Listen in the Library: The Lighthouse Quartet

The monthly concert series, Listen in the Library, featured student performers in library spaces on the Logan campus. These short, pop-up concerts were one of the ways the USU Libraries was involved in USU’s “Year of the Arts” in 2017-2018. While the library regularly features students’ visual art and exhibits, Listen in the Library brought the performing arts into the space, making student accomplishments in music audible and visible to a community outside the concert hall.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/music_programs/1159/thumbnail.jp

Decays of mesons with charm quarks on the lattice

We investigate mesons containing charm quarks on fine lattices with a^{-1} \sim 5 GeV. The quenched approximation is employed using the Wilson gauge action at \beta = 6.6 and nonperturbatively O(a) improved Wilson quarks. We present results for decay constants using various interpolating fields and give preliminary results for form factors of semileptonic decays of D_s mesons to light pseudoscalar mesons.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, talk presented at the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, 30 July - 4 August 2007, Regensburg, German

Mentoring, Training, and Scholarly Productivity Experiences of Cancer-Related Health Disparities Research Trainees: Do Outcomes Differ for Underrepresented Scientists?

The study aims to explore variation in scholarly productivity outcomes by underrepresented status among a diverse sample of researchers in a community-engaged training program. We identified 141 trainees from a web-based survey of researchers in the National Cancer Institute-funded, Community Networks Program Centers (CNPCs) (2011-2016). We conducted a series of multiple logistic regression models to estimate the effect of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-defined underrepresented status on four, self-reported, scholarly productivity outcomes in the previous 5 years: number of publications (first-authored and total) and funded grants (NIH and any agency). Sixty-five percent (n = 92) indicated NIH underrepresented status. In final adjusted models, non-NIH underrepresented (vs. underrepresented) trainees reported an increased odds of having more than the median number of total publications (> 9) (OR = 3.14, 95% CI 1.21-8.65) and any grant funding (OR = 5.10, 95% CI 1.77-14.65). Reporting ≥ 1 mentors (vs. none) was also positively associated (p < 0.05) with these outcomes. The CNPC underrepresented trainees had similar success in first-authored publications and NIH funding as non-underrepresented trainees, but not total publications and grants. Examining trainees' mentoring experiences over time in relation to scholarly productivity outcomes is needed

NNLO Vertex Corrections in charmless hadronic B decays: Imaginary part

We compute the imaginary part of the 2-loop vertex corrections in the QCD Factorization framework for hadronic two-body decays as B -> pi pi. This completes the NNLO calculation of the imaginary part of the topological tree amplitudes and represents an important step towards a NNLO prediction of direct CP asymmetries in QCD Factorization. Concerning the technical aspects, we find that soft and collinear infrared divergences cancel in the hard-scattering kernels which demonstrates factorization at the 2-loop order. All results are obtained analytically including the dependence on the charm quark mass. The numerical impact of the NNLO corrections is found to be significant, in particular they lead to an enhancement of the strong phase of the colour-suppressed tree amplitude.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures. v2: minor changes in Section 4.3, results unchanged, version accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics

Effect of bath ionic strength on adhesion and tribological properties of pure nickel and nickel composite coatings

The effect of electrolytic chemical concentration on wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant, adhesion and wettability properties of pure nickel and nickel-alumina composite coatings has been investigated in this paper. Coatings were electroplated over steel substrates under constant pulse conditions using pulse electrodeposition technique. Corrosion-resistant results show that the anti-corrosion properties are increasing with medium concentration both for pure nickel and nickel-alumina composite coating. For anti-wear properties the medium concentration showed increasing trend in case of pure nickel coatings but decreased in nickel-alumina composite coatings. In composite coating the higher and low concentrations of electrolyte showed the higher wear resistance properties. Furthermore, the influence of electrolyte concentration on changing surface morphologies, mechanical, wettability and adhesion properties have been investigated and reported here. Surface morphologies of the coatings were examined using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Surface mapping and wear analyses were conducted through 3D white light interferometry

Invasion success of a global avian invader is explained by within-taxon niche structure and association with humans in the native range

