cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Examining the Influence of a New Light Rail Line on the Health of a Demographically Diverse and Understudied Population within the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area: A Protocol for a Natural Experiment Study
Creators: name: Roberts, Jennifer D.
name: Hu, Ming
name: Saksvig, Brit Irene
name: Brachman, Micah L.
name: Durand, Casey P.
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2018
Subjects: active transportation
light rail
built environment
natural experiment
sense of community

description: Approximately two-thirds of adults and youth in Prince George’s County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. are overweight or obese and less than half are achieving daily physical activity recommendations. Active transportation (AT), such as walking, biking or using public transportation (PT), is a strategic pathway to improving physical activity levels and thus reducing excess weight. Utilizing an expansion of the Washington, D.C. area transportation system with a new light rail line, the Purple Line Outcomes on Transportation (PLOT) Study will exam pre- and post-Purple Line PT use, AT behaviors and attitudes and physical activity among Prince George’s County adults and youth. The PLOT Study will take advantage of this natural experiment in an area enduring significant racial/ethnic and gender-based overweight or obesity and physical inactivity disparities. While similar natural experiments on AT have been conducted in other U.S. cities, those studies lacked diverse and representative samples. To effectively evaluate these physical activity outcomes among this population, efforts will be used to recruit African American and Latino populations, the first and second most common racial/ethnic groups in Prince George’s County. Finally, the PLOT Study will also examine how contextual effects (e.g., neighborhood built environment) impact PT, AT and physical activity.
Design of a high endurance MAV
Creators: name: Costeas, Aristedes
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2020

description: Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) are increasing in popularity and are finding applications in both the civil and defense sectors. A major limitation of MAV plat- forms is low endurance, which greatly diminishes mission capabilities. This study was restricted to MAVs with a characteristic length of 20cm or less and a weight of less than 100 grams; although, these restrictions were relaxed in a few cases. A comprehensive approach was taken to develop a high endurance coaxial MAV. A literature review showed that hover capable organisms, such as hummingbirds and bats, also suffer from the same low aerodynamic efficiency issues that MAV designers face. Following nature’s example, the maximum possible power loading, also known as hover efficiency, was increased by minimizing vehicle disc loading. Through simulations and experiments, the classic quadcopter platform proved too inefficient to achieve maximum endurance. Higher aerodynamic efficiencies did not provide a high enough power loading to achieve high endurance. This investigation shows that the coaxial configuration, due to it’s very low disc loading, has the highest power loading and therefore the highest possible endurance. Mo- tor/propeller matching was also performed to maximize efficiency. A database of propellers and motors was created and all possible combinations were simulated, along with different gear ratios, to shift the motor efficiency peak closer to that of the propeller. This optimization yielded a propulsion system which had a power loading comparable to biological flyers. Finally, the entire vehicle was simulated using a battery optimization model and accurate predictions of vehicle weight, thrust and endurance were obtained. Using this approach, hundreds of vehicle and component combinations can be simulated and optimized rapidly. The developed model included simulations for the static hover case and a dynamic case, where a constant climb rate was considered. Dynamic case simulations predicted the optimal climb rate to achieve maximum altitude. Using precomputed data obtained from the simulations, a Pareto front was created and an optimal vehicle configuration was selected. This approach was used to create a coaxial micro drone with a maximum achieved endurance of 37 minutes. This endurance represents a 460% improvement over the average 8 minute flight time of the sub 100g drones examined. The simulations and models developed in this study resulted in predicted MAV endurances within 30 seconds of the experimental measurements, regardless of payload or battery size. Total flight weight ranges were between 40 and 88 grams depending on payload and the MAV version in question. The final MAV platform created was foldable into a 40mm profile and launchable via a pneumatic launching device. Basic air/water capabilities were also demonstrated giving the MAV the ability to be deployed from underwater. Future work includes adding robust autonomy and swarming capabilities.
CDIO-CT collaborative strategy for solving complex STEM problems in system modeling and simulation: an illustration of solving the period of mathematical pendulum
Creators: name: Zhang, Hong-Yan
name: Zhou, Yu
name: Li, Yu-Tao
name: Li, Fu-Yun
name: Jiang, Yong-Hui
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Physics Education (physics.ed-ph)
subject: Computers and Society (cs.CY)
subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: The problem-project-oriented STEM education plays a significant role in training students' ability of innovation. Although the conceive-design-implement-operate (CDIO) approach and the computational thinking (CT) are hot topics in recent decade, there are still two deficiencies: the CDIO approach and CT are discussed separately and a general framework of coping with complex STEM problems in system modeling and simulation is missing. In this paper, a collaborative strategy based on the CDIO and CT is proposed for solving complex STEM problems in system modeling and simulation with a general framework, in which the CDIO is about ``how to do", CT is about ``how to think", and the project means ``what to do". As an illustration, the problem of solving the period of mathematical pendulum (MP) is discussed in detail. The most challenging task involved in the problem is to compute the complete elliptic integral of the first kind (CEI-1). In the philosophy of STEM education, all problems have more than one solutions. For computing the CEI-1, four methods are discussed with a top-down strategy, which includes the infinite series method, arithmetic-geometric mean (AGM) method, Gauss-Chebyshev method and Gauss-Legendre method. The algorithms involved can be utilized for R & D projects of interest and be reused according to the requirements encountered. The general framework for solving complex STEM problem in system modeling and simulation is worth recommending to the college students and instructors.
description: 27 pages, 12 figures, 11 tables
THE DISTRIBUTED KNOWLEDGE DISTILLATION FRAMEWORK FOR FINANCIAL FRAUD PREVENTION BASED ON TRANSFORMER
Creators: name: CHINTAKUNTA CHENNAKESAVA REDDY
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025

