cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
High‐Saturated‐Fat Diet Increases Circulating Angiotensin‐Converting Enzyme, Which Is Enhanced by the rs4343 Polymorphism Defining Persons at Risk of Nutrient‐Dependent Increases of Blood Pressure
Creators: name: Schueler, Rita
name: Osterhoff, Martin A.
name: Frahnow, Turid
name: Seltmann, Anne-Cathrin
name: Busjahn, Andreas
name: Kabisch, Stefan
name: Xu, Li
name: Mosig, Alexander S. [U.V.M.]
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2017
Subjects: subject: angiotensin‐converting enzyme
subject: blood pressure
subject: diet
subject: gene‐diet interaction
subject: nutrigenomics genetics
subject: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften::610 Medizin und Gesundheit

description: Background Angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) plays a major role in blood pressure regulation and cardiovascular homeostasis. Contrary to the assumption that ACE levels are stable, circulating ACE has been shown to be altered in obesity and weight loss. We sought to examine effects of a high‐saturated‐fat (HF) diet on ACE within the NUtriGenomic Analysis in Twins (NUGAT) study. Methods and Results Forty‐six healthy and nonobese twin pairs initially consumed a carbohydrate‐rich, low‐fat diet over a period of 6 weeks to standardize for nutritional behavior prior to the study, followed by 6 weeks of HF diet under isocaloric conditions. After 6 weeks of HF diet, circulating ACE concentrations increased by 15% (P=1.6×10−30), accompanied by an increased ACE gene expression in adipose tissue (P=3.8×10−6). Stratification by ACE rs4343, a proxy for the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism (I/D), revealed that homozygous carriers (GG) of the variant had higher baseline ACE concentrations (P=7.5×10−8) and additionally showed a 2‐fold increase in ACE concentrations in response to the HF diet as compared to non‐ or heterozygous carriers (AA/AG, P=2×10−6). GG carriers also responded with higher systolic blood pressure as compared to AA/AG carriers (P=0.008). The strong gene‐diet interaction was confirmed in a second independent, cross‐sectional cohort, the Metabolic Syndrome Berlin Potsdam (MeSyBePo) study. Conclusions The HF‐diet‐induced increase of ACE serum concentrations reveals ACE to be a potential molecular link between dietary fat intake and hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The GG genotype of the ACE rs4343 polymorphism represents a robust nutrigenetic marker for an unfavorable response to high‐saturated‐fat diets. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01631123.
Bayesian modeling of dental caries progression over time in the oral cavity space
Creators: name: Comnick, Carissa
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2023
Subjects: public abstract

description: Dental caries is a prevalent disease with significant public health implications. In this dissertation, we investigate the longitudinal progression of dental caries and associated risk factors, using data from the Iowa Fluoride Study (IFS). During dental examinations, clinicians classify tooth surfaces as healthy/sound, non-cavitated caries, or cavitated caries, and our goal is to model the transitions among these states.
description: Two modeling strategies are proposed to capture transitions among caries disease states: a multi-state Markov model that characterizes progression, and a joint competing-risks time-to-event model that accounts for transitions from a healthy state to any caries state, and progressions and regressions from the non-cavitated state. By focusing on tooth surface-level transitions, we address correlation of sites within people over time, and within the spatial domain of the oral cavity. We employ Bayesian hierarchical modeling methods, to address the multiple levels of correlation. In each modeling framework, a person-level random effect is included, as is a tooth-level spatial effect. Two parameterizations of the spatial effect are considered: the Besag-York-Mollie (BYM) model, and the associated reparameterized BYM2 model. The latter allows for direct modeling of the proportion of variance coming from the spatial component. Two different computational programs, Stan and INLA (Carpenter, Gelman, Hoffman, et al., 2017; Rue, Martino, & Chopin, 2009), are considered to fit these Bayesian models.
description: This research demonstrates the feasibility and importance of modeling dental caries at the tooth surface level while considering repeated measures and spatial correlation. We highlight the need for alternative approximate techniques due to the computational demands of fitting Bayesian spatial models and for more efficient use in clinical research. The outcomes and approaches presented in this dissertation have implications for dental care, treatment planning, and preventive strategies, contributing to the advancement of statistical modeling in the dental caries research field.
title: Luftqualität in Deutschland
title: Luftqualität in Deutschland
titleType: AlternativeTitle
Creators: name: Dauert, Ute
name: Kessinger, Susan
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2019

