavia
name: Hendricks, Stephen JH
Publisher: name: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH)
Year: 2016

description: Aim: There are currently debates about why South Africa integrates global health into its foreign policy agendas. This study aimed at exploring motivation and interests’ South African policy actors pursue to advance global health and the processes that lead to such integration. Methods: The study utilized a mixed-method design from a sample of state policy actors at the National Department of Health of South Africa. Participants were selected purposively and had experience of more than three years participating in various international health activities. All participants completed semi-structured questionnaires. Quantitative data was analysed to determine frequencies and transcribed text was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: A total of 40 people were invited, of whom 35 agreed to participate. Of the respondents, 89.7% (n=32) strongly argued that health should facilitate ‘free movement of people, goods and services’. Majority (79.0%, n= 29) agreed that ‘development and equality’ are the main elements of foreign policy. Of the respondents, majority 77.1% (n=27) agreed that ‘moral and human rights’ are the main elements of foreign policy. Furthermore, 82.8% (n=29) agreed that the country should advance ‘Africa regionalism and south-south cooperation’ and 85.7% (n=30) strongly argued for a ‘whole-government approach’ in addressing global health challenges. ‘HIV/AIDS’ and ‘access to medicines agenda’ were the main policy issues advanced. The main domestic factors shaping South Africa’s involvement in global health were its ‘political leadership’ and ‘capacity of negotiators’. Conclusion: It is evident that within South Africa, state policy actors are largely concerned with promoting global health interest as a normative value and a goal of foreign policy, namely, human dignity and development cooperation. Furthermore, South Africa drives its global health through building coalition with other state and non-state actors such as civil society. HIV/AIDS, as a policy issue, presents a potential entry point for engagement in global health diplomacy.
description: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH), Volume VI, 2016
Binary Compressive Sensing via Analog Fountain Coding
Creators: name: Shirvanimoghaddam, Mahyar
name: Li, Yonghui
name: Vucetic, Branka
name: Yuan, Jinhong
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: In this paper, a compressive sensing (CS) approach is proposed for sparse binary signals' compression and reconstruction based on analog fountain codes (AFCs). In the proposed scheme, referred to as the analog fountain compressive sensing (AFCS), each measurement is generated from a linear combination of L randomly selected binary signal elements with real weight coefficients. The weight coefficients are chosen from a finite weight set and L, called measurement degree, is obtained based on a predefined degree distribution function. We propose a simple verification based reconstruction algorithm for the AFCS in the noiseless case. The proposed verification based decoder is analyzed through SUM-OR tree analytical approach and an optimization problem is formulated to find the optimum measurement degree to minimize the number of measurements required for the reconstruction of binary sparse signals. We show that in the AFCS, the number of required measurements is of O(-n log(1-k/n)), where n is the signal length and k is the signal sparsity level. We then consider the signal reconstruction of AFCS in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and the standard message passing decoder is then used for the signal recovery. Simulation results show that the AFCS can perfectly recover all non-zero elements of the sparse binary signal with a significantly reduced number of measurements, compared to the conventional binary CS and L1-minimization approaches in a wide range of signal to noise ratios (SNRs). Finally, we show a practical application of the AFCS for the sparse event detection in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), where the sensors' readings can be treated as measurements from the CS point of view.
description: The paper is accepted to publish in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing
In-medium effects in $ϕ$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions from subthreshold to relativistic energies
Creators: name: Song, Taesoo
name: Aichelin, Joerg
name: Bratkovskaya, Elena
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate the hidden strange $ϕ$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions from subthreshold ($E_{kin}\approx 1$ A GeV) to relativistic ($E_{kin}\approx 21$ A TeV) energies as well as its coupling to the open strange mesons (kaons, antikaons) and their productions. Our study is based on the off-shell microscopic Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach which is applicable for the dynamical description of strongly interacting hadronic and partonic degrees-of-freedom created in heavy-ion collisions. Implementing novel meson-baryon and meson-hyperon production channels for $ϕ$ mesons, calculated within a T-matrix coupled channel approach based on the extended SU(6) chiral effective Lagrangian model, along with the collisional broadening of the $ϕ$-meson in-medium spectral function, we find a substantial enhancement of $ϕ$ meson production in heavy-ion collisions, especially at sub- and near-thresholds. This allows to describe the experimentally observed strong enhancement of the $ϕ/K^-$ ratio at low energies without including hypothetical decays of heavy baryonic resonances to $ϕ$ as in alternative approaches. Moreover, we show that in spite of a stronger contribution from enhanced $ϕ$ to $K^-$ production, the majority of the experimental data for different A+A systems at low energies favor the scenario with in-medium modifications of the kaon and antikaon properties in the hot and dense environment. Moreover, we study the influence of the final state interactions of $K, \bar K$ mesons on the reconstruction of $ϕ$'s by the by invariant mass method.
description: 24 pages, 22 figures
Persis: A Persian Font Recognition Pipeline Using Convolutional Neural Networks
Creators: name: Mohammadian, Mehrdad
name: Maleki, Neda
name: Olsson, Tobias
name: Ahlgren, Fredrik
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)
subject: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: What happens if we encounter a suitable font for our design work but do not know its name? Visual Font Recognition (VFR) systems are used to identify the font typeface in an image. These systems can assist graphic designers in identifying fonts used in images. A VFR system also aids in improving the speed and accuracy of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) systems. In this paper, we introduce the first publicly available datasets in the field of Persian font recognition and employ Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to address this problem. The results show that the proposed pipeline obtained 78.0% top-1 accuracy on our new datasets, 89.1% on the IDPL-PFOD dataset, and 94.5% on the KAFD dataset. Furthermore, the average time spent in the entire pipeline for one sample of our proposed datasets is 0.54 and 0.017 seconds for CPU and GPU, respectively. We conclude that CNN methods can be used to recognize Persian fonts without the need for additional pre-processing steps such as feature extraction, binarization, normalization, etc.
Socioeconomic status in childhood and C reactive protein in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Creators: name: Gasser, Constantine E.
name: Rueb, Kuna
name: Wake, Melissa
name: Burgner, David P.
name: Mensah, Fiona K.
name: Liu, Richard S.
name: Juonala, Markus
name: Aiello, Allison E.
name: Cordell, Billie
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2017

