A Collaborative Solution: Online Safety and Adolescent Trends

This professional action project focused on addressing the risks and needs facing local adolescents in my community. I partnered with several professionals and community members to host a parent night presentation at Timberlake High School. The presentation included an overview of risks and trends affecting our local youth, as well as statewide statistics on social media, mental health, vaping, substance use, and other risky behaviors. At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees were invited to ask questions, network with professionals, peruse the “paraphernalia” table, and collect resource handouts from several different supporting agencies in the local area. The presentation was also recorded by the school to disseminate to parents at a later date

Student Persistence and Factors which Affect Retention in Online Courses at a Small Rural College

With declining enrollment and retention issues among Maine public universities it would be beneficial to try and determine what factors are contributing to online student retention and student persistence to ensure we are meeting the needs of online students which may help lead to better attrition rates, student success, and degree completion. This mixed-methods study sought to determine the various factors which may have contributed to student persistence and retention in online courses and programs at the University of Maine Fort Kent. The research correlated student experiences and perceptions with institutional efforts in order to address any gaps in services which may improve the educational experience and student success for online learners, in turn, helping to improve retention. Analysis of the data revealed that there are identifiable factors within the institution’s control that may help increase retention rates and that using available student information may help to ensure students have the resources they need to be successful in meeting their educational goals

Pharmacogenetics of anticancer drugs in non-Hodgkin lymphomas

The variability of tumour responses to chemotherapeutic agents is a topic of major interest in current oncology research. Advances in the knowledge of molecular pathology of cancer make available strategies by which tumour cells can be profiled for their genetic background in order to select anticancer agents that might selectively kill cells in a molecular context that matches the mechanism of action of drugs. The next generation of anticancer treatments might thus be tailored on the basis of the numerous molecular alterations identified in tumour cells of a particular patient. However, to exploit these alterations, it is necessary to understand how they influence the cellular pathways that control the sensitivity or, conversely, resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. The aim of this article is to outline major genetic abnormalities in non-Hodgkin lymphomas that can be used to streamline anticancer drug selection and to underscore the major role of pharmacogenetics, which studies the interactions between genetic background and drug activity, to the prediction of likelihood of response and identification of potential new targets for pharmacological intervention. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign  http://www.bjcancer.co

The first record in Italy of Trichogramma cordubense Vargas & Cabello 1985 (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) emerging from the eggs of Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

This study investigated the egg parasitoids of Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) feeding on Daphne gnidium L. (Malvales, Thymelaeaceae) in the San Rossore-Migliarino-Massaciuccoli Nature Reserve (Tuscany, Italy). Four species of egg parasitoids of the genus Trichogramma spp. were obtained. The parasitization rate gradually increased over the season, reaching its maximum level in September 2015, with a percentage of parasitized eggs close to 55 %. Three of the species obtained were already known as L. botrana parasitoids, whereas the finding of Trichogramma cordubense Vargas & Cabello, 1985 represents the first recording in Italy, as well as the first report of this species among the natural enemies of L. botrana

Quantification and Reduction of the Residual Chemical Reactivity of Passivated Biodegradable Porous Silicon for Drug Delivery Applications

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Elimination of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in an Animal Feed Manufacturing Facility

Citation: Huss AR, Schumacher LL, Cochrane RA, Poulsen E, Bai J, Woodworth JC, et al. (2017) Elimination of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus in an Animal Feed Manufacturing Facility. PLoS ONE 12(1): e0169612. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169612Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) was the first virus of wide scale concern to be linked to possible transmission by livestock feed or ingredients. Measures to exclude pathogens, prevent cross-contamination, and actively reduce the pathogenic load of feed and ingredients are being developed. However, research thus far has focused on the role of chemicals or thermal treatment to reduce the RNA in the actual feedstuffs, and has not addressed potential residual contamination within the manufacturing facility that may lead to continuous contamination of finished feeds. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the use of a standardized protocol to sanitize an animal feed manufacturing facility contaminated with PEDV. Environmental swabs were collected throughout the facility during the manufacturing of a swine diet inoculated with PEDV. To monitor facility contamination of the virus, swabs were collected at: 1) baseline prior to inoculation, 2) after production of the inoculated feed, 3) after application of a quaternary ammonium-glutaraldehyde blend cleaner, 4) after application of a sodium hypochlorite sanitizing solution, and 5) after facility heat-up to 60°C for 48 hours. Decontamination step, surface, type, zone and their interactions were all found to impact the quantity of detectable PEDV RNA (P < 0.05). As expected, all samples collected from equipment surfaces contained PEDV RNA after production of the contaminated feed. Additionally, the majority of samples collected from non-direct feed contact surfaces were also positive for PEDV RNA after the production of the contaminated feed, emphasizing the potential role dust plays in cross-contamination of pathogen throughout a manufacturing facility. Application of the cleaner, sanitizer, and heat were effective at reducing PEDV genomic material (P < 0.05), but did not completely eliminate it

