cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
A Method To Detect Low Levels of Enteric Viruses in Contaminated Oysters
Creators: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: Direct isolation and identification of pathogenic viruses from oysters implicated in gastroenteritis outbreaks are hampered by inefficient methods for recovering viruses, naturally occurring PCR inhibitors, and low levels of virus contamination. In this study we focused on developing rapid and efficient oyster-processing procedures that can be used for sensitive PCR detection of viruses in raw oysters. Poliovirus type 3 (PV3) Sabin strain was used to evaluate the efficacy of virus recovery and the removal of PCR inhibitors during oyster-processing procedures. These procedures included elution, polyethylene glycol precipitation, solvent extraction, and RNA extraction. Acid adsorption-elution in which glycine buffer (pH 7.5) was used was found to retain fewer inhibitors than direct elution in which glycine buffer (pH 9.5) was used. RNA extraction in which a silica gel membrane was used was more effective than single-step RNA precipitation for removing additional nonspecific PCR inhibitors. The final 10-μl volume of RNA concentrates obtained from 2 g of oyster tissue (concentration factor, 200-fold) was satisfactory for efficient reverse transcription-PCR detection of virus. The overall detection sensitivity of our method was 1 PFU/g of oyster tissue initially seeded with PV3. The method was utilized to investigate a 1998 gastroenteritis outbreak in California in which contaminated oysters were the suspected disease transmission vehicle. A genogroup II Norwalk-like virus was found in two of three recalled oyster samples linked by tags to the harvest dates and areas associated with the majority of cases. The method described here improves the response to outbreaks and can be used for rapid and sensitive detection of viral agents in outbreak-implicated oysters.
title: The Brillouin linewidth in water as a function of temperature and salinity: the missing empirical relationship
Creators: name: Koestel, Daniel
name: Walther, Thomas
Publisher: name: Springer
Year: 2025

description: Brillouin scattering in water has been proposed as a method to measure temperature profiles in the ocean. Spontaneous Brillouin scattering can be understood as light scattering on phonons in the water originating from thermal fluctuations. The scattering signal usually features three peaks in its spectrum, of which one is attributed mainly to scattering from suspended particles and shows no frequency shift from the incident light, while the other two are shifted by the phonon frequency leading to a linear dependency of this Brillouin shift to the speed of sound. The speed of sound is dependent on temperature and salinity. To measure temperature and salinity independently, a second measurement parameter is necessary. The spectral width of the Brillouin lines constitutes a measure for the phonon lifetime and depends on various macroscopic water properties. This linewidth was investigated in a laboratory using a scanning FPI (Fabry-Perot interferometer) over a temperature range from 1.8 °C to 35 °C and 13 salinities from 0 ppt to 36 ppt. A strong temperature dependence was confirmed and a weaker, nonlinear dependency on salinity was found. An empirical model was created to describe the data for the purpose of enabling remote sensing of water temperature profile and salinity simultaneously in the future.
The Effect of 1,2,4-trioxolanes with Betulin in Fish Oil on Oxidative and Energy Metabolism Under Hypoxia and Immobilization Stress in Rats
Creators: name: N.B. Melnikova
name: D.S. Malygina
name: P.V. Yastrebov
name: I.V. Spitskaya
name: A.G. Soloveva
name: A.E. Fayans
name: A.L. Esipovich
Publisher: name: Opera Medica et Physiologica
Year: 2023
Subjects: antioxidant enzyme defense
hypoxia
immobilization stress
1
2
4-trioxolanes
botulin
fish oil

description: 1,2,4-trioxolanes were obtained by the ozonation of fish oil with a mixture of oxygen and ozone to study their physicochemical properties. The biological activity of 1,2,4-trioxolanes with betulin from birch bark extract in fish oil was evaluated under hypoxia and immobilization stress in rats. 1,2,4-trioxolanes composition led to LPO indexes normalization (malondialdehyde, Schiff bases, diene and triene conjugates), the activation of NADP/H and NAD/H-dependent enzymes (GR, G6PDH, LDH, AlDH), as well as SOD and catalase, under stress in rats. Thus, we estimated 1,2,4-trioxolanes with betulin in fish oil to regulate oxidative and energy metabolism under hypoxia and immobilization stress in rats. The findings show that studied composition can be useful to prevent and treat the diseases caused by oxidative stress.
Nitrogen, Carbon, and Sulfur Metabolism in Natural Thioploca Samples
Creators: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1999

