Digital Commons Network^™

Reflections On The Christchurch Massacre: Incorporating A Critique Of Islamophobia And Twail, Cyra Akila Choudhury

Faculty Publications

On March 15, 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand, a white supremacist entered a mosque full of worshippers and gunned down over 50 people. He was welcomed into the house of worship as Muslim immigrants and converts were about to start their Friday prayers. News of the attack spread quickly across the globe. Social media news feeds and online sources provided near-instantaneous updates. There were calls to prioritize the lives and stories of the victims and survivors. Although there were calls not to glorify or even humanize the shooter, people understandably professed interest in his writings and his motivation. Once it …

Domain Rearrangement And Denaturation In Ebola Virus Protein Vp40, Rudramani Pokhrel, Pornthep Sompornpisut, Prem Chapagain, Brian Olson, Bernard Gertsman, Ras B. Pandey

Faculty Publications

The VP40 protein plays a critical role in coordinating the virion assembly, budding, and replication of the Ebola virus. Efforts have been made in recent years to understand various aspects of VP40 structure, dynamics, and function such as assembly of the protein and its roles in virus replication and penetration of the protein into the plasma membrane. A major conformational transformation is necessary for VP40 to form some of its oligomeric structures and to perform various functions. This conformational change from a compact structure with the N-terminal domain (NTD) and C-terminal domain (CTD) closely associated involves a dissociation or springing-out …

National Register Of Historic Places Nominations By Students In Preservation Courses 1993 - 2018, Robert R. Weyeneth

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Responses And Implications To Coastal Wetlands And The Surrounding Regions Under Sea Level Rise, Karim Alizad, Scott C. Hagen, Stephen C. Medeiros, Matthew V. Bilskie, James T. Morris, Len Balthis, Christine A. Buckel

Faculty Publications

Two distinct microtidal estuarine systems were assessed to advance the understanding of the coastal dynamics of sea level rise in salt marshes. A coupled hydrodynamic-marsh model (Hydro-MEM) was applied to both a marine-dominated (Grand Bay, Mississippi) and a mixed fluvial/marine (Weeks Bay, Alabama) system to compute marsh productivity, marsh migration, and potential tidal inundation from the year 2000 to 2100 under four sea level rise scenarios. Characteristics of the estuaries such as geometry, sediment availability, and topography, were compared to understand their role in the dynamic response to sea level rise. The results show that the low sea level rise …

Study Of The Reactions E+E-→Π+Π-Π0Π0Π0 And Π+Π-Π0Π0Η At Center-Of-Mass Energies From Threshold To 4.35 Gev Using Initial-State Radiation, J. P. Lees, V. Poireau, V. Tisserand, E. Grauges, A. Palano, G. Eigen, D. N. Brown, Yu G. Kolomensky, M. Fritsch, H. Koch, T. Schroeder, C. Hearty, T. S. Mattison, J. A. Mckenna, R. Y. So, V. E. Blinov, A. R. Buzykaev, V. P. Druzhinin, V. B. Golubev, E. A. Kozyrev, Milind Purohit, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

We study the processes e⁺e⁻ → π⁺π⁻π⁰π⁰π⁰nγ in which an energetic photon is radiated from the initial state. The data are collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. About 14 000 and 4700 events, respectively, are selected from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 469 fb⁻¹. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state defines the effective e⁺e⁻ center-of-mass energy. From the mass spectra, the first precise measurement of the e⁺e⁻ → π⁺π^{− …}

Toward A Systematic Theology Of The Sanctuary: Part 1, John C. Peckham

Faculty Publications

This article is part one of an essay that offers some preliminary thoughts regarding the relationship of the sanctuary and systematic theology, focusing on just a few aspects which expose the relationship between the two. This article considers the nature of theological systems, issues related to an Adventist system of theology, and the relationship between fundamental theology and the sanctuary in particular, with attention to some broad, competing views of the sanctuary that are integrally related to the way one conceives of broader theological principles. This sets the stage for the second article, which will conclude the essay by discussing …

The Impact Of Gangs On Community Life In Trinidad, Ericka Adams, Patrice Morris, Edward Maguire

Faculty Publications

Trinidad and Tobago has more than 100 criminal gangs, some of which engage in high levels of homicide and violence. Recent research has shown that gang members in Trinidad and Tobago are more likely than nongang members to be arrested for violent, property, and drug crimes. As gangs continue to proliferate throughout the Caribbean, there is a pressing need to understand the nature of these gangs and their impact on the communities in which they are entrenched. Using data from interviews with community members, police officials, and gang members, as well as ethnographic observations from 10 high crime, predominantly Black …

