bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ceftaroline Fosamil Use in 2 Pediatric Patients With Invasive Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections
Authors: Williams Amanda W. , Newman Patrick M. , Ocheltree Sara , Beaty Rachel , Hassoun Ali
Published: January 2016

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is one of the most common pathogens causing pediatric infections including skin and soft tissue infections, pyogenic arthritis, osteomyelitis, and septic shock. For decades, patients were treated with antibiotics such as vancomycin and clindamycin, but there is an increasing incidence of resistance to these traditional therapies. We describe 2 cases of patients with CA-MRSA invasive infections with bacteremia who experienced vancomycin therapy failure but who were successfully treated with ceftaroline fosamil. Case 1 involves an 8-year-old Hispanic male who was diagnosed with CA-MRSA bacteremia, thigh abscess, and osteomyelitis. The patient was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit in septic shock. Case 2 involves an 8-year-old Caucasian male who was diagnosed with CA-MRSA sepsis, right arm abscess, and osteomyelitis. We were able to successfully treat both patients with CA-MRSA sepsis and invasive infection—who failed vancomycin therapy—with ceftaroline fosamil with no adverse efiects. Despite the positive outcome in both pediatric patients, clinical trials with ceftaroline fosamil are needed to further support its use in pediatric patients.
The Observation Scale for Autism (OSA): A New Screening Method to Detect Autism Spectrum Disorder before Age Three Years
Authors: Haglund Nils , Dahlgren SvenOlof , Källén Karin , Gustafsson Peik , Råstam Maria
Published: January 2016

Background: There is an increasing body of evidence that early interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) promote a positive development of social interaction. Thus, tools for early detection of ASD are warranted.
Aim: Development of, and deciding cut-off-levels for, a new screening tool for ASD, the Observation Scale for Autism (OSA). The OSA was designed to be used at the free health check-up at 30 months, offered to all children in Sweden.
Method: The OSA consists of 12 observations and takes less than 10 minutes to use. The performance of the test was investigated by assessing 37 children previously diagnosed ASD, 23 with Down Syndrome (DS) and 26 typically developing children (TD).
Results: Children diagnosed with ASD showed statistically significant higher scores in all 12 items compared to TD children, and significantly higher in 10 items compared to the children with DS. Most of the observations in OSA seemed to cover specific symptoms of ASD, but two of the observations were more related to developmental level. The nine most discriminative items for ASD were identified, and among those, a cut-off limit was chosen (≥3 items). Among children with ASD, 34/37 reached the proposed cut off, compared to 0/26 and 4/23 among children in the TD and DS groups, respectively.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the OSA discriminates children with ASD from TD children and children with DS. Using the suggested cut off, OSA provides high sensitivity for ASD (92%) with a very low false positive rate.
Método de valoração contingente e mapas afetivos: perspectivas para o processo decisório
Authors: Bizarria Fabiana Pinto de Almeida , Tassigny Mônica Mota , Brasil Marcus Vinicius de Oliveira , Fontenele Raimundo Eduardo Silveira
Published: January 2016

Este artigo objetiva discutir a relação sujeito-ambiente sob a perspectiva de dois campos do conhecimento: Economia e Psicologia. Essa relação é apresentada por meio de dois métodos que buscam apreender aspectos envolvidos no ato de se atribuir um valor ao ambiental. O método da Valoração Contingente, estudada pela Economia. O método dos Mapas Afetivos analisa aspectos subjetivos e se insere no campo da psicologia ambiental, objetivando compreender as motivações subjacentes e o nível de apropriação dos sujeitos em relação ao ambiente. Os mapas se referem às dimensões envolvidas com o espaço. Busca entender as codificações, armazenamentos e atributos relacionados à experiência com o entorno. O instrumento possibilita identificar valores e significados atribuídos pelo sujeito e permite, inclusive, a apreensão de símbolos e aspectos culturais de um grupo. O método da valoração parece representar um avanço da tentativa de minimizar impactos ambientais. Sua limitação relaciona-se a forma de abordagem baseada em escolhas racionais. Sendo os sujeitos econômicos, detentores de aspectos que escapam a análise racional, não se pode afirmar que um sujeito ao definir um valor para um ativo ambiental, o faz por meio de critérios objetivos apenas. A combinação de metodologias diversas e a ampliação da discussão do ambiente possibilita uma compreensão mais holística dos fenômenos ambientais em interação com os sujeitos. Nesse sentido, possibilita a postura critica que torna o homem capaz de decidir entre várias alternativas segundo uma hierarquia de decisões e de afetos, processando suas escolhas a partir de convicções, atitudes, afetos, opiniões e pontos de vista em todas as circunstancias.
¡La Enseñanza de la Historia sin mujeres! Género, currículum escolar y libros de texto: una relación problemática
Authors: Saenz del Castillo Aritza
Published: January 2016

El objetivo de este artículo será primeramente analizar desde una perspectiva de género el tratamiento dispensado por los libros de texto de historia de secundaria y bachiller a un periodo concreto de nuestro pasado más reciente, como fue el franquismo. Posteriormente y ante la ausencia de la visión de género en los contenidos y explicaciones históricas de estos manuales sobre el desarrollo social, entendiendo por tal la evolución, el cambio, la permanencia y la duración de la sociedad, sus estructuras y sus miembros, formularemos una propuesta didáctica dirigida a bachiller al objeto de descifrar la historia de las mujeres durante el franquismo.
Imagen de ciencia de estudiantes de Magisterio
Authors: Vílchez-González José Miguel , Carrillo-Rosúa Francisco Javier , Rodríguez-Sabiote Clemente , Jiménez-Tejada Pilar
Published: January 2016

