The Feasibility of Using X-Ray Induced Acoustic Computed Tomography for Non-Destructive Testing of Aircraft Structural

Aviation safety is a very important aspect of the aviation industry. One of the most important methods for increasing aviation safety is the non-destructive testing method. The non-destructive testing method is considered to be the most effective method for checking defects, widely used in the aviation industry. X-ray induced Acoustic Computed Tomography (XACT) is a new novel imaging modality based on the X-ray induced acoustic effect. A short-pulsed of X-rays are required to achieve a thermal response and generate acoustic waves due to thermoelastic expansion. XACT takes advantage of X-ray absorption contrast with the ultrasonic spatial resolution for deep imaging. The goal of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of XACT for defect detection in aircraft structures as a non-destructive testing method to overcome the limitations of most frequent techniques used non-destructive testing (NDT) methods are outlined in Chapter 1. In this work, there are two main objectives to demonstrate the XACT technique are as follows, (1) introduce and proving the feasibility of XACT through simple models and (2) a full demonstration of XACT with three models from simple to complex structures. This work demonstrates that XACT has the potential to be implemented in-field NDT for aircraft maintenance and inspection due to its feasibility in detect defects with accessibility to a single side of the object

Geometric morphometric shape assessment of juvenile mandibles

OBJECTIVES: We explore three-dimensional data to delineate idiosyncratic and progressive growth variation in 6.0-8.0 year old mandibles (n=45)

Variation in and assessment of inferior alveolar nerve block landmarks in children and adolescents

OBJECTIVES: In earlier work (Lambert et al., 2017) we demonstrated the efficacy of new landmarks for inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) block injections. While the latter study focused on adult morphology, the landmarks were shown to be effective in cases where the M3/3 were present but unerupted. Based on these result a question arose as to their applicability of the landmarks to children and adolescents, given the known changes in mandibular foramen position during growth. Here we quantify the position of the mandibular foramen relative to standard landmarks during growth and assess the new landmarks applicability for IAN injections in pre-adolescents

Cylindrical illumination with angular coupling for whole-prostate photoacoustic tomography

Current diagnosis of prostate cancer relies on histological analysis of tissue samples acquired by biopsy, which could benefit from real-time identification of suspicious lesions. Photoacoustic tomography has the potential to provide real-time targets for prostate biopsy guidance with chemical selectivity, but light delivered from the rectal cavity has been unable to penetrate to the anterior prostate. To overcome this barrier, a urethral device with cylindrical illumination is developed for whole-prostate imaging, and its performance as a function of angular light coupling is evaluated with a prostate-mimicking phantom

Education for Catholic Eco-pedagogy with Special Focus on Religious Education of Secondary School Students in the Republic of Croatia Education System

Konstantnim razvojem suvremenoga društva čovjek se sve više brine oko napretka i usavršavanja raznih tehničkih, tehnoloških i drugih disciplina, pritom ne mareći što iscrpljuje prirodne resurse, uništava prirodu i zagađuje okoliš. Katolička Crkva svojom ekopedagogijom već desetljećima, na razne načine, pokušava razvijati ekološku svijest svih svojih vjernika, posebno srednjoškolaca, kako bismo vjerskim odgojem i obrazovanjem postali svjesni opasnosti koja bi nas jednog dana mogla zadesiti zbog neodgovornog ponašanja prema prirodi, koja je osnovno i jedino stanište ljudskog roda. Autor u radu prikazuje mogućnosti ekološkog osvješćivanja srednjoškolaca preko teološkoga i pedagoškog vida vjeronaučne nastave. Referirajući se na društveno-humanistički pristup odgoja i obrazovanja, prema dokumentu Nacionalni okvirni kurikulum za predškolski odgoj i obrazovanje te opće obvezno i srednjoškolsko obrazovanje, autor proučava sadržaj katoličkog vjerskog odgoja u dokumentu Plan i program katoličkog vjeronauka za četverogodišnje srednje škole, te razmatra mogućnosti i utjecaj vjeronaučne nastave pri razvijanju senzibilnosti srednjoškolaca za ekološke teme i odgovoran odnos prema očuvanju prirode, njezinih resursa i čistoće okoliša. Autor predlaže nove pedagoške principe u tumačenju uloge katoličke ekopedagogije i izbora njezinih sadržaja, ciljeva i metoda odgoja u vjeronaučnoj nastavi.With the constant development of modern society man has been increasingly concerned about the progress and improvement of various technical, technological and other disciplines without taking into account the exhaustion of natural resources, destroying nature and polluting environment. Through her eco-pedagogy the Catholic Church has been trying for decades, in various ways, to develop ecological awareness of all her faithful, especially the secondary school students, to become aware through religious education of the dangers that might befall us because of irresponsible behaviour toward nature, which is the basic and only habitat of human race. In the paper the author presents the possibilities of ecological awareness of secondary school students through theological and pedagogical aspect of religious education teaching. Referring to the Religious Education Syllabus for the four-year secondary schools, the author, studying the content of religious education, considers the opportunities and impacts of religious education teaching in developing the sensitivity of secondary school students to ecological topics and their responsible attitude towards nature conservation, its resources and environmental cleanliness

