cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
Investigating the role of invasive American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in the collapse of the benthic-limnetic threespine stickleback species pair (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Enos Lake, British Columbia
Creators: name: Velema, Gerrit
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Biodiversity is of critical importance to the quality of life on Earth. In light of rapidly increasing extinction rates in recent years, understanding threats to biodiversity such as habitat destruction, over-exploitation, and the introduction of invasive species is of utmost importance to conservation efforts. Invasive species, in particular, are a threat of great concern in aquatic environments, due, in part, to their potential role in facilitating introgressive hybridization between closely related species. In recent decades, such a case of hybridization has led to genomic extinction in a benthic-limnetic species pair of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Enos Lake, British Columbia, following the appearance of invasive American signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in this waterbody. In an effort to shed light on the potential role of these crayfish in this loss of diversity, research was conducted using an intact species pair from Paxton Lake, BC to determine if crayfish exert meaningful impacts on sticklebacks through the disruption of i) male stickleback reproductive behaviours and/or ii) juvenile stickleback growth rates. The results of reproductive behaviour trials demonstrated that limnetic male reproductive behaviour frequency was suppressed to a greater degree than that of benthic males in the presence of crayfish. This result suggests that crayfish disruptions may reduce conspecific mating opportunities for limnetic females, thus leading to increases in introgressive hybridization between benthic males and limnetic females. The results of the juvenile growth rate trial, on the other hand, demonstrated that crayfish do not disrupt growth rates of juveniles; however, significantly higher stickleback mortality levels were detected in the presence of crayfish. I conclude that invasive American signal crayfish have likely facilitated introgressive hybridization between the Enos Lake species pair, but other factors may have contributed to this loss of biodiversity. My study highlights the sensitivity of recently differentiated species to disruption by invasive species. By identifying important sources of ecological disruption and significant threats to biodiversity, such studies are critical for guiding conservation efforts in Canada and worldwide.
Dynamic Resource Allocation and Pricing: A Randomized Auction Perspective
Creators: name: Zhang, Linquan
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Computer Science
subject: Auction Design
subject: Cloud Computing
subject: Colocation Data Centers
subject: Emergency Demand Response
subject: Microgrids

description: Auctions are widely employed to allocate scarce resources among strategic users. Truthfulness is a desired property of auctions, for eliminating falsified bids. The celebrated VCG auction is truthful, yet it becomes computationally infeasible when the underlying winner determination problem is NP-hard. Simply substituting the optimal solutions with approximate solutions makes a VCG auction lose its truthfulness property. In this thesis, we aim to address this challenge by employing a randomized auction framework, which translates a cooperative approximation algorithm into a truthful auction. Four resource allocation problems are carefully studied. We first discuss dynamic resource provisioning in clouds through the auction of virtual machines (VMs). It generalizes the existing literature by introducing combinatorial auctions of heterogeneous VMs, and models dynamic VM provisioning. We then study electricity markets between power grids and microgrids, an emerging paradigm of electric power generation and supply. We address the economic challenges arising from such grid integration, and design a power auction that explicitly handles the Unit Commitment Problem, a key challenge in power grids. Both power markets with grid-to-microgrid and microgrid-to-grid energy sales are studied, with an auction designed for each, under the same randomized auction framework. We next study emergency demand response (EDR) in multi-tenant colocation data centers. EDR in colocation data centers is challenging, due to lack of incentives to reduce energy consumption by tenants who control their servers and are typically on fixed power contracts with the colocation. We propose a new auction mechanism using the framework to enable colocation EDR, which leverages a reverse auction to provide monetary remuneration to tenants according to their energy reduction. We further study the online electricity cost minimization problem at a colocation data center. Electricity billing faced by a data center is nowadays based on both the total volume consumed, and the peak consumption rate. This leads to an interesting new combinatorial optimization structure on the electricity cost optimization problem. Applying the randomized framework, we model and solve the problem through two approaches: the pricing approach and the auction approach.
El fenómeno asociativo en el marco de la personalidad jurídico-estatal de las entidades religiosas en España
Creators: name: Alenda Salinas, Manuel
Publisher: name: Stato, Chiese e pluralismo confessionale
Year: 2020