En este artículo se indaga en la imagen de ciencia de estudiantes de Magisterio de distintas especialidades, posibles futuros docentes de disciplinas científicas en la etapa de Educación Primaria (6-12 años). La investigación, en la que han participado 1260 estudiantes, se realizó durante tres cursos académicos comprendidos entre 2008 y 2011. Basado en el análisis de un cuestionario extraído del INPECIP, este estudio arroja como principales conclusiones que los participantes no poseen un conocimiento claro de cómo se genera y evoluciona el conocimiento científico. Grosso modo, la imagen de ciencia no depende del sexo, de si sus estudios preuniversitarios han guardado relación con disciplinas científicas, ni de la especialidad de Magisterio cursada. Se detectan, no obstante, diferencias de matiz en relación con las tres variables.
La Lucrècia Borja de ficció en el drama d’Hugo i els seus derivats
Authors: Gomar Calatayud Marc
Published: January 2016

Resum: El drama Lucrèce Borgia de Victor Hugo confereix al personatge històric una sèrie d’atributs en sintonia amb el gust sensacionalista de l’època: en ser dona, poderosa, bella i formada. Lucrècia Borja és el millor exemple d’allò que Kristeva anomena «l’abjecte» en les Pouvoirs de l’horreur (1980). Una imatge de femme fatale lligada al verí o l’incest que es popularitzarà gràcies a les nombroses obres derivades del drama: de l’òpera de Donizetti als romanços populars de manera que les característiques del personatge de ficció s’imposaran a l’històric en l’imaginari col·lectiu. Lucrècia Borja, que fins aleshores havia estat considerada un instrument al servei de les polítiques familiars, entrarà a formar part per «mèrits» propis del triangle del mal junt amb l germà, Cèsar Borja, i son pare, el papa Alexandre VI. Paraules clau: Lucrècia Borja, Victor Hugo, Gaetano Donizetti, llegenda negra, literatura de cordell, paròdia, segle XIX, Francesc Godó, abjecte Abstract: The Victor Hugo’s drama Lucrezia Borgia gives to the historical character some attributes in line with the sensationalist preferences of that time: being a female, powerful, beautiful and educated. Lucrezia Borgia is the best example of what Kristeva names «the abject» in Pouvoirs de l’horreur (1980). The character is a femme fatale image linked to poison or incest and it was popularized thanks to the many works resulting from this drama. So that, the features of the fictional character prevailed to the real historical character in the popular beliefs, this happened in Donizetti's opera, but also in the chapbooks of that time. Lucrezia Borgia had previously been considered an instrument in the service for family policies, but she became part of an evil triangle, thanks to her own attitude, along with her brother, Cesare Borgia, and her father, the pope Alexander VI. Keywords: Lucrezia Borgia, Victor Hugo, Gaetano Donizetti, black legend, chapbook, parody, nineteenth century, Francesc Xavier Godó, abject
Llengua i identitat en l’obra de Benvingut Oliver i Joan Baptista Perales
Authors: Martí-Badia Adrià
Published: January 2016

Resum: Aquest treball es proposa analitzar la reacció dels erudits valencians Benvingut Oliver i Joan Baptista Perales davant els postulats de la filologia romànica sobre el català en la segona meitat del segle XIX. A més, tractem de relacionar la posició d’Oliver i Perales amb altres erudits i escriptors del moviment reinaixencista i amb la consciència de comunitat lingüística compartida amb catalans, balears i nord-catalans. A partir de la meitat del Vuitcents els romanistes germànics funden la filologia romànica i constaten que el català és el nom de la llengua pròpia dels territoris de llengua catalana, diferent de l’occità i sense res a veure amb el llemosí amb què era conegut des de principis del segle xvi. Aquests postulats respecte a la identitat i el nom de la llengua catalana són ràpidament rebuts i acceptats a Catalunya; i a les Illes Balears i a la Catalunya del Nord foren rebuts positivament amb molt poques excepcions. Però no així al País Valencià, on només una minoria d’erudits com Benvingut Oliver i Joan B. Perales –entre d’altres– va acceptar i divulgar aquests postulats. Paraules clau: Segle XIX, Nom i identitat de la llengua catalana,  Renaixença Valenciana, Benvingut Oliver, Joan Baptista Perales Abstract: This paper analyses the reaction of the Valencian scholars Benvingut Oliver and Joan Baptista Perales against postulates on the Catalan Romance philology in the middle of the nineteenth century. Moreover, this work tries to relate Oliver and Perales position with others scholars and writers of the Reinaixença Valenciana movement and the awareness of linguistic community shared with Catalan speakers from Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and North Catalonia. From the middle of the nineteenth century the German romanists found the Romance philology. They established “Catalan” as the name of the language of the Catalan-speaking areas. Even this is different from Occitan and has nothing to do with Limousin, which was known by this name since the early sixteenth century. Regarding the identity and the name of the Catalan language, these assumptions are quickly received and assumed in Catalonia. Although in the Balearic Islands and North Catalonia they were received positively with very few exceptions. Whereas in Valencia, only a minority of scholars like Benvingut Oliver and Joan B. Perales –among others– accepted and disseminated these postulates. Keywords: Nineteenth century, Name and identity of the Catalan language, Valencian Renaissance, Benvingut Oliver, Joan Baptista Perales
Significant relaxation of residual negative carrier in polar Alq3 film directly detected by high-sensitivity photoemission
Authors: Kinjo Hiroumi , Lim Hyunsoo , Sato Tomoya , Noguchi Yutaka , Nakayama Yasuo , Ishii Hisao
Published: January 2016

Tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3) has been widely applied as a good electron-injecting layer (EIL) in organic light-emitting diodes. High-sensitivity photoemission measurement revealed a clear photoemission by visible light, although its ionization energy is 5.7 eV. This unusual photoemission is ascribed to Alq3 anions captured by positive polarization charges. The observed electron detachment energy of the anion was about 1 eV larger than the electron affinity reported by inverse photoemission. This difference suggests that the injected electron in the Alq3 layer is energetically relaxed, leading to the reduction in injection barrier. This nature is one of the reasons why Alq3 worked well as the EIL.
The complete mitochondrial genome ofLerema acciusand its phylogenetic implications
Authors: Cong Qian , Grishin Nick V.
Published: January 2016

Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) are becoming model organisms for genetics and evolutionary biology. Decoding the Lepidoptera genomes, both nuclear and mitochondrial, is an essential step in these studies. Here we describe a protocol to assemble mitogenomes from Next Generation Sequencing reads obtained through whole-genome sequencing and report the 15,338 bp mitogenome ofLerema accius. The mitogenome is AT-rich and encodes 13 proteins, 22 transfer-RNAs, and two ribosomal-RNAs, with a gene order typical for Lepidoptera mitogenomes. A phylogenetic study based on the protein sequences using both Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood methods consistently placeLerema acciuswith other grass skippers (Hesperiinae).
Clinical Trials of Active Surveillance of Papillary Microcarcinoma of the Thyroid
Authors: Miyauchi Akira
Published: January 2016

Background

The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing globally. This is mainly due to the increase in the detection of small papillary carcinomas, including papillary microcarcinomas (PMC) 1 cm or smaller. It was suggested recently that PMCs are overdiagnosed and overtreated.

Methods

In 1993, the author proposed a clinical trial to compare surgery and observation for low‐risk PMC at doctors’ meeting in Kuma Hospital, which was approved and the trial started in the same year. Patients choose immediate surgery or observation. This paper shares our 22‐year experience with the active surveillance of more than 2000 patients with low‐risk PMC and compares the outcomes of immediate surgery with that of active observation.

Results

The oncological outcomes of these management groups were similarly excellent. In our active surveillance trial on 1235 patients, 8 % of patients showed tumor enlargement by 3 mm or more at 10 years of observation, and 3.8 % of the patients showed novel appearance of lymph node metastasis at 10 years. Patients 40 years or younger tended to show progression of the disease. Patients with these slight progressions of the disease were successfully treated with a rescue surgery. None of the patients in both study groups died of the disease. However, incidences of unfavorable events, such as temporary vocal cord paralysis (VCP) and temporary and permanent hypoparathyroidism, were significantly higher in the immediate surgery group than in the observation group (4.1 vs. 0.6 %, p < 0.0001; 16.7 vs. 2.8 %, p < 0.0001; and 1.6 vs. 0.08 %, p < 0.0001, respectively). Permanent VCP occurred in two of the surgery group.

Conclusions

As a result, although we still offer two options, immediate surgery or observation, to patients with low‐risk PMC at Kuma Hospital, we now strongly recommend observation as the best choice.
Prehospital Indicators for Disaster Preparedness and Response: New York City Emergency Medical Services in Hurricane Sandy
Authors: Smith Silas W. , Braun James , Portelli Ian , Malik Sidrah , Asaeda Glenn , Lancet Elizabeth , Wang Binhuan , Hu Ming , Lee David C. , Prezant David J. , Goldfrank Lewis R.
Published: January 2016

Objective

We aimed to evaluate emergency medical services (EMS) data as disaster metrics and to assess stress in surrounding hospitals and a municipal network after the closure of Bellevue Hospital during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed EMS activity and call types within New York City’s 911 computer-assisted dispatch database from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2013. We evaluated EMS ambulance transports to individual hospitals during Bellevue’s closure and incremental recovery from urgent care capacity, to freestanding emergency department (ED) capability, freestanding ED with 911-receiving designation, and return of inpatient services.

Results

A total of 2,877,087 patient transports were available for analysis; a total of 707,593 involved Manhattan hospitals. The 911 ambulance transports disproportionately increased at the 3 closest hospitals by 63.6%, 60.7%, and 37.2%. When Bellevue closed, transports to specific hospitals increased by 45% or more for the following call types: blunt traumatic injury, drugs and alcohol, cardiac conditions, difficulty breathing, “pedestrian struck,” unconsciousness, altered mental status, and emotionally disturbed persons.