description: Filamentous sulfur bacteria of the genus Thioploca occur as dense mats on the continental shelf off the coast of Chile and Peru. Since little is known about their nitrogen, sulfur, and carbon metabolism, this study was undertaken to investigate their (eco)physiology. Thioploca is able to store internally high concentrations of sulfur globules and nitrate. It has been previously hypothesized that these large vacuolated bacteria can oxidize sulfide by reducing their internally stored nitrate. We examined this nitrate reduction by incubation experiments of washed Thioploca sheaths with trichomes in combination with 15N compounds and mass spectrometry and found that these Thioploca samples produce ammonium at a rate of 1 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1. Controls showed no significant activity. Sulfate was shown to be the end product of sulfide oxidation and was observed at a rate of 2 to 3 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1. The ammonium and sulfate production rates were not influenced by the addition of sulfide, suggesting that sulfide is first oxidized to elemental sulfur, and in a second independent step elemental sulfur is oxidized to sulfate. The average sulfide oxidation rate measured was 5 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1 and could be increased to 10.7 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1 after the trichomes were starved for 45 h. Incorporation of 14CO2 was at a rate of 0.4 to 0.8 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1, which is half the rate calculated from sulfide oxidation. [2-14C]acetate incorporation was 0.4 nmol min−1 mg of protein−1, which is equal to the CO2 fixation rate, and no 14CO2 production was detected. These results suggest that Thioploca species are facultative chemolithoautotrophs capable of mixotrophic growth. Microautoradiography confirmed that Thioploca cells assimilated the majority of the radiocarbon from [2-14C]acetate, with only a minor contribution by epibiontic bacteria present in the samples.
Products from the Incomplete Metabolism of Pyrene by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon-Degrading Bacteria
Creators: name: Kazunga, C.
name: Aitken, M. D.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2000

description: Pyrene is a regulated pollutant at sites contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). It is mineralized by some bacteria but is also transformed to nonmineral products by a variety of other PAH-degrading bacteria. We examined the formation of such products by four bacterial strains and identified and further characterized the most apparently significant of these metabolites. Pseudomonas stutzeri strain P16 and Bacillus cereus strain P21 transformed pyrene primarily to cis-4,5-dihydro-4,5-dihydroxypyrene (PYRdHD), the first intermediate in the known pathway for aerobic bacterial mineralization of pyrene. Sphingomonas yanoikuyae strain R1 transformed pyrene to PYRdHD and pyrene-4,5-dione (PYRQ). Both strain R1 and Pseudomonas saccharophila strain P15 transform PYRdHD to PYRQ nearly stoichiometrically, suggesting that PYRQ is formed by oxidation of PYRdHD to 4,5-dihydroxypyrene and subsequent autoxidation of this metabolite. A pyrene-mineralizing organism, Mycobacterium strain PYR-1, also transforms PYRdHD to PYRQ at high initial concentrations of PYRdHD. However, strain PYR-1 is able to use both PYRdHD and PYRQ as growth substrates. PYRdHD strongly inhibited phenanthrene degradation by strains P15 and R1 but had only a minor effect on strains P16 and P21. At their aqueous saturation concentrations, both PYRdHD and PYRQ severely inhibited benzo[a]pyrene mineralization by strains P15 and R1. Collectively, these findings suggest that products derived from pyrene transformation have the potential to accumulate in PAH-contaminated systems and that such products can significantly influence the removal of other PAH. However, these products may be susceptible to subsequent degradation by organisms able to metabolize pyrene more extensively if such organisms are present in the system.
A Machian Request for the Equivalence Principle in Extended Gravity and non-geodesic motion
Creators: name: Licata, Ignazio
name: Corda, Christian
name: Benedetto, Elmo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Starting from the origin of Einstein general relativity (GR) the request of Mach on the theory's structure has been the core of the foundational debate. That problem is strictly connected with the nature of the mass-energy equivalence. It is well known that this is exactly the key point that Einstein used to realize a metric theory of gravitation having an unequalled beauty and elegance. On the other hand, the current requirements of particle physics and the open questions within extended gravity theories request a better understanding of Equivalence Principle (EP). The MOND theory by Milgrom proposes a modification of Newtonian dynamics and we consider a direct coupling between the Ricci curvature scalar and the matter Lagrangian showing that a non geodesic ratio m_{i}/m_{g} can be fixed and that Milgrom acceleration is retrieved at low energies.
description: 11 pages, accepted for publication in Gravitation and Cosmology, to appear in in vol. 22, issue 1 (2016) of the journal
The Influence of BDNF on Anhedonic Behavior in an In Vivo Model of Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress
Creators: name: E.V. Mitroshina
name: A.D. Perenkov
name: E.A. Karpenko
name: A.M. Kubareva
name: M.V. Vedunova
Publisher: name: Opera Medica et Physiologica
Year: 2023
Subjects: depression
serotonin
5-HT receptors
BDNF
CD44
stress