description: Financial fraud cases causing serious damage to the interests of investors are not uncommon. As a result, a wide range of intelligent detection techniques are put forth to support financial institutions’ decision-making. Currently, existing methods have problems such as poor detection accuracy, slow inference speed, and weak generalization ability. Therefore, we suggest a distributed knowledge distillation architecture for financial fraud detection based on Transformer. Firstly, the multi-attention mechanism is used to give weights to the features, followed by feed-forward neural networks to extract high-level features that include relevant information, and finally neural networks are used to categorize financial fraud. Secondly, for the problem of inconsistent financial data indicators and unbalanced data distribution focused on different industries, a distributed knowledge distillation algorithm is proposed. This algorithm combines the detection knowledge of the multi-teacher network and migrates the knowledge to the student network, which detects the financial data of different industries. The final experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms other methods in terms of F1 score (92.87%), accuracy (98.98%), precision (81.48%), recall (95.45%), and AUC score (96.73%) when compared to the traditional detection methods.
Modification and Assembly of a Versatile Lactonase for Bacterial Quorum Quenching
Creators: name: Rhoads, Melissa K.
name: Hauk, Pricila
name: Gupta, Valerie
name: Bookstaver, Michelle L.
name: Stephens, Kristina
name: Payne, Gregory F.
name: Bentley, William E.
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2018
Subjects: quorum quenching
antibiotics
organophosphate
enzyme attachment
enzyme delivery

description: This work sets out to provide a self-assembled biopolymer capsule activated with a multi-functional enzyme for localized delivery. This enzyme, SsoPox, which is a lactonase and phosphotriesterase, provides a means of interrupting bacterial communication pathways that have been shown to mediate pathogenicity. Here we demonstrate the capability to express, purify and attach SsoPox to the natural biopolymer chitosan, preserving its activity to “neutralize” long-chain autoinducer-1 (AI-1) communication molecules. Attachment is shown via non-specific binding and by engineering tyrosine and glutamine affinity ‘tags’ at the C-terminus for covalent linkage. Subsequent degradation of AI-1, in this case N-(3-oxododecanoyl)-l-homoserine lactone (OdDHL), serves to “quench” bacterial quorum sensing (QS), silencing intraspecies communication. By attaching enzymes to pH-responsive chitosan that, in turn, can be assembled into various forms, we demonstrate device-based flexibility for enzyme delivery. Specifically, we have assembled quorum-quenching capsules consisting of an alginate inner core and an enzyme “decorated” chitosan shell that are shown to preclude bacterial QS crosstalk, minimizing QS mediated behaviors.
On the determination of the spin of the black hole in Cyg X-1 from X-ray reflection spectra
Creators: name: Fabian, A. C.
name: Wilkins, D. R.
name: Miller, J. M.
name: Reis, R. C.
name: Reynolds, C. S.
name: Cackett, E. M.
name: Nowak, M. A.
name: Pooley, G. G.
name: Pottschmidt, K.
name: Sanders, J. S.
name: Ross, R. R.
name: Wilms, J.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE)
subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The spin of Cygnus X-1 is measured by fitting reflection models to Suzaku data covering the energy band 0.9-400 keV. The inner radius of the accretion disc is found to lie within 2 gravitational radii (r_g=GM/c^2) and a value for the dimensionless black hole spin is obtained of 0.97^{+0.014}_{-0.02}. This agrees with recent measurements using the continuum fitting method by Gou et al. and of the broad iron line by Duro et al. The disc inclination is measured at 23.7^{+6.7}_{-5.4} deg, which is consistent with the recent optical measurement of the binary system inclination by Orosz et al of 27+/-0.8 deg. We pay special attention to the emissivity profile caused by irradiation of the inner disc by the hard power-law source. The X-ray observations and simulations show that the index q of that profile deviates from the commonly used, Newtonian, value of 3 within 3r_g, steepening considerably within 2r_g, as expected in the strong gravity regime.
description: 7 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS in press
On the relationship between classes P and NP
Creators: name: Plotnikov, Anatoly D.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Discrete Mathematics (cs.DM)
subject: Computational Complexity (cs.CC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: F.2.2; G.2.1; G.2.2
subject: 68Q15

