cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
title: Exploiting the chick embryonic environment to reprogram neuroblastoma cells to a benign phenotype
Creators: name: Carter, Rachel
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: Neuroblastoma is a paediatric cancer that arises from the sympathetic ganglia and adrenal medulla. Tumours with MYCN amplification have the worst prognosis, and make up around 30% of neuroblastoma diagnoses. Neuroblastoma exhibits an unusually high propensity for spontaneous regression, which occurs most frequently in the youngest patients (under 18 months of age), perhaps because developmental cues still present prompt belated differentiation of the tumour cells. This led to the hypothesis that factors from an appropriate embryonic environment may be capable of activating the correct molecular switches to encourage the differentiation and/or apoptosis of neuroblastoma cells, reprogramming the tumour to a benign phenotype. To test this hypothesis, EGFP-labelled MYCN-amplified Kelly cells were injected into the extra-embryonic vitelline veins of embryonic day 3 (E3) and E6 chick embryos, and the responses of injected cells were analysed at E10 and E14. Kelly cells injected at E3 respond to neural crest migratory cues and integrate into neural crest-derived tissues: some neural, notably the sympathetic ganglia and enteric nervous system, although never the adrenal gland; and others non-neural, such as the meninges and tail. Cells injected at E6 do not show such targeting, integrating into various tissues such as the liver, kidney and meninges. The cells respond to their respective microenvironments, and in sympathetic ganglia some cells differentiate, show reduced cell division, and crucially such cells have undetectable MYCN expression by E10. In non-neural locations, cells form more rapidly dividing clumps and continue to express MYCN. The downregulation of MYCN is dependent on continuous and direct interaction with the sympathetic ganglion environment. Kelly cells’ morphology, behaviour and gene expression are altered by the sympathetic ganglia microenvironment. Taking these key observations, we speculate that the Kelly cells’ MYCN amplicon may likely contain the required DNA regulatory sequences to enable MYCN expression to be altered in response to the embryonic environment. If the factors responsible for MYCN repression can be elucidated, they may represent effective new therapeutic targets.
title: Sustainable manufacturing:turning waste into profitable co-products
Creators: name: Bautista Lazo, Samuel
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2014

description: At 2009 rates of disposal, there are only 8 years of remaining landfill capacity at permitted sites in England and Wales. Industry – encouraged by financial penalties from the Government – faces the challenges of cleaner and more sustainable production whilst trying to remain competitive in the market place. This thesis presents development of several theoretical propositions: a ‘fit thinking’ design framework, the ‘All Seeing Eye of Business’ (All-SEB) and the ‘waste alchemist’ industrial role. The ALL-SEB is a model to understand the impact and potential uses of manufacturing waste. The insights provided by the All-SEB model, resulted in a general waste elimination framework developed to serve as a guiding strategy for waste elimination. The main objective of this study was to investigate a major hypothesis derived from the All-SEB: unavoidable waste could be transmuted into profitable co-products as a measure to divert waste from landfill. The ATM (analyse, transform and market) methodology was developed as a way to help companies transmute waste into ‘co-products’. A tool for idea generation (the wheel of waste) was developed to be used in the Analysis phase of the ATM methodology. Case study research was undertaken in order to test the ATM methodology and the way in which unavoidable waste could be transmuted into a profitable co-product in a real world manufacturing setting. The case study results revealed the generative mechanisms that enable waste transmutation into profitable co-products; based on these findings a refined ATM methodology for waste transmutation was proposed. The implementation of the theoretical propositions in industrial settings shed light into strategic aspects of resource efficiency: from waste prevention through ‘fit thinking’, to manufacturing process innovation all the way to a better company integration into the industrial ecosystem. Companies looking to achieve zero waste to landfill status would benefit from using the refined ATM methodology. It was found that the ATM methodology and the wheel of waste are useful to several other actors in the industrial ecosystem: waste management companies looking to transform themselves into ‘resource and energy providers’, to external consultants and to third party companies dubbed ‘waste alchemists’ that could offer waste transmutation services to manufacturers.
On a Family of Rational Perturbations of the Doubling Map
Creators: name: Canela, Jordi
name: Fagella, Núria
name: Garijo, Antonio
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 37F10, 37F30, 37F45

