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Pengabdian ini dilatar belakangi oleh sedikitnya minat santri putri untuk mengikuti kegiatan ekskul handcraf dan kurangnya kreatifitas yang dimiliki oleh santri putri Pondok Pesantren Tri Bhakti At-Taqwa. Kegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat di Pondok Pesantren Putri Tri Bhakti At Taqwa meliputi penyampaian materi, praktek sulam payet dan pemasaran produk hijab payet. Pengabdian masyarakat ini menggunakan metode Asset Bassed Community Development (ABCD) yakni memberdayakan asset yang ada berupa asset manusia dan potensi masyarakat yang ada di Pondok Pesantren. Dengan adanya pelatihan ini diharapkan dapat memberikan motivasi agar santri putri memiliki kemauan dalam berkreasi salah satunya dengan sulam payet hijab. Dari masalah yang ada di lingkungan pesantren yakni kurangnya kreatifitas dan kemauan untuk mengikuti kegiatan ekstrakulikuler handcraft. Narasumber berinisiatif mengadakan pelatihan handcraft. Adapun peserta yang mengikuti berjumlah 15 orang. Kegiatan yang dilakukan seperti penyampaian materi oleh narasumber, praktek sulam payet hijab dan pemasaran produk. Berdasarkan hasil dari pelaksanaan pengabdian yang dilakukan dapat disimpulkan bahwa santri putri Pondok Pesantren Tri Bhakti At-Taqwa dapat memahami materi dan proses pembuatan sulam payet hijab secara seksama serta mampu menciptakan Sumber Daya Manusia yang kreatif, inovatif dan efektif.

Finite element modeling of soft soil improvement with vacuum preloading and prefabricated vertical drains (PVD) behavior was carried out by considering smear effect and equivalent plane strain based on permeability conversion. Transfer of negative pore pressure due to vacuum preloading was modeled by using pore pressure boundary condition at soft soil layer and along the length of the PVD. The soft soil layer was modeled by using Modified Cam Clay constitutive model. Effect of constant and linearly decreasing vacuum pressure along the PVD length was investigated. Furthermore, prediction from this modeling such settlement was compared to Terzaghi 1-D consolidation. Degree of consolidation for radial only and combined vertical radial were predicted by using Barron’s and Carrillo’s formula, respectively. Numerical evaluation of vacuum preloading-induced lateral deformation compared to conventional preloading was also presented including its comparison with analytical method. Finally, several conclusions and recommendations related to modeling and behavior of combined PVD and vacuum preloading was given.

Cedera menyebabkan 5,8 juta kematian di dunia dan 16% kasus cedera menyebabkan kecacatan. Faktor perilaku anak usia sekolah yang meliputi pengetahuan, sikap dan keterampilan terkait pencegahan cedera berpengaruh terhadap kejadian cedera. Strategi pencegahan cedera yang dilakukan adalah dengan Model Sandi (Simbol Andi) menggunakan video animasi dengan tokoh bernama Andi. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis penerapan Model Sandi dalam pencegahan cedera pada tatanan komunitas, khususnya di lingkungan sekolah. Desain penelitian ini adalah quasi experiment pre-post test without control group. Jumlah sampel penelitian sebanyak 136 anak usia sekolah berusia 11-12 tahun yang dipilih melalui teknik cluster sampling. Pengetahuan mengenai pencegahan dan penanganan cedera meningkat sebesar 2,18 poin dengan SD=1,60, sikap mengenai pencegahan dan penanganan cedera meningkat sebesar 1,97 poin dengan nilai SD=0,99 dan keterampilan mengenai pencegahan dan penanganan cedera meningkat sebesar 2,06 poin dengan nilai SD=2,19. Hasil analisis menujukkan adanya perubahan yang bermakna pada pengetahuan, sikap dan keterampilan sebelum dan sesudah diberikan intervensi (p

