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Koerner, Saussure, Chomsky:An eternal upbraiding of the 'Great Man Theory'
Get PDFStarting with his 1971 PhD dissertation, which although centred on Saussure covered the entire history of linguistic thought, E. F. K. Koerner opposed claims that Saussure or any other single linguist ever made a complete break with what had gone before. At the time, such claims – reflecting the ‘Great Man theory of history’ – were being made about Chomskyan generativism, and the dissertation was aimed as much at proving Saussure’s continuity forwards to Chomsky as backwards to his own linguistic predecessors. Koerner’s overall project can be described as, first, to show that linguistics has always been a social enterprise in the sense of evolving through the interplay of ideas; and secondly, to ensure that the history of linguistics have the social meeting grounds, in print and in person, required for it to develop and prosper
How to model lexical priority
Get PDFA moral requirement R1 is said to be lexically prior to a moral requirement R2 just in case we are morally obliged to uphold R1 at the expense of R2 – no matter how many times R2 must be violated thereby. While lexical priority is a feature of many ethical theories, and arguably a part of common sense morality, attempts to model it within the framework of decision theory have led to a series of problems – a fact which is sometimes spun as a ‘decision theoretic critique’ of lexical priority. In this paper, I develop an enriched decision theoretic framework that is capable of modelling lexical priority while avoiding all extant problems. This will involve introducing several new ingredients into the standard decision theoretic framework, including multidimensional utilities, de minimis risks, and the means to represent two different conceptions of risk
Less theory, more observation:A response to psychology's 'theory crisis': Runner-up in the Philosophy Essay Prize Competition 2023
Get PDFThere is a worry within psychology that its researchers experience too many degrees of freedom in formulating their hypotheses, resulting in experiments being designed to test implausible hypotheses which then do not successfully replicate. A popular diagnosis of this problem is that psychological theories are too vaguely specified, and that formalising them will add the constraints necessary to solve the problem. This paper argues for a different strategy, namely, for more theory-lite observational research to be conducted. This appears antithetical to the restraint urged by others, but I argue that it is a necessary pre-cursor to forming well-established foundational theories. I discuss two case-studies to support my arguments
Guiding principles and codes of practice:Do teachers of deaf children and young people need them?
Get PDFThis article analyses the history of the profession of teachers of deaf children (ToD) in the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to the interaction they have with the health service. The views of ToDs were explored in relation to professionalism, their identity as a professional and how they deal with ethical dilemmas. Participants were self-selected to join the study and were generally more highly qualified than most UK ToDs. Seventeen ToDs were interviewed, four of whom were deaf. Transcripts were analysed using a reflexive approach and themes constructed based on Braun and Clark (2019) using theories of social justice from Fraser (2008), Crenshaw (Cho, Crenshaw and McCall, 2013) and Lynch et al. (2021). The findings showed that teachers had many professional and ethical issues in their work, particularly in working with health professionals and families. Most were in favour of further professional discussion about a code of practice but only half were in favour of inspection of the work of early years. There was support for more openness and accountability at a local authority level with peers and heads of services. Results are discussed in relation to a social justice framework. Teachers in the UK have varying knowledge of social justice issues in their initial teacher education. The mandatory ToD qualification and continuing professional development could focus more on this area as ToDs work in parental homes, well beyond the usual boundaries of schoolteachers.</p
Capillary-based nonisothermal suction stress and nonlinear shear strength criteria for unsaturated compacted soils
