cometadata/datacite-rtg-text-other-reclassification-records huggingface dataset:
11th International Symposium of the Breast
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The key to identifying the cause of breast cancer and determining methods to prevent it lies in understanding the normal human breast and how it develops malignancy. To accelerate progress, it is critical to transition the study of the breast from animal models to humans. The 11th International Symposium on the Human Breast brings together a multidisciplinary and international group of iconoclastic researchers, clinical scientists, and patient advocates, and challenges participants to formulate new technical approaches to the study of the normal and high-risk breast. The Foundation brings together 15 patient advocates from around the country, diverse backgrounds and communities on scholarship to attend this unique symposium. The Foundation invites patient advocates to participate in a panel to provide valuable insight and experiences as to why it is vital to include advocates in research. Patient advocates are encouraged to network and make connections with researchers and clinicians in attendance. In addition, pilot grants are awarded to a team formed at the symposium comprised of at least one researcher, one clinician and one patient advocate. A review committee comprised of researchers and patient advocates review the proposals and determine the winners of the pilot grants. Without the contributions of the patient advocates, many researchers and clinicians would not know where to find them and could not qualify for the pilot grant funding. Furthermore, scholarship support is essential for the advocates to attend since many do not have the income available for elective travel.
UC Santa Cruz Climate Action Solutions Catalyst Program
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: The UC Santa Cruz Climate Action Solutions Catalyst Program will deliver a suite of innovation and entrepreneurship activities across three main elements that will advance development and drive adoption of solutions addressing California’s most pressing climate challenges. First, the Program will support ideation and problem solving by cultivating climate action projects supported through separate seed funding initiatives, accelerating projects originating from exemplary campus programs such as the Coastal Resilience Lab and Coastal Science & Policy Program, and integrating a climate solutions track into student pitch competitions. Second, the Program will focus on development and capacity building, advancing innovative solutions through targeted proof-of-concept funding, customer discovery and validation training for project teams, and customized technology and venture development workshops developed in collaboration with partners like the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. Third, the Program will enable meaningful engagement and outreach to build relationships for impact by creating and connecting an extended mentor network, providing access to Institute for Social Transformation community engagement workshops and consultations, and organizing project showcase and partnering events in coordination with ecosystem partners such as Santa Cruz Works. Through its direct activities, the Program will support up to 18 innovative projects and 64 entrepreneurial teams over the two year funding period. As part of the program management efforts, the team will capture a core set of metrics to track the short- and moderate-term success of funded projects and teams, including invention disclosures, patent applications, options and licenses, sponsored projects, and stakeholders engaged. Another important outcome organized under the program management activities will be a collective resource mapping external partners and other entities that could utilize, license, or invest in climate action research outcomes and innovations.
From recognition to regulation
Creators: name: Gorman, Cynthia Sorousha
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Over the past twenty years, women’s human rights advocates have made significant gains in securing protection for women with gender-related claims of persecution within the United States. However, efforts to expand the legal rubric of refugee-asylum law to include gender-related forms of persecution have aroused controversy about inviting a flood of women from around the world fleeing gender violence. In this dissertation, I explore how fears of a flood of women asylum seekers have shaped the development of gender-based asylum jurisprudence in the United States. While it is envisioned as carrying out a humanitarian mandate, refugee asylum law continues to be embedded in and responsive to state efforts to systematically control the movement of populations across its territorial borders and to screen out asylum seekers deemed to threaten the composition of the nation. Through particular technologies of exclusion justified by flood fears, state actors undermined cases that could open pathways to citizenship for large numbers of migrants. Employing a methodology of feminist legal archeology combined with interviews of impact litigators, I demonstrate how efforts by feminist legal advocates to expand asylum protection to include gender-based persecution became entangled in efforts by state immigration officials and adjudicators to exclude particular women from protection.  Thus despite the humanitarian commitments of refugee-asylum law and feminist legal advocates’ success in winning recognition of gender-based persecution, fears of an impending flood of refugees have resulted in exclusionary definitions of who can gain asylum on the basis of gender-based persecution.
Less-institutionalized social structures
Creators: name: Gondal, Neha
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Using a networks and culture lens, I investigate the micro-level processes underlying the production of order in social contexts or locations that are relationally-defined and meaningful, but lack cultural cues to action and interpretation or are in the early stages of acquiring such meaning. Drawing on neoinstitutionalist theory, I refer to such social structures as less-institutionalized. To explain order in the absence of situational cultural cues literature in social network analysis has traditionally attributed regularities to situational structural tendencies that preclude shared understandings and/or subjective engagement. Recent literature in the sociology of culture that revives overarching moral intuitions as a basis for action similarly rejects the explanatory value of situational cultural cues. Arguing that culture is neither irrelevant nor implicated in an overarching way in culturally less-institutionalized situations, I posit that order can be linked to individuals’ tacit and discursive use of cultural repertoires acquired over the life-course through involvements in multiple networks of interaction and domains of shared meanings or ‘netdoms.’ I analytically distinguish between three categories of less-institutionalized situations of the basis of the degree of uncertainty in interpretation and action they impose upon their occupants: high, intermediate, and absence/low. I demonstrate my argument using three examples of less-institutionalized situations/positions from distinct sociological fields: (1) rapid labor-force feminization in South Asia (high-uncertainty); (2) an emergent area of knowledge production (intermediate-uncertainty); and (3) falling average sibship-size implicated in worldwide fertility decline (low/absent uncertainty). Elaborating upon three cross-netdom mechanisms - analogizing, contrasting, and spillovers – and using a mixture of interpretive techniques, multilevel statistical models, and exponential random graph models, I show that occupants use cultural repertoires discursively in high-uncertainty less-institutionalized positions, tacitly in low-uncertainty situations, and in a combination of tacit and deliberative ways under conditions of intermediate uncertainty. I also develop a mathematical model to show how less-institutionalized practices/interpretations can come to be institutionalized over time through management of uncertainty within homophilous networks. Lastly, positing a duality between the cultural repertoires of individuals and those of social locations, I conclude with a discussion on how less-institutionalized positions offer a unique window into investigating processes of emergence and social change.
Daculus Speiser 1924
Creators: name: El-Hawagry, Magdi S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tephritidae
Daculus