description: SUMARIO: 1. Introducción - 2. Régimen jurídico-constitutivo de iglesias, confesiones y comunidades religiosas - 2.1. La legislación específica de iglesias, confesiones y comunidades religiosas - 2.2. ¿Es de aplicación a las entidades religiosas ‘mayores’ la denominada garantía común asociativa? - 3. Régimen jurídico-constitutivo de asociaciones religiosas - 3.1. Antecedentes - 3.2. Problemática jurídica que plantea esta doble regulación normativa - 3.2.1. ¿Qué diferencias existen entre estos dos regímenes jurídicos, aptos en sus respectivos ámbitos de aplicación, en la regulación y constancia registral del fenómeno asociativo-religioso? - 3.2.2. ¿Resulta ajustado a Derecho este régimen diferenciado, o se constituye en inconstitucional por causante de discriminación? - 3.2.3. ¿Es necesario este doble y distinto régimen jurídico-asociativo? - 4. Epílogo. Associations in the framework of state legal personality of religious organisations in Spain ABSTRACT: The community dimension of religious freedom entails the existence of Churches, Denominations and Religious communities. This paper addresses the issue of whether these entities are applied the common associative guarantee of Article 22 of the Spanish Constitution and, if applicable, the Organic Law on the right of association. The conclusion reached is that religious denominations are not legally considered associations of constitutional relevance. The paper also tackles the scope of application of this Organic Law on the right of association to religious ‘associations’ per se. The study notes they have a different legal regime, due to them being subject to this Law exclusively or to the Organic Law on religious freedom.
description: Stato, Chiese e pluralismo confessionale, 2020: 30 novembre
Beauvoir and Irigaray: Philosophizing Postfeminism in Popular Culture
Creators: name: Zimmerman, Tegan
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Philosophy
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: Philosophy
subject: Gender Studies
subject: Cultural

description: This thesis contributes to contemporary feminist philosophy by establishing a definition of postfeminism and analyzing two of its central tenets: equality and sexuality. The work’s central claim is that postfeminism is anti-feminist and functions as a façade that conceals the continuation of the structural subordination of women in our capitalist patriarchal society. This is evident in the latest instantiation of postfeminism, in which women sexually objectify men in the name of equality. The argument is that because women are objectified sexually in popular culture it is only fair men be as well. In refuting postfeminist claims, I draw from and expand upon Simone de Beauvoir’s and Luce Irigaray’s feminist philosophical theories of equality and sexual difference, and I focus on specific examples from popular culture (sports, movies, music videos, magazines, commercials/advertising, online writing, social media, and so on).
Multiferroicity in an organic charge-transfer salt: Electric-dipole-driven magnetism
Creators: name: Lunkenheimer, P.
name: Müller, J.
name: Krohns, S.
name: Schrettle, F.
name: Loidl, A.
name: Hartmann, B.
name: Rommel, R.
name: de Souza, M.
name: Hotta, C.
name: Schlueter, J. A.
name: Lang, M.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Multiferroics, showing simultaneous ordering of electrical and magnetic degrees of freedom, are remarkable materials as seen from both the academic and technological points of view. A prominent mechanism of multiferroicity is the spin-driven ferroelectricity, often found in frustrated antiferromagnets with helical spin order. There, similar to conventional ferroelectrics, the electrical dipoles arise from an off-centre displacement of ions. However, recently a different mechanism, namely purely electronic ferroelectricity, where charge order breaks inversion symmetry, has attracted considerable interest. Here we provide evidence for this exotic type of ferroelectricity, accompanied by antiferromagnetic spin order, in a two-dimensional organic charge-transfer salt, thus representing a new class of multiferroics. Quite unexpectedly for electronic ferroelectrics, dipolar and spin order arise nearly simultaneously. This can be ascribed to the loss of spin frustration induced by the ferroelectric ordering. Hence, here the spin order is driven by the ferroelectricity, in marked contrast to the spin-driven ferroelectricity in helical magnets.
description: 8 pages, 9 figures (including 4 pages and 6 figures in supplementary information). Version 2 with minor errors corrected (legend of Fig. 3c and definition of vectors e and Q)
title: Wohin der Zeitgeist weht. Eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem Griechenlandhistoriker Heinz A. Richter. Erster Teil
Creators: name: Roth, Karl Heinz
Publisher: name: DuEPublico: Duisburg-Essen Publications Online, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Year: 2017

description: .
Roman2023 block schedule
Creators: name: Mutchler, Max
name: Petric, Andreea
name: Beaton, Rachael
name: Hoffmann, Samantha
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Conference program

description: Basic block schedule for the conference week 20-23 June 2023. See the full program for speakers, titles, and abstracts.
Expression and Role of Proteoglycan 4/Lubricin in the Human Pericardium: Implications as a Therapeutic to Prevent Post-Operative Pericardial Adhesions
Creators: name: Park, Daniel
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: Medicine and Surgery
subject: Pericardium
subject: Cardiac Myofibroblast
subject: Proteoglycan 4

description: Retrosternal pericardial adhesions form post-cardiac surgery and are associated with greater mortality risks for patients undergoing re-sternotomies. Fibrous adhesion development is mediated by cardiac myofibroblasts. Expression of proteoglycan 4 (PRG4) in the human pericardial anatomy and the biological functions of recombinant human PRG4 on human cardiac myofibroblasts was investigated. Expression of PRG4 in the human pericardial fluid and localized expression of PRG4 by pericardial mesothelial cells lining the pericardial cavity was observed. Recombinant human PRG4 prevented human cardiac myofibroblast adhesion to coated surfaces, attenuated transforming growth factor-β1 mediated collagen matrix gel contraction, decreased collagen fiber alignment by activated cardiac myofibroblasts and increased cell roundness. Replacing the lost endogenous PRG4 found in pericardial fluid with recombinant human PRG4 could attenuate the formation of post-operative pericardial adhesions and increase the safety and feasibility of re-sternotomies.
title: Exoplanets through extreme optics: from PLATO to SHARK-NIR
Creators: name: Umbriaco, Gabriele
Publisher: name: University of Padua
Year: 2020

