The Algorithmic Origins of Life

Although it has been notoriously difficult to pin down precisely what it is that makes life so distinctive and remarkable, there is general agreement that its informational aspect is one key property, perhaps the key property. The unique informational narrative of living systems suggests that life may be characterized by context-dependent causal influences, and in particular, that top-down (or downward) causation -- where higher-levels influence and constrain the dynamics of lower-levels in organizational hierarchies -- may be a major contributor to the hierarchal structure of living systems. Here we propose that the origin of life may correspond to a physical transition associated with a shift in causal structure, where information gains direct, and context-dependent causal efficacy over the matter it is instantiated in. Such a transition may be akin to more traditional physical transitions (e.g. thermodynamic phase transitions), with the crucial distinction that determining which phase (non-life or life) a given system is in requires dynamical information and therefore can only be inferred by identifying causal architecture. We discuss some potential novel research directions based on this hypothesis, including potential measures of such a transition that may be amenable to laboratory study, and how the proposed mechanism corresponds to the onset of the unique mode of (algorithmic) information processing characteristic of living systems.Comment: 13 pages, 1 tabl

The Explanatory Value of Abstracting Away from Idiosyncratic and Messy Detail

Some explanations are relatively abstract: they abstract away from the idiosyncratic or messy details of the case in hand. The received wisdom in philosophy is that this is a virtue for any explanation to possess. I argue that the apparent consensus on this point is illusory. When philosophers make this claim, they differ on which of four alternative varieties of abstractness they have in mind. What's more, for each variety of abstractness there are several alternative reasons to think that the variety of abstractness in question is a virtue. I identify the most promising reasons, and dismiss some others. The paper concludes by relating this discussion to the idea that explanations in biology, psychology and social science cannot be replaced by relatively micro explanations without loss of understanding.This work has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC Grant agreement no 284123.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11098-015-0554-

Standardization as emerging content in technology education at all levels of education

Integration of standardization into different levels of technology education has surfaced as a critical issue for educational practitioners and policy makers at national and regional (APEC, EU) level. In this paper, we describe and analyze empirical data collected from 118 educational experiences and practices about technology standards and standardization in 21 countries of a regional variety. Specifically, this research examines standardization education programs these countries have implemented, and explores suggestive indications for the design and development of an educational policy for standardization. Online surveys, offline interviews, face-to-face meetings and case studies have been used to determine the way these standardization education programs are segmented and implemented in different contexts. The findings are consolidated into a framework for standardization education. The framework presents an applicable combination of target groups (who), appropriate learning objectives (why), probable program operators (where), prospective contents modules (what), and preferred teaching methods (how). This framework may contribute to planning and implementing more inclusive standardization education programs

Identification of Initial and Subsequent Injury in Young Infants Opportunities for Quality Improvement in the Evaluation of Child Abuse

Objectives The objective of this study was to identify opportunities to improve identification and evaluation of child abuse by (1) describing rates of initial and recurrent injury in young infants, (2) describing the frequency of a history of prior injury in young children evaluated by a child abuse pediatrician, and (3) identifying practice variation, including use of skeletal surveys as an example, in the identification and evaluation of injury across a network of 6 children’s hospitals. Methods Six children\u27s hospitals identified infants with an initial injury and recurrent injury over a 1-year period using 2 methods: (1) diagnostic code method — infants 6 months or younger presenting with at least 1 diagnostic code for injury were tracked for 12 months to determine the frequency of recurrent injury, and (2) consult method — all available medical records of children 18 months or younger seen for an inpatient consultation for suspected child abuse were reviewed to identify history of a first injury at 6 months or younger. Results Using the diagnostic code method, 682 unique infants were identified with initial injuries, most commonly fractures (37.0%), bruising/ecchymosis (35.9%), and superficial injuries (28.3%). Forty-two infants (6.2%) returned with a second injury, and no demographic factors were significantly associated with the likelihood of a second injury. Using the consult method, 37 of 342 consults (10.8%) were identified as having a history of at least 1 initial injury. Of the initial injuries identified, the most common was bruising/ecchymosis (64.9%). The number of injuries identified with either method varied significantly across hospitals, as did completion of skeletal surveys for infants with bruising (range, 4.5%–71.1%; P \u3c 0.001) and any injury (range, 4.4%–62.7%; P \u3c 0.001). Conclusions Our study demonstrates that young infants who experience 1 injury often experience a second injury. There exists significant variability in the identification of injury and the completion of skeletal surveys across a network of 6 children\u27s hospitals. A standardized quality improvement approach may improve identification of injury and reduce the variability in practice observed