Digital Commons Network^™

Size Limits And Fission Channels Of Doubly Charged Noble Gas Clusters, Ianessa Stromberg, Stefan Bergmeister, Lisa Ganner, Fabio Zappa, Paul Scheier, Olof Echt, Elisabeth Gruber

Faculty Publications

Small, highly charged liquid droplets are unstable with respect to spontaneous charge separation when their size drops below the Rayleigh limit or, in other words, their fissility parameter X exceeds the value 1. The absence of small doubly charged atomic cluster ions in mass spectra below an element-specific appearance size n_a has sometimes been attributed to the onset of barrierless fission at X = 1. However, more realistic models suggest that n_a marks the size below which the rate of fission surpasses that of competing dissociative channels, and the Rayleigh limit of doubly charged van der Waals clusters …

Influence Of Climate Zone Shifts On Forest Ecosystems In Northeastern United States And Maritime Canada, Samuel Roy, Xinyuan Wei, Aaron Weiskittel, Daniel J. Hayes, Peter Nelson, Alexandra R. Contosta

Faculty Publications

Climate zones play a significant role in shaping the forest ecosystems located within them by influencing multiple ecological processes, including growth, disturbances, and species interactions. Therefore, delineation of current and future climate zones is essential to establish a framework for understanding and predicting shifts in forest ecosystems. In this study, we developed and applied an efficient approach to delineate regional climate zones in the northeastern United States and maritime Canada, aiming to characterize potential shifts in climate zones and discuss associated changes in forest ecosystems. The approach comprised five steps: climate data dimensionality reduction, sampling scenario design, cluster generation, climate …

Scriptblock Smuggling: Uncovering Stealthy Evasion Techniques In Powershell And .Net Environments, Anthony J. Rose, Scott R. Graham, Christine M. Schubert, Jacob Krasnov, Wayne C. Henry

Faculty Publications

The Antimalware Scan Interface (AMSI) plays a crucial role in detecting malware within Windows operating systems. This paper presents ScriptBlock Smuggling, a novel evasion and log spoofing technique exploiting PowerShell and .NET environments to circumvent the AMSI. By focusing on the manipulation of ScriptBlocks within the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST), this method creates dual AST representations, one for compiler execution and another for antivirus and log analysis, enabling the evasion of AMSI detection and challenging traditional memory patching bypass methods. This research provides a detailed analysis of PowerShell’s ScriptBlock creation and its inherent security features and pinpoints critical limitations in …

Developmental Differences In Reported Speech And Internal State Language In Preschoolers’ Personal Narratives, Megan E. Welliver, Alice J. Davidson, Alexandra Mccrary

Faculty Publications

The present study explored developmental differences in preschoolers’ use of reported speech and internal state language in personal narratives. Three-, four-, and five-year-olds attending a laboratory preschool shared 204 stories about ‘a time when you were happy/sad’. Stories were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for reported speech (direct, indirect, narrativized) and internal state language (cognitive states, total emotion terms, unique emotion terms). Personal narratives told by five-year-olds included more cognitive states and more narrativized speech than those told by three- and four-year-olds, even when accounting for children’s vocabulary skills, and that reported speech (narrativized, direct) were positively correlated with cognitive state …

Data Supporting Research On Personalized Learning Paths, Sean Mochocki, Mark Reith

Faculty Publications

Personalized Learning Paths (PLPs) are a key application of Artificial Intelligence in E-Learning. In contrast to regular Learning Paths, they return a unique sequence of learning materials identified as meeting the individual needs of the students. In the literature, PLPs are often created from knowledge graphs, which assist with ordering topics and their associated learning materials. Knowledge graphs are typically directed and acyclic, to capture prerequisite relationships between topics, though they can also have bidirectional edges when these prerequisite relationships are not necessary. This data package provides a primarily un-directed knowledge graph, with associated repository of open-source learning materials that …

Science Opportunities For Imap-Lo Observations Of Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen And Deuterium During A Maximum Of Solar Activity, M A. Kubiak, M Bzowski, E Möbius, Nathan A. Schwadron