description: In the last years, the Observatory of Padova (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova) and the University of Padova have been involved massively in projects dedicated to the exoplanets search, both ground, and space-based.
SHARK-NIR, the acronym of “System for coronagraphy with High order Adaptive optics from R to K band – Near-Infrared”, is an instrument designed to search and characterize the young exo-planetary system and star-forming regions in the NIR domain, in coronagraphic direct imaging and spectroscopic mode. It has been selected for the 2nd generation Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) instruments, and it will take advantage of the excellent performance of the LBT adaptive optics system, which is delivering an eXtreme Adaptive Optics (XAO) correction, necessary for SHARK-NIR to achieve the best possible coronagraphic performance, which is mandatory to detect faint planets orbiting around bright stars.
CHEOPS, the acronym of “CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite”, is the first mission dedicated to the characterization of small-size transiting planets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. It will allow an accurate determination of the radii of transiting planets, for which the mass has already measured from ground-based spectroscopic surveys. It will also provide precision radii for new planets discovered by the next generation of ground-based transits surveys (Neptune-size and smaller).
PLATO, the acronym of “PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars”, is a mission of Medium size satellites proposed for the European Space Agency in the program “Cosmic Vision”, with the target to detect and characterize exoplanets utilizing their transit on a bright star. The overall instrumental layout proposed by the Plato Payload Consortium consists of a multi-telescope concept instrument, composed by several tens of telescope units, for which it has developed an all-refractive optical solution. These devices are characterized by a very large Field of View (more than 20 degrees on one side) with an optical quality that fits most of the energy into a single sensor pixel. Such a goal can be achieved in a variety of solutions, some including aspheric elements as well.
The activities concerning my Ph.D. have been exploited both in the framework of the space projects and in the field of ground instrumentation. For the PLATO project, I participated in the Assembly, Integration, and Verification (AIV) of the Telescope Optical Unit prototype, to validate the AIV procedure and the telescope optical performance in-flight conditions. Concerning SHARK, my activity has been performing optical alignment and qualification of the instrument.
Tailoring Chirp in Spin-Lasers
Creators: name: Boeris, Guilhem
name: Lee, Jeongsu
name: Vyborny, Karel
name: Zutic, Igor
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The usefulness of semiconductor lasers is often limited by the undesired frequency modulation, or chirp, a direct consequence of the intensity modulation and carrier dependence of the refractive index in the gain medium. In spin-lasers, realized by injecting, optically or electrically, spin-polarized carriers, we elucidate paths to tailoring chirp. We provide a generalized expression for chirp in spin-lasers and introduce modulation schemes that could simultaneously eliminate chirp and enhance the bandwidth, as compared to the conventional (spin-unpolarized) lasers.
description: 4 pages, 3 figures
Evaluation of the Effect of Policy Change on Physical Contacts in Youth Ice Hockey Using Video Analysis
Creators: name: Krolikowski, Maciej
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Epidemiology
subject: Public Health
subject: ice hockey
subject: Sport Injury Prevention
subject: Pediatrics

