Diversion Effects, Incentive Effects, and the Goals of Research Ethics Promulgations

It was with great sadness that the philosophical and ethical communities noted the recent passing of Alan Wertheimer. It is not possible to engage in serious work regarding international research ethics (nor much of political philosophy more broadly) without encountering and wrestling with his careful contributions. He was welcoming of discussion and generous with his intellectual energies. Ongoing work in these areas will be so much the poorer for his absence

Media Literacy Definitions

This thesis conducts a critical discourse analysis on definitions of the term “media literacy” used by researchers in media literacy educational interventions. These definitions are compared to the skills developed in participants of media literacy interventions. This comparison reveals if and how researchers are operationalizing their stated definition of media literacy. Over half of researchers are using the definition proffered by the National Association for Media Literacy Education. However the disagreement in the field around a definition of the term “media literacy” has created confusion. This confusion has left educators falling back on practices scaffolded by the previous educational paradigm. This research finds that the definition of media literacy put forth by NAMLE addresses the paradigm shift that has taken place in the field

More effort with less pay: On information avoidance, belief design and performance

In a tedious real effort task, subjects know that their piece rate is either low or ten times higher. When subjects are informed about their piece rate realization, they adapt their performance. One third of subjects nevertheless forego this instrumental information when given the choice | and perform stunningly well. Agents who are uninformed regarding their piece rate tend to outperform all others, even those who know that their piece rate is high. This also holds for enforced instead of self-selected information avoidance. All our findings can be captured by a model of optimally distorted expectations following Brunnermeier and Parker (2005)

Patient-Funded Trials: Opportunity or Liability?

Patient-funded trials are gaining traction as a means of accelerating clinical translation. However, such trials sidestep mechanisms that promote rigor, relevance, efficiency, and fairness. We recommend that funding bodies or research institutions establish mechanisms for merit review of patient-funded trials, and we offer some basic criteria for evaluating PFT protocol

Improving the Coherence Time of Superconducting Coplanar Resonators

The quality factor and energy decay time of superconducting resonators have been measured as a function of material, geometry, and magnetic field. Once the dissipation of trapped magnetic vortices is minimized, we identify surface two-level states (TLS) as an important decay mechanism. A wide gap between the center conductor and the ground plane, as well as use of the superconductor Re instead of Al, are shown to decrease loss. We also demonstrate that classical measurements of resonator quality factor at low excitation power are consistent with single-photon decay time measured using qubit-resonator swap experiments.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures for the main paper; total 5 pages, 6 figures including supplementary material. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter

NrsZ: a novel, processed, nitrogen-dependent, small non-coding RNA that regulates Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 virulence.

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 has a remarkable capacity to adapt to various environments and to survive with limited nutrients. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of a novel small non-coding RNA: NrsZ (nitrogen-regulated sRNA). We show that under nitrogen limitation, NrsZ is induced by the NtrB/C two component system, an important regulator of nitrogen assimilation and P. aeruginosa's swarming motility, in concert with the alternative sigma factor RpoN. Furthermore, we demonstrate that NrsZ modulates P. aeruginosa motility by controlling the production of rhamnolipid surfactants, virulence factors notably needed for swarming motility. This regulation takes place through the post-transcriptional control of rhlA, a gene essential for rhamnolipids synthesis. Interestingly, we also observed that NrsZ is processed in three similar short modules, and that the first short module encompassing the first 60 nucleotides is sufficient for NrsZ regulatory functions

