An Unusual Case of Tertiary Syphilis Behaving Like Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Syphilis may present with a myriad of oral manifestations in the primary, secondary, and tertiary stages, and may be confused with malignancy. Despite a rise in the incidence of syphilis, tertiary syphilis is exceedingly rare. Tertiary syphilis gummas usually affect the hard palate, while tongue involvement is very rare. A 55-year-old male with extensive smoking and alcohol use was referred for malignancy evaluation with an ulcerative mass creating a tongue cleft, and a positron emission tomography scan suggestive for malignancy. Biopsy results demonstrated no carcinoma but histology demonstrated granulomatous inflammation. Further laboratory results demonstrated elevated rapid plasma reagin titers with Treponema pallidum immunoglobulin G antibodies present. The patient was diagnosed with tertiary syphilis, received appropriate antibiotic therapy, and had healing of the tongue with a persistent cleft. Syphilis may mimic many disease processes. As such, it is important to include this disease in the differential of an unusual tongue lesion. An oral lesion may be the first sign of infection

Collapse of Flexible Polyelectrolytes in Multivalent Salt Solutions

The collapse of flexible polyelectrolytes in a solution of multivalent counterions is studied by means of a two state model. The states correspond to rod-like and spherically collapsed conformations respectively. We focus on the very dilute monomer concentration regime where the collapse transition is found to occur when the charge of the multivalent salt is comparable (but smaller) to that of the monomers. The main contribution to the free energy of the collapsed conformation is linear in the number of monomers $N$, since the internal state of the collapsed polymer approaches that of an amorphous ionic solid. The free energy of the rod-like state grows as $N\ln N$, due to the electrostatic energy associated with that shape. We show that practically all multivalent counterions added to the system are condensed into the polymer chain, even before the collapse.Comment: LaTeX-revtex, psfig file, 4 figure

Experiment K-6-06. Morphometric and EM analyses of tibial epiphyseal plates from Cosmos 1887 rats

Light and electron microscopy studies were carried out on decalcified tibial epiphyseal plates of rats flown aboard Cosmos 1887 (12.5d flight plus 53.5h recovery). Analysis of variance showed that the proliferative zone of flight animals was significantly higher than that of synchronous controls, while the hypertrophic/calcification zone was significantly reduced. Flight animals had more cells than synchronous controls in the proliferative zone, and less in the hypertrophic/calcification region. The total number of cells, however, was significantly higher in flight animals. No differences were found for perimeter or shape factor of growth plates, but area was significantly lower in flight animals in comparison to synchronous controls. Collagen fibrils in flight animals were shorter and wider than in synchronous controls. The time required for a cell to cycle through the growth plate is 2 to 3 days, so most of the cells and matrix present were formed after the animals had returned to 1 g, and probably represent stages of recovery from microgravity exposure, which in itself is an interesting question

Turning Waste into Compost in Napa, California

Two significant pieces of legislation in California have mandated that cities and counties must reduce their waste streams. Assembly Bill 341 establishes that California must divert 75% of its waste from landfills by the year 2020. The first bill that included composting, Assembly Bill 1826, was passed in 2014 and requires that commercial users enact composting beginning in 2016. These initiatives have led cities and counties to seek ways of implementing composting programs. Using the City of Napa as a case study, this thesis argues that a composting program can be integrated into any existing waste hauling service. Although there are some challenges, including effectively reaching all residents eligible for the program and finding ways to encourage people to change waste disposal habits, other communities should be able to adopt Napa’s model. Napa’s program should act as an outline for other communities to develop similar outreach strategies, public education initiatives, and pilot programs. Once implemented, cities can continue creating a sustainable community through the use of new technologies. Not only will creating a composting program allow cities and counties to be in compliance with Assembly Bill 1826, it will also offer benefits that extend beyond the local scope, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Synchronization of the Frenet-Serret linear system with a chaotic nonlinear system by feedback of states

A synchronization procedure of the generalized type in the sense of Rulkov et al [Phys. Rev. E 51, 980 (1995)] is used to impose a nonlinear Malasoma chaotic motion on the Frenet-Serret system of vectors in the differential geometry of space curves. This could have applications to the mesoscopic motion of biological filamentsComment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted at Int. J. Theor. Phy

Building Positive Student-Instructor Interactions: Engaging Students through Caring Leadership in the Classroom

When instructing and managing classrooms in university settings, instructors face numerous challenges such as student disengagement and managing course expectations. In this article, we offer new and revised techniques and strategies to engage students through the art of caring leadership. We accomplish this through three defining characteristics: knowing students’ names, managing course expectations, and the use of technology. These intentional strategies create positive student-instructor interactions in both small and large classrooms which in turn enhances student learning and engagement

Seething Horizontal Magnetic Fields in the Quiet Solar Photosphere

The photospheric magnetic field outside of active regions and the network has a ubiquitous and dynamic line-of-sight component that strengthens from disk center to limb as expected for a nearly horizontal orientation. This component shows a striking time variation with an average temporal rms near the limb of 1.7 G at ~3" resolution. In our moderate resolution observations the nearly horizontal component has a frequency variation power law exponent of -1.4 below 1.5 mHz and is spatially patchy on scales up to ~15 arcsec. The field may be a manifestation of changing magnetic connections between eruptions and evolution of small magnetic flux elements in response to convective motions. It shows no detectable latitude or longitude variations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ letters, quality of figures significantly degraded here by compression requirement

Toward the Simulation of Flashing Cryogenic Liquids by a Fully Compressible Volume of Fluid Solver

We present a fully compressible single-fluid volume of fluid (VOF) solver with phase change for high-speed flows, where the atomization of the liquid can occur either by the aerodynamics or by the effect of the local pressure. The VOF approximation among a non-miscible phase (non-condensable gas) and a mixture of two fluids (liquid and vapor) represents the liquid core of the jet and its atomization. A barotropic model is used in combination with the equation of state (EoS) to link the mixture density to pressure and temperature. The solver is written with the aim to simulate high-pressure injection in gas–liquid systems, where the pressure of the liquid is great enough to cause significant compression of the surrounding gas. Being designed in an C++ object-oriented fashion, the solver is able to support any kind of EoS; the aim is to apply it to the simulation of the injection of liquid propellant in rocket engines. The present work includes the base development; a verification assessment of the code is provided by the solution of a set of numerical experiments to prove the boundedness, convergence and accuracy of the method. Experimental measurements of a cavitating microscopic in-nozzle flow, available in the literature, are finally used for a first validation with phase change

Teacher Leaders of Collaborative Action Research: Challenges and Rewards

This study describes four successful collaborative action research (CAR) projects through the lens of teacher leaders who facilitated the CAR. For each CAR project described, the study reports on the relationship of the teacher leader with team members, various phases of CAR, the challenges of implementation and how those challenges were addressed, and results of the action research. Additionally, the study identifies several common characteristics of the widely varied CAR projects. All of the teacher leaders relied on positive relationships with teachers to enlist them into the CAR and keep it going. The CAR teams gathered a variety of data throughout their action research, to assess needs, monitor progress, and determine outcomes. The four CAR projects all included embedded professional development and opportunities for teacher reflection. The teacher leaders gathered feedback from the participating teachers throughout the implementation of the CAR. All of the CAR projects encountered barriers that caused the teachers stress and threatened to curtail the projects; however the teacher leaders were able to navigate those barriers by displaying flexibility and modifying the CAR. All of the CAR projects yielded positive outcomes, and in each case the participants agreed to continue the CAR the following school year