description: Seit den 1990er Jahren konnte in Deutschland die Freisetzung der meisten Luftschadstoffe deutlich verringert werden. Auswertungen der Luftqualitätsdaten zeigen jedoch, dass die Grenzwerte für Stickstoffdioxid und Feinstaub (PM10) und die Zielwerte für Ozon weiterhin überschritten werden, auch im Jahr 2018. Vor allem Menschen in Ballungsräumen und Städten sind hiervon betroffen, besonders wenn sie an vielbefahrenen Straßen wohnen. Der Straßenverkehr zählt in Städten zur Hauptquelle von Luftschadstoffen. Werden die Empfehlungen der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO2) - die den Gesundheitsschutz im Fokus haben und dadurch deutlich strenger sind - zur Bewertung der Luftqualität herangezogen, so ist die Belastung mit Feinstaub (PM10 und PM2,5), Stickstoffdioxid, Ozon, Schwefeldioxid, Benzol und Benzo(a)pyren in Deutschland noch deutlich zu hoch und die Gesundheit der Menschen dadurch gefährdet. Im Interesse des Gesundheitsschutzes bedarf es daher weiterer Anstrengungen zur Verbesserung der Luftqualität in Deutschland. © 2020 Erich Schmidt Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
A matter of time: Past temporal reference verbal structures in Samana English and the Ex-Slave Recordings.
Creators: name: Tagliamonte, Sali Anna.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1991
Subjects: subject: Language, Linguistics.

description: This dissertation is based on two corpora of Black English. The first, the Samana English Corpus is a series of recorded conversations with very elderly residents of the Samana peninsula in the Dominican Republic. They are the descendants of American Ex-Slaves who immigrated there just after emancipation. The second, the Ex-Slave Recordings are interviews with American Ex-Slaves conducted in the 1930's. These corpora represent two, of the very rare, oral data bases which can tell us what Black English was like at an earlier point in time. The focus of our investigation was the past temporal reference system. Here, variable marking patterns among tense/aspect morphemes suggest that there are underlying differences between white and black varieties of English. We considered every verbal structure used to mark past time. This encompasses a wide range of different morphological types--base forms, e.g. I walk, suffixal inflections, e.g. I walked, suppletive forms, e.g. I went, pre-verbal items such as auxiliaries, e.g. I used to walk, as well as auxiliary/inflection combinations, e.g. I have walked/I have gone/I was walking. Many of these are used interchangeably, possibly as alternative semantic categories. Each of these forms was examined quantitatively with respect to many contextual features and from all areas of the grammar--phonology, syntax, semantics and discourse. Our results suggest some general patterns to temporal structure and organization. For example, we found that the existence of a preceding verbal mark was significant to all the variables we examined. An overt mark or no mark at all, led to more of the same. Such a counter-functional effect, although unattested in any English variety, is distinctly unlike a Creole system where overt marking is said to lead to unmarked forms. We concluded that there is very little evidence that the variable past temporal reference verbal structures in Samana English or the Ex-Slave Recordings can be attributed to Creole-like temporal organization. To the question of whether they represent English processes--there is little evidence that they do not. It remains to be seen, however, whether these results will be confirmed or contrasted in other Creole and/or English varieties (either Black or white). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
3823495.pdf
Creators: name: Carolan, Jacques
name: Chakraborty, Uttara
name: Harris, Nicholas
name: Pant, Mihir
name: Baehr-Jones, Thomas
name: Hochberg, Michael
name: Englund, Dirk
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2025
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Full supplemental
Active sonar automatic target recognition using explainable artificial intelligence
Creators: name: Kubicek, Bernice
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2023
Subjects: Active sonar
Automatic target recognition
Explainable artificial intelligence
Feature extraction
public abstract
Machine Learning
Signal Processing

description: An active sonar system emits sound waves to targets of interest and records the backscattered echoes. The transmit signal decays due to propagation losses and is contaminated by noise, clutter, and reverberation, all of which are different forms of oceanic interference. Environmental parameters such as changes to the sound speed profile, temperature, and depth influence the propagation of the signal. The backscattered response is dependent on unknown target parameters such as size, geometry, and material properties. The culmination of the signal contamination, variable oceanic environment, and unknown target parameters result in a received signal that contains entangled target-specific information that can be used for classification.
description: Two main approaches have been employed for disentanglement and classification of active sonar signals. The first approach utilizes statistical or signal processing techniques to extract features for classification. The second approach employs machine learning techniques that may achieve expert-level accuracy but may not be interpretable. The latter approach relies on large datasets that are costly and challenging to obtain. Feature extraction is a technique employed to disentangle the target-specific information prior to classification. Information of acoustic physics can be used to make informed decisions for feature extraction algorithms facilitating feature interpretation and increased classification accuracy.
description: This dissertation presents novel feature extraction techniques that are informed by the physical domain and validated across machine learning classifiers. The classification results and trained classifiers are examined to explain classifier choices; this is known as explainable artificial intelligence. Specifically, novel feature representations are presented for classification of three experimentally collected field datasets and one simulated dataset. Feature extraction is performed using the two-dimensional Gabor wavelet and canonical correlation analysis; classification is performed using support vector machines, random forest trees, and neural networks. The innovation presented is the unified computational framework and iterative approach to employing physically-informed feature extraction techniques, validation through machine learning classifiers, and feature interpretation in the physical domain. Methods in this dissertation may be used to create interpretable feature representations in classification pipelines for a diverse portfolio of active sonar targets.
Stakeholder engagement and social media strategic management: the case of an Australian university
Creators: name: Meratian Esfahani, Leila
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: Many organisations are struggling to develop social media strategies to effectively engage their stakeholders. This research aims to understand how the organisation's social media strategic management shapes the different stakeholders' engagement, if any, within its social media platforms. It is a qualitative study within the interpretive paradigm that employs a single case study which is a university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was found that the University uses social media as a traditional one-way communication channel. The study concludes that there is a gap between the University's and its stakeholders' perspectives and expectations that needs to be closed.
title: The Decentralization of Services in Malawi: Perceptions of Key Actor Groups on the Devolution of Primary Education
Creators: name: Sineta, Abraham T.
Publisher: name: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Year: 2002
Subjects: subject: Education
subject: Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

