33 research outputs found
Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology
notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations
Seven-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and Nasopharyngeal Microbiota in Healthy Children
Atrial fibrillation: Prevalence after minimally invasive direct and standard coronary artery bypass
Background. This study identified and compared the prevalence of new-onset atrial fibrillation (AFIB) following standard coronary artery bypass grafting (SCABG) with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and minimally invasive direct vision coronary artery bypass grafting (MIDCAB) without CPB. A further comparison was made between AFIB prevalence in SCABG and MIDCAB subjects with two or fewer bypasses. Methods. This is a retrospective, comparative survey. Patients with new-onset AFIB who underwent SCABG or MIDCAB alone were identified electronically using a triangulated method (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9 CM] code; clinical database word search; and pharmacy database drug search). Results. The total sample (n = 814; 94 MIDCAB, 720 SCABG) exhibited a trend toward lower AFIB prevalence in MIDCAB (23.4%) versus SCABG (33.1%) subjects (p = 0.059). AFIB prevalence in the SCABG subset with two or less vessel bypasses (n = 98; n = 18 single vessel, n = 80 double vessels) and MIDCAB subjects (n = 94; n = 90 single vessels, n = 4 double vessels) was almost identical (SCABG subset 24.5% versus MIDCAB 23.4%, p = 0.860). Slightly more than half (56.9%) of new-onset AFIB subjects were identified by ICD-9 CM codes, with the remainder by word search (37.7%) or procainamide query (5.4%). Conclusions. In this sample, the number of vessels bypassed seemed to have a greater influence on AFIB prevalence than the application of CPB or the surgical approach. Retrospective identification of AFIB cases by ICD-9 CM code grossly underestimated AFIB prevalence. © 2001 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Prevention of terrorism: The United Kingdom confronts the European convention on human rights
Cardiovascular effects of droperidol during enflurane and enflurane — nitrous oxide anaesthesia in man
Optimization of experimental designs by incorporating NIF facility impacts
For experimental campaigns on the National Ignition Facility (NIF)
to be successful, they must obtain useful data without causing
unacceptable impact on the facility. Of particular concern is
excessive damage to optics and diagnostic components. There are 192
fused silica main debris shields (MDS) exposed to the potentially
hostile target chamber environment on each shot. Damage in these
optics results either from the interaction of laser light with
contamination and pre-existing imperfections on the optic surface or
from the impact of shrapnel fragments. Mitigation of this second
damage source is possible by identifying shrapnel sources and
shielding optics from them. It was recently demonstrated that the
addition of 1.1-mm thick borosilicate disposable debris shields
(DDS) blocks the majority of debris and shrapnel fragments from
reaching the relatively expensive MDS's. However, DDS's cannot stop
large, fast moving fragments. We have experimentally demonstrated
one shrapnel mitigation technique showing that it is possible to
direct fast moving fragments by changing the source orientation, in
this case a Ta pinhole array. Another mitigation method is to change
the source material to one that produces smaller fragments.
Simulations and validating experiments are necessary to determine
which fragments can penetrate or break 1-3 mm thick DDS's.
Three-dimensional modeling of complex target-diagnostic
configurations is necessary to predict the size, velocity, and
spatial distribution of shrapnel fragments. The tools we are
developing will be used to assure that all NIF experimental
campaigns meet the requirements on allowed level of debris and
shrapnel generation