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Advancements in Computational Digital Pathology for EGFR and pd-l1
Get PDFAnnually Inova Health Care System treats more than two million individuals through their integrated network. With the increasing need for fast and accurate results for its cancer patients, the Inova Laboratories Healthcare System’s reference laboratory, has acquired a Rapid Molecular Testing System, called BioCartis Idyllatm which is a real-time PCR bases molecular testing system. This system is user friendly and will help improve the turnaround time for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. Most of the existing molecular testing for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) platforms such as whole genome sequencing, Exon sequencing and Disease diagnosis panel takes approximately fourteen days or longer to obtain results. This is due to the need for high volume batched samples, specimen procurement, transportation and complex interpretation. While there have been great expansion of knowledge on molecular changes occurring in the cancer development, clinical utility of molecular tests for the diagnosis and especially for the treatment of cancers have been limited. The FDA has approved some treatments targeted for specific molecular changes such as EGFR mutation and KRAS mutation in lung cancers and BRAF mutation in melanomas. Molecular testing aids the pathologist to check for certain changes in a gene or chromosome that may cause or affect the chance of developing a specific disease or disorder, in this case lung cancer. Another area of rapid progress is the advancement of immune targeted therapy aimed at PD-L1. Initially applied to lung cancers and some GI cancers, and has been approved by FDA- for multiple cancer types recently. To be able to apply these advanced therapeutics there is a growing need for more efficient targeted biomarker testing, including fast TAT (turnaround time), user friendliness, remarkable accuracy, specificity and sensitivity which are equivalent to the NGS test results The objective of this project is to determine the use of rapid molecular tests for tumor mutations and the application of AI-based digital scoring methods of IHC (immunohistochemistry) test for PD-L1 for Keytruda® (Pembrolizumab)
Miniature Autonomous Robotic Fulfillment System
Get PDFIn this paper, we created an automated miniature fulfillment system using robotic manipulators, mobile robots, a rotatory and a box sorter that moves and sorts boxes. The robotic manipulators use computer vision to detect and grasp the box and is robust to changes in position and orientation. The mobile robots uses computer vision for navigation, making it robust to drifting. The robots are all powered by their own Raspberry Pi and share information to each other and the network. We have also connected IR occupancy sensors overhead that can communicate with the robot if there are humans nearby. The objective of this system is to create a testbed for cyberphysical system security, computer vision and inter-robot communication
Automated Electrochemistry for Measuring the Temperature Dependence of Various Cell Parameters via A Custom Built Microcontroller-Based Potentiostat
Get PDFA $70 microcontroller based potentiostat with a temperature probe was designed, fabricated, and tested. The potentiostat was programmed to automatically repeat chronoamperometric experiments on a solution of potassium ferricyanide in potassium chloride at different temperatures under both kinetic and diffusion controlled conditions. Under kinetic control, the system proved to be quasi-reversible. Cottrellian behavior was observed under diffusion control. Currents due to the formation of an electric double layer were found to follow a power law. The temperature dependence of the heterogeneous rate constant, diffusion coefficient, double layer capacitance, and surface excess were all measured. From this data, the ionic mobility, activation energy and frequency factor for diffusion and heterogeneous electron transfer were all measured
Ground-based Light Curve follow-up Validation Observations of TESS Object of Interest TOI 5147.01 with V-Shaped Profile
Get PDFContext
The best-fit light curve model helps determine various characteristics of the exoplanet, such as its orbital period, radius, and sometimes even its atmospheric properties.
Aims
Conducting an analysis and interpretation of light curves derived from the provided dataset. The dataset contains various parameters for each observed slice of data, including saturated labels, Julian Dates, Heliocentric Julian Dates, Barycentric Julian Dates, air mass, object altitude, CCD temperature, exposure time, object coordinates, full width at half maximum (FWHM), source and sky radii, relative flux measurements, and associated errors for multiple comparison stars (C1 to C11) and the target star (T1).
