cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Promoting democracy and human rights in North African states: which role for the European Union?
Creators: name: Giglio, Lidia
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2011
Subjects: democratisation
North Africa
European Union

description: Second semester University: Université Libre de Bruxelles
description: Revolts and political changes occurred in North African States in the general context of the so-called “Arab spring” since the end of 2010 constitutes an opportunity to start a rethinking about EU democracy promotion activities carried out in North African States so far. Official documents concerning EU relations with its Southern Mediterranean partners are full of references to “democracy”, “human rights” and the “rule of law” as core values to be supported in the framework of cooperation with North African States. But what is the concrete meaning of this EU commitment? And how declared objectives have been translated into coherent sub-strategies? The aim of this thesis is the one of exposing the EU democracy and human rights policy towards North African States to an empirical enquiry which looks at concrete projects implemented in Morocco, Egypt, Lybia, Tunisia and Algeria under two main instruments: the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). The combined use of qualitative and quantitative indicators to assess the nature of democracy and human rights-related projects shows that EU patterns of action towards North African states have been chiefly characterized by a sort of “economic first” approach under the ENP and by a rather “gradualist” tendency under the EIDHR.
Behind closed doors? : detention of irregular migrants, human rights violations and monitoring mechanisms
Creators: name: Caruso, Maria Elena
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2010
Subjects: detention
human rights monitoring
human rights violations
irregular migrations

description: Second semester University: Utrecht University.
description: This study investigates the human rights implications of the administrative detention of irregular migrants within the European Union and looks for a possible way to prevent violations in detention centres, with a specific attention on torture and inhumane and degrading treatment. It examines, first of all, the European policies on fight against irregular migration, putting in evidence eventual gaps between theoretical standards of respect of human rights and practical policies, tending to criminalize irregular migrants. It focuses, in particular, on European policies on migrant detention, analysing the legal framework at the European level and drawing a general overview of the detention centres in Europe. Then, the study pays specific attention to the human rights implications of migrant detention: it examines the standards for the protection of migrants’ rights States are bound to respect and analyses the human rights violations that can occur in detention centres, with a particular focus on torture and ill treatment both regarding condition of detention and return procedures. It shows, finally, how monitoring place of detention through a system of periodic visits, both at national and international level, can have an added value to assure respect of fundamental rights for migrants in administrative detention.
A model-based approach to automated validation and generation of PLC code for manufacturing equipment in regulated environments
Creators: name: McCarthy, Damian
name: McMorrow, Dermot
name: O'Dowd, Noel
name: Mc Carthy, Conor
name: HINCHY, EOIN
Publisher: name: University of Limerick
Year: 2023
Subjects: Engineering

description: Validation is a critical stage of the equipment design process as it provides documentary evidence that the equipment is performing as per specification and ensures consistent product quality is maintained at all times. The advent of Industry 4.0 has led to a requirement for reconfigurable manufacturing systems as manufacturers adapt to an increased customer demand for personalised products. As equipment control software becomes increasingly complex to accommodate these equirements, a new approach to equipment validation is required. This paper presents a methodology for the design and validation of equipment in regulated manufacturing environments, using a model-based design platform (MathWorks® Simulink®) to model and digitally validate the Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) code required to control manufacturing equipment. A workflow is presented detailing the steps required to implement this approach and a demonstration model was developed as a proof of concept. Validation documentation and PLC code are automatically generated based on the system model and the functionality of the generated PLC code was successfully verified on a physical demonstrator, proving the feasibility of the proposed approach. Adoption of the approach outlined in this work would enable manufacturers in regulated industries, such as medical devices and pharmaceutical products, to rapidly design, build, reconfigure and revalidate manufacturing equipment as required to accommodate an increased demand for customised products.
Unsupervised Learning of the Phase Transitions for 2D Ising and Potts Models
Creators: name: Hu, Yi
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2019

description: Our study explores and evaluates the application of unsupervised learning for identifying phase transitions in different lattice spin systems, with a focus on the principal component analysis (PCA). The phase transitions of the Ising model and the Potts models with 2, 3, 5, and 10 states in 2D are studied in terms of lattice size and sample space for temperatures. I successfully identified the phase transition temperature using PCA by analyzing the explained variance ratios and lower-dimensional projections.
Hereditarily valuable children : from Himmler’s “fount of life” association to present-day preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Creators: name: Vogt, Kira
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2014
Subjects: bioethics
genetics