description: The goal of this paper is to investigate the parameter plane of a rational family of perturbations of the doubling map given by the Blaschke products $B_a(z)=z^3\frac{z-a}{1-\bar{a}z}$. First we study the basic properties of these maps such as the connectivity of the Julia set as a function of the parameter $a$. We use techniques of quasiconformal surgery to explore the relation between certain members of the family and the degree 4 polynomials $\left(\overline{\overline{z}^2+c}\right)^2+c$. In parameter space, we classify the different hyperbolic components according to the critical orbits and we show how to parametrize those of disjoint type.
title: Investigating the impact of ship superstructure aerodynamics on maritime helicopter operations
Creators: name: Kaaria, Christopher
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: The work reported in this thesis has investigated the impact of ship superstructure geometry on helicopter operations to the flight decks of naval warships. Ship-Helicopter operating limits for military frigates and destroyers are often restricted in difficult weather conditions because of excessive pilot workload caused by the unsteady ship airwake. Experiments have been conducted in a water tunnel using a specially designed Airwake Dynamometer (AirDyn) to characterise the steady and unsteady aerodynamic loading of a helicopter immersed in the airwake of a generic ship that has been called the Shortened Research Frigate (SRF). The AirDyn is a 1:54 model-scale helicopter, mounted on a six-component force block; it has a simplified spinning main rotor and fuselage based on a Merlin AW-101. The AirDyn has been shown to be an effective tool for characterising the steady and unsteady aerodynamic loading of a helicopter model in a ship’s airwake and the aerodynamic loads measured by the AirDyn were found to correlate with at-sea and simulation flying experience for a range of Wind-Over-Deck (WOD) conditions and ship geometry configurations. The airwakes of the SRF without the presence of a helicopter model have also been investigated using unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). A Detached-Eddy Simulation (DES) approach was used for the turbulence modelling as it has been shown to be capable of capturing the bluff-body type flow features typical of ship airwakes. Analysis of the CFD data revealed the underlying aerodynamic causes of the observed loading characteristics of the AirDyn. A range of ship geometry modifications were made to the SRF to determine the feasibility of mitigating the adverse effects of the airwake by modifying existing ships or by improving the designs of future ships. A range of modifications to the windward hangar side-face of the SRF were tested using the AirDyn and were found to reduce the severity of unsteady loads by up to 55% for oblique WOD angles (Green 30°-45°) at important locations through the flight path of a standard Royal Navy deck-landing manoeuvre. Unsteady CFD analysis showed that the modifications controlled the flow separation from the top edge of the windward hangar side-face in such a way as to reduce the height and the angle of the separated flow and thus the severity of the unsteady flow structures being drawn into the main rotor of the AirDyn. The unsteady CFD data computed for the baseline and modified SRF ship geometries was also integrated into the University of Liverpool’s motion-base flight simulator and piloted flight simulation trials were conducted to determine the impact of the ship modifications on pilot workload. The results of the simulation flight trials confirmed the usefulness of the AirDyn as a tool for predicting pilot experience and showed that it is feasible to modify ship superstructures to the extent that tangible reductions in pilot workload are achieved.
Crystallographic groups with trivial center and outer automorphism group
Creators: name: Lutowski, Rafał
name: Szczepański, Andrzej
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Group Theory (math.GR)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: Primary 20H15, Secondary 57S30

description: Let $Γ$ be a crystallographic group of dimension $n,$ i.e. a discrete, cocompact subgroup of $\operatorname{Isom}(\mathbb{R}^n)$ = $O(n)\ltimes\mathbb{R}^n.$ For any $n\geq 2,$ we construct a crystallographic group with a trivial center and a trivial outer automorphism group.
One-dimensional liquid $^4$He: dynamical properties beyond Luttinger liquid theory
Creators: name: Bertaina, G.
name: Motta, M.
name: Rossi, M.
name: Vitali, E.
name: Galli, D. E.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We compute the zero-temperature dynamical structure factor of one-dimensional liquid $^4$He by means of state-of-the-art Quantum Monte Carlo and analytic continuation techniques. By increasing the density, the dynamical structure factor reveals a transition from a highly compressible critical liquid to a quasi-solid regime. In the low-energy limit, the dynamical structure factor can be described by the quantum hydrodynamic Luttinger liquid theory, with a Luttinger parameter spanning all possible values by increasing the density. At higher energies, our approach provides quantitative results beyond the Luttinger liquid theory. In particular, as the density increases, the interplay between dimensionality and interaction makes the dynamical structure factor manifest a pseudo {\it{particle-hole}} continuum typical of fermionic systems. At the low-energy boundary of such region and moderate densities, we find consistency, within statistical uncertainties, with predictions of a power-law structure by the recently-developed non-linear Luttinger liquid theory. In the quasi-solid regime we observe a novel behavior at intermediate momenta, which can be described by new analytical relations that we derive for the hard-rods model.
description: 12 pages, 9 figures, containing Supplemental Material. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Completely revised text, stricter finite-size analysis, more sophisticate analytic continuations, new Fig. 4 showing comparison to non-linear Luttinger liquid theory for hard-rods
Preservation properties for iterations with finite support
Creators: name: Mejía, Diego Alejandro
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Logic (math.LO)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 03E17, 03E35, 03E40