description: Subgenus DACULUS Speiser
Daculus Speiser, 1924: 140 (as genus). Type species: Musca oleae Gmelin, 1790, original designation. Afrodacus Bezzi, 1924a: 469. Type species: Chaetodacus biguttulus Bezzi, 1922, monotypy.
Mauritidacus Munro, 1984: 25. Type species: Mauritidacus montyanus Munro, 1984, original designation.
description: Published as part of El-Hawagry, Magdi S., 2017, Catalogue of Egyptian Tephritoidea (Diptera: Schizophora: Acalyptratae), pp. 151-190 in Zootaxa 4299 (2) on page 160, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4299.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/843233
Determination of copper from environmental samples by solvent microextraction method using AAS. Multivariate modelling and factorial design
Creators: name: Soomro, Waheed Ali
name: Khuhawar, Muhammad Yar
name: Jahangir, Taj Muhammad
name: Lanjwani, Muhammad Farooque
name: Rind, Imran Khan
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: The dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction methods were developed, based on the enrichment and separation of copper after complexation with bis(salicylaldehyde)ethylenediamine (H2SA2en) from environmental samples. The quantitation was made by the flame atomic absorption spectrometric methods. The effect of parameters pH, derivatising reagent (H2SA2en) concentration, the volume, extracting solvent, disperser solvent, centrifugation time and temperature on analytical signals and the extraction efficiency of metal ion was examined and optimised using univalent and multivalent (factorial design) techniques. The linearity of calibration curve was in the range of 5–30 ng/ml with R2 = 0.9907. Limit of detection was 2.0 ng/ml and limit of quantification was 6.0 ng/ml, and the enrichment factor (21.5), repeatability (n = 4) and robustness of the determination were also evaluated. Method was effectively employed for the estimation of copper from the samples of water and sediments. Samples were collected from Darawat Dam and River Indus. The results obtained were matched with reported methods, and comparable sensitivity and selectivity was indicated.
Evolutionary plasticity in the Pleiotropic regulation of sexually dimorphic traits in gekkotan lizards
Creators: name: Goldberg, Alison
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Sexually dimorphic traits evolve due to selection for reproductive advantage, and their expression is often functionally correlated by the pleiotropic effects of gonadal steroids (e.g., testosterone, T, in males).  When T mediates the correlated expression of traits, then how can changes in individual traits evolve?  The main objective of this dissertation was to investigate whether circulating T or androgen receptors in the brain underlie sex- and species-differences in sexually dimorphic trait expression in a comparative study of three species of gekkotan lizards (Goniurosaurus lichtenfelderi, Coleonyx elegans, and Paroedura picta).  I hypothesized sex differences in trait expression are due to differences in circulating T, and that the absence of various traits in C. elegans and P. picta are due to a specific alteration in the androgen signaling system rather than a reduction in T.  I conducted surgical manipulations to alter levels of T in adult males and females of each species.  Testosterone-sensitive traits included courtship, copulatory mounting, and aggressive behaviors, secretions from precloacal pores, enlargement of the hemipenes and head width.  Elevated T in males was almost always the primary mediator of sex differences in trait expression within species.  Some, but not all, of the male-typical traits were induced in adult females, suggesting the neural or physiological substrates underlying certain traits are permanently differentiated between the sexes prior to adulthood.  Traits absent from the phenotype of a species, such as courtship in C. elegans and P. picta, cannot be induced by exogenous T.  I hypothesized differences in behavioral sensitivity to T would be due to differences in androgen receptors in brain regions associated with control of reproductive behaviors.  Immunohistochemistry revealed P. picta had increased abundance of androgen receptor immunoreactivity (AR-ir) in the preoptic area and ventromedial hypothalamus relative to G. lichtenfelderi.  Thus, the abundance of AR-ir does not reflect the expression of courtship and aggressive behaviors in these species.  Although circulating T or AR-ir do not explain interspecific differences in trait expression, results indicate correlated traits mediated by the pleiotropic effects of T are not constrained but targeted changes in sensitivity to T allows evolutionary plasticity in trait expression.
Pixelated abstraction
Creators: name: Gerstner, Timothy
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Pixel art remains a contemporary art form and a common rendering technique in digital games and media. However, the manual creation of pixel art is often time consuming and requires a degree of skill that is not easily obtained by novices of the art. Few, if any, methods exist to automatically generate pixel art. Naive downsampling techniques such as nearest neighbor and cubic downsampling do not adequately preserve features or maintain a vibrant palette. In this thesis we present our work on automatically and semi-automatically converting high resolution images into an output that approximates the manual results of pixel artists. This is a multi-step, iterative algorithm that simultaneously solves for a palette and a mapping of segments of the input image to pixels in the output. We provide a set of controls that give the user flexible influence on the output and the ability to work anywhere between a purely automated and purely manual process. We present the automated and semi-automated results of our algorithm and compare them to the results generated using naive downsampling techniques and the manual results produced by expert pixel artists. Through a formal user study and interviews with expert pixel artists, we demonstrate that our results offer an improvement over the naive methods.
Assessing effectiveness and toxicity of FLASH radiotherapy in breast cancer care
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Radiotherapy is indispensable in treating many aspects of breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ, yet both patients and physicians alike desire a reprieve from side effects associated with its side effects. These side effects can include dermal and breast fibrosis, decrease in breast size after breast conservation therapy, shoulder dysfunction, higher rates of lymphedema whether combined with sentinel node biopsy or axillary node dissection, limited options for re-irradiation for local recurrence due to tissue specific maximum tolerated doses, markedly increased complication rates with implant based breast reconstruction up to and including reconstructive failure, and inability to apply radiotherapy to larger areas of liver or lung with metastatic disease. There are projected to be 4.17 million breast cancer survivors treated by radiotherapy by 2030. Currently radiotherapy is delivered approximately at .03 Gy/s. Ultra-high dose-rates at ≥ 40 Gy/s, known as FLASH RT (FLASH), have recently become feasible. FLASH has been tested in a variety of preclinical settings using different animal models and tumor types though experience assessing FLASH with breast cancer is extremely limited. Currently, the ability of FLASH to eliminate breast cancer, while significantly sparing normal tissue, is unknown at dose/fractionation schedules which mimic treatment in humans. There is a critical need to assess FLASH vs CONV to control breast cancer while preserving normal tissue. Without such information, realization of the therapeutic benefits of FLASH in human breast cancer will remain unlikely. We have assembled an expert team completed a small project with pilot funding from the Stanford Cancer Institute supporting our proposal. Upon completion of the proposed research, the expected outcomes are that we will have determined that FLASH is able to eradicate breast cancer and that FLASH is less toxic to organs at risk for breast cancer treatment. We expect that data produced with this Award will advance research of FLASH for human breast cancer. Ultimately, the results of this continuum of research are expected to have a significant positive impact by providing a much-needed evidence-based paradigm for improved RT use and patient outcomes in treating human breast cancer.
Bactrocera (Daculus) oleae
Creators: name: El-Hawagry, Magdi S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tephritidae
Bactrocera
Bactrocera oleae

