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Rethinking the dual nature of science
Get PDFThe Nature of Science (NOS) has long been a central focus in science education, with scholars examining its processes and structures from diverse perspectives. One influential approach builds on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s family resemblance concept, which conceptualises NOS as an interplay between cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional systems. While this framework offers valuable insights into the fluid boundaries between these domains, it overlooks critical aspects such as power dynamics, cultural influences and institutional structures that shape scientific practice. To address these gaps, this paper integrates Wittgenstein’s ideas with Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, particularly his concepts of habitus, field and capital. Bourdieu’s framework complements Wittgenstein’s emphasis on the fluidity and variability of practices by highlighting how cultural norms, power relations and institutional structures influence both the cognitive and social dimensions of science. The philosophical alignment between these perspectives is explored, alongside counterarguments to critiques, demonstrating their compatibility in analysing scientific practices. Building on this synthesis, the paper expands the family resemblance approach to NOS framework, emphasising the dynamic interactions between scientific practices and their broader social contexts. It advocates for a more inclusive and reflexive model of NOS that acknowledges the role of power and cultural influences in shaping scientific knowledge and supports reflexive pedagogy for a more equitable and dynamic science education framework
Motivating self-employed women to contribute to social security in Bolivia
Get PDFOver 30% of female workers are self-employed across Latin America, often without health insurance and pension benefits. To understand why and explore potential solutions, we conducted a laboratory experiment in Bolivia to assess the efficacy of interventions to influence the behavior of self-employed women. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six groups, receiving either a message on pension benefits, a message on health insurance advantages, or reduced enrollment non-monetary cost for savings or retirement plans. Our findings indicate that informative messages alone were effective in increasing voluntary contributions to experimental pension and health insurance schemes. Reductions in time, physical and cognitive fatigue required for enrollment did not lead to a significant increase of voluntary contributions. Moreover, we found that the effectiveness of these interventions varied depending on the type of worker, with high-effort workers being the most responsive
Navigating medical school with autism: a systematic review exploring student experiences & support provision in the United Kingdom
Get PDFBackground: Medical education is inherently demanding, requiring students to navigate academically challenging courses, high-stake assessments, clinical training and interpersonal interactions within high stress environments. Autistic medical students can experience profound differences academically and professionally if their support needs are not identified and addressed by specific pedagogic adaptations. This systematic review aims to explore the experiences and support provision for autistic undergraduate medical students in the United Kingdom, through a critical interpretive review of the literature.Method: The search strategy involved the use of 6 electronic databases, supplemented by citation tracking, consultation with academic experts and library searches. Of 400 papers, 6 satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was used to analyse these papers. The study design assimilated methods adopted in conventional systematic reviews within the format of CIS, to combine the entire body of literature and generate theoretical categories.Results: Three synthetic constructs (overarching themes) were produced from the analysis; ‘reassessing prevailing narratives on autism’, ‘navigation differences’ and the ‘absence of meaningful support provision’. Together these constructs generated a theoretical framework (‘synthesising argument’) defined as ‘reframing support for success’ for autistic and neurodiverse medical students, which collectively explained the findings of the review. ‘Reframing support for success’ provided an explanation for the inconsistencies in understanding the lived experiences of autistic medical students and the required adjustments and support provision. It illustrated the distinct challenges experienced by autistic students in navigating medical school as well the necessity to acknowledge the unique strengths autistic medical students bring.Conclusion: The review calls for enhanced awareness and training within medical schools to foster an inclusive environment that accommodates neurodiversity more broadly. It advocates for legislative compliance and change in offering reasonable adjustments and stresses the potential benefits of viewing autistic traits as strengths in medical practice
A method to identify positive tipping points to accelerate low-carbon transitions and actions to trigger them
