PSA-based Prostate Cancer Screening: What to Tell Our Patients

https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1413/thumbnail.jp

TechEdSat 7 and 8-NASA Missions for Earth Observation

Big results can come from small satellites, and Technology Educational Satellite 8 or TES-8 is the latest small satellite in the TechEdSat series from NASA Ames Research Center. TechEdSat is a collaborative program, in which advanced university students have a chance to work directly with researchers on NASA Space Projects. Thanks to the assistance of students from several universities around the country every year, TechEdSat has helped NASA develop Nano-satellite technologies and evaluate new ideas for future spacecraft. TES-8 is the eighth satellite of the continuing TechEdSat series. On December 01, 2018 TES-8 followed a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The overarching goal of the TES-8 is to develop the requisite technologies for landing and on-demand return capabilities of small payloads. With the size of 3.5U (40 x 10 x 10 cm) and 3.51 kg, TES-8 carried an updated Exo-Brake and Modulation control systems for even more accurate de-orbit. In addition, the wireless sensor onboard will be the first self-powered test. We will able to inspect possible sensor networks for larger scale systems that enable future small satellite missions to reach the surface of Mars and other planetary bodies in our solar system

Ultra-fast X-ray Diffraction of Metastable Structures During Hydrogen Crystallization

Big discoveries can come from small element, and hydrogen is the simplest element in the universe, but its property has been intensely studied in recent years. Hydrogen has a notably complex phase diagram, and its application is important to many scientific fields, such as fundamental physics, inertial confinement fusion, planetary sciences, etc. While sophisticated static observations have probed its structure at extremely high pressures, the higher-temperature studies applying dynamic compression is confined to optical measurement methods. In this project over the summer, I will present spectrally resolved x-ray scattering assessment from plasmons in dynamic compressed deuterium. Collaborating Compton scattering and velocity interferometry, we can measure shock pressure and mass density, which allowed us to extract ionization state as a function of compression. The onset of ionization occurs close in pressure to where density functional theory-molecular dynamics (DFT-MD) simulation displays molecular dissociation, proposing hydrogen progress from a molecular, insulating fluid to a conducting state despite going through an intermediate atomic phase

Determining the reproducibility of locating anatomical land marks on human skulls on CBCT for orthodontic measurements

INTRODUCTION: The standard process of evaluating craniofacial structures on planar radiographs is being replaced by 3D evaluation using low dose cone beam tomography images. However, current 3D analyses are still using the traditional landmarks from the 2D analysis as references. In the world of 3D, the literature is lacking adequate landmarks that take advantage of the 3-dimensional nature of these 3D images. The objective of the study was to evaluate the reliability and reproducibility of identifying various landmarks specific to a CBCT. These landmarks include points from traditional cephalometric analysis and points which are uniquely found on CBCT. The landmarks were strategically selected in order to represent different parts of the skull utilized in three dimensional cephalometric measurements. METHODS: Fifty CBCT datasets of Skeletal Class I, normodivergent patients without any noticeable craniofacial deformities from a CBCT repository were included in the study. Landmarks were chosen from diverse parts of the skull that ranged from bony landmarks, foramina and the teeth using a 3d prototyping software, Mimics ® v18.0(Materialise, Leuvem Belgium). Three examiners relocated the landmarks three separate times. Coordinates were recorded in the x, y and z axes. Intra- and inter-examiner reliabilities were calculated using the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) along with the demographic data. RESULTS: Bony protrusions such as the lingulae, and the crista galli or tips of the incisor teeth proved to be the most reproducible with the highest reliability between the three examiners readings. The vast majority of the landmarks had good (>.75) to excellent (>.9) mean ICC. CONCLUSION: Choosing different landmarks specific for CBCTs were found to have good to excellent reliability between examiners who are properly trained to find the points. These points may represent a new type of standard when determining landmarks for 3-D evaluation of the skull

Chemical Screen and Antibacterial Testing of Fungal Endophytes.pdf

Endophytes are bacteria or fungi that live within a host plant. The plant host provides a home for endophytes, and in return endophytes produce primary and secondary metabolites, of which many of the secondary metabolites possess biological activities. When microorganisms are grown under various media conditions, they produce different natural products as gene regulation is affected by environmental clues. Biologically active natural products are of huge biomedical interest as they can improve human health: over 50% of FDA approved clinically used drugs are natural products or natural products derived. We have been working with endophytic fungi isolated from marine algae. We tested their metabolic expression of natural products under various culture conditions and tested their extracts against common human pathogens like Bacillius subtilis, P. aeruginosa, Candida albicans and Staphlacoccus aureus. This chemical screening allows us to select strains for further purification of the secondary fungal metabolites as drug leads. The use of High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) allows us to first purify a compound, determine its molecular weight and then elucidate its chemical structure.Keywords: Organic Chemistry, NMR, HPLC, Microbiology, Endophytes, Natural Product, LCM

Differences in treatment for substance use disorders by insurance status: Self-help only versus outpatient medical treatment

Background: The role of insurance on substance use disorders (SUD) treatment utilization generally is poorly understood and still less is known on how insurance status relates to the use of evidence-based treatment (i.e., medicalization approach) compared to other treatments, like single self-help groups, where the research on effectiveness is less supportive. This study examines associations between health insurance and any SUD treatment utilization as well as use of single self- help versus medicalization approach. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. Data were from the 2015-2017, public use National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Adjusted logistic regressions were used to examine the associations controlling for socio-demographics, recent major depressive episode, and survey year. All analyses used survey weights to be representative of the US population and account for the NSDUH’s complex survey design. Results: After adjustment for covariates, those with publicly insured remained more likely to use any SUD treatment in the past year (odd ratio [OR] 1.82; 95% CI: 1.36-2.43), compared to those without insurance. Further, compared with uninsured, those with public insurance reported lower odds of using only self-help treatment (OR 0.42; 95% CI: 0.23-0.74) versus medicalization approach utilization. Conclusions: Publicly insured persons with SUD are more likely to use SUD treatment in the past year than the uninsured. Uninsured people with SUD are more likely to use single self-help as a substitute for medicalization approach.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1098/thumbnail.jp