cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
The evidence for interventions in early childhood allergy prevention – towards a living systematic review: protocol
Creators: name: Matterne, Uwe
name: Tischer, Christina
name: Wang, Jiancong
name: Knüttel, Helge
name: Genuneit, Jon
name: Perkin, Michael
name: Apfelbacher, Christian J.
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: Early childhood allergy prevention, randomised controlled trial, living systematic review
subject: 610 Medizin

description: Background: Research in early childhood allergy prevention (ECAP) is flourishing and new intervention strategies have proven to be promising. Due to the dynamic nature of ECAP, gaps between what is known and how guidelines inform practice are likely. A living systematic review (LSR) can narrow this gap by incorporating new evidence as it becomes available. No efficacy comparisons across various ECAP interventions for similar outcomes have been carried out. Networks of randomised clinical trials can be evaluated in the context of a network meta-analysis (NMA). We aim to establish a LSR on the efficacy and safety of any intervention investigated in randomised controlled trials (RCT) to prevent the occurrence of allergic sensitisation (AS), symptoms or diagnoses of allergic diseases in infancy and early childhood (0-3 years). Methods: A baseline SR will synthesise the evidence from existing SRs of RCTs as well as RCTs not yet considered in these. After completion of the baseline SR we propose to conduct a LSR. Using this methodology, we aim to undertake constant evidence surveillance, three-monthly search updates, and review updates every three months, should new evidence emerge. Conclusions: The ECAP evidence landscape has undergone dramatic transformations and this process is likely to continue. As a response to this, a LSR offers the potential to allow more timely synthesis of new evidence as it emerges. Long gaps between updates of SRs makes it harder for guidelines and recommendations to be up to date. Users of information, such as parents, may be confused if they encounter new evidence that is not part of a trusted guideline. A LSR approach allows us to continuously search the literature and update the evidence-base of existing ECAP interventions resulting in a decreased timespan from evidence accrual to informing clinical practice.
Singular set of a Levi-flat hypersurface is Levi-flat
Creators: name: Lebl, Jiri
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Complex Variables (math.CV)
subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 32C07, 32V40, 37F75 (Primary) 32B20, 14P15 (Secondary)

description: We study the singular set of a singular Levi-flat real-analytic hypersurface. We prove that the singular set of such a hypersurface is Levi-flat in the appropriate sense. We also show that if the singular set is small enough, then the Levi-foliation extends to a singular codimension one holomorphic foliation of a neighborhood of the hypersurface.
description: 21 pages, minor typos fixed, updated references, accepted to Math. Ann
Impact of kilobar pressures on ultrafast triazene and thiacyanine photodynamics
Creators: name: Grimmelsmann, Lena
name: Schuabb, Vitor
name: Tekin, Beritan
name: Winter, Roland
name: Nuernberger, Patrick
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: 540 Chemie

description: Very short fluorescence lifetimes evidence ultrafast deactivation of photoexcited molecules. To unveil the underlying mechanism for two compounds exhibiting (sub)picosecond emission dynamics, we combine femtosecond fluorescence upconversion with high pressure liquid-phase spectroscopy. For the triazene berenil, the absence of a pressure dependence corroborates a bicycle-pedal motion as deactivating process. In the thiacyanine NK88 which may undergo a bi-phasic deactivation, our results suggest that kilobar pressures lead to a modification of the excited-state potential energy surface, thereby changing the branching ratio of two competing pathways and opening a possibility to steer the product distribution of the photoreaction.
Investigating the Spectral Geometry of a Soft Wall
Creators: name: Bouas, J. D.
name: Fulling, S. A.
name: Mera, F. D.
name: Thapa, K.
name: Trendafilova, C. S.
name: Wagner, J.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)
subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: 81Q05, 81T99, 35P99

description: The idealized theory of quantum vacuum energy density is a beautiful application of the spectral theory of differential operators with boundary conditions, but its conclusions are physically unacceptable. A more plausible model of a reflecting boundary that stays within linear spectral theory confines the waves by a steeply rising potential function, which can be taken as a power of one coordinate, z^α. We report investigations of this model with considerable student involvement. An exact analytical solution with some numerics for α=1 and an asymptotic (semiclassical) analysis of a related problem for α=2 are presented.
description: 16 pages,4 figures; International Conference on Spectral Geometry (Dartmouth, 2010). Revision (final submission to Proc. Symp. Pure Math.) has minor updates and corrections
On the Relationship between Market Sentiment and Commercial Real Estate Performance - A Textual Analysis Examination
Creators: name: Beracha, Eli
name: Lang, Marcel
name: Hausler, Jochen
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2019
Subjects: subject: sentiment, textual analysis, news analytics, forecasting, commercial real estate
subject: 330 Wirtschaft