Conclusions

EMS data identified hospitals with disproportionately increased patient loads after Hurricane Sandy. Loss of Bellevue, a public, safety net medical center, produced statistically significant increases in specific types of medical and trauma transports at surrounding hospitals. Focused redeployment of human, economic, and social capital across hospital systems may be required to expedite regional health care systems recovery. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:333–343)
The Baltic House Theatre Festival, St Petersburg: Twenty-Five Years On
Authors: Shevtsova Maria
Published: January 2016

One of the most important theatre festivals in Russia, the Baltic House Theatre Festival has a well-defined focus, as its name suggests. During the twenty-five years of its existence, it has showcased and in other ways nurtured and encouraged some of the greatest talents – actors, directors, designers – of the Baltic region. It has invited such leading directors as Eimuntas Nekrosius to prepare and rehearse works in its theatre – in the case of Boris Godunov in 2015, performed by the National Theatre of Vilnius. The Festival has also financed co-productions, to extend the reach of its own theatre and develop young audiences, inviting, for example, Luk Perceval and Silviu Purcarete to mount Macbeth (2014) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2015), respectively, with the Baltic House company. Maria Shevtsova is co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly and Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London
Scanning Electron Microscope-Cathodoluminescence Analysis of Rare-Earth Elements in Magnets
Authors: Imashuku Susumu , Wagatsuma Kazuaki , Kawai Jun
Published: January 2016

Scanning electron microscope-cathodoluminescence (SEM-CL) analysis was performed for neodymium–iron–boron (NdFeB) and samarium–cobalt (Sm–Co) magnets to analyze the rare-earth elements present in the magnets. We examined the advantages of SEM-CL analysis over conventional analytical methods such as SEM-energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and SEM-wavelength-dispersive X-ray (WDX) spectroscopy for elemental analysis of rare-earth elements in NdFeB magnets. Luminescence spectra of chloride compounds of elements in the magnets were measured by the SEM-CL method. Chloride compounds were obtained by the dropwise addition of hydrochloric acid on the magnets followed by drying in vacuum. Neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, and dysprosium were separately detected in the NdFeB magnets, and samarium was detected in the Sm–Co magnet by the SEM-CL method. In contrast, it was difficult to distinguish terbium and dysprosium in the NdFeB magnet with a dysprosium concentration of 1.05 wt% by conventional SEM-EDX analysis. Terbium with a concentration of 0.02 wt% in an NdFeB magnet was detected by SEM-CL analysis, but not by conventional SEM-WDX analysis. SEM-CL analysis is advantageous over conventional SEM-EDX and SEM-WDX analyses for detecting trace rare-earth elements in NdFeB magnets, particularly dysprosium and terbium.
An optimized ink-reducing hollowed-out arm meander dipole antenna structure for printed RFID tags
Authors: Marindra Adi M. J. , Pongpaibool Pornanong , Wallada Werayuth , Siwamogsatham Siwaruk
Published: January 2016

This paper presents an optimized ink-reducing meander dipole antenna structure suitable for implementing printed radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The proposed antenna designs contain empty ink-reducing hollowed-out areas along the antenna's arms such that the resulting antennas require much less conductive ink to produce yet still achieve decent antenna performance compared with the conventional solid-arm dipole antennas. The simulation results demonstrate that when the ratio between the width of the hollowed-out areas and the width of the antenna arms is about 0.6, the resulting RFID tag experiences a slight read range performance degradation of <10%, while it offers a sizeable ink consumption reduction of almost 50%.
Metal-free organic dyes for TiO2 and ZnO dye-sensitized solar cells
Authors: Selopal Gurpreet Singh , Wu Hui-Ping , Lu Jianfeng , Chang Yu-Cheng , Wang Mingkui , Vomiero Alberto , Concina Isabella , Diau Eric Wei-Guang
Published: January 2016

We report the synthesis and characterization of new metal-free organic dyes (namely B18, BTD-R and CPTD-R) which designed with D-π-A concept to extending the light absorption region by strong conjugation group of π-linker part and applied as light harvester in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We compared the photovoltaic performance of these dyes in two different photoanodes: a standard TiO2 mesoporous photoanode and a ZnO photoanode composed of hierarchically assembled nanostructures. The results demonstrated that B18 dye has better photovoltaic properties compared to other two dyes (BTD-R and CPTD-R) and each dye has higher current density (Jsc) when applied to hierarchical ZnO nanocrystallites than the standard TiO2 mesoporous film. Transient photocurrent and photovoltage decay measurements (TCD/TVD) were applied to systematically study the charge transport and recombination kinetics in these devices, showing the electron life time (τR) of B18 dye in ZnO and TiO2 based DSSCs is higher than CPTD-R and BTD-R based DSSCs, which is consistent with the photovoltaic performances. The conversion efficiency in ZnO based DSSCs can be further boosted by 35%, when a compact ZnO blocking layer (BL) is applied to inhibit electron back reaction.
Molecular mapping and characterization of the silkworm apodal mutant
Authors: Chen Peng , Tong Xiao-Ling , Fu Ming-Yue , Hu Hai , Song Jiang-Bo , He Song-Zhen , Gai Ting-Ting , Dai Fang-Yin , Lu Cheng
Published: January 2016