No full textThe unsaturated geological layers are a common site of many engineering projects, however, it is challenging to predict their water retention capacity and shear strength. Through analysis of soils with dual-porosity structures, a new effective stress equation was then established in this paper that considered the saturated and unsaturated fractions of a bimodal structure soil. The effective stress theory was extended to provide a new shear strength criterion that incorporates capillary water, local characteristics, and the micro-macro transition behaviour of unsaturated soils. This paper also introduces a novel model of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) that combines simultaneously the dual-porosity structure theory and the capillarity-adsorption water retention theory of unsaturated soils. In this model, the total amount of water retained in soil pores is explicitly distinguished by capillary and adsorbed water attraction. The adsorbed component of the SWCC displays a peak value at an intermediate suction with a hill-shaped curve, indicating the degree of saturation due to adsorption decreases after an initial increase. The capillary component of SWCC is a typical s-shaped curve, which indicates that more capillary pores are dried along with increasing suction. An extended model of the suction stress characteristic curve was then established under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. A good agreement is found when comparing the outcomes of experiments with the present method. It has been proved that the capillary water and particle contact area ratio impact the shear behaviour of unsaturated soils. The results demonstrate that the proposed model offers a significantly more accurate prediction across a variety of suction levels and soil types
Multi-material 3D printing of continuous carbon fibre reinforced thermoset composites with tailored fibre paths and bespoke conforming thermoplastic moulds
Get PDFThis paper proposes a novel additive manufacturing approach for rapid, integrated fabrication of complex structures made from 3D-printed composites with low porosity and a high continuous fibre content. Continuous carbon fibre reinforced epoxy composites with >50 % fibre volume fraction were printed in parallel with short carbon fibre reinforced polyamide-6 (PA6) conforming moulds which have a melt temperature higher than the curing temperature of epoxy. The research further optimized the continuous fibre paths through experiments and as-manufactured finite element simulations, using 3D-printed truss structures under three-points bending as a case study. Additionally, the incorporation of polylactic acid (PLA) with a lower melting temperature, enhanced compatibility and bonding between the epoxy and PA6. The approach was applied and demonstrated for a lightweight composite wing box using tailored material interface and customised reinforcement alongside varying infill densities. This approach also opens up possibilities for assembling lightweight, large-scale composite structures using 3D-printed high-performance continuous carbon fibre units
A non-randomized pilot study to test the feasibility of developing a frailty scale for pet cats
Get PDFIntroduction: Human frailty has long been studied and dozens of “frailty scales” have been developed, but equivalent research is more limited in cats. This pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of recruiting and retaining veterinary practices and owners, collecting study data, and analyzing results about frailty in older cats.Methods: Participating feline-exclusive practice veterinarians recruited cats aged 11–20 years, of either sex and of any breed. Owners completed a questionnaire about their cat and estimated its frailty. Study veterinarians also estimated the cat’s frailty after obtaining a history, conducting a physical examination, and completing a separate questionnaire. The derived variables were used to investigate the following domains of frailty: (1) cognitive function; (2) behavior; (3) activity; (4) body weight; (5) body condition score; (6) muscle condition score; (7) any unexplained changes in weight, cognitive function, or eating behavior; and (8) the number of chronic diseases identified in the cat.Some cats were followed prospectively for 6 months, and mortality during this period was compared with frailty status, as determined by the veterinarian.Results: Half (6/12) of the veterinary practices invited to participate successfully recruited 273 owner-cat pairs, with baseline questionnaire results obtained from 189 owners (69%) and veterinarian questionnaires obtained for 210 cats (77%).Of 122 cats having both owner and veterinarian questionnaire results, 45 (37%) were classified as frail by the owner and 51 (42%) by the veterinarian, with 28 (23%) classified as frail on both questionnaires. Of the cats with follow-up data, 13 of the 64 cats (20%) reported by veterinarians to be frail died or were euthanased during the 6-month follow-up, compared with only 1 of 54 cats (2%) that were not reported to be frail (Fisher’s exact test P = 0.003).Discussion: Developing a brief feline frailty questionnaire (FFQ) was feasible, and the results of such assessments were associated with 6-month mortality. A larger definitive trial should be considered to explore further the (dis)agreement between owners and veterinarians and better understand which frailty signs owners might be missing