description: Second semester University: New University of Lisbon.
description: Eugenics, the idea of improving the quality of humankind, have been discussed since the times of Plato and Aristotle. During the Third Reich, the National-Socalists used eugenic practices to increase the population of their “master race” and, at the same time, prevent “inferior races” from reproducing. In addition to “marriage fitness certificates” granted only to persons without hereditary diseases, positive eugenics involved the creation of the secret SS association Lebensborn e.V. (“fount of life”). Lebensborn nursing homes were opened in order to discourage single “Aryan” women from aborting hereditarily healthy children of “precious German blood” and to provide them with pre- and post-natal care. As this was not enough to balance the losses in population suffered during the war, children of “Nordic blood” were kidnapped from the occupied Eastern territories and subjected to strict “Germanisation” measures. While the collapse of the Third Reich put an end to the operations, they often left the children scarred for life. The recent developments in modern medicine, with the possibility to screen for hereditary diseases in embryos, have relaunched a heated discussion whether it is ethical to use eugenics. In Germany, the partial legalisation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis is controversial, not only with regard to conformity with the Basic Law, but also in consideration of the National-Socalist abuse of eugenics.
Background subtraction methods for precision measurements of di-hadron and jet-hadron correlations in heavy ion collisions
Creators: name: Sharma, Natasha
name: Mazer, Joel
name: Stuart, Meghan
name: Nattrass, Christine
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Di-hadron correlations and jet-hadron correlations are frequently used to study interactions of the Quark Gluon Plasma with the hard partons that form jets. The existing background subtraction methods for these studies depend on several assumptions and independent measurements of the Fourier coefficients of the combinatorial background. In this paper, we present two background subtraction methods which use the observation that the near-side correlation signal is negligible for large separations between the associated particle and the trigger. The combinatorial background is fit in this background-dominated region. Including the reaction plane dependence of the raw correlation improves these results. To test the accuracy of these methods, a simple model is used to simulate di-hadron and jet-hadron correlations with a combinatorial background similar to that observed in the data. The true signal is compared to the extracted signal. The results are compared to results from two variants of the Zero-Yield-At-Minimum (ZYAM) method. We test these methods for mid-peripheral and central collisions and for di-hadron and jet-hadron correlations. These methods are more precise than the ZYAM method with fewer assumptions about the shape and level of the combinatorial background, even in central collisions where the experimental resolution on the measurement of the reaction plane dependence is poor. These methods will allow more accurate studies of modifications of the away-side jet and will be particularly useful for studies of jet-hadron correlations, where the combinatorial background is poorly constrained from previous studies.
description: Submitted to PRC
High-resolution hybrid simulations of kinetic plasma turbulence at proton scales
Creators: name: Franci, Luca
name: Landi, Simone
name: Matteini, Lorenzo
name: Verdini, Andrea
name: Hellinger, Petr
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate properties of plasma turbulence from magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) to sub-ion scales by means of two-dimensional, high-resolution hybrid particle-in-cell simulations. We impose an initial ambient magnetic field, perpendicular to the simulation box, and we add a spectrum of large-scale magnetic and kinetic fluctuations, with energy equipartition and vanishing correlation. Once the turbulence is fully developed, we observe a MHD inertial range, where the spectra of the perpendicular magnetic field and the perpendicular proton bulk velocity fluctuations exhibit power-law scaling with spectral indices of -5/3 and -3/2, respectively. This behavior is extended over a full decade in wavevectors and is very stable in time. A transition is observed around proton scales. At sub-ion scales, both spectra steepen, with the former still following a power law with a spectral index of ~-3. A -2.8 slope is observed in the density and parallel magnetic fluctuations, highlighting the presence of compressive effects at kinetic scales. The spectrum of the perpendicular electric fluctuations follows that of the proton bulk velocity at MHD scales, and flattens at small scales. All these features, which we carefully tested against variations of many parameters, are in good agreement with solar wind observations. The turbulent cascade leads to on overall proton energization with similar heating rates in the parallel and perpendicular directions. While the parallel proton heating is found to be independent on the resistivity, the number of particles per cell and the resolution employed, the perpendicular proton temperature strongly depends on these parameters.
description: 15 pages, 13 figures, submitted to ApJ
Next generation nitric oxide-releasing polyurethane membranes for implantable glucose biosensors
Creators: name: Wang, Xingzhi
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2018