description: Depression is a significant global medico-societal concern. The serotonin system plays a pivotal role in modulating responses to acute stress and is implicated in the development of depressive and anxiety disorders. Recent research has increasingly focused on the potentially beneficial impacts of activating previously less-studied 5-HT4R and 5-HT7R subtypes on cognitive functions in the context of anxiety and depression. Additionally, intercellular adhesion molecules have been associated with the structural remodeling of neurons related to stress and mood disorders, potentially establishing functional connections with serotonin receptors. Furthermore, it is established that the exogenous administration of the neurotrophic factor BDNF can ameliorate the functioning of serotonergic neurons in the brains of rodents. This study aimed to investigate the influence of exogenously administered BDNF on the expression of 5-HT4R, 5-HT7R, and CD44 during a depressive-like state induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in C57Bl/6 mice. The findings demonstrated that intranasal BDNF administration at a dose of 0.4 μg/kg for seven days sustained normal sucrose preference levels in animals following 21 days of CUMS exposure. While BDNF treatment did not impact the CUMS-induced reduction in mRNA expression of 5-HT4R and 5-HT7R across examined brain regions (cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum), it did prevent the decrease in CD44 and TrkB receptor expression levels in the hippocampus. Additionally, it maintained BDNF expression levels in the cortex, although not in other brain regions. These results suggest that the application of BDNF in CUMS models has an antidepressant effect without directly affecting serotonin receptors, but probably by modulating 5-HT7R-CD44 interactions.
VAFB-1984-13: Results of Archaeological Subsurface Testing at SBa-775 for the V-17 Visual Landing Aids North 6500 Foot Papi Lights, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Creators: name: Gibson, Robert O.
Year: 1984

description: This documents describes that an archaeological surface survey was conducted in the vicinity of the proposed V-17 Visual Landing Aids Project's construction of Papi lights at the 6500 foot marker north of the VAFB runway. Two previously recorded archaeological sites (CA-SBA-775 and 776) were noted adjacent to the proposed project area. This report summarizes the results of subsurface testing for the 100x200 foot area that could potentially impact these two sites.

Based on a series of 19 shovel test units excavated in the vicinity of the 6500 foot area north of the existing runway, a number of very small chert flakes were recovered. These chert flakes do not appear to represent primary depositional material and probably are the result of displaced cultural materials through military maneuvers in the vicinity or wind blown redeposited cultural materials. It is determined that the Papi Light Project at the 6500 foot marker can proceed as planned.
Constructing vacuum spacetimes by generating manifolds of revolution around a curve
Creators: name: Saw, Vee-Liem
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We develop a general perturbative analysis on vacuum spacetimes which can be constructed by generating manifolds of revolution around a curve, and apply it to the Schwarzschild metric. The following different perturbations are carried out separately: 1) Non-rotating 2-spheres are added along a plane curve slightly deviated from the ``Schwarzschild line''; 2) General non-rotating topological 2-spheres are added along the ``Schwarzschild line'' 3) Slow-rotating 2-spheres are added along the ``Schwarzschild line''. For (1), we obtain the first order vacuum solution and show that no higher order solution exists. This linearised vacuum solution turns out however to be just a gauge transformation of the Schwarzschild metric. For (2), we solve the general linearised vacuum equations under several special cases. In particular, there exist linearised vacuum solutions with signature-changing metrics that contain closed timelike curves (though these do not correspond to adding topological 2-spheres). For (3), we find that the first order vacuum solution is equivalent to the slowly rotating Kerr metric. This is hence a much simpler and geometrically insightful derivation as compared to the gravitomagnetic one, where this rotating-shells construction is a direct manifestation of the frame-dragging phenomenon. We also show that the full Kerr however, cannot be obtained via adding rotating ellipsoids.
description: 27 pages, 3 figures. v4: The vacuum solutions containing closed timelike curves are discussed. Accepted by Classical and Quantum Gravity
Concentration and Detection of Cryptosporidium Oocysts in Surface Water Samples by Method 1622 Using Ultrafiltration and Capsule Filtration
Creators: name: Francy, D. S.
name: Simmons, O. D.
name: Heaney, C. D.
name: Schaefer, F. W.
name: Sobsey, M. D.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2001

description: The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum is known to occur widely in both source and drinking water and has caused waterborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis. To improve monitoring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed method 1622 for isolation and detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in water. Method 1622 is performance based and involves filtration, concentration, immunomagnetic separation, fluorescent-antibody staining and 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) counterstaining, and microscopic evaluation. The capsule filter system currently recommended for method 1622 was compared to a hollow-fiber ultrafilter system for primary concentration of C. parvum oocysts in seeded reagent water and untreated surface waters. Samples were otherwise processed according to method 1622. Rates of C. parvum oocyst recovery from seeded 10-liter volumes of reagent water in precision and recovery experiments with filter pairs were 42% (standard deviation [SD], 24%) and 46% (SD, 18%) for hollow-fiber ultrafilters and capsule filters, respectively. Mean oocyst recovery rates in experiments testing both filters on seeded surface water samples were 42% (SD, 27%) and 15% (SD, 12%) for hollow-fiber ultrafilters and capsule filters, respectively. Although C. parvum oocysts were recovered from surface waters by using the approved filter of method 1622, the recovery rates were significantly lower and more variable than those from reagent grade water. In contrast, the disposable hollow-fiber ultrafilter system was compatible with subsequent method 1622 processing steps, and it recovered C. parvum oocysts from seeded surface waters with significantly greater efficiency and reliability than the filter suggested for use in the version of method 1622 tested.
Canine-Assisted Therapy in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Scoping Review
Creators: name: Hemangi Narvekar
name: Harshada Narayan Narvekar
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Mental and Social Health
subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences
subject: Psychiatry and Psychology
subject: Psychology
subject: FOS: Psychology
subject: Animal Studies
subject: Medicine and Health Sciences
subject: Animal-Assisted Therapy
subject: Canine-Assisted Therapy
subject: Neurodevelopmental Disorders