description: We examine whether and the extent to which news-based sentiment, captured by textual analysis, can predict the performance of the private commercial real estate market in the United States. Our results show that sentiment reflected in news abstracts of The Wall Street Journal predicts returns of commercial real estate up to four quarters in advance. These findings are statistically significant and persist even when controlling for other related factors. This suggests that news-based sentiment can serve as an early market indicator. We are the first to examine the bidirectional relationship between sentiment, measured by textual analysis, and the performance of the private U.S. commercial real estate market. The findings contribute to the academic literature, and carry practical implications for real estate professionals.
Semiclassical Mechanics of the Wigner 6j-Symbol
Creators: name: Aquilanti, Vincenzo
name: Haggard, Hal M.
name: Hedeman, Austin
name: Jeevanjee, Nadir
name: Littlejohn, Robert G.
name: Yu, Liang
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
subject: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)
subject: Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: The semiclassical mechanics of the Wigner 6j-symbol is examined from the standpoint of WKB theory for multidimensional, integrable systems, to explore the geometrical issues surrounding the Ponzano-Regge formula. The relations among the methods of Roberts and others for deriving the Ponzano-Regge formula are discussed, and a new approach, based on the recoupling of four angular momenta, is presented. A generalization of the Yutsis-type of spin network is developed for this purpose. Special attention is devoted to symplectic reduction, the reduced phase space of the 6j-symbol (the 2-sphere of Kapovich and Millson), and the reduction of Poisson bracket expressions for semiclassical amplitudes. General principles for the semiclassical study of arbitrary spin networks are laid down; some of these were used in our recent derivation of the asymptotic formula for the Wigner 9j-symbol.
description: 64 pages, 50 figures
A scalable parallel Monte Carlo algorithm for atomistic simulations of precipitation in alloys
Creators: name: Sadigh, Babak
name: Erhart, Paul
name: Stukowski, Alexander
name: Caro, Alfredo
name: Martinez, Enrique
name: Zepeda-Ruiz, Luis
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present an extension of the semi-grandcanonical (SGC) ensemble that we refer to as the variance-constrained semi-grandcanonical (VC-SGC) ensemble. It allows for transmutation Monte Carlo simulations of multicomponent systems in multiphase regions of the phase diagram and lends itself to scalable simulations on massively parallel platforms. By combining transmutation moves with molecular dynamics steps structural relaxations and thermal vibrations in realistic alloys can be taken into account. In this way, we construct a robust and efficient simulation technique that is ideally suited for large-scale simulations of precipitation in multicomponent systems in the presence of structural disorder. To illustrate the algorithm introduced in this work, we study the precipitation of Cu in nanocrystalline Fe.
description: 12 pages; 10 figures
Smartphone-Based Activity Recognition in a Pedestrian Navigation Context
Creators: name: Jackermeier, Robert
name: Ludwig, Bernd
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: activity recognition; smartphone; pedestrian navigation; naturalistic data; machine learning
subject: 020 Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft

description: In smartphone-based pedestrian navigation systems, detailed knowledge about user activity and device placement is a key information. Landmarks such as staircases or elevators can help the system in determining the user position when located inside buildings, and navigation instructions can be adapted to the current context in order to provide more meaningful assistance. Typically, most human activity recognition (HAR) approaches distinguish between general activities such as walking, standing or sitting. In this work, we investigate more specific activities that are tailored towards the use-case of pedestrian navigation, including different kinds of stationary and locomotion behavior. We first collect a dataset of 28 combinations of device placements and activities, in total consisting of over 6 h of data from three sensors. We then use LSTM-based machine learning (ML) methods to successfully train hierarchical classifiers that can distinguish between these placements and activities. Test results show that the accuracy of device placement classification (97.2%) is on par with a state-of-the-art benchmark in this dataset while being less resource-intensive on mobile devices. Activity recognition performance highly depends on the classification task and ranges from 62.6% to 98.7%, once again performing close to the benchmark. Finally, we demonstrate in a case study how to apply the hierarchical classifiers to experimental and naturalistic datasets in order to analyze activity patterns during the course of a typical navigation session and to investigate the correlation between user activity and device placement, thereby gaining insights into real-world navigation behavior.
Advancing the Understanding of the Factor Structure of Executive Functioning
Creators: name: Himi, Samsad Afrin
name: Bühner, Markus
name: Hilbert, Sven
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: executive functioning; factor structure; task impurity; working memory capacity; relational integration; divided attention
subject: 150 Psychologie

description: There has been considerable debate and interest regarding the factor structure of executive functioning (EF). Therefore, the aim of the current study was to delve into this issue differently, by investigating EF and other cognitive constructs, such as working memory capacity (WMC), relational integration, and divided attention, which may contribute to EF. Here, we examined whether it is possible to provide evidence for a definite model of EF containing the components of updating, shifting, and inhibition. For this purpose, 202 young adults completed a battery of EF, three WMC tests, three relational integration tests, and two divided attention tests. A confirmatory factor analysis on all the cognitive abilities produced a five-factor structure, which included one factor predominately containing shifting tasks, the next factor containing two updating tasks, the third one predominately representing WMC, the fourth factor consisting of relational integration and antisaccade tasks, and finally, the last factor consisting of the divided attention and stop signal tasks. Lastly, a subsequent hierarchical model supported a higher-order factor, thereby representing general cognitive ability.
Photochemically Induced Ring Opening of Spirocyclopropyl Oxindoles: Evidence for a Triplet 1,3‐Diradical Intermediate and Deracemization by a Chiral Sensitizer
Creators: name: Li, Xinyao
name: Kutta, Roger J.
name: Jandl, Christian
name: Bauer, Andreas
name: Nuernberger, Patrick
name: Bach, Thorsten
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: enantioselectivity · hydrogen bonds · photochemistry · time-resolved spectroscopy · xanthones
subject: 540 Chemie