description: Inflammation plays a central role in cardio-metabolic disease and may represent a mechanism linking low socioeconomic status (SES) in early life and adverse cardio-metabolic health outcomes in later life. Accumulating evidence suggests an association between childhood SES and adult inflammation, but findings have been inconsistent.
'Metal'-like transport in high-resistance, high aspect ratio two-dimensional electron gases
Creators: name: Backes, Dirk
name: Hall, Richard
name: Pepper, Michael
name: Beere, Harvey
name: Ritchie, David
name: Narayan, Vijay
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate the striking absence of strong localisation observed in mesoscopic two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) (Baenninger et al 2008 Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 1016805, Backes et al 2015 Phys. Rev. B 92 235427) even when their resistivity $ρ>> h/e^2$. In particular, we try to understand whether this phenomenon originates in quantum many-body effects, or simply percolative transport through a network of electron puddles. To test the latter scenario, we measure the low temperature (low-$T$) transport properties of long and narrow 2DEG devices in which percolation effects should be heavily suppressed in favour of Coulomb blockade. Strikingly we find no indication of Coulomb blockade and that the high-$ρ$, low-$T$ transport is exactly similar to that previously reported in mesoscopic 2DEGs with different geometries. Remarkably, we are able to induce a `metal'-insulator transition (MIT) by applying a perpendicular magnetic field $B$. We present a picture within which these observations fit into the more conventional framework of the 2D MIT.
description: 6 pages, 3 figures
Integrating Stock Features and Global Information via Large Language Models for Enhanced Stock Return Prediction
Creators: name: Ding, Yujie
name: Jia, Shuai
name: Ma, Tianyi
name: Mao, Bingcheng
name: Zhou, Xiuze
name: Li, Liuliu
name: Han, Dongming
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Computation and Language (cs.CL)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: Statistical Finance (q-fin.ST)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Economics and business