The morphological diversity of insects is important for their survival; in essence, it results from the differential expression of genes during development of the insect body. The silkwormapodal(ap) mutant has degraded thoracic legs making crawling and eating difficult and the female is sterile, which is an ideal subject for studying the molecular mechanisms of morphogenesis. Here, we confirmed that the infertility ofapfemale moths is a result of the degradation of the bursa copulatrix. Positional cloning ofaplocus and expression analyses reveal that theBombyx mori sister of odd and bowl(Bmsob) gene is a strong candidate for theapmutant. The expression ofBmsobis down-regulated, while the correspondingHoxgenes are up-regulated in theapmutant compared to the wild type. Analyses with the dual luciferase assay present a declined activity of theBmsobpromoter in theapmutant. Furthermore, we demonstrate thatBmsobcan inhibitHoxgene expression directly and by suppressing the expression of other genes, including theBmDspgene. The results of this study are an important contribution to our understanding of the diversification of insect body plan.
Emerging halogenated flame retardants and hexabromocyclododecanes in food samples from an e-waste processing area in Vietnam
Authors: Tao Fang , Matsukami Hidenori , Suzuki Go , Tue Nguyen Minh , Viet Pham Hung , Takigami Hidetaka , Harrad Stuart
Published: January 2016

Emerging halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) accumulate in human foodstuffs in a Vietnamese e-waste handling area.
Copper selective self-sorting polymeric resin with mixed-mode functionality for column preconcentration and atomic absorption spectrometric determination
Authors: Islam Aminul , Ahmad Hilal , Zaidi Noushi , Kumar Suneel
Published: January 2016

A new approach for the synthesis of a highly Cu(ii) selective mixed-mode solid phase extractant is proposed.
Poly(lactic acid) melt-spun fibers reinforced with functionalized cellulose nanocrystals
Authors: Mujica-Garcia A. , Hooshmand S. , Skrifvars M. , Kenny J. M. , Oksman K. , Peponi L.
Published: January 2016

Poly(lactic acid)-cellulose nanocrystals (PLA/CNC) nanocomposite fibers with 1% weight fraction of nanocrystals were prepared via melt-spinning.
Co-doping of magnesium with indium in nitrides: first principle calculation and experiment
Authors: Liu Zhiqiang , Fu Binglei , Yi Xiaoyan , Yuan Guodong , Wang Junxi , Li Jinmin , Luna Luna , Ferguson Ian
Published: January 2016

The valence band maximum could be modified by specific states coupling, thus improving the p-type dopability in In–Mg co-doping GaN.
Intermolecular interactions in dictating the self-assembly of halogen derivatives of bis-(N-substituted oxamato)palladate(ii) complexes
Authors: Fortea-Pérez Francisco Ramón , Marino Nadia , de Munno Giovanni , Armentano Donatella , Julve Miguel , Stiriba Salah-Eddine
Published: January 2016

The reaction of aqueous [PdCl4]2−withN-4-Xphenyloxamate ligands (X = F, Cl, Br) afforded three non-isostructural compounds exhibiting intriguing diverse supramolecular assemblies driven by hydrogen bonds and/or halogen⋯halogen interactions.
Coarse-grained model of water diffusion and proton conductivity in hydrated polyelectrolyte membrane
Authors: Lee Ming-Tsung , Vishnyakov Aleksey , Neimark Alexander V.
Published: January 2016

Using dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), we simulate nanoscale segregation, water diffusion, and proton conductivity in hydrated sulfonated polystyrene (sPS). We employ a novel model [Lee et al. J. Chem. Theory Comput. 11(9), 4395-4403 (2015)] that incorporates protonation/deprotonation equilibria into DPD simulations. The polymer and water are modeled by coarse-grained beads interacting via short-range soft repulsion and smeared charge electrostatic potentials. The proton is introduced as a separate charged bead that forms dissociable Morse bonds with the base beads representing water and sulfonate anions. Morse bond formation and breakup artificially mimics the Grotthuss mechanism of proton hopping between the bases. The DPD model is parameterized by matching the proton mobility in bulk water, dissociation constant of benzenesulfonic acid, and liquid-liquid equilibrium of water-ethylbenzene solutions. The DPD simulations semi-quantitatively predict nanoscale segregation in the hydrated sPS into hydrophobic and hydrophilic subphases, water self-diffusion, and proton mobility. As the hydration level increases, the hydrophilic subphase exhibits a percolation transition from isolated water clusters to a 3D network. The analysis of hydrophilic subphase connectivity and water diffusion demonstrates the importance of the dynamic percolation effect of formation and breakup of temporary junctions between water clusters. The proposed DPD model qualitatively predicts the ratio of proton to water self-diffusion and its dependence on the hydration level that is in reasonable agreement with experiments.
Quantum resonance of nanometre-scale metal-ZnO-metal structure and its application in sensors
Authors: Li Lijie , Rees Paul
Published: January 2016

Analysis of the thickness dependence of the potential profile of the metal-ZnO-metal (MZM) structure has been conducted based on Poisson’s equation and Schottky theory. Quantum scattering theory is then used to calculate the transmission probability of an electron passing through the MZM structure. Results show that the quantum resonance (QR) effect becomes pronounced when the thickness of the ZnO film reaches to around 6 nm. Strain induced piezopotentials are considered as biases to the MZM, which significantly changes the QR according to the analysis. This effect can be potentially employed as nanoscale strain sensors.
Cryopreservation in fish: current status and pathways to quality assurance and quality control in repository development
Authors: Torres Leticia , Hu E. , Tiersch Terrence R.
Published: January 2016