description: Herein, fabrication of polyurethane glucose sensor membranes doped with next generation biocompatible macromolecular nitric oxide-releasing scaffolds (hyperbranched polyesters, hyperbranched polyurethanes, alginate) was reported. Nitric oxide-releasing S-nitrosothiol-modified hyperbranched polyesters-doped membranes achieved extended nitric oxide-release (> 48 h) and promising in vitro sensor performance (sensitivity 20.9 nA/mM, linear dynamic range 0 – 15 mM). Nitric oxide-releasing N-diazeniumdiolate-modified hyperbranched polyurethanes-doped membranes showed desirable smooth membrane morphology, but had relatively limited nitric oxide-releasing duration (up to 18 h) and half-life (~ 0.4 h). Nitric oxide-releasing N-diazeniumdiolate-modified alginate-doped membranes showed significantly longer nitric oxide-releasing half-life (~ 1.2 h) with hyperbranched polyurethanes, but their nitric oxide-releasing duration (< 20 h) was still limited. Challenges for future studies on this subject lie in extending the nitric oxide-releasing lifetimes of the membranes and obtaining more control over the nitric oxide-release kinetics.
Nematic antiferromagnetic states in bulk FeSe
Creators: name: Liu, Kai
name: Lu, Zhong-Yi
name: Xiang, Tao
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We revisit bulk FeSe through the systematic first-principles electronic structure calculations. We find that there are a series of staggered $n$-mer antiferromagnetic (AFM) states with corresponding energies below that of the collinear AFM state which is the ground state for the parent compounds of most iron-based superconductors. Here the staggered $n$-mer ($n$ any integer $>1$) means that a set of $n$ adjacent spins parallel on a line along $b$-axis with spins in antiparallel between $n$-mers and along $a$-axis. Among them, the lowest energy states are quasi-degenerate staggered dimer and staggered trimer AFM states as well as their any staggered combinations. Thus, to have the largest entropy to minimize the free energy at low temperature, the most favorable state is such a quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet in which along $b$-axis a variety of $n$-mers, mostly dimers and trimers, are randomly antiparallel aligned while along $a$-axis spins are antiparallel aligned, i.e. actually a nematic paramagnet. This finding accounts well for the absence of long-range magnetic order in bulk FeSe and meanwhile indicates the dominant stripe spin fluctuation and the nematicity as spin-driven.
description: 6 pages and 3 figures with Supplementary Materials
Big Data Privacy in Emerging Market Fintech and Financial Services: A Research Agenda
Creators: name: Blumenstock, Joshua E.
name: Kohli, Nitin
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The data revolution in low- and middle-income countries is quickly transforming how companies approach emerging markets. As mobile phones and mobile money proliferate, they generate new streams of data that enable innovation in consumer finance, credit, and insurance. Already, this new generation of products are being used by hundreds of millions of consumers, often to use financial services for the first time. However, the collection, analysis, and use of these data, particularly from economically disadvantaged populations, raises serious privacy concerns. This white paper describes a research agenda to advance our understanding of the problem and solution space of data privacy in emerging market fintech and financial services. We highlight five priority areas for research: conducting comprehensive landscape analyses; understanding local definitions of ``data privacy''; documenting key sources of risk, and potential technical solutions (such as differential privacy and homomorphic encryption); improving non-technical approaches to data privacy (such as policies and practices); and understanding the tradeoffs involved in deploying privacy-enhancing solutions. Taken together, we hope this research agenda will focus attention on the multi-faceted nature of privacy in emerging markets, and catalyze efforts to develop responsible and consumer-oriented approaches to data-intensive applications.
Frontex: from border controller to guarantor of migrants’ rights? The Spanish case
Creators: name: Yarza Jordano, Lucía
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2018
Subjects: Europe
boundaries
migrations
smuggling
Spain

description: Second semester University: University of Hamburg
description: In recent years, Europe has faced a great increase in arrivals to its shores and thus, the challenge to balance border security and human security. As the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex is responsible for the surveillance of Europe’s external borders and the earliest entity performing the first assessment to migrants. This following study examines whether or not and to which extent, Frontex has developed its mandate to guarantee migrants’ rights during operations in the Western Mediterranean and African routes and uses Spain as a case study. The first part of this research analyzes the legal framework of Frontex, the improvements achieved with new adopted regulations and its collaboration with Spain. The second part frames human smuggling, one of the main concerns in Europe’s security agenda, and presents the mechanisms utilized by Frontex to counter it. The third part examines the case of Spain, its legal framework in operations and the trainings provided to border guard to guarantee that they perform their activities in accordance with fundamental rights and the moral obligations of the EU. This study will claim that taking into account the findings, Frontex has indeed improved its human rights assessment during operations hosted by Spain. However, further strategies should be implemented to enhance Frontex’ accountability and hence, find the complete balance between border and human security. Keywords: Frontex, migrant, border management, human smuggling, human rights, border guards, Spain.
Epithemia guettingerii Lobban & J. S. Park 2018, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Park, Joon Sang
name: Lobban, Christopher S.
name: Lee, Kyun-Woo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Chromista
Ochrophyta
Bacillariophyceae
Rhopalodiales
Rhopalodiaceae
Epithemia
Epithemia guettingerii