I use the disability studies framework and autoethnography method in this qualitative research to examine my lived experiences in education and their impact on the disability community. The qualitative research method focuses on obtaining data through open-ended and conversational communication. This method is about what people think and why they think so. Disability Studies is an interdisciplinary body of intellectual work that positions disability positively and complexly, interrogating rhetoric that disability is a deficit that experts should remedy. Autoethnography is a research method and methodology which uses the researcher's personal experience as data to describe, analyze and understand cultural experience. I focus on my disability community membership, professional development, and ways I integrate social justice in teacher education to correct education systems into ones that value disabled people. Using the self-study technique, I review my education journey and identities and how they have shaped me into a teacher educator who believes education leverages us to question happenings and provide solutions. I, therefore, reflect on the entwinement of my scholarship and community outreach and how they are geared towards creating and advancing a local and global pluralistic society that values disabled people. My values of collaboration, innovation, integrity, excellence, access, diversity, equity, equality, and inclusion are best practices that dismantle educational barriers and empower educators and disabled people.

Dropout happens when a student withdraws themselves from school at any level of education without a certificate to account for their education. It is an educational problem in America because of its negative consequences on society. Three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma, and yet, just over half of American citizens acquire that extent of education. Out of the industrialized nations, America holds one of the most significant high school dropout rates. Half of the students who begin college will never finish. School dropouts are intelligent individuals capable of offering a lot to the world. However, because they never complete their studies, their abilities may never transpire to their full effectiveness. Hence, solving school dropouts is key to national development. Adolescents who drop out of school vary in demographics and socioeconomic status. There is also a correlation between students with disabilities and the dropout rate. This paper discusses school dropouts in the United States to contribute to its solutions. It examines the causal factors and the effects of school dropouts on individuals and society. School dropout is prevalent among vulnerable groups, and the cost to disadvantaged individuals, families, communities, and nations is high. Since school dropout status has negative consequences, moderating this dilemma benefits the individual and broader society, locally and globally.

This article provides a short overview of how to communicate about the purposes of educational assessments. The authors address the assessments that may be required at the state or district level, including summative assessments, interim assessments, and formative assessment practices. The article describes the needs of various audiences and the implications of those audience needs when talking with each of them about assessments. The authors conclude by describing communication strategies and how they might be used to communicate about statewide and districtwide assessments.

COVID-19 pandemic has eroded gains towards Kenya Vision 2030's poverty eradication goal by denying Kenyan children and youth with disabilities access to (quality) education. Situational analysis on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education of primary and secondary school-age individuals from March 2020 to December 2020 reveal that the education opportunities for learners with disabilities remained unpredictable as the disease ravaged communities to the end of the year. Learners with disabilities fell behind academically after school closure and COVID19 related biases predisposed them to academic failure and failed adulthood. Then, the implementation of disaster education and recovery plans are overdue and must intentionally target education of children and youth with disabilities.

In this contribution we present the achievements of the CUORE experiment so far. It is the first tonne-scale bolometric detector and it is in stable data taking since 2018. We reached to collect about 1800 kg×yr of exposure of which more than 1 ton×year have been analysed. The CUORE detector is meant to search for the neutrinoless double β decay (0νββ) of the 130Te isotope. This is a beyond Standard Model process which could establish the nature of the neutrino to be Dirac or a Majorana particle. It is an alternative mode of the two-neutrinos double β decay, a rare decay which have been precisely measured by CUORE in the 130Te. We found no evidence of the 0νββ and we set a Bayesian lower limit of 2.2 ×1025yr on its half-life. The expertise achieved by CUORE set a milestone for any future bolometric detector, including CUPID, which is the planned next generation experiment searching for 0νββ with scintillating bolometers.

