Forming Community in Computing Science Education with Research in Practice Project Activities

The United Kingdom and Ireland Computing Education Research (UKICER) conference is emerging as a leading venue to disseminate research contributions to the community. However, it is important the venue continues to act as an entry point for individuals to participant in computing science education research. Consequently, the present proposal is to offer a new form of collaborative, community-forming activity at the UKICER conference called Research in Practice Project Activities (RIPPAs). The first RIPPA is focused on Spatial Skills and Computing Science and will be offered at UKICER 2021

The Churches' Bans on Consanguineous Marriages, Kin-Networks and Democracy

This paper highlights the role of kin-networks for the functioning of modern societies: countries with strong extended families as characterized by a high level of cousin marriages exhibit a weak rule of law and are more likely autocratic. To assess causality, I exploit a quasi-natural experiment. In the early medieval ages the Church started to prohibit kin-marriages. Using the variation in the duration and extent of the Eastern and Western Churches' bans on consanguineous marriages as instrumental variables, reveals highly significant point estimates of the percentage of cousin marriage on an index of democracy. An additional novel instrument, cousin-terms, strengthens this point: the estimates are very similar and do not rest on the European experience alone. Exploiting within country variation of cousin marriages in Italy, as well as within variation of a 'societal marriage pressure' indicator for a larger set of countries support these results. These findings point to a causal effect of marriage patterns on the proper functioning of formal institutions and democracy. The study further suggests that the Churches' marriage rules - by destroying extended kin-groups - led Europe on its special path of institutional and democratic development

Expanding the Circle of Critical Friends in UK Computing Education Research with the Works-in-Progress (WiP) Workshop

No abstract available

Cysteine-scanning mutagenesis and disulfide mapping studies of the conserved domain of the twin-arginine translocase TatB component

The cytoplasmic membrane protein TatB is an essential component of the Escherichia coli twin-arginine (Tat) protein translocation pathway. Together with the TatC component it forms a complex that functions as a membrane receptor for substrate proteins. Structural predictions suggest that TatB is anchored to the membrane via an N-terminal transmembrane alpha-helix that precedes an amphipathic alpha-helical section of the protein. From truncation analysis it is known that both these regions of the protein are essential for function. Here we construct 31 unique cysteine substitutions in the first 42 residues of TatB. Each of the substitutions results in a TatB protein that is competent to support Tat-dependent protein translocation. Oxidant-induced disulfide cross-linking shows that both the N-terminal and amphipathic helices form contacts with at least one other TatB protomer. For the transmembrane helix these contacts are localized to one face of the helix. Molecular modeling and molecular dynamics simulations provide insight into the possible structural basis of the transmembrane helix interactions. Using variants with double cysteine substitutions in the transmembrane helix, we were able to detect cross-links between up to five TatB molecules. Protein purification showed that species containing at least four cross-linked TatB molecules are found in correctly assembled TatBC complexes. Our results suggest that the transmembrane helices of TatB protomers are in the center rather than the periphery of the TatBC complex

Protein transport by the bacterial Tat pathway.

The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system accomplishes the remarkable feat of translocating large – even dimeric – proteins across tightly sealed energy-transducing membranes. All of the available evidence indicates that it is unique in terms of both structure and mechanism; however its very nature has hindered efforts to probe the core translocation events. At the heart of the problem is the fact that two large sub-complexes are believed to coalesce to form the active translocon, and ‘capturing’ this translocation event has been too difficult. Nevertheless, studies on the individual components have come a long way in recent years, and structural studies have reached the point where educated guesses can be made concerning the most interesting aspects of Tat. In this article we review these studies and the emerging ideas in this field. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein trafficking and secretion in bacteria. Guest Editors: Anastassios Economou and Ross Dalbey

Accelerated CREP - RRR: Turri, Buckwalter, & Blouw (2015)

According to the Justified True Belief (JTB) account of knowledge, a person’s ability to know something is defined by having a belief that is both justified and true (i.e., knowledge is justified true belief). However, this account fails to consider the role of luck. In 1963, Gettier argued that JTB is insufficient because it does not account for certain situations, called Gettier cases, wherein a person is justified for believing something true but only because of luck. It is unclear whether lay people’s intuitions about knowledge lead them to agree with Gettier, such that lay people believe that individuals in these cases lack knowledge (referred to as Gettier intuitions). We attempt to provide a robust estimate of the Gettier intuition effect size by replicating Turri and colleagues’ (2015) Experiment 1. The Collaborative Replications and Education Project (CREP) selected this study for replication based on its undergraduate appeal, feasibility, and pedagogical value. However, in light of some inconsistent results, suboptimal designs, and inconsistent evidence for cultural variation (e.g., Machery et al., 2015; Nagel, et al., 2013; Seyedsayamdost et al., 2015; Starman & Friedman, 2012; Weinberg et al., 2001), the improved methodology of Turri et al. (2015) make it an important study to replicate cross-culturally. Therefore, we propose a multisite collaborative preregistered replication of Turri and colleague's (2015) Experiment 1 (35 labs from 14 countries across 4 continents signed up at time of submission; expected minimum N = 1,500). Results of this study are expected to provide a clearer picture of the Gettier intuition effect size, lay people’s theory and practice of knowledge, and potentially cross-cultural similarities and differences. Preprint: [X] Pre-registered protocols: [X