cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Quantum resources for purification and cooling: fundamental limits and opportunities
Creators: name: Ticozzi, Francesco
name: Viola, Lorenza
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Preparing a quantum system in a pure state is ultimately limited by the nature of the system's evolution in the presence of its environment and by the initial state of the environment itself. We show that, when the system and environment are initially uncorrelated and arbitrary joint unitary dynamics is allowed, the system may be purified up to a certain (possibly arbitrarily small) threshold if and only if its environment, either natural or engineered, contains a "virtual subsystem" which has the same dimension and is in a state with the desired purity. Beside providing a unified understanding of quantum purification dynamics in terms of a "generalized swap process," our results shed light on the significance of a no-go theorem for exact ground-state cooling, as well as on the quantum resources needed for achieving an intended purification task.
description: 10 pages, 2 figures
Scale-dependent bias in the BAO-scale intergalactic neutral hydrogen
Creators: name: Pontzen, Andrew
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: I discuss fluctuations in the neutral hydrogen (HI) density of the z~2.3 intergalactic medium and show that their relation to cosmic overdensity is strongly scale-dependent. This behaviour arises from a linearized version of the well-known "proximity effect", in which bright sources suppress atomic hydrogen density. Using a novel, systematic and detailed linear-theory radiative transfer calculation, I demonstrate how HI density consequently anti-correlates with total matter density when averaged on scales exceeding the Lyman-limit mean-free-path. The radiative transfer thumbprint is highly distinctive and should be measurable in the Lyman-alpha forest. Effects extend to sufficiently small scales to generate significant distortion of the correlation function shape around the baryon acoustic oscillation peak, although the peak location shifts only by 1.2 percent for a mean source bias of b_j=3. The distortion changes significantly with b_j and other astrophysical parameters; measuring it should provide a helpful observational constraint on the nature of ionizing photon sources in the near future.
description: Accepted for publication in PRD. No change in results. Updated default parameters and expanded discussion
title: Diabetes Care Trends in the MA Patient Centered Medical Home Initiative (MA PCMHI) at Mid-Point
Creators: name: Cherala, Sai
name: Steinberg, Judith
name: Baker, Stephen P.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Background: The MA PCMHI is a multi-payer demonstration involving 45 primary care practices. Thirty-one (31) practices receive additional financial support; all receive technical assistance.

Objectives: To assess data trends in diabetes quality measures from participating adult practices.

Study Design: Quality improvement study utilizing practices’ self-reported data on clinical quality measures. Diabetes measures included blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C control and depression screening.

Methods: Monthly quality data from 38 practices reported June 2011 (baseline) through November 2012 were evaluated. Using a general linear mixed model Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), an overall comparison across time and pair-wise comparisons between times were made to identify periods with significant changes. The analysis also identified the effect of each practice’s performance on aggregate performance and practice performance in change over time for each measure, to determine high and low performers.

Results: On aggregate, the change over time performance was statistically significant for two measures: hemoglobin A1C >9% and depression screening. Some practices were either high or low performers on most measures. Some practices were high performers on some but low performers on other measures. Practices with and without financial support were equally represented in high and low performer categories.

Conclusions: In the first 18 months of the MA PCMHI, participating practices have significantly improved diabetes care by reducing the percentage of patients with poorly controlled diabetes and by more consistently screening patients for depression. Certain sites are excelling – consistently or only in certain measures. Financial support does not appear to be a factor but practice payer mix, size and leadership engagement may be important factors. Analysis of the impact of these factors and a qualitative analysis of best practices implemented by high performing sites, are planned.