description: Bactrocera (Daculus) oleae (Rossi, 1790)
Musca oleae Rossi 1790: 317. Unspecified type. Italy (Tuscany: Provinces of Firenze & Pisa) (?ZMHB). [Dr Valery Korneyev (personal communication) noted that he revised this collection in 2015 and found that it does not contain original Rossi specimens of B. oleae.]
Musca oleae Gmelin, 1790: 2844. Unspecified type. France (S. France: Gallia Meridionali); Italy (Unknown type depository). Junior primary homonym (preoccupied by Rossi 1790).
Musca oleae Petagna 1792: 685. Unspecified type. Italy (Calabria) (Unknown type depository). Junior primary homonym (preoccupied by Rossi 1790).
Dacus oleae var. flaviventris Guercio, 1900: 35. Syntypes. Italy (Nella Stessa Provincia & Calabria). (Unknown type depository).
Dacus oleae var. funesta Guercio, 1900: 35. Unspecified type. Italy (locality not given) (Unknown type depository).
Dacus oleae var. asiatica Silvestri, 1916: 425. Syntypes. Pakistan (Cherat) (IZUSN).
Distribution. AF: Angola, Eritrea, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Sudan. AU: Australia. NE: USA
(California). OR: India, Pakistan. PA: Canary Is., Caucasus, Egypt, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, Syria,
Jordan, Turkey.
Egyptian localities. Coastal Strip: Burg El-Arab, El-Maamoura, Mariout, Mersa Matrouh, Mex. Gebel Elba:?.
Lower Nile Valley and Delta: Giza, Mansouriya, Monofiya, Nouzha. Sinai: Rafah.
Host plants. Olive (Olea spp.).
Dates of collection. July–November.
description: Published as part of El-Hawagry, Magdi S., 2017, Catalogue of Egyptian Tephritoidea (Diptera: Schizophora: Acalyptratae), pp. 151-190 in Zootaxa 4299 (2) on page 161, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4299.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/843233
Small RNAs that mediate DNA damage repair as a new target for breast cancer prevention
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: We currently have limited means to prevent lethal cancers from developing in patients known to be at increased risk of breast cancer. Understanding the earliest steps that predispose or predestine cells to become cancerous can help us develop new cancer prevention strategies. There is increasing evidence that the abnormal expression of small RNAs, short non-coding RNA molecules that play key roles in numerous cell processes, is closely associated with tumor development. We propose to determine the role a new class of cancer-associated small RNA molecules, called sdRNA (single-stranded, DNA damage-associated small RNAs), play in breast cancer development. sdRNA are synthesized by a complex of molecules that includes the known tumor suppressor BRCA1. sdRNA molecules of different types are found at very high levels in patient tumors where they play a role in repairing damaged DNA that would otherwise be destroyed, a process integrally involved with tumor formation that may serve as a marker of clinically relevant premalignant mammary cell types.

