cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Seroprevalence and molecular characterisation of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) in broiler farms in Sabah, Malaysia
Creators: name: Bhuiyan, Md Safiul Alam
name: Sarker, Subir
name: Amin, Zarina
name: Rodrigues, Kenneth Francis
name: Abu Bakar, Ag Muhammad Sagaf
name: Saallah, Suryani
name: Shaarani, Sharifudin Md.
name: Siddiquee, Shafiquzzaman
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 3009
subject: Veterinary sciences
subject: FOS: Veterinary sciences
classificationCode: 300914
subject: Veterinary virology

description: Background: Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is classified as a highly contagious viral agent that causes acute respiratory, reproductive and renal system pathology in affected poultry farms. Molecular and serological investigations are crucial for the accurate diagnosis and management of IBV. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of IBV and to characterise the circulating IBV in poultry farms in Sabah Province, Malaysia. Methods: To determine IBV antibodies, a total of 138 blood samples and 50 organ samples were collected from 10 commercial broiler flocks in 3 different farms by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (IDEXX Kit) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) followed by sequencing. Results: A total of 94.2% (130/138) of the samples were seropositive for IBV in the vaccinated flock, and 38% (52/138) of the birds was the IBV titre for infection. The selected seropositive samples for IBV were confirmed by RT-PCR, with 22% (11/50) being IBV positive amplified and sequenced by targeted highly conserved partial nucleocapsid (N) genes. Subsequently, phylogenetic analysis constructed using amplified sequences again exposed the presence of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Chinese QX variants circulating in poultry farms in Sabah, Malaysia. Conclusions: The unexpectedly increasing mean titres in serology indicated that post infection of IBV and highly prevalent IBV in selected farms in this study. The sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of multiple IBV variants circulating in Malaysian chicken farms in Sabah, which further monitoring of genetic variation are needed to better understand the genetic diversity.
Investigation of mechanisms involved in generation of foamy oil flow
Creators: name: Xu, Sheng
Publisher: name: University of Calgary
Year: 2007

description: Bibliography: p. 119-123
description: Some pages are in colour.
description: Some heavy oil reservoirs in Western Canada and Venezuela under solution-gasdrive show anomalous primary performance: high oil recovery and low production GOR. This anomalous oil production behaviour under solution gas drive has been observed since the 1980's and one of the factors responsible for such behaviour is thought to be foamy oil flow, i.e. flow of gas in the form of dispersed gas bubbles. However, the mechanisms behind the formation of gas dispersion under foamy oil flow conditions remain unclear. There are two contradictory theories to explain the formation of a dispersion: explosive nucleation theory and dispersion due to dynamic equilibrium between the processes of break-up and coalescence. The objective of this work was to further examine the basic mechanisms behind the formation of dispersed gas bubbles and infer which one of the theories of foamy oil flow is consistent with the experiments. The study included a series of sand pack and fluid property measurements, and three series of depletion experiments. Based on the results from these depletion tests, it was concluded that the hypothesis of "explosive nucleation" may not be correct. The mechanism involved in the formation of gas dispersion under solution gas drive appears to be that of the break-up of mobilized gas ganglia. The bubble size distribution is maintained by a dynamic equilibrium between the processes of break-up and coalescence. Some other notable observations were that the capillary number fluctuation corresponded with the fluctuation of simultaneous gas production rate and that the apparent critical gas saturation was 1 % to 16%, increasing with increasing depletion rate.
A study on the current status and suggestions of students’ character development education in secondary vocational school
Creators: name: Zhao, Jing
name: Liu, Xinyi
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy

description: This study aims to understand the current situation of character development education for students in the direction of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishing in secondary vocational schools. A questionnaire was administered to 303 students in such vocational schools in Lanzhou city to collect data on their daily behavior, learning ability, psychological health, and vocational competence. The results indicate that students continue to face some issues in these four aspects. Therefore, educational suggestions have been put forward for schools, parents, and students to implement character development education, to help these vocational students form good behavior habits, maintain a healthy psychological state, and possess excellent professional qualities.
A New Path-Integral Representation of the $T$-Matrix in Potential Scattering
Creators: name: Carron, J.
name: Rosenfelder, R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Theory (nucl-th)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We employ the method used by Barbashov and collaborators in Quantum Field Theory to derive a path-integral representation of the $T$-matrix in nonrelativistic potential scattering which is free of functional integration over fictitious variables as was necessary before. The resulting expression serves as a starting point for a variational approximation applied to high-energy scattering from a Gaussian potential. Good agreement with exact partial-wave calculations is found even at large scattering angles. A novel path-integral representation of the scattering length is obtained in the low-energy limit.
description: 9 pages, 1 figure, Latex with amsmath, amssym; v2: some typos corrected, matches published version
Generalization of Neural Combinatorial Solvers Through the Lens of Adversarial Robustness
Creators: name: Geisler, Simon
name: Sommer, Johanna
name: Schuchardt, Jan
name: Bojchevski, Aleksandar
name: Günnemann, Stephan
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: End-to-end (geometric) deep learning has seen first successes in approximating the solution of combinatorial optimization problems. However, generating data in the realm of NP-hard/-complete tasks brings practical and theoretical challenges, resulting in evaluation protocols that are too optimistic. Specifically, most datasets only capture a simpler subproblem and likely suffer from spurious features. We investigate these effects by studying adversarial robustness -a local generalization property- to reveal hard, model-specific instances and spurious features. For this purpose, we derive perturbation models for SAT and TSP. Unlike in other applications, where perturbation models are designed around subjective notions of imperceptibility, our perturbation models are efficient and sound, allowing us to determine the true label of perturbed samples without a solver. Surprisingly, with such perturbations, a sufficiently expressive neural solver does not suffer from the limitations of the accuracy-robustness trade-off common in supervised learning. Although such robust solvers exist, we show empirically that the assessed neural solvers do not generalize well w.r.t. small perturbations of the problem instance.
Testing the Low-Mass End of X-Ray Scaling Relations with a Sample of Chandra Galaxy Groups
Creators: name: Eckmiller, H. J.
name: Hudson, D. S.
name: Reiprich, T. H.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Well-determined scaling relations between X-ray observables and cluster mass are essential for using large cluster samples for cosmology. Cluster relations such as the Lx-T, M-T, Lx-M relations, have been investigated extensively, however the question remains whether these relations hold true also for groups. Some evidence supports a break at low masses, possibly caused by the influence of non-gravitational physics on low-mass systems. The main goal of this work is to test scaling relations for the low-mass range to check whether there is a systematic difference between clusters and groups, and to extend this method of reliable cluster mass determination for future samples down to the group regime. We compiled a statistically complete sample of 112 X-ray galaxy groups, 26 with Chandra data. Temperature, metallicity, and surface brightness profiles were created, and used to determine the main physical quantities and scaling relations. We then compared the group properties to the HIFLUGCS clusters and other samples. We present profiles and scaling relations of the whole sample. T and Z profiles behave universally, except for the cores. The Lx-T, M-T, Lx-M, Mg-M, M-Yx, and Lx-Yx relations are in good agreement with clusters. The Lx-T relation steepens for T<3keV, which could point to a larger impact of heating mechanisms on cooler systems. We found a strong drop in the gas mass fraction below 1keV, which indicates the ICM is less dominant in groups and the galaxies have a stronger influence on the system. In all relations the intrinsic scatter for groups is larger, which appears not correlated with merger activity but could be due to scatter caused by baryonic physics in the group cores. We also demonstrate the importance of selection effects. We have found evidence for a similarity break between groups and clusters. However this does not have a strong effect on scaling relations.
description: 31 pages, accepted to A&A
Anypodetus unicolor Oldroyd
Creators: name: Londt, J. G. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2000
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Asilidae
Anypodetus
Anypodetus unicolor