description: The remarkable achievements and rapid advancements of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and GPT-4 have showcased their immense potential in quantitative investment. Traders can effectively leverage these LLMs to analyze financial news and predict stock returns accurately. However, integrating LLMs into existing quantitative models presents two primary challenges: the insufficient utilization of semantic information embedded within LLMs and the difficulties in aligning the latent information within LLMs with pre-existing quantitative stock features. We propose a novel framework consisting of two components to surmount these challenges. The first component, the Local-Global (LG) model, introduces three distinct strategies for modeling global information. These approaches are grounded respectively on stock features, the capabilities of LLMs, and a hybrid method combining the two paradigms. The second component, Self-Correlated Reinforcement Learning (SCRL), focuses on aligning the embeddings of financial news generated by LLMs with stock features within the same semantic space. By implementing our framework, we have demonstrated superior performance in Rank Information Coefficient and returns, particularly compared to models relying only on stock features in the China A-share market.
description: 8 pages, International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence
Fluctuations and first-passage properties of systems of Brownian particles with reset
Creators: name: Vilk, Ohad
name: Assaf, Michael
name: Meerson, Baruch
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Probability (math.PR)
subject: Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: We study stationary fluctuations in two models involving $N$ Brownian particles undergoing stochastic resetting to the origin in 1d. We start with the basic reset model where the particles reset independently (model A). Then we introduce nonlocal interparticle correlations by postulating that only the particle farthest from the origin is reset (model B). At long times both models approach nonequilibrium steady states. In the limit of $N\to \infty$, the steady-state particle density in model A has an infinite support, whereas in model B it has a compact support. A finite system radius, which scales at large $N$ as $\ln N$, appears in model A when $N$ is finite. In both models we study stationary fluctuations of the center of mass of the system and of the system's radius due to the random character of the Brownian motion and of the resetting events. In model A we determine exact distributions of these two quantities. The variance of the center of mass for both models scales as $1/N$. The variance of the radius is independent of $N$ in model A and exhibits an unusual scaling $(\ln N)/N$ in model B. The latter scaling is intimately related to the $1/f$ noise in the radius autocorrelations. Finally, we evaluate the mean first-passage time (MFPT) to a distant target in model A, model B, and the BBM. For model A we obtain an exact asymptotic expression for the MFPT which scales as $1/N$. For model B, and for the "Brownian bees" model, we propose a sharp upper bound for the MFPT. The bound assumes an ``evaporation" scenario, where the first passage requires multiple attempts of a single particle, which breaks away from the rest of the particles, to reach the target. The resulting MFPT for model B and the Brownian bees model scales exponentially with $\sqrt{N}$. We verify this bound by performing highly efficient weighted-ensemble simulations of the first passage in model B.
description: 11 pages, 11 figures
BMI, reproductive factors, and breast cancer molecular subtypes: A case-control study and meta-analysis
Creators: name: Wang, Mengjie
name: Zhao, Ying
name: Wang, Qiong
name: Sun, Xuezheng
name: Li, Jiayuan
name: Qi, Yana
name: Miller, Erline
name: Li, Hui
name: Tao, Ping
name: Liu, Li
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2017

description: BACKGROUND: The effects of body mass index (BMI) and reproductive factors may vary among breast cancer molecular subtypes, evidence of which is lacking in East Asia.

METHODS: From 2002 to 2010, 1256 breast cancer patients and 1416 healthy women were recruited. Anthropometric and reproductive factors were collected from medical charts. Breast cancer subtype was defined by ER, PR, and HER2 status. Polytomous logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between risk factors and breast cancer subtypes, with subgroup analysis by menopausal status. A meta-analysis of relevant published studies in East Asia was also performed.

RESULTS: In our case-control study, late menarche was negatively associated with luminal tumor risk (Ptrend = 0.03). Higher BMI was associated with risk of both luminal and triple-negative tumors (Ptrend<0.001). Late age at first live birth was associated with a 1.41- to 2.08-fold increased risk of all subtypes, while late menopause increased risk by 2.62-5.56 times. Heterogeneity of these associations was not detected for different menopausal statuses. The meta-analysis revealed a positive dose-response relationship between BMI and risk of both luminal and ER-PR- subtypes (Ptrend<0.05). Early menarche and nulliparity increased luminal tumor risk by 1.39 and 1.26 times, respectively. Non-breastfeeding also increased the risk of all subtypes.

CONCLUSIONS: For East Asian women, overweight, late menopause, and lack of breastfeeding appear to increase risk of both luminal and ER-PR- tumors. Early menarche and nulliparity mainly impacted luminal tumor risk. These associations were not impacted by menopausal status.
MPEC 2024-R137 : 2024 RL4
Creators: name: Minor Planet Center Staff
Publisher: name: The Minor Planet Center
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Small Solar System bodies
valueUri: http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/1469
subject: 2024 RL4

description: The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements.  They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Path Integrals on Euclidean Space Forms
Creators: name: Capobianco, Guillermo
name: Reartes, Walter
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 53Z05, 81S40