 We propose measuring the levels of sdRNAs on a genome-wide scale in the breast tissues of patients with different breast cancer risk factors, including increasing age, inherited cancer predisposition, dense breast tissue, obesity, history of precancerous lesion, or lack of response to tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention. We will utilize cutting-edge computational modeling methods to identify key sdRNAs that promote tumor development and determine their association with different risk factors. Our proposed experiments would also provide the basis for understanding which sdRNAs are associated with cancer risk and determining if a patient with high levels of those sdRNAs would benefit from sdRNA-targeting prevention therapy.

 We will also perform novel experiments using a new method (organoids) to grow patient breast tissues in the lab to determine if disabling these sdRNAs can prevent early-stage cancer development. Creation of this technology will allow us to test these sdRNA-targeting units (called Anti-Sense Oligos) as a new type of therapy for breast cancer prevention, enabling future studies to identify and characterize additional mechanisms of tumor formation and directly test strategies to prevent or intercept breast cancers in the lab.
Arming macrophages to eliminate triple negative breast cancer stem cells
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) accounts for 10-15% of all breast cancers, and is usually more aggressive, harder to treat, and more likely to come back than other types of breast cancer. Tumors are called “triple negative” if the cancer cells test negative for three markers that doctors use to define breast cancer types, estrogen or progesterone receptors (ER or PR) and a protein called HER2. Lacking all of these markers rules out use of hormone therapy or anti-HER2 drugs, so most TNBC patients must endure non-targeted chemotherapies that give rise to adverse side effects by acting on the body’s normal cells.