description: 7a Scutellum with 4-6 weak, but clearly defined, black marginal macrosetae; female face with silvery setae. Illustrations - Hypopygium (Figs 31-33), Ovipositor (Fig. 36), T2 (Fig. 44), Egg (Fig. 46), Distribution (Fig. 49)............. unicolor Oldroyd Synonymy: Anypodetus unicolor Oldroyd,1974:92 [Type - NMSA.SouthAfrica; Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe]. Material examined: SOUTH AFRICA: 1♀, Kruger Nat. Park, Lanner Gorge, 22.27S 31.08E, 402 m, 23.i.1985, MW Mansell [SANC]; 1♀, Naawpoort [?], Pbg [= Pietersburg - 23 ° 54'S: 29 ° 27'E], 27.xi.1927, G. v. Son; 1♂, Ndumu Game Reserve, 2632CC, 26.x.1972, ME Irwin; 4♀, Ndumu Reserve, Ingwavuma dist., 1-10.xii.1963, B&P Stuckenberg; 1♀, Ndumu Reserve, Ingwavuma dist., 28.xi.1961, T Oatley; 5♂ 6♀, Kosi Bay Nat. Reserve, 2632DD, 30.xi.- 2.xii.1982, Londt, Barraclough & Stuckenberg, Forest & open woodland areas; 1♀, Kosi Bay - Estuary, 2632DD, 16-19.iii.1982, DA Barraclough, Indigenous bush area; 1♂, Kosi Bay, 26.58S 32.48E, 10-11.ii.1990, CD Eardley [SANC]; 3♂, Makaheli For., ca. 5 km NE Mangusi, 2632DD, 30.xi.-2.xii.1982, Barraclough, Londt & Stuckenberg, Forest; 1♂ Holotype 1♀ paratype 4♂ 7♀, ‘ South Africa, Natal Prov. / Zululand, 20 mi S Ndumu / Game Res. Camp (2732Aa) / Nov. 29, 1971 ME&BJ Irwin / dry scrub forest; 320 ft’; 1♂ 1♀, 5 km E Makana - near Ndumu Game Reserve, 2732AB, 3.xii.1982, Londt, Stuckenberg & Barraclough, Roadside; 1♂, Mseleni, 2732BC, 29.xi.1982, Stuckenberg, Barraclough & Londt, Woodland / sandy area; UNKNOWN: 1♀ Paratype, ‘ Devuli Ranch, 13/2/71 ’. Material not seen: Oldroyd (1974) records the species from Zimbabwe. Although I have not seen this material I doubt the accuracy of the identification. He also listed the paratype locality of ‘Devuli Ranch’ as in Zimbabwe, but I have not been able to verify this. TABLE 3 A. unicolor: Apart from a single, doubtful record (Naawpoort), this species appears to inhabit the subtropical lowveld climatic region with its mild dry winters and hot, high -rainfall summers.
description: Published as part of Londt, J. G. H., 2000, Afrotropical Asilidae (Diptera) 32. A Revision Of Anypodetus Hermann, 1907 With The Description Of Three New Species (Laphriinae), pp. 123-128 in Annals of the Natal Museum 41 on pages 133-138, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.523759
description: {"references": ["OLDROYD, H. 1974. An introduction to the robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) of southern Africa. Annals of the Natal Museum 22 (1): 1 - 171."]}
Gamma-Ray Light Curves from Pulsar Magnetospheres with Finite Conductivity
Creators: name: Kalapotharakos, Constantinos
name: Harding, Alice K.
name: Kazanas, Demosthenes
name: Contopoulos, Ioannis
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We investigate the shapes of γ-ray pulsar light curves using 3D pulsar magnetosphere models of finite conductivity. These models, covering the entire spectrum of solutions between vacuum and force-free magnetospheres, for the first time afford mapping the GeV emission of more realistic, dissipative pulsar magnetospheres. To this end we generate model light curves following two different approaches: (a) We employ the emission patterns of the slot and outer gap models in the field geometries of magnetospheres with different conductivity σ. (b) We define realistic trajectories of radiating particles in magnetospheres of different σand compute their Lorentz factor under the influence of magnetospheric electric fields and curvature radiation-reaction; with these at hand we then calculate the emitted radiation intensity. The light curves resulting from these prescriptions are quite sensitive to the value of σ, especially in the second approach. While still not self-consistent, these results are a step forward in understanding the physics of pulsar γ-radiation.
description: Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, 15 pages, 4 figures
Private Set Generation with Discriminative Information
Creators: name: Chen, Dingfan
name: Kerkouche, Raouf
name: Fritz, Mario
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: Differentially private data generation techniques have become a promising solution to the data privacy challenge –– it enables sharing of data while complying with rigorous privacy guarantees, which is essential for scientific progress in sensitive domains. Unfortunately, restricted by the inherent complexity of modeling high-dimensional distributions, existing private generative models are struggling with the utility of synthetic samples. In contrast to existing works that aim at fitting the complete data distribution, we directly optimize for a small set of samples that are representative of the distribution, which is generally an easier task and more suitable for private training. Moreover, we exploit discriminative information from downstream tasks to further ease the training. Our work provides an alternative view for differentially private generation of high-dimensional data and introduces a simple yet effective method that greatly improves the sample utility of state-of-the-art approaches.
Conductance of 1D quantum wires with anomalous electron-wavefunction localization
Creators: name: Amanatidis, Ilias
name: Kleftogiannis, Ioannis
name: Falceto, Fernando
name: Gopar, Victor A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the statistics of the conductance $g$ through one-dimensional disordered systems where electron wavefunctions decay spatially as $|ψ| \sim \exp (-λr^α)$ for $0 $ and the power $α$. Our theoretical predictions are verified numerically by using a random hopping tight-binding model at zero energy, where due to the presence of chiral symmetry in the lattice there exists anomalous localization; this case corresponds to the particular value $α=1/2$. To test our theory for other values of $α$, we introduce a statistical model for the random hopping in the tight binding Hamiltonian.
description: 6 pages, 8 figures. Few changes in the presentation and references updated. Published in PRB, Phys. Rev. B 85, 235450 (2012)
Numerical simulation of low temperature oxidation reactions of Athabasca bitumen using sara fractions
Creators: name: Sequera Marin, Belenitza M.
Publisher: name: University of Calgary
Year: 2007