Impairment of Human Ocular Tracking with Low-Dose Alcohol

Previous studies have documented adverse effects of alcohol on oculomotor performance. For example, moderate-dose alcohol (yielding a Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC of 0.04-0.1%) has been shown to decrease steady-state pursuit gain (Fransson et al., 2010, Clin Neurophysiol, 121(12): 2134; Moser et al., 1998, J Neurol, 245(8): 542; Roche & King, 2010, Psychopharmacology, 212(1): 33), to increase saccade latency (Moser et al., 1998, J Neurol, 245(8): 542; Roche & King, 2010, Psychopharmacology, 212(1): 33), to decrease peak saccadic velocity (Fransson et al., 2010, Clin Neurophysiol, 121(12): 2134; Roche & King, 2010, Psychopharmacology, 212(1): 33), and to increase the frequency of catch-up saccades (Moser et al., 1998, J Neurol, 245(8): 542). Here, we administered two doses of ethanol on different days, yielding moderate (0.06%) and low (0.02%) levels of initial BAC, to examine the effects on human ocular tracking over BACs ranging from 0.00 to 0.07%. Twelve subjects (8 females) participated in a 5-day study. Three days of at-home measurements of daily activity and sleep were monitored, followed by two laboratory days where, ~5 hours after awakening, we administered one of the two possible single doses of alcohol. Using a previously published paradigm (Liston & Stone, 2014, J Vis, 14(14): 12), we measured oculomotor performance multiple times throughout the day with three pre-dosing baseline runs and bi-hourly post-dosing test runs until the subject recorded a BAC of 0.00% for two hours. BAC was measured before each run using an Alco-Sensor IV breathalyzer (Intoximeters, Inc., St. Louis, MO). For each of the oculometric measures, for each subject, we computed the within-subject % deviation for each test run from their baseline averaged across their three pre-dosing runs. We then averaged the data across subjects in 0.01% BAC bins. Finally, we used linear regression to compute the slope and x-intercept (threshold) of the mean binned % deviation as a function of BAC. We found that pursuit initiation was impaired at very low BAC levels, with significant (p < 0.002) linear trends in latency (+1.3%/0.01%BAC) and initial acceleration (-4.6%/0.01%BAC) with extrapolated absolute thresholds at or below 0.01% BAC. We also found that steady-state tracking was impaired showing significant (p < 0.002) linear trends in gain (- 3.8%/0.01%BAC) and catch-up saccade amplitude (+9.1%/0.01%BAC), again with extrapolated absolute thresholds around 0.01% BAC. We also found a significant (p < 0.02) increase in pursuit direction noise (+9.8%/0.01%BAC) with an extrapolated absolute threshold below 0.01% BAC. Many aspects of ocular tracking are impaired in a dose-dependent manner beginning at a BAC level around 0.01%, with significant effects at levels lower than previously reported and up to 8-times lower than the legal limit for driving in most states

Focused CRISPR‑Cas9 genetic screening reveals USO1 as a vulnerability in B‑cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract Post-transcriptional gene regulation, including that by RNA binding proteins (RBPs), has recently been described as an important mechanism in cancer. We had previously identified a set of RBPs that were highly dysregulated in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) with MLL translocations, which carry a poor prognosis. Here, we sought to functionally characterize these dysregulated RBP genes by performing a focused CRISPR dropout screen in B-ALL cell lines, finding dependencies on several genes including EIF3E, EPRS and USO1. Validating our findings, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated disruption of USO1 in MLL-translocated B-ALL cells reduced cell growth, promoted cell death, and altered the cell cycle. Transcriptomic analysis of USO1-deficient cells revealed alterations in pathways related to mTOR signaling, RNA metabolism, and targets of MYC. In addition, USO1-regulated genes from these experimental samples were significantly and concordantly correlated with USO1 expression in primary samples collected from B-ALL patients. Lastly, we found that loss of Uso1 inhibited colony formation of MLL-transformed in primary bone marrow cells from Cas9-EGFP mice. Together, our findings demonstrate an approach to performing focused sub-genomic CRISPR screens and highlight a putative RBP vulnerability in MLL-translocated B-ALL, thus identifying potential therapeutic targets in this disease

Increased Dependence on Saccades for Ocular Tracking with Low Dose Alcohol

Previous studies have shown that certain features of oculomotor performance are impaired at or slightly below the legal limit for driving in most U.S. States (0.08% Blood Alcohol Concentration or BAC). Specifically, alcohol impairs saccadic velocity and steady-state tracking at levels between 0.04% and 0.1% BAC. Here we used a suite of standardized oculometric measures to examine the effect of ultra-low levels of alcohol (down to 0.01% BAC) on steady-state tracking. Our high-uncertainty tracking task reveals that the smooth pursuit system is highly sensitive to BAC, with impairmentextrapolating back to BAC levels at or below 0.01%. BAC generates a dose dependent increase in reliance on the saccadic system that maintains overall steady-state tracking effectiveness at least up to 0.08% BAC, albeit with a significant decrease in smoothness