description: In this paper we develop a quantization method for flat compact manifolds based on path integrals. In this method the Hilbert space of holomorphic functions in the complexification of the manifold is used. This space is a reproducing kernel Hilbert space. A definition of the Feynman propagator, based on the reproducing property of this space, is proposed. In the $\mathbb{R}^n$ case the obtained results coincide with the known expressions.
An educational initiative for Mexican school-aged children to promote the consumption of fruit, vegetables and physical activity
Creators: name: Arenas-Monreal, Luz
name: Pacheco-Magana, Lilian E
name: Rueda-Neria, Celina
name: Carrillo-Estrada, Josue
name: Marquez-Serrano, Margarita
name: Magana-Valladares, Laura
name: Rivera-Pasquel, Marta
Publisher: name: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH)
Year: 2016

description: Aim: To present the results of a community initiative focused on strengthening physical activity and the consumption of fruits, vegetables and natural water while discouraging the use of highly energetic food and sugary drinks in public schools of Morelos. Methods: A quasi-experimental study with an educational initiative focused on the school community of two primary schools and two junior high schools. Pre- and-post initiative measurements were made. The study took place in the municipality of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico, in a rural area and an urban area, from August 2010 to July 2011. Results: Water consumption among school-aged children increased from 15.1% to 20.1% and soda consumption decreased from 21.4% to 13.2%. A slight increase in the consumption of fruits and vegetables was also measured (oranges, jicamas, bananas, tomatoes, prickly pear pads, lettuces), that are accessible in the region. It was found that the supply of fresh food is limited and that high energy density foods have an oversupply in both study areas. Physical activity increased with actions such as football and dancing, in accordance with the baseline measurement. No changes were observed in the nutritional condition of school-aged children (n=150; 13.3% with overweight and 7.3% with emaciation), or in adults who presented a body mass index higher than normal, 60.2% to 88.4%. Conclusion: In addition to educational activities, schools need to implement strategies to improve the access and availability of fresh foods while limiting the access of high energy-density foods.
description: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH), Volume VI, 2016
Jet kinematics in the transversely stratified jet of 3C 84 A two-decade overview
Creators: name: Paraschos, G. F.
name: Krichbaum, T. P.
name: Kim, J. -Y.
name: Hodgson, J. A.
name: Oh, J.
name: Ros, E.
name: Zensus, J. A.
name: Marscher, A. P.
name: Jorstad, S. G.
name: Gurwell, M. A.
name: Lähteenmäki, A.
name: Tornikoski, M.
name: Kiehlmann, S.
name: Readhead, A. C. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: 3C84 (NGC1275) is one of the brightest radio sources in the mm radio-bands, which led to a plethora of VLBI observations at numerous frequencies over the years. They reveal a two-sided jet structure, with an expanding but not well-collimated parsec-scale jet, pointing southward. High resolution mm-VLBI observations allow the study and imaging of the jet base on the sub-parsec scale. This could facilitate the investigation of the nature of the jet origin, also in view of the previously detected two-railed jet structure and east-west oriented core region seen with RadioAstron at 22 GHz. We produce VLBI images of this core and inner jet region, observed during the past twenty years at 15, 43, and 86 GHz. We determine the kinematics of the inner jet and ejected features at 43 and 86 GHz and compare their ejection times with radio and $γ$-ray variability. For the moving jet features, we find an average velocity of $β^\textrm{avg}_\textrm{app} = 0.055-0.22$c ($μ^\textrm{avg} = 0.04-0.18\,$mas/yr). From the time-averaged VLBI images at the three frequencies, we measure the transverse jet width along the bulk flow. On the $\leq 1.5$ parsec scale, we find a clear trend of the jet width being frequency dependent, with the jet being narrower at higher frequencies. This stratification is discussed in the context of a spine-sheath scenario, and is compared to other possible interpretations. From quasi-simultaneous observations at 43 and 86\,GHz we obtain spectral index maps, revealing a time-variable orientation of the spectral index gradient, due to structural variability of the inner jet.
description: 23 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&A
Binge drinking and perceived ethnic discrimination among Hispanics/Latinos: Results from the Hispanic community health study/study of Latinos sociocultural ancillary study
Creators: name: Salgado, Hugo
name: Williams, Emily C.
name: Gotman, Nathan
name: Lapham, Gwen T.
name: Penedo, Frank
name: Ornelas, India J.
name: Smoller, Sylvia
name: Gallo, Linda C.
name: Davis, Sonia
name: Womack, Veronica
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2016