Differential Expression Of Genes Related To Innate Immune Responses In Ex Vivo Spinal Cord And Cerebellar Slice Cultures Infected With West Nile Virus, Parminder J.S. Vig, Deyin Lu, Amber M. Paul, Ram Kuwar, Maria Lopez, Dobrivoje S. Stokic, A. Arturo Leis, Michael R. Garrett, Fengwei Bai

Faculty Publications

West Nile virus (WNV) infection results in a spectrum of neurological symptoms, ranging from a benign fever to severe WNV neuroinvasive disease with high mortality. Many who recover from WNV neuroinvasive infection present with long-term deficits, including weakness, fatigue, and cognitive problems. While neurons are a main target of WNV, other cell types, especially astrocytes, play an important role in promoting WNV-mediated central nervous system (CNS) damage. Conversely, it has been shown that cultured primary astrocytes secrete high levels of interferons (IFNs) immediately after WNV exposure to protect neighboring astrocytes, as well as neurons. However, how intrinsic responses to WNV …

Speech Fluency In Acquired Apraxia Of Speech During Narrative Discourse: Group Comparisons And Dual Task Effects, Tyson G. Harmon, Adam Jacks, Katarina L. Haley

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Slowed speech and interruptions to the flow of connected speech are common in aphasia. These features are also observed during dual task performance for neurotypical adults. The purposes of this study were to determine (a) whether indices of fluency related to cognitive-linguistic versus motor processing would differ between speakers with aphasia plus AOS and speakers with aphasia only and (b) whether cognitive load reduces fluency in speakers with aphasia with and without AOS.

Method: Fourteen speakers with aphasia (seven with AOS) and seven neurotypical controls retold short stories alone (single task) and while simultaneously distinguishing between a high and …

Thioglycosides Are Efficient Metabolic Decoys Of Glycosylation That Reduce Selectin Dependent Leukocyte Adhesion, Shuen Shiuan Wang, Xuefeng Gao, Virginia Del Solar, Xinheng Yu, Aristotelis Antonopoulos, Alan E. Friedman, Eryn K. Matich, G. Ekin Atilla-Gokcumen, Mehrab Nasirikenari, Joseph T. Lau, Anne Dell, Stuart M. Haslam, Roger A. Laine, Khushi L. Matta, Sriram Neelamegham

Faculty Publications

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Small-molecule inhibitors of glycosylation can be applied in basic science studies, and clinical investigations as anti-inflammatory, anti-metastatic, and anti-viral therapies. This article demonstrates that thioglycosides represent a class of potent metabolic decoys that resist hydrolysis, and block E-selectin-dependent leukocyte adhesion in models of inflammation.

Spiniferites Cruciformis, Pterocysta Cruciformis And Galeacysta Etrusca: Morphology And Palaeoecology, Peta Mudie, André Rochon, Keith Richards, Shannon Ferguson, Sophie Warny

Faculty Publications

© 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by AASP–The Palynological Society. Miocene to modern sediments of the Ponto-Caspian basins and Mediterranean Sea are uniquely distinguished by presence of gonyaulacacean cysts with ellipsoid to cruciform endocysts and highly variable ectocystal features, including pterate (wing-like) and galeate (helmet-like) outer wall layers. The term cruciform is defined to indicate cysts with concave epicyst and hypocyst surfaces and moderate dorsoventral flattening. These features may be morphological responses to salinity stress and some biometrical studies conclude that the cruciform Ponto-Caspian species Spiniferites cruciformis of Wall and Dale 1973 and Pterocysta cruciformis Rochon et al. 2003 …

The Dinoflagellate Cyst Genera Achomosphaera Evitt 1963 And Spiniferites Mantell 1850 In Pliocene To Modern Sediments: A Summary Of Round Table Discussions, Kenneth Neil Mertens, Nicolas Van Nieuwenhove, Pieter R. Gurdebeke, Hilal Aydin, Kara Bogus, Manuel Bringué, Barrie Dale, Stijn De Schepper, Anne De Vernal, Marianne Ellegaard, Arjen Grothe, Haifeng Gu, Martin J. Head, Maija Heikkilä, Audrey Limoges, Laurent Londeix, Stephen Louwye, Fabienne Marret, Edwige Masure, Kazumi Matsuoka, Peta J. Mudie, Aurélie Penaud, Vera Pospelova, Andrea Michelle Price, Sofia Ribeiro, André Rochon, Francesca Sangiorgi, Michael Schreck, Vladimir Torres, Serdar Uzar, Gerard J.M. Versteegh, Sophie Warny, Karin Zonneveld

