The Truth Still Matters: Teaching Information Literacy to Combat Fake News and Alternative Facts

As the way we consume information has changed over the last two decades, so too have methods of deception and misinformation. It is clear that unlimited access to information has been equal parts enlightening and confusing as determining the truth becomes increasingly difficult. Despite popular wisdom which suggests that today’s young people are inherently skilled at assessing the credibility of online sources, evidence has shown that this could not be further from the truth. We can no longer view information literacy as merely a helpful skill for writing essays now that fake news and misinformation have proven their powers repeatedly on the world stage. It is up to educators to take a stand against misinformation by ensuring that each and every student leaves their classroom with the information literacy skills necessary for safety and success in the modern world

Experimental Measurement of Air Temperature in an Enclosure Using Ultrasonic Oscillating Temperature Sensors (Uotses)

In this paper, we present experimental findings related to the measurement of air temperature within an enclosure. We utilized both a conventional temperature sensor and a UOTS (ultra-sensitive oscillating temperature sensor) for this purpose. The UOTS’s output frequency was measured using a microcontroller’s timer and direct memory access. In one experiment, we subjected the air inside the enclosure to rapid heating to evaluate the responsiveness of both sensors. In another experiment, the air temperature was indirectly increased through the laboratory’s heating system. The initial experiment reaffirmed the superior responsiveness of the UOTS, as observed in previous tests. The second experiment, conducted over a duration of more than 20 h, allowed us to establish a frequency-temperature curve for the UOTS. It also enabled us to determine that the UOTS exhibits sensitivity at approximately 45 Hz per degree Celsius. This assessment provided valuable insights into temperature underestimation by the conventional temperature sensor, revealing a discrepancy of 9 °C during the rapid heating experiment. This quantified the significant advantage offered by the UOTS in terms of accuracy and responsiveness

Prototyping bespoke sensor industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) systems for small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

This paper aims to share our experiences gained from working on multiple industrial–academic collaborative projects within the Digital Innovation for Growth (DIfG) regional programme. This initiative provided academic expertise to low-resource SMEs. The projects primarily revolved around measuring various process or structural health variables. The subsequent wireless reporting of these results to an online dashboard and generating alert messages when variables exceeded predefined thresholds were central to our work. Due to the diverse nature of our partners’ requirements, there was no one-size-fits-all solution for the considered use cases. We will delve into our utilization and insights regarding various IoT-related tools and technologies. These include ESP32 WiFi-enabled microcontrollers, WiFi Manager, NTP time service, watchdog timers, Adafruit IO dashboards and the Twilio SMS gateway, as well as LoRa modules and networks such as TNT and Helium. By effectively combining these tools and technologies, we successfully completed prototypes that enabled testing of the devices on-site

Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for the comprehensive treatment of 4-10 oligometastatic tumors (SABR-COMET-10): Study protocol for a randomized phase III trial

Background: Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has emerged as a new treatment option for patients with oligometastatic disease. SABR delivers precise, high-dose, hypofractionated radiotherapy, and achieves excellent rates of local control for primary tumors or metastases. A recent randomized phase II trial evaluated SABR in a group of patients with a small burden of oligometastatic disease (mostly with 1-3 metastatic lesions), and found that SABR was associated with benefits in progression-free survival and overall survival. The goal of this phase III trial is to assess the impact of SABR in patients with 4-10 metastatic cancer lesions. Methods: One hundred and fifty-nine patients will be randomized in a 1:2 ratio between the control arm (consisting of standard of care palliative-intent treatments), and the SABR arm (consisting of standard of care treatment + SABR to all sites of known disease). Randomization will be stratified by two factors: histology (Group 1: prostate, breast, or renal; Group 2: all others), and type of pre-specified systemic therapy (Group 1: immunotherapy/targeted; Group 2: cytotoxic; Group 3: observation). SABR is to be completed within 2 weeks, allowing for rapid initiation of systemic therapy. Recommended SABR doses are 20 Gy in 1 fraction, 30 Gy in 3 fractions, or 35 Gy in 5 fractions, chosen to minimize risks of toxicity. The primary endpoint is overall survival, and secondary endpoints include progression-free survival, time to development of new metastatic lesions, quality of life, and toxicity. Translational endpoints include assessment of circulating tumor cells, cell-free DNA, and tumor tissue as prognostic and predictive markers, including assessment of immunological predictors of response and long-term survival. Discussion: This study will provide an assessment of the impact of SABR on clinical outcomes and quality of life, to determine if long-term survival can be achieved for selected patients with 4-10 oligometastatic lesions. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03721341. Date of registration: October 26, 2018

Insight into the structures of [M(C5H4I)(CO)3] and [M 2(C12H8)(CO)6] (M = Mn and Re) containing strong I⋯O and π(CO)–π(CO) inter­actions