description: Objective: To determine the association between body checking policy change and the frequency and intensity of physical contacts in Bantam ice hockey players (ages 13-14). Methods: This is a cohort study design. Video-analysis data includes 13 non-elite (lowest 70% by division of play) Bantam (ages 13-14) ice hockey games videotaped in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (2014-15 where body checking was permitted) and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (2014-15 where body checking was not permitted). Primary outcome measures include high intensity physical contact (body checking), as well as hooking and slashing behaviours. Results: Lower incidence rates of high intensity physical contact were observed in Bantam ice hockey players in a league where body checking was not permitted [IRR= 0.09 (95% CI; 0.05-0.15)]. Players in a league where body checking was not permitted had significantly higher incidence rates of hooking and slashing behaviours [IRR= 1.81 (95% CI; 1.33-2.47)]. Conclusions: There was a lower incidence of higher intensity physical contacts in Bantam ice hockey players in a league where body checking is not permitted, whereas the incidence of hooking and slashing behaviours were higher. This research will inform the mechanisms explaining injury and will have important national public health implications (reduction of injury) for policy decisions related to rule enforcement in youth ice hockey.
A Search for z=7.3 Lyα Emitters behind Gravitationally Lensing Clusters
Creators: name: Ota, Kazuaki
name: Richard, Johan
name: Iye, Masanori
name: Shibuya, Takatoshi
name: Egami, Eiichi
name: Kashikawa, Nobunari
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We searched for z=7.3 Lya emitters (LAEs) behind two lensing clusters, Abell 2390 and CL 0024, with the Subaru Telescope Suprime-Cam and a narrowband NB1006 (FWHM ~ 21 nm centered at 1005 nm). We investigated if there exist objects consistent with the color of z=7.3 LAEs behind the clusters but could not detect any LAEs to the unlensed line limit F(Lya) ~ 6.9 x 10^{-18} erg/s/cm^2. Using several z=7 Lya luminosity functions (LFs) from the literature, we estimated and compared the expected detection numbers of z ~ 7 LAEs in lensing and blank field surveys in the case of using an 8m class ground based telescope. Given the steep bright-end slope of the LFs, when the detector field-of view (FOV) is comparable to the angular extent of a massive lensing cluster, imaging cluster(s) is more efficient in detecting z ~ 7 LAEs than imaging a blank field. However, the gain is expected to be modest, a factor of two at most and likely much less depending on the adopted LFs. The main advantage of lensing-cluster survey, therefore, remains to be the gain in depth and not necessarily in detection efficiency. For much larger detectors, the lensing effect becomes negligible and the efficiency of LAE detection is proportional to the instrumental FOV. We also inspected NB1006 images of three z ~ 7 z-dropouts previously detected in Abell 2390 and found that none of them are detected in NB1006. Two of them are consistent with predictions from the previous studies that they would be at lower redshifts. The other one has a photometric redshift of z ~ 7.3, and if it is at z=7.3, its unlensed Lya line flux would be very faint: F(Lya) < 4.4 x 10^{-18} erg/s/cm^2 (1 sigma upper limit) or rest frame equivalent width of W(Lya) < 26A. Its Lya emission might be attenuated by neutral hydrogen, as recent studies show that the fraction of Lyman break galaxies displaying strong Lya emission is lower at z ~ 7 than at z
description: Abstract has been replaced; accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on April 11, 2012
Insomnia Treatment Preferences of Expectant Couples
Creators: name: Sedov, Ivan
Publisher: name: Arts
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Psychology--Clinical
subject: Insomnia

description: Client treatment preferences are recognized as a key factor in delivery of evidence based practice. The current study investigated pregnant couples’ treatment preferences for insomnia; the modalities assessed included pharmacotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). Method: Expectant couples completed an online questionnaire asking them to read expert validated treatment descriptions of pharmacotherapy and CBT-I; they then indicated their preference and perceptions of each approach. Results: Pregnant women indicated that if they were experiencing insomnia they would prefer CBT-I to pharmacotherapy (p < .001). Women rated CBT-I as more credible and indicated stronger positive reactions to it than pharmacotherapy (p < .001). Expectant fathers indicated that they would prefer CBT-I to pharmacotherapy for both their own (p < .001) and the mother’s insomnia (p < .001). Conclusion: The current findings suggest that expectant mothers and father prefer CBT-I to pharmacotherapy as a treatment for insomnia.
XMM-Newton EPIC and OM observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen)
Creators: name: Luna, G. J. M.
name: Diaz, M. P.
name: Brickhouse, N. S.
name: Moraes, M.
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: We report the results from the temporal and spectral analysis of an XMM-Newton observation of Nova Centauri 1986 (V842 Cen). We detect a period at 3.51$\pm$0.4 h in the EPIC data and at 4.0$\pm$0.8 h in the OM data. The X-ray spectrum is consistent with the emission from an absorbed thin thermal plasma with a temperature distribution given by an isobaric cooling flow. The maximum temperature of the cooling flow model is $kT_{max}=43_{-12}^{+23}$ keV. Such a high temperature can be reached in a shocked region and, given the periodicity detected, most likely arises in a magnetically-channelled accretion flow characteristic of intermediate polars. The pulsed fraction of the 3.51 h modulation decreases with energy as observed in the X-ray light curves of magnetic CVs, possibly due either to occultation of the accretion column by the white dwarf body or phase-dependent to absorption. We do not find the 57 s white dwarf spin period, with a pulse amplitude of 4 mmag, reported by Woudt et al. (2009) either in the Optical Monitor (OM) data, which are sensitive to pulse amplitudes $\gtrsim$ 0.03 magnitudes, or the EPIC data, sensitive to pulse fractions $p \gtrsim$ 14 $\pm$2%.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures; MNRAS, accepted
Codes for "Interviewer Ratings of Physical Appearance in a Large-Scale Survey in China" By Wu & Xie
Creators: name: Wu, Qiong
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: classificationCode: 441006
subject: Sociological methodology and research methods