description: In this paper we discusses the relationship between the known classes P and NP. We show that the difficulties in solving problem "P versus NP" have methodological in nature. An algorithm for solving any problem is sensitive to even small changes in its formulation. As we will shown in the paper, these difficulties are exactly in the formulation of some problems of the class NP.
description: 9 pages
Implementation of Glycan Remodeling to Plant-Made Therapeutic Antibodies
Creators: name: Bennett, Lindsay D.
name: Yang, Qiang
name: Berquist, Brian R.
name: Giddens, John P.
name: Ren, Zhongjie
name: Kommineni, Vally
name: Murray, Ryan P.
name: White, Earl L.
name: Holtz, Barry R.
name: Wang, Lai-Xi
name: Marcel, Sylvain
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2018
Subjects: glycan remodeling
therapeutic proteins
recombinant glycoproteins
Nicotiana benthamiana
N-glycosylation

description: N-glycosylation profoundly affects the biological stability and function of therapeutic proteins, which explains the recent interest in glycoengineering technologies as methods to develop biobetter therapeutics. In current manufacturing processes, N-glycosylation is host-specific and remains difficult to control in a production environment that changes with scale and production batches leading to glycosylation heterogeneity and inconsistency. On the other hand, in vitro chemoenzymatic glycan remodeling has been successful in producing homogeneous pre-defined protein glycoforms, but needs to be combined with a cost-effective and scalable production method. An efficient chemoenzymatic glycan remodeling technology using a plant expression system that combines in vivo deglycosylation with an in vitro chemoenzymatic glycosylation is described. Using the monoclonal antibody rituximab as a model therapeutic protein, a uniform Gal2GlcNAc2Man3GlcNAc2 (A2G2) glycoform without α-1,6-fucose, plant-specific α-1,3-fucose or β-1,2-xylose residues was produced. When compared with the innovator product Rituxan®, the plant-made remodeled afucosylated antibody showed similar binding affinity to the CD20 antigen but significantly enhanced cell cytotoxicity in vitro. Using a scalable plant expression system and reducing the in vitro deglycosylation burden creates the potential to eliminate glycan heterogeneity and provide affordable customization of therapeutics’ glycosylation for maximal and targeted biological activity. This feature can reduce cost and provide an affordable platform to manufacture biobetter antibodies.
Resistance and Reinscription: Revitalizing Mi'kmaq Culture in Newfoundland - A Grounded Theory Discursive Analysis of Oppression and Resistance
Creators: name: Butler, Charles WIlliam James
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Anthropology--Cultural
subject: History--Canadian
subject: Native American Studies
subject: Assimilation
subject: Prescribed Consciousness
subject: Reinscription
subject: Resistance
subject: Indigenous
subject: Oppression
subject: Marginalization