description: Bibliography: p. 126-133
description: Some pages are in colour.
description: In this thesis, Low Temperature Oxidation (LTO) reactions of the Athabasca bitumen were studied through numerical simulation and history matching of In Situ Combustion experiments operated under LTO conditions. A new kinetic model in terms of SARA fractions (Saturates, Aromatics , Resins and Asphaltenes) was presented (Model LTO 1) which was based on the four reaction model proposed by Jia et al. (2003). It was necessary to interpret this model in terms of SARA fractions to make it applicable for numerical simulation. Isothermal semi batch experiments for temperatures ranging from 60°C to 150°C (Adegbesan , 1982) were simulated in STARS (the commercial reservoir simulator developed by CMG) using this new Model LTO 1. Multiple variable analyses on the kinetic parameters of each reaction were performed , to match the experimental concentration profiles. The delay in coke formation observed from previous investigators (Adegbesan , 1982; Millour et al. , 1987) was included in the numerical model. The SARA concentration profiles reported by Adegbesan (1982) for different temperatures were matched with Model LTO 1 tuning the kinetic parameters individually for each temperature. It was not possible to match the concentration profiles for all temperatures when using a single set of kinetic parameters, which reflects the change in the oxidation reaction mechanism during liquid phase oxidation as the temperature increases. Simulation and history matching of the experimental results from a Ramped Temperature Oxidation (RTO) experiment operated under LTO conditions were performed. The heats of reaction generated by the Low Temperature Oxidation reactions were incorporated to the simulation. It was found that the Saturates Burning reaction does not occur under the temperature range of the RTO experiment (T <325 °C) . Modifications of Model LTO 1, based on the chemical nature of LTO, were made to match the results of Athabasca Test No. 44 . This led to an improved kinetic model (Model L TO 2) . Temperature profiles, coke yield , oxygen consumption, carbon oxides production , residual hydrocarbon and front velocity were reproduced with an experimental deviation of less than 15%. These results are acceptable considering that the complex liquid phase oxidation reactions of Athabasca bitumen are represented with a relatively simple set of reactions. The improved Model LTO 2 captures the main changes occurring in the bitumen due to oxidation reactions at low temperature conditions . This model can be readily incorporated into numerical simulations of In Situ Combustion to obtain a more realistic representation of this complex process. This study greatly contributes to the understanding of the Low Temperature Oxidation reactions of heavy oils and bitumens .
Kind of entanglement that speeds up quantum evolution
Creators: name: Fröwis, Florian
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The "speed" of unitary quantum evolution was recently shown to be connected to entanglement in multipartite quantum systems. Here, we discuss a tighter version of the Mandelstam-Tamm uncertainty relation that depends on the Fisher information. The passage time is estimated by a lower bound that depends inversely proportional to the square root of the Fisher information. This leads to a better understanding of the origin of a fast quantum time evolution of entangled states.
description: 5+ pages, 2 figures. Comments are welcome! v2: Correction of several typos
Thematic organization of instruction for an adult ESL/EAP curriculum: a qualitative study of the LEAP program at the University of Calgary
Creators: name: Liang, Xiaowei Vicky
Publisher: name: University of Calgary
Year: 2006

description: Bibliography: p. 123-131
description: The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the impact that thematically organized instruction for an English as a second Language (ESL)/English for Academic Purposes (EAP) curriculum has made on adult learners in an intensive language program and to discover its potential to meet the need of adult ELS/EAP learners in a Canadian context. Using multiple data sources this study seeks to address the research question: How do adult ESL/EAP learners perceive their English learning experience in an inten language/EAP program, where thematic organization has been implemented? sing action research methodology, the researcher examines the implementation of thematic organization for adult ESL/EAP learners in the LEAP program at the University of Calgary from the perspectives of 12 Level 4 students, three instructors, and the program director. The data include classroom observation notes, artifacts of student learning, interviews with students, instructors and the program director, and photographic evidence. Analysis of these data yielded linguistic, pedagogical, and psychological theme. The findings and implication of this study are intended to allow educator to use the students' insight in order to plan in a more informed and grounded manner for an enhanced quality of ESL/EAP programs for EAP adults in the Canadian educational context.
The remodeling conjecture and the Faber-Pandharipande formula
Creators: name: Bouchard, Vincent
name: Catuneanu, Andrei
name: Marchal, Olivier
name: Sułkowski, Piotr
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this note, we prove that the free energies F_g constructed from the Eynard-Orantin topological recursion applied to the curve mirror to C^3 reproduce the Faber-Pandharipande formula for genus g Gromov-Witten invariants of C^3. This completes the proof of the remodeling conjecture for C^3.
description: 18 pages, v2: added appendix B discussing relation to matrix models
Taraxacum acervatulum Railons.
Creators: name: Uhlemann, Ingo
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Magnoliopsida
Asterales
Asteraceae
Taraxacum
Taraxacum acervatulum

description: Taraxacum acervatulum Railons.,
Ann. Bot. Fenn. 1: 125 (1964) –
Abb. 10 A.
 Österreich, Kärnten: Pörtschach am Wörther See, Uferstraße, Haus Nr. 13 (ca. 0,4 km östl. der Autobahnauffahrt nach Villach), Wiese im Hausgarten, 7.4. 2007, leg. Uhlemann (Hb. DR, WU). — St. Veit an der Glan, ruderalisierter Rasen gegenüber dem Bahnhof, 11. 4.2009, leg. Uhlemann (Hb. DR).
 Taraxacum acervatulum besitzt berandete, zurückgebogene äußere Involukralblätter, rosafarbene, etwas geflügelte Blattstiele und ± waagerecht abstehende, an der Oberkante kräftig gezähnte Blattseitenlappen, die durch deutlich entwickelte Interlobien voneinander getrennt sind. Die Art wurde als polemochor aus einem ehemaligen deutschen Truppenlager des 2. Weltkrieges an der finnischen Westküste beschrieben, hat ihren Verbreitungsschwerpunkt aber in Mitteleuropa und strahlt bis nach Nordeuropa aus.
description: Published as part of Uhlemann, Ingo, 2011, Notizen zur Taraxacum-Flora Österreichs und Südtirols, pp. 27-53 in Neilreichia 6 on page 47, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.303107
Die Baugeschichte des Freiburger Münsterturms
Creators: name: Koch, Nikolaus
Publisher: name: KIT Scientific Publishing
Year: 2022
Subjects: Freiburger Münster
Gotik
Bauforschung
Mittelalterliche Baurisse
Maßwerkhelm
Freiburg Minster
Gothic
Building research
Medieval construction plans
Spire