description: This contains the codes for the results in a publication titled "Codes for "Interviewer Ratings of Physical Appearance in a Large-Scale Survey in China" By Wu & XieAppearanceRating_202312Submitted.sas contains for SAS codes for Table 1, Table 2, part of Table 3, and Table 5.TWOLEVELBASIC-202308sub.inp contains the mplus code for part of Table 3.PA14_2L_EFA_sub.inp contains the code for Table 4.
Free massless higher-superspin superfields on the anti-de Sitter superspace
Creators: name: Kuzenko, S. M.
name: Sibiryakov, A. G.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Free massless higher-superspin superfields on the N=1, D=4 anti-de Sitter superspace are introduced. The linearized gauge transformations are postulated. Two families of dually equivalent gauge-invariant action functionals are constructed for massless half-integer-superspin s+1/2 (s >= 2) and integer-superspin s (s >= 1) superfields. For s=1, one of the formulations for half-integer superspin multiplets reduces to linearized minimal N=1 supergravity with a cosmological term, while the other is the lifting to the anti-de Sitter superspace of linearized non-minimal n=-1 supergravity.
description: 24 pages
Observation of blue-shifted ultralong-range Cs$_{2}$ Rydberg molecules
Creators: name: Tallant, J.
name: Rittenhouse, S. T.
name: Booth, D.
name: Sadeghpour, H. R.
name: Shaffer, J. P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We observe ultralong-range blue-shifted Cs$_{2}$ molecular states near $ns_{1/2}$ Rydberg states in an optical dipole trap, where $31\leq n\leq34$. The accidental near degeneracy of $(n-4)l$ and $ns$ Rydberg states for $l>2$ in Cs, due to the small fractional $ns$ quantum defect, leads to non-adiabatic coupling among these states, producing potential wells above the $ns$ thresholds. Two important consequences of admixing high angular momentum states with $ns$ states are the formation of large permanent dipole moments, $\sim 15-100\,$Debye, and accessibility of these states via two-photon association. The observed states are in excellent agreement with theory. Both projections of the total angular momentum on the internuclear axis are visible in the experiment.
The Role of A3 Adenosine Receptors in Opioid Analgesic Tolerance
Creators: name: Xu, Yang
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2017
Subjects: Neuroscience

description: Opioids, such as morphine, are potent analgesic drugs that are commonly used to treat moderate to severe acute pain. There is also increasing reliance on opioids for managing chronic pain, a pervasive condition that afflicts approximately one in five Canadians. However, prolonged opioid usage can lead to the development of opioid analgesic tolerance, which is characterized by diminished pain-relieving effects. The A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR) is a novel target that produces antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models of chronic neuropathic pain, a condition that shares similar mechanisms with opioid tolerance. We determined that spinal A3AR acutely potentiates morphine antinociception without preventing the development of tolerance. Chronic morphine increased microglia reactivity, MAP kinase activity within the lumbar spinal cord, and cell-surface A3AR protein density on microglia, while spinal A3AR activation abrogated these changes. Overall, these findings have significant implications for improving opioid efficacy in chronic pain management.
Codes for "Interviewer Ratings of Physical Appearance in a Large-Scale Survey in China" By Wu & Xie
Creators: name: Wu, Qiong
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2023
Subjects: classificationCode: 441006
subject: Sociological methodology and research methods

description: This contains the codes for the results in a publication titled "Codes for "Interviewer Ratings of Physical Appearance in a Large-Scale Survey in China" By Wu & XieAppearanceRating_202308sub.sas contains for SAS codes for Table 1, Table 2, part of Table 3, and Table 5.TWOLEVELBASIC-202308sub.inp contains the mplus code for part of Table 3.PA14_2L_EFA_sub.inp contains the code for Table 4.
Effect of Selective and Nonselective Cyclooxygenase Enzyme Inhibition on Arterial Blood Pressure and Cerebral Blood Flow with Exposure to Intermittent Hypoxia in Humans
Creators: name: Pun, Matiram
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Neuroscience
subject: blood pressure
subject: Intermittent Hypoxia
subject: Cerebral Blood Flow
subject: obstructive sleep apnea
subject: cyclooxygenase
subject: prostaglandin