Aim To mitigate the threat invasive species pose to ecosystem functioning, reli- able risk assessment is paramount. Spatially explicit predictions of invasion risk obtained through bioclimatic envelope models calibrated with native species distribution data can play a critical role in invasive species management. Fore- casts of invasion risk to novel environments, however, remain controversial. Here, we assess how species’ association with human-modified habitats in the native range and within-taxon niche structure shape the distribution of invasive populations at biogeographical scales and influence the reliability of predictions of invasion risk. Location Africa, Asia and Europe. Methods We use ~1200 native and invasive ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri) occurrences and associated data on establishment success in combi- nation with mtDNA-based phylogeographic structure to assess niche dynam- ics during biological invasion and to generate predictions of invasion risk. Niche dynamics were quantified in a gridded environmental space while bioclimatic models were created using the biomod2 ensemble modelling framework. Results Ring-necked parakeets show considerable niche expansion into climates colder than their native range. Only when incorporating a measure of human modification of habitats within the native range do bioclimatic envelope mod- els yield credible predictions of invasion risk for parakeets across Europe. Inva- sion risk derived from models that account for differing niche requirements of phylogeographic lineages and those that do not achieve similar statistical accu- racy, but there are pronounced differences in areas predicted to be susceptible for invasion. Main conclusions Information on within-taxon niche structure and especially association with humans in the native range can substantially improve predic- tive models of invasion risk. To provide policymakers with robust predictions of invasion risk, including these factors into bioclimatic envelope models is recommended

Finite volume effects for the pion mass at two loops

We evaluate the pion mass in finite volume to two loops within Chiral Perturbation Theory. The results are compared with a recently proposed extension of the asymptotic formula of Luscher. We find that contributions, which were neglected in the latter, are numerically very small at the two-loop level and conclude that for Mpi*L>2, L>2fm the finite volume effects in the meson sector are analytically well under control.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

Exploring community perceptions in preparation for a randomised controlled trial of biofortified flour in Pakistan

Background: Biofortification of staple food crops may be a cost-effective and sustainable approach to reducing micronutrient deficiencies in resource-poor settings with low dietary diversity. However, its success depends on uptake by the local population. This paper presents formative research conducted in a remote, rural community in North West Pakistan, prior to commencing a randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of consuming zinc-biofortified wheat flour for alleviating zinc deficiency. It explored local community members’ knowledge, understanding and attitudes towards biofortification and views on members of their community taking part in the trial. Methods: Four focus group discussions were conducted with male and female community members (separately for cultural reasons) and four in-depth interviews were conducted with Jirga members—respected male elders. Participation was limited to households that were ineligible for the trial so that we could explore the perspectives of community members who were not influenced by the incentives of the trial. Focus group participants were selected at community events for transparency. Data collection took place at the local school and homes of Jirga members. Thematic analysis was undertaken, using a combination of deductive and inductive approaches to identify key themes. Results: A total of 47 men and women participated in this study. Participants reported clear motivation to access and consume more nutritious flour, believing this would bring health benefits, particularly to women and children. Trusted members of the local community, including Jirga members and female health workers, should be involved in providing information on biofortified flour (and the trial) to increase levels of awareness and acceptance. Without their involvement, there is a risk that biofortified flour would be mistrusted. The cost of flour is the main factor affecting purchasing decisions, and biofortified flour will need to be cost-competitive to achieve widespread uptake in marginalised, rural communities. Conclusion: This formative study generated rich, qualitative data from a range of community stakeholders to improve the understanding of important barriers and facilitators to the widespread acceptability and adoption of biofortified wheat. Implementation research such as this will inform future decision-making in relation to scaling up biofortified wheat in Pakistan

Analysing and Modelling the Corrosion Behavior of Ni/Al2O3, Ni/SiC, Ni/ZrO2 and Ni/Graphene Nanocomposite Coatings

A study has been presented on the effects of intrinsic mechanical parameters, such as the surface stress, surface elastic modulus, surface porosity, permeability and grain size on the corrosion failure of nanocomposite coatings. A set of mechano-electrochemical equations was developed by combining the popular Butler-Volmer and Duhem expressions to analyse the direct influence of mechanical parameters on the electrochemical reactions in nanocomposite coatings. Nanocomposite coatings of Ni with Al2O3, SiC, ZrO2 and Graphene nanoparticles were studied as examples. The predictions showed that the corrosion rate of the nanocoatings increased with increasing grain size due to increase in surface stress, surface porosity and permeability of nanocoatings. A detailed experimental study was performed in which the nanocomposite coatings were subjected to an accelerated corrosion testing. The experimental results helped to develop and validate the equations by qualitative comparison between the experimental and predicted results showing good agreement between the two