2015 Hospital Profile: Brigham and Women's Hospital

Massachusetts Acute Hospital Profile

A Subjective Comparison Between a Historical and a Contemporary Textbook on Geometry

In order to investigate how a 19th century mathematical textbook (in contrast to a contemporary one) would be experienced by a novice reader, we embarked on the following project: In the summer of 2013, a student with no previous training in college-level mathematics (the first author) set out to learn projective geometry from Pasch\u27s 1882 textbook Lectures on Modern Geometry. Afterwards, he studied the same material from Coxeter\u27s 1994 popular undergraduate textbook Projective Geometry. We report here some of his experiences and impressions contextualizing them along the way

Extended mathematical cognition: external representations with non-derived content

Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000155Abstract: Vehicle externalism maintains that the vehicles of our mental representations can be located outside of the head, that is, they need not be instantiated by neurons located inside the brain of the cogniser. But some disagree, insisting that ‘non-derived’, or ‘original’, content is the mark of the cognitive and that only biologically instantiated representational vehicles can have non-derived content, while the contents of all extra-neural representational vehicles are derived and thus lie outside the scope of the cognitive. In this paper we develop one aspect of Menary’s vehicle externalist theory of cognitive integration—the process of enculturation—to respond to this longstanding objection. We offer examples of how expert mathematicians introduce new symbols to represent new mathematical possibilities that are not yet understood, and we argue that these new symbols have genuine non-derived content, that is, content that is not dependent on an act of interpretation by a cognitive agent and that does not derive from conventional associations, as many linguistic representations do

From a Doodle to a Theorem: A Case Study in Mathematical Discovery

We present some aspects of the genesis of a geometric construction, which can be carried out with compass and straightedge, from the original idea to the published version (Fernández González 2016). The Midpoint Path Construction makes it possible to multiply the length of a line segment by a rational number between 0 and 1 by constructing only midpoints and a straight line. In the form of an interview, we explore the context and narrative behind the discovery, with first-hand insights by its author. Finally, we discuss some general aspects of this case study in the context of philosophy of mathematical practice

An Ambiguous Utopia

An Ambiguous Utopia is a research and design contribution to the Institute of Network Culture’s Critical Meme Reader. It was conceived of as a productive fiction that investigates memes as small units of cultural DNA, with the power to shift political discourse and practice on- and offline. The contribution makes use of visual design, storytelling, worldbuilding and futuring techniques to escape the constraints of the current moment and conjure scenarios set in alternative places and times. Metamodernism serves as a theoretical framework to think beyond static categorisation and imagine multiplicitous futures that transgress the binary of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Co-creation was a core to the process and invited plural perspectives into imagining futures. As part of this project we developed an online worldbuilding process that involved a wide range of participants through memeing, performance and role-playing

The Others

This piece is a thought experiment created in response to a call for radical visions for future government. It is the story of an anarchist community, The Others, who form an autonomous economic sphere and evolve to carve previously unimaginable avenues of possibility into capitalist reality. They centre care and maintenance of all life, and use vitality rather than growth as a metric of success. At it's core this is a vision for a solidarity economy that runs on a time-based currency – the one asset we hold in equal amounts, the one investment everyone has to make and the one resource impossible to reproduce – thus creating a basis for everyone. The Other Economy is symbiotic within itself while parasitic to the capitalist market economy. As it grows, it saps capital's power and liberates itself and the public imagination. The Others was published by Nesta in the Radical Visions for Future Government publication, which was launched at the Government Innovation Summit in 2019

Peano on Symbolization, Design Principles for Notations, and the Dot Notation

Peano was one of the driving forces behind the development of the current mathematical formalism. In this paper, we study his particular approach to notational design and present some original features of his notations. To explain the motivations underlying Peano’s approach, we first present his view of logic as a method of analysis and his desire for a rigorous and concise symbolism to represent mathematical ideas. On the basis of both his practice and his explicit reflections on notations, we discuss the principles that guided Peano’s introduction of new symbols, the choice of characters, and the layout of formulas. Finally, we take a closer look, from a systematic and historical perspective, at one of Peano’s most striking innovations, his use of dots for the grouping of subformulas.Peano a été l’une des forces motrices dans le développement du formalisme mathématique actuel. Dans cet article, nous étudions son approche particulière de la conception notationnelle et présentons quelques caractéristiques originales de ses notations. Pour motiver l’approche de Peano, nous présentons d’abord sa vision de la logique comme méthode d’analyse et son désir d’un symbolisme rigoureux et concis pour représenter les idées mathématiques. Sur la base à la fois de sa pratique et de ses réflexions explicites sur les notations, nous discutons des principes qui ont guidé Peano dans l’introduction de nouveaux symboles, le choix des caractères et la mise en forme des formules. Enfin, nous examinons de plus près, d’un point de vue systématique et historique, l’une des innovations les plus marquantes de Peano, à savoir l’usage de points pour regrouper des sous-formules

How do serial acquirers realize serendipitous value in technology acquisitions?

The acquisition of technology organizations is being undertaken by a wide range of both technology and non-technology firms to provide strategic renewal, bring products to market more quickly, scale existing technology through larger sales channels, and sometimes even acquire key teams and valuable team members. While much existing M&A research focuses on how integration teams can deliver planned benefits intended by the acquirer (often cost-related), there are also mentions of serendipitous value available with technology acquisitions that can be delivered during the integration phase. We know that this unplanned value delivered post-deal is available to acquirers and can be significant, but we do not know why some deals realize it and others do not. Drawing on a multi-case, inductive study of seven acquisitions of small and mid-sized technology companies by three different large serial acquirers, this project surfaces processes used by integration teams to identify and realize this serendipitous value. The project delves into the acquisition experiences of the team members that executed the integration to 1) learn about how the codification of past integration experiences was used to guide integration, 2) how stakeholders were managed, and 3) how the emotions of the acquired team were managed, all with an eye toward learning about the unplanned value delivered during the integration. [17] This thesis document details the research project that was executed and includes three academic journal articles, one for each of the three topics, grounded in both academic literature and practitioner experiences to further knowledge about these topics. In addition, the project includes a section with thoughts for practitioners grounded in the experiences of the cases that may help acquirers expand deal value from their M&A. This research project and its articles contribute to the M&A strategy literature

'It's always difficult when it's family. . . whereas when you're talking to a therapist. . .': Parents' views of cognitive-behaviour therapy for depressed adolescents

BACKGROUND: Parents are key to helping their adolescent child access psychological therapy for mental health problems such as depression. However, little is known about how parents experience their child's psychological therapy. We aimed to explore parents' experiences of their adolescent child's cognitive behaviour therapy for depression. METHOD: We applied Thematic Analysis (TA) to qualitative data from in-depth interviews with parents (N = 16) whose adolescent child was randomly allocated to CBT in a large multisite RCT for adolescent depression (the IMPACT trial). Interviews were conducted at the end of treatment. RESULTS: We generated two main themes: parents' perceptions of the adolescent's journey through therapy, and parents' perceptions of the therapeutic setting and process. Each included four sub-themes. Parents talked about key factors that impacted on their child's progress through treatment, including the adolescent's readiness for therapy and the adolescent-therapist relationship. CONCLUSION: Parents' insights confirm the foundations of what is considered good clinical practice of CBT for adolescent depression, including tailoring therapy to the adolescent, and establishing a strong adolescent-therapist relationship. Parents recognised that, for CBT to be helpful, their child had to be willing to engage in therapy and able to develop a trusting relationship with their therapist