The compounds tricarbonyl(η5-1-iodo­cyclo­penta­dienyl)­man­gan­ese(I), [Mn(C5H4I)(CO)3], (I), and tricarbonyl(η5-1-iodo­cyclo­penta­dienyl)rhenium(I), [Re(C5H4I)(CO)3], (III), are isostructural and isomorphous. The compounds [μ-1,2(η5)-acetyl­enedicyclo­penta­dienyl]bis­[tricarbonyl­manganese(I)] or bis­(cymantrenyl)acetyl­ene, [Mn2(C12H8)(CO)6], (II), and [μ-1,2(η5)-acetyl­enedicyclo­penta­dienyl]bis­[tri­carbonyl­rhenium(I)], [Re2(C12H8)(CO)6], (IV), are isostructural and isomorphous, and their mol­ecules display inversion symmetry about the mid-point of the ligand C C bond, with the (CO)3 M(C5H4) (M = Mn and Re) moieties adopting a transoid conformation. The mol­ecules in all four compounds form zigzag chains due to the formation of strong attractive I⋯O [in (I) and (III)] or π(CO)–π(CO) [in (I) and (IV)] inter­actions along the crystallographic b axis. The zigzag chains are bound to each other by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds for (I) and (III), while for (II) and (IV) the chains are bound to each other by a combination of weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π(Csp 2)–π(Csp 2) stacking inter­actions between pairs of mol­ecules. The π(CO)–π(CO) contacts in (II) and (IV) between carbonyl groups of neighboring mol­ecules, forming pairwise inter­actions in a sheared anti­parallel dimer motif, are encountered in only 35% of all carbonyl inter­actions for transition metal–carbonyl compounds

Monohalogenated ferrocenes C5H5FeC5H4 X (X = Cl, Br and I) and a second polymorph of C5H5FeC5H4I

The structures of the three title monosubstituted ferrocenes, namely 1-chloro­ferrocene, [Fe(C5H5)(C5H4Cl)], (I), 1-bromo­ferrocene, [Fe(C5H5)(C5H4Br)], (II), and 1-iodo­ferrocene, [Fe(C5H5)(C5H4I)], (III), were determined at 100 K. The chloro- and bromo­ferrocenes are isomorphous crystals. The new triclinic polymorph [space group P , Z = 4, T = 100 K, V = 943.8 (4) Å3] of iodo­ferrocene, (III), and the previously reported monoclinic polymorph of (III) [Laus, Wurst & Schottenberger (2005 ▶). Z. Kristallogr. New Cryst. Struct. 220, 229–230; space group Pc, Z = 4, T = 100 K, V = 924.9 Å3] were obtained by crystallization from ethanolic solutions at 253 and 303 K, respectively. All four phases contain two independent mol­ecules in the unit cell. The relative orientations of the cyclo­penta­dienyl (Cp) rings are eclipsed and staggered in the independent mol­ecules of (I) and (II), while (III) demonstrates only an eclipsed conformation. The triclinic and monoclinic polymorphs of (III) contain nonbonded inter­molecular I⋯I contacts, causing different packing modes. In the triclinic form of (III), the mol­ecules are arranged in zigzag tetra­mers, while in the monoclinic form the mol­ecules are arranged in zigzag chains along the a axis. Crystallographic data for (III), along with the computed lattice energies of the two polymorphs, suggest that the monoclinic form is more stable

Palliative Radiation for Advanced Central Lung Tumors With Intentional Avoidance of the Esophagus (PROACTIVE): A Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Palliative thoracic radiotherapy (RT) can alleviate local symptoms associated with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but esophagitis is a common treatment-related adverse event. Whether esophageal-sparing intensity-modulated RT (ES-IMRT) achieves a clinically relevant reduction in esophageal symptoms remains unclear. Objective: To examine whether ES-IMRT achieves a clinically relevant reduction in esophageal symptoms compared with standard RT. Design, Setting, and Participants: Palliative Radiation for Advanced Central Lung Tumors With Intentional Avoidance of the Esophagus (PROACTIVE) is a multicenter phase 3 randomized clinical trial that enrolled patients between June 24, 2016, and March 6, 2019. Data analysis was conducted from January 23, 2020, to October 22, 2021. Patients had up to 1 year of follow-up. Ninety patients at 6 tertiary academic cancer centers who had stage III/IV NSCLC and were eligible for palliative thoracic RT (20 Gy in 5 fractions or 30 Gy in 10 fractions) were included. Interventions: Patients were randomized (1:1) to standard RT (control arm) or ES-IMRT. Target coverage was compromised to ensure the maximum esophagus dose was no more than 80% of the RT prescription dose. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was esophageal quality of life (QOL) 2 weeks post-RT, measured by the esophageal cancer subscale (ECS) of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: Esophagus questionnaire. Higher esophageal cancer subscale scores correspond with improved QOL, with a 2- to 3-point change considered clinically meaningful. Secondary outcomes included overall survival, toxic events, and other QOL metrics. Intention-to-treat analysis was used. Results: Between June 24, 2016, and March 6, 2019, 90 patients were randomized to standard RT or ES-IMRT (median age at randomization, 72.0 years [IQR, 65.6-80.3]; 50 [56%] were female). Thirty-six patients (40%) received 20 Gy and 54 (60%) received 30 Gy. For the primary end point, the mean (SD) 2-week ECS score was 50.5 (10.2) in the control arm (95% CI, 47.2-53.8) and 54.3 (7.6) in the ES-IMRT arm (95% CI, 51.9-56.7) (P = .06). Symptomatic RT-associated esophagitis occurred in 24% (n = 11) of patients in the control arm vs 2% (n = 1) in the ES-IMRT arm (P = .002). In a post hoc subgroup analysis based on the stratification factor, reduction in esophagitis was most evident in patients receiving 30 Gy (30% [n = 8] vs 0%; P = .004). Overall survival was similar with standard RT (median, 8.6; 95% CI, 5.7-15.6 months) and ES-IMRT (median, 8.7; 95% CI, 5.1-10.2 months) (P = .62). Conclusions and Relevance: In this phase 3 randomized clinical trial, ES-IMRT did not significantly improve esophageal QOL but significantly reduced the incidence of symptomatic esophagitis. Because post hoc analysis found that reduced esophagitis was most evident in patients receiving 30 Gy of RT, these findings suggest that ES-IMRT may be most beneficial when the prescription dose is higher (30 Gy). Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02752126