description: The study assessed whether overall perceived ethnic discrimination and four unique discrimination types were associated with binge drinking in participants from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) who also completed the HCHS/SOL Sociocultural Ancillary Study (n = 5,313). In unadjusted analyses that were weighted for sampling strategy and design, each unit increase in discrimination type was associated with a 12 - 63% increase in odds of binge drinking; however, after adjusting for important demographic variables including age, sex, heritage group, language, and duration of US residence, there was no longer an association between discrimination and binge drinking. Further research still needs to identify the salient factors that contribute to increased risk for binge drinking among Hispanics/Latinos.
Direct determination of the excitation energy of quasi-stable isomer $^{180m}$Ta
Creators: name: Nesterenko, D. A.
name: Blaum, K.
name: Delahaye, P.
name: Eliseev, S.
name: Eronen, T.
name: Filianin, P.
name: Ge, Z.
name: Hukkanen, M.
name: Kankainen, A.
name: Novikov, Yu. N.
name: Popov, A. V.
name: Raggio, A.
name: Stryjczyk, M.
name: Virtanen, V.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: $^{180m}$Ta is a naturally abundant quasi-stable nuclide and the longest-lived nuclear isomer known to date. It is of interest for, among others, the search for dark matter, for the development of a gamma laser and for astrophysics. So far, its excitation energy has not been measured directly but has been based on an evaluation of available nuclear reaction data. We have determined the excitation energy of this isomer with high accuracy using the Penning-trap mass spectrometer JYFLTRAP. The determined mass difference between the ground and isomeric states of $^{180}$Ta yields an excitation energy of 76.79(55) keV for $^{180m}$Ta. This is the first direct measurement of the excitation energy and provides a better accuracy than the previous evaluation value, 75.3(14) keV.
description: 4 pages, 3 figures
Feeding post core collapse supernova explosion jets with an inflated main sequence companion
Creators: name: Hober, Ofek
name: Bear, Ealeal
name: Soker, Noam
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We simulate the response of a main sequence star to the explosion of a stripped-envelope (type Ib or Ic) core collapse supernova (CCSN) when the main sequence star orbits the core at a distance of 10-20Ro at explosion. We use the stellar evolution code MESA to follow the response of main sequence stars of masses 3Mo and 7Mo to energy deposition and mass removal. The collision of the CCSN ejecta with the main sequence star deposits energy and inflate the main sequence star. If the binary system stays bound after the CCSN explosion the inflated main sequence star might engulf the newly born neutron star (NS). We assume that the NS accretes mass through an accretion disk and launches jets. The jets remove mass from the inflated main sequence star and collide with the CCSN ejecta. Although this scenario is rare, it adds up to other rare scenarios to further support the notion that many stripped envelope CCSNe are powered by late jets. The late jets can power these CCSNe-I for a long time and might power bumps in their lightcurve. The jets might also shape the inner ejecta to a bipolar morphology. Our results further support suggestions that there are several ways to feed a NS (or a black hole) to launch the late jets in superluminous supernovae.
description: Accepted for publication in MNRAS
Operation and readout of the CGEM Inner Tracker
Creators: name: Balossino, Ilaria
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det)
subject: High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A recently approved ten-year extension of the BESIII experiment (IHEP, Beijing) motivated an upgrade program for both the accelerator and the detector. In particular, the current inner drift chamber is suffering from aging and the proposal is to replace it with a detector based on the cylindrical GEM technology. The CGEM inner tracker (CGEM-IT) consists of three coaxial layers of triple GEM. The tracker is expected to restore efficiency, improve z-determination and secondary vertex position reconstruction with a spatial resolution of 130 μ m in the xy-plane and better than 300 μ m along the beam direction. A dedicated readout system was developed. Signals from the detector strips are processed by TIGER, a custom 64-channel ASIC that provides an analog charge readout via a fully digital output up to about 50 fC, less than 3 ns jitter. TIGER continuously streams over-threshold data in trigger-less mode to an FPGA-based readout module, called GEM Read Out Card, that organizes the incoming data by building the event packets when the trigger arrives. Two of the three layers are in operation in Beijing since January 2020 remotely controlled. Due to the pandemic situation the integration activity has been continued on a small-scale prototype. Recently, a test beam has been performed at CERN with the final electronics configuration. In this presentation, the general status of the CGEM-IT project will be presented with a particular focus on the results from the test beam data acquisition.
description: Prepared for the Vienna Conference on Instrumentation 2022
Hybrid female mate choice as a species isolating mechanism: environment matters
Creators: name: Pfennig,
name: Schmidt,
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2016