Policy Impact: Findings will inform the technical assistance provided to practices undergoing transformation to PCMHs.
Notable: On-the-fly Assistant for Data Storytelling in Computational Notebooks
Creators: name: Li, Haotian
name: Ying, Lu
name: Zhang, Haidong
name: Wu, Yingcai
name: Qu, Huamin
name: Wang, Yun
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Computational notebooks are widely used for data analysis. Their interleaved displays of code and execution results (e.g., visualizations) are welcomed since they enable iterative analysis and preserve the exploration process. However, the communication of data findings remains challenging in computational notebooks. Users have to carefully identify useful findings from useless ones, document them with texts and visual embellishments, and then organize them in different tools. Such workflow greatly increases their workload, according to our interviews with practitioners. To address the challenge, we designed Notable to offer on-the-fly assistance for data storytelling in computational notebooks. It provides intelligent support to minimize the work of documenting and organizing data findings and diminishes the cost of switching between data exploration and storytelling. To evaluate Notable, we conducted a user study with 12 data workers. The feedback from user study participants verifies its effectiveness and usability.
description: To appear in Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2023)
Connection of the virtual $γ^*p$ cross section of $ep$ deep inelastic scattering to real $γp$ scattering, and the implications for $νN$ and $ep$ total cross sections
Creators: name: Block, Martin M.
name: Durand, Loyal
name: Ha, Phuoc
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We show that it is possible to fit all of the HERA DIS (deep inelastic scattering) data on $F_2^{γp}$ at small values of Bjorken $x$, including the data at {\em very low} $Q^2$, using a new model for $F_2^{γp}$ which both includes an asymptotic (high energy) part that satisfies a saturated Froissart bound behavior, with a vector-dominance like mass factor in the parameterization, and extends smoothly to $Q^2=0$. We require that the corresponding part of the virtual $γ^* p$ cross section match the known asymptotic part of the real $γp$ cross section at $Q^2=0$, a cross section which is determined by strong interactions and asymptotically satisfies a saturated Froissart bound of the form $α+β\ln s+γ\ln^2s$. Using this model for the asymptotic part of $F_2^{γp}$ plus a known valence contribution, we fit the asymptotic high energy part of the HERA data with $x\le 0.1$ and $W\ge 25$ GeV; the fit is excellent. We find that the mass parameter in the fit lies in the region of the light vector mesons, somewhat above the $ρ$ meson mass, and is compatible with vector dominance. We use this fit to obtain accurate results for the high energy $ep$ and isoscalar $νN$ total cross sections. Both cross sections obey an analytic expression of the type $a +b \ln E +c \ln^2 E +d \ln^3 E$ at large energies $E$ of the incident particle, reflecting the fact that the underlying strong interaction parts of the $γ^*p$, $Z^*N$ and $W^*N$ cross sections satisfy the saturated Froissart bound. Since approximately 50% of the $νN$ center of mass (cms) energy is found in $W$---the cms energy of the strongly interacting intermediate vector boson-nucleon system---a study of ultra-high-energy neutrino-nucleon cross sections would allow us, for the first time, to explore {\em strong interactions at incredibly high energies}.
description: 17 pages, 9 figures. This version was accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D
title: Barriers and Facilitators to Addressing Perinatal Depression in Obstetric Settings
Creators: name: Byatt, Nancy
name: Biebel, Kathleen
name: Friedman, Liz
name: Debordes-Jackson, Gifty
name: Allison, Jeroan J.
name: Ziedonis, Douglas M.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Background: Perinatal depression is common and can cause suffering for mother, fetus/child and family. The perinatal period is an ideal time to detect and treat depression due to regular contact between mothers and health professionals. Despite the opportune time and setting, depression is under-diagnosed and under-treated in the obstetric setting. Caring and committed providers are frustrated and confused, and mothers do not feel heard or understood by their providers.

Objectives: (1) Identify postpartum women’s perspective on how perinatal depression is addressed in obstetric settings; (2) Identify strategies for improvement of the delivery of depression care in OB/Gyn settings; and, (3) Inform the development of interventions aimed to improve the delivery of perinatal depression care in obstetric settings.

Methods: Four, two hour focus groups were conducted women 3 months – 3 years postpartum (n=27), who identified experiencing symptoms of perinatal depression. Focus group data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

Results: Participants reported individual, provider and systems-level barriers and facilitators to seeking perinatal depression treatment. Women reported feeling stigmatized, afraid of losing parental rights, and described negative experiences with medical providers, including feeling dismissed by providers and uncomfortable discussing mental health concerns. A lack of provider knowledge and skill sets to address depression was noted by participants. Participants recommended an integrated approach, including psycho-education, peer-support, and provider education/training to improve perinatal depression care in the obstetric setting.

Conclusion: Individual, provider and systems-level barriers hinder women from addressing issues of perinatal depression and receiving appropriate care. These data suggest strategies that integrate depression and obstetric care to support OB/Gyns providers and staff in their roles as front line providers to perinatal women. Future efforts could focus on the development of multidisciplinary treatment strategies that utilize patient psychoeducation and provider training and education to overcome barriers and engage women in depression treatment.
A stable path to ferromagnetic hydrogenated graphene growth
Creators: name: Hemmatiyan, Shayan
name: Polini, Marco
name: Abanov, Artem
name: MacDonald, Allan H.
name: Sinova, Jairo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In this paper, we propose a practical way to stabilize half-hydrogenated graphene (graphone). We show that the dipole moments induced by an hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN) substrate on graphene stabilize the hydrogen atoms on one sublattice of the graphene layer and suppress the migration of the absorbed hydrogen atoms. Based upon first principle spin polarized density of states (DOS) calculations, we show that the half hydrogenated graphene (graphone) obtained in different graphene-h-BN heterostructures exhibits a half metallic state. We propose to use this new exotic material for spin valve and other spintronics devices and applications.
description: 8 pages, 8 figures
title: Physician Referral Rather than Proxy Referral to an Organ Procurement Organization Following Asystolic Death Results in Higher Tissue Donation Rates
Creators: name: Caramiciu, Justin A.
name: Adams, Janice P.
name: McKown, Brendan P.
name: French, Corinne D.
name: Baker, Stephen P.
name: Heard, Stephen O.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Timely referral of patients following asystolic death to an organ procurement organization (OPO) may increase tissue donation rates. Notification of the OPO following asystolic death was formerly the responsibility of the admitting office. We hypothesized that changing the responsibility from the admitting department to the declaring physician for calling the OPO would increase timely referral and tissue donation rates. In 2006, the instructions accompanying the working copy of the death certificate were altered to require the patient’s physician to call the OPO within one hou r of death. From 10/2006 to 2/2007 intensive communication and in-servicing was carried out in all intensive care units. Timely referral and donation rates were tabulated before and after the intervention. Data were modeled longitudinally using Generalized Linear Mixed Models (SAS). There timely referral rates rose 2.1 fold on campus 1 (p<0.05) and 1.3 fold on campus 2 (p= NS). The tissue donation rate rose significantly (2.6 fold, p<0.05). In 2005, the donation rate was 21 cases/year and rose to 56 cases/year by 2008 (p<0.05). The rate has held steady since that time (2009-2012). Physician referral rather than referral by other parties following asystolic death results in higher tissue donation rates.
title: Stochastic Analysis of Interfacial Effects on the Polymeric Nanocomposites
Creators: name: Almasi, Ashkan
Publisher: name: Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: 620 Ingenieurwissenschaften