Faculty Publications

Direct-sampling observations of interstellar neutral gas, including hydrogen and deuterium, have been performed for more than one cycle of solar activity by IBEX. The IBEX viewing is restricted to directions perpendicular to the spacecraft–Sun line, which limits the observations to several months each year. This restriction is removed in the forthcoming mission called Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe. The IMAP-Lo instrument will have the capability of adjusting the angle of its boresight with the spacecraft rotation axis. We continue a series of studies of the resulting science opportunities. We adopt the schedule of adjusting the boresight angle suggested by Kubiak …

Ascophyllum Nodosum Swe Enhances Root Anatomy, But Not Pod Activity In Both A Salt-Tolerant And Salt-Sensitive Soybean (Glycine Max) Variety Exposed To Salt Stress, Elena Hoang, Paul Stephenson

Faculty Publications

There is growing evidence that seaweed extracts (SWE) may be a solution for mitigating the negative effects of salt stress on crop yield and quality, as they introduce bioactive ingredients able to regulate the expression of growth-inducing and stress-responsive genes. We demonstrate that SWE slightly ameliorated the negative physical growth effects of salt stress, especially in the root anatomy of the salt-sensitive (Clark) variety. The SWE did not stimulate or enhance peroxidase (POD) activity in either the salt-sensitive (Clark) or salt-tolerant variety (Manokin). However, a complete assessment of other antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, APX) involved in the ROS detoxification process …

Science Opportunities For Imap-Lo Observations Of Interstellar Neutral Hydrogen And Deuterium During A Maximum Of Solar Activity, M A. Kubiak, M Bzowski, E Möbius, Nathan A. Schwadron

Faculty Publications

Direct-sampling observations of interstellar neutral gas, including hydrogen and deuterium, have been performed for more than one cycle of solar activity by IBEX. The IBEX viewing is restricted to directions perpendicular to the spacecraft–Sun line, which limits the observations to several months each year. This restriction is removed in the forthcoming mission called Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe. The IMAP-Lo instrument will have the capability of adjusting the angle of its boresight with the spacecraft rotation axis. We continue a series of studies of the resulting science opportunities. We adopt the schedule of adjusting the boresight angle suggested by Kubiak …

The Impact Of Data Preparation And Model Complexity On The Natural Language Classification Of Chinese News Headlines, Torrey J. Wagner, Dennis Guhl, Brent T. Langhals

Faculty Publications

Given the emergence of China as a political and economic power in the 21st century, there is increased interest in analyzing Chinese news articles to better understand developing trends in China. Because of the volume of the material, automating the categorization of Chinese-language news articles by headline text or titles can be an effective way to sort the articles into categories for efficient review. A 383,000-headline dataset labeled with 15 categories from the Toutiao website was evaluated via natural language processing to predict topic categories. The influence of six data preparation variations on the predictive accuracy of four algorithms was …

A Quantum Logic Gate In The Dna Deoxyribose Moiety, F. Matthew Mihelic

Faculty Publications

The deoxyribose moiety of a nucleotide in the DNA molecule can act as a quantumlogic gate, in which the enantiomeric shift between the C2-endo and C3-endo conformations of each nucleotide, occurs within a logically and thermodynamically reversible situation of electron spin qubits, that are coherently held within the topologically insulating DNA crystalline nanostructure, and that are coherently conducted along the delocalized electrons of the pi-stacked nucleotide base pairs. The enantiomeric symmetry between the C2-endo and C3-endo conformations is logically and thermodynamically reversible because it functions as a symmetry-breaking Szilard engine that is effectively built out of the physicality of the …

