cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The evolution of rotating very massive stars with LMC composition
Creators: name: Köhler, K.
name: Langer, N.
name: de Koter, A.
name: de Mink, S. E.
name: Crowther, P. A.
name: Evans, C. J.
name: Gräfener, G.
name: Sana, H.
name: Sanyal, D.
name: Schneider, F. R. N.
name: Vink, J. S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present a dense model grid with tailored input chemical composition appropriate for the Large Magellanic Cloud. We use a one-dimensional hydrodynamic stellar evolution code, which accounts for rotation, transport of angular momentum by magnetic fields, and stellar wind mass loss to compute our detailed models. We calculate stellar evolution models with initial masses of 70-500 Msun and with initial surface rotational velocities of 0-550 km/s, covering the core-hydrogen burning phase of evolution. We find our rapid rotators to be strongly influenced by rotationally induced mixing of helium, with quasi-chemically homogeneous evolution occurring for the fastest rotating models. Above 160 Msun, homogeneous evolution is also established through mass loss, producing pure helium stars at core hydrogen exhaustion independent of the initial rotation rate. Surface nitrogen enrichment is also found for slower rotators, even for stars that lose only a small fraction of their initial mass. For models above 150 MZAMS, and for models in the whole considered mass range later on, we find a considerable envelope inflation due to the proximity of these models to their Eddington limit. This leads to a maximum zero-age main sequence surface temperature of 56000 K, at 180 Msun, and to an evolution of stars in the mass range 50-100 Msun to the regime of luminous blue variables in the HR diagram with high internal Eddington factors. Inflation also leads to decreasing surface temperatures during the chemically homogeneous evolution of stars above 180 Msun. The cool surface temperatures due to the envelope inflation in our models lead to an enhanced mass loss, which prevents stars at LMC metallicity from evolving into pair-instability supernovae. The corresponding spin-down will also prevent very massive LMC stars to produce long-duration gamma-ray bursts, which might, however, originate from lower masses.
description: 21 pages, 25 figures
Dose-Dependent Effects of Multiple Acute Cocaine Injections on Maternal Behavior and Aggression in Sprague-Dawley Rats
Creators: name: Lubin, Deborah A.
name: Nelson, Christina J.
name: Couch, C. Destine
name: Ayers, Andy
name: Meter, Kathleen E.
name: Walker, Cheryl H.
name: Johns, Josephine M.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 1998

description: Rat dams, which had no prior drug treatment, were either nontreated controls or were injected subcutaneously 4 times during a 10-day period with a single dose of 30, 15 or 7.5 mg/kg of cocaine hydrochloride HCl, or normal saline. Injections were given immediately postpartum following delivery of their final pup (PPD 1), and again on postpartum day 3 (PPD 3), postpartum day 6 (PPD 6) and postpartum day 10 (PPD 10). Dams were observed 30 min following injections for maternal behavior (MB) towards 8 surrogate male pups on PPD 1 and PPD 3 and for aggression towards a male or female intruder in the presence of their litter on PPD 6 and PPD 10. Compared to saline and untreated controls, cocaine-treated dams exhibited more disruptions in MB on both PPD 1 and PPD 3 and were less aggressive towards an intruder, regardless of intruder sex, on PPD 6 and PPD 10. In most cases MB was altered in a dose-dependent manner with the higher doses of cocaine resulting in a greater disruption of behavior.
Computing mixed volume and all mixed cells in quermassintegral time
Creators: name: Malajovich, Gregorio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 65H10 (Primary), 52A39, 14M25, 14N10, 52B55 (Secondary)

description: The mixed volume counts the roots of generic sparse polynomial systems. Mixed cells are used to provide starting systems for homotopy algorithms that can find all those roots, and track no unnecessary path. Up to now, algorithms for that task were of enumerative type, with no general non- exponential complexity bound. A geometric algorithm is introduced in this paper. Its complexity is bounded in the average and probability-one settings in terms of some geometric invariants: quermassintegrals associated to the tuple of convex hulls of the support of each polynomial. Besides the complexity bounds, numerical results are reported. Those are consistent with an output- sensitive running time for each benchmark family where data is available. For some of those families, an asymptotic running time gain over the best code available at this time was noticed.