description: We present the classical theory of preservation of $\sqsubset$-unbounded families in generic extensions by ccc posets, where $\sqsubset$ is a definable relation of certain type on spaces of real numbers, typically associated with some classical cardinal invariant. We also prove that, under some conditions, these preservation properties can be preserved in direct limits of an iteration, so applications are extended beyond the context of finite support iterations. Also, we make a breve exposition of Shelah's theory of forcing with an ultrapower of a poset by a measurable cardinal.
description: Included in the proceedings of RIMS Set Theory Workshop on reflection principles and set theory of large cardinals, Kyoto, Japan (2013 Sep). 11 pages
title: Evaluating the functional performance of small-scale public demountable buildings
Creators: name: Xi, Junjie
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2013

description: This thesis investigates the design, operation and use of contemporary demountable buildings, and explores how functional performance can be assessed in small-scale examples for public use alongside with their relationship to other design elements. The research focuses on three case studies that do not require a high-technology building environment or complex construction skills. Demountable buildings are defined as those that are transported in a number of parts for assembly on site. Contemporary demountable buildings respond to ecological issues, social impacts, technological innovation and economic demands. They can be used to measure a society’s development in environmental sustainability, innovation and economic growth through various forms. Small-scale demountable buildings fulfil many temporary habitation needs in diverse roles, such as non-emergency transitional housing, ephemeral exhibition buildings and seasonal entertainment facilities. The purpose of examining functional performance is to assess if, and how, the requirements of the design have been achieved. This enables project operators to address functional performance from a public perspective by reflecting on the scope and ambition of their projects. This thesis draws on existing literature to investigate previous and on-going research relating to demountable buildings, including classification, the construction process and project management. It also examines selected existing evaluation methods that cover principles, modelling and computer-based solutions from a wider research area, including Guidelines Developed by City Council and Culture Sectors; Assessment Methods in Humanitarian Response and Methods in Environmental Assessment. The research was conducted by combining both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including field research, case studies, interviews, questionnaires and group discussions. Fragmented narratives were transformed into structured evidence, identifying models of best performance in demountable buildings and developing a new method – the Evaluation Conceptual Model – for the effective evaluation and evidencing of the value of demountable buildings in the 21st century. Recommendations for adapting a suitable model to evaluate other design elements in demountable buildings and other types of moveable buildings in further research are suggested and the findings have been used to lay the foundations for a practical evaluation tool for the future.
Aharonov Bohm effect in 2D topological insulator
Creators: name: Gusev, G. M.
name: Kvon, Z. D.
name: Shegai, O. A.
name: Mikhailov, N. N.
name: Dvoretsky, S. A.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present magnetotransport measurements in HgTe quantum well with inverted band structure, which expected to be a two-dimensional topological insulator having the bulk gap with helical gapless states at the edge. The negative magnetoresistance is observed in the local and nonlocal resistance configuration followed by the periodic oscillations damping with magnetic field. We attribute such behaviour to Aharonov-Bohm effect due to magnetic flux through the charge carrier puddles coupled to the helical edge states. The characteristic size of these puddles is about 100 nm.
description: 6 pages, 6 figures
title: The synthesis, detection and repair of nucleotides containing the 8-nitroguanine modification
Creators: name: Alexander, Katie
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: There is accumulating evidence that reactive nitrogen species derived from nitric oxide metabolism are involved in cancer as they are able to damage DNA largely through oxidation or nitration of the guanine base. The 8-nitroguanine lesion is increasingly associated with cancers that result from chronic inflammation; however due to its instability, very little is known about this base modification. Consequently this thesis focuses upon establishing methods to detect and quantify the lesion and investigate enzymes potentially involved in repair systems directed against 8-nitroguanine in DNA. The approach outlined in this thesis utilises ribonucleoside analogues of the lesion which sufficiently stabilised the labile glycosidic bond. The 8-nitroguanine nucleosides were prepared prior to incorporation into the oligodeoxynucleotide sequences using the traditional 3’- to 5’-solid-phase phosphoramidite chemistry. A number of oligodeoxynucleotides of varying lengths containing a single modification, and dinucleotides containing two modifications were prepared. A variety of reactions of the 8-nitroguanine base both in nucleosides and oligodeoxynucleotides have been investigated. Studies revealed a different pattern of alkylation for the modified base when compared to results reported in the literature for the natural nucleoside. Thus demonstrating the dramatic effect that nitration has on the intrinsic reactivity of the nucleoside. In view of the susceptibility of nitro group to reaction with thiol nucleophiles, displacement of the nitro group from within nucleosides and oligodeoxynucleotides has been achieved. In particular a fluorescent nucleophile has been developed which stabilises the lesion and could enable direct detection of the levels of 8-nitroguanine in DNA. Using a variety of substrates prepared in this thesis, detection of the 8-nitroguanine base in oligodeoxynucleotides has been investigated using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy in collaboration with Professor Steven Bell at Queen’s University, Belfast. The unique absorption profile of the 8-nitroguanine derivatives allows for signals exclusively associated with the lesion to be identified using this highly sensitive technique. The synthesis of 8-nitroguanosine triphosphate was investigated using a number of different approaches. Although the initial aim was not successful, the principles for the phosphorylation of a nucleoside have been shown. The problems encountered were attributed to the conformational constraints of the molecule.