The CUORE experiment is a ton-scale array of TeO 2 cryogenic bolometers located at the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), in Italy. The CUORE detector consists of 988 crystals operated as source and detector at a base temperature of ∼ 10 mK. Such cryogenic temperature is reached and maintained by means of a custom built cryogen-free dilution cryostat, designed with the aim of minimizing the vibrational noise and the environmental radioactivity. The primary goal of CUORE is the search for neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te , but thanks to its large target mass and ultra-low background it is suitable for the study of other rare processes as well, such as the neutrinoless double beta decay of 128Te. This tellurium isotope is an attractive candidate for the search of this process, due to its high natural isotopic abundance of 31.75%. The transition energy at (866.7 ± 0.7) keV lies in a highly populated region of the energy spectrum, dominated by the contribution of the two-neutrino double beta decay of 130Te. As the first ton-scale infrastructure operating cryogenic TeO 2 bolometers in stable conditions, CUORE is able to achieve a factor > 10 higher sensitivity to the neutrinoless double beta decay of this isotope with respect to past direct experiments.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN in Italy is an experiment searching for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Its main goal is to investigate this decay in ^{130}Te, but its ton-scale mass and low background make CUORE sensitive to other rare processes as well. In this Letter, we present our first results on the search for 0νββ decay of ^{128}Te, the Te isotope with the second highest natural isotopic abundance. We find no evidence for this decay, and using a Bayesian analysis we set a lower limit on the ^{128}Te 0νββ decay half-life of T_{1/2}>3.6×10^{24}  yr (90% CI). This represents the most stringent limit on the half-life of this isotope, improving by over a factor of 30 the previous direct search results, and exceeding those from geochemical experiments for the first time.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the most sensitive experiment searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) in 130Te. CUORE uses a cryogenic array of 988 TeO2 calorimeters operated at ∼10 mK with a total mass of 741 kg. To further increase the sensitivity, the detector response must be well understood. Here, we present a non-linear thermal model for the CUORE experiment on a detector-by-detector basis. We have examined both equilibrium and dynamic electro-thermal models of detectors by numerically fitting non-linear differential equations to the detector data of a subset of CUORE channels which are well characterized and representative of all channels. We demonstrate that the hot-electron effect and electric-field dependence of resistance in NTD-Ge thermistors alone are inadequate to describe our detectors' energy-dependent pulse shapes. We introduce an empirical second-order correction factor in the exponential temperature dependence of the thermistor, which produces excellent agreement with energy-dependent pulse shape data up to 6 MeV. We also present a noise analysis using the fitted thermal parameters and show that the intrinsic thermal noise is negligible compared to the observed noise for our detectors.

Postsecondary outcomes remain difficult to attain despite their significance to learners with disabilities. This qualitative study investigated the impact of a hidden curriculum of time on the education of five undergraduate students with disabilities at a Carnegie Research One institution in the midwestern U.S. Participants in their quest for an education experienced a hidden curriculum of time in the form of physical impairments, educational costs of ill-health, and disability discrimination. The academic barriers participants encountered in reaching their educational goals suggest that addressing the hidden curriculum of time is essential for authentic inclusion and achievement of postsecondary education outcomes.

Kenya adopted Competency Based Curriculum to produce engaged, empowered, and ethical citizens. However, inaccessible school infrastructure is leaving behind children with disabilities. Informed by data from individuals with disabilities and Kenyan and international agencies, this study uses disability studies in education to analyze the interaction of school structures and disability to understand the locus of Kenyan children with disabilities in the society. Findings show that inaccessible school infrastructure investments exclude children with disabilities and threaten Kenya's Vision 2030 poverty eradication goal. Needed is the reconceptualization of disability within a broader model of equity in the Kenyan education system.

Many countries suspended physical learning due to COVID-19 and switched to virtual learning to mitigate the spread of the pandemic. Grounded on social learning theory, this quantitative study examined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of students with special needs in Kenya. Statistical analysis revealed negative consequences of school closure on the academic performance and the level of inclusion of remote learning of students with special needs. COVID-19 affected academic performance of participants distinctly 90% (n = 27), greatly 36.7% (n = 11), considerably 16.7% (n = 5), moderately 26.7% (n = 8), slightly 10% (n = 3), and not at all 10% (n = 3). Besides, school dropout after lockdown showed that COVID-19 significantly affected the education of students with special needs, 60% (n = 6). Additionally, COVID-19-induced remote learning hurt the education of students with special needs--P-value = 0.00403<0.05. Education is a significant component in poverty eradication. However, the sudden change to virtual learning created accessibility difficulties that compounded the historical deficit culture-induced schooling problems students with special needs faced. Then, the Kenyan government should include children and youth with special needs and their families in all the community disaster management and recovery programs.