description: final revision
title: Implicit priming of conflicting motivational states in heavy drinkers
Creators: name: Baker, Samantha
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: Background: Theories of motivational conflict are key in understanding alcohol misuse. Research suggests that approach and avoidance motivation are two distinct systems and that level of alcohol consumption depends on which system is most activated at one time. One factor thought to influence this balance is the role of implicit processes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of implicitly priming one motivational system (i.e. approach / avoidance) on the opposing system in regard to alcohol-related motivation in heavy drinkers. Methods: Heavy drinkers were recruited from a non-clinical community sample to complete a protocol of stimulus response compatibility and visual probe tasks designed to measure implicit motivation by recording reaction times to alcohol cues. Participants were assigned to one of three groups and attempts were made to manipulate implicit motivation using a masked priming paradigm. Measures of explicit attitudes towards alcohol were also administered. Results: No significant effects of priming were found. The overall sample showed attentional avoidance for alcohol cues presented at 50 ms duration but not at 500 ms. On the SRC task, participants were slower to avoid alcohol cues than neutral cues. Positive correlations were found between attentional bias for alcohol cues presented for 500 ms on the visual probe task and craving and consumption as measured by the Alcohol Approach Avoidance Questionnaire (AAAQ) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) respectively. Significance: Implicit priming of alcohol-related motivational states had no influence on indices of alcohol approach and avoidance motivation or on attentional bias. As an overall sample, heavy drinkers showed automatic attentional avoidance of alcohol cues presented at short durations (50 ms). This is the first study to find avoidance of alcohol cues presented at this duration in heavy drinkers.
Mineral composition modelling of natural surface water
Creators: name: Silkin, Sergey V.
name: Kulikov, Eugen E.
name: Popov, Igor A
name: Pekov, Stanislav I
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: We developed a computational environment that allows us to model the mineral composition of natural water according to the elemental and cation-anion content of the sample. The mineral composition modelling of natural water may be considered as the first step of express water monitoring in real-time. The calculated models were experimentally checked using model solutions and natural objects. The integral parameters of simulated water quality are compared with the calculated values and natural water samples. The limitations of the proposed algorithms for the mineral composition modelling of polluted waters have been discussed. For the first time, an automated approach for modelling the mineral and ionic composition of natural water based on the total water quality indicators is proposed. The presented algorithm is intended to be integrated with existing water quality monitoring systems to enhance the capabilities to control the wide range of inorganic ions in freshwaters.
Sulphate radical-based advanced oxidation technologies for removal of COD and ammonia from hazardous landfill leachate: A review
Creators: name: Gholami, Moeen
name: Fard, Moein Besharati
name: Zabihzadeh, Mehdi
name: Shomali, Abbas
name: Pendashteh, Alireza
name: Souraki, Behrooz Abbasi
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Physiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Solid waste landfill (SWL) is known as a major pollution source contaminating air, water sources, and soil environment. The main hazard of SWL is leachate including high organic matter and nutrients. Recently, sulphate radical-based advanced oxidation processes (SR-AOPs) based on persulphate (PS) have been applied as a useful method for removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia from landfill leachate (LL). The removal efficiency of the SR-AOPs depends on effective parameters such as pH, oxidant dosage, catalyst dosage, temperature, reaction time, and so forth. Among SR-AOPs, thermal persulphate oxidation (TPO) seems to be promising for removal of both COD and ammonia; however, the high amount of energy cost is regarded as a major drawback. The drawbacks and future challenges for the use of SR-AOPs for LL have been discussed, and some strategies such as using coupled mechanisms of SR-AOPs have been proposed to tackle the common difficulties. Finally, the performance of SR-AOPs for treatment of LL has been compared with hydroxyl radical processes.
Temperature and field dependence of the intrinsic tunnelling structure in overdoped Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+δ}$
Creators: name: Benseman, T. M.
name: Cooper, J. R.
name: Balakrishnan, G.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We report intrinsic tunnelling data for mesa structures fabricated on three over- and optimally-doped $\rm{Bi_{2.15}Sr_{1.85}CaCu_{2}O_{8+δ}}$ crystals with transition temperatures of 86-78~K and 0.16-0.19~holes per CuO$_2$ unit, for a wide range of temperature ($T$) and applied magnetic field ($H$), primarily focusing on one over-doped crystal(OD80). The differential conductance above the gap edge shows clear dip structure which is highly suggestive of strong coupling to a narrow boson mode. Data below the gap edge suggest that tunnelling is weaker near the nodes of the d-wave gap and give clear evidence for strong $T$-dependent pair breaking. These findings could help theorists make a detailed Eliashberg analysis and thereby contribute towards understanding the pairing mechanism. We show that for our OD80 crystal the gap above $T_c$ although large, is reasonably consistent with the theory of superconducting fluctuations.