description: The photochemical deracemization of spiro[cyclopropane- 1,3’-indolin]-2’-ones (spirocyclopropyl oxindoles) was studied. The corresponding 2,2-dichloro compound is configurationally labile upon direct irradiation at l=350 nm and upon irradiation at l=405 nm in the presence of achiral thioxanthen-9-one as the sensitizer. The triplet 1,3-diradical intermediate generated in the latter reaction was detected by transient absorption spectroscopy and its lifetime determined (t=22 ms). Using a chiral thioxanthone or xanthone, with a lactam hydrogen bonding site as a photosensitizer, allowed the deracemization of differently substituted chiral spirocyclopropyl oxindoles with yields of 65–98%and in 50–85%ee (17 examples). Three mechanistic contributions were identified to co-act favorably for high enantioselectivity: the difference in binding constants to the chiral thioxanthone, the smaller molecular distance in the complex of the minor enantiomer, and the lifetime of the intermediate 1,3-diradical.
Rare genetic variants affecting urine metabolite levels link population variation to inborn errors of metabolism
Creators: name: Cheng, Yurong
name: Schlosser, Pascal
name: Hertel, Johannes
name: Sekula, Peggy
name: Oefner, Peter J.
name: Spiekerkoetter, Ute
name: Mielke, Johanna
name: Freitag, Daniel F.
name: Schmidts, Miriam
name: Kronenberg, Florian
name: Eckardt, Kai-Uwe
name: Thiele, Ines
name: Li, Yong
name: Köttgen, Anna
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: 610 Medizin

description: Metabolite levels in urine may provide insights into genetic mechanisms shaping their related pathways. We therefore investigate the cumulative contribution of rare, exonic genetic variants on urine levels of 1487 metabolites and 53,714 metabolite ratios among 4864 GCKD study participants. Here we report the detection of 128 significant associations involving 30 unique genes, 16 of which are known to underlie inborn errors of metabolism. The 30 genes are strongly enriched for shared expression in liver and kidney (odds ratio = 65, p-FDR = 3e-7), with hepatocytes and proximal tubule cells as driving cell types. Use of UK Biobank whole-exome sequencing data links genes to diseases connected to the identified metabolites. In silico constraint-based modeling of gene knockouts in a virtual whole-body, organ-resolved metabolic human correctly predicts the observed direction of metabolite changes, highlighting the potential of linking population genetics to modeling. Our study implicates candidate variants and genes for inborn errors of metabolism
Detection of correlations
Creators: name: Arias-Castro, Ery
name: Bubeck, Sébastien
name: Lugosi, Gábor
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Statistics Theory (math.ST)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: We consider the hypothesis testing problem of deciding whether an observed high-dimensional vector has independent normal components or, alternatively, if it has a small subset of correlated components. The correlated components may have a certain combinatorial structure known to the statistician. We establish upper and lower bounds for the worst-case (minimax) risk in terms of the size of the correlated subset, the level of correlation, and the structure of the class of possibly correlated sets. We show that some simple tests have near-optimal performance in many cases, while the generalized likelihood ratio test is suboptimal in some important cases.
description: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOS964 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org)
Galois groups of multivariate Tutte polynomials
Creators: name: Bohn, Adam
name: Cameron, Peter J.
name: Müller, Peter
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Combinatorics (math.CO)
subject: Group Theory (math.GR)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: The multivariate Tutte polynomial $\hat Z_M$ of a matroid $M$ is a generalization of the standard two-variable version, obtained by assigning a separate variable $v_e$ to each element $e$ of the ground set $E$. It encodes the full structure of $M$. Let $\bv = \{v_e\}_{e\in E}$, let $K$ be an arbitrary field, and suppose $M$ is connected. We show that $\hat Z_M$ is irreducible over $K(\bv)$, and give three self-contained proofs that the Galois group of $\hat Z_M$ over $K(\bv)$ is the symmetric group of degree $n$, where $n$ is the rank of $M$. An immediate consequence of this result is that the Galois group of the multivariate Tutte polynomial of any matroid is a direct product of symmetric groups. Finally, we conjecture a similar result for the standard Tutte polynomial of a connected matroid.
description: 8 pages, final version, to appear in J. Alg. Comb. Substantial revisions, including the addition of two alternative proofs of the main result
1,3,5-Triaza-7-Phosphaadamantane (PTA) as a 31P NMR Probe for Organometallic Transition Metal Complexes in Solution
Creators: name: Shenderovich, Ilya G.
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: solvent effect; 31P NMR; condensed matter; polarizable continuum model; reaction field; external electric field
subject: 540 Chemie

description: Due to the rigid structure of 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane (PTA), its 31P chemical shift solely depends on non-covalent interactions in which the molecule is involved. The maximum range of change caused by the most common of these, hydrogen bonding, is only 6 ppm, because the active site is one of the PTA nitrogen atoms. In contrast, when the PTA phosphorus atom is coordinated to a metal, the range of change exceeds 100 ppm. This feature can be used to support or reject specific structural models of organometallic transition metal complexes in solution by comparing the experimental and Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculated values of this 31P chemical shift. This approach has been tested on a variety of the metals of groups 8–12 and molecular structures. General recommendations for appropriate basis sets are reported.
Emergence of steady and oscillatory localized structures in a phytoplankton-nutrient model
Creators: name: Zagaris, Antonios
name: Doelman, Arjen
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Pattern Formation and Solitons (nlin.PS)
subject: Dynamical Systems (math.DS)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 35K57 (Primary), 35B36, 35B25, 34B10, 35B35, 92D40 (Secondary)

description: Co-limitation of marine phytoplankton growth by light and nutrient, both of which are essential for phytoplankton, leads to complex dynamic behavior and a wide array of coherent patterns. The building blocks of this array can be considered to be deep chlorophyll maxima, or DCMs, which are structures localized in a finite depth interior to the water column. From an ecological point of view, DCMs are evocative of a balance between the inflow of light from the water surface and of nutrients from the sediment. From a (linear) bifurcational point of view, they appear through a transcritical bifurcation in which the trivial, no-plankton steady state is destabilized. This article is devoted to the analytic investigation of the weakly nonlinear dynamics of these DCM patterns, and it has two overarching themes. The first of these concerns the fate of the destabilizing stationary DCM mode beyond the center manifold regime. Exploiting the natural singularly perturbed nature of the model, we derive an explicit reduced model of asymptotically high dimension which fully captures these dynamics. Our subsequent and fully detailed study of this model - which involves a subtle asymptotic analysis necessarily transgressing the boundaries of a local center manifold reduction - establishes that a stable DCM pattern indeed appears from a transcritical bifurcation. However, we also deduce that asymptotically close to the original destabilization, the DCM looses its stability in a secondary bifurcation of Hopf type. This is in agreement with indications from numerical simulations available in the literature. Employing the same methods, we also identify a much larger DCM pattern. The development of the method underpinning this work - which, we expect, shall prove useful for a larger class of models - forms the second theme of this article.
Porous carbon nitride fullerenes: a novel family of porous cage molecules
Creators: name: Fthenakis, Zacharias G.
name: Lathiotakis, Nektarios N.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We propose and study theoretically a novel family of cage molecules, the porous carbon nitride fullerenes (PCNFs), which can be considered the zero-dimensional counterparts of the two-dimensional porous graphitic carbon nitrides, in accordance with icosahedral fullerenes, representing the zero-dimensional counterpart of graphene. We focus on two representative members of the PCNF family, the icosahedral C$_{60}$N$_{60}$ and C$_{120}$N$_{60}$ which are the first members of the two main sub-families of these structures derived from the class I and II Goldberg polyhedra, respectively. Taking into account that the two-dimensional graphitic carbon nitrides are considered the next-generation materials for several interesting applications, the interest in their zero-dimension counterparts is obvious. In the present study, we utilize Density Functional Theory to find their structural, vibrational, and electronic properties. The stability of the proposed cages was demonstrated through vibrational analysis and molecular dynamics simulations with ReaxFF potentials. Regarding thermal stability, we found that C$_{60}$N$_{60}$ could be stable well above 1000 K and C$_{120}$N$_{60}$ well above 2000 K. Finally, we discuss several ideas regarding precursors that could be possibly used for their bottom-up synthesis.
Classical Tibetan Annotation Manual Part II - Segmentation & POS tagging
Creators: name: Faggionato, Christian
name: Meelen, Marieke
name: Hill, Nathan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Annotation, Part-of-Speech, Tibetan, Segmentation, Tokenisation

description: This annotation manual is meant to support annotators in correcting both automatic word and sentence segmentation as well as morphosyntactic (Part-of-Speech) information. It is not meant to be read from cover-to-cover. Rather, it is meant as a document that is easy to navigate to search for examples of cases where annotators are unsure about which decision to take. It has detailed examples of all conventions for segmentation and POS tagging, as well as brief explanations of why certain decisions were made.
Classical Tibetan Annotation Manual Part II - Segmentation & POS tagging
Creators: name: Faggionato, Christian
name: Meelen, Marieke
name: Hill, Nathan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Annotation, Part-of-Speech, Tibetan, Segmentation, Tokenisation

description: This annotation manual is meant to support annotators in correcting both automatic word and sentence segmentation as well as morphosyntactic (Part-of-Speech) information. It is not meant to be read from cover-to-cover. Rather, it is meant as a document that is easy to navigate to search for examples of cases where annotators are unsure about which decision to take. It has detailed examples of all conventions for segmentation and POS tagging, as well as brief explanations of why certain decisions were made. (Note that GDocs broke the rendering of Tibetan Unicode in version 1.0; this is fixed in version 1.1.)
description: Note that GDocs broke the rendering of Tibetan Unicode in version 1.0; this is fixed in version 1.1.
Monodromy groups of parameterized linear differential equations with regular singularities
Creators: name: Mitschi, Claude
name: Singer, Michael F.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Classical Analysis and ODEs (math.CA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: 34M03, 12H05, 34M15, 34M35, 34M50

description: We study the notion of regular singularities for parameterized complex ordinary linear differential systems, prove an analogue of the Schlesinger theorem for systems with regular singularities and solve both a parameterized version of the weak Riemann-Hilbert Problem and a special case of the inverse problem in parameterized Picard-Vessiot theory.
description: Version to appear in the Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society
Implementing A CLEWs Model for Smart and Green Growth in Kenya
Creators: name: Alunda, Benard O.
name: Dickson M. Wachira
name: Jumba, Constance K.
name: Mwango, Geoffrey B.
name: Ronnice Chepkoech
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: CLEWs modeling
Smart and green growth
NDCs
OSeMOSYS
Climate change

description: Kenya is currently experiencing several challenges owing to its growing population, including outstretched resources, environmental degradation, and urban pollution. To achieve sustainable, smart and green growth which comprises a secure water-energy-food (WEF) nexus, efficient and renewable energy uptake, and low emissions per capita, Kenya could adopt a Climate, Land, Energy and Water systems (CLEWs) model that examines the interconnections and interactions between these key critical resources. This study uses OSeMOSYS software to explore three (3) scenarios: business as usual (BAU), green energy transition (GET), and increasing forest cover (IFC). The analysis shows that capital investment in renewables is key to achieving a green energy transition. We recommend adopting a data-driven integrated decision support model (CLEWs) to inform policy development based on these scenarios. Our policy insights suggest adopting renewable and decentralized energy solutions, promoting sustainable agriculture, afforestation, and agroforestry, and greening transport and infrastructure development to minimize emissions. The presentation summarizes the project developed as part of EMP-A 2023.
Composition operators on noncommutative Hardy spaces
Creators: name: Popescu, Gelu
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Functional Analysis (math.FA)
subject: Operator Algebras (math.OA)
subject: FOS: Mathematics

description: In this paper we initiate the study of composition operators on the noncommutative Hardy space $H^2_{\bf ball}$. Several classical results about composition operators (boundedness, norm estimates, spectral properties, compactness, similarity) have free analogues in our noncommutative multivariable setting. The most prominent feature of this paper is the interaction between the noncommutative analytic function theory in the unit ball of $B(\cH)^n$, the operator algebras generated by the left creation operators on the full Fock space with $n$ generators, and the classical complex function theory in the unit ball of $\CC^n$.
description: 39 pages
Substantial direct fitness gains of workers in a highly eusocial ant
Creators: name: Giehr, Julia
name: Wallner, Jennifer
name: Senninger, Lisa
name: Ruhland, Katja
name: Krüger, Theresa
name: Heinze, Jürgen
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: altruism, ants, direct fitness, male production, Temnothorax, worker reproduction
subject: 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie
subject: 590 Tiere (Zoologie)

description: Hamilton's theory of inclusive fitness suggests that helpers in animal societies gain fitness indirectly by increasing the reproductive performance of a related beneficiary. Helpers in cooperatively breeding birds, mammals and primitively eusocial wasps may additionally obtain direct fitness through inheriting the nest or mating partner of the former reproductive. Here, we show that also workers of a highly eusocial ant may achieve considerable direct fitness by producing males in both queenless and queenright colonies. We investigated the reproductive success of workers of the ant Temnothorax crassispinus in nature and the laboratory by dissecting workers and determining the origin of males by microsatellite analysis. We show that workers are capable of activating their ovaries and successfully producing their sons independently of the presence of a queen. Genotypes revealed that at least one fifth of the males in natural queenright colonies were not offspring of the queen. Most worker‐produced males could be assigned to workers that were unrelated to the queen, suggesting egg‐laying by drifting workers.
Mesangial Cells Regulate the Single Nephron GFR and Preserve the Integrity of the Glomerular Filtration Barrier: An Intravital Multiphoton Microscopy Study
Creators: name: Ziegler, Vera
name: Fremter, Katharina
name: Helmchen, Julia
name: Witzgall, Ralph
name: Castrop, Hayo
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: glomerular basement membrane, intravital microscopy, mesangial cells, regulation of glomerular filtration rate, glomerular sieving coefficient of albumin Acc
subject: 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie

description: Aim The intraglomerular mesangial cells are located between the glomerular capillaries. Here we hypothesized that mesangial cells regulate the single nephron glomerular filtration rate (snGFR) and that mesangial cells support the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier. Methods We assessed the function of mesangial cells in vivo by multiphoton microscopy. Mesangial cells were depleted in Munich Wistar Froemter rats using the Thy1.1 antibody model. Results The Thy1.1 antibody caused the cell‐specific loss of 82±3% of mesangial cells. After mesangial cell depletion, the baseline snGFR was reduced to 12.0±1.2 vs. 32.4±3.2 nl/min in controls. In control rats, the snGFR decreased after angiotensin II infusion by 61±3% (p=.004), whereas it remained unchanged in Thy1.1‐treated rats. The changes in the snGFR after angiotensin II infusion in control rats were accompanied by the marked rotation of the capillary loops within Bowman’s space. This phenomenon was absent in anti‐Thy1.1‐treated rats. The glomerular sieving coefficient (GSCA) for albumin, used as a measure of the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier, was low in control rats (0.00061±.00004) and increased after angiotensin II infusion (0.00121±.00015). In Thy1.1‐treated rats, the GSC was elevated (0.0032±.00059) and did not change in response to angiotensin II. Electron microscopy revealed the increased thickness of the glomerular basement membrane after mesangial cell depletion. Conclusion Our data suggest that mesangial cells actively contribute to the regulation of the snGFR. Furthermore, mesangial cells are crucially involved in maintaining the integrity of the glomerular filtration barrier, in part by modulating the thickness of the glomerular basement membrane.
Genetic variation of litter meadow species reflects gene flow by hay transfer and mowing with agricultural machines
Creators: name: Lehmair, Theresa Anna
name: Pagel, Ellen
name: Poschlod, Peter
name: Reisch, Christoph
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2020
Subjects: subject: AFLP, Litter meadow, Semi-natural grassland, Conservation, Genetic variation, Management
subject: 570 Biowissenschaften, Biologie
subject: 580 Pflanzen (Botanik)

description: Litter meadows, historically established for litter production, are species-rich and diverse ecosystems. These meadows drastically declined during the last decades along with decreasing litter use in modern livestock housing. The aim of our study was to identify the drivers of genetic variation in litter meadow species. Therefore, we tested whether genetic diversity and differentiation depend on habitat age, landscape structure, habitat quality, and/or population size. We analysed 892 individuals of Angelica sylvestris, Filipendula ulmaria, and Succisa pratensis from 20 litter meadows across the Allgäu in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) using AFLP analyses. All study species showed moderate levels of genetic diversity, while genetic differentiation among populations was low. Neither genetic diversity nor differentiation were clearly driven by habitat age. However, landscape structure, habitat quality as well as population size revealed different impacts on the genetic diversity of our study species. Past and present landscape structures shaped the genetic diversity patterns of A. sylvestris and F. ulmaria. The genetic diversity of F. ulmaria populations was, moreover, influenced by the local habitat quality. S. pratensis populations seemed to be affected only by population size. All explanatory variables represent past as well as present gene flow patterns by anthropogenic land use. Therefore, we assume that genetic diversity and differentiation were shaped by both historical creation of litter meadows via hay transfer and present mowing with agricultural machines. These land use practices caused and still cause gene flow among populations in the declining habitats.
Equilibrium fluid-solid coexistence of hard spheres
Creators: name: Fernandez, L. A.
name: Martin-Mayor, V.
name: Seoane, B.
name: Verrocchio, P.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We present a tethered Monte Carlo simulation of the crystallization of hard spheres. Our method boosts the traditional umbrella sampling to the point of making practical the study of constrained Gibb's free energies depending on several crystalline order-parameters. We obtain high-accuracy estimates of the fluid-crystal coexistence pressure for up to 2916 particles (enough to accommodate fluid-solid interfaces). We are able to extrapolate to infinite volume the coexistence pressure (p_{co}=11.5727(10) k_B T/σ^3) and the interfacial free energy (γ_{100}=0.636(11) k_B T/σ^2).
description: 6 pages, 4 pdf figures. Version to be published in PRL. Appendices contain Supplemental Material
Interaction of Bestrophin-1 and Ca2+ Channel β-Subunits: Identification of New Binding Domains on the Bestrophin-1 C-Terminus
Creators: name: Launikonis, Bradley Steven
name: Milenkovic, Vladimir M.
name: Krejcova, Sarka
name: Reichhart, Nadine
name: Wagner, Andrea
name: Strauß, Olaf
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2011
Subjects: subject: 610 Medizin