description: The polymeric clay nanocomposites are a new class of materials of which recently have become the centre of attention due to their superior mechanical and physical properties. Several studies have been performed on the mechanical characterisation of these nanocomposites; however most of those studies have neglected the effect of the interfacial region between the clays and the matrix despite of its significant influence on the mechanical performance of the nanocomposites. There are different analytical methods to calculate the overall elastic material properties of the composites. In this study we use the Mori-Tanaka method to determine the overall stiffness of the composites for simple inclusion geometries of cylinder and sphere. Furthermore, the effect of interphase layer on the overall properties of composites is calculated. Here, we intend to get ounds for the effective mechanical properties to compare with the analytical results. Hence, we use linear displacement boundary conditions (LD) and uniform traction boundary conditions (UT) accordingly. Finally, the analytical results are compared with numerical results and they are in a good agreement. The next focus of this dissertation is a computational approach with a hierarchical multiscale method on the mesoscopic level. In other words, in this study we use the stochastic analysis and computational homogenization method to analyse the effect of thickness and stiffness of the interfacial region on the overall elastic properties of the clay/epoxy nanocomposites. The results show that the increase in interphase thickness, reduces the stiffness of the clay/epoxy naocomposites and this decrease becomes significant in higher clay contents. The results of the sensitivity analysis prove that the stiffness of the interphase layer has more significant effect on the final stiffness of nanocomposites. We also validate the results with the available experimental results from the literature which show good agreement.
A flexibilização das couraças e o amadurecimento do caráter através da reatualização hipnótica
Creators: name: Reichiano, Centro
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 520302
subject: Clinical psychology