Effective Data Visualisations with Kibana Dashboards for CRAMS
Creators: name: Amarapathy, Samitha
name: Feroze, Rafi Mohamed
Publisher: name: Monash University
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Computer Software
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Data mining or extraction of patterns and useful information from data has been around the Software space for a long time, especially in the financial and retail sectors. Analysis of data for mining is an iterative process where different views are built and refined.
In the e-Research space, infrastructure can provide raw information on usage which can be visualized with tools. However, linking this information with meta-data related to users, research domains, funding, publications etc., requires integration with meta-data management systems. Monash eResearch has developed CRAMS ( Cloud Resource Allocation Management System) which provides an effective self service mechanism for researchers and research facilities to request cloud resources, monitor usage and manage own allocations.As part of CRAMs, a dashboard was built for the Monash Research Data storage team to visualize usage information at individual project level and at faculty level. While this is useful, a lot more can be done by integrating raw data captured by CRAMS with infrastructure and other available data sources. Software developers manage models of data and write tools to specific requirements, it would be a waste of resources to rely on them to do data analysis.In this presentation we discuss how we intend to leverage ElasticSearch/Kibana together with data extracted from CRAMS to generate effective data visualisations that’ll provide management insights centered around research data.
https://conference.eresearch.edu.au/2020/09/effective-data-visualisations-with-kibana-dashboards-for-crams/
The approximation of almost time and band limited functions by their expansion in some orthogonal polynomials bases
Creators: name: Jaming, Philippe
name: Karoui, Abderrazek
name: Spektor, Susanna
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Classical Analysis and ODEs (math.CA)
subject: Numerical Analysis (math.NA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: The aim of this paper is to investigate the quality of approximation of almost time and almost band-limited functions by its expansion in three classical orthogonal polynomials bases: the Hermite, Legendre and Chebyshev bases. As a corollary, this allows us to obtain the quality of approximation in the L 2 --Sobolev space by these orthogonal polynomials bases. Also, we obtain the rate of the Legendre series expansion of the prolate spheroidal wave functions. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate the different results of this work.
description: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1407.1293
Differential cross sections for single ionization of Li in collisions with fast protons and O$^{8+}$ ions
Creators: name: Gulyás, L.
name: Egri, S.
name: Kirchner, T.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the process of single ionization of Li in collisions with H$^+$ and O$^{8+}$ projectile ions at 6 MeV and 1.5-MeV/amu impact energies, respectively. Using the frameworks of the independent-electron model and the impact parameter picture, fully (FDCS) and doubly (DDCS) differential cross sections are evaluated in the continuum distorted-wave with eikonal initial-state approximation. Comparisons are made with the recent measurements of LaForge \textit{et al} [J. Phys. B \textbf{46} 031001 (2013)] for the DDCS and Hubele \textit{et al} [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{110} 133201 (2013)] for the FDCS, respectively. For O$^{8+}$ impact inclusion of the heavy particle (NN) interaction in the calculations is crucial and effects of polarization due to the presence of the projectile ion have also to be taken into account for getting very good agreement with the measured data. Our calculation reproduces the satellite peak structure seen in the FDCS for the Li(2s) measurement, which we explain as being formed by a combination of the binary and NN interactions.
title: Defining the role!of microRNA-122 in the early detection of chemotherapy- induced hepatotoxicity in the neo- adjuvant treatment of advanced colorectal cancer
Creators: name: McWhirter, Derek
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: ! Colorectal! cancer! remains! one! of! the!most! common! cancers! in! the!United! Kingdom!with!around!40,000!new!cases!being!diagnosed!each!year.!Around! 25%!of!patients!will!have!liver!metastases!at!the!time!of!presentation,!with! up! to! 50%! developing!metastases! at! some! point! in! their! life.! Advances! in! surgical! technique! and!developments! in! chemotherapy!have! increased! the! number! of! patients!with! advanced! disease! for!whom! potentially! curative! treatment! is! possible.! The! use! of! chemotherapy! in! a! neo2adjuvant! setting! has! improved! the! outcome! for! patients! with! liver! metastases! who! have! initially! irresectable! or! borderline! disease.! Chemotherapy2induced! hepatotoxicity! affects! up! to! 78%! of! patients! receiving! standard! chemotherapy!for!colorectal!cancer!and!can!lead!to!increased!morbidity!and! mortality.!Current!gold! standard! serum2based!biomarkers!of!drug2induced! hepatotoxicity! have! their! limitations! and! there! remains! a! need! for! more! sensitive!and!specific!novel!biomarkers!to!detect!early!hepatotoxicity.!! The!use!of!serum2based!microRNAs,!in!particular!microRNA2122!(miR2122),! a!hepatocyte2specific!molecule!has!been!proposed!as!a!possible!biomarker! for!chemotherapy2induced!hepatotoxicity.! ! The!work!described!in!this!thesis!assessed!the!characteristics!of!serum!miR2 122!in!a!healthy!human!population.!It!also!assessed!serum!levels!of!miR2122! in!different!diseases! including!primary! liver! cancer.! In!order! to! assess! the! role! of! serum! miR2122! in! chemotherapy2induced! hepatotoxicity,! a! pilot! study! was! carried! out! in! patients! receiving! chemotherapy! for! advanced! colorectal!cancer.! ! In! a! healthy! human! population! (n=129)! serum! levels! of! miR2122! were! measured! to! investigate! the! degree! of! variation! and! define! a! normal! reference!range!that!could!be!used!to!assess!changes!found!in!patients!with! hepatic! injury! and! disease.! In! addition! to! miR2122,! two! endogenous! (U6snRNA/let27d)! and! one! exogenous! controls! (c.lin24)! were! measured.! Inter2individual!variation!was!low!for!miR2122!(CV%!5.21)!and!also!for!all! three!controls!(CV%!
