324139 research outputs found
Sort by
The place of identity formation in the education of children
Get PDFThe place of identity formation in the education of children is a question that concerns parents, educators, and scholars across the academic fields of political philosophy, developmental psychology, identity studies, educational philosophy, and theological ethics, among others. It is an example of the kind of issue of public concern to which Christian ethics has a great deal to offer, both in methodology and substance. This dissertation uses the framework of James Davison Hunter’s “faithful presence” to engage in an interdisciplinary consideration of this question, resulting in practical recommendations as well as a lens of analysis through which to consider why this question is so vexing to modern liberal democracies.The structure of the dissertation is to first map the question of the place of identity formation in the education of children, next to establish the dominant approaches to the question in the United States of America, and finally to outline an alternative. In Chapter One, we consider that basic anthropological assumptions are needed to approach this question, and look to Karl Barth’s theology of baptism. Chapters Two and Three address two dominant errant approaches, which we group under the provocative titles, “The Heresies of Nature” and “The Heresies of Nurture.” Key interlocutors include John Dewey, Lawrence Kohlberg, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Danielle Allen, and Patrick Deneen. Chapter Four outlines an alternative approach, built on the thought of Nicholas Wolterstorff and significant engagement with Alasdair MacIntyre’s theory of the relationship between a social practice and a virtue. The final chapter contains the conclusion that, considered well, the place of identity formation in the education of children leads us to consider a life of learning through the framework of a virtue, which we call always learning
Long-term memory in epithelia: transient IFNγ exposure drives stable repression of TFF1 in gastric epithelial cells via epigenetic changes
Get PDFIntroduction: Interferon-gamma (IFNγ) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that is transiently produced and typically activates short-lived JAK–STAT1 signaling, yet it can also induce long-term transcriptional changes. During Helicobacter pylori infection, IFNγ persists in the gastric environment, contributing both to host defense and epithelial injury that promotes tumorigenesis. While long-term IFNγ memory has been described in immune cells, its impact on gastric epithelial reprogramming remains unclear. Methods: We exposed gastric epithelial cells to brief IFNγ stimulation and analyzed gene expression, transcription factor involvement, and epigenetic modifications. Chromatin remodeling at the TFF1 locus was assessed through histone modification analyses, and the role of DNA methylation was evaluated using pharmacological inhibitors. Findings were validated in primary gastric mucosoids exposed to inflammatory mediators released by H. pylori-activated immune cells. Results: Transient IFNγ exposure caused stable repression of TFF1, a gastric tumor suppressor frequently lost in H. pylori-associated cancer. This repression persisted after cytokine removal and was mediated by the IFNγ-responsive transcription factor C/EBPβ. Mechanistically, TFF1 silencing was associated with chromatin remodeling, including altered histone H3S10 phosphorylation and H3K9 acetylation at the TFF1 locus. Inhibition of DNA methylation prevented both TFF1 downregulation and C/EBPβ upregulation, indicating that de novo methylation stabilizes the silenced state. Similar durable TFF1 repression was observed in primary gastric mucosoids following exposure to inflammatory mediators. Discussion: Overall, our findings show that transient inflammatory signals cause durable gene silencing through epigenetic remodeling, revealing how chronic inflammation can reprogram epithelial cells and promote cancer, while suggesting strategies to reverse these effects
Cardiac magnetic resonance characteristics and prognostic associations of hypertension-mediated left ventricular hypertrophy
Get PDFAims: Hypertension-mediated left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) phenotypes: normal left ventricle (LV), LV remodelling, eccentric and concentric LVH have been reported using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Although previous smaller studies have explored associations of these phenotypes with select CMR metrics, large population-based longitudinal data comparing their clinical trajectories are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate CMR characteristics across hypertension-mediated LVH phenotypes and their associations with incident cardiovascular outcomes. Methods and results: In the UK Biobank imaging cohort, 24 463 hypertensives were categorized into LVH phenotypes using CMR. Logistic regression models explored the relationship between phenotypes, setting normal LV as the reference, and CMR parameters as exposures. Cox proportional hazard models evaluated associations with incident major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and separately heart failure over a median follow-up of 4.9 years. Among the participants, 23 206 had normal LV, 889 LV remodelling, 253 eccentric and 115 concentric LVH. Hypertensives with eccentric LVH had the most impaired LV function using ejection fraction and strain, and those with concentric LVH had the highest T1 values and maximal wall thickness. Hypertensives with eccentric LVH were associated with a 2.5 times higher rate of MACE (HR 2.5, CI: 1.7–3.8) and 9 times higher heart failure event rates (HR 9.0, CI: 5.7–14.2). Hypertensives with concentric LVH had 4.1 times higher heart failure events rates (HR 4.1, CI: 1.8–9.3), and no association with MACE. Conclusion: In this large population study, we found distinct differences in CMR characteristics between hypertension-mediated LVH phenotypes with eccentric and concentric LVH exhibiting the worst prognosis
