Genetic Disenhancement and Xenotransplantation: Diminishing Pigs’ Capacity to Experience Suffering through Genetic Engineering

One objection to xenotransplantation is that it will require the large-scale breeding, raising and killing of genetically modified pigs. The pigs will need to be raised in designated pathogen-free facilities and undergo a range of medical tests before having their organs removed and being euthanised. As a result, they will have significantly shortened life expectancies, will experience pain and suffering and be subject to a degree of social and environmental deprivation. To minimise the impact of these factors, we propose the following option for consideration—ethically defensible xenotransplantation should entail the use of genetic disenhancement if it becomes possible to do so and if that pain and suffering cannot be eliminated by other means. Despite not being a morally ideal 'solution’, it is morally better to prevent unavoidable pain until a viable non-animal alternative becomes available

Author rights, open access, and you!

Librarians present a session on author rights, copyright and permissions, and best practices for curating faculty members’ online presence, and talk about the benefits of making one’s work openly available on DigitalCommons@CSB/SJU

Na-H exchange inhibition with Cariporide limits functional impairment caused by repetitive ischemia

Journal ArticleIntracellular calcium ([Ca]i) overload on reperfusion may be one of the mechanisms responsible for ischemia-induced regional myocardial dysfunction. Because inhibiting the Na-H exchanger (NHE) limits intracellular sodium ([Na]i) and subsequent [Ca]i accumulation, we hypothesized that NHE inhibition would attenuate regional dysfunction in response to 25 cycles of ischemia (I, 2-min) and reperfusion (R, 8-min) of the left circumflex coronary artery (LCx) in conscious swine. Six animals were instrumented to measure arterial pressure, regional myocardial blood flow (colored microspheres), systolic wall thickening (WTh) in the normally perfused (left anterior descending, LAD) and LCx regions (sonomicrometry), LCx blood flow velocity (Doppler), and to reversibly occlude the LCx (hydraulic occluder)

Revolutionary or evolutionary? Making research data management manageable

This chapter investigates the role of academic librarians, particularly those at small liberal arts institutions, in providing research data management services. Research data management may not seem like an obvious fit for curricular libraries whose primary mission is supporting teaching rather than faculty research, nor is data curation an obvious need for schools without a data repository or staff who specialize in the preservation and dissemination of data. Yet numerous reports cite data management and data services as critical services for the future of academic libraries (ACRL Planning and Review Committee, 2013; Johnson, 2014; Cox, 2013; Tenopir, 2012). The question raised, then, is how and why are data management services important in the liberal arts context? What can librarians at these institutions do to develop expertise in this growing area of the profession? What services are college and university libraries beginning to provide, and how successfully can existing models be adapted to other institutions? Does the addition of data services transform the mission of liberal arts libraries, and if so, is that transition revolutionary or evolutionary? Liberal arts librarians, as they have with numerous other shifts and trends in librarianship, can turn to models in the literature from research universities, develop communities of practice amongst themselves, and also innovate from within their own unique contexts. The authors argue that such collaboration and innovation reflect an evolutionary process as librarians build on existing skills, strategies, workflows, and knowledge. The following pages of this chapter survey the current environment, offer case studies from two small liberal arts institutions, the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University and Carleton College, and provide readers with recommended action steps to develop a path of gradual, manageable, shared, and sustainable work in research data management

Learning from where ‘eye’ remotely look or point: impact on number line estimation error in adults.

In this paper we present an investigation into the use of visual cues during number line estimation, and their influence on cognitive processes for reducing number line estimation error. Participants completed a 0-1000 number line estimation task pre and post a brief intervention in which they observed static-visual or dynamicvisual cues (control, anchor, gaze cursor, mouse cursor) and also made estimation marks to test effective number-target estimation. Results indicated that a significant pre-test to post-test reduction in estimation error was present for dynamic visual cues of modelled eye-gaze and mouse-cursor. However, there was no significant performance difference between pre and post-test for the control or static anchor conditions. Findings are discussed in relation to the extent to which anchor points alone are meaningful in promoting successful segmentation of the number line, and whether dynamic cues promote the utility of these locations in reducing error through attentional guidance

C1 inhibitor deficiency: 2014 United Kingdom consensus document

C1 inhibitor deficiency is a rare disorder manifesting with recurrent attacks of disabling and potentially life-threatening angioedema. Here we present an updated 2014 United Kingdom consensus document for the management of C1 inhibitor-deficient patients, representing a joint venture between the United Kingdom Primary Immunodeficiency Network and Hereditary Angioedema UK. To develop the consensus, we assembled a multi-disciplinary steering group of clinicians, nurses and a patient representative. This steering group first met in 2012, developing a total of 48 recommendations across 11 themes. The statements were distributed to relevant clinicians and a representative group of patients to be scored for agreement on a Likert scale. All 48 statements achieved a high degree of consensus, indicating strong alignment of opinion. The recommendations have evolved significantly since the 2005 document, with particularly notable developments including an improved evidence base to guide dosing and indications for acute treatment, greater emphasis on home therapy for acute attacks and a strong focus on service organisation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Measurement of complex fragments and clues to the entropy production from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au

Intermediate-rapidity fragments with A=1-14 emitted from 42-137-MeV/nucleon Ar + Au have been measured. Evidence is presented that these fragments arise from a common moving source. Entropy values are extracted from the mass distributions by use of quantum statistical and Hauser-Feshbach theories. The extracted entropy values of S/A≈2-2.4 are much smaller than the values expected from measured deuteron-to-proton ratios, but are still considerably higher than theoretically predicted values

The hydrogen embrittlement of Ni-Cr-Fe alloys

It has been proposed that the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of nickel-based alloys in low-temperature hydrogenated water is due to hydrogen embrittlement. The purpose of this work was to investigate the role of chromium on hydrogen embrittlement of Ni-Cr-Fe alloys and thus develop a better understanding of the low-temperature SCC phenomenon. The effect of chromium on the hydrogen embrittlement was examined using tensile tests followed by material evaluation via scanning electron microscopy and light optical microscopy. Four alloys were prepared with chromium contents ranging from 6 wt. percent to 35 wt. percent. In the noncharged condition, ductility, as measured by the percent elongation or reduction in area, increased as the alloy chromium content increased. Hydrogen appeared to have only minor effects on the mechanical properties of the low chromium alloys. The addition of hydrogen had a marked effect on the ductility of the higher chromium alloys. In the 26% chromium alloy, the elongation to failure was reduced from 53% to 14% with a change in fracture mode from ductile dimple to intergranular failure. A maximum in embrittlement was observed in the 26% Cr alloy. The maximum in embrittlement coincided with the minimum in stacking-fault energy. It is proposed that the increased hydrogen embrittlement in the high-chromium alloys is due to increased slip planarity caused by the low stacking-fault energy. Slip planarity did not appear to affect the fracture of the noncharged specimens