description: This dissertation utilizes a grounded theory methodology to explore the intersection between Indigenous and multi-cultural societies. It focusses on an Indigenous people who have long been framed as fully assimilated into white society. It critiques how Canada purports to be a multi-cultural mosaic in a post-colonial state and argues that these concepts fail to account for the presence of Indigenous peoples, their interactions with the dominant settler society and the fact that the Indian Act represents the ongoing colonization of Indigenous people. Further, it argues that discussions of the place of Indigenous people in Canada often work from the assumption that in order to survive and to prosper, Indigenous people must abandon many of the key cultural practices that differentiate their worldview from that of the settlers. That is, they must choose to be assimilated and to become hyphenated-Canadians. This thesis examines how Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland are revitalizing their Indigenous culture through resistance and reinscription. It problematizes notions of hybridity and challenges the authority of governments, which seek to control Indigenous identity through a legislative framework, oppression, and marginalization. It argues for the legitimacy and authenticity of Indigenous identities that incorporate cultural practices from Pan-Indian sources in order to re-establish holistic Indigenous cultures. Finally, it presents an alternative understanding of how Indigenous identities can continue to flourish even when immersed in a society, which seeks to erase them.
Adaptive Mixture Methods Based on Bregman Divergences
Creators: name: Donmez, Mehmet A.
name: Inan, Huseyin A.
name: Kozat, Suleyman S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: We investigate adaptive mixture methods that linearly combine outputs of $m$ constituent filters running in parallel to model a desired signal. We use "Bregman divergences" and obtain certain multiplicative updates to train the linear combination weights under an affine constraint or without any constraints. We use unnormalized relative entropy and relative entropy to define two different Bregman divergences that produce an unnormalized exponentiated gradient update and a normalized exponentiated gradient update on the mixture weights, respectively. We then carry out the mean and the mean-square transient analysis of these adaptive algorithms when they are used to combine outputs of $m$ constituent filters. We illustrate the accuracy of our results and demonstrate the effectiveness of these updates for sparse mixture systems.
description: Submitted to Digital Signal Processing, Elsevier; IEEE.org
HAC-Net: A Hybrid Attention-Based Convolutional Neural Network for Highly Accurate Protein-Ligand Binding Affinity Prediction
Creators: name: Kyro, Gregory W.
name: Brent, Rafael I.
name: Batista, Victor S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Biomolecules (q-bio.BM)
subject: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Applying deep learning concepts from image detection and graph theory has greatly advanced protein-ligand binding affinity prediction, a challenge with enormous ramifications for both drug discovery and protein engineering. We build upon these advances by designing a novel deep learning architecture consisting of a 3-dimensional convolutional neural network utilizing channel-wise attention and two graph convolutional networks utilizing attention-based aggregation of node features. HAC-Net (Hybrid Attention-Based Convolutional Neural Network) obtains state-of-the-art results on the PDBbind v.2016 core set, the most widely recognized benchmark in the field. We extensively assess the generalizability of our model using multiple train-test splits, each of which maximizes differences between either protein structures, protein sequences, or ligand extended-connectivity fingerprints of complexes in the training and test sets. Furthermore, we perform 10-fold cross-validation with a similarity cutoff between SMILES strings of ligands in the training and test sets, and also evaluate the performance of HAC-Net on lower-quality data. We envision that this model can be extended to a broad range of supervised learning problems related to structure-based biomolecular property prediction. All of our software is available as open source at https://github.com/gregory-kyro/HAC-Net/, and the HACNet Python package is available through PyPI.
Traveling discontinuity at the quantum butterfly front
Creators: name: Aron, Camille
name: Brunet, Eric
name: Mitra, Aditi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We formulate a kinetic theory of quantum information scrambling in the context of a paradigmatic model of interacting electrons in the vicinity of a superconducting phase transition. We carefully derive a set of coupled partial differential equations that effectively govern the dynamics of information spreading in generic dimensions. Their solutions show that scrambling propagates at the maximal speed set by the Fermi velocity. At early times, we find exponential growth at a rate set by the inelastic scattering. At late times, we find that scrambling is governed by shock-wave dynamics with traveling waves exhibiting a discontinuity at the boundary of the light cone. Notably, we find perfectly causal dynamics where the solutions do not spill outside of the light cone.
description: 32 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Scipost
A Partnership Approach to Public Finance for Higher Education Funding in Canada
Creators: name: Askari, Mahmoud Yousef
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Education--Administration
subject: Education--Finance
subject: Education--Higher
subject: Higher
subject: Education
subject: Funding

description: This empirical study has investigated whether the proposed partnership approach and the three life stages of citizens (the learning stage, the working stage, and the retirement stage) can be used as a guiding rationale to support a plan for the full government funding of higher education. The rationale for the proposed partnership model is that full public funding of higher education might lead to net gain for federal and provincial budgets. The study proposes that during the learning stage of a citizen, the government, as the financing partner of this stage, needs to pay the full cost of all learning levels. After the citizen completes the intended levels of education, the citizen moves to the working stage and starts paying the government partner a share of the partnership profit (income taxes) throughout the working life of the citizen partner. When the citizen partner reaches retirement, the government resumes its financing role through pension payments, old age security payments, or other kind of payment to help the retired citizen through retirement years. The study assumes that the relationship between government and its learning citizens extends beyond citizens’ acquisition of knowledge or completion of degrees and includes different periods of funding in which the two sides exchange the funding role throughout the lifetime of a citizen.
Additional file 1 of Periodontal status and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations: a systematic review
Creators: name: Kelly, Niamh
name: Winning, Lewis
name: Irwin, Christopher
name: Lundy, Fionnuala T.
name: Linden, Dermot
name: McGarvey, Lorcan
name: Linden, Gerard J.
name: El Karim, Ikhlas A.
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Cancer
subject: Science Policy
subject: 110309 Infectious Diseases
subject: FOS: Health sciences

description: Additional file 1. Supplementary data to include: Supp Table 1: detailed search strategy; Supp Table 2: details of excluded studies; Supp Table 3: Quality assessment of observational studies using Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS): 3A - adapted NOS for cross-sectional studies, 3B- NOS for case-control studies and 3C NOS for cohort studies. The domains covered by the scale included selection, comparability, outcomes, and exposure. Each asterisk represents whether the individual criterion within the subsection was fulfilled. A maximum of 9 can be assigned for each study using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. A maximum score of 10 can be assigned for the adapted Newcastle Ottawa Scale for cross sectional studies. Supp Figure 1: Quality assessment of intervention studies using Cochrane RoB 2- tool and Supp Figure 2: Risk of bias assessment of non-randomised intervention studies using ROBINS-I tool.
Stress, sex and synapses: an exploration of stress-associated male/female differences in electrophysiological properties of corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus
Creators: name: Senst, Laura
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: Neuroscience