description: 15 pages, 15 figures plus supplemental material, 1 table and 47 ASCII files with raw data. Corrected files for Fig. 12a
title: Spectroscopy of ¹⁶³,¹⁶⁵Os and ¹⁶⁴Ir
Creators: name: Drummond, Mark Christopher
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: Excited states in the neutron-deficient isotopes ¹⁶³Os and ¹⁶⁵Os were identified using Jurogam and GREAT spectrometers in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator. The ¹⁶³Os and ¹⁶⁵Os nuclei were populated via the ¹⁰⁶Cd⁶⁰(Ni,3n) and ⁹²Mo(⁷⁸Kr,2p3n) reactions at bombarding energies of 270 MeV and 357 MeV, respectively. Gamma-ray emissions from these nuclei have been established unambiguously using the recoil-decay tagging technique and a coincidence analysis has allowed level schemes to be established. These results suggest that the yrast states are based upon negative-parity configurations originating from the νf⁷/₂ and νh⁹/₂ orbitals. The neutron deficient odd-odd nucleus ¹⁶⁴Ir has been studied using the GREAT spectrometer in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator. The experiment was performed using the ⁹²Mo(⁷⁸Kr, p5n)¹⁶⁴Ir reaction at bombarding energies of 420-450 MeV for 12 days. An alpha decay has been observed for the first time with an energy of 6880 ± 10 keV and a branching ratio of 4.8 ± 2.2 % and assigned as the decay of the πh¹¹/₂ state of ¹⁶⁴Ir. The energy of the proton decay of the high-spin state has been measured to a higher precision as 1814 ± 6 keV. The half life of this state has been measured to be 70 ± 10 μs. The DSSDs of the GREAT spectrometer have been instrumented using digital electronics for the first time and a pulse shape analysis has been performed to observe particle emission within the dead time of the detector.
The Role of Dopamine Receptors in the Neurobehavioral Syndrome Provoked by Activation of L-Type Calcium Channels in Rodents
Creators: name: Jinnah, H.A.
name: Breese, George R.
name: Hess, Ellen J.
name: Fan, Xueliang
name: Blake, Bonita L.
name: Kasim, Suhail
name: Egami, Kiyoshi
name: Chartoff, Elena
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2006

description: In rodents, activation of L-type calcium channels with ± BayK 8644 causes an unusual behavioral syndrome that includes dystonia and self-biting. Prior studies have linked both of these behaviors to dysfunction of dopaminergic transmission in the striatum. The current studies were designed to further elucidate the relationship between ± BayK 8644 and dopaminergic transmission in the expression of the behavioral syndrome. The drug does not appear to release presynaptic dopamine stores, since microdialysis of the striatum revealed dopamine release was unaltered by ± BayK 8644. In addition, the behaviors were preserved or even exaggerated in mice or rats with virtually complete dopamine depletion. On the other hand, pretreatment of mice with D3 or D1/5 dopamine receptor antagonists attenuated the behavioral effects of ± BayK 8644, while pretreatment with D2 or D4 antagonists had no effect. In D3 receptor knockout mice, ± BayK 8644 elicited both dystonia and self-biting, but these behaviors were less severe than in matched controls. In D1 receptor knockout mice, behavioral responses to ± BayK 8644 appeared exaggerated. These results argue that the behavioral effects of ± BayK 8644 are not mediated by a presynaptic influence. Instead, the behaviors appear to result from a postsynaptic activation of the drug, which does not require but can be modified by D3 or D1/5 receptors.
title: The silver, copper and silicon (110) surfaces in ambient environments
Creators: name: Barritt, Elizabeth
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: The results presented in this thesis were part of a research programme that utilised the surface sensitive technique reflection anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS) to study the silver, copper and silicon (110) surfaces under ambient conditions. It has been shown that although the preparation of these surfaces can be less precise in ambient conditions, than when prepared in an ultra high vacuum (UHV) environment, the main features observed are similar. The features observed in the RA spectrum for the Si(110) surface in ambient conditions show good agreement with previous data performed in a UHV environment. The experiments performed using the Ag(110) surface show that when the Ag(110) crystal is heated to higher temperatures, when the oxide present will have dissociated off the surface, the ambient RA spectrum shows good agreement with experiments performed in UHV. However, the transition between surface states observed in UHV was not seen in the RA spectrum in ambient conditions. These experiments were performed using the Re(∆r/r) part of the RA spectra. However, to examine the surfaces further the Im(∆r/r) part of the RA spectra was also presented along with the azimuthal dependence of the RA spectrum. The Cu(110) surface was investigated under ambient conditions and electrochemically. It was found the surface is not stable in ambient conditions but can be stabilised electrochemically using HCl. The adsorption and desorption of Cl- was studied and the research focused on when the Cl- was desorbed from the surface leaving clean Cu(110). Under these conditions the transition between surface states at 2.10 eV in UHV was observed at a slightly higher energy of 2.20 eV in an electrochemical environment.