The CMS Micro-strip Gas Chamber Project: Development of a high resolution tracking detector for harsh radiation environments

Thirty-two large area Micro-Strip Gas Chambers were tested in a high intensity, 350~MeV pion beam at PSI to prove that we had reached a Milestone for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment. The particle rate was approximately 6 kHz/mm2, distributed over the whole active area of the detectors, and this rate was maintained for a total integrated time of 493 hours. All of the chambers were operated with signal-to-noise values at or above that corresponding to 98 % hit detection efficiency at CMS; the average S/N was 31. No indications of any gain instabilities or ageing effects were observed. In the official 3-week Milestone period, three strips from a total of 16384 were damaged, a result which is twenty times lower than the minimal requirement for CMS. The spark rate of the detectors was very low and decreased with time to an average of one spark per chamber per day. The cathode voltages of 24 of the chambers were increased over a one week period to investigate the behaviour of the detectors at higher gains; the maximum S/N value was 2.4 times that at the normal working point. No significant increase in spark rate or strip loss rate was detected and the chambers operated stably. The detector efficiencies and imaging capabilities were also investigated. The MSGC design features and the assembly and test methodologies that enabled us to achieve these results are reported

A blind ATCA HI survey of the Fornax galaxy cluster:Properties of the HI detections

We present the first interferometric blind HI survey of the Fornax galaxy cluster, which covers an area of 15 deg2 out to the cluster virial radius. The survey has a spatial and velocity resolution of 67″ × 95″(∼6 × 9 kpc at the Fornax cluster distance of 20 Mpc) and 6.6 km s−1 and a 3σ sensitivity of NHI ∼ 2 × 1019 cm−2 and MHI ∼ 2 × 107 M⊙, respectively. We detect 16 galaxies out of roughly 200 spectroscopically confirmed Fornax cluster members. The detections cover about three orders of magnitude in HI mass, from 8 × 106 to 1.5 × 1010 M⊙. They avoid the central, virialised region of the cluster both on the sky and in projected phase-space, showing that they are recent arrivals and that, in Fornax, HI is lost within a crossing time, ∼2 Gyr. Half of these galaxies exhibit a disturbed HI morphology, including several cases of asymmetries, tails, offsets between HI and optical centres, and a case of a truncated HI disc. This suggests that these recent arrivals have been interacting with other galaxies, the large-scale potential or the intergalactic medium, within or on their way to Fornax. As a whole, our Fornax HI detections are HI-poorer and form stars at a lower rate than non-cluster galaxies in the same M⋆ range. This is particularly evident at M⋆  ≲  109 M⊙, indicating that low mass galaxies are more strongly affected throughout their infall towards the cluster. The MHI/M⋆ ratio of Fornax galaxies is comparable to that in the Virgo cluster. At fixed M⋆, our HI detections follow the non-cluster relation between MHI and the star formation rate, and we argue that this implies that thus far they have lost their HI on a timescale ≳1−2 Gyr. Deeper inside the cluster HI removal is likely to proceed faster, as confirmed by a population of HI-undetected but H2-detected star-forming galaxies. Overall, based on ALMA data, we find a large scatter in H2-to-HI mass ratio, with several galaxies showing an unusually high ratio that is probably caused by faster HI removal. Finally, we identify an HI-rich subgroup of possible interacting galaxies dominated by NGC 1365, where pre-processing is likely to have taken place