description: Activation of the neuroendocrine stress response in response to challenge is coordinated by corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN). The stress responsiveness of the brain in general and this system in particular, is determined, in part, by intrinsic factors including genetic background, age and sex. There is little information on whether the sex of an animal, prior to increases in sex hormones during adolescence, impacts cellular and synaptic mechanisms responsible for regulating CRH neurons. I characterized the differences in synaptic transmission and postsynaptic firing characteristics in identified CRH neurons from p. 21-30 male and female mice. I noted a longer delay to first spike in female mice and tested the hypothesis that this was a consequence of the actions of circulating glucocorticoids. The data in this thesis demonstrate how intrinsic sex differences and stress can exert control over postsynaptic CRH neuron activity.
Indication of a p-$ϕ$ bound state from a correlation function analysis
Creators: name: Chizzali, Emma
name: Kamiya, Yuki
name: Del Grande, Raffaele
name: Doi, Takumi
name: Fabbietti, Laura
name: Hatsuda, Tetsuo
name: Lyu, Yan
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The existence of a nucleon-$ϕ$ (N-$ϕ$) bound state has been subject of theoretical and experimental investigations for decades. In this letter, indication of a \pphi bound state is found, using for the first time two-particle correlation functions as alternative to invariant mass spectra. Newly available lattice calculations for the spin 3/2 \Nphi interaction by the HAL QCD collaboration are used to constrain the spin 1/2 counterpart from the fit of the experimental \pphi correlation function measured by ALICE. The corresponding scattering length and effective range are $f_0^{(1/2)}=\left(-1.54^{+0.53}_{-0.53}(\mathrm{stat.})^{+0.16}_{-0.09}(\mathrm{syst.})+i\cdot0.00^{+0.35}_{-0.00}(\mathrm{stat.})^{+0.16}_{-0.00}(\mathrm{syst.})\right)$~fm and $d_0^{(1/2)}=\left(0.39^{+0.09}_{-0.09}(\mathrm{stat.})^{+0.02}_{-0.03}(\mathrm{syst.})+i\cdot0.00^{+0.00}_{-0.04}(\mathrm{stat.})^{+0.00}_{-0.02}(\mathrm{syst.})\right)$~fm, respectively. The results imply the appearance of a \pphi bound state with an estimated binding energy in the range of $12.8-56.1$ MeV.
Quantifier-Free Interpolation of a Theory of Arrays
Creators: name: Bruttomesso, Roberto
name: Ghilardi, Silvio
name: Ranise, Silvio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Logic in Computer Science (cs.LO)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: F.4.1, F.3.1

description: The use of interpolants in model checking is becoming an enabling technology to allow fast and robust verification of hardware and software. The application of encodings based on the theory of arrays, however, is limited by the impossibility of deriving quantifier- free interpolants in general. In this paper, we show that it is possible to obtain quantifier-free interpolants for a Skolemized version of the extensional theory of arrays. We prove this in two ways: (1) non-constructively, by using the model theoretic notion of amalgamation, which is known to be equivalent to admit quantifier-free interpolation for universal theories; and (2) constructively, by designing an interpolating procedure, based on solving equations between array updates. (Interestingly, rewriting techniques are used in the key steps of the solver and its proof of correctness.) To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful attempt of computing quantifier- free interpolants for a variant of the theory of arrays with extensionality.
Stratospheric black carbon injections and climate variability
Creators: name: Coupe, Joshua
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2020