Minimal surface singularities are Lipschitz normally embedded
Creators: name: Neumann, Walter D
name: Pedersen, Helge Møller
name: Pichon, Anne
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Algebraic Geometry (math.AG)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 14B05, 32S25, 32S05, 57M99

description: Any germ of a complex analytic space is equipped with two natural metrics: the {\it outer metric} induced by the hermitian metric of the ambient space and the {\it inner metric}, which is the associated riemannian metric on the germ. We show that minimal surface singularities are Lipschitz normally embedded (LNE), i.e., the identity map is a bilipschitz homeomorphism between outer and inner metrics, and that they are the only rational surface singularities with this property.
description: This paper is a major revision of the 2015 version. It now builds on the paper arXiv:1806.11240 by the same authors which gives a general characterization of Lipschitz normally embedded surface singularities
title: Continuous flow as an enabling tool for materials science
Creators: name: Morris, Henry
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: Flow chemistry is an established field within its own right, with uptake of continuous processing in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and petrochemical industries. Continuous flow has been shown offer potential benefits to processes such as increased reaction kinetics, rapid reaction screening and improved chemoselectivity. There are, however, under-explored areas where the benefits of flow have not been fully explored: for example, in the synthesis of macrocycles or organic materials. This thesis investigates the use of flow chemistry in the synthesis of three different classes of functional molecule, each with applications in material science.
Firstly, porphyrin synthesis using a Lindsey type reaction is transferred into continuous flow. The process is optimised using the synthesis of tetraphenyl porphyrin as a model reaction, achieving high yields. Substrate scope is investigated, and the effect of two catalysts on yield is demonstrated. The second class of molecules is porous organic cages – following two studies in 2015 and one in 2023 which showed cage formation can benefit greatly from flow processes. Previous work was extended by evaluating the benefits of continuous flow for cages that have synthetic challenges in batch; in some cases, higher yield and throughput was possible in flow, but benefits were not seen for a cage that requires constant removal of water under batch conditions. In the latter case, slow addition of one component to another via a syringe pump enabled production of ‘scrambled’ cages that initial investigations found to be porous. The third chapter transfers a Balz-Schiemann triphasic process to form a key industrial feedstock to continuous flow. The decomposition of a diazonium salt using photochemical or thermal activation is demonstrated, and the resultant product distribution investigated by GC-MS. The thermal decomposition is optimised in flow, and the reliability of the process is examined.
Overall, the work in this thesis developed three workflows for the synthesis of three different classes of molecules in flow. The benefits of the workflows include faster reactions, improved yields, and different product distributions to that seen in batch. Each workflow could be combined with in-line analysis in order to generate process understanding, and decrease the time needed to screen reactions.
Comment: Questions for Jablonka and Ginsburg Drawn from Lamarck's Life-Made World
Creators: name: Riskin, Jessica
Publisher: name: Stanford Digital Repository
Year: 2023
Subjects: Agency · Evolution · Composition · Creativity · Lamarck · Life

description: The Romantic- and Revolution-era French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck is an
important precursor for Jablonka’s and Ginsburg’s theory of living beings as beings
that learn. Lamarck defined living beings as beings that compose and create. Like
Jablonka and Ginsburg’s learning theory, Lamarck’s composing and creating theory
locates life in the capacity for a kind of purposeful striving. A consideration of his
theory can suggest fundamental questions for Jablonka and Ginsburg regarding the
relations among what they call “vivaciousness,” the state of living organisms, learning,
and evolutionary transformation.
Resonances as Probes of Heavy-Ion Collisions at ALICE
Creators: name: Knospe, A. G.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Hadronic resonances serve as unique probes in the study of the hot and dense nuclear matter produced in heavy-ion collisions. Properties of the hadronic phase of the collision can be extracted from measurements of the suppression of resonance yields. A comparison of the transverse-momentum spectra of the phi(1020) meson and the proton (which have similar masses) can be used to study particle production mechanisms. Resonance measurements in pp collisions provide input for tuning QCD-inspired particle production models and serve as reference measurements for other collision systems. Measurements of resonances in p-Pb collisions allow nuclear effects in the absence of a hot and dense final state to be studied. The ALICE Collaboration has measured resonances in pp, p-Pb, and Pb-Pb collisions. These measurements will be discussed and compared to results from other experiments and to theoretical models.