Cryopreservation in aquatic species in general has been constrained to research activities for more than 60 years. Although the need for application and commercialisation pathways has become clear, the lack of comprehensive quality assurance and quality control programs has impeded the progress of the field, delaying the establishment of germplasm repositories and commercial-scale applications. In this review we focus on the opportunities for standardisation in the practices involved in the four main stages of the cryopreservation process: (1) source, housing and conditioning of fish; (2) sample collection and preparation; (3) freezing and cryogenic storage of samples; and (4) egg collection and use of thawed sperm samples. In addition, we introduce some key factors that would assist the transition to commercial-scale, high-throughput application.
Sex-specific silencing of X-linked genes by Xist RNA
Authors: Gayen Srimonta , Maclary Emily , Hinten Michael , Kalantry Sundeep
Published: January 2016

Significance

In mammals, the inequality posed by the difference in the number of X chromosomes between
XX
females and
XY
males is remedied by silencing genes along one of the two X chromosomes in females. This process, termed X-chromosome inactivation, is believed to be triggered by X-inactive specific transcript (Xist) RNA. Here we find that Xist RNA can silence X-linked genes efficiently in females but not in males. Thus, Xist RNA is insufficient to inactivate the X chromosome. Our results further suggest that both Xist induction and X-linked gene silencing are orchestrated by the handful of genes that do not undergo X inactivation in females. The increased dosage of one or more such factors in females vs. males may explain why females undergo X inactivation and males do not.
Observation
Authors: Machamer Peter K.
Published: January 2016

Of the many problems involved in discussions of acceptability and justification I wish to consider in this paper what types of sentences can be used in order to justify a given claim or theory in science, what types of sentence can be appealed to in testing (showing to be acceptable or rejecting) a theory or claim. Rather than rehashing old critcisms of previous work, or constructing new counters to works already known to be inadequate, I propose to get on with the problem at hand. Necessarily this ‘getting on’ is in large part a taxonomic and programmatic venture. I wish to suggest, briefly and by examples, that in fact there have been, and are, at least four different types of bases to which appeal is made in testing or justifying a theory or claim. These four types are:

(a) Observation reports.

(b) Accepted Philosophical principles.
Some Problems with the Concept of ‘Feedback’
Authors: Wimsatt William C.
Published: January 2016

The concept of ‘feedback’, originally a technical term of cybernetics, has been so widely applied that it has become part of our everyday vocabulary. Though both scientists and philosophers have considered in detail a number of conceptual issues suggested by the perspectives of cybernetics, this basic concept has not yet received the critical attention it deserves.

Thus, while Taylor [1-3] Scheffler [4-5], and others have criticized Rosenblueth, Wiener, and Bigelow [6-8] for trying to define ‘teleological’ behavior in terms of negative feedback, their objections are directed primarily against the use of ‘naive’ or ‘black box’ behavioristic assumptions and the choice of the term ‘teleological’ to describe the phenomena in question. The concept of feedback is largely accepted by both factions on more or less intuitive grounds.
On the Relation of Neurological and Psychological Theories: A Critique of the Hardware Thesis
Authors: Gendron Bernard
Published: January 2016

The Hardware Thesis (HT) is a claim that psychological theories are irreducible to neurological theories; it has its basis in analyses of the distinction between the psychological functions postulated to account for the law-like relations between perceptual input and behavioral output, and the neural structures (or ‘hardware’) which embody these functions. HT's particular commitment to psychology-neurology irreducibility follows from the conjunction of these three assertions:

(A)

The role of psychological theories is to postulate systems of functions which mediate between perceptual input and behavioral output.

(B)

The role of neurology is to identify and describe the structures (or ‘hardware’) which embody the functions postulated by psychological theories.

(C)

Theories postulating systems of functions are not reducible to, or eliminable in favor of, the theories which identify the structures performing or embodying such functions. Generally, theories whose role is limited to the identification of the structures embodying the functions postulated by other theories have little or no explanatory value.
The Exact Role of Value Judgments in Science
Authors: Scriven Michael
Published: January 2016

If there is one set of arguments worse than those put forward for ‘value-free science’, it is those put forward against it. Both sets have one common characteristic, besides a high frequency of invalidity, and that is the failure to make any serious effort at a plausible analysis of the concept of ‘value judgment’, one that will apply to some of the difficult cases, and not just to one paradigm. Although the problem of definition is in this case extremely difficult, one can attain quite useful results even from a first step. The analysis proposed here, which goes somewhat beyond that first step, is still some distance from being satisfactory. Nevertheless, we must begin with such an attempt since any other way to start would be laying foundations on sand. And we'll use plenty of prescientific examples, too, to avoid any difficulties with irrelevant technicalities.
Rationality and Scientific Discovery
Authors: Toulmin Stephen
Published: January 2016

Philosophers of Science have long paid lip service to the desirability of distinguishing the questions that arise about the propositions (statements, hypotheses) of a science from those that arise about its concepts (terms, ideas); but hitherto there has been a curious hesitation on their part to explore the consequences of this distinction as far as they will take us. This hesitation is understandable in those writers whose primary commitment is to the methods of mathematicallogic, with its formal analysis of prepositional systems and relations. But it extends also to those, who have no such commitment: e.g. the pragmatists. (Recall William James's confused question, “What makes an idea true?” - as though concepts could be true-or-false, in the way propositions are!)