description: A Psicologia Corporal é pioneira no reconhecimento e no trabalho das profundas interrelações entre soma e psiquê, percebendo o ser humano como uma unidade energética sintetizada no conceito de couraça muscular. Sendo a couraça muscular o bloqueio energético a nível físico e psicológico, a Psicologia Corporal tem como meta o amadurecimento caracterológico do indivíduo através de trabalhos corporais que flexibilizam e dissolvem essas couraças. A proposta do presente trabalho é mostrar como as técnicas hipnóticas tem a possibilidade de flexibilizar e dissolver as couraças, gerando, como os actings da vegetoterapia, uma reatualização e transformação do tempo interno do indivíduo e um consequente amadurecimento dos seus traços de caráter.
The distribution of polarized radio sources $>$15$μ$Jy in GOODS-N
Creators: name: Rudnick, Lawrence
name: Owen, Frazer
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present deep VLA observations of the polarization of radio sources in the GOODS-N field at 1.4 GHz at resolutions of 1.6" and 10". At 1.6", we find that the peak flux cumulative number count distribution is N($>$p) $\sim$ 45 * (p/30$μ$Jy)$^{-0.6}$ per square degree above a detection threshold of 14.5 $μ$Jy. This represents a break from the steeper slopes at higher flux densities, resulting in fewer sources predicted for future surveys with the SKA and its precursors. It provides a significant challenge for using background RMs to study clusters of galaxies or individual galaxies. Most of the polarized sources are well above our detection limit, and are radio galaxies which are well-resolved even at 10", with redshifts from $\sim$0.2 - 1.9. We determined a total polarized flux for each source by integrating the 10" polarized intensity maps, as will be done by upcoming surveys such as POSSUM. These total polarized fluxes are a factor of 2 higher, on average, than the peak polarized flux at 1.6"; this would increase the number counts by $\sim$50% at a fixed flux level. The detected sources have rotation measures (RMs) with a characteristic rms scatter of $\sim$11$\frac{rad}{m^2}$ around the local Galactic value, after eliminating likely outliers. The median fractional polarization from all total intensity sources does not continue the trend of increasing at lower flux densities, as seen for stronger sources. The changes in the polarization characteristics seen at these low fluxes likely represent the increasing dominance of star-forming galaxies.
description: Published in ApJ; this version contains corrections which will appear as an Erratum to the published version; 18 pages, 15 figures
Prüfer transformation and its application to the numerical description of the motion of quantum particles with various spins in the fields of classical black holes
Creators: name: Neznamov, V. P.
name: Safronov, I. I.
name: Shemarulin, V. E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Stable and reliable numerical integration of second-order radial equations in the fields of classical black holes can be performed by using the Prüfer transformation and by passing to the use of phase functions, which allows uniquely selecting the solutions with physical asymptotics in numerical calculations.
description: 23 pages, 2 tables, 9 figures
title: Supporting Recovery in the Deaf Community: Creating Continuum of Behavioral Health Care in Central Massachusetts
Creators: name: Anderson, Melissa L.
name: Glickman, Neil S.
name: Mistler, Lisa
name: Jones, Susan
name: Kolodziej, Monika E.
name: Ziedonis, Douglas M.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Across the U.S., there is a paucity of mental health and substance abuse services for Deaf individuals. Without the availability of communication accommodations and specialized clinical expertise, Deaf individuals seeking behavioral health services contend with access limitations, misdiagnoses, and superficial treatments. Moreover, while the assessment and treatment of co-occurring disorders and the infusion of trauma-informed care are key components of effective treatment in the mainstream literature, the investigation and application of these initiatives to the Deaf population has not yet occurred. The proposed poster will outline the current state of specialized behavioral health services for Deaf individuals in Central Massachusetts, identify gaps in the continuum of behavioral health care for this population, and offer recommendations for future behavioral health programming.

Currently, Central Massachusetts is home to two specialized programs for Deaf individuals seeking behavioral health services, the Center for Living and Working’s Deaf Independent Living Services and the DMH Inpatient Deaf Services at Worcester State Recovery Center and Hospital. Unfortunately, even with these programs, it is challenging to find appropriate outpatient placement and services that meet the range of psychiatric, intellectual, linguistic, and cultural needs of Deaf individuals. Connections between inpatient units and specialized outpatient services for the Deaf need to be developed or enhanced to increase continuity of care and reduce rehospitalization of Deaf individuals.

At the current time, specialized outpatient psychotherapy and psychiatry services for Deaf individuals are not available in this region. Lack of funding for AA/NA interpreters and the recent closure of a Deaf-accessible substance abuse treatment agency highlight the need for the development of programs that provide accessible substance abuse treatment. Culturally-affirmative, linguistically-accessible, trauma-informed outpatient behavioral health services that are tailored to the Deaf population are vital to promoting the wellness and recovery of the Deaf community.
title: Clinical Profile and Disability Levels of Younger vs. Older TKR and THR Patients in a National Research Consortium
Creators: name: Ayers, David C.
name: Harrold, Leslie R.
name: Snyder, Benjamin
name: Person, Sharina D.
name: Franklin, Patricia D.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Introduction: A growing number of patients under 65 years old undergo total knee replacement (TKR) and total hip replacement (THR).1 This trend has raised concerns that younger patients may receive surgery prematurely. We examined demographic and clinical factors in younger versus older patients in a national sample of THR and THR patients.

Methods: Patients undergoing primary TKR and THR from 7/1/11 through 12/03/12 were identified from a national research consortium that gathers demographics, comorbid conditions (Charlson Comorbidity Index), Short Form 36 Physical Component Score (PCS) and Mental Component Score (MCS), burden of musculoskeletal disease using the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) or the Hip injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) and the Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were performed.

Results: TKR patients included 1326 younger (<65) and 1988 older (≥65) patients. Younger patients were more likely nonwhite (13.6% vs. 7.3%) and Hispanic/Latino (3.3% vs. 2.2%), with worse functional impairment as measured by the PCS (32.14 vs. 33.0). Younger patients had fewer comorbid conditions, but were heavier (mean BMI 33.0 vs. 30.5), smokers (9.4% vs. 2.6%), with worse mental health (mean MCS 49.1 vs. 52.4). THR patients included 1175 younger (<65) and 1245 older (≥65) patients. Younger patients were more likely nonwhite (12.1% vs. 6%) and Hispanic/Latino (2.2% vs. 0.8%). Both had substantial functional impairment with PCS of 31.2 and 31.4. Younger patients reported greater operative hip joint pain and stiffness. Younger patients had fewer comorbid conditions but were heavier (mean BMI 29.8 vs. 28.5), smokers (13.1% vs. 3.0%), with worse mental health (mean MCS 48.4 vs. 51.5).