Get PDFMeeting the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to “well below 2 °C” requires a radical acceleration of action, as the global economy is decarbonising at least five times too slowly. Tipping points, where low-carbon transitions become self-propelling, could be key to achieving the necessary acceleration. We deem these normatively ‘positive’, because they can limit considerable, inequitable harms from global warming and help achieve sustainability. Some positive tipping points, such as the UK’s elimination of coal power, have already been reached at national and sectoral scales. The challenge now is to credibly identify further potential positive tipping points, and the actions that can bring them forward, whilst avoiding wishful thinking about their existence, or oversimplification of their nature, drivers, and impacts. Hence, we propose a methodology for identifying potential positive tipping points, assessing their proximity, identifying the factors that can influence them, and the actions that can trigger them. Building on relevant research, this ‘identifying positive tipping points’ (IPTiP) methodology aims to establish a common framework that we invite fellow researchers to help refine, and practitioners to apply. To that end, we offer suggestions for further work to improve it and make it more applicable
Generation of gigahertz-frequency surface acoustic waves in Y3Fe5O12/ZnO heterostructures
Get PDFWe study surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/zinc oxide (ZnO) heterostructures, comparing the results of a computationally lightweight analytical model with time-resolved microfocused Brillouin light scattering (μ-BLS) data. Interdigital transducers (IDTs), with operational frequencies in the gigahertz regime, were fabricated on 50-nm and 100-nm thin films of YIG prior to sputter deposition of 830-nm and 890-nm films of piezoelectric ZnO. We find good agreement between our analytical model and μ-BLS data of the IDT frequency response and SAW group velocity, with clear differentiation between the Rayleigh-like and Sezawa-like modes. Finally, nonreciprocal coupling between SAWs and spin waves (SWs) is shown. This work paves the way for a detailed study of the interaction between SAWs and SWs in low SW damping YIG, with the possibility of a method for future energy-efficient SW excitation
Views from state-level policy actors about the US federal government COVID-19 response
Get PDFThe United States takes a federalist approach to pandemic responses while the bulk of pandemic powers sits at the state level. Thus, comprehensive accounts of how state health officials managed the crisis and how the federal government affected those efforts are needed to better understand the governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article reports the results of semistructured interviews with 29 state-level policy actors from 16 US states. Interviewees discussed multiple aspects of the US federal COVID-19 response that affected the response in their states, including communications with the public, intergovernmental communications, and federal actions regarding various aspects of health service preparedness including emergency funding, procurement, testing capacity, vaccine development and distribution, and data systems. This research enriches the discussion about US pandemic preparedness and response, and indicates that alignment of public communications across government levels, enhanced intergovernmental communication, inclusion of rural perspectives, and federal investment in and sustainment of health service preparedness are key factors that can improve future US pandemic responses
Further investigations into the accuracy of infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) and its inter-comparison with infrared photoluminescence (IRPL) dating
Get PDFAbstract. Infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) is an alternative dating technique for potassium feldspar grains, offering a higher signal stability and based on a simpler underlying mechanism than more common luminescence dating approaches. However, its accuracy when tested on known-age samples has so far shown inconsistent results. In this study, we present a refined accuracy assessment using samples that have previously produced unreliable IR-RF ages. Our approach incorporates two major methodological advancements developed over the past decade: elevated temperature measurements using the IR-RF70 protocol and sensitivity change correction by vertical sliding. To expand the dose range comparison, we included two additional samples: one expected to be in saturation and another of modern age. Additionally, we evaluated the effect of using a narrower bandpass filter to exclude any signal contributions from potentially contaminating shorter wavelength emissions. Our results following the IR-RF70 protocol with sensitivity corrections show an improvement over the original room-temperature results. For four out of the seven tested known-age samples spanning ca. 100–300 Gy (20–130 ka), we obtained results in keeping with the expected doses. Two additional modern samples, however, yielded slight dose underestimations. Introduction of a multiple-aliquot regenerative dose (MAR) protocol improved the accuracy of two out of three samples with large sensitivity changes. Finally, we also compared the new IR-RF equivalent doses (De) to those obtained with the newer dating method, infrared photoluminescence (IRPL), for the same samples, including previously published values and new measurements. Like IR-RF, IRPL is also expected to be trap-specific. We observe that, with the new improvements, the success rate of IR-RF is comparable to that of IRPL
