The Relational Power of Education: The immeasurability of knowledge, value and meaning

Recognizing the challenge of adequate evaluation in higher education, this essay introduces some of the critical, alternative-seeking conversation about educational measurement. The thesis is that knowledge, value, and meaning emerge in the relational dynamics of education, thus requiring complex approaches to evaluation, utilizing relational criteria. The method of the essay is to analyse two educational case studies à à à ¢ a travel seminar and a classroom course à à à ¢ in dialogue with educational literature and a process-relational philosophy of education. Building from this analysis, the essay concludes with proposals for relational criteria of evaluation: relations with self, community and culture, difference, earth, and social structures

Born into adversity: psychological distress in two birth cohorts of second-generation Irish children growing up in Britain

This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), in the form of a fellowship awarded to J.D.-M. (grant no. G0701595/1).

An analysis of the growth of leaf area of oil palms in Indonesia

In two cultivar × density trials for oil palms (Elaeis guineensis) planted in Indonesia, single leaf area, number of green leaves per tree, leaf opening rate per year and rachis length of leaves were followed over fourteen years. The data were analysed to determine the time course of canopy leaf area and to predict the moment of canopy closure. Growth functions were fitted to the observed data. Estimates of leaf area index (L) were based on single leaf area, number of green leaves, leaf opening and planting density. The time course of L was modelled on the basis of the fitted functions to the components. The moment of canopy closure was calculated from the planting density and the functions fitted for rachis length. The modelled time course of L was considerably different from the function fitted to the single leaf area data. The expansion of L was not as rapid as expected from the area growth of single leaves and, after maximum L was reached, a steady decline was observed. The continuously declining number of green leaves was the main cause of these two observations. The time course of L differed considerably between the two experiments. Not only were there large differences in the number of green leaves maintained per tree in the experiments but also the final area of single leaves differed between both experiments. The first factor was a result of the management of the experiments, whereas the second factor was most likely influenced by a difference in soil-related factors at the two locations. Leaf areas and numbers of leaves per tree were different for each cultivar, as was L. This was also the parameter most sensitive to planting density. Individual leaf area and leaf number per tree were not affected by planting density, but rachis length was affected by the planting density treatment. The moment of canopy closure was similar in both experiments. Planting density was the main factor that determined the onset of canopy closure

Democracy, emancipation and widening participation in the UK: changing the ‘distribution of the sensible’

The broad concern of this paper is how the relationship between education, democracy and emancipation might be conceived. This theme is explored through examining the contribution of a Rancierian conception of emancipation and democracy to rethinking widening participation in higher education. Following Ranciere, it is argued that taking equality as a starting point in higher education, rather than as a goal to be achieved through education, disrupts a prevailing logic of education as necessarily providing a pathway to emancipation. From this view the pedagogic practices of explication and mastery, which Ranciere argues work to separate academic reason and practical reason, need no longer be understood as the only way to be academic. It is proposed that this ‘redistribution of the sensible’ enables higher education to be conceived in ways other than available in ongoing educational debates and enables a move beyond an assimilation/recognition binary. Instead, widening participation can be understood as a space for opening up to experience, transformation and change for both academics and students. From this view, democracy is enacted in the here and now, rather than a goal for the future, and practice can be understood as a site for change

Empathetic Understanding and Deliberative Democracy

Epistemic democracy is standardly characterized in terms of “aiming at truth”. This presupposes a veritistic conception of epistemic value, according to which truth is the fundamental epistemic goal. I will raise an objection to the standard (veritistic) account of epistemic democracy, focusing specifically on deliberative democracy. I then propose a version of deliberative democracy that is grounded in non‐veritistic epistemic goals. In particular, I argue that deliberation is valuable because it facilitates empathetic understanding. I claim that empathetic understanding is an epistemic good that doesn't have truth as its primary goal

Incorporating radiomics into clinical trials: expert consensus endorsed by the European Society of Radiology on considerations for data-driven compared to biologically driven quantitative biomarkers (Jan , 10.1007/s00330-020-07598-8, 2021)

A Correction to this paper has been published:Radiolog

Incorporating radiomics into clinical trials: expert consensus on considerations for data-driven compared to biologically driven quantitative biomarkers

Existing quantitative imaging biomarkers (QIBs) are associated with known biological tissue characteristics and follow a well-understood path of technical, biological and clinical validation before incorporation into clinical trials. In radiomics, novel data-driven processes extract numerous visually imperceptible statistical features from the imaging data with no a priori assumptions on their correlation with biological processes. The selection of relevant features (radiomic signature) and incorporation into clinical trials therefore requires additional considerations to ensure meaningful imaging endpoints. Also, the number of radiomic features tested means that power calculations would result in sample sizes impossible to achieve within clinical trials. This article examines how the process of standardising and validating data-driven imaging biomarkers differs from those based on biological associations. Radiomic signatures are best developed initially on datasets that represent diversity of acquisition protocols as well as diversity of disease and of normal findings, rather than within clinical trials with standardised and optimised protocols as this would risk the selection of radiomic features being linked to the imaging process rather than the pathology. Normalisation through discretisation and feature harmonisation are essential pre-processing steps. Biological correlation may be performed after the technical and clinical validity of a radiomic signature is established, but is not mandatory. Feature selection may be part of discovery within a radiomics-specific trial or represent exploratory endpoints within an established trial; a previously validated radiomic signature may even be used as a primary/secondary endpoint, particularly if associations are demonstrated with specific biological processes and pathways being targeted within clinical trials.Radiolog

Genome-wide association and Mendelian randomisation analysis provide insights into the pathogenesis of heart failure

Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A small proportion of HF cases are attributable to monogenic cardiomyopathies and existing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have yielded only limited insights, leaving the observed heritability of HF largely unexplained. We report results from a GWAS meta-analysis of HF comprising 47,309 cases and 930,014 controls. Twelve independent variants at 11 genomic loci are associated with HF, all of which demonstrate one or more associations with coronary artery disease (CAD), atrial fibrillation, or reduced left ventricular function, suggesting shared genetic aetiology. Functional analysis of non-CAD-associated loci implicate genes involved in cardiac development (MYOZ1, SYNPO2L), protein homoeostasis (BAG3), and cellular senescence (CDKN1A). Mendelian randomisation analysis supports causal roles for several HF risk factors, and demonstrates CAD-independent effects for atrial fibrillation, body mass index, and hypertension. These findings extend our knowledge of the pathways underlying HF and may inform new therapeutic strategies