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a large-scale cryogenic experiment searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) in Te130. The CUORE detector is made of natural tellurium, providing the possibility of rare event searches on isotopes other than Te130. In this work we describe a search for neutrinoless positron-emitting electron capture (β+EC) decay in Te120 with a total TeO2 exposure of 355.7 kg yr, corresponding to 0.2405 kg yr of Te120. Albeit 0νββ with two final-state electrons represents the most promising channel, the emission of a positron and two 511-keV γ's make 0νβ+EC decay signature extremely clear. To fully exploit the potential offered by the detector modularity we include events with different topology and perform a simultaneous fit of five selected signal signatures. Using blinded data we extract a median exclusion sensitivity of 3.4×1022 yr at 90% credibility interval (C.I.). After unblinding we find no evidence of 0νβ+EC signal and set a 90% C.I. Bayesian lower limit of 2.9×1022 yr on Te120 half-life. This result improves by an order of magnitude the existing limit from the combined analysis of CUORE-0 and Cuoricino.

A systematic and comparative review of the literature and lived experience of a disabled Black African immigrant scholar in America reveals institutionalized ableism as a form of today's immigration restrictions. As long as the perspectives of immigrant disabled scholars remain outside universities, scholars are likely to continue with "academic incest" and higher education is unlikely to achieve its purposes of decentering the individual and democratizing the society.

Outdoor leisure activities (OLAs) are beneficial and the study of graduate students with disabilities remains under-researched in this area. This is happening when enrollment, dropout rates, and late degree completion of students with disabilities in graduate programs in American universities is on the rise. This exploratory case study approach uses participatory action research framed in photovoice to examine the authors' graduate school and outdoor leisure activity experiences. The authors engaged in collaborative self-examinations of their graduate school period to identify the impact of OLAs on their wellbeing. Three themes emerged from the study: countering the narrative of disability deficit through the collage, building of inclusive beneficial OLAs, and normalized life with assistive technology. It is important to include graduate students with disabilities in addressing barriers to OLAs in order to promote their academic performance and welfare.

The CUORE experiment is searching for the neutrinoless double β decay of the 130Te using cryogenic calorimeters. The CUORE detector consists of 988 TeO2 crystals packed in 19 towers and placed in a cryogenic facility with a base temperature of 10 mK. Crystals are enriched in the isotope 130Te which is the candidate for the neutrinoless double β decay. It is taking data since 2017 at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Such a long operation of a bolometric experiment in stable condition has no precedent: by reaching 1 tonne-year of exposure CUORE set a fundamental milestone for any future experiment using this technology. The CUORE collaboration investigated the neutrinoless double β decay of 130Te exploiting the updated 1 tonne-year of statistics, setting a limit of 2.2 × 1025 yr at the 90% of credibility interval on the half-life, with a median sensitivity of 2.8 × 1025 yr.

CUPID is the next generation experiment which will use scintillating cryogenic calorimeters to search for the neutrinoless double β decay. This unobserved process would shed light on the nature of the neutrino, which up to our knowledge could be a Majorana or a Dirac particle, and would give us an important hint to explain the lack of antimatter in the universe. This ambitious search needs a detector with unique characteristics such as an extremely low background level and an excellent energy resolution. CUPID is now in advanced R&D state to optimize the detector design in order to completely exploit the potentialities of scintillating cryogenic calorimeters. In the following I will describe the test performed at the LNGS (Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso) of a single module of the future CUPID detector. In this contribution we present the performance obtained with a novel assembly concept, proving that it matches the requirements for CUPID.

Postsecondary education is one of the targeted outcomes for students with disabilities; however, few aspiring students with disabilities attend college, and fewer complete a degree program. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of five undergraduate students with disabilities who attended college in the United States to identify factors (enablers) that facilitated successful transitions to college. Results suggest that participants' self-determination allowed them to manage the effects of their impairments and settings to reach their educational goals and participate in postsecondary education. The implication is that increased attention to inclusion, transitions, and postsecondary education competencies should begin early in the schooling process.