description: Der Freiburger Münsterturm aus der Perspektive der archäologischen Bauforschung betrachtet. Dabei werden einzelne Bauzustände des Turmes mittels Sammlung und Auswertung tausender am Turm auftretenden Steinmetzzeichen in vielen perspektivischen Darstellungen vorgelegt. Die dreidimensionale Rekonstruktion der Entwurfszeichnung eines über 700 Jahre alten Pergamentplans belegt anschaulich, dass viele Ideen des komplexen gotischen Turmbaus in der Planung bereits vorhanden waren.
Decomposition of stochastic flows in manifolds with complementary distributions
Creators: name: Catuogno, Pedro J.
name: da Silva, Fabiano B.
name: Ruffino, Paulo R.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 58J65, 58D05 (57R30)

description: Let $M$ be a differentiable manifold endowed locally with two complementary distributions, say horizontal and vertical. We consider the two subgroups of (local) diffeomorphisms of $M$ generated by vector fields in each of of these distributions. Given a stochastic flow $φ_t$ of diffeomorphisms of $M$, in a neighbourhood of initial condition, up to a stopping time we decompose $φ_t = ξ_t \circ ψ_t$ where the first component is a diffusion in the group of horizontal diffeomorphisms and the second component is a process in the group of vertical diffeomorphisms. Further decomposition will include more than two components; it leads to a maximal cascade decomposition in local coordinates where each component acts only in the corresponding coordinate.
description: 10 pages
Solitons supported by complex PT symmetric Gaussian potentials
Creators: name: Hu, Sumei
name: Ma, Xuekai
name: Lu, Daquan
name: Yang, Zhenjun
name: Zheng, Yizhou
name: Hu, Wei
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Optics (physics.optics)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The existence and stability of fundamental, dipole, and tripole solitons in Kerr nonlinear media with parity-time symmetric Gaussian complex potentials are reported. Fundamental solitons are stable not only in deep potentials but also in shallow potentials. Dipole and tripole solitons are stable only in deep potentials, and tripole solitons are stable in deeper potentials than for dipole solitons. The stable regions of solitons increase with increasing potential depth. The power of solitons increases with increasing propagation constant or decreasing modulation depth of the potentials.
description: 7 pages, 11 figures
Automatic Detection of Speculative Execution Combinations
Creators: name: Fabian, Xaver
name: Guarnieri, Marco
name: Patrignani, Marco
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: Modern processors employ different speculation mechanisms to speculate over different kinds of instructions. Attackers can exploit these mechanisms simultaneously in order to trigger leaks of speculatively-accessed data. Thus, sound reasoning about such speculative leaks requires accounting for all potential speculation mechanisms. Unfortunately, existing formal models only support reasoning about fixed, hard-coded speculation mechanisms, with no simple support to extend said reasoning to new mechanisms. In this paper, we develop a framework for reasoning about composed speculative semantics that capture speculation due to different mechanisms and implement it as part of the Spectector verification tool. We implement novel semantics for speculating over store and return instructions and combine them with the semantics for speculating over branch instructions. Our framework yields speculative semantics for speculating over any combination of these instructions that are secure by construction, i.e., we obtain these security guarantees for free. The implementation of our novel semantics in Spectector let us verify programs that are vulnerable to Spectre v1, Spectre v4, and Spectre v5 vulnerabilities as well as new snippets that are only vulnerable to their compositions.
Anypodetus rigidis : Oldroyd 1974
Creators: name: Londt, J. G. H.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2000
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Asilidae
Anypodetus
Anypodetus rigidis

description: A. rigidis: Oldroyd probably did not examine the types of fasciatus. A. rigidis appears to be conspecific with fasciatus and so I have synonymised rigidis (see above).
description: Published as part of Londt, J. G. H., 2000, Afrotropical Asilidae (Diptera) 32. A Revision Of Anypodetus Hermann, 1907 With The Description Of Three New Species (Laphriinae), pp. 123-128 in Annals of the Natal Museum 41 on page 134, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.523759
Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System
Creators: name: Omogbadegun, Zacchaeus
name: Uwadia, Charles
name: Ayo, Charles
name: Mbarika, Victor
name: Omoregbe, Nicholas
name: Otofia, Efe
name: Chieze, Frank
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Other Computer Science (cs.OH)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: J.3