The account of scientific change and rationality outlined in this paper,. and set out at length in my recent book on Human Understanding, is designed to show how a full understanding of those consequences can help us to move beyond current quandaries in the subject to a more constructive set of philosophical, historical and sociological questions.
The Erkenntnistheoretiker's Dilemma: J. B. Stallo's Attack on Atomism in his Concepts and Theories of Modern Physics (1881)
Authors: Strong John V.
Published: January 2016

Notable among the by-products of the late nineteenth-century controversies over the atomic theory of matter was the first full-scale contribution to the philosophy of science written in America, John Bernard Stallo's The Concepts and Theories of Modem Physics. The work of a lawyer and jurist largely self-trained in philosophy, its publication in 1881 provoked considerable (and mostly hostile) reaction, for Stallo attacked atomism and mechanism at a time when scientists were still divided into vociferously opposing camps over the question of whether or not the ultimate structure of matter was atomic - indeed, were in sharp disagreement over even the utility of the hypothetical concept ‘atom’ in physics and chemistry.

Evér since the early 1800s, when Dalton had transformed the corpuscular hypothesis from a commonplace of the prevailing natural philosophy into a working part of chemistry, the fortunes of atomism had risen and fallen as competing atomic and non-atomic theories were matched against the accumulating experimental evidence.
The IQ Controversy and the Philosophy of Education
Authors: Kaye Kenneth
Published: January 2016

Although my two colleagues on this panel are bona fide philosophers who clearly have a bona fide interest in the ongoing controversy over IQ and the educability of children (which should mean that the topic requires no further defense), I nonetheless feel constrained to say a word in defense of our topic as a viable subject for discussion in a forum devoted to the Philosophy of Science. Perhaps this is because, as the representative of the discipline which created this mess, I fear you might associate me with it. You might feel that bad science is a bad subject for study by philosophers of science, and furthermore that anyone associated with such a discipline would be the last person to have anything intelligent to say about philosophy.

While it is true that we do not need a philosophy of bad science, a kind of Gresham's Law seems sometimes to operate, in which bad science drives out the good.
The Likeness of Lawlikeness
Authors: Fetzer James H.
Published: January 2016

The thesis of this paper is that extensional language alone provides an essentially inadequate foundation for the logical formalization of any lawlike statement. The arguments presented are intended to demonstrate that lawlike sentences are logically general dispositional statements requiring an essentially intensional reduction sentence formulation. By introducing a non-extensional logical operator, the ‘fork', the difference between universal and statistical laws emerges in a distinction between dispositional predicates of universal strength as opposed to those of merely statistical strength. While -the logical form of universal and statistical laws appears to be fundamentally dissimilar on the standard account, from this point of view their syntactical structure is basically the same.
The Bicentenary of Technology Assessment
Authors: Settle Tom
Published: January 2016

My thesis in this paper is that because technology assessment has an irreducible moral component it challenges some rather common assumptions among scientists, moral philosophers, democratic theorists and philosophers of science. Quite apart from my sympathy both with technology assessment in general and with its moral component in particular, I think the challenge to established modes of thought is very wholesome. Philosophers of science would be failing in their ordinary jobs, let alone in their moral responsibilities, if, having noticed the social phenomenon of a resurgence of interest in technology assessment, they refrained from inspecting its repercussions upon the ontological, epistemological and axiological presuppositions of science, especially of political science and of economics.

It has sometimes been suggested that technology assessment is a child of the 1960’s, born in North America, weaned in 1972 with the enactment of the Technology Assessment Act by the congress of the U.S.A.
The Domination of Astronomy Over Other Disciplines
Authors: Rose Lynn E.
Published: January 2016

Nature is one. Science should be one. But we see that contemporary ‘science’ is fragmented into disciplines, departments, and specialties in an arbitrary and artificial manner. Our ‘science’ has fallen to these present depths under the sheer weight of its accumulated data and literature. Since no one of us can any longer hope to sift through all of the paper that has been accumulated, we face a choice: we can admit how little we know about nature as a whole – or we can restrict our areas of knowledgeability to fit our capacities, and thus continue to appear knowledgeable.
The Illusions of Experience
Authors: Anderson Robert M.
Published: January 2016

On reading the grain argument as advanced by Meehl and Sellars, I find that there is not one but two grain arguments. According to one argument, mental events cannot be the same as neural events because mental events have a continuity that neural events do not have. The other argues for the same conclusion from the simplicity of experienced quality. I answer these arguments by claiming that these properties of experience are illusory. I detail a dual threshold theory of visual experience and show that given this model the mind-brain identity theory predicts the existence of these illusions.
Reduction in Genetics
Authors: Ruse Michael
Published: January 2016