Emergent Potential Of The Terahertz Cmos Microprocessor, F. Matthew Mihelic

Faculty Publications

The terahertz speed CMOS microprocessor that has been designed by Averoses Incorporated (US11063118B1) utilizes nano-vacuum tube elements with plasma interconnect of those elements, and has the capability to emit, detect, conduct, and analyze electromagnetic signals in the terahertz range. Nano-vacuum tube systems are resistant to ionizing radiation and to high temperatures, and there are emergent potentials of such systems beyond the obvious speed-up of data processing. Such a microprocessor can provide a platform for compact terahertz spectroscopy, especially for organic molecules, and this can also include DNA sequencing and DNA fingerprinting. Another emergent quality of such a system is that, …

Correlation Of Coronal Mass Ejection Shock Temperature With Solar Energetic Particle Intensity, Manuel Enrique Cuesta, D J. Mccomas, L Y. Khoo, R Bandyopadhyay, T Sharma, M M. Shen, J S. Rankin, A T. Cummings, J R. Szalay, C M S Cohen, Nathan A. Schwadron, R Chhiber, F Pecora, W H. Matthaeus, R A. Leske, M L. Stevens

Faculty Publications

Solar energetic particle (SEP) events have been observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft since its launch in 2018. These events include sources from solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The IS⊙IS instrument suite on board PSP is measuring ions over energies from ∼ 20 keV nucleon−1 to 200 MeV nucleon−1 and electrons from ∼ 20 keV to 6 MeV. Previous studies sought to group CME characteristics based on their plasma conditions and arrived at general descriptions with large statistical errors, leaving open questions on how to properly group CMEs based solely on their plasma conditions. To help …

Doubly Charged Dimers And Trimers Of Heavy Noble Gases, Gabriel Schöpfer, Stefan Bergmeister, Milan Ončák, Ianessa Stromberg, Masoomeh Mahmoodi-Darian, Paul Scheier, Olof Echt, Elisabeth Gruber

Faculty Publications

Many doubly charged heteronuclear dimers are metastable or even thermodynamically stable with respect to charge separation. Homonuclear dicationic dimers, however, are more difficult to form. He₂²⁺ was the first noble gas dimer predicted to be metastable and, decades later, observed. Ne₂²⁺ is the only other dicationic noble gas dimer that has been detected so far. Here, we present a novel approach to form fragile dicationic species, by post-ionization of singly charged ions that are embedded in helium nanodroplets (HNDs). Bare ions are then extracted by colliding the HNDs with helium gas. We detect homonuclear doubly charged …

The Gyrokinetic Dispersion Relation Of Microtearing Modes In Collisionless Toroidal Plasmas, Benjamin D G Chandran, A A. Schekochihin

Faculty Publications

We solve the linearized gyrokinetic equation, quasineutrality condition and Ampere's law to obtain the dispersion relation of microtearing modes (MTMs) in collisionless low- $\beta$ toroidal plasmas. Consistent with past studies, we find that MTMs are driven unstable by the electron temperature gradient and that this instability drive is mediated by magnetic drifts. The dispersion relation that we derive can be evaluated numerically very quickly and may prove useful for devising strategies to mitigate MTM instability in fusion devices.

Correlation Of Coronal Mass Ejection Shock Temperature With Solar Energetic Particle Intensity, Manuel Enrique Cuesta, D J. Mccomas, L Y. Khoo, R Bandyopadhyay, T Sharma, M M. Shen, J S. Rankin, A T. Cummings, J R. Szalay, C M S Cohen, Nathan A. Schwadron, R Chhiber, F Pecora, W H. Matthaeus, R A. Leske, M L. Stevens

Faculty Publications

Solar energetic particle (SEP) events have been observed by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft since its launch in 2018. These events include sources from solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The IS⊙IS instrument suite on board PSP is measuring ions over energies from ∼ 20 keV nucleon−1 to 200 MeV nucleon−1 and electrons from ∼ 20 keV to 6 MeV. Previous studies sought to group CME characteristics based on their plasma conditions and arrived at general descriptions with large statistical errors, leaving open questions on how to properly group CMEs based solely on their plasma conditions. To help …

The Gyrokinetic Dispersion Relation Of Microtearing Modes In Collisionless Toroidal Plasmas, Benjamin D G Chandran, A A. Schekochihin

Faculty Publications

We solve the linearized gyrokinetic equation, quasineutrality condition and Ampere's law to obtain the dispersion relation of microtearing modes (MTMs) in collisionless low- $\beta$ toroidal plasmas. Consistent with past studies, we find that MTMs are driven unstable by the electron temperature gradient and that this instability drive is mediated by magnetic drifts. The dispersion relation that we derive can be evaluated numerically very quickly and may prove useful for devising strategies to mitigate MTM instability in fusion devices.

