The reactivity of aluminosilicate glasses in cements - effects of Ca content on dissolution characteristics and surface precipitation

Non peer reviewedPostprin

Leibniz, Acosmism, and Incompossibility

Leibniz claims that God acts in the best possible way, and that this includes creating exactly one world. But worlds are aggregates, and aggregates have a low degree of reality or metaphysical perfection, perhaps none at all. This is Leibniz’s tendency toward acosmism, or the view that there this no such thing as creation-as-a-whole. Many interpreters reconcile Leibniz’s acosmist tendency with the high value of worlds by proposing that God sums the value of each substance created, so that the best world is just the world with the most substances. I call this way of determining the value of a world the Additive Theory of Value (ATV), and argue that it leads to the current and insoluble form of the problem of incompossibility. To avoid the problem, I read “possible worlds” in “God chooses the best of all possible worlds” as referring to God’s ideas of worlds. These ideas, though built up from essences, are themselves unities and so well suited to be the value bearers that Leibniz’s theodicy requires. They have their own value, thanks to their unity, and that unity is not preserved when more essences are added

Artificial intelligence, human intelligence and hybrid intelligence based on mutual augmentation

There is little consensus on what artificial intelligence (AI) systems may or may not embrace. Although this may point to multiplicity of interpretations and backgrounds, a lack of conceptual clarity could thwart the development of common ground around the concept among researchers, practitioners and users of AI and pave the way for misinterpretation and abuse of the concept. This article argues that one of the effective ways to delineate the concept of AI is to compare and contrast it with human intelligence. In doing so, the article broaches the unique capabilities of humans and AI in relation to one another (human and machine tacit knowledge), as well as two types of AI systems: one that goes beyond human intelligence and one that is necessarily and inherently tied to it. It finally highlights how humans and AI can augment their capabilities and intelligence through synergistic human-AI interactions (i.e., human-augmented AI and augmented human intelligence), resulting in hybrid intelligence, and concludes with a future-looking research agenda

Qualitative study exploring the key determinants of information gathering to inform the management of over-the-counter (OTC) consultations in community pharmacies

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Exploring non-retention in clinical trials : A meta-ethnographic synthesis of studies reporting participant reasons for drop out

Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Cynthia Fraser for her assistance in helping develop the database searching strategies. Funding: ZCS was supported by a core grant from the CSO (reference CZU/3/3) and a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund award (reference RG12724-18). RN was supported by a Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund award (reference RG12724-18). KG was supported by an MRC Methodology Research Fellowship (MR/L01193X/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Self-branding strategies of online freelancers on Upwork

Self-branding is crucial for online freelancers as they must constantly differentiate themselves from competitors on online labor platforms to ensure a viable stream of income. By analyzing 39 interviews with freelancers and clients on the online labor platform Upwork, we identify five key self-branding strategies: boosting a profile, showcasing skills, expanding presence, maintaining relationships with clients, and individualizing brand. These self-branding strategies are contextualized within Goffman?s dramaturgical theory and through an affordances lens, showing immanent tensions. While online freelancers successfully leverage self-branding to improve their visibility on Upwork and beyond, the client perspective reveals a fine line between too little and too much self-branding. Online freelancers must brand themselves in visibility games when the game rules are largely opaque, riddled with uncertainty, and constantly evolving. We connect the findings to adjacent platform economy research and derive a self-branding as a performance framework

Early evaluation of tumour metabolic response using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose and positron emission tomography:a pilot study following the phase II chemotherapy schedule for temozolomide in recurrent high-grade gliomas

Quantitation of metabolic changes in tumours may provide an objective measure of clinical and subclinical response to anticancer therapy. This pilot study assesses the value of quantitation of metabolic rate of glucose (MRGlu) measured in mmol min−1ml−1to assess early subclinical response to therapy in a relatively non-responsive tumour. Nine patients receiving the CRC Phase II study schedule of temozolomide were assessed with [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG) dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) scans prior to and 14 days after treatment with temozolomide given as 750–1000 mg m−2over 5 days every 28 days. Tumour MRGlu was calculated and compared with objective response at 8 weeks. Pretreatment MRGlu was higher in responders than non-responders. The responding patient group had a greater than 25% reduction in MRGlu in regions of high focal tumour uptake (HFU). Whole tumour changes in MRGlu did not correlate with response. Percentage change in HFU standardized uptake value (SUV) did discriminate the responding from the non-responding patients, but not as well as with MRGlu. Large differences also occurred in the normal brain SUV following treatment. Thus, MRGlu appeared to be a more sensitive discriminator of response than the simplified static SUV analysis. Changes in MRGlu may reflect the degree of cell kill following chemotherapy and so may provide an objective, quantitative subclinical measure of response to therapy. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Structure of the protective nematode protease complex H-gal-GP and its conservation across roundworm parasites

Roundworm parasite infections are a major cause of human and livestock disease worldwide and a threat to global food security. Disease control currently relies on anthelmintic drugs to which roundworms are becoming increasingly resistant. An alternative approach is control by vaccination and ‘hidden antigens’, components of the worm gut not encountered by the infected host, have been exploited to produce Barbervax, the first commercial vaccine for a gut dwelling nematode of any host. Here we present the structure of H-gal-GP, a hidden antigen from Haemonchus contortus, the Barber’s Pole worm, and a major component of Barbervax. We demonstrate its novel architecture, subunit composition and topology, flexibility and heterogeneity using cryo-electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, and modelling. Importantly, we demonstrate that complexes with the same architecture are present in other Strongylid roundworm parasites including human hookworm. This suggests a common ancestry and the potential for development of a unified hidden antigen vaccine