Conclusion: Younger patients have fewer medical illnesses at the time of TKR or THR, but have greater functional impairment and higher rates of obesity and smoking as well as lower mental health scores.
title: Analysis of sFlt Isoforms as Biomarkers for the Development of Preeclampsia
Creators: name: Souders, Colby A.
name: Boatright, Naomi K.
name: Sedan, Jessica
name: Molrine, Deborah
name: Thomas, William D.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Preeclampsia is a multi-system disorder characterized by hypertension, edema and proteinuria affecting between 5-10% of pregnancies. A subset of cases progress to severe preeclampsia with exacerbated hypertension/proteinuria and evidence of nervous system, liver and/or kidney dysfunction, in addition to fetal growth restriction. Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt) is minimally expressed in many tissues, including the placenta, and is a circulating antagonist to vascular endothelial growth factor. With progression of pregnancy, sFlt levels significantly rise, especially in women who develop preeclampsia. Diagnostic tests to predict preeclampsia in pregnant women are limited and current tests measure total sFlt in relationship to placental growth factor with varying sensitivity and specificity. We hypothesized that a pregnancy-specific splice variant of sFlt (sFlt1-14), almost exclusively expressed by the placenta, would serve as an improved serum biomarker for the development of preeclampsia. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were developed that specifically bind the two predominant isoforms of sFlt (sFlt1 and sFlt1-14) by hybridoma generation from wild type mice immunized with c-terminal peptides of the two isoforms. Western blot, ELISA and affinity analysis indicated the mAbs were specific for sFlt1 or sFlt1-14 splice variants and recognized these proteins in biological fluids (amniotic fluid or serum). A quantitative capture ELISA was developed whereby total sFlt in biological fluid is captured by a unique human mAb and specific levels of sFlt1 or sFlt1-14 are detected by their respective mouse mAb, followed by anti-murine secondary antibody development. Using recombinant sFlt1 or sFlt1-14 as standards, these endogenous proteins were quantified in commercially available third trimester human pregnant sera. Future studies will measure these isoforms in sera prospectively collected from women with known outcomes of a healthy pregnancy or preeclampsia and the ability of absolute quantitation of the isoform(s) or a ratio of the two to predict the likely onset and severity of preeclampsia will be evaluated.
Developers' Perception of GitHub Actions: A Survey Analysis
Creators: name: Saroar, Sk Golam
name: Nayebi, Maleknaz
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Software Engineering (cs.SE)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: GitHub introduced "Actions" in 2019 to increase workflow velocity and add customized automation to the repositories. Any individual can develop Actions for automating workflow on GitHub repositories and others can reuse them whenever open source. GitHub introduced its marketplace for commercializing and sharing these automation tools, which currently hosts 16,730 Actions. Yet, there are numerous Actions that are developed and distributed in local repositories and outside the Marketplace. So far, the research community conducted mining studies to understand Actions with a significant focus on CI/CD. We conducted a survey study with 90 Action developers and users to understand the motivations and best practices in using, developing, and debugging Actions, and the challenges associated with these tasks. We found that developers prefer Actions with verified creators and more stars when choosing between similar Actions, and often switch to an alternative Action when facing bugs or a lack of documentation. 60.87% of the developers consider the composition of YAML files, which are essential for Action integration, challenging and error-prone. They mainly check Q\&A forums to fix issues with these YAML files. Finally, developers tend to avoid using Actions (and hence automation) to reduce complexity, and security risk, or when the benefits of Actions are not worth the cost/effort of setting up Actions for automation.
description: Authors preprint version
Establishing the fundamental magnetic interactions in the chiral skyrmionic Mott insulator Cu2OSeO3 by terahertz electron spin resonance
Creators: name: Ozerov, M.
name: Romhányi, J.
name: Belesi, M.
name: Berger, H.
name: Ansermet, J. -Ph.
name: Brink, Jeroen van den
name: Wosnitza, J.
name: Zvyagin, S. A.
name: Rousochatzakis, I.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The recent discovery of skyrmions in Cu$_2$OSeO$_3$ has established a new platform to create and manipulate skyrmionic spin textures. We use high-field electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy combining a terahertz free electron laser and pulsed magnetic fields up to 64 T to probe and quantify its microscopic spin-spin interactions. Besides providing direct access to the long-wavelength Goldstone mode, this technique probes also the high-energy part of the excitation spectrum which is inaccessible by standard low-frequency ESR. Fitting the behavior of the observed modes in magnetic field to a theoretical framework establishes experimentally that the fundamental magnetic building blocks of this skyrmionic magnet are rigid, highly entangled and weakly coupled tetrahedra.
description: 5 pages, 3 Figures
title: Targeting Heat Shock Protein 90 Alters Epigenetic Genes in Alcoholic Liver Disease
Creators: name: Ambade, Aditya
name: Mandrekar, Pranoti
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Chronic alcohol induces acetylation and methylation of chromatin-associated histones that influence transcriptional activity of genes. Molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) is being recognized as mediator of chromatin remodeling and is upregulated in alcoholic liver disease. We hypothesize that hsp90 plays a pivotal role in altered expression of chromatin modifying enzymes during alcoholic liver injury. To test our hypotheses, C57Bl/6 mice were fed Lieber-deCarli diet with 5% v/v ethanol for 10 days followed by a binge containing 20%v/v alcohol. A single injection of hsp90 inhibitor, 17-DMAG [17-Dimethylamino-ethylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin] was administered (30-50 mg/kg BW) i.p. before the binge. Epigenetic PCR array analyzing chromatin modifying enzyme expression was employed to determine effect of chronic alcohol and 17-DMAG treatment. Elevated ALT, triglycerides and steatosis confirmed alcoholic liver injury. Results show significant up-regulation of 5 genes including, ATF2 (p=0.0003), a transcription factor with histone acetyltransferase activity, PRMT6 (p=0.0001) and SETD7 (p=0.002), protein methyltransferases, RPS6KA3 (p=4.4 e-6) kinase and HDAC3 (p=0.0001) whereas HDAC9 (p=0.002) was decreased in alcoholic whole livers. Further, ATF2 was exclusively up-regulated in Kupffer cells (KCs) while PRMT6 increased in alcoholic hepatocytes. HDAC3, SETD7 and RPS6KA3 were increased in both, alcoholic KCs and hepatocytes. HDAC9 was exclusively down regulated in alcohol exposed hepatocytes but not in KCs. Inhibition of hsp90 by 17-DMAG after chronic alcohol exposure alleviated liver injury as noted by significantly lowered serum ALT, TBARS and liver triglycerides. Interestingly, 17-DMAG treatment prevented upregulation of ATF2 (p=3.13 e-5), PRMT6 (p=0.001) and HDAC3 (p=0.001) and inhibited down regulation of HDAC9 (p=2.6 e-8) without any effect on expression of SETD7 and RPS6KA3 genes in liver. In summary, our data indicate that chronic alcohol exposure regulates chromatin modifying epigenetic genes in a cell-specific manner likely via molecular chaperone, hsp90. Inhibition of hsp90 leads to modulation of chromatin modifying enzymes with resolution of liver injury. (Supported by the NIH/NIAAA # AA179086)
Using the Potent Pasteurella multocida Toxin to Probe G-protein Signalling
Creators: name: Cherrie Sherman
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2020
Subjects: Cell Biology