Association Of Blast Exposure In Military Breaching With Intestinal Permeability Blood Biomarkers Associated With Leaky Gut, Qingkun Liu, Zhaoyu Wang, Shengnan Sun, Jeffrey Nemes, Lisa A. Brenner, Miciej Skotak, Christina R. Lavalle, Yongchao Ge, Walter Carr, Fatemeh Haghighi

Faculty Publications

Injuries and subclinical effects from exposure to blasts are of significant concern in military operational settings, including tactical training, and are associated with self-reported concussion-like symptomology and physiological changes such as increased intestinal permeability (IP), which was investigated in this study. Time-series gene expression and IP biomarker data were generated from “breachers” exposed to controlled, low-level explosive blast during training. Samples from 30 male participants at pre-, post-, and follow-up blast exposure the next day were assayed via RNA-seq and ELISA. A battery of symptom data was also collected at each of these time points that acutely showed elevated symptom …

Investigating Consumer Purchase Intention Of Athleisure Products: A Study Of Lululemon’S Sns Ad, Julia Prigl, Jiyeon Kim Ph.D., Karen Edwards J.D.

Faculty Publications

This study investigated how SNS advertising by Lululemon affected consumer purchase intention from the brand. The influence of specific ad traits such as informativeness, creativity, and emotional appeal, on attitude towards the advertisement, the influence of attitude towards the advertisement on willingness to engage with the brand and the influence of willingness to engage with the brand on purchase intention. A moderating effect of a sedentary or active lifestyle is tested. Also, the influence of perceived behavior of others on subjective norm, and the influence of subjective norm on willingness to engage with the brand were investigated. This study contributes …

Examining The Utility Of The Early Childhood Development Index (Ecdi) Among Children In The Nigeria Context, Ngozi V. Enelamah, Smitha Rao, Margaret Lombe, Mansoo Yu, Chrisann Newransky, Chrisann Newransky, Melissa L. Villodas, Andrew Foell, Von Nebbitt

Faculty Publications

An estimated 6 million children under the age of five in Nigeria (out of nearly 31 million) risk not reaching their full developmental potential. The dearth of context-relevant measures poses a challenge to the planning and implementation of effective interventions. This study assesses the utility of the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) in Nigeria. We used the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to track progress among 3- to 4-year-old children (n = 11,073); 3-year-old, 51%; female, 49%. Using random calibration samples, the results from psychometric tests indicate that while over half of the children were on track in their development based …

Coping With California’S Deficit, Part 1: Borrowing And Taxes, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Faculty Publications

In this installment of Academic Perspectives on SALT, Shanske and Gamage examine California’s projected budget deficit and possible solutions. California has a large budget deficit that is predicted to last for several years. In this two-part series, we will place California’s situation in context and propose solutions.

The state should use short-term borrowing to cover at least some of the cyclical shortfall. That the real revenue cycle is unlikely to neatly unfold over one traditional fiscal year should not change this conclusion. To that end, we will show how California can operationalize this simple insight despite the impression some may …

Antifungal Efficacy Of Nanodelivered Azoxystrobin Against Rhizoctonia Solani In Soybean (Glycine Max), Eban A. Hanna, Carlos E. Astete, Trey Price, Carlos Tamez, Omar E. Mendez, Alvaro Garcia, Fannyuy V. Kewir, Jason C. White, Cristina M. Sabliov