Background In vitro fertilization (IVF) shows potential to improve pregnancy success, especially for infertile couples. This technique has some risks for neonates in the perinatal period and may affect their future health. Objective To investigate the characteristics and clinical outcomes of neonates from IVF-conceived pregnancies. Methods This retrospective study was conducted in neonates from IVF-conceived pregnancies from January to December 2021 at Bunda Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Jakarta. We gathered data from medical records about maternal age and morbidity, gravidity, gestational age, method of delivery, multiple gestation, also neonates’ significant profiles like prematurity, birth weight, Apgar score, and morbidities in perinatal period. We would like to investigate the characteristics and clinical outcomes of neonates born from IVF-conceived pregnancies program. Results There were 361 neonates whose mothers underwent IVF included in this study. Most mothers were ?35 years (70.9%) and on their first pregnancy (69.2%). Maternal complicating factors were premature contractions (16.6%), premature rupture of membranes (8.3%), and twin pregnancy (31.5%). About 98.6% of deliveries were performed by caesarean section and from IVF-conceived pregnancies program most 61.2% neonates were born at full term gestation (61.2%). Preterm deliveries occurred at a mean gestational age of 34.4 (SD 2.4) weeks. Subjects’ mean birth weight was 2,800.2 (SD 640.3) grams, with 26.3% in the low-birth-weight category. Most neonates (93.0%) were appropriate weight for gestational age and had good Apgar scores in the first minute (92.2%) and fifth minute (99.7%). However, 24.3% of neonates needed intensive care (NICU) with morbidities. The longest length of NICU stay was 100 days, with mortality of 7.9% of NICU-treated infants. Conclusion In our setting, most neonates from the IVF program were born with good outcomes, although preterm birth rate, low birth weight, need for NICU care, and mortality rate were quite high. Further study is needed to evaluate long-term outcomes of IVF neonates.

It is an indisputable fact that coral reefs across the globe are in decline. With typical growth rates of 0.3 to 2 centimeters per year for massive corals, and up to 10 centimeters per year for branching corals, it can take up to 10,000 years for a coral reef to form (NOAA). The largest coral reef system in the United States, the Florida Reef Tract, is also the third largest barrier reef system in the world – only dwarfed by the Great Barrier Reef of Eastern Australia and the Mesoamerican Reef off the Caribbean coast of Central America. These ecosystems in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean were once dominated by large branching coral species such as Acropora cervicornis and Acropora palmata, known better by their common names - Staghorn and Elkhorn respectively, both of which now find themselves listed as threatened under to the Endangered Species Act (Federal Register). However, due to a number of threats, populations of these coral species have declined precipitously and resulted in the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration and its partners to launch Mission: Iconic Reefs - one of the largest collaborative efforts on the planet to restore reefs along the Florida Reef Tract. As a result, there are a lot of questions surrounding the efficacy of coral reef restoration and the efforts taking place - mainly how the goal to restore such a large, devastated ecosystem will be achieved amidst hot topics like climate change and habitat destruction. This overarching goal of this project is to consolidate the latest available information surrounding coral reef restoration by providing a framework for practices such as micro-fragmentation, sexual reproduction and other research and restoration efforts occurring throughout the Florida Keys and beyond.This report is accompanied by a website that I created – Restoration Destination – a platform designed to provide viewers with an introduction to coral restoration efforts in the Florida Keys, how the Mission: Iconic Reefs effort plans to tackle the challenges and present ways for the community to get involved.

