Is It Safe to Perform Lung Surgery During the Coronavirus Pandemic?

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are rapidly growing in our community. Patients with compromised lungs and older age are supposedly at high risk of poor outcomes with COVID-19. We aimed to evaluate the COVID-19 impact on lung surgery during this pandemic at our hospital. Methodology: This is a retrospective study of all lung surgery patients at our hospital in Boca Raton over three months (February to April 2020). All patients who remained for at least one-day inpatient post-lung surgery were assessed to see if they had an increased incidence of coronavirus infection during the hospital stay or at the follow-up office visit. Results: A total of 44 patients underwent thoracic surgery. It was found that there was no incidence of coronavirus infection in these patients. Conclusion: With adequate precautions, older patients can undergo lung surgery during this pandemic. There was no incidence of COVID-19 found among the patients during the hospital stay or at the first follow-up in the office. Also, the postoperative course was not adversely affected. Keywords: covid-19; lung cancer; lung surgery; thoracic surgery

The Lorentz Force and the Radiation Pressure of Light

In order to make plausible the idea that light exerts a pressure on matter, some introductory physics texts consider the force exerted by an electromagnetic wave on an electron. The argument as presented is both mathematically incorrect and has several serious conceptual difficulties without obvious resolution at the classical, yet alone introductory, level. We discuss these difficulties and propose an alternate demonstration.Comment: More or less as in AJ

Quantum Quenches in a Holographic Kondo Model

We study non-equilibrium dynamics and quantum quenches in a recent gauge/gravity duality model for a strongly coupled system interacting with a magnetic impurity with $SU(N)$ spin. At large $N$, it is convenient to write the impurity spin as a bilinear in Abrikosov fermions. The model describes an RG flow triggered by the marginally relevant Kondo operator. There is a phase transition at a critical temperature, below which an operator condenses which involves both an electron and an Abrikosov fermion field. This corresponds to a holographic superconductor in AdS$_2$ and models the impurity screening. We study the time dependence of the condensate induced by quenches of the Kondo coupling. The timescale for equilibration is generically given by the lowest-lying quasinormal mode of the dual gravity model. This mode also governs the formation of the screening cloud, which is obtained as the decrease of impurity degrees of freedom with time. In the condensed phase, the leading quasinormal mode is imaginary and the relaxation of the condensate is over-damped. For quenches whose final state is close to the critical point of the large $N$ phase transition, we study the critical slowing down and obtain the combination of critical exponents $z\nu=1$. When the final state is exactly at the phase transition, we find that the exponential ringing of the quasinormal modes is replaced by a power-law behaviour of the form $\sim t^{-a}\sin(b\log t)$. This indicates the emergence of a discrete scale invariance.Comment: 23 pages + appendices, 11 figure

UNG Students’ Participation in an After-School Literacy Program with K-5 Latino Students

This work explores effort to engage university students in a community-based literacy after school program in improving the communication skills of first-generation Latino elementary school children. Five pre-education program students en route to the education program collaborated with three teacher educators twice a week in providing small group reading instruction within the students’ mobile home community. Using ethnographic methods including interviews and reflections, we were able to garner perspectives on the nature of supporting students’ literacy skills in the community. Preliminary findings suggest pre-program students engaged in a community literacy program shaped by a community-based model working collaboratively with teacher educators are able to develop a basic understanding of pedagogy and skill sets necessary for supporting K-5 students’ literacy skills

The Indigenous digital divide: COVID-19 and its impacts on educational delivery to First Nation university students

The global COVID 19 pandemic highlighted that the delivery of online education inadvertently disadvantaged Indigenous Australian university students. This situation was particularly critical for Indigenous students from rural and remote locations. Australian universities increased the use of digital technologies to engage, support and teach due to students’ inability to access campuses. This presented universities with challenges in supporting Indigenous students living in and returning to non-urban settings. Often not recognised is the need for better strategies and plans for Indigenous students returning to their rural or remote community to continue their studies due to COVID. These communities often lack suitable infrastructure that would allow access to pedagogical and learning support opportunities. This paper explores how the business decision made by Australian universities to increase reliance on teaching online during COVID impacted the education of Indigenous students. This paper will then canvas ways this ongoing dilemma can be addressed by considering risks, measuring and monitoring performance to guide transformation, including universities’ more inclusive and respectful use of digital technologies involving First Nations people and culture

Cadherin-26 (CDH26) regulates airway epithelial cell cytoskeletal structure and polarity.

Polarization of the airway epithelial cells (AECs) in the airway lumen is critical to the proper function of the mucociliary escalator and maintenance of lung health, but the cellular requirements for polarization of AECs are poorly understood. Using human AECs and cell lines, we demonstrate that cadherin-26 (CDH26) is abundantly expressed in differentiated AECs, localizes to the cell apices near ciliary membranes, and has functional cadherin domains with homotypic binding. We find a unique and non-redundant role for CDH26, previously uncharacterized in AECs, in regulation of cell-cell contact and cell integrity through maintaining cytoskeletal structures. Overexpression of CDH26 in cells with a fibroblastoid phenotype increases contact inhibition and promotes monolayer formation and cortical actin structures. CDH26 expression is also important for localization of planar cell polarity proteins. Knockdown of CDH26 in AECs results in loss of cortical actin and disruption of CRB3 and other proteins associated with apical polarity. Together, our findings uncover previously unrecognized functions for CDH26 in the maintenance of actin cytoskeleton and apicobasal polarity of AECs

Chronicles of Oklahoma

Article describes the history of Tuttle Trail, its use as a cattle trail, recollections of pioneers living near the trail who observed the cattle drives, and its geological landmarks

Beyond greed: why armed groups tax

Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations, and the performance of public authority. This article builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exploration of the motivations of armed group taxation. We problematize common approaches toward armed group taxation and state-building, and outline key questions of a new research agenda