title: Decision-making regarding risk-reducing options in breast cancer
Creators: name: Fielden, Hannah
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK and responsible for the second highest number of cancer deaths in women (Cancer Research UK, 2013). Prognostic developments are making it increasingly possible to identify those at increased risk of the disease and advances in cancer risk reduction strategies aim to reduce women’s risk of developing breast cancer. However, the risk-reducing strategies available to women have different risk-reducing capabilities and some can have negative side effects. Women at increased risk of breast cancer are faced with a series of complex decisions including whether or not to act to reduce their level of risk, along with the risk and benefits of different risk-reducing options. Health decision theories afford a central role for risk perception in the uptake of health protection behaviour. To date, there has been mixed evidence for the role of risk perception in the uptake of breast cancer risk-reducing behaviour. Within the quantitative research paradigm, risk perception is often measured as a quantitative estimate, driven by an assumption that women perceive risk in numerical and dimensional terms. This research tells us very little about the forms in which women represent risk and the influence of these risk representations on choices; possibly explaining why studies often show weak relationships between risk perceptions and behaviour. In an effort to further our understanding of women’s choices in this area, the literature review aimed to synthesise qualitative literature that explored how women at increased risk of breast cancer perceived risk and the role of risk perceptions in decisions regarding risk-reducing strategies. Women deemed to be at a significantly increased risk of breast cancer can choose to undertake risk-reducing mastectomy (RRM), the surgical removal of breast tissue for risk-reducing purposes. This procedure is controversial because of the potential for physical and psychological harm and the mixed evidence regarding the survival benefits. Findings from a case series of women undertaking RRM (Beesley, Holcombe, Brown, & Salmon, 2013) suggest that women were driven to opt for the procedure because of a sense of vulnerability to cancer and desire for cosmesis. These findings call into question the role that risk perception plays in this decision-making process. Conclusions however are limited by the case series design and sparse reflection on the relevance of the findings to theoretical understanding. The empirical study aimed to explore, using in-depth interviews, how women make decisions regarding RRM and to identify implications of the findings for the role of decision support for women considering RRM and for psychological theory.
Stimulated photon emission from the vacuum
Creators: name: Karbstein, Felix
name: Shaisultanov, Rashid
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We study the effect of stimulated photon emission from the vacuum in strong space-time-dependent electromagnetic fields. We emphasize the viewpoint that the vacuum subjected to macroscopic electromagnetic fields with at least one nonzero electromagnetic field invariant, as, e.g., attainable by superimposing two laser beams, can represent a source term for outgoing photons. We believe that this view is particularly intuitive and allows for a straightforward and intuitive study of optical signatures of quantum vacuum nonlinearity in realistic experiments involving the collision of high-intensity laser pulses, and exemplify this view for the vacuum subjected to a strong standing electromagnetic wave as generated in the focal spot of two counterpropagating, linearly polarized, high-intensity laser pulses. Focusing on a comparably simple electromagnetic field profile, which should nevertheless capture the essential features of the electromagnetic fields generated in the focal spots of real high-intensity laser beams, we provide estimates for emission characteristics and the numbers of emitted photons attainable with present and near future high-intensity laser facilities.
description: 19 pages, 4 figures. Numerical results corrected: The peak electric field E is given by \sqrt{2*I}, with mean intensity I. Accounting for the factor of 2 missed previously, the experimental predictions \sim E^3 are increased by a factor of 8
title: The effects of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and a structured exercise training programme on phusical fitness and in vivo mitochrondrial function in advanced rectal cancer patients
Creators: name: West, Malcolm
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: Outcomes after major surgery depend partly on patients’ physiological tolerance to iatrogenic trauma. Objectively measured fitness assessments (cardiopulmonary exercise testing; CPET) show a link between poor fitness and poor surgical outcome, especially in major colorectal surgery. However evidence on fitness of surgical patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT) and/or preoperative exercise training is lacking. This thesis focuses on the physiological effects of NACRT and a preoperative structured responsive exercise training programme (SRETP) on objectively measured physical fitness using cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and the related effects on mitochondrial function using 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P MRS) in operable advanced rectal cancer patients. First, CPET variables (oxygen uptake ( o2) at estimated lactate threshold ( L) and at peak exercise) were measured in advanced rectal cancer patients pre and post-NACRT and were followed up to 1 year postoperatively. A reduction in o2 at L and o2 at Peak exercise was observed (-1.5 and -1.4 ml.kg-1.min-1 respectively; p
On centerless commutative automorphic loops
Creators: name: Nagy, Gábor P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Group Theory (math.GR)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 20N05