description: Complementary therapies such as Animal-Assisted Therapy has become popular in children with neurodevelopmental disorders both to motivate them to adhere to the course of treatment and to improve their symptomatic condition. But despite the use of animal-assisted therapy and its’ likely popularization through studies and other anecdotes, the major focus of the animal-assisted therapies has been the children with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Therefore it is imperative to understand and review the existing literature on various therapeutic benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy in other subtypes of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
Low-Pressure UV Inactivation and DNA Repair Potential of Cryptosporidium parvum Oocysts
Creators: name: Shin, G.-A.
name: Sobsey, M. D.
name: Linden, K. G.
name: Arrowood, M. J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2001

description: Because Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts are very resistant to conventional water treatment processes, including chemical disinfection, we determined the kinetics and extent of their inactivation by monochromatic, low-pressure (LP), mercury vapor lamp UV radiation and their subsequent potential for DNA repair of UV damage. A UV collimated-beam apparatus was used to expose suspensions of purified C. parvum oocysts in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.3, at 25°C to various doses of monochromatic LP UV. C. parvum infectivity reductions were rapid, approximately first order, and at a dose of 3 mJ/cm2 (=30 J/m2), the reduction reached the cell culture assay detection limit of ∼3 log10. At UV doses of 1.2 and 3 mJ/cm2, the log10 reductions of C. parvum oocyst infectivity were not significantly different for control oocysts and those exposed to dark or light repair conditions for UV-induced DNA damage. These results indicate that C. parvum oocysts are very sensitive to inactivation by low doses of monochromatic LP UV radiation and that there is no phenotypic evidence of either light or dark repair of UV-induced DNA damage.
Large-Area Bacteria Colony Tracking for Long-Term Studies of Antibiotic Resistance using CRISPR
Creators: name: Pandey, Santosh
name: Park, Yunsoo
name: Phillips, Gregory
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: Agricultural biotechnology diagnostics (incl. biosensors)
Agricultural biotechnology not elsewhere classified
Medical biotechnology not elsewhere classified
Nanomedicine
Regenerative medicine (incl. stem cells)
Medical biotechnology diagnostics (incl. biosensors)
Chemical engineering design
Food engineering
Powder and particle technology
Food chemistry and food sensory science
Food sustainability
Food technology
Food safety, traceability, certification and authenticity
Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified
Enzymes
Cellular interactions (incl. adhesion, matrix, cell wall)