Go as we are: the neighbourhood and its political effects
No full textWe might think our local identity is secondary to our other geographic identities, like our national identity. Yet, this is not the case. Many voters consider it as important, or more so, than these higher-order identities. This thesis argues that the `neighbourhood' is one of our foremost geographic identities, that it is a social identity, and that its effects are more widespread than previously understood. Many studies of place-based identity ignore lower-order identities. Those which do not are often not generalisable because they use limited samples or study only one type of identity, such as rurality. Others measure identity using non-survey-based measures, and political science generally focuses only on radical right voting. Over seven chapters, this thesis models neighbourhood identity and its effects on three key areas of political behaviour: participation, affective polarisation, and candidate choice. Firstly, it shows that those factors which influence it are those which most affect how we form social relationships on the neighbourhood level: social homogeneity, physical distance and time. It finds that it predicts some forms of participation, though mostly low-cost behaviours, such as voting. It shows that, while evidence for the effect of geographic sorting on polarisation is mixed, this is because it is, in part, jointly moderated by voters' place-based identity and contact with their in-group. Finally, while many studies have suggested that voters choose candidates who display descriptive localism because of their own place-based identity, this work, for the first time, demonstrates causally that they do. These effects are generally modest, however. To do this, it innovatively primes place-based identity and combines this with a forced-choice conjoint. This thesis brings together diverse data, including novel surveys, panel studies and micro-level voting figures across Britain, Europe and the US, modelling on small geographic units, to provide more credible causal evidence. It raises important questions about how we understand place-based identity, the units and the data we use, and the political effects we study
Virtue, reasons, and moral methodology
Get PDFPhilosophers often fail to be virtuous. So too do ordinary folk. This is a problem for philosophy because moral theories are tested against philosophers’ moral intuitions and the prescriptions of ordinary morality; if these sources of philosophical data are rendered unreliable by the failure of philosophers and ordinary folk to be virtuous, then they will lead our theorising astray. Chapter One motivates and defends a remedy: rather than relying so heavily on these sources of data to provide justification for candidate moral theories, we should aim for our theories to vindicate the testimony of moral exemplars. Listening to moral exemplars can help us correct theoretical errors resulting from the moral failings of morally ordinary folk.
Chapters Two and Three put this methodology to work. Chapter Two notes that ordinary morality seems to contradict the testimony of moral exemplars: while the former tells us that heroic acts of self-sacrifice are morally optional, heroes often believe that such acts are morally required of them. I argue, contrary to both supererogationists and anti-supererogationists, that we can vindicate both datapoints: as what we are morally required to do depends on how virtuous we are, heroes are right to believe that heroic actions are morally required of them, while ordinary folk morality is right that, for ordinary folk, these very same actions are morally optional. I arrive at this conclusion by supplementing the foremost contemporary account of supererogation with two naturally plausible claims about the virtue of selflessness.
Chapter Three begins by noting an intriguing point of moral testimony: moral exemplars tell us that their responses to complex and morally demanding situations are spontaneous rather than deliberative. The aim of this chapter is to argue that the spontaneity of these exemplars’ actions contributes to their moral worth. More specifically, I will argue that fully morally worthy action is action that is both responsive to reasons and spontaneous; while actions performed on the basis of deliberation can be uniquely morally worthy in a way that even spontaneous actions cannot be, deliberative action is nonetheless essentially defective in a way that prevents it from being fully morally worthy.
Chapter Four takes a meta-ethical turn and defends a reductive analysis of normative reasons in terms of motivating reasons and virtue. More specifically, this chapter argues that normative reasons to Q in S are considerations that would motivate a maximally virtuous agent in S to Q in S. This view elegantly accounts for four essential features of normative reasons and should be preferred to its explanationist rivals and Alex Gregory’s “Good Bases” account. This view also explains, in a way that virtue-ethical analyses of deontic properties often struggle to, why less-than-virtuous agents have reasons to improve themselves and control their vice.