description: This project follows the approval of the decentralization policy which the Malawi government adopted in 1998. The policy requires that all government ministries should devolve their functions from central headquarters offices to district assemblies. The study focused on establishing different views that key actor groups have concerning this policy and its implementation. The sample of 25 included district managers, Primary education advisors, desk officers, and head teachers, eliciting their views on the devolution of primary education to district assemblies. This study took place in Zomba district with some respondents from outside Zomba which the researcher considered critical. It was a qualitative study and used face-to-face interviews as a method of data collection. The study offers insights to the Ministry of Education and other policy makers on what is actually happening on the ground so that appropriate strategies for policy implementation can be made. This will ensure that the policy is implemented successfully. Key findings are that there is a good understanding of decentralization by definition among the key actor groups although some confusion about what practically is involved in decentralization was evident. There were also mixed views about which functions to decentralize. Whilst some respondents support decentralization as a way to improve the educational system, there are others who think otherwise, stating reasons of possible corruption, favoritism and diversion of funds under a decentralized system.
Audio Description Customization
Creators: name: Natalie, Rosiana
name: Chang, Ruei-Che
name: Sheshadri, Smitha
name: Guo, Anhong
name: Hara, Kotaro
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC)
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences

description: Blind and low-vision (BLV) people use audio descriptions (ADs) to access videos. However, current ADs are unalterable by end users, thus are incapable of supporting BLV individuals' potentially diverse needs and preferences. This research investigates if customizing AD could improve how BLV individuals consume videos. We conducted an interview study (Study 1) with fifteen BLV participants, which revealed desires for customizing properties like length, emphasis, speed, voice, format, tone, and language. At the same time, concerns like interruptions and increased interaction load due to customization emerged. To examine AD customization's effectiveness and tradeoffs, we designed CustomAD, a prototype that enables BLV users to customize AD content and presentation. An evaluation study (Study 2) with twelve BLV participants showed using CustomAD significantly enhanced BLV people's video understanding, immersion, and information navigation efficiency. Our work illustrates the importance of AD customization and offers a design that enhances video accessibility for BLV individuals.
description: ASSETS 2024
Reinforcement of earth structures using scrap tires.
Creators: name: O'Shaughnessy, Vince.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1997
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Civil.

description: This research was aimed at providing geotechnical information on the design and construction procedures related to the use of scrap tires in gravity retaining structures and reinforced fills. If layers of tires, side by side, are filled with soil and tied together to make a mat or a chain, and then placed in successive layers, the resulting structure can be used as a retaining wall or reinforced fill and can provide a practical alternative for the use of this waste. The research also investigated the chemical quality of effluent water emanating from buried tire waste. The shear resistance of a soil-geotextile interface may be a fraction of the shear resistance of the soil itself. If the reinforcement function is accomplished with tire mats filled with soil, the shearing resistance between the soil and the reinforcement is primarily due to the shear resistance of the soil itself. If the tires are cut to remove the sidewalls, the placement of the soil in the tires is facilitated. A higher degree of compaction is therefore obtained and the shear resistance of the interface between the reinforcement and the soil corresponds to the shear strength of the soil. Earth structures using tires filled with soil have more flexibility than conventional structures and are able to withstand large differential settlements. The flexibility of the resulted material implies that it can be used to support earth fills on compressible ground. An important feature of the investigations was a large number of field pull-out tests on different configurations of tire mats. These tests provided valuable data on the interaction between the different soils and the tire reinforcement. This behaviour is necessary for the design of tire reinforced structures. Also, three large plate loading tests were performed on the surface of the completed test fill to assess the load deformation behaviour of this composite material. To evaluate any toxic effects of buried used tires on the surrounding groundwater, a drainage system was installed below the embankment and the effluent collected in three wells. Samples were periodically collected and analysed for chemical quality. Additional tests on water quality were performed in laboratory test columns in which tire chips were embedded in sand or clay to provide a conservative estimate. Some organic compounds can be leached out of the tire reinforced structure placed above the water table. Laboratory batch tests performed on tire chips embedded in sand provided evidence of an increase in solution of certain metal elements of which some exceed their respective drinking water standards. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Drivers of astrocytic tau pathology in 4R tauopathies
Creators: name: Fiock, Kimberly Lynn
Publisher: name: University of Iowa
Year: 2023
Subjects: FTLD-tau
Reactive astrocytes
Tau
public abstract
Stem Cells