description: In this short paper, we survey the results on commutative automorphic loops and give a new construction method. Using this method, we present new classes of commutative automorphic loops of exponent 2 with trivial center.
Global bifurcation for fractional $p$-Laplacian and application
Creators: name: Del Pezzo, Leandro M.
name: Quaas, Alexander
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: Analysis of PDEs (math.AP)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 35R11, 35B32, 47G20, 45G05

description: We prove the existence of an unbounded branch of solutions to the non-linear non-local equation $$ (-Δ)^s_p u=λ|u|^{p-2}u + f(x,u,λ) \quad\text{in}\quad Ω,\quad u=0 \quad\text{in}\quad \mathbb{R}^n\setminusΩ, $$ bifurcating from the first eigenvalue. Here $(-Δ)^s_p$ denotes the fractional $p$-Laplacian and $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ is a bounded regular domain. The proof of the bifurcation results relies in computing the Leray--Schauder degree by making an homotopy respect to $s$ (the order of the fractional $p$-Laplacian) and then to use results of local case (that is $s=1$) found in [17]. Finally, we give some application to an existence result.
description: 38 pages
Supplemental Material for Azodi et al., 2019
Creators: name: Azodi, Christina
name: Bolger, Emily
name: McCarren, Andrew
name: Roantree, Mark
name: Campos, Gustavo De Los
name: Shinhan Shiu
Publisher: name: GSA Journals
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: 60412 Quantitative Genetics (incl. Disease and Trait Mapping Genetics)
subject: FOS: Biological sciences

