Heeding Grammar and Language-games: Continuing Conversations with Wittgenstein and Roth

This paper continues a conversation about Wittgenstein’s picture of language and meaning and its potential applications for educational theorising. It takes the form of a response to Wolff-Michael Roth’s earlier paper “Heeding Wittgenstein on “understanding” and “meaning”: A pragmatist and concrete human psychological approach in/for education,” in which Roth problematizes the use of the terms “understanding” and “meaning” in education discourse and proposes their abandonment. Whilst we agree with Roth about a series of central points, at the same time we maintain that he has taken his argument in directions antithetical to our reading of Wittgenstein’s work. We offer four points of departure, exploring themes of: (i) appropriate questioning; (ii) eliminativism; (iii) language-games and grammar; and (iv) productivity, explanation, and a science of learning. We conclude by discussing ways consistent with Wittgenstein’s thought to go on in thinking about education

The Mechanics of Dragons: An Introduction to The Study of their \u27Ologies

Dragons are found throughout the history of most civilisations, yet we appear to know little about them. This paper will present a (tongue-in-cheek) introductory analysis of dragons and their place in society, suggesting that perhaps they are not necessarily the terrible and evil creatures they are sometimes portrayed to be . .

Dynamic Resource Allocation in Conservation Planning

Consider the problem of protecting endangered species by selecting patches of land to be used for conservation purposes. Typically, the availability of patches changes over time, and recommendations must be made dynamically. This is a challenging prototypical example of a sequential optimization problem under uncertainty in computational sustainability. Existing techniques do not scale to problems of realistic size. In this paper, we develop an efficient algorithm for adaptively making recommendations for dynamic conservation planning, and prove that it obtains near-optimal performance. We further evaluate our approach on a detailed reserve design case study of conservation planning for three rare species in the Pacific Northwest of the United States

Guidelines for Negotiating Scientific Collaboration

Whether it's sharing reagents with a laboratory on the other side of the world or working with the postdoc at the neighboring bench, some simple rules of collaboration might help

Global Developments in Employee Benefits

The last 25 years have seen defined benefit plans increasingly been replaced by defined contribution (DC) arrangements. While the pace and shape of this change varies across countries, it is evident that we are living in a DC world. Yet the DC model is itself under challenge. The assumption of engaged consumers that accompanied the birth of DC has failed, and for both retirement and health benefits, there is a lingering question whether, in a world of low growth, stagnating incomes and increasingly diverse workforces, one-size-fits-all benefits plans can meet employees financial needs. Instead employers are increasingly expressing interest in moving to a next generation of benefits, one characterized by greater flexibility and choice, to encompass a broader range of employee needs. This paper discusses the emerging trends within occupational benefits, the forces that are driving these changes, and the challenges they pose

Redescription of\u3ci\u3e Eimeria escomeli\u3c/i\u3e (Rastegaieff, 1930) from \u3ci\u3eMyrmecophaga tridactyla,\u3c/i\u3e and a First Report from Bolivia

Eimeria escomeli (Rastegaieff, 1930) Levine and Becker, 1933, is redescribed from the giant anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla (L.), from the departamento de La Paz, Bolivia. This is the first report of parasites from M. tridactyla from Bolivia and only the third time that coccidians have been recorded from this host

Distributed Sensor Logging: As Easy as a Mesh of Yoyos

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.The Mass Gathering Data Acquisition and Analysis (MaGDAA) project involved the development of hardware and software solutions to facilitate the rapid and effective collection of autonomous and survey based data during mass gathering events. The aim of the project was the development and trial of a purpose-built Open Hardware based environment monitoring sensor prototypes using IOIO (pronounced “yoyo”) boards. Data from these sensors, and other devices, was collected using Open Source software running on Android powered mobile phones, tablets and other open hardware based platforms. Data was shared using a Wi-Fi mesh network based on an Open Source project called The Serval Project. Additional data in the form of survey based questionnaires were collected using ODK Collect, one of the applications in the Open Data Kit suite. The MaGDAA project demonstrated that it is possible for researchers (through the use of Open Source software and Open Hardware) to own, visualise, and share data without the difficulties of setting up and maintaining servers. MaGDAA proved to be an effective infrastructure independent sensor logging network that enables a broad range of data collection (demographic, predispositions, motivations, psychosocial and environmental influencers and modifiers of audience behaviour, cultural value) in the field of mass gathering research

AI Enabled Precision Medicine: Patient Stratification, Drug Repurposing and Combination Therapies

Access to huge patient populations with well-characterized datasets, coupled with novel analytical methods, enables the stratification of complex diseases into multiple distinct forms. Patients can be accurately placed into distinguishable sub-groups that have different disease causes and influences. This offers huge promise for innovation in drug discovery, drug repurposing, and the delivery of more accurately personalized care to patients. Complex diseases such as cancer, dementia, and diabetes are caused by multiple genetic, epidemiological, and/or environmental factors. Understanding the detailed architecture of these diseases requires a new generation of analytical tools that can identify combinations of genomic and non-genomic features (disease signatures) that accurately distinguish the disease sub-groups. These sub-groups can be studied to find novel targets for drug discovery or repurposing, especially in the areas of unmet medical need and for selecting the best treatments available for an individual patient based on their personal genetic makeup, phenotype, and co-morbidities/co-prescriptions. This chapter describes new developments in combinatorial, multi-factorial analysis methods, and their application in patient stratification for complex diseases. Case studies are described in novel target discovery for a non-T2 asthma patient sub-group with distinct unmet medical need and in drug repurposing in a triple negative breast cancer population

Bone Morphogenetic Protein-9 Is a Potent Chondrogenic and Morphogenic Factor for Articular Cartilage Chondroprogenitors

Articular cartilage contains a subpopulation of tissue-specific progenitors that are an ideal cell type for cell therapies and generating neo-cartilage for tissue engineering applications. However, it is unclear whether the standard chondrogenic medium employing transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) isoforms is optimal to differentiate these cells. We therefore used pellet culture to screen progenitors from immature bovine articular cartilage with a number of chondrogenic factors and discovered that bone morphogenetic factor-9 (BMP9) precociously induces their differentiation. This difference was apparent with toluidine blue staining and confirmed by biochemical and transcriptional analyses with BMP9 treated progenitors exhibiting 11-fold and 5-fold greater aggrecan and collagen type II gene expression than TGFβ1 treated progenitors. Quantitative gene expression analysis over 14 days highlighted the rapid and phased nature of BMP9 induced chondrogenesis with sequential activation of aggrecan then collagen type II, and negligible collagen type X gene expression. The extracellular matrix of TGFβ1treated progenitors analysed using atomic force microscopy was fibrillar and stiff whist BMP9-induced matrix of cells more compliant and correspondingly less fibrillar. Polarised light microscopy revealed an annular pattern of collagen fibril deposition typified by TGFβ1 treated pellets, whereas BMP9 treated pellets displayed a birefringence pattern that was more anisotropic. Remarkably, differentiated immature chondrocytes incubated as high-density cultures in vitro with BMP9 generated a pronounced anisotropic organisation of collagen fibrils indistinguishable from mature adult articular cartilage, with cells in deeper zones arranged in columnar fashion. This contrasted with cells grown with TGFβ1 where a concentric pattern of collagen fibrils was visualised within tissue pellets. In summary, BMP9 is a potent chondrogenic factor for articular cartilage progenitors and is also capable of inducing morphogenesis of adult-like cartilage, a highly desirable attribute for in vitro tissue-engineered cartilage