 We considered the unique features of TNBC to design a new therapy to selectively eliminate the most dangerous and aggressive TNBC cells. We identified markers that are found on some of the most aggressive TNBC tumor cells, and devised a new treatment strategy that will have a very specific effect only on these cells while avoiding normal cells in the body. The medication we propose is a type of “immunotherapy”, an antibody that works by triggering the immune system and helping it to attack cancer. This new medication will act like a magnet to bring together cancer cells and macrophages, a type of immune cell that is particularly enriched in TNBC. By harnessing the patient’s own immune system, our new treatment can trigger a tumor killing response to eliminate the most dangerous TNBC cells from a tumor, leaving behind cancer cells that should be sensitive to very low doses of chemotherapy.

 The goal of our 1-year project is to test this new treatment strategy by treating pieces of freshly resected tumors, allowing us to understand what might make some tumors particularly good (or bad) candidates for our therapy. We will also use mouse tumor models to determine how our new therapy can slow tumor growth and spread throughout the body, and how it could be combined with very low doses of chemotherapy to completely halt tumor progression. If successful, this work will provide the rationale to advance this treatment strategy into clinical testing, providing a new opportunity to target and exploit the unique features of TNBC.
Adsorption of nortriptyline antidepressant from contaminated water by emerging aluminium-based dicarboxylate metal-organic-frameworks
Creators: name: Mogale, Refilwe
name: Akpomie, Kovo G.
name: Conradie, Jeanet
name: Langner, Ernst H.G.
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Space Science
subject: Medicine
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: The increasing concentration of antidepressants in wastewater due to economic hardship and pressures correlated to the global pandemic is an environmental threat. Therefore, new and efficient methods for their removal need to be developed. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are potent adsorbents for wastewater but there are limited reports on the adsorption potentials of an emerging class of dicarboxylate MOFs. Herein, we synthesised two aluminium-based dicarboxylate MOFs containing terephthalic (Al-MIL-53) and biphenyl (Al-Biphen) linkers for the adsorption of nortriptyline antidepressants from contaminated water. The MOFs were characterised by the TGA, SEM, PXRD, BET and FTIR and exhibited desirable surface properties for potent adsorption of nortriptyline. BET surface areas of 1024 m2 g−1 and 624 m2 g−1 were obtained for Al-Biphen and Al-MIL-53, respectively, which resulted in a maximum nortriptyline uptake capacity of 284.9 mg g−1 and 246.3 mg g−1. Optimum adsorption of nortriptyline was obtained at pH of 7.0, adsorbate concentration of 50 mg/L, contact time of 40 min and a temperature of 300 K. The Langmuir model was well correlated with the adsorption onto Al-Biphen, while both the Langmuir and Freundlich models were more suited for Al-MIL-53. The drug adsorption kinetics was well interpreted by the pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion models. For both materials, the adsorption processes are exothermic and spontaneous with decreasing randomness. Moreover, less than 10.9% of the initial efficiency of the MOFs was lost after four cycles of reuse, which showed that the dicarboxylate MOFs are highly efficient, fast, and reusable for nortriptyline adsorption from aqueous phase.
Eutetramorium
Creators: name: Bolton, Barry
name: Fisher, Brian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hymenoptera
Formicidae
Eutetramorium

description: Species of Eutetramorium
description: Published as part of Bolton, Barry & Fisher, Brian, 2014, The Madagascan endemic myrmicine ants related to Eutetramorium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): taxonomy of the genera Eutetramorium Emery, Malagidris nom. n., Myrmisaraka gen. n., Royidris gen. n., and Vitsika gen. n .., pp. 1-99 in Zootaxa 3791 (1) on page 10, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3791.1.1
A cross case analysis of growth model programs in three states
Creators: name: Gardella, Jennifer L.
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Signed into Law on January 8, 2002, the 1,180 page No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) shifted the course of public education in America.  For the first time accountability was firmly placed at the center of school operations by requiring a systematic approach to achieving reform and improving all areas of school life (Wanker & Christie, 2005).    As plans were quickly implemented to meet deadlines, strong opposition was voiced to the unfair way the primary requirement of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), was to be measured.  Using a status model, success was measured by using a snapshot of educational progress compared to a predetermined goal or dissimilar group of students.  Credit could not be earned for progress of non-proficient students.  In response, educational researchers have introduced growth modeling as a way to give credit to schools and districts when students make progress on standardized tests yet remain below the proficient mark (Andrejki, 2004; Callender, 2004; Hull, 2008).  In December 2005, the United States Department of Education opened a pilot project allowing states to apply to use growth modeling in NCLB accountability plans (United States Department of Education, 2005).    This dissertation research examines the implementation of a growth model program in three states:  Delaware, Iowa and North Carolina.  These states were chosen for their differences on a multitude of factors to provide a rich description of growth model implementation.  Using qualitative research techniques the decisions, implementation, data use, and statistical considerations were examined.  The findings reveal substantial information on the growth model implementation process with three significant themes emerging from the data.  Stakeholders played a significant role in each step of the process at varying degrees in each state.  The involvement of stakeholders was found to be important when making decisions and also to garner support for each program.  Reporting results to stakeholders was a central piece of each state plan.  Lastly, in all three states policy makers and technology efforts saw the benefit of working together to ensure that business rules were possible to implement and the results understandable.    The research contributes a rich description of real-world growth model implementation experiences in state level NCLB accountability plans to three important bodies of academic literature:  No Child Left Behind, Growth Modeling, and Policy Implementation.  Additionally, the discoveries start a guide for educational leaders to evaluate when deciding to add the statistical procedures into NCLB accountability plans.
Effects of air pollutants on endothelial function
Creators: name: Gandhi, Sampada
Publisher: name: No Publisher Supplied
Year: 2013