Methods
Methodology employed for data processing, the extraction of photometric information, and the calculation of relevant parameters for each star in the dataset. The photometric measurements are compared to established values to validate the accuracy and consistency of the obtained results
Teachers’ Pedagogical Visual Literacy Skills in Elementary Science
Get PDFThe complexity of science visual literacy education calls for a better understanding of elementary teacher visual literacy practices. Teachers play a key role in developing students’ visual fluency through the visual literacy skills they develop in their pedagogical practices. Addressing these gaps in the research, this dissertation focused on the identification of elementary teachers' pedagogical science visual literacy skills and the practices associated with levels of pedagogical science visual literacy. A phenomenographic multiple case study design was used to understand the pedagogical science visual literacy skills of (n = 6) experienced elementary teachers. Data was collected through two interviews and lesson simulation. Half of the teachers in the study used scaffolded practices to support student development of application-based skills with science representations. However, three of the elementary teachers in this study engaged students in mostly knowledge-based skills of remembering and comprehension. Despite years of experience, these teachers did not support student understanding of science visuals. Several of the teachers discussed the importance of design features in visuals, but these teachers did not translate design information to the students they teach. Teacher practices that promoted visual thinking on the part of students, focused on learning science visuals through critical visual literacy and a socio-scientific lens. The findings of this study support the development of a framework for understanding pedagogical science visual literacy
THREE ESSAYS on CHINA'S FILM INDUSTRY AND THE FILM CENSORSHIP SYSTEM
No full textChapter 1 studies the Economic and Political Institutions of China’s Film Censorship. Film censorship is an inevitable problem when Hollywood filmmakers try to get their films shown in China. The Chinese government and state-owned film corporations are attracted to the profits that Hollywood films would bring. Meanwhile, Chinese conservatism argues that Hollywood films will erode China’s socialist ideology and hinder the development of the film industry in China. To balance the conflict, the Chinese government has established economic and political institutions to regulate the outputs of Hollywood filmmakers. This paper analyzes film censorship in China, including its economic and political institutions of censorship directly involved in importing Hollywood films, and explores strategies employed by the Chinese government in censorship programs. Chapter 2 is coauthored with Tim Groseclose and Tyler Cowen. In Chapter 2, we introduce a structural econometric model to estimate the extent to which the Chinese government bans U.S. movies. Our sample contains all U.S. movies that were released during 1994-2019 and grossed at least 170 million in the U.S.—then the probability is approximately 0.32 that the Chinese government will ban it. During our sample period, approximately 28 percent of the movies shown in China were produced by U.S. studios. We estimate, however, that if the Chinese government had not banned any U.S. movies, then the latter number would have risen to about 69 percent, and Chinese sales of U.S. movies would have increased from approximately 45.1 billion. In addition, we estimate that several movies were banned---and otherwise would have been shown---if they had not contained particular controversial content. Specifically: (i) approximately 9.1 movies were banned because they contained lgbtq themes, (ii) 44.9 were banned because they contained occult themes, (iii) 98.9 were banned because they contained controversial adult content (i.e. they were rated R), and (iv) 1.5 were banned because the actor Richard Gere appeared in them. In Chapter 3, I intend to study China's influence on U.S. films' casting choices. I recorded the 30 highest revenues films in the U.S. each year from 1985 to 2019 and collected actors' names who are listed in the first eight positions on those casting lists. I noted those actors' ethnic information and categorized them into five ethnic groups: white, African American, Asian, Latinx, and indigenous group. Under the Asian ethnic group, I found that the appearance of non-American Chinese actors increased after 1998 (shown in Figure 1), meanwhile, the number of American Chinese actors remained stable. I attribute the increase in non-American Chinese actors to China's growing film market. Especially due to these two reasons, (1) Hollywood studios have begun to cast more non-American Chinese actors to take advantage of the growth of the Chinese film market. (2) Chinese filmmakers have started co-producing films with Hollywood studios, and as a result, Chinese filmmakers brought native Chinese actors to those films. I use three independent variables as proxies for those two factors, U.S. films revenue in China, the number of U.S. films shown in China, and the number of co-production films with Chinese filmmakers. The regression results show that China is weakly related to the increasing appearance of non-American Chinese actors
The Use of Telepresence Robots as an Educational Tool
Get PDFWith the rise of COVID-19, the need for a teaching alternative to in-person has grown tremendously. While the most common alternative to in-person teaching has been videoconferencing, telepresence robots can serve as an effective teaching modality as well. In study 1, 92 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (Human, Telepresence Robot, or Videoconferencing) and were read two scripts then were asked to complete a quiz on these topics. Participants in the telepresence condition performed significantly better than participants in the videoconferencing condition in one of the quizzes. The results suggest that telepresence robots could be an effective alternative to videoconferencing. A second study to follow up on the results was conducted. In this study, 62 participants were assigned to one of two conditions (Telepresence Robot, or Videoconferencing) and were read two scripts with more interaction, and were asked to complete a quiz on the topics. There were no significant differences between the two groups, suggesting that more interaction did not favor either condition