description: Toxicity caused by abnormal accumulations of tau protein is the final step in the pathway of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-tau), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and other tauopathies. Though this process has been extensively studied in neurons in the context of AD, the mechanisms that drive this same process in astrocytes, and how that in turn drives diseases like FTLD-tau, remain poorly understood.
description: Using a combination of human tissue and human embryonic stem cell-derived (hESC) astrocytes, we sought to uncover the origin of astrocytic tau in FTLD-tau and the potential candidate mediators of tau accumulation in astrocytes in vitro. We used RNA in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence on cases of AD, PSP, and CBD to compare total amounts of tau mRNA between diseases and between astrocytes with and without tau pathology in PSP. We then used hESC-derived astrocytes to assess their ability to take up and degrade different isoforms of tau.
description: We saw no significant differences in astrocytic tau mRNA expression between diseases with and without astrocytic tau pathology or between individual astrocytes with and without pathology in our PSP cohort. We also found that both control and reactive astrocytes in vitro preferentially take up 4R tau, but only reactive astrocytes exhibit significantly impaired uptake and degradation. Across diseases, astrocytes with tau pathology do not show elevated markers associated with the neurotoxic A1 reactive astrocyte phenotype.
description: Taken together, this data suggests that neuronal and astrocytic tau in FTLD-tau shares a common neuronal origin, and that the preferential uptake and subsequent impaired degradation of 4R tau may explain why 4R accumulation is more common in astrocytes. These results also suggest that tau uptake by astrocytes may have a protective function. Future work focused on characterization of the neuroprotective A2 reactive astrocyte phenotype, in addition to an in-depth exploration of the candidate mediators of tau uptake and degradation, is necessary to further understand the role of astrocytes in FTLD-tau.
3809636.pdf
Creators: name: Cognée, Kévin
name: Yan, Wei
name: China, Federico La
name: dariobalestri, dario
name: Intonti, Francesca
name: Gurioli, Massimo
name: Koenderink, Femius
name: Lalanne, Philippe
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2019
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: supplement
Aggregated Environmental Exposure Assessment and Risk Characterisation of Biocidal Products
Creators: name: Hermann, Andreas
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: Biozid
subject: EU-Biozidrichtlinie
subject: Biozidprodukt
subject: Risikoanalyse
subject: Leitfaden
subject: Exposition
subject: Biozidverordnung
subject: Umweltrisikobewertung
subject: Umweltgefährdung
subject: Schadstoffakkumulation
subject: Biocidal Product Directive
subject: aggregated exposure assessment
subject: environmental exposure assessment
subject: actice substances
subject: risk characterisation
subject: legal aspects
subject: legal analysis
subject: Chemikalien

description: F
description: Artikel 19(2) der neuen Biozidproduktverordnung (BiozidVO, 528/2012) führt aus, dass „die Bewertung […] die folgenden Faktoren berücksichtigen soll: „[…] (d) kumulative Wirkungen, (e) synergistische Wirkungen”. Biozide Wirkstoffe sind häufig in vielen unterschiedlichen Produkten enthalten. Oft werden sie in unterschiedlichen Anwendungen eingesetzt. Dennoch werden in der Regel bei der Expositionsbeurteilung nur einzelne Verwendungen bewertet. Dies kann die tatsächlichen Konzentrationen der Wirkstoffe in der Umwelt unterschätzen.Wie können kumulative und synergistische Wirkungen bei der Biozidzulassung berücksichtigt werden? Derzeit gibt es nur wenige Hinweise zu dieser Aufgabenstellung in den „Technical Notes for Guidance on Product Evaluation“ (TNsG on product evaluation, EU, 2002). Hinzu kommt, dass auch keine Anleitung verfügbar ist, wie bei der umweltbezogenen Risikobewertung von Biozidprodukten gleichzeitige Expositionen der Umwelt durch einen Wirkstoff zu berücksichtigen sind, die aus der Verwendung in verschiedenen Anwendungen und/oder in verschiedenen Produkten entstehen.Mit der Risikobewertung multipler simultaner Umweltexpositionen sind verschiedene rechtliche Fragen verbunden. Sie sind im Rahmen der vorliegenden rechtlichen Analyse angesprochen worden. Die Ergebnisse dieser Analyse sind anhand von Fallstudien im zweiten Teil des Berichts anschaulich diskutiert.
3810553.pdf
Creators: name: Liu, Chang
name: Huang, He-Liang
name: Chen, Chao
name: Wang, Bi-Ying
name: Wang, Xi-Lin
name: Yang, Tao
name: Li, Li
name: Liu, NaiLe
name: Dowling, Jonathan
name: Byrnes, Tim
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2019
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: supplementary-material
Biodiversity and its relationship to potential anthropogenic stressors on the Frontenac Axis, southern Ontario.
Creators: name: Lawson, Rochelle Louise.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1997
Subjects: subject: Biology, Ecology.