Sound production during the waggle dance of the honey bee

1. 1. A pulsed sound of approximately 200 cps. which is produced during the straight run of the honey bee waggle dance is described. The presence of this sound provides a new possibility for explaining the method whereby information about the distance of the food source from the hive is communicated among bees. Besides the elements considered by von Frisch & Jander (1957), sound production time during the straight run and number of pulses present in the straight run are each shown to be also capable of carrying distance information. Since the ratio of the sound pulse rate to waggle rate is approximately 2[middle dot]5 to 1, the sound is not an incidental result of waggling of the abdomen by the dancing bee.2. 2. The complete run time, straight run sound production time, and number of sound pulses were all graphically found to be more closely related to the distance of the food source from the hive than the circle run time. These three remaining components were not found to be significantly different from each other on the basis of raw data.3. 3. The results of a variation analysis of complete run time, straight run time, and circle run time indicate that variability of the complete run time can largely be attributed to variability of the circle run time.4. 4. The effect of wind is greater on the straight run time than on either complete run time or circle run time. Also, that variability in the complete run time which is due to an effect of wind can largely be attributed to the effect of wind on the straight run time. This information, together with that from 3 (above), shows that the average complete run time is mainly a sum of average circle run time and average straight run time and probably does not transmit distance information in its own right. Since the average complete run time of this study must be equivalent to the average complete run time of the study of von Frisch & Jander, the complete run time of their study can also be eliminated as a possibility for transmitting distance information.5. 5. The straight run time and number of sound pulses present in the straight run were found to be inseparable on the basis of available data. Either of these two components was found to be a better possibility for transmitting distance information than any of the other components of the dance which were covered in this study. Neither of these two components can be directly compared to the straight run waggle time or number of waggles produced during the straight run (von Frisch & Jander, 1957). Such a comparison must await further experimentation.6. 6. The following four components (or a combination of any of these four) of the honey bee waggle dance now remain as best possibilities for conveying the information about distance of the food source from the hive: 6.1. (a) time of waggling during the straight run.6.2. (b) number of waggles produced during the straight run.6.3. (c) time of sound production during the straight run.6.4. (d) number of sound pulses produced during the straight run.7. 7. Analysis of wind effects reveals that bees signal the flight time out to the food source, not the flight time of the return trip.8. 8. The sound pulse rate did not vary appreciably with temperature. Although the sound pulse rate did vary with distance, the amount of change was slight and the significance was marginal.9. 9. The interpretation of the results of the step-experiments (Stufenversuchen) of von Frisch and co-workers is questionable, since a performance much poorer than that given by the standard deviation of the results, coupled with bees visiting more than one of the unevenly spaced stations, would give similar results.10. 10. The possible use of sound by honey bees in communicating information about the distance of a food source from the hive is discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32329/1/0000399.pd

Rapid Onset Pressor Response During Isometric Exercise in Postmenopausal Hypertensive Women

Please view abstract in the attached PDF file

Compressed sensing quantum process tomography for superconducting quantum gates

We apply the method of compressed sensing (CS) quantum process tomography (QPT) to characterize quantum gates based on superconducting Xmon and phase qubits. Using experimental data for a two-qubit controlled-Z gate, we obtain an estimate for the process matrix $\chi$ with reasonably high fidelity compared to full QPT, but using a significantly reduced set of initial states and measurement configurations. We show that the CS method still works when the amount of used data is so small that the standard QPT would have an underdetermined system of equations. We also apply the CS method to the analysis of the three-qubit Toffoli gate with numerically added noise, and similarly show that the method works well for a substantially reduced set of data. For the CS calculations we use two different bases in which the process matrix $\chi$ is approximately sparse, and show that the resulting estimates of the process matrices match each ther with reasonably high fidelity. For both two-qubit and three-qubit gates, we characterize the quantum process by not only its process matrix and fidelity, but also by the corresponding standard deviation, defined via variation of the state fidelity for different initial states.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure

Upward synaptic scaling is dependent on neurotransmission rather than spiking

Homeostatic plasticity encompasses a set of mechanisms that are thought to stabilize firing rates in neural circuits. The most widely studied form of homeostatic plasticity is upward synaptic scaling (upscaling), characterized by a multiplicative increase in the strength of excitatory synaptic inputs to a neuron as a compensatory response to chronic reductions in firing rate. While reduced spiking is thought to trigger upscaling, an alternative possibility is that reduced glutamatergic transmission generates this plasticity directly. However, spiking and neurotransmission are tightly coupled, so it has been difficult to determine their independent roles in the scaling process. Here we combined chronic multielectrode recording, closed-loop optogenetic stimulation, and pharmacology to show that reduced glutamatergic transmission directly triggers cell-wide synaptic upscaling. This work highlights the importance of synaptic activity in initiating signalling cascades that mediate upscaling. Moreover, our findings challenge the prevailing view that upscaling functions to homeostatically stabilize firing rates.National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship (09-603)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowship (08-593)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (Fellowship DGE-0333411)Emory University (NI SPINR Fellowship