description: Medicinal plants are increasingly recognized worldwide as an alternative source of efficacious and inexpensive medications to synthetic chemo-therapeutic compound. Rapid declining wild stocks of medicinal plants accompanied by adulteration and species substitutions reduce their efficacy, quality and safety. Consequently, the low accessibility to and non-affordability of orthodox medicine costs by rural dwellers to be healthy and economically productive further threaten their life expectancy. Finding comprehensive information on medicinal plants of conservation concern at a global level has been difficult. This has created a gap between computing technologies' promises and expectations in the healing process under complementary and alternative medicine. This paper presents the design and implementation of a Multimedia-based Medicinal Plants Sustainability Management System addressing these concerns. Medicinal plants' details for designing the system were collected through semi-structured interviews and databases. Unified Modelling Language, Microsoft-Visual-Studio.Net, C#3.0, Microsoft-Jet-Engine4.0, MySQL, Loquendo Multilingual Text-to-Speech Software, YouTube, and VLC Media Player were used. Keywords: Complementary and Alternative Medicine, conservation, extinction, medicinal plant, multimedia, phytoconstituents, rural dwellers
description: 12 pages, 9 figures, 6 tables, 37 references
Steam explosion of biomass to produce durable wood pellets
Creators: name: Lam, Pak Sui
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: Wood pellet is regarded as a clean fuel for combustion with low ash content (less than 1% by weight) and a high heating value around 21500 MJ/m³ compared to a heating value of 5400 MJ/m³ for dry wood chips. However, pellet is easily disintegrated into fines due to impact or moisture sorption during handling and storage. Fines may promote dust explosion during handling or self-heating of pellets in storage. The present study investigates the use of steam explosion pretreatment to improve the pellet durability in terms of mechanical strength and moisture sorption resistance. In this research, a batch steam explosion unit consisting of a steam generator, a steam treatment reactor, and control devices was developed. Steam explosion experiments were carried out on Douglas Fir at 2 temperatures (200°C and 220°C), 2 treatment durations (5 min, 10 min), and 2 particle sizes (0.4 mm and 0.9 mm). It was found that the bulk density and tapped density of steam treated wood increased with the treatment severity. The pellets made with biomass treated at different combinations of temperature-time were 1.4 to 3.3 times stronger than untreated pellets. The steam treated biomass required 12% to 81% more energy to form durable pellets than the untreated biomass. Energy input to produce 45000 metric ton regular pellets and steam exploded pellets was estimated. The input energy ranged from 2.80 to 3.52 MJ/kg. Producing pellets from untreated biomass consumed the least energy while pellets made from biomass treated with saturated steam at 220°C for 10 minutes consumed the highest. A kinetic model for pseudolignin formation during steam explosion was developed. Based on the experimental data in this research and published literature, it was postulated that the creation of pseudolignin is responsible for improved durability of steam exploded pellets. A reaction model was developed to predict the formation of pseudolignin and evaluate the optimized treatment condition for making durable and water repellent wood pellets.
Near-infrared incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (NIR-IBBCEAS) for detection and quantification of major natural gas components
Creators: name: Prakash, Neeraj
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Natural gas leak detection
subject: Optical leak monitoring
subject: IBBCEAS
subject: Optics
subject: Engineering--Environmental
subject: Engineering--Mechanical

description: The efforts for reducing carbon emissions by switching from coal to natural gas have created a bigger threat to global warming through natural gas leaks. Apart from the monetary losses, leakage of natural gas releases methane, which can trap more than 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide. Most often, the leaks are left unmonitored due to the huge cost and clumsy nature of existing leak detection techniques. Hence, this thesis presents the development of a low cost and efficient technique to simultaneously detect and quantify the major hydrocarbons in natural gas and thereby determine the gas composition. The instrument is based on the principle of incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy in the near infrared region (1100 to 1250 nm). The performance and detection sensitivities of the prototype were tested, and results showed detection limits much less than 1% of the lower explosion limits (LEL) of the gases.
Detection of C60 in embedded young stellar objects, a Herbig Ae/Be star and an unusual post-AGB star
Creators: name: Roberts, Kyle R. G.
name: Smith, Keith T.
name: Sarre, Peter J.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The first detection of the C60 (Buckminsterfullerene) molecule in massive embedded young stellar objects (YSOs) is reported. Observations with Spitzer IRS reveal the presence of C60 in YSOs ISOGAL-P J174639.6-284126 and SSTGC 372630 in the Central Molecular Zone in the Galactic centre, and in a YSO candidate, 2MASS J06314796+0419381, in the Rosette nebula. The first detection of C60 in a Herbig Ae/Be star, HD 97300, is also reported. These observations extend the range of astrophysical environments in which C60 is found to YSOs and a pre-main sequence star. C60 excitation and formation mechanisms are discussed in the context of these results, together with its presence and processes in post-AGB objects such as HR 4049.
description: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, modifications since v1: flux ratios, T values, fig.9. Comprises 10 pages and 9 figures
Automatic Repair and Deadlock Detection for Parameterized Systems
Creators: name: Jacobs, Swen
name: Sakr, Mouhammad
name: Völp, Marcus
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: We present an algorithm for the repair of parameterized systems. The repair problem is, for a given process implementation, to find a refinement such that a given safety property is satisfied by the resulting parameterized system, and deadlocks are avoided. Our algorithm uses a parameterized model checker to determine the correctness of candidate solutions and employs a constraint system to rule out candidates. We apply this algorithm on systems that can be represented as well-structured transition systems (WSTS), including disjunctive systems, pairwise rendezvous systems, and broadcast protocols. Moreover, we show that parameterized deadlock detection can be decided in EXPTIME for disjunctive systems, and that deadlock detection is in general undecidable for broadcast protocols.
Noradrenaline and the strenth of glutamate signals in magnocellular neurosecretory cells: an obigatory role for neuronal and glial elements
Creators: name: Gordon, Grant Robert John
Publisher: name: University of Calgary
Year: 2006