description: The purpose of this research was to examine in detail indicators related to biodiversity in the Frontenac Axis region. The Frontenac Axis, south-eastern Ontario, is of unique conservation potential because it is a mainly undeveloped, forested region surrounded by cleared agricultural and urban land. The first chapter explores whether potential anthropogenic stressors such as roads, buildings, human population and deforestation affect forest biodiversity. The second chapter examines coarse woody debris and its contribution to biodiversity, in particular, the diversity of ferns. I used biodiversity indicators at three taxonomic levels: a complete taxonomic group; functional groups within a taxonomic group; and individual large carnivore species. Species presence data were taken from the 'Atlas of the Mammals of Ontario', the 'Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario', and the 'Herptile Atlas of Ontario'. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
3809242.pdf
Creators: name: Sun, Ke
name: Gao, Jun
name: Cao, Ming-Ming
name: Jiao, Zhi-Qiang
name: Liu, Yu
name: Li, Zhan-Ming
name: Poem, Eilon
name: Eckstein, Andreas
name: Ren, Ruo-Jing
name: Pang, Xiao-Ling
Publisher: name: Optica Publishing Group
Year: 2019
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: Supplementary Materials
Finanzierungsalternativen der staatlichen Förderung erneuerbarer Stromerzeugung in Deutschland - eine finanzwissenschaftliche Analyse
Creators: name: Jany, Lukas
Publisher: name: My University
Year: 2018

description: Die staatliche Förderung der erneuerbaren Stromversorgung in Deutschland ist aufgrund ihrer seit 2009 stark gestiegenen Förderkosten und ihrer Verteilungswirkungen in die Kritik geraten. Im Status quo werden die Förderkosten über ein Umlagesystem auf die Stromverbraucher verteilt, doch Ausnahmen für privilegierte Unternehmen erodieren die Gruppe der Belasteten bereits. Eine steigende EEG-Umlage für alle anderen Stromverbraucher ist die Folge. Diese Arbeit identifiziert daher, welche Gruppen die Last der EE-Förderung tragen könnten und analysiert die Umlagefinanzierung sowie ihre Alternativen aus finanzwissenschaftlicher Sicht. Daraus folgernd wird eine Empfehlung zur zukünftigen Ausgestaltung der Förderungsfinanzierung erneuerbarer Stromversorgung gegeben. Quelle: Bachelorarbeit
Aufbau und Test eines Fluoreszenzanalysators für die Reziproke Röntgenholographie
Creators: name: Donath, Tilman
Publisher: name: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg
Year: 2002

description: Universität Hamburg, Diplomarbeit, 2002; 130 pp., (2002). doi:10.3204/DESY-THESIS-2002-019
Metabolic effects associated with chronically elevated cortisol in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
Creators: name: Andersen, Donald E.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1993
Subjects: subject: Biology, Animal Physiology.

description: The metabolic role of chronically elevated cortisol in otherwise unstressed rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, was examined. Fish were fitted with mini-osmotic pumps which maintained plasma cortisol levels at approximately 100 or 200 ng $\cdot$ mL$\sp{-1}$ for ten days. Plasma metabolites, liver enzyme activities, liver glycogen content, metabolic flux in isolated hepatocytes and alanine turnover were investigated. Plasma glucose, lactate and protein levels were unaffected by ten days of cortisol administration, despite a significant elevation in plasma cortisol. Plasma amino acids in cortisol treated fish (1023.8 $\pm$ 90.7 $\rm\mu g\cdot mL\sp{-1})$ were significantly elevated compared to shams $\rm(716.7\pm68.5\ \mu g\cdot mL\sp{-1})$ after nine days. Liver glycogen content was significantly reduced by cortisol treatment. The activities of the liver enzymes assayed were unchanged; likewise the fluxes of radioactive substrates to radiolabelled CO$\sb2,$ glucose, and protein in isolated hepatocytes were unaffected in trout with chronically elevated cortisol compared to shams. Both the caloric and water contents of white muscle were unaffected by chronically elevated circulating cortisol levels. The cortisol treatment did not alter the turnover of alanine. These data do not support the purported role of cortisol as a glucocorticoid in rainbow trout. While chronically elevated cortisol may increase the supply of plasma amino acids, the hormone does not appear to alter the manner in which these potential gluconeogenic substrates are metabolized. The absence of other stressors may be partially responsible for the differences between this study and others in the literature.
Teaching sequences of behaviors to humans by forward chaining, backward chaining, and whole task training.
Creators: name: Scott, Janine Mary.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1990
Subjects: subject: Psychology, Behavioral.