The National Emergence of Newcomer Schools: Their Growth, Characteristics, and Outcomes
Get PDFThis empirical study examines the growth and characteristics of newcomer schools, as well as the associations between newcomer school characteristics and student outcomes. Newcomer schools are specialized schools for children newly arrived in the U.S. with limited English language proficiency and often interrupted education. To conduct this study, I constructed a school-by-year dataset for school years 1986-2018 that incorporates student demographics, student outcomes, school characteristics and quality indicators, district resources and demographics, and migration data. The dataset is comprised of data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), the U.S. Census, and New York City Department of Education data. The dataset includes approximately 80,000-100,000 schools per year and over 400 variables. Analysis draws upon contexts of reception theory to examine the classroom, school, and district level contexts and conditions of newcomer schools and the ways that these contribute to the educational outcomes of newcomer students. Findings show that newcomer schools have spread from mostly coastal, urban areas to locations throughout the country, and serve a diverse range of students. Newcomer schools tend to have greater financial resources and smaller support staff to student ratios than non-newcomer schools, but are more likely to employ less experienced educators, offer fewer rigorous courses, and have higher rates of student absenteeism than non-newcomer schools. Still, attendance at a newcomer school is associated with positive effects in Algebra I and English standardized exams. Findings from this study can inform policy and practice to better allocate resources to meet the needs of shifting demographics and to meet the educational needs of English Learners (ELs) by building responsive contexts of reception. Findings can also support the improvement of educational equity among newcomer schools and between newcomer schools and non-newcomer schools. Furthermore, this study informs future research through the identification of additional data collection needs to strengthen understanding of the effect of newcomer schools on newcomer education
Evaluation of Pancreatic Re-transplantation Outcomes
Get PDFBackground
In this literature review, we will cover details of prior research. This review includes studies published after 2012. There is extremely limited information available about the outcomes of pancreas retransplants. Most studies in this field are single-center reports with small datasets. This literature review can be divided into three main areas:
1. Analysis of graft survival in different forms of pancreas transplants
2. Analysis of patient survival in different forms of pancreas transplants
3. Review of recommendations to consider pancreas retransplants for patients
Several studies have identified the graft survival rates of retransplant patients and compared them with graft survival rates for other pancreas transplant patients. In [7], authors compared the graft survival between 187 primary transplant and 26 retransplant patients, noting that graft survival rates were lower amongst retransplants than primary transplants. In 2018, Gasteiger et al. [4] concluded that graft survival in first-time retransplant patients was similar to graft survival amongst patients that received more than one retransplant. In [1], Hollinger determined that graft survival was similar amongst patients who received an early retransplant and a delayed retransplant. Most studies analyzing graft survival rates in pancreas retransplants are single-center reports studying less than 50 patients each. In 2015, Siskind et al. [6] reviewed more than a thousand retransplants in a larger database, UNOS; the authors determined that graft survival in retransplant patients was significantly lower than primary transplant patients.
Most studies determining graft survival rates of retransplant patients also studied patient survival rates. In [2], the authors conducted an in-depth analysis of retransplants done after 2003 and determined that there was no significant difference between the patient survival rates of primary transplant and retransplant patients. In [7], the authors concluded that patient survival was not different for primary transplant patients and retransplant patients. The analysis on the UNOS database revealed that patient survival was greater in the retransplant group than the primary transplant group [6].
Most work in this field has concluded by supporting pancreas retransplants as a viable option for patients. In [5], the authors state that retransplants are feasible and that it should be considered for diabetic patients who have lost their first pancreas. In [3], where the authors analyzed 18 retransplant patients, the study concluded by determining that retransplants are a safe and effective procedure. In [7], the authors had determined that retransplants had lower graft survival than primary transplants yet concluded that it can be offered to diabetic patients. However, in [6], the authors analyzed over 1,000 retransplants and concluded that retransplants should not be considered for all patients
The Sleep of Reason
No full textThis thesis has been embargoed for 10 years and will not be available until August 2030 at the earliest.20-year-old Marion Merriweather lives with her aunt, uncle, and self-important cousin in Camden, Massachusetts. A decade ago, a disastrous family camping trip left her mother missing and her father committed to a private clinic. She has largely blocked this from her memory and, in her last year of undergraduate work, applied to the medical school at Camden College. After visiting her father, she comes home to a rejection letter, barbs from her cousin, and late that night, a shadowy creature tries to suffocate her in bed. Is it just a nightmare, or something more? In this Depression-era mystery/horror story, a smart, courageous young woman tries to save her family and herself.2030-08-1