description: Bacterial populations grown in a lab environment are typically seen as homogeneous in terms of growth rate, size, and content. However, recent findings have shown that even during exponential growth phase, these cells can be heterogeneous. This has important consequences for how bacteria respond to stressors such as antibiotics. For example, the concept of antimicrobial persistence is linked to a small subpopulation of cells that enter a dormant state where antibiotics are no longer effective. While methods exist for identifying non-growing cells in bacterial cultures, less attention has been paid to how these cells may affect growth on solid surfaces. To address this, a low-cost, open-source platform has been developed to analyze bacterial colony growth on multiple agar plates simultaneously. The system includes a temperature-controlled chamber, high-resolution scanner, and software for extracting and plotting colony lag time and growth kinetics. The system was tested using a wild-type strain of E. coli and has the potential to provide new insights into understanding the impact of microbial heterogeneity on antibiotic resistance and persistence.
 S. Pandey, Yunsoo Park, Ankita Ankita, Gregory J. Phillips, Scan4CFU: Low-cost, open-source bacterial colony tracking over large areas and extended incubation times, HardwareX, Volume 10, 2021, e00249,
 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2021.e00249.
 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067221000791)
High Order Finite Difference Methods on Non-uniform Meshes for Space Fractional Operators
Creators: name: Zhao, Lijing
name: Deng, Weihua
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: In the past decades, the finite difference methods for space fractional operators develop rapidly; to the best of our knowledge, all the existing finite difference schemes, including the first and high order ones, just work on uniform meshes. The nonlocal property of space fractional operator makes it difficult to design the finite difference scheme on non-uniform meshes. This paper provides a basic strategy to derive the first and high order discretization schemes on non-uniform meshes for fractional operators. And the obtained first and second schemes on non-uniform meshes are used to solve space fractional diffusion equations. The error estimates and stability analysis are detailedly performed; and extensive numerical experiments confirm the theoretical analysis or verify the convergence orders.
description: 42 pages, 8 figures
Nonlinear Topological Mechanics in Elliptically Geared Isostatic Metamaterials
Creators: name: Ma, Fangyuan
name: Tang, Zheng
name: Shi, Xiaotian
name: Wu, Ying
name: Yang, Jinkyu
name: Zhou, Di
name: Yao, Yugui
name: Li, Feng
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Despite the extensive studies of topological systems, the experimental characterizations of strongly nonlinear topological phases have been lagging. To address this shortcoming, we design and build elliptically geared isostatic metamaterials. Their nonlinear topological transitions can be realized by collective soliton motions, which stem from the transition of nonlinear Berry phase. Endowed by the intrinsic nonlinear topological mechanics, surface polar elasticity and dislocation-bound zero modes can be created or annihilated as the topological polarization reverses orientation. Our approach integrates topological physics with strongly nonlinear mechanics and promises multi-phase structures at the micro and macro scales.
description: 5+19 pages, 4+20 figures
Origin of Quantum Noise and Decoherence in Distributed Amplifiers
Creators: name: Franson, J. D.
name: Kirby, B. T.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The use of distributed amplifiers may have some potential advantages for the transmission of quantum information through optical fibers. In addition to the quantum noise introduced by the amplifiers, entanglement between atoms in the amplifying media and the optical field corresponds to which-path information that can further reduce the coherence. Here we analyze the effects of decoherence in a phase-insensitive distributed amplifier by using perturbation theory to calculate the state of the entire system including the atomic media. For an initial coherent state, tracing over the atomic states allows the reduced density matrix of the field to be expressed as a mixture of squeezed states with a reduced spread in photon number and an increased phase uncertainty. The amplifier noise and decoherence can be interpreted as being due to entanglement with the environment rather than the amplification of vacuum fluctuation noise.
description: 11 pages, 7 figures
The Effect of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens attR Mutation on Attachment and Root Colonization Differs between Legumes and Other Dicots
Creators: name: McMahan, S.
name: Matthysse, A. G.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2001

description: Infections of wound sites on dicot plants by Agrobacterium tumefaciens result in the formation of crown gall tumors. An early step in tumor formation is bacterial attachment to the plant cells. AttR mutants failed to attach to wound sites of both legumes and nonlegumes and were avirulent on both groups of plants. AttR mutants also failed to attach to the root epidermis and root hairs of nonlegumes and had a markedly reduced ability to colonize the roots of these plants. However, AttR mutants were able to attach to the root epidermis and root hairs of alfalfa, garden bean, and pea. The mutant showed little reduction in its ability to colonize these roots. Thus, A. tumefaciens appears to possess two systems for binding to plant cells. One system is AttR dependent and is required for virulence on all of the plants tested and for colonization of the roots of all of the plants tested except legumes. Attachment to root hairs through this system can be blocked by the acetylated capsular polysaccharide. The second system is AttR independent, is not inhibited by the acetylated capsular polysaccharide, and allows the bacteria to bind to the roots of legumes.
Genetic Characterization of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Cyanobacteria) Isolates from Diverse Geographic Origins Based on nifH and cpcBA-IGS Nucleotide Sequence Analysis
Creators: name: Neilan, B. A.
name: Paerl, H. W.
name: Dyble, J.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: Isolates of the toxic, N2-fixing species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii from various geographic locations were analyzed with respect to their genetic diversity based on the nifH and cpcBA-IGS genes. Gene sequences clustered according to their geographic origin, with the nifH sequences separating into European, Australian, and American groups and the cpcBA-IGS sequences separating into American and European or Australian groups. PCR primers for both genes were designed to exclusively amplify DNA from Cylindrospermopsis species, and an additional primer set for cpcBA-IGS was designed to specifically amplify the American C. raciborskii strains.
The Human Auditory System and Audio
Creators: name: Kunchur, Milind N.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Neurons and Cognition (q-bio.NC)
subject: Sound (cs.SD)
subject: Audio and Speech Processing (eess.AS)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering

description: This work reviews the human auditory system, elucidating some of the specialized mechanisms and non-linear pathways along the chain of events between physical sound and its perception. Customary relationships between frequency, time, and phase--such as the uncertainty principle--that hold for linear systems, do not apply straightforwardly to the hearing process. Auditory temporal resolution for certain processes can be a hundredth of the period of the signal, and can extend down to the microseconds time scale. The astonishingly large number of variations that correspond to the neural excitation pattern of 30000 auditory nerve fibers, originating from 3500 inner hair cells, explicates the vast capacity of the auditory system for the resolution of sonic detail. And the ear is sensitive enough to detect a basilar-membrane amplitude at the level of a picometer, or about a hundred times smaller than an atom. This article surveys and provides new insights into some of the impressive capabilities of the human auditory system and explores their relationship to fidelity in reproduced sound.
description: 32 pages, 22 figures, 19 equations, 218 cited references
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION’S      ANTI- TRAFFICKING POLICIES
Creators: name: Heinrichs, Nicole Carleen
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2023