description: Supplemental Tables and Figures for Azodi et al 2019: Benchmarking parametric and machine learning models for genomic prediction of complex traits
title: Thin film components for solid oxide fuel Cells (SOFCs)
Creators: name: Flack, Natasha
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: Thin film components for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) have been investigated in this thesis. This work focuses on electrolyte materials such as samarium doped ceria (SDC) and cathode materials including neodymium barium cobalt oxide (NBCO) and barium calcium yttrium iron oxide. Single layer growth of NBCO or SDC is achieved on single crystal strontium titanate (001) before these materials were grown via pulsed laser deposition as a bi-layer and multilayers. Ordered NBCO required deposition at 850°C, whereas it was found that the SDC grew with a lower surface roughness at lower temperatures of around 650°C. The motivation was to investigate how the conductivity is affected by the interfaces between these layers, as motivated by previous studies of yttrium stabilised zirconia (YSZ) with strontium titanate (STO). NBCO was found to be unstable at the temperatures required for AC impedance measurements. From the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) data there is likely migration of Nd into the SDC layers. The interfaces are also less sharp for the multilayer films deposited at the higher temperature for the SDC growth. However, in all cases the SDC growth appears more favourable in the TEM when compared to the NBCO, with some regions even showing Co-metal and fluorite structures potentially attributed to Co-Ox where we would expect to see the perovskite block. Thin films of barium calcium yttrium iron oxide were grown on single crystal strontium titanate (001). The material is a candidate cathode for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and in the intermediate temperature (IT) region at 600°C the in-plane AC conductivity of the thin film is found to be 30.0Scm-1, significantly enhanced over 3.5Scm-1 found for the polycrystalline form. This is assigned to reduction of the grain boundary density and alignment of the planes predicted to have the highest electronic and ionic conductivities. The symmetry of the film appears to be tetragonal within the resolution of the measurements employed, as opposed to the orthorhombic symmetry of the bulk phase, which may be attributed to the in-plane structural match between the cubic STO substrate and the grown layer. Three potential geometries investigating both single and double-sided growth for measuring the area specific resistance of thin films are discussed and an experimental prototype constructed and tested.
Coherent quantum squeezing due to the phase space noncommutativity
Creators: name: Bernardini, Alex E.
name: Mizrahi, Salomon S.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The effect of phase space general noncommutativity on producing deformed coherent squeezed states is examined. A two-dimensional noncommutative quantum system supported by a deformed mathematical structure similar to that of Hadamard billiards is obtained and their components behavior are monitored in time. It is assumed that the independent degrees of freedom are two \emph{free} 1D harmonic oscillators (HO's), so the system Hamiltonian does not contain interaction terms. Through the noncommutative deformation parameterized by a Seiberg-Witten transform on the original canonical variables, one gets the standard commutation relations for the new ones, such that the obtained Hamiltonian represents then two \emph{interacting} 1D HO's. By assuming that one HO is inverted relatively to the other, we show that their effective interaction induces a squeezing dynamics for initial coherent states imaged in the phase space. A suitable pattern of logarithmic spirals is obtained and some relevant properties are discussed in terms of Wigner functions, which are essential to put in evidence the effects of the noncommutativity.
description: 12 pages, 2 figures, as an Invited Comment for Physica Scripta
title: Seoul hantavirus as a cause of acute kidney injury in the United Kingdom
Creators: name: Jameson, Lisa Jane
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: Hantaviruses are a group of rodent-borne viruses. Seoul hantavirus is considered to be the only global hantavirus, although reported human cases outside of Asia are rare. Human infection occurs when breathing in aerosols of excreta from infected rodents. Hantaviruses have been listed as a major impacting factor leading to a rise in acute kidney injury (AKI) throughout the Western world. In the UK, historically, there was evidence for human and animal exposure to hantaviruses demonstrated by the detection of specific antibodies and classic renal disease, however it is only during this study that existence of a UK hantavirus in wild rodent populations has been proven. Since 2012, several cases of acute AKI due to hantavirus infection in the UK have been confirmed. Two cases were from Yorkshire and had documented exposure to wild rats. Wild rodents were trapped from the farm belonging to one of the patient’s and a strain of Seoul virus, named Humber virus, was isolated from rats. Subsequent cases of AKI were in people with exposure to specially-bred pet fancy rats. Rats from one private breeding colony were tested and a second highly similar Seoul virus, named Cherwell virus, was described. Evidence for Cherwell virus was demonstrated in a human sample with genetic data of the virus recoverable from a serum sample. It was 100% identical to the pet rat strain, thus confirming SEOV as the causative agent of the patient’s AKI. These findings have implications for public health as Seoul virus is capable of causing moderate-severe human disease. The overarching aim of the thesis was to confirm hantaviruses cause human infection in the UK and raise clinical awareness; this was achieved.
title: The rise and fall of Liverpool sectarianism
Creators: name: Roberts, Keith
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: The primary objective of this thesis is to identify why sectarianism has declined in Liverpool. In doing, it is necessary to identify what sectarianism was in a Liverpool context, whilst also outlining its development. In relation to this, the part played by nineteenth century Irish immigration, the Orange Order, and the Roman Catholic Church will be analysed. Although assessed, it is not the intention of this work to concentrate primarily on the sectarian violence that gripped the city, nor the complex relationship between sectarianism and politics in Liverpool: the latter having already been expertly covered by Waller (1981) and the former by Neal (1988). Nonetheless, in analysing the degeneration of denominational antagonism both the reduction in sectarian violence and the rapidity of its political disintegration will be considered. For a period spanning two centuries the sectarian divide in Liverpool soured relations between its residents. Indeed, the city’s political representatives were often elected on the basis of their ethno-religious pedigree. Politics continued to be influenced by religion until the mid-1970s. Weakening sectarianism, in the limited existing studies, is attributed largely to post-war slum clearance, but this thesis asserts that causality is much more complex. There are a range of factors that have contributed to the decline. As this thesis demonstrates, the downfall of sectarianism coincided with the creation of a collective identity; an identity based not on ethno-religious affiliations, but on a commonality, an acknowledgment that principles which united were more significant than factors which divided. Importantly, the success of the city’s two football teams, Everton FC and Liverpool FC, gave the city a new focus based upon a healthy sporting rivalry rather than sectarian vehemence. A complex interplay of secularism and ecumenism, the economic misfortunes of Liverpool and their political impact in terms of class politics, the growth of a collective city identity and the omnipotence of (non-religiously derived) football affiliations combined to diminish Liverpool’s once acute sectarian fault-line. This thesis examines how and why.
Applying Deep Learning Techniques for Tracking Immune Cells
Creators: name: Moghadam, Marzieh Rahmani
Publisher: name: La Trobe
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: Computer Engineering
subject: 80301 Bioinformatics Software
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Cell Biology

description: Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
title: Perceptually-based Modelling of Human Contrast Vision
Creators: name: Ashraf, Maliha
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2024

description: Contrast vision, a fundamental aspect of human visual perception, involves discerning brightness and chromatic differences within the visual field. This thesis advances the understanding of contrast vision by presenting new psychophysical data and models that characterise human contrast sensitivity at both threshold and suprathreshold levels. This research is based on collecting and analysing psychophysical data on how well humans can detect differences in light and colour across a range of conditions, such as different spatial frequency patterns, brightness levels, stimulus sizes, and colours.