description: The three most common training methods of teaching sequences of behaviors are forward chaining, backward chaining and whole task training. In chaining methods, training involves gradually teaching the sequence by teaching increasingly longer subsequences until the entire sequence has been learned. In forward chaining, training involves gradually teaching the sequence from the beginning. Backward chaining involves gradually teaching the sequence from the end. Training is continued in this manner until the entire sequence is learned. Whole task training does not involve gradual learning. Instead, on each trial, the sequence is attempted in its entirety. Trials of this kind continue until the sequence is learned. It has been hypothesized that backward chaining is the superior method to teach sequences of behaviors because reinforcement is given at the end of each subsequence (Martin & Pear, 1988; Gilbert, 1962a & b). An example of this reinforcement would be the ball going through the hoop at the end of the sequence of behaviors involved in making a basketball shot. Random chaining consisted of teaching randomly chosen behaviors within the subsequences. Component behaviors were placed next to each other within the subsequence according to sequence order. Random-2 chaining was similar to random chaining except that the component behaviors were taught within the subsequences in the order in which they were selected. The final subsequence is an exception as it is the sequence taught in sequence order. Random-3 chaining was similar to random-2 chaining except component behaviors were selected with replacement. For each subsequence, selection starts fresh and the required number of behaviors are selected out of the eight possible behaviors. Whole task training produced more true errors than each chaining method except random-3 chaining. Random-3 chaining produced more true errors than forward, backward, random and random-2 chaining. No significant differences were found between random-3 chaining and whole task training. The results clearly did not support the hypothesis that backward chaining is superior to other training methods for the sequence of behaviors taught in the experiments. The discussion involves an analysis of the training methods into a number of factors which may influence their effectiveness and some suggestions for future research. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Altered DNA methylation is associated with aberrant gene expression in parenchymal but not airway fibroblasts isolated from individuals with COPD
Creators: name: Clifford, Rachel L.
name: Fishbane, Nick
name: Patel, Jamie
name: MacIsaac, Julia L.
name: McEwen, Lisa M.
name: Fisher, Andrew J.
name: Brandsma, Corry-Anke
name: Nair, Parameswaran
name: Kobor, Michael S. (Geneticist)
name: Hackett, Tillie-Louise
name: Knox, Alan J.
Publisher: name: BioMed Central
Year: 2018

description: Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a heterogeneous disease of the lungs that is currently the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Genetic factors account for only a small amount of COPD risk, but epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation, have the potential to mediate the interactions between an individual’s genetics and environmental exposure. DNA methylation is highly cell type-specific, and individual cell type studies of DNA methylation in COPD are sparse. Fibroblasts are present within the airway and parenchyma of the lung and contribute to the aberrant deposition of extracellular matrix in COPD. No assessment or comparison of genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in the airway and parenchymal fibroblasts from individuals with and without COPD has been undertaken. These data provide valuable insight into the molecular mechanisms contributing to COPD and the differing pathologies of small airways disease and emphysema in COPD. Methods: Genome-wide DNA methylation was evaluated at over 485,000 CpG sites using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip array in the airway (non-COPD n = 8, COPD n = 7) and parenchymal fibroblasts (non-COPD n = 17, COPD n = 29) isolated from individuals with and without COPD. Targeted gene expression was assessed by qPCR in matched RNA samples. Results: Differentially methylated DNA regions were identified between cells isolated from individuals with and without COPD in both airway and parenchymal fibroblasts. Only in parenchymal fibroblasts was differential DNA methylation associated with differential gene expression. A second analysis of differential DNA methylation variability identified 359 individual differentially variable CpG sites in parenchymal fibroblasts. No differentially variable CpG sites were identified in the airway fibroblasts. Five differentially variable-methylated CpG sites, associated with three genes, were subsequently assessed for gene expression differences. Two genes (OAT and GRIK2) displayed significantly increased gene expression in cells isolated from individuals with COPD. Conclusions: Differential and variable DNA methylation was associated with COPD status in the parenchymal fibroblasts but not airway fibroblasts. Aberrant DNA methylation was associated with altered gene expression imparting biological function to DNA methylation changes. Changes in DNA methylation are therefore implicated in the molecular mechanisms underlying COPD pathogenesis and may represent novel therapeutic targets.
ECoG high gamma activity reveals distinct cortical representations of lyrics passages, harmonic and timbre-related changes in a rock song
Creators: name: Sturm, Irene
name: Blankertz, Benjamin
name: Potes, Cristhian
name: Schalk, Gerwin
name: Curio, Gabriel
Publisher: name: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Year: 2014
Subjects: subject: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie

description: Listening to music moves our minds and moods, stirring interest in its neural underpinnings. A multitude of compositional features drives the appeal of natural music. How such original music, where a composer's opus is not manipulated for experimental purposes, engages a listener's brain has not been studied until recently. Here, we report an in-depth analysis of two electrocorticographic (ECoG) data sets obtained over the left hemisphere in ten patients during presentation of either a rock song or a read-out narrative. First, the time courses of five acoustic features (intensity, presence/absence of vocals with lyrics, spectral centroid, harmonic change, and pulse clarity) were extracted from the audio tracks and found to be correlated with each other to varying degrees. In a second step, we uncovered the specific impact of each musical feature on ECoG high-gamma power (70–170 Hz) by calculating partial correlations to remove the influence of the other four features. In the music condition, the onset and offset of vocal lyrics in ongoing instrumental music was consistently identified within the group as the dominant driver for ECoG high-gamma power changes over temporal auditory areas, while concurrently subject-individual activation spots were identified for sound intensity, timbral, and harmonic features. The distinct cortical activations to vocal speech-related content embedded in instrumental music directly demonstrate that song integrated in instrumental music represents a distinct dimension in complex music. In contrast, in the speech condition, the full sound envelope was reflected in the high gamma response rather than the onset or offset of the vocal lyrics. This demonstrates how the contributions of stimulus features that modulate the brain response differ across the two examples of a full-length natural stimulus, which suggests a context-dependent feature selection in the processing of complex auditory stimuli.
Timing properties across the pulsar population
Creators: name: Parthasarathy Madapusi, Aditya
Publisher: name: Swinburne
Year: 2024

description: This thesis focuses on studying the rotational properties of radio pulsars. Pulsars are extremely dense, rapidly spinning stars, whose exceptional rotational stability allows us to probe the fundamental laws of physics. In this thesis, we developed novel statistical techniques to study the long-term rotational behavior of a large sample of highly energetic pulsars observed with the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. We also used the most sensitive radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa to study pulsar emission on very short timescales.
Scalability and Resource Efficiency of Next-Gen AI-Based Firewalls: A Case Study on Cloud Environments
Creators: name: Blessing, Elisha
name: Fathia, Ademola
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: 460601
subject: Cloud computing
classificationCode: 460407
subject: System and network security
classificationCode: 460904
subject: Information security management

description: As the prevalence of cyber threats continues to rise, the demand for advanced security measures in cloud environments has become paramount. This paper explores the scalability and resource efficiency of next-generation artificial intelligence (AI)-based firewalls, focusing on their applicability in cloud settings. The study employs a comprehensive case analysis, evaluating the performance of AI-driven firewalls in diverse cloud environments with varying workloads and network complexities.
Mathematical theory of electrical networks.
Creators: name: Dhatt, G. S.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1965
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: In this thesis an attempt has been made to present a mathematical model of an electrical network based on Kron's work and further to use this model, for analyzing electrical network problems. To begin with, we shall represent an electrical network as a linear graph. The electrical network problem is presented in an abstract topological form, and the condition on the property of branch impedance matrix for the unique existence of the solution is developed. The various contradictions of the linear graph model are then pointed out. To remove these contradictions, a topological model, consisting of branches only, which is called the branch network or 1-network by Kron is introduced. The various concepts of 1-networks are generalized to any dimension p. The properties of p-networks are described with the help of elementary concepts of algebraic topology. Finally, diakoptic and co-diakoptic property of p-network is described as a direct outcome of p-network theory.
Hessian-Laplace feature detector and Haar descriptor for image matching
Creators: name: Bhatia, Akshay
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2007
Subjects: subject: Engineering, Electronics and Electrical.

description: In recent years feature matching using invariant features has gained significant importance due to its application in various recognition problems. Such techniques have enabled us to match images irrespective of various geometric and photometric transformations between images. The thesis being presented here focusses on developing such a feature matching technique which can be used to identify corresponding regions in images. A feature detection approach is proposed, which finds features that are invariant to image rotation and scaling, and are also robust to illumination changes. A description is computed for each feature using the local neighborhood around it and then acts as a unique identifier for the feature. These feature identifiers (or feature descriptors) are then used to identify point to point correspondences between images. A systematic comparison is made between this feature detector, and others that are described in the literature. Later in this work, we apply the feature matching technique developed here to perform image retrieval for panoramic images. Our objective here is to retrieve a panoramic image similar to a query image from a database. We show how such a retrieval task can be performed by giving results for both indoor and outdoor sequences.
The ZEUS microvertex detector system test: Triggering and data analysis
Creators: name: Bloch, Ingo
Publisher: name: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg
Year: 2002
Subjects: thesis
semiconductor detector: vertex
semiconductor detector: microstrip
trigger
scintillation counter
magnetic detector: ZEUS
DESY HERA Stor
bibliography

description: Universität Hamburg, Diplomarbeit, 2002; 103 pp., (2002). doi:10.3204/DESY-THESIS-2002-001
description: Published by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, DESY, Hamburg
Competence, opportunity, negotiation and the reconstruction of a professional identity by foreign-trained teachers in Canada.
Creators: name: Xu, Fengying.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 1999
Subjects: subject: Education, Bilingual and Multicultural.