Prediction of obstructive coronary artery disease using coronary calcification and epicardial adipose tissue assessments from CT calcium scoring scans
Get PDFBackgroundLow-cost/no-cost non-contrast CT calcium scoring (CTCS) exams can provide direct evidence of coronary atherosclerosis. In this study, using features from CTCS images, we developed a novel machine learning model to predict obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), as defined by the coronary artery disease-reporting and data system (CAD-RADS).MethodsThis study analyzed 1324 patients from the SCOT-HEART trial who underwent both CTCS and CT angiography. Obstructive CAD was defined as CAD-RADS 4A-5, while CAD-RADS 0–3 were considered non-obstructive CAD. We analyzed clinical, Agatston-score-derived, and epicardial fat-omics features to predict obstructive CAD. The most predictive features were selected using elastic net logistic regression and used to train a CatBoost model. Model performance was evaluated using 1000 repeated five-fold cross-validation and survival analyses to predict major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) and revascularization. Generalizability was assessed using an external validation set of 2316 patients for survival predictions.ResultsAmong the 1324 patients, obstructive CAD was identified in 334 patients (25.2 %). Elastic net regression identified the top 14 features (5 clinical, 2 Agatston-score-derived, and 7 fat-omics). The proposed method achieved excellent performance for classifying obstructive CAD, with an AUC of 90.1 ± 0.9 % and sensitivity/specificity/accuracy of 83.5 ± 5.5 %/93.7 ± 1.9 %/82.4 ± 2.0 %. The inclusion of Agatston-score-derived and fat-omics features significantly improved classification performance. Survival analyses showed that both actual and predicted obstructive CAD significantly differentiated patients who experienced MACE and revascularization.ConclusionsWe developed a novel machine learning model to predict obstructive CAD from non-contrast CTCS scans. Our findings highlight the potential clinical benefits of CTCS imaging in identifying patients likely to benefit from advanced imaging
The Partner Modelling Questionnaire:A validated self-report measure of perceptions toward machines as dialogue partners
Get PDFRecent work has looked to understand user perceptions of speech agent capabilities as dialogue partners (termed partner models), and how this affects user interaction. Yet, partner model effects are currently inferred from language production as no metrics are available to quantify these subjective perceptions more directly. Through three phases of work, we develop and validate the Partner Modelling Questionnaire (PMQ): an 18-item self-report semantic differential scale designed to reliably measure people’s partner models of non-embodied speech interfaces. Through confirmatory factor analysis, we confirm that the PMQ scale consists of three factors: communicative competence and dependability, human-likeness in communication, and communicative flexibility. Our studies show that the measure consistently demonstrates good internal reliability, strong test-retest reliability over 4- and 12-week intervals, and predictable convergent/divergent validity. Based on our findings, we discuss the multidimensional nature of partner models, whilst identifying key future research avenues that the development of the PMQ facilitates. Notably, this includes the need to identify the activation, sensitivity, and dynamism of partner models in speech interface interaction
Single-molecule detection of oligonucleotides using the fluorescent nucleobase analogue ABN
Get PDFFluorescent nucleobase analogues (FBAs) have emerged as powerful tools for understanding nucleic acid systems at the molecular level. However, their application at the single-molecule level has been limited by low brightness and an incomplete understanding of how local chemical environments affect their properties. In this study, we investigate the bright fluorescent pyrimidine analogue ABN in duplex DNA oligonucleotides and study its single-molecule applications. Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy reveals its unique tautomeric behavior, including photo-induced double proton transfer, influenced by base-pairing partners. This tautomerization directly impacts ABN's quantum yield and spectral characteristics. By favoring a high quantum yield thymine-like tautomer through base pairing, surface-immobilized ABN-containing DNA duplexes are readily observed as bright spots using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, exhibiting well-defined single-exponential bleaching kinetics. The brightness and photostability are enhanced by oxygen depletion. These results demonstrate that ABN is unique among FBAs in enabling single-molecule fluorescence studies of oligonucleotides using a standard microscopy setup.</p
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