Technical Bulletins: Amending Comprehensive Growth Plans

Includes the steps to follow in amending a comprehensive growth plan

Interpretable and Fair Boolean Rule Sets via Column Generation

This paper considers the learning of Boolean rules in either disjunctive normal form (DNF, OR-of-ANDs, equivalent to decision rule sets) or conjunctive normal form (CNF, AND-of-ORs) as an interpretable model for classification. An integer program is formulated to optimally trade classification accuracy for rule simplicity. We also consider the fairness setting and extend the formulation to include explicit constraints on two different measures of classification parity: equality of opportunity and equalized odds. Column generation (CG) is used to efficiently search over an exponential number of candidate clauses (conjunctions or disjunctions) without the need for heuristic rule mining. This approach also bounds the gap between the selected rule set and the best possible rule set on the training data. To handle large datasets, we propose an approximate CG algorithm using randomization. Compared to three recently proposed alternatives, the CG algorithm dominates the accuracy-simplicity trade-off in 8 out of 16 datasets. When maximized for accuracy, CG is competitive with rule learners designed for this purpose, sometimes finding significantly simpler solutions that are no less accurate. Compared to other fair and interpretable classifiers, our method is able to find rule sets that meet stricter notions of fairness with a modest trade-off in accuracy.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2107.01325, arXiv:1805.0990

Bone Tissue Engineering Using Colloidal Gels and Native Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials

Self-assembling and shear-responsive biomaterials possess favorable rheological and viscoelastic properties to be injectable and facilitate minimally invasive surgery. The current thesis work describes the evaluation of malleable colloidal gel scaffolding technology for the regeneration of bone tissue in non-load bearing critical-sized defects. This represents the first attempt to form colloids exclusively from biomaterials found in the microenvironment of healing bone fractures including hyaluronic acid (HA), hydroxyapatite (HAP), bone and cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM). Work in the current thesis evaluated preliminary in vitro and in vivo efficacy of several injectable colloids. Specifically, HA-HAP colloids exhibiting desirable rheological, viscoelastic, and swelling properties for surgical placement and defect site retention were identified from an array of formulations. Subsequent formulation refinement incorporated micronized decellularized cartilage (DCC) and demineralized bone matrix (DBM) particles into HA-HAP colloids, which did not result in any significant decreases in measured fluid properties. Coupling ECM microparticles within a colloidal fluid carrier was hypothesized to enhance the regenerative capacity of HA-HAP colloidal formulations. In vitro studies demonstrated evidence of temporal chondrogenic, hypertrophic, and osteogenic gene expression in response to changes in colloidal composition. More specifically, the inclusion of DCC led to hypertrophic chondrogenesis while both HAP and demineralized bone matrix DBM colloidal formulations appeared to direct cell lineage down an osteogenic pathway in a temporal manner similar to expression profiles observed in native bone fracture healing. In vivo studies demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of colloidal scaffolds in critical-sized rat calvarial defects. Although no significant differences in regenerated bone were observed in defects treated with colloidal formulations compared to negative control, the presence of endochondral (EC) derived ossification foci were only observed in HA-HAP and HA-HAP-ECM treated defects. Thus, definite advantages of using colloidal gel technology were observed in these preliminary studies, but future iterations of the implant formulation design may yield enhanced bone tissue regeneration. Ultimately, the idea of colloidal-based tissue implants has been taken from concept to practice, produced promising results for the treatment of non-load bearing bone defects, and has given rise to numerous areas of tangential research to refine the technology

Implementation of Drug and Alcohol Testing in the Unionized Workplace

Society has long been troubled by illegal drug and alcohol abuse

Iodinated NanoClusters as an inhaled CT contrast agent for lung visualization

Author's Pre-print: grey tick subject to Restrictions below, author can archive pre-print (ie pre-refereeing) Restrictions: Must obtain written permission from Editor Must not violate ACS ethical Guidelines Author's Post-print: grey tick subject to Restrictions below, author can archive post-print (ie final draft post-refereeing) Restrictions: If mandated by funding agency or employer/ institution If mandated to deposit before 12 months, must obtain waiver from Institution/Funding agency or use AuthorChoice 12 months embargo Publisher's Version/PDF: cross author cannot archive publisher's version/PDF General Conditions: On author's personal website, pre-print servers, institutional website, institutional repositories or subject repositories Non-Commercial Must be accompanied by set statement (see policy) Must link to publisher version Publisher's version/PDF cannot be use

Polls and the political process: the use of opinion polls by political parties and mass media organizations in European post‐communist societies (1990–95)

Opinion polling occupies a significant role within the political process of most liberal-capitalist societies, where it is used by governments, parties and the mass media alike. This paper examines the extent to which polls are used for the same purposes in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in particular, for bringing political elites and citizens together. It argues that these political elites are more concerned with using opinion polls for gaining competitive advantage over their rivals and for reaffirming their political power, than for devolving political power to citizens and improving the general processes of democratization