description: 4 Pages, 1 figure, Proceedings of Hot Quarks 2014, Las Negras, Spain, 21-28 September 2014, to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Spatial and temporal variations of the PM2.5 concentrations in Hanoi metropolitan area, Vietnam, during the COVID-19 lockdown
Creators: name: Vuong, Quang Tran
name: Choi, Sung-Deuk
name: Bac, Vuong Thu
name: Thang, Hoang Minh
name: Hue, Nguyen Thi
name: Lan, Tran Thu
name: Hanh, Duong Thi
name: Van Tuyen, Trinh
name: Thang, Phan Quang
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Biochemistry
subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Microbiology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Information Systems not elsewhere classified
subject: Cancer
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences

description: The Vietnamese government has issued several directives of lockdown in Hanoi, the capital city, for a month (1–30 April 2020) to prevent the human-to-human transmission of COVID-19. This action has affected air pollution due to a decline in transportation. Therefore, this study investigates spatial and temporal change in the PM2.5 concentrations during the first 4 months of 2020 in Hanoi metropolitan area. Spatial distribution maps of the PM2.5 concentration in Hanoi were provided for the first time. The average PM2.5 concentrations at the 22 air monitoring stations were strongly correlated with the population. April had a significantly lower level of PM2.5 than the other 3 months. In particular, the concentrations of PM2.5 and NO2 decreased by 12 and 54%, respectively, between March and April, especially at areas for commercial activities. In April, a higher level of PM2.5 was recorded between Tuesday–Thursday, which is a reverse trend with that in March. Furthermore, Monday and Friday did not show rush hour peaks for the PM2.5 levels in April. A decrease in the PM2.5 concentrations was partly influenced by the long-range transport from the outside to Hanoi. This study implies that a reduction in traffic volumes and public activities may possibly improve the air quality.
title: High resolution methods for the aerodynamic design of helicopter rotors
Creators: name: Brocklehurst, Alan
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: The research reported here was driven by a desire to obtain a prediction method for helicopter rotor performance that would have sufficient resolution to evaluate changes to the design of the blade tip. This thesis examines the effectiveness of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods to solve this problem. An accurate, high-fidelity prediction is essential to quantify the performance of a new rotor tip shape which hitherto could not be properly assessed by a traditional approach. The CFD method lends itself to the resolution of the compressible, viscous flow around the helicopter blade tip. Starting from the surface shape required to generate a grid, together with the flow conditions, the flowfield naturally evolves from the numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations, based on the principles of conservation of mass, momentum and energy. Thus both the flow physics and the geometry of the tip are fully modelled by this technique. In order to demonstrate the process, the Helicopter Multi-block solver (HMB) is used to predict the performance of a series of example tail rotor configurations. The various tip shapes are evaluated and compared, initially using an Euler approach to economically cover a wide range of designs, before going on to apply the Navier-Stokes method. The concepts behind each of the tail rotor blade (TRB) tip designs are explained in the thesis. As further computational resources became available, the datum blade, and the down-selected Kuchemann-like and anhedral-Kuchemann tip blades were the subject of Navier-Stokes predictions. Early in this work, the numerical method was validated against published data, and was also compared to existing model tail rotor test data for blades having different twist. In the central part of this thesis, the computational results are further analysed to reveal the influence of blade design changes on the time-averaged induced flow, and to extract more familiar aerodynamic parameters such as the angle of attack from the 3D rotor computations. Steady Navier-Stokes predictions were obtained over a range of pitch angles such that the induced power factor could be reliably determined and the trends on profile power could also be established for the selected tip shapes. The research reported in this thesis has established that this numerical approach provides a good prediction of rotor performance, adequately resolving the flow-field and tip aerodynamics. Since the assessment of helicopter rotors may involve additional interactional effects, or a degree of unsteady flow due to operating at high pitch angles near the onset of stall, an unsteady case was also demonstrated for a tail rotor blade adjacent to a fin. It is concluded that only by using a CFD approach can a sufficiently high-fidelity prediction be obtained for helicopter rotor aerodynamics to allow progressive enhancements of future helicopter blade designs.
title: Examining Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and body dysmorphic concerns in a clinical and non-clinical population
Creators: name: Knight, Anya K
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: This thesis examines Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and body dysmorphic concerns in a clinical and non-clinical sample. The opening section of the thesis provides an outline of the clinical features, prevalence, onset and course of BDD and related concerns. This is followed by a literature review and examination of two related areas of research: (a) the evidence base for cognitive-behavioural psychological interventions for the treatment of BDD, and (b) studies investigating the potential role of internal and external perfectionism, shame and self-discrepancies in relation to the experience of BDD. The remainder of the thesis reports two empirical studies of aspects of BDD and dysmorphic concerns. Study 1 (n=4) reports a clinical evaluation of a cognitive-behavioural group therapy treatment of the disorder, employing both single-case experimental design methodology and analysis of average change pre- to post-therapy and at 6-month follow-up. Data indicated that BDD symptoms along with some problems such as depression and self-esteem responded favourably to treatment while problems like shame did not. Appearance-related and interaction-based social anxiety responded to treatment in two out of four clients. Study 2 (n=547) reports an investigation of the role of internal and external perfectionism, shame and self-discrepancies in relation to BDD. This employed an online survey methodology with a student sample, entailing completion of a number of self-report psychometric assessments. Results showed that external shame was the variable most strongly associated with body dysmorphic concern. Combined with discrepancies between actual and ideal self-concept, these two variables accounted for the greatest proportion of variance observed in dysmorphic concern scores. Outcomes are discussed in terms of the strengths and limitations of the study methodologies, existing literature on CBT and predictors of dysmorphic concern, and the possible need to include additional variables in the treatment of BDD.