Faculty Publications

Zein nanoparticles (ZNP) (189.4 ± 2.0 nm, +25.7 ± 0.9 mV) and lignin nanoparticles (LNP) (173.6 ± 0.9 nm, - 56.5 ± 2.8 mV) with loaded azoxystrobin (AZO) (5.2 ± 0.8 and 5.5 ± 0.7 wt %, respectively) were designed as antifungal delivery systems for seed treatments. Both particles followed pseudo-first-order kinetics for AZO release at 25 °C, with AZO releasing faster from ZNP. AZO-entrapped ZNP treatments produced the greatest yield (41.15 bushels), followed by empty LNP (40.35 bushels) for inoculated samples; these findings were comparable to yields achieved with the commercial AZO formulation, Dynasty. The stand per row feet …

The Prevalence Of Gram-Negative Bacteria With Difficult-To-Treat Resistance And Utilization Of Novel Β-Lactam Antibiotics In The Southeastern United States, Y. Vivian Tsai, P. Brandon Bookstaver Pharm.D., Joseph Kohn, Julie Ann Justo, Darrell Childress, Stefanie Stramel, Douglas Slain, Patrick Tu, Mary Joyce B. Wingler, Bruce M. Jones, Daniel T. Anderson, Megan M. Seddon, David A. Cretella, Joshua Eudy, Hana Winders, Kayla Antosz Pharm.D., Pamela Bailey, Majdi N. Al-Hasan

Faculty Publications

Objective:

To evaluate temporal trends in the prevalence of gram-negative bacteria (GNB) with difficult-to-treat resistance (DTR) in the southeastern United States. Secondary objective was to examine the use of novel β-lactams for GNB with DTR by both antimicrobial use (AU) and a novel metric of adjusted AU by microbiological burden (am-AU). Design:

Retrospective, multicenter, cohort. Setting:

Ten hospitals in the southeastern United States. Methods:

GNB with DTR including Enterobacterales, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter spp. from 2015 to 2020 were tracked at each institution. Cumulative AU of novel β-lactams including ceftolozane/tazobactam, ceftazidime/avibactam, meropenem/vaborbactam, imipenem/cilastatin/relebactam, and cefiderocol in days of therapy (DOT) …

Keeping Kosher In The Age Of Ai, Chaim Saiman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Escalating Uncertainties Require Institutional Transformation To Support Epistemological Pluralism, Jennifer F. Brewer, Holly M. Hapke

Faculty Publications

As marine conservation challenges intensify with accelerating anthropogenic change, informing public deliberation about difficult trade-offs requires commitment to epistemological pluralism. Robust integration of social sciences can improve the realism of policy debates by explicating a range of potential social-ecological outcomes. Funders have long incentivized interdisciplinarity, yet progress is insufficient and embedded in a political economy of knowledge production. Failure to substantively address inequities can stymie collaboration. Institutional expectations for promotion and tenure rarely recognize the extent to which deep engagement transforms epistemological norms and scholarly outputs. Several organizations and programs offer relevant experience and resources. Senior scholars can use their …

Escalating Uncertainties Require Institutional Transformation To Support Epistemological Pluralism, Jennifer F. Brewer, Holly M. Hapke

Faculty Publications

As marine conservation challenges intensify with accelerating anthropogenic change, informing public deliberation about difficult trade-offs requires commitment to epistemological pluralism. Robust integration of social sciences can improve the realism of policy debates by explicating a range of potential social-ecological outcomes. Funders have long incentivized interdisciplinarity, yet progress is insufficient and embedded in a political economy of knowledge production. Failure to substantively address inequities can stymie collaboration. Institutional expectations for promotion and tenure rarely recognize the extent to which deep engagement transforms epistemological norms and scholarly outputs. Several organizations and programs offer relevant experience and resources. Senior scholars can use their …

Sortase-Encoding Genes, Srta And Srtc, Mediate Enterococcus Faecalis Og1rf Persistence In The Helicoverpa Zea Gastrointestinal Tract, Jerreme J. Jackson, Samantha Heyer, Geneva Bell