Faculty Publications

© 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by AASP–The Palynological Society. We present a summary of two round-table discussions held during two subsequent workshops in Montreal (Canada) on 16 April 2014 and Ostend (Belgium) on 8 July 2015. Five species of the genus Achomosphaera Evitt 1963 and 33 of the genus Spiniferites Mantell 1850 emend. Sarjeant 1970 occuring in Pliocene to modern sediments are listed and briefly described along with remarks made by workshop participants. In addition, several holotypes and topotypes are reillustrated. Three species previously assigned to Spiniferites are here considered/accepted as belonging to other genera: Impagidinium inaequalis (Wall …

Resveratrol Attenuates Allergic Asthma And Associated Inflammation In The Lungs Through Regulation Of Mirna-34a That Targets Foxp3 In Mice, Esraah Alharris, Hasan Alghetaa, Ratanesh K. Seth, Saurabh Chatterjee, Narendra P. Singh, Mitzi Nagarkatti, Prakash Nagarkatti

Faculty Publications

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airways mediated by T-helper 2 (Th2) cells involving complex signaling pathways. Although resveratrol has previously been shown to attenuate allergic asthma, the role of miRNA in this process has not been studied. We investigated the effect of resveratrol on ovalbumin-induced experimental allergic asthma in mice. To that end, BALB/c mice were immunized with ovalbumin (OVA) intraperitoneally followed by oral gavage of vehicle (OVA-veh) or resveratrol (100 mg/kg body) (OVA-res). On day 7, the experimental groups received intranasal challenge of OVA followed by 7 days of additional oral gavage of vehicle or resveratrol. At …

Fundamental Limits On The Capacities Of Bipartite Quantum Interactions, Stefan Bäuml, Siddhartha Das, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

Bipartite quantum interactions have applications in a number of different areas of quantum physics, reaching from fundamental areas such as quantum thermodynamics and the theory of quantum measurements to other applications such as quantum computers, quantum key distribution, and other information processing protocols. A particular aspect of the study of bipartite interactions is concerned with the entanglement that can be created from such interactions. In this Letter, we present our work on two basic building blocks of bipartite quantum protocols, namely, the generation of maximally entangled states and secret key via bipartite quantum interactions. In particular, we provide a nontrivial, …

Measurement Of The Branching Fraction And Time-Dependent Cp Asymmetry For B0→J/Ψπ0 Decays, B. Pal, A.J. Schwartz, H. Aihara, S. Al Said, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, V. Aulchenko, T. Aushev, R. Ayad, I. Badhrees, S. Bahinipati, V. Bansal, P. Behera, C. Beleño, B. Bhuyan, T. Bilka, J. Biswal, A. Bozek, M. Bračko, L. Cao, Milind Purohit, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

We measure the branching fraction and time-dependent CP-violating asymmetry for B0 → J=ψπ0 decays using a data sample of 711 fb⁻¹ collected on the ϒ(4S) resonance by the Belle experiment running at the KEKB e⁺e⁻ collider. The branching fraction is measured to be B(B⁰ → J/_ψπ⁰) ¼ [1.62 ± 0.11(stat) ± 0.06(syst) × 10⁻⁵, which is the most precise measurement to date. The measured CP asymmetry parameters are S =−0.59 ±0.19(stat) 0.03(syst) and A = −0.15 ± 0.14(stat) ^+0.04 _−0.03 (syst). The mixing-induced CP asymmetry (S) differs …

Positive Association Between Dietary Inflammatory Index And The Risk Of Osteoporosis: Results From The Koges_Health Examinee (Hexa) Cohort Study, Hye Sun Kim, Cheongmin Sohn, Minji Kwon, Woori Na, Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert, Mi Kyung Kim

Faculty Publications

Previous studies have found that diet’s inflammatory potential is related to various diseases. However, little is known about its relationship with osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and osteoporosis risk in a large-scale prospective cohort study in Korea. This prospective cohort study included 159,846 participants (men 57,740; women 102,106) from South Korea with a mean follow-up of 7.9 years. The DII was calculated through a validated semi-quantitative FFQ (SQFFQ), and information on osteoporosis was self-reported by the participants. Analyses were performed by using a multivariable Cox proportional hazard model. …

Precision Of Provider Licensure Data For Mapping Member Accessibility To Medicaid Managed Care Provider Networks, Nathaniel Bell, Ana Lòpez-Defede, Rebecca Wilkerson, Kathy Mayfield-Smith

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

In July 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) updated its Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) regulations that govern network and access standards for enrollees. There have been few published studies of whether there is accurate geographic information on primary care providers to monitor network adequacy.

METHODS:

We analyzed a sample of nurse practitioner (NP) and physician address data registered in the state labor, licensing, and regulation (LLR) boards and the National Provider Index (NPI) using employment location data contained in the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) data file. Our main outcome measures were address discordance (%) at the …

Quantum Extension Of The Kruskal Spacetime, Abhay Ashtekar, Javier Olmedo, Parampreet Singh

Faculty Publications

A new description of macroscopic Kruskal black holes that incorporates the quantum geometry corrections of loop quantum gravity is presented. It encompasses both the "interior" region that contains classical singularities and the "exterior" asymptotic region. Singularities are naturally resolved by the quantum geometry effects of loop quantum gravity. The resulting quantum extension of spacetime has the following features: (i) It admits an infinite number of trapped, anti-trapped and asymptotic regions; (ii) All curvature scalars have uniform (i.e., mass independent) upper bounds; (iii) In the large mass limit, all asymptotic regions of the extension have the same ADM mass; (iv) In …

Measurement Of The Radial Mode Spectrum Of Photons Through A Phase-Retrieval Method, Saumya Choudhary, Rachel Sampson, Yoko Miyamoto, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza, Seyed Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Mirhosseini, Robert W. Boyd

Faculty Publications

We propose and demonstrate a simple and easy-to-implement projective-measurement protocol to determine the radial index p of a Laguerre–Gaussian (LGlp) mode. Our method entails converting any specified high-order LG0p mode into a near-Gaussian distribution that matches the fundamental mode of a single-mode fiber (SMF) through the use of two phase screens (unitary transforms) obtained by applying a phase-retrieval algorithm. The unitary transforms preserve the orthogonality of modes before the SMF and guarantee that our protocol can, in principle, be free of crosstalk. We measure the coupling efficiency of the transformed radial modes to the SMF for different pairs of phase …

Classical And Quantum Aspects Of Electric-Magnetic Duality Rotations In Curved Spacetimes, Ivan Agullo, Adrian Del Rio, Jose Navarro-Salas

Faculty Publications

It is well known that the source-free Maxwell equations are invariant under electric-magnetic duality rotations, F→Fcosθ+F sinθ. These transformations are indeed a symmetry of the theory in the Noether sense. The associated constant of motion is the difference in the intensity between self-dual and anti-self-dual components of the electromagnetic field or, equivalently, the difference between the right and left circularly polarized components. This conservation law holds even if the electromagnetic field interacts with an arbitrary classical gravitational background. After reexamining these results, we discuss whether this symmetry is maintained when the electromagnetic field is quantized. The answer is in the …

Triple Sulfur Isotope Relationships During Sulfate-Driven Anaerobic Oxidation Of Methane, Shanggui Gong, Yongbo Peng, Huiming Bao, Dong Feng, Xiaobin Cao, Peter W. Crockford, Duofu Chen

Faculty Publications

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Sulfate-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD-AOM) plays a critical role in regulating the global methane budget. Determination of the diagnostic triple isotope exponent θ33 (≡ln33⁡α/ln34⁡α) for SD-AOM can help to identify and quantify microbial sulfate reduction via SD-AOM in the environment. The history of Earth's surface redox conditions can also be examined through the measurement of triple sulfur isotope compositions in sedimentary rocks. Due to difficulties in both culturing anaerobic methanotrophs and sampling pore-water sulfate in SD-AOM-dominated environments, however, the θ33 values for the processes of SD-AOM have not been constrained. We propose that a set …

Triple Sulfur Isotope Relationships During Sulfate-Driven Anaerobic Oxidation Of Methane, Shanggui Gong, Yongbo Peng, Huiming Bao, Dong Feng, Xiaobin Cao, Peter W. Crockford, Duofu Chen

Faculty Publications

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Sulfate-driven anaerobic oxidation of methane (SD-AOM) plays a critical role in regulating the global methane budget. Determination of the diagnostic triple isotope exponent θ33 (≡ln33⁡α/ln34⁡α) for SD-AOM can help to identify and quantify microbial sulfate reduction via SD-AOM in the environment. The history of Earth's surface redox conditions can also be examined through the measurement of triple sulfur isotope compositions in sedimentary rocks. Due to difficulties in both culturing anaerobic methanotrophs and sampling pore-water sulfate in SD-AOM-dominated environments, however, the θ33 values for the processes of SD-AOM have not been constrained. We propose that a set …