description: Epithemia guettingerii (Krammer) Lobban & J.S. Park, comb. nov.
Basionym: Rhopalodia guettingerii Krammer, Nova Hedwigia 47, p. 168, figs 129–138, 1988.
description: Published as part of Park, Joon Sang, Lobban, Christopher S. & Lee, Kyun-Woo, 2018, Diatoms associated with seaweeds from Moen Island in Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia, pp. 101-140 in Phytotaxa 351 (2) on page 134, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.351.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/13707182
Fighting impunity: should the international community create an ad hoc criminal tribunal to prosecute violations of international law in Syria?
Creators: name: Trevisani, Catia
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2018
Subjects: Syria
international criminal law
international criminal tribunals
armed conflict
human rights violations
impunity

description: Second semester University: National University of Ireland, Galway
description: Within the complex and contemporary Syrian armed conflict, the aim of this thesis will be to understand the possibilities to establish a juridical mechanism in order to prosecute responsible for international violations and crimes committed since the beginning in 2011. This issue will be analysed through an analytical path. Starting from a brief examination of the main events and main actors involved, a classification of the non-international Syrian armed conflict will be provided. Afterwards, through investigations of international crimes by the United Nations Mechanisms, namely, the Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI) and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), an evaluation of the contemporary juridical and quasi-juridical instruments will be reported. The Syrian armed conflict case is characterised by the interplay relations among diplomatic, economic, international and political affairs that affect the possibility to fight against impunity through juridical apparatus in order to deal with those responsible for atrocities committed.
Andika Carsya Nafebra
Creators: name: nafebra, Andika
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022

description: G-Shock adalah merek jam tangan yang diproduksi oleh Casio, dikenal karena ketahanannya terhadap guncangan seperti benturan keras dan getaran kuat. Negara Jepang Diluncurkan 1983 Merek terkait Arloji Pasar Seluruh dunia Merek dagang terdaftar di G-Shock
Barrel time-of-flight detector for the PANDA experiment at FAIR
Creators: name: Gruber, L.
name: Brunner, S. E.
name: Marton, J.
name: Orth, H.
name: Suzuki, K.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The barrel time-of-flight detector for the PANDA experiment at FAIR is foreseen as a Scintillator Tile (SciTil) Hodoscope based on several thousand small plastic scintillator tiles read-out with directly attached Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs). The main tasks of the system are an accurate determination of the time origin of particle tracks to avoid event mixing at high collission rates, relative time-of-flight measurements as well as particle identification in the low momentum regime. The main requirements are the use of a minimum material amount and a time resolution of $σ< 100\,\mathrm{ps}$. We have performed extensive optimization studies and prototype tests to prove the feasibility of the SciTil design and finalize the R&D phase. In a 2.7 GeV/c proton beam at Forschungszentrum Jülich a time resolution of about 80 ps has been achieved using SiPMs from KETEK and Hamamatsu with an active area of $3\times3\,\mathrm{mm^2}$. Employing the Digital Photon Counter from Philips a time resolution of about 30 ps has been reached.
Dynamics of phase slips in systems with time-periodic modulation
Creators: name: Gandhi, Punit
name: Knobloch, Edgar
name: Beaume, Cédric
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The Adler equation with time-periodic frequency modulation is studied. A series of resonances between the period of the frequency modulation and the time scale for the generation of a phase slip is identified. The resulting parameter space structure is determined using a combination of numerical continuation, time simulations and asymptotic methods. Regions with an integer number of phase slips per period are separated by regions with noninteger numbers of phase slips, and include canard trajectories that drift along unstable equilibria. Both high and low frequency modulation is considered. An adiabatic description of the low frequency modulation regime is found to be accurate over a large range of modulation periods.
description: 37 pages, 21 figures
Open wounds can’t heal : challenging Spain’s Pact of Oblivion in today’s consolidated democracy
Creators: name: Lopez Gorrixto, Magdalena
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2015
Subjects: civil war
democracy
democratisation
participatory democracy
transitional justice
Spain

