Blowing our own trumpets

Making Our Own Luck

QuickCheck-style property-based random testing [4] requires efficient generators for well-distributed random data satisfying complex logical predicates. Writing such generators by hand can be difficult and error prone. We propose a domain-specific language, Luck, in which generators are expressed by decorating predicates with lightweight annotations controlling both the distribution of generate...

Ancestor to Call Our Own

Controversial new fossils could bring scientists closer than ever to the origin of humanity POITIERS, FRANCE—Michel Brunet removes the cracked, brown skull from its padlocked, foam-lined metal carrying case and carefully places it on the desk in front of me. It is about the size of a coconut, with a slight snout and a thick brow visoring its stony sockets. To my inexpert eye, the face is at onc...

Do we own our bodies?

Treating one of our own.

As a group, oncology nurses are aging, mirroring a large portion of the American public. Many practicing nurses are approaching middle age, and with increased age comes an increased risk for cancer. Many oncology nurses are cancer survivors, and the experience of treating a colleague is becoming more common, but few publications have addressed this topic. Pennsylvania Oncology Hematology Associ...

Blowing on Embers: Commensal Microbiota and Our Immune System

Vertebrates have co-evolved with microorganisms resulting in a symbiotic relationship, which plays an important role in health and disease. Skin and mucosal surfaces are colonized with a diverse population of commensal microbiota, over 1000 species, outnumbering the host cells by 10-fold. In the past 40 years, studies have built on the idea that commensal microbiota is in constant contact with ...