description: The climate impacts of smoke from fires ignited by nuclear war would include global cooling and crop failure. Previous efforts to model the climate impact of nuclear war have used a simplified representation of the aerosols that would be generated by massive fire storms. Here, I examine six nuclear war scenario simulations using an Earth system model that includes the growth of black carbon aerosols for the first time. I show that including aerosol growth processes reduces the residence time of soot aerosols, but the magnitude of global climate impacts are not reduced and a “nuclear winter” can be expected following a nuclear war scenario where 150 Tg of soot is injected into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. I show an El Niño-like response is robust across all nuclear war simulations for up to seven years. I employ sensitivity tests with the same climate model to understand the mechanisms behind the response, showing that the cooling of the Maritime Continent, cooling of tropical Africa, and the equatorward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone can all contribute to the El Niño-like state. Finally, I investigate the response of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation to soot aerosol injection through variations to the stratospheric polar vortex and surface Arctic Oscillation response. I conduct another sensitivity experiment to isolate the role of a tropospheric and stratospheric pathway for stratospheric polar vortex strengthening. I show that surface cooling can cause an acceleration of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime stratospheric polar vortex that is statistically significant compared to the non-perturbed climatology, but which is only a fraction of what occurs in a model simulation that includes aerosol heating. The dynamics responsible for influencing the modes of climate variability examined here are applicable for the response to volcanic eruptions, asteroid impact events, and geoengineering experiments involving stratospheric aerosols.
Risk assessment of birth defects in human pregnancy
Creators: name: Alwan, Sura
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Major birth defects occur in 2% to 3% of liveborn infants and are the leading cause of infant mortality. The cause of most birth defects is unknown. The objectives of this thesis are to (1) assess the risk of having a birth defect in human pregnancy following maternal use of common antidepressant medications and to (2) evaluate the risk of a birth defect or subsequent adverse outcome in relation to restricted fetal growth in early pregnancy. I used data from the National Birth Defects Prevention study, a population-based case-control study of birth defects risk factors in the US to study the rates and patterns of antidepressant medication use around pregnancy and compare the prevalence of common antidepressant medication use among mothers of cases and mothers of controls. I found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the most commonly used antidepressants among pregnant women, followed by bupropion, and that the rate of maternal antidepressant use significantly increased over the period between 1998 to 2005. I found that maternal use of SSRIs in early pregnancy was associated with the occurrence of anencephaly, craniosynostosis and omphalocele in the infant, whereas early pregnancy exposure to bupropion was associated with an increased risk for left outflow tract heart defects. I also conducted a retrospective cohort study using ultrasound examination data on singleton pregnancies in women with regular menstrual cycles who had crown-rump length (CRL) measurements at the Ultrasound Unit of British Columbia Women’s Hospital. I found that a first trimester CRL in the 10th centile or less was strongly associated with subsequent spontaneous abortion, delivering through a cesarean section or having an infant with low birth weight or length. The results presented in this thesis indicate that maternal treatment with common antidepressant medications may increase the risk for certain birth defects and that restricted growth of the embryo may adversely affect subsequent pregnancy outcomes.
Advancing Scientific Knowledge: Ethical Issues in the Journal Publication Process
Creators: name: McCuen, Richard H.
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2017
Subjects: rationalization
codes of conduct
values
journal review
responsibility
publishing

description: The goal of this paper is to assess the journal publication process from value and ethical perspectives. The specific objectives are: (1) To define fundamental values relevant to scientific journal publication; (2) To identify stakeholders involved in professional journals and their value rights and responsibilities; (3) To discuss the steps of the journal publication process where ethical dilemmas arise and the potential influences of such dilemmas on the advancement of knowledge; and (4) To summarize actions that can minimize unethical practices throughout the steps of the publication process. Values such as honesty, efficiency, accountability, and fairness will be discussed. Issues related to the various stakeholders such as self-citation, plagiarism, dual publication, a lack of timeliness, and issues related to authorship will be a primary focus.
Development and Implementation of an Assessment Tool for Critical Care Trainees in Focused Cardiac Ultrasound
Creators: name: Gaudet, Jonathan
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Medicine and Surgery
subject: Medical Education
subject: Intensive Care Medicine
subject: Focused Cardiac Ultrasound
subject: Assessment Tools

description: The use of focused cardiac ultrasound (FCU) as a diagnostic and monitoring tool in critical care medicine continues to expand. However, little attention has been placed to date on assessment tools that might critically evaluate the image acquisition skills of echocardiographers employing FCU in their practice. This study developed and evaluated a comprehensive assessment tool for FCU image acquisition in a cohort of intensive care residents learning FCU. Resident participants’ FCU image acquisition skills improved quickly and then reached a plateau. The FCU assessment tool developed was able to discern changes in FCU image acquisition performance over time and also distinguish between echocardiographers of different skill levels. The study results provide preliminary validity evidence for the new FCU assessment tool, that with further study, might have practical utility as a tool employed for summative assessment and certification in this growing area of acute care medicine.
Additional file 11 of Up-regulation of apoptotic- and cell survival-related gene pathways following exposures of western corn rootworm to B. thuringiensis crystalline pesticidal proteins in transgenic maize roots
Creators: name: Coates, Brad S.
name: Deleury, Emeline
name: Gassmann, Aaron J.
name: Hibbard, Bruce E.
name: Meinke, Lance J.
name: Miller, Nicholas J.
name: Petzold-Maxwell, Jennifer
name: French, B. Wade
name: Sappington, Thomas W.
name: Siegfried, Blair D.
name: Guillemaud, Thomas
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 11: Supplementary Fig. S3. Gene Ontology (GO) terms enriched among transcripts differentially expressed in Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb) and Metarhizium anisopliae (Ma) treatments that were shared with treatments A) Cry3Bb1 and B) Gpp34/Tpp35Ab1. Significantly overrepresented GO terms are shown within categories biological process (BP) and cellular component (CC) (FDR ≤ 1.0E− 5) and molecular function (MF) at level 2 (FDR ≤ 1.0E− 7; grey bars). Categories listed by GO ID and GO term. Number of transcripts encoding each PFAM domain within each functional category are indicated (black bars).
The Experience of Transitioning into Motherhood: Giving a Voice to Mothers with Very Low Birth Weight Babies
Creators: name: BRIGHT, KATHERINE
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Nursing
subject: FOS: Health sciences
subject: Motherhood
subject: Transition
subject: VLBW
subject: Babies
subject: grounded theory
subject: Reconstructing
subject: Normal