Classification in supervised learning is a way to find patterns in database that the classes are already known. In the classification of machine learning, there is a term called ensemble classifier. The workings of the ensemble classifier aimed to improve model accuracy and optimize classification performance. This study aims to analyze the comparison of algorithms that work with ensemble learning, including Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and AdaBoost. The data used is the Human Development Index (HDI) of districts/cities in Indonesia. Other variables that are strongly related to human development are GRDP per capita, gross enrollment rate, net enrollment rate, labor force participation rate, unemployment rate, poverty rate, poverty depth, poverty severity, and average consumption per capita. The reason for using HDI is that apart from being an important macroeconomic variable in describing the condition of human resources in Indonesia, HDI already has an obvious classification according to the Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS) so that supervised learning can be applied. Comparison of model evaluation using accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, and kappa statistics. The analysis flow starts with data preprocessing, resampling and cross-validation, then modeling using the Random Forest, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and AdaBoost algorithm. The final stage is the model evaluation by comparing the best models in the classifications of districts/ cities according to HDI. The results showed that the Random Forest model had the best performance compared to the Support Vector Machine (SVM) and AdaBoost models with an accuracy value of 85,23%, specificity of 71,63%, sensitivity of 95,05%, and kappa coefficient of 0,7698. From this research, the an ensemble classifier can be developed to help classify scores on the Human Development Index in Indonesia. Keywords: AdaBoost, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, Ensemble Learning, Human Development Index

Abstract CUPID will be a next generation experiment searching for the neutrinoless double $$\beta $$ β decay, whose discovery would establish the Majorana nature of the neutrino. Based on the experience achieved with the CUORE experiment, presently taking data at LNGS, CUPID aims to reach a background free environment by means of scintillating Li $$_{2}$$ 2 $$^{100}$$ 100 MoO $$_4$$ 4 crystals coupled to light detectors. Indeed, the simultaneous heat and light detection allows us to reject the dominant background of $$\alpha $$ α particles, as proven by the CUPID-0 and CUPID-Mo demonstrators. In this work we present the results of the first test of the CUPID baseline module. In particular, we propose a new optimized detector structure and light sensors design to enhance the engineering and the light collection, respectively. We characterized the heat detectors, achieving an energy resolution of (5.9 ± 0.2) keV FWHM at the Q-value of $$^{100}$$ 100 Mo (about 3034 keV). We studied the light collection of the baseline CUPID design with respect to an alternative configuration which features gravity-assisted light detectors’ mounting. In both cases we obtained an improvement in the light collection with respect to past measures and we validated the particle identification capability of the detector, which ensures an $$\alpha $$ α particle rejection higher than 99.9%, fully satisfying the requirements for CUPID.

This paper explores the experiences of a doctoral disabled student at a university to examine how ableist structures in graduate programs affect access to higher education and post-degree outcomes. Guided by the DisCrit framework and autoethnography approach, the article illuminates systems and processes that disadvantage graduate disabled students. Through intersectional analyses of disability, race, and origin, the article makes visible manifestations of disability microaggressions and systemic ableism, racism, and xenophobia. It interrogates the perpetuation and normalization of academic transgressions, including exclusionary practices that degrade and oppress graduate disabled students and hinder them from seeking success. Finally, the argument is made in favour of reforms to authenticate disability culture, validate students’ rights to education, decolonize academics from ableism, and create a disability-friendly university environment.

IntroductionRecently, accurate machine learning and deep learning approaches have been dedicated to the investigation of breast cancer invasive disease events (IDEs), such as recurrence, contralateral and second cancers. However, such approaches are poorly interpretable.MethodsThus, we designed an Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) framework to investigate IDEs within a cohort of 486 breast cancer patients enrolled at IRCCS Istituto Tumori “Giovanni Paolo II” in Bari, Italy. Using Shapley values, we determined the IDE driving features according to two periods, often adopted in clinical practice, of 5 and 10 years from the first tumor diagnosis.ResultsAge, tumor diameter, surgery type, and multiplicity are predominant within the 5-year frame, while therapy-related features, including hormone, chemotherapy schemes and lymphovascular invasion, dominate the 10-year IDE prediction. Estrogen Receptor (ER), proliferation marker Ki67 and metastatic lymph nodes affect both frames.DiscussionThus, our framework aims at shortening the distance between AI and clinical practice