description: Human Trafficking is a heinous crime that violates the victim’s human rights and deprives them of their freedoms. It is a prolific form of organized crime that takes place all over the world and has only become more difficult to stop as the industry has become digitized both in the sale and recruitment of the victims. The European Union, like the rest of the world, is struggling with how to tackle the issue and protect its member’s citizens and their immigrants. Prior to 2011, the EU was not very involved in trafficking policies and each state had an individualized approach on tackling human trafficking. After 2011, the EU decided to act and created directives to prevent and combat human trafficking within the European Union. The question is are these anti-trafficking policies effective at reducing human trafficking? To determine this, I will analyze the laws and policies implemented by the EU and see if their policies are effective by studying one of their member states and their current status in regard to preventing human trafficking.
title: A framework for developing and deploying business-to-business virtual communities
Creators: name: Tickle, Matthew
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2023

description: The last decade has seen a growing interest in virtual communities (VCs) as a way of transferring and generating knowledge within organisations (Michaelides et al., 2010). The MySpace phenomenon and the increased use of VCs by large international organisations such as IBM and Procter and Gamble (P&G) confirms the importance of VCs in today's society and the global economy. The holistic approach of using modern Internet tools and technologies with social networks presents both opportunities and challenges in the modern era (Tickle et al., 2007). A VC can be defined as a community of people with a common interest but not necessarily a common geographic location (Sands, 2003). In their most basic form, VCs are websites that allow their users to interact with each other using tools such as discussion forums, 'Blog Spaces', real-time chat and trading areas. VCs allow companies to build stronger, more cost-effective connections between themselves, their partners and their customers (Roberts, 2006). If planned and executed correctly, VCs can benefit businesses by improving resource allocation, customer service and revenues, as well as lowering operating costs. Furthermore, VCs can act as bridges between companies and their customers by fostering product awareness, providing forums for questions and concerns and serving as conduits for feedback to improve future company products. It is therefore imperative that companies embrace business-to-business (B2B) VCs in order for them to remain competitive. Despite the benefits there are numerous challenges that stand to impede the success of each VC; the landscape is littered with VC projects that have failed to meet their expectations due to poor decision making at the development and subsequent deployment stages (Roberts, 2006). This research uses four qualitative case studies to create a holistic Framework with the aim of aiding practitioners wishing to develop and deploy their own B2B VCs. The Framework highlights the various decisions that must be made during the lifecycle of a VC before emphasising each decision's respective consequences. Contrary to common belief, this research has found that the technological aspect of a VC's development and deployment is not the most important factor - it is, in fact, the establishment of a community culture that dictates the success of a B2B VC.
Politics and poetics in post-9/11 US and UK fiction, 2003–2008
Creators: name: Hazazi, Mohammad
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 199999 Studies in the Creative Arts and Writing not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Arts (arts, history of arts, performing arts, music)

description: In this thesis I aim to make a distinctive contribution to the growing body of scholarship on the post-9/11 Anglophone novel. In each of four main chapters, which follow a substantial Introduction that seeks to contextualise the case studies to come by examining political, military, philosophical and artistic responses to the attacks and their aftermath, I offer analysis of two texts taken from either US or UK fiction. My principal intentions are twofold: firstly, to offer a multifaceted assessment of the post-9/11 novel, identifying some of its most significant formal and thematic variants and evaluating the ideological implications of these; secondly, to engage dialogically with the existing critical archive, for example by assessing the argument of Richard Gray and others that post-9/11 novels have tended – with politically regressive effects – to ‘domesticate’ their deeply troubling subject matter.    	The sequence of chapters is designed to move successively outwards from the events of September 11th. Thus, Chapter One is concerned with novelistic responses to the destruction of the Twin Towers itself, and it takes as its case studies Falling Man (2007) by Don DeLillo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005) by Jonathan Safran Foer. Chapters Two and Three are both concerned with fictional assessments of the impact of 9/11 and its aftermath upon particular population groups. In Chapter Two I explore representations of the post-9/11 condition of the ‘white privileged’, using as my examples Saturday (2005) by Ian McEwan and The Emperor’s Children (2006) by Claire Messud; while in Chapter Three, in readings of Netherland (2008) by Joseph O’Neill and Brick Lane (2003) by Monica Ali, I explore subaltern or marginal perspectives that have often struggled for representational and discursive power in the face of hegemonic Western responses to 9/11. Chapter Four builds upon the preceding chapter by focusing upon representations of the figure of the terrorist himself and assessing what The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) by Mohsin Hamid and Terrorist (2006) by John Updike have to tell us about Islamic radicalisation in the modern era. These last two case studies also allow us to consider the historical and geographical range of the post-9/11 novel, since they resist interpretation of the events of September 11th as singular and localised happenings (an unfortunate tendency that is reinforced in much of the official response to 9/11).
LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF ANDROGEN RECEPTOR SIGNALING INHIBITORS ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN MEN WITH ADVANCED PROSTATE CANCER
Creators: name: Blount, Sarah
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2023