description: A fundamental goal of biology is to understand how new species arise and are maintained. Female mate choice is potentially critical to the speciation process: mate choice can prevent hybridization and thereby generate reproductive isolation between potentially interbreeding groups. Yet, in systems where hybridization occurs, mate choice by hybrid females might also play a key role in reproductive isolation by affecting hybrid fitness and contributing to patterns of gene flow between species. We evaluated whether hybrid mate choice behavior could serve as such an isolating mechanism by using spadefoot toad hybrids of Spea multiplicata and S. bombifrons. We assessed the mate preferences of female hybrid spadefoot toads for sterile hybrid males versus pure-species males in two alternative habitat types in which spadefoots breed: deep or shallow water. We found that, in deep water, hybrid females preferred the calls of sterile hybrid males to those of S. multiplicata males. Thus, maladaptive hybrid mate preferences could serve as an isolating mechanism. However, in shallow water, the preference for hybrid male calls was not expressed. Moreover, hybrid females did not prefer hybrid calls to those of S. bombifrons in either environment. Because hybrid female mate choice was context-dependent, its efficacy as a reproductive isolating mechanism will depend on both the environment in which females choose their mates as well as the relative frequencies of males in a given population. Thus, reproductive isolation between species, as well as habitat specific patterns of gene flow between species, might depend critically on the nature of hybrid mate preferences and the way in which they vary across environments.
title: Global health in foreign policy in South Africa – Evidence from state actors
Creators: name: Modisenyane, Simon Moeketsi
name: Senkubuge, Flavia
name: Hendricks, Stephen JH
Publisher: name: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH)
Year: 2018

description: Introduction: There are currently debates about why South Africa integrates global health into its foreign policy agendas. This study aimed at exploring motivation and interests’ South African policy actors pursue to advance global health and the processes that lead to such integration. Methods: The study utilized a mixed-method design from a sample of state policy actors at the National Department of Health of South Africa. Participants were selected purposively and had experience of more than three years participating in various international health activities. All participants completed semi-structured questionnaires. Data was analysed to determine frequencies and transcribed text was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: A total of 40 people were invited to participate, of whom 35 agreed. Of the respondent, 89.7% (n= 32) strongly argued that health should facilitate ‘free movement of people, goods and services’. Majority 79.0% (n= 29) agreed that ‘development and equality’ are the main element of foreign policy. Of the respondents, majority 77.1% (n= 27) agreed that ‘moral and human rights’ are main element of foreign policy. Furthermore, 82.8% (n= 29) agreed that the country should advance ‘Africa regionalism and south-south cooperation’ and 85.7% (n= 30) strongly argued for a ‘whole-government approach’ in addressing global health challenges. ‘HIV and AIDS’ and ‘access to medicines agenda’ were the main policy issue advanced. The main domestic factors that will shape South Africa’s involvement in global health were its ‘political leadership’ and “capacity of negotiators’. Conclusions: It is evident that within South Africa, state policy actors are largely concerned with promoting global health interest in the world of low politics, namely, human dignity and development cooperation. Furthermore, South Africa drives its global health through building coalition with other state and non-state actors such as civil society. HIV and AIDS as a policy issue, present a potential entry point for engagement on global health diplomacy.
description: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH), Volume VI, 2016
Additional file 1 of Diabetes mellitus duration and mortality in patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction
Creators: name: Baviera, Marta
name: Genovese, Stefano
name: Colacioppo, Pierluca
name: Cosentino, Nicola
name: Foresta, Andreana
name: Tettamanti, Mauro
name: Fortino, Ida
name: Roncaglioni, Maria Carla
name: Marenzi, Giancarlo
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Cancer

description: Supplementary Material 1: Table 1S: Baseline characteristics of patients hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) according to diabetes mellitus status and its duration, from 2010 to 2019. Table 2S: In hospital complications and procedures in patients hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) according to diabetes mellitus status and its duration, from 2010 to 2019. Table 3S: Baseline characteristics of patients hospitalized with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) according to diabetes mellitus status and its duration, from 2010 to 2019. Table 4S: In hospital complications and in patients hospitalized with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) according to diabetes mellitus status and its duration, from 2010 to 2019.
title: Effect of fibre distribution on structural behaviour of pultruded composite profiles
Creators: name: Qi, Songming
Publisher: name: University of Southern Queensland
Year: 2023
Subjects: classificationCode: 400505
subject: Construction materials
classificationCode: 400510
subject: Structural engineering