A PUZZLE IN THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION OF POLYBIUS
Get PDFThis note offers the solution to a puzzle in the manuscript tradition of Polybius that has baffled eminent modern authorities
Progressive fibrosis in human MASLD is associated with spatially linked transcriptomic signatures of metabolic reprogramming and senescence
Get PDFBackground & aimsGranular detail about the location and nature of liver cell interactions and the metabolic, inflammatory and fibrogenic pathways driving progressive fibrosis in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is needed to identify novel therapeutic targets.MethodsWe generated Visium spatial transcriptomic data from 33 human liver biopsies across the spectrum of MASLD. Gene expression data were overlaid with histological annotations to integrate spatial molecular and histopathological information, enabling interrogation of disease progression. Differential gene expression, pathway, cellular deconvolution and ligand-receptor interaction analyses were conducted for each annotated anatomical category, with specific protein expression validated using immunohistochemistry staining.ResultsUnsupervised clustering based on gene expression data classified the annotated spots into two main clusters enriched for fibro-inflammatory vs. parenchymal regions. Transcriptomic cellular deconvolution aligned well with manually annotated histopathological features. Fibrotic regions were enriched for genes involved in extracellular matrix/receptor interactions and inflammatory pathways (Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted p values ConclusionsTaken together, our valuable discovery dataset highlights the complex crosstalk between metabolic perturbations and inflammation underpinning fibrosis progression in MASLD.Impact and implicationsMetabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) has a complex pathogenesis driven by cell and matrix interactions in inflammatory niches. In this study, we identify a senescence signature in fibroinflammatory regions, characterised by high immunoglobulin expression and associated with a shift from oxidative to glycolytic metabolism. We identify spatially co-expressed ligand-receptor pairs, including senescence-associated factors, correlated with progressive fibrosis. This discovery dataset highlights the complex crosstalk between metabolic perturbations and inflammation underpinning fibrosis progression in MASLD and lays the groundwork for future research into the role of senescence in MASLD
Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) in advanced gastric cancer-a retrospective cohort study providing real-world survival and safety data from the United Kingdom
Get PDFBackgroundIn advanced gastric adenocarcinoma (aGC), the TAGS study demonstrated a survival advantage of trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) over placebo in ≥3rd line setting. This led to approval in the United Kingdom (UK). Clinical trial and real-world patients often differ in age, fitness and comorbidity, which has implications for safety and survival. Real-world data can inform clinical practice. This study sought to define the UK patient population who have received FTD/TPI and compare outcomes to TAGS.MethodsThis was a retrospective study. Patients with aGC commenced on FTD/TPI prior to 1st February 2024 were eligible. Patients were identified from electronic health records. Data on baseline demographics and cancer outcome, including survival and toxicity, were collected.ResultsData was collected for 58 patients from 12 centres in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Median age was 68.5 (range, 40-85) years, 44 (75.9%) were male and 10 (17.2%), 35 (60.3%) and 13 (22.4%) were Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0, 1, and ≥2, respectively. Most primary tumours were gastroesophageal junctional (70.7%) and 24.1% were human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive. FTD/TPI was given in 3rd line for 44 (75.9%) patients, 48 (82.8%) were commenced on full dose and on progression 6 (10.3%) received subsequent therapy. Median number of cycles received was 3 (range, 1-11). Median overall survival (mOS) in the whole population was 4.0 months [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.5-5.4], with mOS 5.9 vs. 4.0 vs. 2.5 months for ECOG PS 0, 1, and ≥2 respectively. On cox-regression analysis, with age, sex, ECOG PS, HER2 status, primary site and albumin as variables, ECOG PS ≥2 [hazard ratio (HR) =3.00; 95% CI: 1.07-8.35; P=0.04] and albumin ≥35 g/L (HR =0.47; 95% CI: 0.25-0.89; P=0.02) were prognostic; 29 (50%) and 16 (27.6%) patients required dose delay and reduction respectively, most commonly due to neutropenia. Grade ≥3 toxicity, attributed to FTD/TPI, was observed in 17 (29.3%) patients; 14 (82.4%) due to neutropenia and 3 (17.6%) anaemia. One (1.7%) patient stopped due to toxicity.ConclusionsWe present UK real-world data regarding use of FTD/TPI for aGC. Compared to TAGS, the patient population differed and mOS was lower than the reported 5.7 months, but long-term survivors are observed. Pre-treatment ECOG PS and albumin appear prognostic. Toxicity is in line with that reported previously. Our data support the use of FTD/TPI in selected populations with aGC