Background: Risk stratification and treatment benefit prediction models are urgent to improve negative sentinel lymph node (SLN-) melanoma patient selection, thus avoiding costly and toxic treatments in patients at low risk of recurrence. To this end, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) could help clinicians to better calculate the recurrence risk and choose whether to perform adjuvant therapy. Methods: We made use of AI to predict recurrence-free status (RFS) within 2-years from diagnosis in 94 SLN- melanoma patients. In detail, we detected quantitative imaging information from H&E slides of a cohort of 71 SLN- melanoma patients, who registered at Istituto Tumori "Giovanni Paolo II" in Bari, Italy (investigational cohort, IC). For each slide, two expert pathologists firstly annotated two Regions of Interest (ROIs) containing tumor cells alone (TUMOR ROI) or with infiltrating cells (TUMOR + INF ROI). In correspondence of the two kinds of ROIs, two AI-based models were developed to extract information directly from the tiles in which each ROI was automatically divided. This information was then used to predict RFS. Performances of the models were computed according to a 5-fold cross validation scheme. We further validated the prediction power of the two models on an independent external validation cohort of 23 SLN- melanoma patients (validation cohort, VC). Results: The TUMOR ROIs have revealed more informative than the TUMOR + INF ROIs. An Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 79.1% and 62.3%, a sensitivity value of 81.2% and 76.9%, a specificity value of 70.0% and 43.3%, an accuracy value of 73.2% and 53.4%, were achieved on the TUMOR and TUMOR + INF ROIs extracted for the IC cohort, respectively. An AUC value of 76.5% and 65.2%, a sensitivity value of 66.7% and 41.6%, a specificity value of 70.0% and 55.9%, an accuracy value of 70.0% and 56.5%, were achieved on the TUMOR and TUMOR + INF ROIs extracted for the VC cohort, respectively. Conclusions: Our approach represents a first effort to develop a non-invasive prognostic method to better define the recurrence risk and improve the management of SLN- melanoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant funds have been allocated in the United States at the federal, state, and local levels to provide teacher professional development aimed at bringing about instructional change and resulting in improved student achievement. One important indicator for quality and effectiveness in professional development is change in teaching practice. This study was designed to observe instructional change among 45 classroom teachers across three data points: at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a two-year statewide professional development initiative focused on incorporating formative instructional practices into daily classroom work. Repeated measure analysis results indicated significant changes in providing effective feedback and encouraging student ownership of learning. Change patterns in the classrooms included in this study informed future professional development focus, design, and delivery. Researchers found that implementing a comprehensive teacher professional development initiative to improve instructional quality is promising yet challenging because of differing local implementation plans, organizational structures, priorities, and resources.

To stimulate the auditory nerve, cochlear implants directly inject electrical current into surrounding tissue via an implanted electrode array. While many cochlear implant users achieve strong speech perception scores, there remains significant variability. Since cochlear implant electrode arrays are surrounded by a conductive fluid, perilymph, a spread of excitation occurs. The functionality of the cochlea is spatially dependent, and a wider area of excitation negatively affects the hearing of the user. Importantly, magnetic fields are unaffected by the material properties of biological components. To utilize the electromagnetic properties of the human ear, a microcoil array was developed. The microcoils are 4-turn solenoids with a 250- $\mu \text{m}$ turn radius and a 31.75- $\mu \text{m}$ wire radius, coated with Parylene-C. The efficient design was implemented to accelerate testing. The obtained results describe stimulation capabilities. Functionality was validated using a frequency response analyzer to measure how the generated electromagnetic power radiates in space. 99.8% power loss was observed over a 100- $\mu \text{m}$ separation between a pair of identical microcoils. Obtained through finite-element modeling, the microcoils can be driven by a 60 mA, 5 kHz, sinusoidal input for 10 minutes before predicted inflammation. Rattay’s activating function was calculated to evaluate the magnetic stimulation effect of external fields on target neurons. Combined with the frequency response analysis, magnitude and spatial effects of the generated potential is established. As a result, each microcoil requires a 400- $\mu \text{m}$ -wide area for each independent stimulation channel, which is 84% narrower than a commercial cochlear array channel, thereby suggesting greater spatial selectivity.