description: Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are widely used in various industries due to their high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and tailored mechanical properties. However, manufacturing-induced imperfections, such as non-uniform fibre distribution (NUFD), voids, and fibre waviness, can compromise their performance and structural integrity. This thesis comprehensively investigates fibre distribution imperfections in hollow box FRP structures, focusing on manufacturing, characterization, and performance analysis to enhance the understanding of their impact on mechanical properties and structural behaviour. A novel approach, Filtered Canny Misalignment Analysis (FCMA), is introduced for characterizing fibre waviness in continuous fibre-reinforced composites, demonstrating improved accuracy, efficiency, and robustness compared to existing methods. The FCMA method is applied to quantify in-plane and out-of-plane fibre waviness in hollow composite columns, which is then used as input for a finite element model to evaluate the impact of fibre waviness on stress distribution under axial compression. The formation and impact of Non-Uniform Fibre Distribution (NUFD) in pultruded fibre-reinforced polymer (PFRP) composite profiles are investigated using image analysis and experimental testing. It is demonstrated that compressive strength at the material level decreases proportionally with the fibre volume fraction caused by NUFD, while finite element modelling highlights corner defects generated by NUFD at the full-scale structural level are more sensitive to local buckling failure compared to wall defects. The effect of NUFD on the flexural performance of pultruded glass FRP box beams is investigated, revealing that corner NUFD has a greater negative impact on local buckling capacity than flange NUFD. A linear relationship between the rotational restraint coefficient and corner fibre volume fraction is established, providing insight into the influence of material imperfections on load capacity. Finally, a numerical simulation and experimental investigation of the pull-braiding process for manufacturing braided composite profiles are conducted. A bi-axial braiding technique combined with pultrusion is employed, and the developed numerical model accurately simulates the braiding process, predicting the geometrical features of the braided structures. The study identifies defects in the composite profiles, providing a foundation for future research in the development of advanced composite materials with tailored mechanical properties.
Quasi-periodic oscillations in precursor flares via seismic aftershocks from resonant shattering
Creators: name: Suvorov, Arthur G.
name: Kuan, Hao-Jui
name: Kokkotas, Kostas D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: GRB 211211A was accompanied by a kilonova, implying a merger origin for the event. A precursor flare, modulated by quasi-periodic oscillations at $\approx 22\, \mbox{Hz}$, was also seen $\approx 1\, \mbox{s}$ prior to the main emission. It is suggested here that the precursor resulted from the resonant shattering of one star's crust prior to coalescence. Seismic aftershocks and low-frequency torsional modes may emanate from the rupture site in this case, explaining the underlying oscillations. This interpretation is directly analogous to proposals for giant flares from soft gamma repeaters, where oscillations at similar frequencies have been observed, involving starquakes followed by crustal vibrations. Torsional mode properties were computed for sequences of slowly rotating, magnetised neutron stars in general relativity. The $\approx 22\, \mbox{Hz}$ modulations in the precursor matches that of nodeless, $\ell =2$ torsional modes for a wide variety of stellar parameters. Global or discrete Alfvén modes are also viable candidates.
description: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Matches published version
European and North American Schools of Public Health – Establishment, growth, differences and similarities
Creators: name: Bozikov, Jadranka
Publisher: name: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH)
Year: 2016

description: Unlike European Schools of Public Health, whose development was primarily influenced by the medical profession and was linked to the healthcare system, North American Schools of Public Health operate as independent academic institutions engaged in research and education of Public Health specialists. While Public Health has been recognised as a distinctive profession in USA and Canada for almost a century, in many European countries it is not recognized as such and, accordingly, there are no well-defined job positions for graduates. Similarities and differences between the European and American Schools of Public Health are reviewed and the importance of classification of core competences, responsibilities and scope of knowledge required for Public Health practice was pointed out as a prerequisite for accreditation of study curricula. For the professionalization of Public Health in Europe further efforts are needed.
description: South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH), Volume VI, 2016
Very Large Interstellar Grains as Evidenced by the Mid-Infrared Extinction
Creators: name: Wang, Shu
name: Li, Aigen
name: Jiang, B. W.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The sizes of interstellar grains are widely distributed, ranging from a few angstroms to a few micrometers. The ultraviolet (UV) and optical extinction constrains the dust in the size range of a couple hundredth micrometers to several submicrometers. The near and mid infrared (IR) emission constrains the nanometer-sized grains and angstrom-sized very large molecules. However, the quantity and size distribution of micrometer-sized grains remain unknown as they are gray in the UV/optical extinction and they are too cold and emit too little in the IR to be detected by IRAS, Spitzer, or Herschel. In this work, we employ the ~3-8 micron mid-IR extinction which is flat in both diffuse and dense regions to constrain the quantity, size, and composition of the micron-sized grain component. We find that, together with nano- and submicron-sized silicate and graphite (as well as PAHs), micron-sized graphite grains with C/H=137 ppm and a mean size of ~1.2 micron closely fit the observed interstellar extinction of the Galactic diffuse interstellar medium from the far-UV to the mid-IR as well as the near-IR to millimeter thermal emission obtained by COBE/DIRBE, COBE/FIRAS, and Planck up to lambda < 1000 micron. The micron-sized graphite component accounts for ~14.6% of the total dust mass and ~2.5% of the total IR emission.
description: Dedicated to the late Professor J. Mayo Greenberg. 18 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
LSU network hubs integrate abiotic and biotic stress responses via interaction with the superoxide dismutase FSD2
Creators: name: Alkofer, Angela
name: Dangl, Jeffery L.
name: Falter-Braun, Pascal
name: Garcia-Molina, Antoni
name: Epple, Petra M.
name: Altmann, Melina
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2017