description: Androgen receptor signaling inhibitors (ARSI) have been shown to decrease the incidence of death in those with metastatic prostate cancer (mPC). Those with mPC treated with ARSI are first treated using androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). ADT is associated with declines in quality of life (QoL) and physical function. It is unknown how ARSI exacerbate these declines associated with ADT over time. Exercise interventions have been effective in lessening declines in QoL and physical function in those with prostate cancer being treated with ADT. However, less is known how exercise plays a role in lessening these declines in those who are in a more progressive disease state.  For participants that completed the baseline and 12-week follow-up (n=6), there was seen to be a clinically significant decrease in functional assessment of cancer treatment-prostate (FACT-P) (MD= -11.8, 95% CI -21.0, -2.5, d=1.01; p= 0.056) and Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT-F) (MD=-3.95, 95% CI -8.01, 0.11, d=0.779; p=0.115). There was no significant difference in the other patient-reported outcomes, nor were there any statistically significant differences in body composition, muscle quality, or muscle cross-sectional area. Preliminary results reveal that there are some changes possibly occurring, but more research needs to be done to confirm these initial findings.
Large-Area Bacteria Colony Tracking for Long-Term Studies of Antibiotic Resistance using CRISPR
Creators: name: Pandey, Santosh
name: Park, Yunsoo
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: Agricultural biotechnology diagnostics (incl. biosensors)
Agricultural biotechnology not elsewhere classified
Medical biotechnology not elsewhere classified
Nanomedicine
Regenerative medicine (incl. stem cells)
Medical biotechnology diagnostics (incl. biosensors)
Chemical engineering design
Food engineering
Powder and particle technology
Food chemistry and food sensory science
Food sustainability
Food technology
Food safety, traceability, certification and authenticity
Biochemistry and cell biology not elsewhere classified
Enzymes
Cellular interactions (incl. adhesion, matrix, cell wall)

description: Bacterial populations grown in a lab environment are typically seen as homogeneous in terms of growth rate, size, and content. However, recent findings have shown that even during exponential growth phase, these cells can be heterogeneous. This has important consequences for how bacteria respond to stressors such as antibiotics. For example, the concept of antimicrobial persistence is linked to a small subpopulation of cells that enter a dormant state where antibiotics are no longer effective. While methods exist for identifying non-growing cells in bacterial cultures, less attention has been paid to how these cells may affect growth on solid surfaces. To address this, a low-cost, open-source platform has been developed to analyze bacterial colony growth on multiple agar plates simultaneously. The system includes a temperature-controlled chamber, high-resolution scanner, and software for extracting and plotting colony lag time and growth kinetics. The system was tested using a wild-type strain of E. coli and has the potential to provide new insights into understanding the impact of microbial heterogeneity on antibiotic resistance and persistence.
 S. Pandey, Yunsoo Park, Ankita Ankita, Gregory J. Phillips, Scan4CFU: Low-cost, open-source bacterial colony tracking over large areas and extended incubation times, HardwareX, Volume 10, 2021, e00249,
 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2021.e00249.
 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468067221000791)
On the kurtosis of deep-water gravity waves
Creators: name: Fedele, Francesco
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper, we revisit Janssen's (2003) formulation for the dynamic excess kurtosis of weakly nonlinear gravity waves at deep water. For narrowband directional spectra, the formulation is given by a sixfold integral that depends upon the Benjamin-Feir index and the parameter $R=σ_θ^{2}/2ν^{2}$, a measure of short-crestedness for the dominant waves with $ν$ and $σ_θ$} denoting spectral bandwidth and angular spreading. Our refinement leads to a new analytical solution for the dynamic kurtosis of narrowband directional waves described with a Gaussian type spectrum. For multidirectional or short-crested seas initially homogenous and Gaussian, in a focusing (defocusing) regime dynamic kurtosis grows initially, attaining a positive maximum (negative minimum) at the intrinsic time scale \[ τ_{c}=ν^{2}ω_{0}t_{c}=1/\sqrt{3R},\qquad\mathrm{or}\qquad t_{c}/T_{0}\approx0.13/νσ_θ, \] where $ω_{0}=2π/T_{0}$ denotes the dominant angular frequency. Eventually the dynamic excess kurtosis tends monotonically to zero as the wave field reaches a quasi-equilibrium state characterized with nonlinearities mainly due to bound harmonics. Quasi-resonant interactions are dominant only in unidirectional or long-crested seas where the longer-time dynamic kurtosis can be larger than that induced by bound harmonics, especially as the Benjamin-Feir index increases. Finally, we discuss the implication of these results on the prediction of rogue waves.
Pulsar discovery prospect of FASTA
Creators: name: Xue, Mengyao
name: Zhu, Weiwei
name: Wu, Xiangping
name: Xu, Renxin
name: Wang, Hongguang
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) has discovered more than 650 new pulsars, which account for 20% of our known Galactic pulsar population. In this paper, we estimate the prospect of a pulsar survey with a radio telescope array to be planned -- the FAST Array (FASTA), consists of six "FAST-type" telescopes. Such a sensitive radio telescope array would be a powerful instrument in probing the pulsar population deep into our Galaxy as well as in nearby galaxies. We simulate the FASTA pulsar discovery prospects with different Galactic pulsar population models and instrumental parameter combinations. We find that FASTA could detect tens of thousands of canonical pulsars and well-over thousands of millisecond pulsars. We also estimate the potential yield if the FASTA is used to search for pulsars from the nearby spiral galaxy M31, and find that it would probably discover around a hundred new radio pulsars.
Behavioural equivalences for coalgebras with unobservable moves
Creators: name: Brengos, Tomasz
name: Miculan, Marino
name: Peressotti, Marco
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Logic in Computer Science (cs.LO)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: F.1.1