description: Background: Intermittent hypoxia (IH) simulating obstructive sleep apnea raises blood pressure (BP) and impairs cerebral blood flow response. The pathophysiology of intermittent hypoxia-mediated increase in BP involves multiple mechanisms but the role of cyclooxygenase (COX) catalyzed vasoactive prostaglandins (PG) is unclear. Methods: A placebo controlled double-blind randomized cross-over trial was designed using nonselective COX inhibitor indomethacin (50 mg tid/po), selectively COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (200 mg bid/po) comparing with placebo. Healthy males ingested either of drugs for 4 days and physiological measurements were taken on 5th day with an acute isocapnic-hypoxia challenge pre- and post 6 hrs of IH exposure. Urinary PGs were assayed pre- and post- IH exposure. Results: After 4 days of drug, INDO increased BP compared to PLBO and CLBX; and lowered CBF compared to PLBO (air and baseline breathing). Mean arterial pressure gain with INDO increased followed by CLBX in response to acute isocapnic hypoxia and it was driven by increased gains in both systolic BP and diastolic BP (statistically not significant). CBF gain was blunted with CLBX while it was similar between INDO and PLBO although they were not statistically significant. With 6 hrs of IH (post-IH), CBF gain remained blunted with CLBX but was augmented with INDO (statistically not significant). CVC gain was lower with CLBX (statistically not significant). Both drugs lowered vasodilator and vasoconstrictor PGs compared to PLBO. Pre-IH PGI2:TxA2 was higher with INDO compared to PLBO (p < 0.001) and CLBX (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Indomethacin perturbs cardio- and cerebrovascular homeostasis in more robust manner as compared to placebo and celecoxib after 4 days of ingestion.
The effects of excessive moisture on soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization and forest productivity
Creators: name: Sajedi, Toktam
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: Conifers of regenerating cedar-hemlock (CH) forests exhibit slow growth and nutrient deficiencies (N and P), which are not observed on adjacent cutovers of hemlock-amabilis fir (HA) forests. I test the theory that excessive moisture and resulting low oxygen availability in CH sites create the low N supply and poor growth in these ecosystems. A field experiment determined: 1) whether CH and HA forests differ in soil moisture and aeration, 2) whether decomposition rate and soil C stores differ in CH and HA forests, 3) whether composition of plant communities are related to soil moisture and aeration, and 4) the impact of harvesting CH and HA forests on moisture and aeration conditions. A laboratory experiment investigated the effects of moisture levels, from field capacity to saturation level, on C and N mineralization rates. Lastly, a field trial was carried out to assess drainage as a potential forest management solution in wetland forests by comparing C dynamics in drained and un-drained sites. As hypothesized, CH forests were wetter, less aerated, had shallower aerated depth and higher frequency of anaerobic conditions compared with HA forests. Composition of plant species was related to soil moisture and aeration, however plant diversity was not. Soil aeration was the most important factor, explaining 25% of the variability of species within plant communities. Compared with HA forests with well-aerated soils, soils in HA clearcuts were anaerobic, had slower decomposition rate and shallower rooting depth. Microbial biomass, C mineralization and the soluble inorganic N: soluble organic N (SIN:SON) ratio all declined under water-saturated conditions. Concentrations of SIN increased with increasing moisture in HA soils; whereas in CH humus and soil, the SIN pool was small and decreased with increasing moisture. The results indicate that the low N availability on CH sites results from synergistic effects of litter quality and greater frequency of waterlogging. Drainage could be a useful silvicultural practice for improving the productivity of cedar-swamp ecosystems without stimulating loss of soil C, provided that redox levels are maintained at less than +300 mV, at which level oxygen is sufficient for plant growth but not for aerobic microbial decomposition.
Phase transitions in single-crystalline magnetoelectric LiCoPO4
Creators: name: Szewczyk, A.
name: Gutowska, M. U.
name: Wieckowski, J.
name: Wisniewski, A.
name: Puzniak, R.
name: Diduszko, R.
name: Kharchenko, Yu.
name: Kharchenko, M. F.
name: Schmid, H.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Specific heat, magnetic torque, and magnetization studies of LiCoPO4 olivine are presented. They show that an unique set of physical properties of LiCoPO4 leads to the appearance of features characteristic of 2D Ising systems near the Neel temperature, T_N =21.6 K, and to the appearance of an uncommon effect of influence of magnetic field on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy. The latter effect manifests itself as a first-order transition, discovered at ~9 K, induced by magnetic field of 8 T. Physical nature of this transition was explained and a model describing experimental dependences satisfactorily was proposed.
description: accepted for publishing in Physical Review B
Coarse-Grain Model for Lipid Bilayer Self-Assembly and Dynamics: Multiparticle Collision Description of the Solvent
Creators: name: Huang, Mu-Jie
name: Kapral, Raymond
name: Mikhailov, Alexander S.
name: Chen, Hsuan-Yi
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: A mesoscopic coarse-grain model for computationally-efficient simulations of biomembranes is presented. It combines molecular dynamics simulations for the lipids, modeled as elastic chains of beads, with multiparticle collision dynamics for the solvent. Self-assembly of a membrane from a uniform mixture of lipids is observed. Simulations at different temperatures demonstrate that it reproduces the gel and liquid phases of lipid bilayers. Investigations of lipid diffusion in different phases reveals a crossover from subdiffusion to normal diffusion at long times. Macroscopic membrane properties, such as stretching and bending elastic moduli, are determined directly from the mesoscopic simulations. Velocity correlation functions for membrane flows are determined and analyzed.
Names In Stone: War Memorials As Commemorative Intermediaries
Creators: name: Sandy, Jessica
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: History--Canadian
subject: History--European
subject: Military Studies
subject: monument
subject: memorial
subject: commemoration
subject: Canada
subject: first
subject: world
subject: war
subject: remembrance
subject: grief
subject: british
subject: Columbia
subject: vancouver
subject: Island
subject: chemainus
subject: courtenay
subject: duncan
subject: ladysmith
subject: nanaimo
subject: parksville
subject: mourning
subject: soldier
subject: sacrifice
subject: Community
subject: local
subject: death
subject: Memory
subject: western
subject: front
subject: experience