description: In natural environments, plants often experience different stresses simultaneously, and adverse abiotic conditions can weaken the plant immune system. Interactome mapping revealed that the LOW SULPHUR UPREGULATED (LSU) proteins are hubs in an Arabidopsis protein interaction network that are targeted by virulence effectors from evolutionarily diverse pathogens. Here we show that LSU proteins are up-regulated in several abiotic and biotic stress conditions, such as nutrient depletion or salt stress, by both transcriptional and post-translational mechanisms. Interference with LSU expression prevents chloroplastic reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and proper stomatal closure during sulphur stress. We demonstrate that LSU1 interacts with the chloroplastic superoxide dismutase FSD2 and stimulates its enzymatic activity in vivo and in vitro. Pseudomonas syringae virulence effectors interfere with this interaction and preclude re-localization of LSU1 to chloroplasts. We demonstrate that reduced LSU levels cause a moderately enhanced disease susceptibility in plants exposed to abiotic stresses such as nutrient deficiency, high salinity, or heavy metal toxicity, whereas LSU1 overexpression confers significant disease resistance in several of these conditions. Our data suggest that the network hub LSU1 plays an important role in co-ordinating plant immune responses across a spectrum of abiotic stress conditions.
A light particle solution to the cosmic lithium problem
Creators: name: Goudelis, Andreas
name: Pospelov, Maxim
name: Pradler, Josef
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We point out that the cosmological abundance of ${}^7$Li can be reduced down to observed values if during its formation Big Bang Nucleosynthesis is modified by the presence of light electrically neutral particles $X$ that have substantial interactions with nucleons. We find that the lithium problem can be solved without affecting the precisely measured abundances of deuterium and helium if the following conditions are satisfied: the mass and lifetimes of such particles are bounded by $ 1.6~{\rm MeV}\leq m_X \leq 20~{\rm MeV}$ and $ {\rm few}~100~{\rm s} \lesssim τ_X \lesssim 10^4~{\rm s}$, and the abundance times the absorption cross section by either deuterium or ${}^7$Be are comparable to the Hubble rate, $n_X σ_{\rm abs} v \sim H$, at the time of ${}^7$Be formation. We include $X$-initiated reactions into the primordial nucleosynthesis framework, observe that it leads to a substantial reduction of the freeze-out abundances of ${}^7$Li+${}^7$Be, and find specific model realizations of this scenario. Concentrating on the axion-like-particle case, $X=a$, we show that all these conditions can be satisifed if the coupling to $d$-quarks is in the range of $f_d^{-1} \sim {\rm TeV}^{-1}$, which can be probed at intensity frontier experiments.
description: 5 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor improvements, matches published version
Superradiant Production of Heavy Dark Matter from Primordial Black Holes
Creators: name: Bernal, Nicolás
name: Perez-Gonzalez, Yuber F.
name: Xu, Yong
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Rotating black holes (BHs) can efficiently transfer energy to the surrounding environment via superradiance. In particular, when the Compton length of a particle is comparable to the gravitational radius of a BH, the particle's occupation number can be exponentially amplified. In this work, we investigate the effect of the primordial-black-hole (PBH) superradiant instabilities on the generation of heavy bosonic dark matter (DM) with mass above $\sim$ 1 TeV. Additionally, we analyze its interplay with other purely gravitational and therefore unavoidable DM production mechanisms such as Hawking emission and the ultraviolet freeze-in. We find that superradiance can significantly increase the DM density produced by PBHs with respect to the case that only considers Hawking emission, and hence lower initial PBH densities are required.
description: 20 pages, 5 figures. Added clarifying comments and references. Matches version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev D