Monitoring of stimulated cycles in assisted reproduction (IVF and ICSI)

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Marian Showell for her help in updating the search strategy and carrying out the literature search; to Anne Lethaby for translating the Spanish paper and extracting data; and in particular to Helen Nagels and Jane Marjoribanks for their editorial assistance, help with GRADEpro, general co-ordination and assisting with teleconferences among authors. We also thank Helen Nagels for her help in translating the French paper and extracting the data. The review authors had no specific funding for this reviewPeer reviewedPublisher PD

The Influence of Inclusive School Policy and GSAs on Long-Term Well-Being for LGBT Students in Texas

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (i.e., LGBT) youth are at risk for lower educational attainment than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Prior research indicates that inclusive anti-discrimination policies and gender sexual alliances (ie., GSAs) can improve school outcomes for LGBT and all youth, yet few studies have examined these strategies with respect to long term educational attainment such as graduation rate, college readiness, and higher education enrollment. Using data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), I conducted nested regression analyses to examine the influence of inclusive enumerated anti-discrimination policies and GSAs on long-term educational attainment indicators in the 20 largest public school districts of Texas. Results suggest that across school districts, 42.03% of schools had GSAs and 56.04% had inclusive policies. Further, students in schools with GSAs were significantly more likely to be deemed college-ready or college, career, or military-ready by the TEA. Our findings indicate that GSAs may be a successful proximate strategy in supporting inclusive campus culture that can translate to long-term positive outcomes.Human Development and Family Science

Global phase diagrams of run-and-tumble dynamics: equidistribution, waves, and blowup

For spatially one-dimensional run-and-tumble dynamics with mass conservation we develop a coarse phase diagram, that discriminates between global decay to equidistributed constant states, existence of spatially non-trivial waves, and finite time blowup of solutions. Motivated by counter-migrating ripples of high and low population density and fruiting body formation in myxobacteria, we identify phase boundaries as particular critical tumbling dynamics that allow for switching between these spatio-temporal phases upon slight changes in mass densities or parameter values.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Qualitative Behavior of a Keller-Segel Model with Non-Diffusive Memory

In this paper a one-dimensional Keller-Segel model with a logarithmic chemotactic-sensitiviy and a non-diffusing chemical is classified with respect to its long time behavior. The strength of production of the non-diffusive chemical has a strong influence on the qualitative behavior of the system concerning existence of global solutions or Dirac-mass formation. Further, the initial data play a crucial role

Musical chinoiserie

Chinoiserie remains relatively unexplored in the context of music and is usually isolated as a mid-eighteenth-century phenomenon characterized by the use of decorative Chinese motifs and concepts in Western art, porcelain, furniture, and architecture. This thesis enriches possible readings of musical chinoiserie by exploring its relationship to the intense fashion for Chinese commodities, its correlation to particular social and political climates, and its connection to the eternal themes of the feminine and utopian pastoral. As a recurring and evolving phenomenon, chinoiserie has been manifested across the past three centuries in various genres and works central to Western music. The following chapters provide case studies which draw attention to particularly rich constellations of ideas about chinoiserie, and analyse the various ways that 'the West' has confronted, represented, and appropriated Chinese difference in music. Chapter two examines the emergence of eighteenth-century European music theatre/ drama inspired by China and its interrelation with royalty and nobility, consumer goods, fashion, and aesthetic sensibility. Chapter three explores early twentieth-century French musical works by Debussy, De Falla, and Roussel, which are inspired by nostalgic and utopian Chinese landscapes. In chapter four, the music of Mahler, Puccini, and Stravinsky reveal alternative fin de siècle approaches to chinoiserie. Common themes include an increased interest in authenticity; overt and subsumed Chinese elements; and the integration of chinoiserie into existing programmes. As a counterpoint to this, chapter five turns to popular music genres which directly responded to the social and political reality of Chinese immigration to America. The straightforward, formulaic, and market driven style of Tin Pan Alley songs provides the most explicit examples of musical chinoiserie, which upon examination reveal a variety of hidden beliefs, prejudices, aspirations and idealized visions of China. By no means are these chapters intended to offer a comprehensive survey of musical chinoiserie, but they provide case studies which demonstrate the ways in which a musical work can interact with a multiplicity of intellectual and emotional responses to the West's encounter with China during important social, political, and historical events

Enhanced heart rate prediction model using damped least-squares algorithm

Monitoring a patient’s vital signs is considered one of the most challenging problems in telehealth systems, especially when patients reside in remote locations. Companies now use IoT devices such as wearable devices to participate in telehealth systems. However, the steady adoption of wearables can result in a significant increase in the volume of data being collected and transmitted. As these devices run on limited battery power, they can run out of power quickly due to the high processing requirements of the device for data collection and transmission. Given the importance of medical data, it is imperative that all transmitted data adhere to strict integrity and availability requirements. Reducing the volume of healthcare data and the frequency of transmission can improve a device’s battery life via an inference algorithm. Furthermore, this approach creates issues for improving transmission metrics related to accuracy and efficiency, which are traded-off against each other, with increasing accuracy reducing efficiency. This paper demonstrates that machine learning (ML) can be used to overcome the trade-off problem. The damped least-squares algorithm (DLSA) is used to enhance both metrics by taking fewer samples for transmission whilst maintaining accuracy. The algorithm is tested with a standard heart rate dataset to compare the metrics. The results showed that the DLSA provides the best performance, with an efficiency of 3.33 times for reduced sample data size and an accuracy of 95.6 %, with similar accuracies observed in seven different sampling cases adopted for testing that demonstrate improved efficiency. This proposed method significantly improve both metrics using ML without sacrificing one metric over the other compared to existing methods with high efficiency

Musical chinoiserie

Chinoiserie remains relatively unexplored in the context of music and is usually isolated as a mid-eighteenth-century phenomenon characterized by the use of decorative Chinese motifs and concepts in Western art, porcelain, furniture, and architecture. This thesis enriches possible readings of musical chinoiserie by exploring its relationship to the intense fashion for Chinese commodities, its correlation to particular social and political climates, and its connection to the eternal themes of the feminine and utopian pastoral. As a recurring and evolving phenomenon, chinoiserie has been manifested across the past three centuries in various genres and works central to Western music. The following chapters provide case studies which draw attention to particularly rich constellations of ideas about chinoiserie, and analyse the various ways that 'the West' has confronted, represented, and appropriated Chinese difference in music. Chapter two examines the emergence of eighteenth-century European music theatre/ drama inspired by China and its interrelation with royalty and nobility, consumer goods, fashion, and aesthetic sensibility. Chapter three explores early twentieth-century French musical works by Debussy, De Falla, and Roussel, which are inspired by nostalgic and utopian Chinese landscapes. In chapter four, the music of Mahler, Puccini, and Stravinsky reveal alternative fin de siècle approaches to chinoiserie. Common themes include an increased interest in authenticity; overt and subsumed Chinese elements; and the integration of chinoiserie into existing programmes. As a counterpoint to this, chapter five turns to popular music genres which directly responded to the social and political reality of Chinese immigration to America. The straightforward, formulaic, and market driven style of Tin Pan Alley songs provides the most explicit examples of musical chinoiserie, which upon examination reveal a variety of hidden beliefs, prejudices, aspirations and idealized visions of China. By no means are these chapters intended to offer a comprehensive survey of musical chinoiserie, but they provide case studies which demonstrate the ways in which a musical work can interact with a multiplicity of intellectual and emotional responses to the West's encounter with China during important social, political, and historical events

The Criteria to Identify Pornography That Can Support Healthy Sexual Development for Young Adults: Results of an International Delphi Panel

Pornography is not homogenous. There is a paucity of research that offers guidance to young adults and adult stakeholders interested in navigating the available range of pornography to find materials that support healthy sexual development for young adults. Drawing on the expertise of a Delphi Panel of experts from a range of relevant areas this article offers six criteria for assessing whether pornography can support healthy sexual development: includes a variety of sexual practices; includes a variety of body types, genders and races; shows negotiation of consent on screen; is known to be ethically produced; focuses on pleasure for all participants; shows safe sex. The article identifies four pornographic websites that meet these criteria: Sex School, Make Love Not Porn, PinkLabel.TV and Lust Cinema

Pathogenic Role of mTORC1 and mTORC2 in Pulmonary Hypertension.

Concentric lung vascular wall thickening due to enhanced proliferation of pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells is an important pathological cause for the elevated pulmonary vascular resistance reported in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. We identified a differential role of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 and complex 2, two functionally distinct mTOR complexes, in the development of pulmonary hypertension (PH). Inhibition of mTOR complex 1 attenuated the development of PH; however, inhibition of mTOR complex 2 caused spontaneous PH, potentially due to up-regulation of platelet-derived growth factor receptors in pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells, and compromised the therapeutic effect of the mTOR inhibitors on PH. In addition, we describe a promising therapeutic strategy using combination treatment with the mTOR inhibitors and the platelet-derived growth factor receptor inhibitors on PH and right ventricular hypertrophy. The data from this study provide an important mechanism-based perspective for developing novel therapies for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and right heart failure