description: This study is a three-year longitudinal research project on the linguistic, pedagogical, cultural, emotional and career needs and adjustments of seven foreign-trained teachers who struggled to reconstruct professional identities as teachers in Ontario schools after they had received additional training and qualifications as required by Canadian standards and had become Ontario certified teachers. A co-constructive perspective on identity formation was employed, which allowed data collection by various methods such as analysis of written materials, individual interviews, and group discussions. The research data strongly suggest that these teachers' professional identity in Ontario schools should be understood as a site of joint collaboration between them and significant others in their environment. Due to their culturally and racially different backgrounds from those of the mainstream teachers, these teachers were often placed in a position of having to manage their differences in accents, acts and appearance. This difference-managing process reflected the fact that their professional identity was also ethnically and linguistically defined. Furthermore, given that they were subject to constant subjective outside evaluations of their competencies at a variety of school sites which could not be defined at static points, their professional identities are interpreted as conflictually multiple and constantly changing. The researcher concludes that it is possible for foreign-trained teachers to be accepted within a school system and to be symbolically visible in some positions in schools, but it is very unlikely for them to be visible in classrooms, teaching. The progress of their integration into a school system is effectively impeded by various barriers which reflect just some of today's social ills. Drawing insights from the notion of co-construction of a given identity (Ochs 1993; He 1995), the analysis of opportunity and social identity (Peirce 1994), and the concept of negotiation and professional identity (Thiessen, Bascia & Goodson 1996) in relation to the seven foreign-trained teachers' experiences in Ontario schools, the researcher recommends that serious research attention should be given to the opportunity structure in North America, which, according to Cherryholme's (1988) description of power operations, should be destructured.
Development and evaluation of a decision aid for family members considering long-term care options for a relative with dementia.
Creators: name: Comeau, Carole.
Publisher: name: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
Year: 2001
Subjects: subject: Health Sciences, Nursing.

description: Objective. To evaluate the effectiveness of a decision aid developed specifically for family members considering whether or not their relative with dementia should be admitted to a care facility. Design. One-group non-randomized before and after study. Setting. Ottawa-Carleton, Ontario, Canada. Participants. Convenience sample of 27 family members responsible for making care decisions on behalf of a relative with dementia living at home. Intervention. Family members completed a self-administered decision aid fashioned as a workbook to learn about long-term care options available to persons with dementia. Main outcome measures. Decisional conflict (uncertainty about which course of action to take), knowledge of long-term care options, stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance), choice predisposition (care at home versus admission to a care facility) as well as satisfaction with the decision aid and the decision making process. Results. After using the decision aid, family members had a significant reduction in decisional conflict and a significant increase in knowledge. The decision aid had a minimal effect on choice predisposition and appeared to be more useful to those in the contemplation stage. Generally, family members were satisfied with the decision aid but felt it was less successful at preparing them to make a better decision, to organize their thoughts, to look at the wishes of their relative with dementia, and to communicate their opinion about the options. Nevertheless, the majority reported that they would definitely recommend the decision aid to other family members facing the same decision. Conclusions. The decision aid shows promise in helping family members of persons with dementia make decisions about location of care.
European Working Conditions Survey, 2010
European Working Conditions Surveys, 1991-
EWCS; Fifth European Survey on Working Conditions, 2010
Creators: name: European Foundation For The Improvement Of Living And Working Conditions
Publisher: name: UK Data Service
Year: 2012

description: The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). Since its launch in 1990, the EWCS has provided an overview of working conditions in Europe in order to;
assess and quantify working conditions of both employees and the self-employed across Europe on a harmonised basis;

analyse relationships between different aspects of working conditions;

identify groups at risk and issues of concern as well as of progress;

monitor trends by providing homogeneous indicators on these issues; and

contribute to European policy development in particular on quality of work and employment issues.
The EWCS paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. Its findings highlight actions for policy actors to help them address the challenges facing Europe today.  The EWCS is generally conducted once every five years, although an extra wave was conducted in 2001 to cover the new acceding and candidate EU countries. The survey is based on a questionnaire which is administered face-to-face to a random sample of 'persons in employment' (i.e. employees and the self-employed), representative of the working population in each EU country. An integrated dataset is also available (see SN 7363) which combines data from the first five waves of the survey in one file.

Before working with the EWCS data, users are recommended to read the latest supplementary supporting documentation on the Eurofound European Working Conditions Survey webpages. Further information about the series can be found there, including methodological information, technical reports and reports on translation, sampling implementation, sampling evaluation and weighting, coding, quality control, quality assurance and other publications.