description: We introduce a general categorical framework for the definition of weak behavioural equivalences, building on and extending recent results in the field. This framework is based on parametrized saturation categories, i.e. categories whose hom-sets are endowed with complete orders and a suitable iteration operators; this structure allows us to provide the abstract definitions of various (weak) behavioural equivalence. We show that the Kleisli categories of many common monads are categories of this kind. This allows us to readily instantiate the abstract definitions to a wide range of existing systems (weighted LTS, Segala systems, calculi with names, etc.), recovering the corresponding notions of weak behavioural equivalences. Moreover, we can provide neatly new weak behavioural equivalences for more complex behaviours, like those definable on topological spaces, measurable spaces, etc.
Supplemental Material for Cooper et al. 2019
Creators: name: Cooper, Brandon S.
name: Vanderpool, Dan
name: Conner, William R.
name: Matute, Daniel R.
name: Turelli, Michael
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Genetics
subject: 60408 Genomics

description: Supplemental Information for Cooper et al. 2019.
Marine Aerosol Chemical Analysis from the Galápagos Islands During the Summers of 2017 to 2019
Creators: name: Romm, Matthew
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2023

description: Understanding marine aerosol formation under pristine conditions is vital to understanding the ocean-atmosphere system and developing global emission inventories. Research requires suitable sampling locations relatively free of non-marine influences. Studies are lacking in certain regions of the tropics such as the southeast Pacific. The island of San Cristóbal in the Galápagos is a potentially suitable location in this region. Samples were collected in July for the years 2017-2019. Results tended to suggest a pristine marine atmosphere. Interannual variability was found with a greater primary sea spray aerosol influence relative to secondary aerosols in 2017 and 2019 based on stronger correlations between sulfate and chloride, at 0.87 for 2017 and 0.56 for 2019 compared to 0.26 for 2018. This also suggests a difference based on wind direction since 2017 and 2019 had predominantly southeast winds, while 2018 had south winds. Elemental carbon showed a lack of variability, suggesting minimal local sources.
Bacterial Chemotaxis to Naphthalene Desorbing from a Nonaqueous Liquid
Creators: name: Law, A. M. J.
name: Aitken, M. D.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2003

description: Bacterial chemotaxis has the potential to increase the rate of degradation of chemoattractants, but its influence on degradation of hydrophobic attractants initially dissolved in a non-aqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) has not been examined. We studied the effect of chemotaxis by Pseudomonas putida G7 on naphthalene mass transfer and degradation in a system in which the naphthalene was dissolved in a model NAPL. Chemotaxis by wild-type P. putida G7 increased the rates of naphthalene desorption and degradation relative to rates observed with nonchemotactic and nonmotile mutant strains. While biodegradation alone influenced the rate of substrate desorption by increasing the concentration gradient against which desorption occurred, chemotaxis created an even steeper gradient as the cells accumulated near the NAPL source. The extent to which chemotaxis affected naphthalene desorption and degradation depended on the initial bacterial and naphthalene concentrations, reflecting the influences of these variables on concentration gradients and on the relative rates of mass transfer and biodegradation. The results of this study suggest that chemotaxis can substantially increase the rates of mass transfer and degradation of NAPL-associated hydrophobic pollutants.
Functions conditionally of negative type on groups acting on regular trees
Creators: name: Gournay, Antoine
name: Jolissaint, Pierre-Nicolas
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Group Theory (math.GR)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 20J06, 20E08, 22D10, 43A65

description: Let $\mathcal{T}_{q+1}$ be the $(q+1)$-regular tree and let $G$ be a group of automorphisms acting transitively on the vertices and on the boundary of $\mathcal{T}_{q+1}$. We give an upper bound for the growth of cocycles with values in any unitary representation of the group $G$. This bound is optimal by projecting the Haagerup cocycle onto an appropriate subspace of $\ell^{2}(E)$. We also obtain a description of functions conditionally of negative type which are unbounded.