Florida Gulf Coast University

This article presents an oral history of a Kurdish academic, examining how they narrate Kurdish identity under repression and how those meanings shaped their decision to escape Turkey to live in exile. The narrator was one of the participants of a dissertation on the erosion of academic freedom in Turkey and the experiences of academics in exile following the 2016 attempted coup. This article focuses on the oral history conducted as part of that project. This study can inform understandings of other stories, rather than claiming to represent all Kurds in Turkey. Therefore, I used an oral history approach to center the narrator’s testimony and analyze how they construct meaning about Kurdish identity under conditions of surveillance and risk, understanding that identity is socially constructed, interactional, performative, and situated within webs of significance. The findings offer insight into the personal dimensions of post-2016 repression in Turkey, the narrator’s account of seeking recognition of cultural and linguistic rights, and everyday mechanisms and policy dynamics that contributed to the academic purge and to academics’ decisions to live in exile.

Wisconsin’s construction industry plays a significant role in the state’s economy, supporting 380,000 jobs and contributing 15.8% to the state's GDP. The manufactured and modular building sector alone generates $2.65 billion annually and supports 26,000 jobs. Optimizing and managing modular construction processes reduces waste and enhances efficiency, making it key area for technological advancement. This paper proposes an integrated building information modeling (I-BIM) platform to enhance project management and promote sustainable construction. The I-BIM platform incorporates 3D visualization, 4D scheduling, 5D cost estimation, and 6D sustainability. It automates the generation of manufacturing drawings, reports, and an integrated database, enabling better project control, reducing rework, and optimizing energy use. The I-BIM model facilitates automation and integration across design and construction, using tools like Autodesk Revit, Navisworks, and INSIGHT-360. This platform aims to enhance waste reduction, project control, and stakeholder communication throughout the project lifecycle, supporting the broader goal of sustainable construction.

Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as a significant bacterial pathogen with the ability to cause recalcitrant and often deadly systemic infections due to the proclivity of encountering drug-resistant isolates clinically and this pathogen’s ability to evade immune responses while causing significant pro-inflammatory reactions during infection. Novel therapies to combat resistant isolates have shown promise but variable efficacy in clinical trials. Research efforts to expand the pathophysiological understanding of this bacterium for the ultimate identification of new therapeutic targets for use in the development of novel therapeutics are limited by strain heterogeneity and inconsistent preclinical models. This perspective highlights clinical challenges experienced in treating these infections, potential strategies that could be utilized in the research and development of effective therapies and clinical management of A. baumannii infection.

BackgroundMany outpatient infections can be effectively treated with shorter (5-day) rather than longer (7-14 day) antimicrobial courses. While emergency department (ED)-focused antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) efforts are expanding, electronic health record (EHR) optimizations to impact prescribing of antimicrobial durations have not been robustly defined.MethodsThis quality improvement initiative occurred at five EDs within a community health system. An update was made in the EHR to change the default dispense quantity of all oral antimicrobials at ED discharge to a 5-day supply. Adult patients receiving ≥1 oral antimicrobial at ED discharge were included. Pre- (2022) and post-intervention (2023) data were compared. The primary endpoint was the average antimicrobial days supply prescribed. Other endpoints included patient demographic and encounter data, primary diagnoses, antimicrobials prescribed, and 30-day ED readmission.ResultsThere were 33,226 ED encounters (39,253 antimicrobial prescriptions) pre-intervention vs. 37,545 post-intervention (44,824 antimicrobial prescriptions). Mean age was 49 years; 59% of patients were female. Top primary diagnoses were respiratory viruses, urinary tract infections, skin and soft tissue infections, intra-abdominal infections, and dental infections. Cephalosporins (34% vs. 36%) and penicillins (17% vs. 19%) were the most common antimicrobial classes prescribed in the pre- and post- groups, respectively. Average oral antibiotic days supply was reduced by 1 day pre-post intervention (7.9 days vs. 6.9 days; p < 0.001), resulting in an estimated 36,000 days of antibiotics saved over the 1-year timeframe. There were no differences in 30-day ED readmission (17.6% vs. 17.8%, p=0.37).ConclusionThis high impact, low resource EHR update to default dispense quantities for ED-discharge oral antimicrobial prescriptions was associated with a significant reduction in antimicrobial days’ supply with no difference in 30-day ED readmission. Similar interventions could be considered to help support appropriate antibiotic prescribing in community health system ED environments with limited AMS resources.DisclosuresAll Authors: No reported disclosures

Purpose Disaster immunity capability has been demonstrated to benefit firms during supply chain disruptions. However, research on how supply chain digitalization provides data to assist firms in achieving immunity capability is lacking. Supply chain digitalization focuses on the application of digital technologies (e.g. the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain) to optimize supply chain operations. This paper aims to answer the research question: How can supply chain digitalization contribute to organizational disaster immunity capability? Design/methodology/approach We propose a research model based on dynamic capabilities theory to address the research question by exploring relationships between supply chain digitalization, process integration, innovation speed and disaster immunity capabilities. Two empirical studies, a survey and a vignette-based experiment, provide empirical support using data collected from manufacturing and service companies to test the proposed model. Findings The results demonstrate that supply chain digitalization significantly enhances disaster immunity capability through the mediating effects of supply chain process integration and innovation speed. Originality/value This study contributes to existing literature by introducing supply chain process integration and innovation speed as mediating variables that explain how digitalization leads to disaster immunity capability. This paper provides practical, actionable insights for organizations to prepare for future disasters and make informed decisions.

ABSTRACT The piezoelectric materials, barium titanates (BaTiO 3 ) in various sizes 50, 200, and 500 nm, were modified with polyethyleneimine (PEI) as PEI@BaTiO 3 to improve antibacterial activities. The realization of PEI modification was confirmed with the peaks appeared on the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum of BaTiO 3 nanoparticles ∼1650 cm −1 , which are assigned to N–H stretching vibrations. The isoelectric points of BaTiO 3 nanoparticles increased to about pH 10 after PEI modification, which were pH 3–4 range for pristine BaTiO 3 nanoparticles. BaTiO 3 nanoparticles below 200 nm showed antibacterial activity against gram‐negative bacteria with 25 mg/mL minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) value but determined not effectively against gram‐positive pathogens. However, positively charged PEI@BaTiO 3 particles render high antibacterial potency on wide range of bacteria with almost four‐fold lower MIC values than pristine BaTiO 3 nanoparticles. Safe concentration of BaTiO 3 nanoparticles on L929 fibroblast cells was found at 100 µg/mL with more than 90% cell viability. Cytotoxicity was slightly decreased for PEI@BaTiO 3 particles, and 50 µg/mL concentration of PEI@BaTiO 3 particles could be used in vivo applications without any significant toxicity. The piezoelectric effect of pristine BaTiO 3 generated a higher voltage for 50 nm particles compared to the larger particles. Also, PEI@BaTiO 3 generated voltages, somewhat attenuated and rapidly decayed in time, showed high consistency.