Nifedipine Suppresses Self-Injurious Behaviors in Animals
Creators: name: Blake, Bonita L.
name: Muehlmann, Amber M.
name: Devine, Darragh P.
name: Jinnah, H.A.
name: Egami, Kiyoshi
name: Breese, George R.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2007

description: Self-injurious behavior is a common problem in many developmental disorders. The neurobiology of this behavior is not well understood, but the differing behavioral manifestations and associations with different disorders suggest that the underlying biological mechanisms are heterogeneous. The behavioral and biological heterogeneity is also evident in several animal models, where different manifestations can be provoked under different experimental conditions. Identifying commonalities among the different mechanisms is likely to be helpful in the design of treatments useful for the broadest populations of patients. The current studies reveal that nifedipine suppresses self-injurious behavior in 4 unrelated animal models: acute administration of high doses of ± BayK 8644 or methamphetamine in mice, dopamine agonist treatment in rats with lesions of dopamine pathways during early development and repeated administration of pemoline in rats. The effect of nifedipine does not appear to be due to nonspecific mechanisms, such as sedation, since other classes of behaviors are unaffected or exaggerated. These results suggest that nifedipine may target a common biological mechanism in the expression of self-injurious behavior, and they suggest it should be considered in the treatment or self-injury in humans.
MPEC 2024-R294 : 2024 RA14
Creators: name: Minor Planet Center Staff
Publisher: name: The Minor Planet Center
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Small Solar System bodies
valueUri: http://astrothesaurus.org/uat/1469
subject: 2024 RA14

description: The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual minor planets, routine data on comets and natural satellites, and occasional editorial announcements.  They are published on behalf of Division F of the International Astronomical Union by the Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Dark Atoms and their decaying constituents
Creators: name: Belotsky, Konstantin
name: Khlopov, Maxim
name: Laletin, Maxim
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The nonbaryonic dark matter of the Universe might consist of new stable charged species, bound by ordinary Coulomb interactions in various forms of heavy neutral "dark atoms". The existing models offer natural implementations for the dominant and subdominant forms of dark atom components. In the framework of Walking Technicolor the charge asymmetric excess of both stable negatively doubly charged technilepton $ζ^{--}$ and metastable but longliving positively doubly charged technibaryon $UU^{++}$ can be generated in the early Universe together with the observed baryon asymmetry. If the excess of $ζ$ exceeds by several orders of magnitude the excess of $UU$, dark matter might consist dominantly by $Heζ$ dark atoms of nuclear interacting O-helium ($OHe$) bound state of $ζ$ with primordial helium. Although sparse, this subdominant component can lead to observable effects, since leptonic decays of technibaryons $UU$ give rise to two positively charged leptons contrary to the pairs of opposite charge leptons created in decays of neutral particles. We show that decays of $UU^{++}\rightarrow e^+ e^+, μ^+ μ^+, τ^+ τ^+$ of the subdominant $UUζ$ component of dark matter, can explain the observed high energy positron excess in the cosmic rays if the fraction of $UUζ$ is $\sim 10^{-6}$ of the total dark matter density, the mass of $UU^{++}$ about 1 TeV and the lifetime about $10^{20} $s. Optimizing fit of recent AMS-02 data by model parameters, the predicted mass range of such long-living double charge particle is challenging for its search at the LHC. (abridged)
description: to appear in Proceedings of the 17th Bled Workshop "What Comes Beyond Standard Models?"
Uniformity of fuel target implosion in Heavy Ion Fusion
Creators: name: Kawata, S.
name: Noguchi, K.
name: Suzuki, T.
name: Karino, T.
name: Barada, D.
name: Ogoyski, A. I.
name: Ma, Y. Y.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: In inertial confinement fusion the target implosion non-uniformity is introduced by a driver beams' illumination non-uniformity, a fuel target alignment error in a fusion reactor, the target fabrication defect, et al. For a steady operation of a fusion power plant the target implosion should be robust against the implosion non-uniformities. In this paper the requirement for the implosion uniformity is first discussed. The implosion uniformity should be less than a few percent. A study on the fuel hotspot dynamics is also presented and shows that the stagnating plasma fluid provides a significant enhancement of vorticity at the final stage of the fuel stagnation. Then non-uniformity mitigation mechanisms of the heavy ion beam (HIB) illumination are also briefly discussed in heavy ion inertial fusion (HIF). A density valley appears in the energy absorber, and the large-scale density valley also works as a radiation energy confinement layer, which contributes to a radiation energy smoothing. In HIF a wobbling heavy ion beam illumination was also introduced to realize a uniform implosion. In the wobbling HIBs illumination, the illumination non-uniformity oscillates in time and space on a HIF target. The oscillating-HIB energy deposition may contribute to the reduction of the HIBs' illumination non-uniformity by its smoothing effect on the HIB illumination non-uniformity and also by a growth mitigation effect on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability.
description: 27 pages, presented at Int. Symposium on HIF 2014 at Lanzhou, China
title: Culture conditions govern mouse embryonic stem cell behaviour: dependence on heparan sulfate and optimisation of synthetic polymer substrates
Creators: name: Williams, Chloe
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: Human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-based therapies will only become viable once we eliminate the use of animal-derived material during ESC scale-up. Some groups have demonstrated the expansion of hESCs in xeno-free systems but the effect on downstream self-renewal and differentiation is poorly understood. Heparan sulfate (HS) is a master regulator of cellular behavior but the role of HS during ESC expansion is unclear, as is the exogenous source of HS in cultures. It has been shown that mESCs synthesise low levels of low-sulfated HS, but it is unclear if culture condition has any impact. In the studies here, three discrete culture conditions were employed for E14 mESC expansion along with immunostaining and RT-qPCR to study marker expression for differentiation to the three lineages and corresponding BM synthesis. SAX-HPLC was used to characterise soluble HS from cells/medium/serum. A varierty of polymers were tested as synthetic alternatives for ESC expansion. It was found that HS-deficient embryoid bodies (EBs) (derived from EXT1-/- mESCs in normal culture conditions) remained in a pluripotent state and lacked a typical differentiation pattern. Furthermore, HS-deficient mESCs could not be maintained in the absence of serum, highlighting a link between serum and HS. EBs derived from E14 mESCs cultured in the absence of serum displayed unusual differentiation patterns, which were rescued by exogenous porcine mucosal heparin (PMH). Feeder cells displayed cell-surface HS but feeder-cell conditioned medium (CM) was predominantly an unsulfated structure. An array of low and highly sulfated HS structures were identified in serum-alone. 10-fold more HS was purified from serum-free feeder-free (-F –FBS) CM compared to the other mESC CM (with/without feeders but in the presence of serum; +/-F +FBS). Furthermore, unlike +/-F +FBS conditions, highly sulfated HS disaccharide UA2S–GlcNS6S was the major constituent in –F-FBS and Sulf2 levels were significantly reduced. Poly-Ɛ-lysine macroporous substrates supported mESC and kidney-derived stem cells (KSCs-GFP) adherence and proliferation, further enhanced by adsorbing RGD or per-sulfated HS structures to the surface of the poly-Ɛ-lysine. The key conclusions from these studies were that serum is a source of HS, without which, mESCs behave uncharacteristically; that synthetic HS-mimetic structures could represent an alternative to serum; and poly-Ɛ-lysine shows great promise to replace current animal-derived coating materials for ESC expansion.
The Square Kilometer Array: cosmology, pulsars and other physics with the SKA
Creators: name: Combes, Francoise
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: SKA is a new technology radio-telescope array, about two orders of magnitude more sensitive and rapid in sky surveys than present instruments. It will probe the dark age of the universe, just afer recombination, and during the epoch of reionisation (z=6-15); it will be the unique instrument to map the atomic gas in high redshift galaxies, and determine the amount and distribution of dark matter in the early universe. Not only it will detect and measure the redshifts of billions of galaxies up to z=2, but also it will discover and monitor around 20 000 pulsars in our Milky Way. The timing of pulsars will trace the stretching of space, able to detect gravitational waves. Binary pulsars will help to test gravity in strong fields, and probe general relativity. These exciting perspectives will become real beyond 2020.
description: 16 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of INFIERI-2014, Summer School on "Intelligent Signal Processing for Frontier Research and Industry", JINST
Can a spectator scalar field enhance inflationary tensor mode?
Creators: name: Fujita, Tomohiro
name: Yokoyama, Jun'ichi
name: Yokoyama, Shuichiro
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We consider the possibility of enhancing the inflationary tensor mode by introducing a spectator scalar field with a small sound speed which induces gravitational waves as a second order effect. We analytically obtain the power spectra of gravitational waves and curvature perturbation induced by the spectator scalar field. We found that the small sound speed amplifies the curvature perturbation much more than the tensor mode and the current observational constraint forces the induced gravitational waves to be negligible compared with those from the vacuum fluctuation during inflation.
description: 12 pages
title: A kainic acid-induced status epilepticus model of epileptogenesis in the C57BL/6J mouse. Interventions targeting nitric oxide and NMDA receptor-mediated pathophysiology
Creators: name: Beamer, Edward
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: In this thesis, the behavioral, electrographic and neurobiological effects of a period of kainic acid-induced status epilepticus (SE) on the C57BL/6J inbred mouse strain are characterised. The severity of epileptic behaviour was scored, used immunohistochemistry to investigate the anatomical distribution of c-Fos expression in the hippocampal formation following SE and recorded EEG during and after SE using an implantable, wireless telemetry device. Further to assessing the severity of SE, changes subsequent to seizures related to the emergence of chronic epilepsy were investigated, including reactive gliosis and synaptogenesis and epileptiform discharges in the EEG trace. I investigated the potential of a range of pharmacological agents for modulating the severity of induced seizures and disease progression. These included drugs targetting the NR2B subunit of the NMDA receptor (RO 25-6981), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (L-NPA), The post synaptic density protein 95 (Tat-NR2B9a) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (1400W). L-NPA, when administered prior to the induction of SE was found to profoundly suppress the emergence of epileptiform activity, including behavioural, electrographic and neurobiological indicators. Further, L-NPA’s modulation of the precipitating event lead to a decrease in neurobiological changes associated with epileptogenesis, such as reactive gliosis in the CA3 region of the hippocampus and 5 elevated synaptogenesis in th molecular layer of the hippocampus. This correlated with a marked decrease in epileptiform discharges in the EEG trace. A novel method of kainic acid administration was trialed, involving multiple small doses of the drug, titrated by the severity of behaviour. This method led to a decrease in mortality and an increase in the severity and inter-individual uniformity of SE, assessed by the analysis of behaviour, EEG and c-Fos expression in the hippocampus. Furthermore, this method induced neurobiological changes associated with epileptogenesis 3 days following SE and was associated with an increased frequency of epileptiform discharges for 7 days post SE.
Variable stars in the VVV globular clusters. I. 2MASS-GC02 and Terzan10
Creators: name: Alonso-García, Javier
name: Dékány, István
name: Catelan, Márcio
name: Ramos, Rodrigo Contreras
name: Gran, Felipe
name: Amigo, Pía
name: Leyton, Paul
name: Minniti, Dante
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
subject: Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) ESO Public Survey is opening a new window to study the inner Galactic globular clusters using their variable stars. These globular clusters have been neglected in the past due to the difficulties caused by the presence of an elevated extinction and high field stellar densities in their lines of sight. However, the discovery and study of any present variables in these clusters, especially RRLyrae stars, can help to greatly improve the accuracy of their physical parameters. It can also help to shed some light on the interrogations brought by the intriguing Oosterhoff dichotomy in the Galactic globular cluster system. In a series of papers we plan to explore the variable stars in the globular clusters falling inside the field of the VVV survey. In this first paper we search and study the variables present in two highly-reddened, moderately metal-poor, faint, inner Galactic globular clusters: 2MASS-GC02 and Terzan10. We report the discovery of sizable populations of RR Lyrae stars in both globular clusters. We use near-infrared period-luminosity relations to determine the color excess of each RR Lyrae star, from which we obtain both accurate distances to the globular clusters and the ratios of the selective to total extinction in their directions. We find the extinction towards both clusters to be elevated, non-standard, and highly differential. We also find both clusters to be closer to the Galactic center than previously thought, with Terzan10 being on the far side of the Galactic bulge. Finally, we discuss their Oosterhoff properties, and conclude that both clusters stand out from the dichotomy followed by most Galactic globular clusters.
description: Accepted for publication in AJ
title: Towards the formal verification of human-agent-robot teamwork
Creators: name: Stocker, Richard
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: The formal analysis of computational processes is by now a well-established field. However, in practical scenarios, the problem of how we can formally verify interactions with humans still remains. This thesis is concerned with addressing this problem through the use of the Brahms language. Our overall goal is to provide formal verification techniques for human-agent teamwork, particularly astronaut-robot teamwork on future space missions and human-robot interactions in health-care scenarios modelled in Brahms.