Narrowing the Divide: Posthuman Autopoiesis and Social Propaganda

This paper examines the relationship between social propaganda as presented by Jacques Ellul in his book Propaganda: the Formation of Men’s Attitudes and the concept of autopoiesis (or self-generation) within posthuman ideology. These two concepts intersect in their connection of the individual to the masses. Both posthuman theory and Ellul’s concept of social interaction are based on the bridging of the ontological gap to overcome cognitive isolation, resulting in the engagement in a community outside of oneself. The stripping of individuality becomes necessary, as our self-contained autopoietic beings employ analogical inference in order to connect with the mass, and therefore be subject to the influences of propaganda

Artificial Intelligence And Big Data Technologies To Close The Achievement Gap.

We observe achievement gaps even in rich western countries, such as the UK, which in principle have the resources as well as the social and technical infrastructure to provide a better deal for all learners. The reasons for such gaps are complex and include the social and material poverty of some learners with their resulting other deficits, as well as failure by government to allocate sufficient resources to remedy the situation. On the supply side of the equation, a single teacher or university lecturer, even helped by a classroom assistant or tutorial assistant, cannot give each learner the kind of one-to-one attention that would really help to boost both their motivation and their attainment in ways that might mitigate the achievement gap. In this chapter Benedict du Boulay, Alexandra Poulovassilis, Wayne Holmes, and Manolis Mavrikis argue that we now have the technologies to assist both educators and learners, most commonly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM), at least some of the time. We present case studies from the fields of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) and Big Data. We look at how they can be used to provide personalised support for students and demonstrate that they are not designed to replace the teacher. In addition, we also describe tools for teachers to increase their awareness and, ultimately, free up time for them to provide nuanced, individualised support even in large cohorts

Educational experiences as fields of influence in physics: an exploration of the critical incidents in student education

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the field of influences on the occupational trajectories of physics graduates in the United Kingdom. My research examines the assumptions by government and policy makers that school education holds the key to providing more physicists available for employment in physics-related occupations. The research analyses qualitative data from current and recently graduated students to explore the field of influences on their decisions to take physics, and how these experiences influence their identity as a scientist. My hypothesis tests these assumptions by examining the significant events, or critical incidents, during the educational experience on a physics degree. The research design is a case study of the physics departments of two UK institutions. A series of interviews provides insight into the educational journeys of current and recently graduated physics students and the consequent analysis identifies emergent themes. These themes include how the influences of school education and social and individual expectations engage people into enrolling on a physics degree. Further analysis explores how events occurring on the degree courses may influence occupational trajectories. My findings identify attitudes to laboratory work and institutional feedback as significant influences to this sample of individuals during their degree experience. This work has implications for highlighting the significance of laboratory work in future science education policies, as well as contributing to the extant research on STEM education

Women's Perceptions of Disaster Response: A Case Study in Moore, Oklahoma

This work is a qualitative case study examining women�s perceptions of the effectiveness of disaster preparedness, response, relief, and mitigation after a large tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. Literature on vulnerability to disaster is examined from the perspective of women�s issues. The Community Capitals Framework is also used as a conceptual framework to understand the loss and availability of resources. In a state like Oklahoma, natural disasters occur with some regularity, thus further understanding how to prepare, respond, and recover from disasters is essential. This study examines how women were able to locate and utilize the available resources to achieve short term and long term recovery. Semi-structured interviews with women affected by the May 20th 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma were conducted to understand women�s specific experiences with the goal of improving flaws in disaster response. Each interview was coded for evidence of inequalities and conceptualized through the Community Capitals Framework. Media issues and evidence of community cohesion emerged as common themes and are discussed through grounded theory. Overall, the evidence suggests that women were able to find adequate resources, but that special consideration should be made for those women who need extra assistance in specific areas.Sociolog

mPPases create a conserved anionic membrane fingerprint as identified via multiscale simulations