description: Second semester University: Masaryk University, Brno.
description: The human rights abuses committed under Franco’s dictatorship have been silenced since time of the Spanish democratization process, in accordance with the transition agreement known as Pact of Oblivion. Nonexistent political will and shortage of judicial accountability have contributed to a constraint of truth, justice and reparation, and ensured that silence and lack of transitional justice has continued. This study encompasses a historical background of the Spanish Republic and Civil War in the first chapter as well as characteristics and repression methods of the Franco regime. The second and third chapters cover Spain’s democratization process and different transitional justice approaches from other countries, and finally the last chapter covers the current socio-political context that situates Spain in a momentum of change. This thesis aims to demonstrate that the narrative of the transition has created a culture of impunity which has caused a social perception of Spanish democracy as of low-quality; while it argues that socio-political changes over the country (including the 15M, the Argentinean Lawsuit and the emergence of political party Podemos, amongst others), have presented a regime change that wishes to leave behind the silence imposed on the country at Franco’s death, in order to attain a new participatory democracy. This thesis ultimately suggests that the current socio-political scenario creates an opportune surrounding for a change of Spain’s transitional justice approach, towards the inclusion of a Truth Commission.
Radical rights : framing freedom of expression and press freedom in the illiberal state: the case of Hungary
Creators: name: Hyving, Jacob
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2017
Subjects: right-wing extremists
freedom of expression
press and politics
freedom of information
democracy
liberalism
Hungary
hate speech

description: Second semester University:Masaryk University, Brno
description: Exploring political contestation at the intersection of human rights and democracy, this thesis examines discursive construction of freedom of speech and press freedom in Hungarian right-wing politics. Focusing on Jobbik-Fidesz interaction over rights framing, the study highlights radical right influence on mainstream discourse and interaction effects on the wider political environment. Actors' frames and framing strategies are analysed within their larger discursive context of meta narratives and master frames using methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). While Jobbik and Fidesz diverge in their framing of hate speech and the limits of freedom of expression, they meet in a common conceptualization of a guided press freedom, with serious implications for the functioning of independent media. It is further argued that Fidesz's appropriation of Jobbik master frames marks their radicalization, increasing radical right-mainstream border permeability and legitimizing radical right ideas and imagery in mainstream political discourse. Key words: Right-wing radicalism, freedom of expression, press freedom, liberal democracy, illiberalism, critical discourse analysis, Hungary.
title: Tubedown in the regulation of the P53 tumor suppressor pathway
Creators: name: Davidson, Cassandra
Publisher: name: Memorial University of Newfoundland
Year: 2019

description: Tubedown (TBDN) was initially discovered as a developmentally regulated protein, highly expressed during embryogenesis in neuroectodermal and mesenchymal lineages. TBDN is the regulatory subunit of the Nα-terminal acetyltransferase complex NatA, in conjunction with catalytic subunit Arrest-defective-1 protein (ARD1). In adulthood and aging, TBDN is involved in the regulation of retinal vascular permeability. It has been shown that TBDN is highly expressed in primitive bone tumors of mesenchymal and neuroectodermal origin, such as osteosarcoma (OS) and Ewing’s sarcoma (EWS). Previous work in our lab suggests: TBDN is required for tumor cell growth via regulation of p53 tumor suppression; and, aged mice overexpressing TBDN under the inducible endothelial/mesenchymal Tie2 promoter develop tumors in specific tissues. The focus of this study is to examine the role of TBDN in Ewing’s sarcoma and during aging in mice, specifically in relation to p53 tumor suppression, in order to better understand the role of Nα-terminal acetyltransferases in cancer and aging. The role of TBDN and ARD1 in the regulation of p53 levels and cell proliferation in Ewing’s sarcoma cells in vitro was studied using an siRNA knockdown approach. The role of TBDN during aging was studied in a bi-transgenic HHrtTAXK-TRE/HA-TBDN mouse model overexpressing TBDN under the Dox-inducible endothelial/mesenchymal Tie2 promoter. Ewing’s sarcoma cells knocked down for either TBDN or ARD1 expression showed upregulated p53 expression and reduced cell proliferation when compared to controls. The analysis of tumors collected from bi-transgenic HHrtTAXK-TRE/HA-TBDN aged mice overexpressing TBDN under the Tie2 promoter showed overexpression of TBDN in the cells and blood vessels of the tumors. TBDN overexpression in mice during aging resulted in suppressed p53 expression in comparison to control mice. My results suggest that TBDN dysregulation of the tumor suppressor p53 could be involved in facilitating tumor formation.
The Role of Non-muscle Myosin II in Detachment-induced Cell Rounding
Creators: name: Zhu, James
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2016