description: The transition to motherhood is filled with emotional, physical, and social challenges for many women. These challenges are strongly influenced by the physical health of their newborn babies. For women with babies who are medically compromised as a result of being born preterm and of very low birth weight (VLBW), concerns regarding short and long-term health outcomes are often considered to be a critical component contributing to maternal anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression in mothers has been strongly associated with postpartum depression (PPD) and a reduction in maternal sensitivity and responsiveness to their babies. Little research has addressed the needs of mothers with VLBW babies as they transition from hospital into the community. This study was conducted using Grounded Theory methodology to explore the experiences of these mothers in caring for their VLBW babies during the transition from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) to the family home. Nurses providing comprehensive care to families with VLBW babies require an understanding of these mothers‟ perceptions of their transition into motherhood. Gaining an understanding of the mothers‟ needs will facilitate nursing care improvements to address physical and psychological stresses for mothers, as well as minimize potential negative social development for the babies.
On the stability of electrostatics stars with modified non-gauge invariant Einstein-Maxwell gravity
Creators: name: Ghaffarnejad, Hossein
name: Ghorbani, Tohid
name: Eidizadeh, Firoozeh
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We use a modified Einstein-Maxwell gravity to study stability of an electrostatic spherical star. Correction terms in this model are scalers which are made from contraction of Ricci tensor and electromagnetic vector potential. Our motivation to use this kind of exotic EM gravity is inevitable influence of cosmic magnetic field in inflation of the universe which is observed now but its intensity suppresses in the usual gauge invariant EM gravity. In this work we use dynamical systems approach to obtain stability conditions of such a star and investigation of affects of interaction parts of the model on the stability.
description: 23 pages, 2 figure
A new infrared color criterion for the selection of 0
Creators: name: Messias, Hugo
name: Afonso, Jose M.
name: Salvato, Mara
name: Mobasher, Bahram
name: Hopkins, Andrew M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: [Abridged] It is widely accepted that observations at mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths enable the selection of galaxies with nuclear activity, which may not be revealed even in the deepest X-ray surveys. In this work new near- and mid-IR color diagnostics are explored, aiming for improved efficiency - better completeness and less contamination - in selecting AGN out to very high redshifts. We restrict our study to the James Webb Space Telescope wavelength range (0.6-27um). The criteria are created based on the predictions by state-of-the-art galaxy and AGN templates covering a wide variety of galaxy properties, and tested against control samples with deep multi-wavelength coverage (ranging from the X-rays to radio frequencies). We show that the colors Ks-[4.5], [4.5]-[8.0], and [8.0]-[24] are ideal as AGN/non-AGN diagnostics at, respectively, z~2.5-3. However, when the source redshift is unknown, these colors should be combined. We thus develop an improved IR criterion (using Ks and IRAC bands, KI) as a new alternative at z50-90% level of successful AGN selection). We also propose KIM (using Ks, IRAC, and MIPS-24um bands, KIM), which aims to select AGN hosts from local distances to as far back as the end of reionization (070-90% level of successful AGN selection. KI and KIM are built to be reliable against a ~10-20% error in flux, are based on existing filters, and are suitable for immediate use.
description: Accepted for publication on the Astrophysical Journal
Concepts and Methods for the Development of Efficient Femtosecond Laser Micromachining Technology
Creators: name: Chang, Gang
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Applied Mechanics
subject: Femtosecond Laser
subject: Micro machining
subject: Advanced Manufacturing

description: The femtosecond pulse laser is a useful tool for micro/nano-machining, which is a fundamental technology for fabricating micro 3D structure devices or components such as micro fluidic devices or micro optical components. However, it is a challenge to control the machining precision since the laser is a non-contact tool and the machining result is affected by various factors. To figure out the influence of these factors, the a concept of named asof laser ablation volume (LAV) is introduced in the thesis research work to describe the ‘shape’ of the laser machining tool. The spatial structure of LAV is investigated to provide the principle to about controling the resolution and the depth evolution in a micro machining process. The shape and the size of LAV are determined by the pre-designed parameters. A computational model based on the shape of LAV has been verified to deal with different combinations of the moving path and moving speed of LAV for the purpose to improve the machining accuracy. Furthermore, based on the concept of LAV, a closed loop control of the micro milling process has been successfully accomplished in which the laser triggered plasma is employed as a real-time feedback indicator.
Framing Engineering: The Role of College Website Descriptions
Creators: name: Da Costa, Romina B.
name: Stromquist, Nelly P.
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2017
Subjects: women-only institutions
coeducational institutions
discourse analysis
engineering
framing
gender
higher education
major selection
program selection
STEM