Publisher Copyright: Copyright: © 2022 Holmes et al.Membrane-integral pyrophosphatases (mPPases) are membrane-bound enzymes responsible for hydrolysing inorganic pyrophosphate and translocating a cation across the membrane. Their function is essential for the infectivity of clinically relevant protozoan parasites and plant maturation. Recent developments have indicated that their mechanism is more complicated than previously thought and that the membrane environment may be important for their function. In this work, we use multiscale molecular dynamics simulations to demonstrate for the first time that mPPases form specific anionic lipid interactions at 4 sites at the distal and interfacial regions of the protein. These interactions are conserved in simulations of the mPPases from Thermotoga maritima, Vigna radiata and Clostridium leptum and characterised by interactions with positive residues on helices 1, 2, 3 and 4 for the distal site, or 9, 10, 13 and 14 for the interfacial site. Due to the importance of these helices in protein stability and function, these lipid interactions may play a crucial role in the mPPase mechanism and enable future structural and functional studies.Peer reviewe

Is the development of a transformative approach to criminal justice issues desirable and possible in contemporary Anglican thought and practice?

This thesis presents an analysis of the apparent lack of engagement by the Church of England with criminal justice issues. On the basis of this analysis, I pursue two key aims: to critically evaluate the obstacles to formulating a more transformative Anglican response to criminal justice issues and propose ways in which this response could be realized. These aims were achieved by making the case for engagement with criminal justice matters, particularly through emphasizing the mandate of the fourth mark of mission: ‘to transform unjust structures of society’. Scoping out the current extent of Anglican engagement is the subject of chapters two and three. The result of this mapping indicated a limited engagement in both the academy and church. A review of the theological and criminological literature shows little dialogue between the disciplines, whilst the practical response is also found to be partial . A number of ways forward are suggested and it is demonstrated how Elaine Graham’s model of ‘Public Theology as Apologetics’ could enable a transformative response to be developed. The thesis concludes that, although a more transformative response to criminal justice issues is desirable and theologically defensible, there are currently significant obstacles to achieving this response

The Function of Membrane Integral Pyrophosphatases From Whole Organism to Single Molecule

Membrane integral pyrophosphatases (mPPases) are responsible for the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate. This enzymatic mechanism is coupled to the pumping of H+ or Na+ across membranes in a process that can be K+ dependent or independent. Understanding the movements and dynamics throughout the mPPase catalytic cycle is important, as this knowledge is essential for improving or impeding protein function. mPPases have been shown to play a crucial role in plant maturation and abiotic stress tolerance, and so have the potential to be engineered to improve plant survival, with implications for global food security. mPPases are also selectively toxic drug targets, which could be pharmacologically modulated to reduce the virulence of common human pathogens. The last few years have seen the publication of many new insights into the function and structure of mPPases. In particular, there is a new body of evidence that the catalytic cycle is more complex than originally proposed. There are structural and functional data supporting a mechanism involving half-of-the-sites reactivity, inter-subunit communication, and exit channel motions. A more advanced and in-depth understanding of mPPases has begun to be uncovered, leaving the field of research with multiple interesting avenues for further exploration and investigation.Peer reviewe

Using graph-based modelling to explore changes in students’ affective states during exploratory learning tasks

This paper describes how graph-based modelling can be used to explore interactions associated with a change in students' affective state when they are working with an exploratory learning environment (ELE). We report on a user study with an ELE that is able to detect students' affective states from their interactions and speech. The data collected during the user study was modelled, visualized and queried as a graph. We were interested in exploring if there was a difference between low- and high-performing students in the kinds of interactions that occurred during a change in their affective state. Our findings provide new insights into how students are interacting with the ELE and the effects of the system's interventions on students' affective states

Template or ligand? : Different structural behaviours of aromatic amines in combination with zincophosphite networks

We thank the EPSRC National Crystallography Service (University of Southampton) for the X-ray data collection for (I)Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Using graph-based modelling to explore changes in students’ affective states during exploratory learning tasks

We describe a graph-based modelling approach to exploring interactions associated with a change in students' affective state when they are working with an exploratory learning environment (ELE). Student-system interactions data collected during a user study was modelled, visualized and queried as a graph. Our findings provide new insights into how students are interacting with the ELE and the effects of the system's interventions on students' affective states