Glioblastoma is the deadliest brain cancer. One of the main reasons for poor outcome resides in therapy resistance, which adds additional challenges in finding an effective treatment. Small protein kinase inhibitors are molecules that have become widely studied for cancer treatments, including glioblastoma. However, none of these drugs have demonstrated a therapeutic activity or brought more benefit compared to the current standard procedure in clinical trials. Hence, understanding the reasons of the limited efficacy and drug resistance is valuable to develop more effective strategies toward the future. To gain novel insights into the method of action and drug resistance in glioblastoma, we established in parallel two patient-derived glioblastoma 2D and 3D organotypic multicellular spheroids models, and exposed them to a prolonged treatment of three weeks with temozolomide or either the two small protein kinase inhibitors enzastaurin and imatinib. We coupled the phenotypic evidence of cytotoxicity, proliferation, and migration to a novel kinase activity profiling platform (QuantaKinome™) that measured the activities of the intracellular network of kinases affected by the drug treatments. The results revealed a heterogeneous inter-patient phenotypic and molecular response to the different drugs. In general, small differences in kinase activation were observed, suggesting an intrinsic low influence of the drugs to the fundamental cellular processes like proliferation and migration. The pathway analysis indicated that many of the endogenously detected kinases were associated with the ErbB signaling pathway. We showed the intertumoral variability in drug responses, both in terms of efficacy and resistance, indicating the importance of pursuing a more personalized approach. In addition, we observed the influence derived from the application of 2D or 3D models in in vitro studies of kinases involved in the ErbB signaling pathway. We identified in one 3D sample a new resistance mechanism derived from imatinib treatment that results in a more invasive behavior. The present study applied a new approach to detect unique and specific drug effects associated with pathways in in vitro screening of compounds, to foster future drug development strategies for clinical research in glioblastoma.

ABSTRACT Raw cow milk is one of the most complex and unpredictable food matrices shaped by the interaction between biotic and abiotic factors. Changes in dairy farming conditions impact the quality and safety of milk, which largely depend on seasonality. Changes in microbiome composition and relative metabolic pathways are derived from microbial interactions, as well as from seasonality, mammary, and extramammary conditions (e.g., farm management and outdoor environment). Breeding data from >600 Apulian farms were examined, and the associated physicochemical parameters were processed by a reductionist approach to obtain a raw cow milk sample subset. We investigated the microbiological variability in cultivable and 16S rRNA sequencing microbiota as affected by seasonal fluctuations at two time points (winter and summer seasons). We identified families (Xanthomonadaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, and Pseudomonadaceae) whose increased abundance during winter may cause a shift toward a pathobiont microbial niche that leads to lower milk quality. Apulian summer season conditions were advantageous to the presence of specific taxa, i.e., Streptococcaceae (i.e., Lactococcus) and Limosilactobacillus fermentum, which in turn may favor better milk preservation. IMPORTANCE The strength of this study lies in the microbiological characterization of a wide range of farm management data to achieve a more comprehensive framework of Apulian milk. Specific regional pedoclimatic and management conditions impact the taxa present and their abundances within this ecological food niche. The obtained results lay the groundwork for comparison with other worldwide extensive farming areas.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are normally quiescent and non-migratory, regulating the contraction and relaxation of blood vessels to control the vascular tone. In response to arterial injury, these cells become active; they proliferate, secrete matrix proteins, and migrate, and thereby contribute importantly to the progression of several cardiovascular diseases. VSMC migration specifically supports atherosclerosis, restenosis after catheter-based intervention, transplant vasculopathy, and vascular remodeling during the formation of aneurysms. The atypical cadherin FAT1 is expressed robustly in activated VSMCs and promotes their migration. A positive role of FAT1 in the migration of other cell types, including neurons, fibroblasts, podocytes, and astrocyte progenitors, has also been described. In cancer biology, however, the effect of FAT1 on migration depends on the cancer type or context, as FAT1 either suppresses or enhances cancer cell migration and invasion. With this review, we describe what is known about FAT1’s effects on cell migration as well as the factors that influence FAT1-dependent migration. In VSMCs, these factors include angiotensin II, which activates FAT1 expression and cell migration, and proteins of the Atrophin family: Atrophin-1 and the short isoform of Atrophin-2, which promote VSMC migration, and the long isoform of Atrophin-2, which exerts negative effects on FAT1-dependent VSMC migration.