description: The majority of mammalian cells used by researchers are grown and studied while attached to flat surfaces, resulting in a flat morphology. Although cells grow well and are easy to handle when attached to rigid surfaces, cells in vivo live within flexible three-dimensional matrices and often develop different morphologies compared to cells in a petri dish. In particular, stem cells and cells undergoing division are much more round in shape. Although researchers routinely cause cell rounding by detaching cells with trypsin as a part of standard tissue culture protocol, the process of cell rounding has not been extensively studied. Here, we study the roles of non-muscle myosin II heavy chain isoforms A and B (NMIIA/B) in cell rounding using fluorescent labelling in conjunction with traction force microscopy and fixed and live-cell imaging. Results from traction force microscopy show that cells exert an inward pulling force before detaching and rounding. Immunofluorescence results indicate that the degree of colocalization between actin and NMIIA or NMIIB changes when spread cells are induced to round by detachment. Live imaging of cells rounded with trypsin and also treated with blebbistatin showed that myosin II is required for normal cell rounding. These results indicate that detachment-induced cell rounding is not a purely passive process. Instead, non-muscle myosin II drives detachment-induced rounding, with the isoforms NMIIA and NMIIB possibly performing different functions. These findings will help further understanding of the regulation of cell shape in response to detachment, helping to describe how cells such as cancer stem cells and leukocytes form their rounded shapes.
Follow-up observations of X-ray emitting hot subdwarf star: the He-rich sdO BD +37° 1977
Creators: name: La Palombara, N.
name: Esposito, P.
name: Mereghetti, S.
name: Novara, G.
name: Tiengo, A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report on the results of the first XMM-Newton satellite observation of the luminous and helium-rich O-type subdwarf BD +37° 1977 carried out in April 2014. X-ray emission is detected with a flux of about 4*10^(-14) erg/cm2/s (0.2-1.5 keV), corresponding to a f_X/f_bol ratio about 10^(-7); the source spectrum is very soft, and is well fit by the sum of two plasma components at different temperatures. Both characteristics are in agreement with what is observed in the main-sequence early-type stars, where the observed X-ray emission is due to turbulence and shocks in the stellar wind. A smaller but still significant stellar wind has been observed also in BD +37° 1977; therefore, we suggest that also in this case the detected X-ray flux has the same origin.
description: 6 pages. Accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysics
Impact of tableware size on food consumption: a laboratory study
Creators: name: Kosīte, Daina
name: De-loyde, Katie
name: Lee, Ilse
name: Morris, Richard
name: Maynard, Olivia
name: Clarke, Natasha
name: Pechey, Emily
name: Munafo, Marcus
name: Fletcher, Paul
name: Marteau, Theresa
name: Hollands, Gareth
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Behaviour Change by Design
subject: choice architecture
subject: nudge
subject: nudging
subject: plate size

description: This experimental lab study is to assess the impact on consumption of using larger (vs smaller) plates for self-serving food
Data protection in the European Union in times of terrorism: a case study on Passenger Name Record Agreements
Creators: name: Bescos Pou, Alba
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2013
Subjects: data protection
European Union
right of privacy
European Union countries
terrorism
legal aspects

description: Second semester University: University of Graz.
description: The thesis is aimed at exploring whether the personal data of European citizens are protected under the counter-terrorism measures of the European Union from a legal perspective. Does an appropriate balance exist between security and data protection? What is the approach of the European Union? Does the EU provide a normative framework that ensures a high level of data protection? This thesis will determine the advantages and weaknesses of adopting a security or a data protection approach. Furthermore, it will show how the European Union has undertaken a human rights approach although some incoherencies and issues still remain. To that end the study closely analyzes the European framework in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. Finally, a detailed analysis of the EU-US PNR agreement will be developed in order to underline the weaknesses of the European framework when it comes to undertaking particular measures which involve the exchange of information for law enforcement purposes.
Is Turkey evolving towards an authoritarian rule? : An analysis of human rights and democracy in Turkey in the light of the Council of Europe
Creators: name: Alarcón García Del Real, María
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2017
Subjects: human rights
democracy
Turkey
Council of Europe
authoritarianism
state of emergency