description: This project examines the function of post First World War memorials as intermediaries between those family, friends, and community members who remained on the home front, and their local soldiers whose bodies were never repatriated after the war. The names engraved in stone on these memorials were, and continue to be, integral to the connection that existed which bridged physical distance during the interwar period, but also links contemporary viewers to the past in a way not achievable where memorials without the names of soldiers are considered. Investigating primarily a combination of local newspapers and soldiers’ personal records, this research presents the case that the relevance of war memorials remains into the present, even as the living memory of the war and its echoes into history have now passed.
Equilibria, periodic orbits around equilibria, and heteroclinic connections in the gravity field of a rotating homogeneous cube
Creators: name: Liu, Xiaodong
name: Baoyin, Hexi
name: Ma, Xingrui
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: This paper investigates the dynamics of a particle orbiting around a rotating homogeneous cube, and shows fruitful results that have implications for examining the dynamics of orbits around non-spherical celestial bodies. This study can be considered as an extension of previous research work on the dynamics of orbits around simple shaped bodies, including a straight segment, a circular ring, an annulus disk, and simple planar plates with backgrounds in celestial mechanics. In the synodic reference frame, the model of a rotating cube is established, the equilibria are calculated, and their linear stabilities are determined. Periodic orbits around the equilibria are computed using the traditional differential correction method, and their stabilities are determined by the eigenvalues of the monodromy matrix. The existence of homoclinic and heteroclinic orbits connecting periodic orbits around the equilibria is examined and proved numerically in order to understand the global orbit structure of the system. This study contributes to the investigation of irregular shaped celestial bodies that can be divided into a set of cubes.
description: 29 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science
Outage Probability and Outage-Based Robust Beamforming for MIMO Interference Channels with Imperfect Channel State Information
Creators: name: Park, Juho
name: Sung, Youngchul
name: Kim, Donggun
name: Poor, H. Vincent
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Information Theory (cs.IT)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: In this paper, the outage probability and outage-based beam design for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channels are considered. First, closed-form expressions for the outage probability in MIMO interference channels are derived under the assumption of Gaussian-distributed channel state information (CSI) error, and the asymptotic behavior of the outage probability as a function of several system parameters is examined by using the Chernoff bound. It is shown that the outage probability decreases exponentially with respect to the quality of CSI measured by the inverse of the mean square error of CSI. Second, based on the derived outage probability expressions, an iterative beam design algorithm for maximizing the sum outage rate is proposed. Numerical results show that the proposed beam design algorithm yields better sum outage rate performance than conventional algorithms such as interference alignment developed under the assumption of perfect CSI.
description: 41 pages, 14 figures. accepted to IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
INCREASING THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND CULTURE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AESTHETIC ATTITUDE TO NATURE
Creators: name: Aymatov, A.Q.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: In this article, it is explained that the formation of an aesthetic attitude to nature based on the ecological consciousness and culture of society is a complex social process, that the formation of the aesthetic attitude of an individual and society to nature is the result of creative work, and that nature is reflected in artistic images in works of art. It is emphasized that the spiritual phenomenon of aesthetic perception and artistic expression of ecological reality manifests the most general and objective laws of nature protection (as a subjective factor).
Fatty acid synthesis in colorectal cancer: characterization of lipid metabolism in serum, tumour, and normal host tissues
Creators: name: Mackay, Emily
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Oncology
subject: Oncology
subject: lipid metabolism
subject: Colorectal Cancer

description: Reprogrammed energy metabolism is now listed as one of the central hallmarks of cancer cells. Aberrant fatty acid metabolism contributes to tumourigenesis through provision of substrates for membrane synthesis, signalling molecules, and synthesis of complex lipids. In this thesis, the role of fatty acid metabolism is explored in the context of colorectal cancer. Metabolomics techniques were employed to characterize fatty acid metabolites in serum, and lipogenic gene expression was quantified in tumour and normal tissues to investigate host response to cancer. Fatty acid metabolite abundance was increased in the serum of individuals with colorectal cancer, and a growth factor signalling axis and lipogenic transcription factor upstream of the endogenous fatty acid synthesis pathway were increased in colorectal liver metastases. It was concluded that liver metastases have an effect on growth factor production in the hepatic microenvironment, leading to increased signalling through a pathway that activates the lipogenic transcription factor that regulates fatty acid synthesis.
Micro-environmental factors directing differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells down osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages
Creators: name: Hazenbiller, Olesja
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Engineering--Biomedical
subject: tissue engineering
subject: Embryonic stem cells
subject: Differentiation