The thesis first addresses the fundamental aspect of contrast sensitivity functions (CSFs), quantifying the change in sensitivity along different stimulus parameters as well as the age of the human observers. It was found that the contrast sensitivity increased with the mean luminance level but the rate of this increment was much higher in low luminance (scotopic/mesopic) regions compared to high luminance (photopic) regions. The sensitivity also shifted towards higher spatial frequencies with increasing mean luminance levels. The sensitivity of older observers was affected considerably more for high spatial frequency and low luminance stimuli. Building on the findings from threshold data, the characteristics of suprathreshold vision were investigated. It was found that at higher contrast levels, the sensitivity matches across luminance are not independent of threshold sensitivity as assumed from the contrast constancy literature. 

A novel contribution of this research is the analysis and computational modelling of CSFs, which includes a consideration of the impact of ageing on contrast vision. This work proposes quantitative models of spatiochromatic contrast sensitivity across high dynamic range (HDR) luminance conditions as well as age-related contrast sensitivity decline across spatial frequencies and under varying light conditions. A model of contrast matching functions, which attempts to explain suprathreshold contrast perception across luminance levels, was also introduced based on novel data. This model extends to investigate the influence of rod photoreceptors on colour difference metrics, proposing a new formula that integrates both cone and rod responses for photopic and mesopic vision conditions.

Furthermore, the thesis introduces a model of contrast matching functions, which attempts to explain suprathreshold contrast perception across luminance levels, based on novel data. This model extends to investigate the influence of rod photoreceptors on colour difference metrics, proposing a new formula that integrates both cone and rod responses for photopic and mesopic vision conditions.
Binary Fields on Limited Systems
Creators: name: Lanzone, Valentino
name: Nagy, Gábor P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2015
Subjects: subject: Combinatorics (math.CO)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 14G50, 11T55

description: The intrinsic structure of binary fields poses a challenging complexity problem from both hardware and software point of view. Motivated by applications to modern cryptography, we describe some simple techniques aimed at performing computations over binary fields using systems with limited resources. This is particularly important when such computations must be carried out by means of very small and simple machines. The algorithms described in the present paper provide an increased efficiency in computations, when compared to the previously known algorithms for the arithmetic over prime fields.
title: Feedback in Higher Education: Exploring students’ appraisal, comprehension and utilisation
Creators: name: Pitt, Edward
Publisher: name: University of Liverpool Repository
Year: 2015

description: Whilst at University students will experience many instances of feedback on their work. Quite often such feedback is facilitated by academic lecturers in the hope that the student will utilise this and improve in their next assessment (Hester, 2001). Often feedback does not have the desired effect and is unpredictable in terms of enhancing a student’s motivation, self-confidence and subsequent effort in future assessments. The thesis reports the findings from three studies. Primarily the present thesis, inspired by phenomenography, explored student’s appraisal, comprehension and utilisation of feedback. The thesis also explored lecturer’s responses to the observed student experiences in order to offer comparative research findings. The primary data collection method utilised within the thesis was one-to-one interviews however in order to stimulate discussion prior to interview visual representations were employed. In the data collection with students (study two) a drawing activity took place prior to the interview. In the data collection with lecturers’ (study three) videos of student’s responses to feedback were shown to the lecturers. The interviews in study two were subjected to thematic data analysis and revealed 8 main themes for the students (Lecturers, Emotions, Feedback Cognitions, Efficacy Cognitions, Draft Work, Motivation, Effort and Grades) and 6 main themes for the lecturers (Efficacy Cognitions, Student Autonomy, Problems with Feedback, Effort Conceptions, Feedback Mechanisms and Understanding Students). The findings from study two with students indicated a multifaceted interpretation of the student experience. The outcome space revealed five categories of description (Broken relationship, needy, low achiever, emotionally charged and high achiever). The structure of the variation revealed a hierarchically inclusive pattern indicating how varying patterns of behaviour and emotional reactions interact to affect the students processing and subsequent utilisation of the feedback received. In study three with the lecturers, similarities in conceptions of feedback alongside mismatches between lecturers and students were very apparent. Conclusively the thesis suggests that understanding students individually through fostering lecturer and student relationships, alongside dialogic feedback, help to improve the student’s propensity to utilise the feedback received.