Micrat: A Novel Algorithm For Inferring Gene Regulatory Networks Using Time Series Gene Expression Data, Bei Yang, Yaohui Xu, Andrew Maxwell, Wonryull Koh, Ping Gong, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

Background: Reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs), also known as reverse engineering of GRNs, aims to infer the potential regulation relationships between genes. With the development of biotechnology, such as gene chip microarray and RNA-sequencing, the high-throughput data generated provide us with more opportunities to infer the gene-gene interaction relationships using gene expression data and hence understand the underlying mechanism of biological processes. Gene regulatory networks are known to exhibit a multiplicity of interaction mechanisms which include functional and non-functional, and linear and non-linear relationships. Meanwhile, the regulatory interactions between genes and gene products are not spontaneous since various …

Secondary Organic Aerosol Production From Local Emissions Dominates The Organic Aerosol Budget Over Seoul, South Korea, During Korus-Aq, Benjamin A. Nault, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Douglas A. Day, Jason C. Schroder, Bruce Anderson, Andreas J. Beyersdorf, Donald R. Blake, William H. Brune, Yonghoon Choi, Chelsea A. Corr, Joost A. De Gouw, Jack E. Dibb, Joshua P. Digangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Alan Fried, L. Gregory Huey, Michelle J. Kim, Christoph J. Knote, Kara D. Lamb, Taehyoung Lee, Taehyun Park, Sally E. Pusede, Eric Scheuer, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Jung-Hun Woo, Jose L. Jimenez

Faculty Publications

Organic aerosol (OA) is an important fraction of submicron aerosols. However, it is challenging to predict and attribute the specific organic compounds and sources that lead to observed OA loadings, largely due to contributions from secondary production. This is especially true for megacities surrounded by numerous regional sources that create an OA background. Here, we utilize in situ gas and aerosol observations collected on board the NASA DC-8 during the NASA–NIER KORUS-AQ (Korea–United States Air Quality) campaign to investigate the sources and hydrocarbon precursors that led to the secondary OA (SOA) production observed over Seoul. First, we investigate the contribution …

Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction Of Co2 Into Co At Small, Thiol-Capped Au/Cu Nanoparticles, Douglas R. Kauffman, Dominic R. Alfonso, De Nyago Tafen, Congjun Wang, Yunyun Zhou, Yang Yu, Jonathan W. Lekse, Xingyi Deng, Vanessa Espinoza, Jamie Trindell, Oshadha K. Ranasingha, Amitava Roy, Jun Sik Lee, Huolin L. Xin

Faculty Publications

The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CO RR) is a promising approach for converting fossil fuel emissions into environmentally sustainable chemicals and fuels. The ability to control the surface structure of CO RR nanocatalysts provides an opportunity to tune product selectivity. Bimetallic gold-copper catalysts have been identified as emerging electrocatalyst candidates, but Cu incorporation typically lowers product selectivity compared with pure Au. Here we show sustained CO selectivity and activity up to 49% Cu content in small (<2 >nm), thiol-capped Au/Cu nanoparticles (NPs). Bimetallic NPs containing 49% Cu selectivity converted CO into CO with 100 ± 6% CO Faradaic efficiency and …

Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction Of Co2 Into Co At Small, Thiol-Capped Au/Cu Nanoparticles, Douglas R. Kauffman, Dominic R. Alfonso, De Nyago Tafen, Congjun Wang, Yunyun Zhou, Yang Yu, Jonathan W. Lekse, Xingyi Deng, Vanessa Espinoza, Jamie Trindell, Oshadha K. Ranasingha, Amitava Roy, Jun Sik Lee, Huolin L. Xin

Faculty Publications

The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CO RR) is a promising approach for converting fossil fuel emissions into environmentally sustainable chemicals and fuels. The ability to control the surface structure of CO RR nanocatalysts provides an opportunity to tune product selectivity. Bimetallic gold-copper catalysts have been identified as emerging electrocatalyst candidates, but Cu incorporation typically lowers product selectivity compared with pure Au. Here we show sustained CO selectivity and activity up to 49% Cu content in small (<2 >nm), thiol-capped Au/Cu nanoparticles (NPs). Bimetallic NPs containing 49% Cu selectivity converted CO into CO with 100 ± 6% CO Faradaic efficiency and …