description: The heterotrimeric G-proteins are critically important intracellular signalling molecules that regulate fundamental processes in cellular homeostasis. A unique bacterial toxin, Pasteurella multocida toxin (PMT) modifies 3 of the 4 families of G-proteins (Gq, Gi, and G12) by deamidation which leads to a plethora of downstream signalling. PMT induces drastic morphological changes such as loss of adherence to the matrix, foci and stress fibre formation in Swiss 3T3 and Vero cells. PMT is mitogenic for many cell types but not all, and the work reported in this thesis aims to compare two cell lines that respond differently to PMT. Swiss 3T3 and Vero cells were treated with different concentrations of PMT to determine the effects on cell proliferation, cytoskeletal reorganisation and cell death. PMT induced prominent cytoskeletal changes, mitogenic and anti-cell death responses in Swiss 3T3 cells while delayed cytoskeletal changes with no evidence of mitogenicity and cell death were observed in Vero cells. PMT modified G-proteins at different times in Swiss 3T3 and Vero cells. The PMT-induced anti-cell death response in Swiss 3T3 cells was dose-dependent while the delayed cytoskeletal response in Vero cells was linked to the late PMT-mediated G12 activation. The amino acid sequence of Gα12 differed in the two cell types – the G12 subunit in Vero cells is missing N-terminal cysteine residue, which may have contributed to the differences. Gq/11 signalling is active and sustained in Swiss 3T3 cells, but not in Vero cells. Gβγ may have inhibited adenylyl cyclase activity so it is unknown whether Gi signalling is active and sustained over the 3-day period as the forskolin-stimulated cAMP level decreased in both serum-starved untreated and PMT-treated cell lines. In summary, I have identified changes in both the primary effect of PMT on the two cell types and also on downstream signalling that is likely to reflect the differential cell response.
CHARA/MIRC observations of two M supergiants in Perseus OB1: temperature, Bayesian modeling, and compressed sensing imaging
Creators: name: Baron, F.
name: Monnier, J. D.
name: Kiss, L. L.
name: Neilson, H. R.
name: Zhao, M.
name: Anderson, M.
name: Aarnio, A.
name: Pedretti, E.
name: Thureau, N.
name: Brummelaar, T. A. ten
name: Ridgway, S. T.
name: McAlister, H. A.
name: Sturmann, J.
name: Sturmann, L.
name: Turner, N.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Two red supergiants of the Per OB1 association, RS Per and T Per, have been observed in H band using the MIRC instrument at the CHARA array. The data show clear evidence of departure from circular symmetry. We present here new techniques specially developed to analyze such cases, based on state-of-the-art statistical frameworks. The stellar surfaces are first modeled as limb-darkened discs based on SATLAS models that fit both MIRC interferometric data and publicly available spectrophotometric data. Bayesian model selection is then used to determine the most probable number of spots. The effective surface temperatures are also determined and give further support to the recently derived hotter temperature scales of red su- pergiants. The stellar surfaces are reconstructed by our model-independent imaging code SQUEEZE, making use of its novel regularizer based on Compressed Sensing theory. We find excellent agreement between the model-selection results and the reconstructions. Our results provide evidence for the presence of near-infrared spots representing about 3-5% of the stellar flux.
title: Pre-operative Emotional Health Affects Post-operative Patient Function but not Patient Satisfaction Following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty
Creators: name: Snyder, Benjamin
name: Yang, Wenyun
name: Porter, Anthony
name: Franklin, Patricia D.
name: Ayers, David C.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Introduction: Total hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasty are highly successful treatments for end-stage arthritis. However, a subset of patients experience suboptimal post-operative gain in function. 1, 2 Previous studies have shown that pre-operative emotional health influences outcomes after TKA,3 but there is limited evidence on THA patients. We hypothesized that pre-operative emotional health does not affect patient satisfaction in THA patients.