description: Bibliography: p. 179-211
description: The release of noradrenaline (NA) into the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus (SON) is a critical step for enhanced magnocellular neuroendocrine cell (MNC) excitability in viva. The adaptive responses mediated by these hypothalamic cell groups often require both rapid and sustained activation, yet clear synaptic mechanisms through which these demands might be met have not been explored. Here we tested whether NA elicited rapid and persistent changes in synaptic strength at glutamatergic synapses onto MNCs in male p2 l-28 Sprague-Dawley rats. Our results, based on the examination of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), indicate that NA-induces three novel types of plasticity. First, we tested whether physiological activation of PKC via a 1- adrenoceptors could remove inhibitory feedback by inactivating presynaptic metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). The results demonstrate that NA inactivates group III mGluRs, effectively priming these synapses such that subsequent activation is more efficacious. In the second study, prompted by the observation that NA elicits an enduring increase in the amplitude of mEPSCs, and supported by previous studies showing that NA is an activator of glial cells, that ATP is a ubiquitous gliotransmitter and that MNCs express Ca2+ permeable ATP-gated P2X receptors, we examined the contributions of glial-derived ATP to changes in postsynaptic efficacy. The NA induced increase in mEPSC amplitude exhibited enhanced postsynaptic responsiveness and was blocked both by a P2X receptor antagonist and by the withdrawal of glial processes from synapses following physiological dehydration. The gliotransmitter ATP therefore, contributes directly to postsynaptic efficacy. Finally, we examined the mechanisms responsible for large amplitude mEPSCs in response to NA, which are impervious to postsynaptic manipulations. Here, we tested whether NA recruits the synchronous release of multiple vesicles of glutamate. Large mEPSCs exhibited a putative multimodal amplitude histogram, were sensitive to ryanodine and were associated with an enhanced glutamate cleft concentration. These data suggest large mEPSCs result from the synchronous release of multiple vesicles via Ca2+ expulsion from intracellular stores. The observations presented here indicate that NA-mediated processes trigger rapid, robust responses at glutamate synapses that may be critical for contributing to the long-lasting excitability of MN Cs necessary to meet physiological challenges.
Reversing the Stein Effect
Creators: name: Perlman, Michael D.
name: Chaudhuri, Sanjay
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Methodology (stat.ME)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: The Reverse Stein Effect is identified and illustrated: A statistician who shrinks his/her data toward a point chosen without reliable knowledge about the underlying value of the parameter to be estimated but based instead upon the observed data will not be protected by the minimax property of shrinkage estimators such as that of James and Stein, but instead will likely incur a greater error than if shrinkage were not used.
description: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/09-STS278 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org)
Durability of wood pellets
Creators: name: Oveisi-Fordiie, Ehsanollah
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2011