description: This study contributes to the literature on women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by examining the framing of engineering on college websites, a major recruitment tool. We take websites to be key sources of textual data that can provide insights into the discourses surrounding the field of engineering. We ask whether women-only institutions (WOIs) frame engineering in ways that appeal more broadly to women. Our sample comprises the full range of WOIs offering engineering degrees in the US (14) and a comparison sample of 14 coeducational universities also offering engineering degrees. We employ established methods for discourse analysis, and both deductive and inductive coding processes in analyzing the textual data. Our main findings indicate that WOIs’ framing of engineering places a greater emphasis on collaboration, supports for students, interdisciplinarity, and the potential for engineering to contribute to improvements for society. In contrast, co-ed institutions tend to place a greater emphasis on the financial returns and job security that result from majoring in engineering. We conclude that co-ed engineering programs should consider a broadening of the descriptions surrounding the engineering field, since the inclusion of a wider set of values could be appealing to women students.
The Influence of Family Dog Ownership and Parental Perceived Built Environment Measures on Children’s Physical Activity within the Washington, DC Area
Creators: name: Roberts, Jennifer D.
name: Rodkey, Lindsey
name: Grisham, Cortney
name: Ray, Rashawn
Publisher: name: MDPI
Year: 2017
Subjects: dog ownership
physical activity
parental perception
built environment

description: Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity are significant contributors to youth obesity in the United States. Neighborhood dog walking is an outlet for physical activity (PA). Therefore, understanding the relationship between built environment, dog ownership, and youth PA is essential. This study examined the influence of dog ownership and parental built environment perceptions on children’s PA in the Washington, D.C. area. In 2014, questionnaires were mailed to 2000 parents to assess family dog ownership; children’s outdoor dog walking or playing; and parental perceived built environment measures. Chi-square analyses examined differences in parental perceived built environment measures between children with and without family dogs. The sample included 144 children (50% female; average-age 9.7 years; 56.3% White; 23.7% African-American; 10.4% Asian-American; 29.9% owned dog). Only 13% and 5.6% of the children walked or played outdoors with the dog daily, respectively. A significantly greater proportion (p-value < 0.05) of parents who owned dogs recognized and observed some home built environment measures (e.g., traffic speed on most streets is 30 mph or less) that were PA -promoting for their children. Findings suggest that dog ownership may provide more positive parental perceptions of the neighborhood built environment, which supports children’s outdoor PA through dog walking and playing.
Additional file 13 of Up-regulation of apoptotic- and cell survival-related gene pathways following exposures of western corn rootworm to B. thuringiensis crystalline pesticidal proteins in transgenic maize roots
Creators: name: Coates, Brad S.
name: Deleury, Emeline
name: Gassmann, Aaron J.
name: Hibbard, Bruce E.
name: Meinke, Lance J.
name: Miller, Nicholas J.
name: Petzold-Maxwell, Jennifer
name: French, B. Wade
name: Sappington, Thomas W.
name: Siegfried, Blair D.
name: Guillemaud, Thomas
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Additional file 13: Supplementary Fig. S4. Alignment of partial enzymatic domain sequences from Drosophila melanogaster caspases DRONC, DRED, DAMM, STRICA, DCP-1, and DRICE (accessions in footnotes) with putative Diabrotica virgifera virgifera orthologs from the reference transcriptome assembly (DIAVI02NNNN) in this study and RefSeq gene models (XP_0281NNNNN) from the D. v. virgifera genome assembly Dvir_v2.0 (GCA_003013835.2; GenBank accession PXJM00000000.2). Conserved residues are highlighted grey, with those involved in binding and catalysis in black and yellow, respectively.
Study of new physics effects in lepton flavour violating B decays into K2^star(1430)l1 l2
Creators: name: Biswas, S.
name: Mandal, M.
name: Mahata, S.
name: Sahoo, S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Lepton flavour violation (LFV) is one of the most trending topics to probe new physics (NP). The powerful accelerators have enhanced their intensities to observe the LFV decays very precisely. In this situation, the theorists are also interested to study these decays in various NP models and in model independent way to get precise results. Motivated by these results we have studied B decays into K2^star(1430)l1 l2 in non-universal Z^' model. Here, we have structured the two-fold angular distribution of the decays in terms of transversity amplitudes and the transversity amplitudes are formed with NP Wilson coefficients. The variation of the branching ratios and forward backward asymmetries show the sensitivity of NP. The observables calculated in this work are very interesting and might provide a new way towards NP.
description: 18 pages