Methods: A secondary analysis of an existing registry at UMass of primary THA patients between 2008 and 2011 was conducted. Baseline demographic, clinical, emotional health (SF-36 MCS), and physical health (SF-36 PCS) data were collected electronically at the pre-operative visit. Post-operative SF-36 MCS, SF-36 PCS, and satisfaction scores were collected electronically between 6 months through 2 years follow-up. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression models were used.

Results: The analysis included 316 primary THA patients with mean age 62±11 years, 55% female, mean BMI 30±5, mean PCS 31±8, and mean MCS 51±11. Patients with lower baseline emotional health scores reported significantly reduced mean post-operative physical function and emotional health (p45 (indicating excellent function, national norm = 50); whereas patients with baseline MCS≥50 had a mean 17±11 point increase in post-operative PCS with 71% of these patients reporting PCS>45 (p<0.001).

Conclusion: In THA patients, post-operative emotional health and physical health are positively correlated with baseline emotional health, however post-operative patient satisfaction remains independent of baseline emotional health.
Investigating day-to-day route choices based on multi-scenario laboratory experiments. Part I: Route-dependent attraction and its modeling
Creators: name: Qi, Hang
name: Jia, Ning
name: Qu, Xiaobo
name: He, Zhengbing
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph)
subject: Applications (stat.AP)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: In the area of urban transportation networks, a growing number of day-to-day (DTD) traffic dynamic theories have been proposed to describe the network flow evolution, and an increasing amount of laboratory experiments have been conducted to observe travelers' behavior regularities. However, the "communication" between theorists and experimentalists has not been made well. This paper devotes to 1) detecting unanticipated behavior regularities by conducting a series of laboratory experiments, and 2) improving existing DTD dynamics theories by embedding the observed behavior regularities into a route choice model. First, 312 subjects participated in one of the eight decision-making scenarios and make route choices repeatedly in congestible parallel-route networks. Second, three route-switching behavior patterns that cannot be fully explained by the classic route-choice models are observed. Third, to enrich the explanation power of a discrete route-choice model, behavioral assumptions of route-dependent attractions, i.e., route-dependent inertia and preference, are introduced. An analytical DTD dynamic model is accordingly proposed and proven to steadily converge to a unique equilibrium state. Finally, the proposed DTD model could satisfactorily reproduce the observations in various datasets. The research results can help transportation science theorists to make the best use of laboratory experimentation and to build network equilibrium or DTD dynamic models with both real behavioral basis and neat mathematical properties.
Two-loop fermion self-energy and propagator in reduced QED$_{3,2}$
Creators: name: Teber, S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We compute the two-loop fermion self-energy in massless reduced quantum electrodynamics (RQED) for an arbitrary gauge in the case where the photon field is three-dimensional and the fermion field two-dimensional: super-renormalizable RQED$_{3,2}$ with $N_F$ fermions. We find that the theory is infrared finite at two-loop and that finite corrections to the fermion propagator have a remarkably simple form.
description: (v2) Accepted for publication in PRD. Minor change in title per editor's comment. No change in results. 4+epsilon pages, 2 figures. (v1) LaTeX file with feynMF package. 4+epsilon pages, 2 figures
title: Rodent Traumatic Brain Injury as a Model for Human Traumatic Axonal Damage and Neurodegeneration
Creators: name: Henninger, Nils
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is inherently heterogeneous with a complex underlying pathophysiology. Over the past decades many attempts have been undertaken to develop novel and innovative ways to mimic human aspects of TBI in rodents. This presentation will provide a brief overview of translationally relevant rodent TBI models with special emphasis on mild-to-moderate injuries and associated pathology.
title: Human-Animal Interaction (HAI) in Research and Clinical Practice
Creators: name: Linder, Deborah
name: Mueller, Megan
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Human-animal interaction is any interaction between humans and animals: educational outreach or activities that discuss the topic of animals or pets; pets in households; animal visitation from registered therapy animals; animal assisted therapy (AAT) and animal assisted activities (AAA). As part of a mini-symposium highlighting collaborative research opportunities with the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, this presentation discusses the benefits of human-animal interaction and the need for more rigorous evidence-based conclusions in this field.