description: Bestrophin-1 modulates currents through voltage-dependent L-type Ca2+ channels by physically interacting with the β-subunits of Ca2+ channels. The main function of β-subunits is to regulate the number of pore-forming CaV-subunits in the cell membrane and modulate Ca2+ channel currents. To understand the influence of full-length bestrophin-1 on β-subunit function, we studied binding and localization of bestrophin-1 and Ca2+ channel subunits, together with modulation of CaV1.3 Ca2+ channels currents. In heterologeous expression, bestrophin-1 showed co-immunoprecipitation with either, β3-, or β4-subunits. We identified a new highly conserved cluster of proline-rich motifs on the bestrophin-1 C-terminus between amino acid position 468 and 486, which enables possible binding to SH3-domains of β-subunits. A bestrophin-1 that lacks these proline-rich motifs (ΔCT-PxxP bestrophin-1) showed reduced efficiency to co-immunoprecipitate with β3 and β4-subunits. In the presence of ΔCT-PxxP bestrophin-1, β4-subunits and CaV1.3 subunits partly lost membrane localization. Currents from CaV1.3 subunits were modified in the presence of β4-subunit and wild-type bestrophin-1: accelerated time-dependent activation and reduced current density. With ΔCTPxxP bestrophin-1, currents showed the same time-dependent activation as with wild-type bestrophin-1, but the current density was further reduced due to decreased number of Ca2+ channels proteins in the cell membrane. In summary, we described new proline-rich motifs on bestrophin-1 C-terminus, which help to maintain the ability of β-subunits to regulate surface expression of pore-forming CaV Ca2+-channel subunits.
Does repetitive thinking mediate the relationship between self-compassion and competition anxiety in athletes?
Creators: name: Jansen, Petra
name: Hoja, Sabine
name: Meneghetti, Chiara
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: self-compassion, rumination, worry, competition, individual and team sports
subject: 150 Psychologie

description: Due to the promising effect of self-compassion interventions in sports, it was the main goal of this study to investigate, if two aspects of repetitive thinking, worry and rumination, mediate the possible relation of self-compassion on competition anxiety of women and men in different types of sport (team- vs. individual sport). Two hundred and ninety-three athletes participated, 127 were soccer players, 103 handball players, and 63 athletes practiced an individual sport. They completed four questionnaires of sport competition anxiety, rumination, worry, and self-compassion. The results showed that for both rumination and worry, women had higher values than men and individual athletes had higher values than athletes from team sport. Women had higher values in the negative scale of self-compassion compared to men, and individual athletes and handball players had lower values than soccer players. The result of a mediation analysis demonstrated that the relation between the negative scale of self-compassion and the somatic anxiety and concern aspect of competition anxiety was mediated by worry.
Exploring Dog-Assisted Interventions in Higher Education: Students’ Attitudes and Perceived Effects on Well-Being
Creators: name: Rothkopf, Cathrin
name: Schworm, Silke
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: human–animal interaction; animal-assisted intervention; higher education; at-risk students; attitude; interest; well-being; blood pressure
subject: 370 Erziehung, Schul- und Bildungswesen

description: Both, in the transition to university and during it, students experience a multitude of different changes. Thus, it is no surprise that many students in higher education report suffering from mental health problems. To address their concerns, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have gained more and more attention over the past few years. Nonetheless, AAIs have neither yet been used nor researched at German universities. Two studies were carried out to address this issue. In Study I, 709 university students answered a questionnaire evaluating their attitude towards dogs, AAIs and interest in its use at their home university. In Study II, 27 students participated in a dog-assisted intervention (DAI) in which they were allowed to interact with a qualified dog for 15 min. To gain information about their well-being, blood pressure was measured and the Basler Befindlichkeitsskala had to be answered before and after the intervention. Results showed a positive attitude among German students toward dogs, AAIs, and the use of DAIs at their home university. Although an effect on physical well-being could not be found, results showed that a 15-min DAI can improve students’ psychological well-being. Thus, higher education administrators should consider using DAIs as a way to improve student well-being.
Mizoroki–Heck type reactions and synthesis of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds by heterogeneous organic semiconductor photocatalysis
Creators: name: Khamrai, Jagadish
name: Das, Saikat
name: Savateev, Aleksandr
name: Antonietti, Markus
name: König, Burkhard
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: photocatalysis; mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride; sustainability
subject: 540 Chemie