Chapter Five defends an analysis of “ought” in terms of reasons and an analysis of reasons against Q-ing in response to arguments recently made by Thomas Schmidt. Schmidt argues that a widely held combination of views—the Balancing View of Ought and the claim that reasons against Q are reasons for not-Q—is extensionally adequate only if it is complemented by two principles of reasons transmission. I present five problems for Schmidt’s package of views and defend a rival package of views—a version of the Balancing View and the claim that reasons against Q are reasons that bear on Q with negative weight—that avoids these problems and secures extensional adequacy without Schmidt’s principles. I conclude that we should prefer my package of views
Practices for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Western Sciences for Research and Monitoring of Biodiversity in Canada
Get PDFThere has been a widespread effort to braid multiple knowledge systems in biodiversity research and monitoring, yet there is further need to consider how to do so. We interviewed Indigenous Peoples and representatives of 12 Indigenous communities, completed a systematic review of biodiversity studies that utilized Indigenous knowledges (IK) and Western sciences (WS) in Canada, and then braided the outcomes of the conversations and literature review to address if, when, and how IK and WS can be brought together for biodiversity research and monitoring in Canada. Overall, there was a great deal of support for, and desire to, braid IK and WS among interview participants. A suite of nine pillars and priorities was identified for doing so from participants' responses. These priorities included: (1) build and foster relationships; (2) IK should guide projects; (3) Indigenous communities should lead projects; (4) IK must be respected equally with WS; (5) embrace reciprocity (focus on people) and (6) embrace responsibility (focus on land) to the land and one another; (7) ensure equal gender and age representation; (8) intergenerational knowledge transfer is important; and (9) language revitalization is critical. The extent to which the pillars and priorities for braiding were reflected in the current literature varied, and we identified indicators that may help project leads choose what to prioritize in design to fulfill the pillars. These indicators included engagement, relevance, governance, and accessibility. The stages of projects at which IK and WS were brought together (i.e., design, data collection, analysis, reporting, and decision‐making), the roles for each IK and WS at various project stages, and the methods for IK collation and WS data collection varied extensively across the literature. This work deepens our understanding of the practices of knowledge braiding in biodiversity research and monitoring in Canada and offers a toolkit for doing so
Wind‐driven seed dispersal differentially promotes seed trapping and retention across alpine plants
Get PDFPremise: Seed dispersal can mediate species interactions between plants across life stages. Plants can physically stop seed movement (seed trapping) and prevent further dispersal following entrapment (seed retention). We therefore hypothesized seed trapping and retention rates depend on the physical attributes of interacting seeds and plants, including seed traits and plant length. Methods: For combinations of co‐occurring plant species in an alpine community, we experimentally measured seed trapping and retention potential. To measure seed trapping, we determined the rate at which seeds were unable to physically pass through vegetation without stopping after being launched at plants. To assess seed retention, we compared the rate that seeds left vegetation following entrapment across plant and seed species and by seed traits. Results: Seed trapping rates were higher for larger‐sized plants and differed among plant species but not seed species. Seed trapping and retention rates were higher for plant species with denser vegetation. Seeds with a pappus were retained less than seeds without, and we observed interactive effects between plant and seed species identity on retention rates. Conclusions: Seed trapping and retention rates are influenced by species identities and the physical attributes of plants and seeds. Because both processes can contribute to where a seed is ultimately dispersed, seed trapping and retention may mediate species co‐occurrence and further species interactions
Capturing gene–cell duality in a cat’s cradle
Get PDFSummary: CatsCradle is an R package for single-cell analysis that exploits the duality between cells and the genes they express. Our package provides tools to cluster genes, visualize relationships between them, and to explore relationships between gene clusters (programmes) and cell clusters (cell types). Availability and implementation: CatsCradle is available freely as an R Bioconductor package (https://bioconductor.org/packages/CatsCradle) and interfaces directly with Seurat (Hao et al. 2024) and SingleCellExperiment (Amezquita et al. 2020) data structures
A Rich Woman's World? Wealth and Gendered Paths to Office
Get PDFWe introduce and seek to explain a new and surprising fact about members of the US Congress: since at least the 1980s, Congresswomen have been substantially wealthier than Congressmen serving in the same party and decade. We articulate three mechanisms that could explain this gender wealth gap, and use new data on the backgrounds and families of members of Congress to evaluate each mechanism. We find no evidence that the wealth gap arises because districts likely to elect women also elect wealthier members, or because women had more lucrative pre‐Congressional careers. We do find evidence that the gap can be explained by women facing steeper challenges that wealth helps them overcome—particularly related to caregiving—and by Congresswomen's spouses earning more money than Congressmen's spouses. Our analysis sheds light on how obstacles facing ambitious women can lead to apparently counterintuitive advantages among the women who manage to succeed
Large‐Scale Psychometric Assessment and Validation of the Modified COVID‐19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale Patient‐Reported Outcome Measure for Long COVID or Post‐COVID Syndrome
Get PDFThe C19‐YRS was the first condition‐specific for long COVID/post‐COVID syndrome. Although the original C19‐YRS evolved to the modified version (C19‐YRSm) based on psychometric evidence, clinical content relevance, as well as feedback from patients and healthcare professionals, it has not been validated through Rasch analysis. The study aim was to psychometrically assess and validate the C19‐YRSm using newly collected data from a large‐scale, multicenter study (LOCOMOTION). In total, 1278 patients (67% Female; mean age = 48.6, SD 12.7) digitally completed the C19‐YRSm. The psychometric properties of the C19‐YRSm Symptom Severity (SS) and Functional Disability (FD) subscales were assessed using a Rasch Measurement Theory framework, assessing for individual item model fit, targeting, internal consistency reliability, unidimensionality, local dependency (LD), response category functioning and differential item functioning (DIF) by age group, sex and ethnicity. Rasch analysis revealed robust psychometric properties of both subscales, with each demonstrating unidimensionality, appropriate response category structuring, no floor or ceiling effects, and minimal LD and DIF. Both subscales also displayed good targeting and reliability (SS: Person Separation Index (PSI) = 0.81, Cronbach's α = 0.82; FD: PSI = 0.76, Cronbach's α = 0.81). Although some minor anomalies are apparent, the modifications to the original C19‐YRS have strengthened its measurement characteristics and its clinical and conceptual relevance. Trial Registration: NCT05057260, ISRCTN1502230