title: Molecular Mechanisms of FSH Muscular Dystrophy Pathogenesis
Creators: name: Jones, Peter L.
name: Jones, Takako I.
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Discussion of a new research initiative at UMass Medical School focused on the pathogenesis of Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) and efforts towards diagnostics and therapeutics. This presentation is part of the retreat mini-symposium entitled: Neuromuscular Diseases: Pathogenesis and the Road to Therapeutics.
Detection and Parameter Estimation of Gravitational Waves from Compact Binary Inspirals with Analytical Double-Precessing Templates
Creators: name: Chatziioannou, Katerina
name: Cornish, Neil
name: Klein, Antoine
name: Yunes, Nicolas
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the performance of various analytical frequency-domain templates for detection and parameter estimation of gravitational waves from spin-precessing, quasi-circular, compact binary inspirals. We begin by assessing the extent to which non-spinning, spin-aligned, and the new (analytical, frequency-domain, small-spin) double-precessing frequency-domain templates can be used to detect signals from such systems. For effective, dimensionless spin values above $0.2$, the use of non-spinning or spin-aligned templates for detection purposes will result in a loss of up to $30%$ of all events, while in the case of the double-precessing model, this never exceeds $6%$. Moreover, even for signals from systems with small spins, non-spinning and spin-aligned templates introduce large biases in the extracted masses and spins. The use of a model that encodes spin-induced precession effects, such as the double-precessing model, improves the mass and spin extraction by up to an order of magnitude. The additional information encoded in the spin-orbit interaction is invaluable if one wishes to extract the maximum amount of information from gravitational wave signals.
description: 18 pages, 12 figures, published version
Sustained presentation of therapeutic factors
Creators: name: Lowe, Christopher J.
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2018

description: The continued development of complex protein therapeutics as life saving medicines has greatly improved outcomes and quality of life for countless patients. Unfortunately, these large complex proteins are not as stable as traditional small molecule drugs and are most commonly administered intravenously, placing burdens on patients who depend on regular dosing. To alleviate these burdens, alternative methods of sustaining therapeutically relevant doses of medicines at sites of injury or disease must be investigated. This dissertation proposes and explores novel methods of sustaining the presentation of therapeutic factors and targeting them to injured and diseased tissues by using native free radicals as a homing signal. Elevated concentrations of free radicals are a characteristic comorbidity of many different injury and disease conditions. In polymer chemistry, free radicals are frequently used to initiate crosslinking and polymerization reactions. We hypothesize that the free radicals characteristic of injured and diseased tissues are capable of inducing crosslinking of acrylate groups. By using acrylated polymers, such as polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), coupled to therapeutic factors, this allows for specific targeting and immobilization of these therapeutic factors to injured or diseased tissues with elevated concentrations of free radicals. Further, the interaction of free radicals may reduce or sequester free radicals, limiting their ability to further damage the tissue. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) initiated crosslinking of acrylated PEGs, which enabled the immobilization of a fluorescent payload within tissue mimics. The crosslinking efficiency and immobilization potential varied with the polymer chain length, which suggests that a tunable platform can be achieved. Thiol and alkene functionalized PEGs also demonstrated good crosslinking potential with native free radicals and offer an additional avenue of platform customization. Additionally, the reaction of these functionalized PEGs with free radicals protected cells from the damaging effects of oxidative stress in vitro. Together these results provide promising proof of concept for using free radicals as a means of specifically targeting and sustaining drugs to injured or diseased tissues. Overall the work described in this dissertation has the potential to serve as the building block for improved strategies for administering complex therapeutics to patients in need.
title: A Phosphorylcholine Polymer Platform for Cancer Drug Delivery
Creators: name: Emrick, Todd
name: Schneider, Sallie
Publisher: name: eScholarship@UMMS
Year: 2013

description: Discusses the use of polymers to enhance a drug delivery system for breast cancer treatment. This presentation is part of the retreat mini-symposium entitled: Biomarker Discovery and Targeted Therapeutics in Cancer.