description: Second semester University: Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
description: The situation of human rights and democracy in Turkey has suffered a dramatic change since the coup attempt on 15 July 2016. The subsequent declaration of a state of emergency and its prolongation for over a year have seriously damaged the human rights situation, both directly and indirectly. Moreover, under the current circumstances, the Turkish society has approved by referendum a series of constitutional amendments that will radically change Turkish political system from a parliamentary system to a presidential system, with a important concentration of power in the hands of the executive. Many academics have been wondering whether this situation will derive towards a one-man rule. Therefore, this project assesses both the impact of the measures taken under the state of emergency and the shifts in the political regime introduced by the constitutional amendments, from the perspective of the Council of Europe (COE). Through their analysis, one might conclude that human rights and democracy have seriously deteriorated under the current situation. Although, the Turkish society needs time to adapt to the new changes, it is necessary to alert on the authoritarian character of the introduced measures.
Economic impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Creators: name: Swinea, Savannah
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2019

description: The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 dispersed oil in huge quantities within the Gulf of Mexico larger marine ecosystem, and was expected to disturb marine organisms substantially over annual-to-decadal scales.  The oil spill was projected to cost Gulf fisheries $2-5 billion dollars in total revenue from 2010 to 2017 (Sumaila et al., 2012).  This study uses a retrospective approach and presents the actual deviation in total and per capita revenues from pre-spill trajectories in the commercial, recreational, and mariculture industries in the Gulf of Mexico.  Pre-spill total and per capita revenues in the commercial and recreational fishing industries and pre-spill mariculture production data were plotted, trendlines were fit to those data, and the distances of the post-spill data from the trendlines were calculated.  Total commercial revenue was observed to rise $1.33 billion above what was projected, total recreational revenue was observed to fall $14.3 million below what was projected, and the mariculture industries in specific states in the Gulf of Mexico were not noticeably affected or suffered declines in productivity after the spill.  The juxtaposition of projected and actual trends following the spill reveals that deep-water spills may have unforeseen impacts on fishes and highlights the necessity to reflect on consequences of novel environmental disasters.
Continuous `stunted' outbursts detected from the Cataclysmic Variable KIC 9202990 using Kepler data
Creators: name: Ramsay, Gavin
name: Hakala, Pasi
name: Wood, Matt A
name: Howell, Steve B
name: Smale, Alan
name: Still, Martin
name: Barclay, Tom
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Based on early Kepler data, Ostensen et al. (2010) found that KIC 9202990 showed a 4 hr and a two-week photometric period. They suggested the 4 hr period was a signature of an orbital period; the longer period was possibly due to precession of an accretion disk and KIC 9202990 was a cataclysmic variable with an accretion disk which is always in a bright state (a nova-like system). Using the full Kepler dataset on KIC 9202990 which covers 1421 d (Quarter 2--17), and includes 1 min cadence data from the whole of Quarters 5 and 16, we find that the 4 hr period is stable and therefore a signature of the binary orbital period. In contrast, the 10--12 d period is not stable and shows an amplitude between 20--50 percent. This longer period modulation is similar to those nova-like systems which show `stunted' outbursts. We discuss the problems that a precessing disk model has in explaining the observed characteristics and indicate why we favour a stunted outburst model. Although such stunted events are considered to be related to the standard disk instability mechanism, their origin is not well understood. KIC 9202990 shows the lowest amplitude and shortest period of continuous stunted outburst systems, making it an ideal target to better understand stunted outbursts and accretion instabilities in general.
description: Accepted by MNRAS
Muscle fiber-type switch in acyl-CoA synthetase-1 knockout mice
Creators: name: Bacudio, Lawrence
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2018

description: The product of the Acsl1 gene activates fatty acids for β-oxidation in aerobic respiration. Without ACSL1, type I fibers, which primarily depend on fatty acids, may not be able to produce energy. In this study, we have shown that muscle-specific ACSL1 is important in skeletal muscle fiber type and structure. Mice with muscle-specific Acsl1 deletions developed centronuclear myopathies, accompanied by an increase in creatine kinase activity and myofiber conversion from glycolytic to oxidative. To investigate this myofiber conversion, molecular activators of PGC1α, such as SIRT1 and AMPK, were measured but we found that their role is not significant. Our findings reveal an essential role of ACSL1 in myofiber identity, skeletal muscle structure, and development of centronuclear myopathies.
The Effect of Temperamental Reactivity on Executive Function as Mediated by Vagal Tone
Creators: name: Nowicki, Jennifer
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2013