description: Background: Substantial evidence links exposure to particulate matter air pollution with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Endothelial dysfunction has been recently investigated as a potential mechanism by which an exposure to air pollutants for a short period of time can cause adverse cardiovascular events.     Methods: We examined the intra-day reproducibility of EndoPAT measurements obtained 2.5 hours apart and the inter-day reproducibility of EndoPAT measurements obtained 1 week apart in a group of young and healthy volunteers. We also examined the acute changes in EndoPAT measurements and plasma nitrite concentration following a 2-hour exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) compared to clean air (CA) in a controlled environmental facility as well as changes in these markers associated with increases in 5 ambient air pollutant concentrations, namely particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3) on the preceding & days.      Results: In Aim 1, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for the PAT ratio obtained 2.5 hours apart were -0.0& and 0.40 in the pilot and CA exposure study, respectively, and the ICC for the PAT ratio obtained a week apart was 0.2&, indicating a low intra-day and inter-day reproducibility.  In Aim 2, the plasma nitrite concentration showed a greater decrease following the exposure to DE and SOA compared to CA.  The mean PAT ratios showed an increase from pre to post-exposure to DE, SOA, and CA. In Aim 3, each interquartile range increase in the mean PM2.5 and CO concentration in the first 24 hours before the endothelial function measurement was associated with an increase in the plasma nitrite concentration (1&.1 and 1&.2% respectively).      Conclusions: The EndoPAT device does not produce reliable PAT ratios 2.5 hours apart and one week apart in a young population. The increase in the plasma nitrite associated with the increase in the ambient air pollutants in the first 24 hours suggests a potential role of systemic inflammation via stimulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase enzyme and generation of nitric oxide within a short period of time.
Inflammatory biomarkers and risk of second breast cancer in a diverse population
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: With earlier detection and better treatments, there are now over 3.8 million survivors with a first primary breast cancer (FPBC). These survivors are at high risk of developing a second primary breast cancer (SPBC). After a breast cancer diagnosis, many women are very fearful of a recurrence or a second breast cancer, which can lead to anxiety and adversely affect their quality of life. SPBC is therefore an important survivorship issue. Information on risk factors for SPBC is limited, and most data come from studies in non-Hispanic White women. There is a need for better risk prediction models to identify who may be at increased risk of developing SPBC, especially among women of color who are at greater risk of SPBC. We will measure inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein (CRP), cytokines, and adiponectin, in stored blood samples that were collected from women diagnosed with a first invasive breast cancer from 1995-2009 who participated in two studies conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. Among them, we have identified 244 women who were diagnosed with SPBC during follow-up. Using a case-control design, we will measure inflammatory biomarkers in 130 women with (SPBC cases), and for comparison, in 130 women with FPBC only (FPBC controls). We will combine the biomarker data with similar data from a small concurrent pilot study (110 SPBC cases and 110 FPBC controls). The 240 SPBC cases and 240 FPBC controls will be 26% African American, 16% Asian American, 32% Hispanic, and 26% non-Hispanic White. We will assess differences in biomarkers between SPBC cases and FPBC controls, and variation by tumor characteristics, treatment, sociodemographic characteristics, obesity, and lifestyle factors. Using logistic regression, we will evaluate whether the biomarkers are associated with the risk of developing SPBC. This study has the potential to inform surveillance and clinical care of women diagnosed with FPBC and could lead to blood tests and better prediction models for SPBC, ultimately reducing mortality and improving quality of life.
Sampling method for house dust using a mop and determination of OPFRs, phthalates, and alternative plasticisers in house dust
Creators: name: Takaguchi, Kohki
name: Suzuki, Norimichi
name: Nakaoka, Hiroko
name: Tsumura, Kayo
name: Eguchi, Akifumi
name: Nakayama, Yoshitake
name: Ogino, Fumitoshi
name: Baba, Fumito
name: Nagame, Tomohiro
name: Mori, Chisato
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2023
Subjects: subject: Biophysics
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Ecology
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified

description: Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), such as phthalates and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs), are used in plastic products and electrical and electronic applications as plasticisers or flame retardants. There has been a growing concern that exposure to SVOCs can have an adverse impact on human health. Several large-scale epidemiological studies employ the sampling of house dust using household vacuum cleaners as the standard method. However, in this method, house dust samples might be contaminated by flame retardants and plasticisers because of the presence of these chemicals in the plastic materials of cleaners. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a low-cost, easy-to-distribute sampling method to collect house dust using a mop and analyse OPFRs, phthalate esters, and alternative plasticisers in house dust. Our findings show that the proposed mop sampling method can be easily distributable and lower contamination from a sampling tool. Moreover, the proposed house dust sampling method is extremely useful for a large-scale survey such as a cohort study.
Cigarette smoke effects on nitric oxide-dependent muscle regeneration
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: It is well established that the persistent use of tobacco cigarettes has a profound impact on exercise tolerance. This ultimately reduces mobility and quality of life for those who develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Loss of muscle mass is a main factor in impaired exercise tolerance and results from both atrophy and inefficient regenerative capacity of the peripheral muscles. Tobacco smokers show a high incidence of muscle injuries and slow recovery. However, alterations in muscle regenerative mechanisms in smokers and COPD patients, in particular are poorly investigated. Muscle repair is initiated by the intracellular production of the free radical nitric oxide (NO) which activates muscle stem cells, also known as satellite cells present around muscle fibers (myofibers). The activation of satellite cells leads to myofiber repair. Although the many harmful components of cigarette smoke are considered pro-oxidants, skeletal muscles obtained from smokers show less capacity to produce NO. Our laboratory has shown that mice exposed to cigarette smoke have less muscle mass, altered muscle contractile function, fewer and less active satellite cells around myofibers, and lower amounts of NO synthases (enzyme that produces NO) in muscles than in non-smoking mice. Therefore, our hypothesis is that cigarette smoking leads to a decrease in skeletal muscle mass due to the dysregulation of NO-dependent signaling between myofibers and satellite cells that inhibits satellite cells activation and ultimately muscle repair. This will be tested by a series of experiments to determine the role of cigarette smoke exposure on 1) the cross-talk between NO production in myofibers and NO signaling in satellite cells in culture, and 2) the changes in NO signaling that control the ability of muscles to repair after damaging contractions in vivo. Several pharmacological strategies will be tested in vivo to alleviate the NO-dependent dysfunction of muscle repair in consequence of chronic smoking. The outcomes of this project will provide valuable information to develop future strategies to combat the harmful effects of smoking on muscle repair when muscles are subjected to daily activities that lead to muscle injury, and potentially improve quality of life.
Tobacco-related misinformation and Asian Americans in California: A user-centered approach
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Social media have become a major source for industry marketing and for consumers to find product information. Social media content, however, can be full of false claims. Many claims about health benefits of newer tobacco products like e-cigarettes are not scientifically proven but can spread widely and influence many people via social media. Existing studies of social media have found many types of false claims, or “misinformation” related to tobacco use, but less is known about how misinformation affects ethnic groups that do not have equal access to health and information resources.

 In California, Asian Americans are an ethnically diverse group constituting 16% of the population. Certain Asian subgroups have disproportionately high smoking rates, and e-cigarette use is also increasing among youth. For both historical and cultural reasons, Asian Americans face barriers to obtain quality information, limited access to educational resources made for the public, and they do not benefit equally from tobacco control policies, which makes them vulnerable to tobacco-related misinformation.