Faculty Publications

Enterococcus faecalis is a commensal and opportunistic pathogen in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of mammals and insects. To investigate mechanisms of bacterial persistence in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), we developed a non-destructive sampling model using Helicoverpa zea, a destructive agricultural pest, as host to study the role of bacterial sortase enzymes in mitigating persistence in the gastrointestinal tract. E. faecalis OG1RF ΔsrtA and E. faecalis OG1RF ΔsrtC, isogenic E. faecalis OG1RF sortase mutants grew similarly under planktonic growth conditions relative to a streptomycin-resistant E. faecalis OG1RFS WT in vitro but displayed impaired biofilm formation under, both, physiological and alkaline conditions. …

Multi-Decadal Coastal Acidification In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Driven By Climate Change And Eutrophication, Zong Pei Jiang, Cao Qin, Yiwen Pan, Chengfeng Le, Nancy Rabalais, Robert Eugene Turner, Katja Fennel, Kui Wang, Wei Jun Cai

Faculty Publications

Coastal waters often experience enhanced ocean acidification due to the combined effects of climate change and regional biological and anthropogenic activities. Through reconstructing summertime bottom pH in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 1986 to 2019, we demonstrated that eutrophication-fueled respiration dominated bottom pH changes on intra-seasonal and interannual timescales, resulting in recurring acidification coinciding with hypoxia. However, the multi-decadal acidification trend was principally driven by rising atmospheric CO2 and ocean warming, with more acidified and less buffered hypoxic waters exhibiting a higher rate of pH decline (− 0.0023 yr^{− 1}) compared to non-hypoxic waters (− 0.0014 yr …

Balancing Best Practice And Reality In Behavioral Intervention Development: A Survey Of Principal Investigators Funded By The National Institutes Of Health, Lauren Von Klinggraeff, Sarah Burkart, Christopher D. Pfledderer, Alexander Mclain, Bridget Armstrong Ph.D., Robert Glenn Weaver Med, Phd, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd

Faculty Publications

Preliminary studies play a prominent role in the development of large-scale behavioral interventions. Though recommendations exist to guide the execution and interpretation of preliminary studies, these assume optimal scenarios which may clash with realities faced by researchers. The purpose of this study was to explore how principal investigators (PIs) balance expectations when conducting preliminary studies. We surveyed PIs funded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct preliminary behavioral interventions between 2000 and 2020. Four hundred thirty-one PIs (19% response rate) completed the survey (November 2021 to January 2022, 72% female, mean 21 years post-terminal degree). Most PIs were aware …

Teaching Statistics: A Technology-Enhanced Supportive Instruction (Tsi) Model During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond, Serina Al-Haddad, Nancy Chick, Farshid Safi

Faculty Publications

Many approaches exist in teaching statistics, however, learning statistics is frequently perceived by students as challenging. While evidence-based teaching approaches like case discussions and flipped-classroom models have been successfully incorporated into multiple disciplines, these methods can have inadequate success when students are affectively detached or sometimes paralyzed by the subject. The sudden need to switch to virtual teaching in Spring 2020 created unprecedented challenges that were overwhelming for instructors and students. This article explores the challenges of teaching a statistics course, and the importance of purposeful use of technology and supportive feedback to effectively engage students and promote learning. Furthermore, …

The Holomorphic Discrete Series Contribution To The Generalized Whittaker Plancherel Formula, Jan Frahm, Gestur Ólafsson, Bent Ørsted

Faculty Publications

For a Hermitian Lie group G of tube type we find the contribution of the holomorphic discrete series to the Plancherel decomposition of the Whittaker space L²(G/N,ψ), where N is the unipotent radical of the Siegel parabolic subgroup and ψ is a certain non-degenerate unitary character on N. The holomorphic discrete series embeddings are constructed in terms of generalized Whittaker vectors for which we find explicit formulas in the bounded domain realization, the tube domain realization and the L²-model of the holomorphic discrete series. Although L²(G/N,ψ) does not have finite multiplicities in general, the …