description: We report the synthesis of 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds and substituted alkenes (Mizoroki–Heck type coupling) starting from secondary and tertiary alkyl halides and vinyl acetate or styrene derivatives using visible-light photocatalysis. The protocol uses mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (mpg-CN) as a heterogeneous organic semiconductor photocatalyst and Ni(II) salts as Lewis acid catalysts. Detailed post-characterization of the heterogeneous material has been carried out to support the proposed catalytic cycle. Apart from high functional-group tolerance, mild reaction conditions, scalability as well as easy recovery and reuse of the mpg-CN photocatalyst provide a practical solution to these widespread transformations in terms of sustainability and efficiency and this methodology is recommended for applications in academic and industrial synthesis.
Graphical notation reveals topological stability criteria for collective dynamics in complex networks
Creators: name: Do, Anne-Ly
name: Boccaletti, Stefano
name: Gross, Thilo
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems (nlin.AO)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: We propose a graphical notation by which certain spectral properties of complex systems can be rewritten concisely and interpreted topologically. Applying this notation to analyze the stability of a class of networks of coupled dynamical units, we reveal stability criteria on all scales. In particular, we show that in systems such as the Kuramoto model the Coates graph of the Jacobian matrix must contain a spanning tree of positive elements for the system to be locally stable.
description: 5 pages, 3 figures
Non-equilibrium chemistry in the difuse ISM revealed by ALMA
Creators: name: Rybarczyk, Daniel
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: The diffuse interstellar medium (ISM), where the first stages of molecule formation occur, harbors a surprisingly rich chemistry, with the column densities of key species over an order of magnitude higher than can be explained by UV-dominated, steady-state chemical models. Dynamical events like shocks that drive non-equilibrium chemistry are likely important in explaining this discrepancy, but direct tests for shocks and an understanding of the environments where equilibrium models fail has been lacking. Sensitive molecular absorption measurements from ALMA have now made it possible to trace the chemistry, dynamics, and evolution of diffuse molecular gas, probing this important regime between atomic gas and star-forming molecular clouds. With the ALMA-SPONGE project, we observed HCO+, HCN, HNC, and CCH in absorption with ALMA in directions where the properties of HI were well characterized by the 21-SPONGE project using the Very Large Array. Comparing the HI and molecular gas properties along 20 lines of sight, we established the atomic gas criteria necessary for the formation and survival of molecules in the diffuse ISM. We then demonstrated that molecular column densities were inconsistent with equilibrium model predictions where the gas is warmer than 40 K, implying non-equilibrium chemistry in the diffuse ISM in these regions. Indeed, follow-up observations of SiO at 3mm are now revealing shocks in the diffuse ISM, including in two directions where models imply non-equilibrium chemistry. The sensitivity enabled by ALMA has also allowed us to detect a broad, extremely faint component to the HCO+ absorption that spans most velocities where HI absorption is observed. This gas has a low cold neutral medium fraction, and archival observations from ALMA and other observatories show that this molecular gas is not visible in CO absorption or emission, revealing "CO dark" gas.
Intervalley coupling for interface-bound electrons in silicon: An effective mass study
Creators: name: Saraiva, A. L.
name: Calderón, M. J.
name: Capaz, Rodrigo B.
name: Hu, Xuedong
name: Sarma, S. Das
name: Koiller, Belita
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2010
Subjects: subject: Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
subject: Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Orbital degeneracy of the electronic conduction band edge in silicon is a potential roadblock to the storage and manipulation of quantum information involving the electronic spin degree of freedom in this host material. This difficulty may be mitigated near an interface between Si and a barrier material, where intervalley scattering may couple states in the conduction ground state, leading to nondegenerate orbital ground and first excited states. The level splitting is experimentally found to have a strong sample dependence, varying by orders of magnitude for different interfaces and samples. The basic physical mechanisms leading to such coupling in different systems are addressed. We expand our recent study based on an effective mass approach, incorporating the full plane-wave expansions of the Bloch functions at the conduction band minima. Physical insights emerge naturally from a simple Si/barrier model. In particular, we present a clear comparison between ours and different approximations and formalisms adopted in the literature and establish the applicability of these approximations in different physical scenarios.
description: 11 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables
How Do Art Skills Influence Visual Search? – Eye Movements Analyzed With Hidden Markov Models
Creators: name: Tallon, Miles
name: Greenlee, Mark W.
name: Wagner, Ernst
name: Rakoczy, Katrin
name: Frick, Ulrich
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2021
Subjects: subject: visual literacy, assessment, fixation sequence, hidden markov model, eye tracking data, visual search task, latent profile analysis
subject: 150 Psychologie

description: The results of two experiments are analyzed to find out how artistic expertise influences visual search. Experiment I comprised survey data of 1,065 students on self-reported visual memory skills and their ability to find three targets in four images of artwork. Experiment II comprised eye movement data of 50 Visual Literacy (VL) experts and non-experts whose eye movements during visual search were analyzed for nine images of artwork as an external validation of the assessment tasks performed in Sample I. No time constraint was set for completion of the visual search task. A latent profile analysis revealed four typical solution patterns for the students in Sample I, including a mainstream group, a group that completes easy images fast and difficult images slowly, a fast and erroneous group, and a slow working student group, depending on task completion time and on the probability of finding all three targets. Eidetic memory, performance in art education and visual imagination as self-reported visual skills have significant impact on latent class membership probability. We present a hidden Markov model (HMM) approach to uncover underlying regions of attraction that result from visual search eye-movement behavior in Experiment II. VL experts and non-experts did not significantly differ in task time and number of targets found but they did differ in their visual search process: compared to non-experts, experts showed greater precision in fixating specific prime and target regions, assessed through hidden state fixation overlap. Exploratory analysis of HMMs revealed differences between experts and non-experts in image locations of attraction (HMM states). Experts seem to focus their attention on smaller image parts whereas non-experts used wider parts of the image during their search. Differences between experts and non-experts depend on the relative saliency of targets embedded in images. HMMs can determine the effect of expertise on exploratory eye movements executed during visual search tasks. Further research on HMMs and art expertise is required to confirm exploratory results.