 We propose to examine how tobacco-related misinformation on social media may impact Asian American individuals’ tobacco knowledge and use, and whether they are able to identify the misinformation given a message. We pose three main questions: 1) What are the major misleading claims about tobacco products and policies are present on major English and Chinese social media platforms? 2) How do Asian Americans understand the social media claims presented to them, and what are the characteristics of messages and sources that affect their perception of credibility? 3) What kind of educational contents may increase Asian Americans’ ability to identify tobacco-related misinformation? This study helps us understand the specific information needs that Asian Americans have, and to support future programs to promote healthy decisions and behavior change.
Zicrona caerulea
Creators: name: Laterza, Ilaria
name: Tamburini, Giovanni
name: Panzarino, Onofrio
name: Loverre, Pamela
name: Mastronardi, Maria Grazia
name: Dioli, Paride
name: Lillo, Enrico De
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Pentatomidae
Zicrona
Zicrona caerulea

description: Zicrona caerulea (Linnaeus, 1758)
Material examined (n=9): loc. BS 03. VI.2020; loc. BR 24. VI.2020; loc. LAG 29.IX.16 leg. OP; loc. MS 09.VII.17 leg. MM; loc. PM 01.X.2020; loc. PG 01.VII.2020 loc. S2 29. VI.2020; loc. RG 04. VI.2020.
Distribution: Widespread in Europe, North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco) and Asia. Extralimital records in Americas and Oriental Region
description: Published as part of Laterza, Ilaria, Tamburini, Giovanni, Panzarino, Onofrio, Loverre, Pamela, Mastronardi, Maria Grazia, Dioli, Paride & Lillo, Enrico De, 2022, The first annotated checklist of Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) fauna of Alta Murgia National Park (Apulia region, Southern Italy), pp. 401-420 in Zootaxa 5219 (5) on page 407, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5219.5.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7431348
Zeugodacus Hendel
Creators: name: El-Hawagry, Magdi S.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Diptera
Tephritidae
Zeugodacus

description: Subgenus ZEUGODACUS Hendel
Zeugodacus Hendel, 1927a: 26. Type species: Dacus caudatus Fabricius, 1805, original designation. Proposed as a subgenus.
description: Published as part of El-Hawagry, Magdi S., 2017, Catalogue of Egyptian Tephritoidea (Diptera: Schizophora: Acalyptratae), pp. 151-190 in Zootaxa 4299 (2) on page 161, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4299.2.1, http://zenodo.org/record/843233
Role of Honeybadger, a novel allosteric modulator of KRAS signaling in lung cancer
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Lung cancer contributes to the highest cancer related death in the United States and throughout the world. Cigarette smoking is the number one risk factor for lung cancer. The traditional chemotherapy has not contributed significantly in improving the outcome in these patients. There is an urgent need to develop more effective, targeted therapies for these patients.

 A major driver in lung cancer patients is the activating mutation in a key oncogene, named KRAS. Targeting KRAS in cancer patients has been a major goal. However, KRAS is commonly referred to as “undruggable”. A real breakthrough was achieved during recent years when two inhibitors of KRASG12C protein, sotorasib and adagrasib were clinically approved by the U.S. FDA to treat patients with advanced lung cancer carrying the KRASG12C mutation. However, most of patients developed resistance to KRAS-G12C inhibitor treatment. But new approaches to targeting oncogenic KRAS may change this setback. Oncogenic KRAS signaling is also dependent on its ability to dimerize and form nanoclusters, a requisite for its oncogenic property. Targeting this protein-protein interactions and preventing RAS-RAS dimerization have shown to disrupt oncogenic potential of KRAS. New strategies to inhibit KRAS dimerization can therefore provide new and effective way to tackle this problem.

 We have recently discovered a micropeptide that we named Honeybadger (HNB), encoded by a transcript variant of PVT1, a long ‘non-coding’ RNA that we study in our lab. We discovered that HNB can act as an allosteric modulator of KRAS signaling. HNB is coded from the distal end of PVT1 that is frequently lost due to translocation at the PVT1 locus. To our knowledge, no other endogenous modulator of KRAS dimerization has been reported till now. Here we propose to carry out molecular, biochemical and functional characterization of HNB, and its effect on KRAS signaling to develop a potential therapeutic strategy that can take advantage of the role of HNB as a potent inhibitor of KRAS signaling. We hypothesize that understanding the molecular details underlying the KRAS-HNB interaction can help us develop new therapy for KRAS driven lung cancers. We propose that HNB or its mimetics can negate the limitations we face from direct inhibitors of oncogenic KRAS, which can be paradigm changing in the 30+ years of KRAS drug research.