description: Executive function plays an important role in the development of goal-oriented abilities, which can determine the degree to which children can succeed in various endeavors throughout their lives (Brocki & Bohlin, 2004; Wiebe et al., 2011). Temperament has been shown to have an effect on executive function in previous studies (Rothbart & Bates, 2006), as has vagal tone (Hansen, Johnsen, & Thayer, 2003). This experiment examined the effect of temperament on executive function in children, while including a measure of RSA at baseline as a potential mediating factor. This study found that though baseline RSA accounted for a significant amount of the relation between temperamental reactivity and executive function, ethnicity accounted for a large portion of the remaining variance, and African American children tended to score lower on the executive function tasks but higher on RSA and temperamental reactivity. These results may be explained by African American children being disproportionately exposed to risky environments, since high RSA and temperamental difficultness under unfavorable environmental conditions results increase children’s susceptibility to develop poor executive function. In line with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, future research on this question may be furthered by contrasting groups that reside either at the low or the far end of experiential risk, with the goal of examining whether there is an ethnic group for which “for the better or for worse” outcomes work best.
Should voting prisoners make you sick? : developing the legal through the theoretical to find the cure for Europe’s ailing right to vote
Creators: name: Harris, Patrick
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2014
Subjects: right to vote
prisoners
Europe

description: Second semester University: University of Vienna.
description: In November 2010, United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron defiantly declared himself “physically ill” at the thought of convicted prisoners being given the vote. Five years previously, in 2005, the U.K’s blanket ban on prisoner voting had been declared disproportionate and arbitrary by the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg in the case of Hirst (No. 2). But fast-forward nine years to 2014 and defiance on disenfranchisement shows little sign of abating. This thesis, inspired by the multitude of questions raised by the UK’s continuing reluctance to enfranchise prisoners, uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore why the position is so strongly held, and finds a series of reasons. It draws upon human rights theory and takes the opportunity to present one possible approach to human rights that exposes the UK justifications’ reliance on background political considerations and a misunderstanding of human rights. The thesis goes on to show how the position of defiance is encouraged by the weakness of the provision for a right to vote in the European human rights system, in Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 3 of Protocol 1 is formulated in collective rather than individual terms and uncertainty has always surrounded the related jurisprudence. This thesis considers that the unfortunate and vague wording has led to the right to vote’s de facto shift from right to privilege, given that the entitlement is not universal and the Strasbourg Court allow the state a wide margin of appreciation even in denying a large majority of prisoners the vote. This thesis then sets about attempting to reverse the shift from right to privilege by identifying the problem; that the overuse of the margin of appreciation clouds important elements of the proportionality test that the Court fails to properly explore. The disenfranchisement of prisoners, for the most part, is not based on a sufficiently proportionate, legitimate aim that has a discernible and logical link with the means employed. It is asserted that adding more structure to these tests, as well as drawing on a balancing exercise inspired by the human righ
Breaking Barriers to Long Acting Reversible Contraception: Preventing Rapid Repeat Pregnancy in Latina Teens
Creators: name: Allen, Lauren
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2014

description: Despite evidence of the disparity between the most common and the most effective
contraceptive methods, slow progress has been made to reduce it. In a poll of 816 physicians and advanced practice clinicians in 2008, 40% did not offer intrauterine contraception to patients seeking contraception (Russo, Miller, & Gold, 2013). The cost of LARC methods has been one of the main barriers to use. When LARC has been provided free of charge to patients, it has resulted in significantly higher use, and therefore lower birth rates and abortions (Eisenberg et al., 2013). Myths about LARC have persisted as well, deterring patients from choosing these methods. These myths are especially prominent among populations who could receive the greatest benefit from LARC (Russo et al., 2013). Adolescent mothers are less likely to be informed about different types of contraceptives and are more likely to have misconceptions about the risks and adverse effects of each type. Communication and education through counseling between the patient and provider is the third barrier to promoting the most effective contraceptive use and reducing teen pregnancy and RRP. The emphasis of family planning has been the provider giving objective information to the patient without suggesting one method over
another. In recent studies, patients have shown a preference for the provider to give advice about methods they recommend rather than delegating the decision entirely to the patient (Dehlendorf, Levy, Kelley, Grumbach & Steinauer, 2013). In this paper, my goal is to address the barriers to providing LARC for adolescent Latina patients who have had one previous pregnancy and to create a tool to facilitate communication between the provider and the patient that can address these barriers. The goal of this study is to improve the lives of Latina teens and their children by giving them the knowledge and resources to make an informed decision about contraception, which can ultimately affect their quality of life and potential for success.