description: The field of bone tissue engineering (BTE) aims to develop graft substitutes for diseased or difficult to heal fractures. We used a BTE construct made of collagen type I and murine embryonic stem cells (mESCs) which has been shown to trigger mESCs differentiation into osteoblasts, and successfully contribute to fracture repair in vivo within a mouse model system. Bone healing is a complex process involving the interplay of biochemical and biomechanical cues. Therefore, this project aimed to systematically emulate the roles of chemical and mechanical cues present during fracture repair on the differentiation of mESCs in vitro in order to optimize treatment strategies for BTE. Further characterization of this cell/gel construct revealed that mESCs differentiate into a heterogeneous cell population of chondrocytes and osteoblasts, replicating the process of endochondral ossification that normally occurs during fracture repair. To study the effect of biomechanical cues, a loading system was specifically designed and characterized to apply confined compressive load to a soft, viscoelastic cell/gel construct. Mechanical stimuli enhanced chondrogenic differentiation but had no effect on osteogenic differentiation. Moreover, the role of integrins in directing mESCs differentiation and transducing mechanical signals was evaluated. Finally, the synergistic effect between extracellular matrix mediated differentiation, mechanical stimulation and BMP-2 delivery to the system using nano-particles was studied.
Stacking-Fault Energy and Anti-Invar Effect in FeMn Alloys
Creators: name: Reyes-Huamantinco, Andrei
name: Puschnig, Peter
name: Ambrosch-Draxl, Claudia
name: Peil, Oleg E.
name: Ruban, Andrei V.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2012
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Based on state-of-the-art density-functional-theory methods we calculate the stacking-fault energy of the paramagnetic random Fe-22.5at.%Mn alloy between 300-800 K. We estimate magnetic thermal excitations by considering longitudinal spin-fluctuations. Our results demonstrate that the interplay between the magnetic excitations and the thermal lattice expansion is the main factor determining the anti-Invar effect, the hcp-fcc transformation temperature, and the stacking-fault energy, which is in excellent agreement with measurements.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures
Flipped versus conventional classes in a Saudi Arabian university
Creators: name: Almuhanna, Athary
Publisher: name: The University of Edinburgh
Year: 2021

description: This thesis presents an investigation of the implementation of the flipped classroom in higher education in Saudi Arabia, which addressed three main research questions: 1- Is there any difference in acquisition of knowledge, and student attitudes, between students who take a flipped class and those who take a conventional class? 2- Is there any difference in the use of time, and approach to study, between students who take a flipped class and a conventional class? 3- What factors affect the implementation of flipped class? The study compared two groups of students, those who learned using the flipped classroom and those who learned through traditional lectures followed by an activity session. In the flipped classroom, face-to-face time was reduced from 3 to 2 hours and activity time was doubled from 1 to 2 hours. The participants were 491 female students; half of them were taught in a flipped classroom and the other half by conventional method. Instructors, content, materials, assignments, and exam questions were the same in both groups. As this study used the mixed method approach, the data were collected by questionnaires, interviews, classroom observation, students’ diaries, and marks’ reports and Blackboard Learn reports. At the end of the course, there were no significant differences in test or assignment marks between students studying by the two methods. With regard to students’ attitudes toward the flipped classroom, 60% of the students in the flipped classroom reported that they preferred this method, whereas 14% of the students reported having a negative attitude toward it. About 45% of students in the flipped classroom group reported a positive attitude towards face-to-face lectures, differing significantly from the perspective of those in the conventional group, 75% of whom reported a positive attitude. However, even with the positive attitude toward flipped class, one of the main findings showed that only 39% of the learners “always” watched the videos as required, and the trend of watching the videos showed a decrease in the number of views over time. However, viewing rates increased sharply during the period of exam study, as learners watched these videos again, or even for the first time. This thesis also explores flipped classroom students’ study habits inside and outside the classroom, and investigates the factors behind these behaviours, including their motivations and the obstacles to study which they faced. For example, shortage of time and issues with students’ self-regulation were the main factors that hindered students from watching the videos, as a result, not watching the videos influenced the quality of their participation in classroom activity negatively. Investigating the students’ experience in flipped class also showed other factors which were related to the adoption of a strategic or surface approach to learning.
HEXACO Personality Traits and Perceptions of Organizational Politics as Predictors of Workplace Revenge
Creators: name: Julian, Amanda
Publisher: name: Graduate Studies
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Psychology--Industrial
subject: HEXACO
subject: revenge
subject: perceptions of organizational politics
subject: workplace mistreatment

description: Given the consequences associated with employee revenge, gaining insight into antecedents of revenge in response to transgressions in the workplace is of utmost importance. The present program of research aimed to gain further insight into workplace revenge, by examining novel predictors yet to be explored within the organizational literature: HEXACO personality traits and perceptions of organizational politics (POP). Data was collected online cross-nationally from 239 employees spanning various organizations and industries. Results demonstrated that HEXACO Honesty-Humility and Conscientiousness significantly predict revenge responses, above and beyond other HEXACO personality traits. Perceptions of organizational politics (POP) however was not a significant predictor of revenge responses, nor did it act as a moderator of the relationship between Honesty-Humility and POP. The present study also examined trends between personality traits and characterizations of revenge, however due to small sample sizes these results were inconclusive. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.