description: Durability is used for quantifying the quality of pellets by measuring the percentage of broken pellets. This work conducted durability measurement using different approaches, including Dural, Tumbler and drop test, and established relationship between them. In particular, 1) we developed a robust method that measures durability based on Dural. A series of experiments were conducted using eight different machine settings and four types of pellets. It was found that both pellet types and machine settings are statistically significant. The setting represented by 200 g sample, testing duration 15 s and rotational speed 1516 rpm was found to be the most appropriate for Dural. 2) We also conducted drop test for unveiling the effect of different factors on breakage of pellets, such as height, sample size, number of repeated drops, type of bedding and type of pellet. The relation between breakage and height was found to be linear. Harder surface had more impact on pellets. The percentage of dust increased significantly after each drop as the pellets tended to break more readily and the accumulation of fines was approximately 10% after five drops. An asymptote was observed for sample size greater than 1000 g. 3) Finally, we investigated correlations of durability measurement among Tumbler, Dural and drop test. When wood pellets were used, a strong correlation (R² = 0.76) was observed between the Tumbler-measured durability and the Dural-measured durability with a logarithmic curve. The correlation between the durability derived from the drop test versus the Dural tester was significantly stronger (R² = 0.81) than when it was compared to the Tumbler tester (R² = 0.63).
G-SINC: Global Synchronization Infrastructure for Network Clocks
Creators: name: Frei, Marc
name: Kwon, Jonghoon
name: Seyedali, Tabaeiaghdaei
name: Wyss, Marc
name: Lenzen, Christoph
name: Perrig, Adrian
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: Many critical computing applications rely on secure and dependable time which is reliably synchronized across large distributed systems. Today's time synchronization architectures are commonly based on global navigation satellite systems at the considerable risk of being exposed to outages, malfunction, or attacks against availability and accuracy. This paper describes a practical instantiation of a new global, Byzantine fault-tolerant clock synchronization approach that does not place trust in any single entity and is able to tolerate a fraction of faulty entities while still maintaining synchronization on a global scale among otherwise sovereign network topologies. Leveraging strong resilience and security properties provided by the path-aware SCION networking architecture, the presented design can be implemented as a backward compatible active standby solution for existing time synchronization deployments. Through extensive evaluation, we demonstrate that over 94% of time servers reliably minimize the offset of their local clocks to real-time in the presence of up to 20% malicious nodes, and all time servers remain synchronized with a skew of only 2 ms even after one year of reference clock outage.
Reconstruction of dark energy and expansion dynamics using Gaussian processes
Creators: name: Seikel, Marina
name: Clarkson, Chris
name: Smith, Mathew
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: An important issue in cosmology is reconstructing the effective dark energy equation of state directly from observations. With few physically motivated models, future dark energy studies cannot only be based on constraining a dark energy parameter space, as the errors found depend strongly on the parameterisation considered. We present a new non-parametric approach to reconstructing the history of the expansion rate and dark energy using Gaussian Processes, which is a fully Bayesian approach for smoothing data. We present a pedagogical introduction to Gaussian Processes, and discuss how it can be used to robustly differentiate data in a suitable way. Using this method we show that the Dark Energy Survey - Supernova Survey (DES) can accurately recover a slowly evolving equation of state to sigma_w = +-0.04 (95% CL) at z=0 and +-0.2 at z=0.7, with a minimum error of +-0.015 at the sweet-spot at z~0.14, provided the other parameters of the model are known. Errors on the expansion history are an order of magnitude smaller, yet make no assumptions about dark energy whatsoever. A code for calculating functions and their first three derivatives using Gaussian processes has been developed and is available for download at http://www.acgc.uct.ac.za/~seikel/GAPP/index.html .
description: 20 pages, 9 figures, improved analysis, GaPP code available at http://www.acgc.uct.ac.za/~seikel/GAPP/index.html
The Progenitor Mass of SN 2011dh from Stellar Populations Analysis
Creators: name: Murphy, Jeremiah W.
name: Jennings, Zachary G.
name: Williams, Benjamin
name: Dalcanton, Julianne J.
name: Dolphin, Andrew E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry, we characterize the age of the stellar association in the vicinity of supernova (SN) 2011dh and use it to infer the zero-age main sequence mass (M_{ZAMS}) of the progenitor star. We find two distinct and significant star formation events with ages of <6 and 17^{+3}_{-4} Myrs, and the corresponding M_{ZAMS} are >29 and 13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}, respectively. These two bursts represent 18^{+4}_{-9}% (young) and 64^{+10}_{-14}% (old) of the total star formation in the last 50 Myrs. Adopting these fractions as probabilities suggests that the most probable M_{ZAMS} is 13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}. These results are most sensitive to the luminosity function along the well-understood main sequence and are less sensitive to uncertain late-stage stellar evolution. Therefore, they stand even if the progenitor suffered disruptive post-main-sequence evolution (e.g. eruptive mass loss or binary Roche-lobe overflow). Progenitor identification will help to further constrain the appropriate population. Even though pre-explosion images show a yellow supergiant (YSG) at the site of the SN, panchromatic SN light curves suggest a more compact star as the progenitor. In spite of this, our results suggest an association between the YSG and the SN. Not only was the star located at the SN site, but reinforcing an association, the star's bolometric luminosity is consistent with the final evolutionary stage of the 17 Myr old star burst. If the YSG disappears, then M_{ZAMS}=13^{+2}_{-1} M_{Sun}, but if it persists, then our results allow the possibility that the progenitor was an unseen star of >29 M_{Sun}.
description: 5 pages in emulateapj, 2 figures, accepted by ApJL. Comments are welcome
Platypus: A Central Bank Digital Currency with Unlinkable Transactions and Privacy-Preserving Regulation
Creators: name: Wüst, Karl
name: Kostiainen, Kari
name: Delius, Noah
name: Capkun, Srdjan
Publisher: name: CISPA
Year: 2023

description: Due to the popularity of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, the increasing digitalization of payments, and the constantly reducing role of cash in society, central banks have shown an increased interest in deploying central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) that could serve as a digital cash-equivalent. While most recent research on CBDCs focuses on blockchain technology, it is not clear that this choice of technology provides the optimal solution. In particular, the centralized trust model of a CBDC offers opportunities for different designs. In this paper, we depart from blockchain designs and instead build on ideas from traditional e-cash schemes. We propose a new style of building digital currencies that combines the transaction processing model of e-cash with an account-based fund management model. We argue that such a style of building digital currencies is especially well-suited to CBDCs. We also design the first such digital currency system, called Platypus, that provides strong privacy, high scalability, and expressive but simple regulation, which are all critical features for a CBDC. Platypus achieves these properties by adapting techniques similar to those used in anonymous blockchain cryptocurrencies like Zcash to fit our account model and applying them to the e-cash context.