Unresolved Gamma-Ray Sky Through Its Angular Power Spectrum, M. Ackermann, M. Ajello, L. Baldini, J. Ballet, G. Barbiellini, D. Bastieri, R. Bellazzini, E. Bissaldi, R. D. Blandford, R. Bonino, E. Bottacini, J. Bregeon, P. Bruel, R. Buehler, E. Burns, S. Buson, R. A. Cameron, R. Caputo, P. A. Caraveo, E. Cavazzuti, S. Chen, G. Chiaro, S. Ciprini, D. Costantin, A. Cuoco, S. Cutini, F. D'Ammando, P. De La Torre Luque, F. De Palma, A. Desai, S. W. Digel, N. Di Lalla, M. Di Mauro

Faculty Publications

The gamma-ray sky has been observed with unprecedented accuracy in the last decade by the Fermi -large area telescope (LAT), allowing us to resolve and understand the high-energy Universe. The nature of the remaining unresolved emission [unresolved gamma-ray background (UGRB)] below the LAT source detection threshold can be uncovered by characterizing the amplitude and angular scale of the UGRB fluctuation field. This Letter presents a measurement of the UGRB autocorrelation angular power spectrum based on eight years of Fermi-LAT Pass 8 data products. The analysis is designed to be robust against contamination from resolved sources and noise systematics. The sensitivity …

The Distances To Novae As Seen By Gaia, Bradley E. Schaefer

Faculty Publications

The Gaia spacecraft has just released a large set of parallaxes, including 41 novae for which the fractional error is < 30 per cent. I have used these to evaluate the accuracy and bias of the many priormethods for getting nova distances. The best of the priormethods is the geometrical parallaxes from Hubble Space Telescope for just four novae, although the real error bars are 3× larger than stated. The canonical method for prior nova distances has been the expansion parallaxes from the nova shells, but this method is found to have real 1σ uncertainty of 0.95 mag in the distance modulus, and the prior quoted error bars are on average 3.6× worse than advertised. The many variations on the 'maximum-magnitude-rate-of-decline' (MMRD) relation are all found to be poor, too poor to be useable, and even to be non-applicable for five out of seven samples of nova, so the MMRD should no longer be used. The prior method of using various measures of the extinction from the interstellar medium have been notoriously bad, but now a new version by Özdönmez and coworkers has improved this to an unbiased method with 1σ uncertainty of 1.14 mag in the distance modulus. For the future, I recommend in order (1) using the Gaia parallax, (2) using the catalogue of Özdönmez, (3) using Mmax = -7.0 ± 1.4 mag as an empirical method of poor accuracy, and (4) if none of these methods is available, then to not use the nova for purposes where a distance is needed.

Numerical Simulations Of Mass Transfer In Binaries With Bipolytropic Components, Kundan Kadam, Patrick M. Motl, Dominic C. Marcello, Juhan Frank, Geoffrey C. Clayton

Faculty Publications

We present the first self-consistent three-dimensional study of hydrodynamic simulations of mass transfer in binary systems with bipolytropic (composite polytropic) components. In certain systems, such as contact binaries or during the common-envelope phase, the core- envelope structure of the stars plays an important role in binary interactions. In this paper, we compare mass transfer simulations of bipolytropic binary systems in order to test the suitability of our numerical tools for investigating the dynamical behaviour of such systems. The initial, equilibrium binary models possess a core-envelope structure and are obtained using the bipolytropic self-consistent field technique. We conduct mass transfer simulations …

Rhizosphere Microbial Communities Of Spartina Alternifloa And Juncus Roemerianus From Restored And Natural Tidal Marshes On Deer Island, Mississippi, Olga Mavrodi, Carina M. Jung, Jed O. Eberly, Samuel Hendry, Sanchirmaa Namijilsuren, Patrick D. Biber, Karl J. Indest, Dmitri V. Mavrodi

Faculty Publications

The U. S. Gulf of Mexico is experiencing a dramatic increase in tidal marsh restoration actions, which involves planting coastal areas with smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and black needlerush (Juncus roemerianus) for erosion control and to provide habitat for fish and wildlife. It can take decades for sedimentary cycles in restored marshes to approach reference conditions, and the contribution of the sediment microbial communities to these processes is poorly elucidated. In this study, we addressed this gap by comparing rhizosphere microbiomes of S. alterniflora and J. roemerianus from two restored marshes and a natural reference marsh located at Deer Island, …