There is a disagreement between Kenneth Schaffner and David Hull about the relationship between the biological theory of Mendelian genetics and the physico-chemical theory of molecular genetics. Schaffner believes that the logical-empiricist thesis about theory-reduction is, in important respects, applicable to this relationship and illuminating when so applied. Hull denies its applicability and its illumination – indeed, he has gone as far as to say that “I find the logical empiricist analysis of reduction inadequate at best, wrong-headed at worst.” (Hull, 1974a, 12) And he adds that “the conclusion seems inescapable that the logical empiricist analysis of reduction is not very instructive in the case of genetics. For my own part, I found that it hindered rather than facilitated understanding the relationship between Mendelian and molecular genetics.” (Hull, 1974a, 44)
Can Governmental Support of Philosophy of Science Research be Justified?
Authors: Baum Robert J.
Published: January 2016

In recent years, for a variety of reasons, increasing numbers of philosophers of science have been looking to government agencies as potential sources of support for their research. While their main concern has been with specific matters such as the amount of money that is actually available from various agencies, for the kinds of work they want to do, it must be recognized that there are numerous theoretical questions that are necessarily associated with the pursuit of government funds, including the basic question raised in the title of this paper. Although these theoretical questions are important, and may even comprise part of the subject-matter area of philosophy of science: (for reasons to be specified in section 2), to the best of my knowledge they have not been discussed to date in any public documents.
Cost-Benefit Analysis, Statistical Decision Theory, and Environmental Policy
Authors: Olson Mancur
Published: January 2016

Even a distant glance reveals that in philosophy (as in my own field of economics) it is sometimes best to develop arguments at a very general and abstract level. There are no doubt a great many propositions in logic, epistemology, and the theory of probability, for example, which are relevant to many diverse activities and aspects of reality. If we did not abstract from the peculiarities of particular cases we presumably could not so readily illuminate certain logical or conceptual problems nor so tersely express our findings. This is unquestionably true in economics: there are many important propositions in microeconomic theory, for example, that apply about as well to one industry or society as to another, and both the development and teaching of the theory would be slowed down if highly abstract arguments were to be ruled out.
The Development of Kant's Conception of Scientific Explanation
Authors: MacKinnon Edward
Published: January 2016

Kant's Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science is undoubtedly the most neglected and misunderstood of all his major works. It should, I believe, be interpreted as an attempted rational reconstruction of the mechanics of Newton and Euler. What Kant attempted to reconstruct, however, were the conceptual foundations of science rather than the logical structure. The reasons for this as well as the particular way in which it was done can best be understood in the light of Kant's own philosophical development. In summarizing this I will focus on two interrelated issues: Kant's concept of matter, which changed somewhat in the course of his long development; and his interpretation of scientific explanation, which changed considerably.

Kant's earliest concerns with scientific explanation involved three aspects of interest here: Christian Wolff's (1679-1754) systematization of philosophy, which served as his point of departure; the ideas on scientific methodology, which he derived from Isaac Newton; and Kant's own work in science.
A Role for Categories in the Foundations of Quantum Theory
Authors: Holdsworth David Geoffrey
Published: January 2016

In this paper I shall outline a possibility for incorporating category theory in an essential way into the foundations of quantum theory. The role for category theory which I shall sketch here is strictly foundational in the sense that it offers no new perspectives for a physicist working within the quantum formalism, but rather provides a way of interpreting the algebraic structure by giving an alternative axiomatization of the underlying logic of the theory. The axiomatization is given without recourse to any classical set theory by invoking methods closely connected with the work of F. W. Lawvere. More precisely, then, a possible approach to the foundations of physics which axiomatizes its algebraic structure in a way which is independent of set theory and hence points, as it were, to a structuralist foundation of physical theories, will be proposed.
Ruse's Treatment of the Evidence for Evolution: A Reconsideration
Authors: Rosenberg Alexander
Published: January 2016

The Darwinian theory of evolution through natural selection is beyond a doubt an extremely well established theoretical edifice that satisfies any reasonable conceptual and empirical criterion of scientific respectability. It is a body of well confirmed nomological generalizations with great explanatory and predictive power. And yet the most accessible account of the relation between this theory, its competitors and the empirical evidence seems seriously defective in its account of these relations. Indeed, it may seem so defective as to leave the question open, not whether the theory of natural selection is well confirmed (this cannot be doubted), but exactly what sort of evidence does confirm it and via what bridge principles. The account of the matter which I have described as most accessible (in the philosophy of science at any rate), and yet seriously bedeviled is to be found in Michael Ruse's otherwise excellent introduction to the Philosophy of Biology (Ruse 1973 ).
Moderate Historicism and the Empirical Sense of ‘Good Science’
Authors: Merrill G. H.
Published: January 2016

Much recent discussion has been devoted to questions concerning what role considerations of the history of science should play in developing and evaluating philosophical analyses of science. It is generally, if not universally, conceded that the philosopher of science must appeal in some way to actual scientific practice and to the historical development of actual science if his analysis is to have any content, and it has been argued (Achinstein 1977) that even the most “ahistorical” of the positivists made, or presupposed, such an appeal.

It is now fairly common to distinguish two polar positions regarding the relation of history to philosophy of science: radical logicism is the doctrine that an appeal to actual scientific practice or to the history of science can never serve to refute any philosophical analysis of scientific concepts, while radical historicism is the view that really there is nothing more to the philosophy of science than historical description and analysis (i.e., that conformation to the history of science is always the determining factor in evaluating the adequacy of a philosophical analysis of science).