Exploration and categorisation of pre-service physics teachers' understanding of superconductivity and nanotechnology

Nanoscience and technology is a major field of scientific research and technological innovation but understanding concepts such as superconductivity and nanotechnology are not straightforward. To develop focused teaching strategies, it is necessary to categorise students’ prior understanding as different categories of prior ideas require different teaching strategies. An exploratory case study research design was followed to explore and categorise 21 pre-service physics teachers’ (PSPTs’) understanding of basic concepts of superconductivity and nanotechnology at a University in Oman. Self-compiled open ended questionnaires were used to elicit PSPT understanding of superconductivity and nanotechnology. Their understanding was categorised in epistemological and ontological categories. These six categories were: lateral alternative conceptions; ontological conceptions; naïve physics; phenomenological primitives (p-primes); mixed conceptions; and loose ideas. Findings from this pre-instructional study indicated that naïve physics ideas and lateral alternative conceptions were dominant and that the PSPTs’ conceptions were diversified and inconsistent. These results could lead to the development of evidence-based pedagogy, which is fundamental to the advancement of an effective physics education curriculum for these two contemporary topics.

Convergent Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomes and Metabolic Ontologies in Humans and Animal Models of Rett Syndrome

MECP2 loss-of-function mutations cause Rett syndrome, a disorder that results from a disrupted brain transcriptome. How these transcriptional defects are decoded into a disease proteome remains unknown. We studied the proteome in Rett syndrome cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) across vertebrates. We identified a consensus proteome and ontological categories shared across Rett syndrome cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from three species, including humans. Rett CSF proteomes enriched proteins annotated to HDL lipoproteins, complement, mitochondria, citrate/pyruvate metabolism, as well as synapse compartments. We used these prioritized and shared ontologies to select analytes for orthogonal quantification. These studies independently validated our proteome and ontologies. Ontologically selected CSF hits had genotypic discriminatory capacity as determined by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis and distinguished Rett from a related neurodevelopmental disorder, CDKL5 deficiency disorder. We propose that Mecp2 mutant CSF proteomes and ontologies inform novel putative mechanisms and biomarkers of disease. We suggest that Rett syndrome is a metabolic disorder impacting synapse function.

La philosophie shiʿite face au problème du mal : essais de théodicée chez Mīr Dāmād (m. 1040/1631) et deux de ses élèves

The problem of the goodness of God, the freedom of man and the origin of Evil, i.e. theodicy, proves to be particularly acute in Twelver Shiʿi Islam, because of the historical awareness of evil within the community and of the fundamental dualism, metaphysical as well as moral, of the doctrine. However, this problem was the subject of various essays by Iranian Shiʿi philosophers of Neoplatonic inspiration, trying to harmonize the teachings of the Shiʿi tradition (i.e. the ḥadīṯs attributed to the Impeccable imams) with the arguments of the Avicennian philosophy. The first part of the article focuses in detail on the works of the philosopher, theologian and lawyer Mīr Dāmād (m. 1041/1631). His reflections on the problem are not collected in a single book, as they are in Leibniz, but scattered in works belonging to different fields (fiqh, kalām, or philosophy per se), in Arabic or in Persian. He deals successively with the problem of human freedom (qadar) versus divine determinism (ǧabr); with the Imami notion of badāʾ, i.e. the apparent change of the divine Will in the course of history; with Good and Evil with regard to the ontological categories of essence (ḏāt), accident (ʿaraḍ), existence (wuǧūd), and non-existence (ʿadam); with the execution of eschatological threats and the punishment of the damned – thus embracing all the dimensions of the problem and phenomenon of evil. The second part of the article considers some logical and unexpected developments of Mīr Dāmād’s theses in the works of two of his students, Mullā Šamsā Gīlānī (m. 1064/1654), in a brief epistle on perfection, and Quṭb al-Dīn Aškiwarī (m. between 1088/1677 and 1095/1684), in a monumental history of universal wisdom. This should make appear that the problem of Evil was a powerful catalyst for the emergence of a “Shiʿi philosophy” in the 11th/17th century. Le problème de la bonté de Dieu, de la liberté de l’homme et de l’origine du mal, c’est-à-dire de la théodicée, s’avère particulièrement délicat dans l’islam shiʿite duodécimain, du fait de la conscience historique du mal dans la communauté et du dualisme foncier, moral et métaphysique, de la doctrine. Ce problème fit pourtant l’objet de véritables essais de théodicée chez des philosophes shiʿites iraniens d’inspiration néoplatonicienne, s’efforçant de concilier les enseignements de la tradition shiʿite (les ḥadīṯs attribués aux imâms impeccables) et les arguments de la philosophie avicennienne. La première partie de l’article se concentre sur l’œuvre du philosophe, théologien et juriste Mīr Dāmād (m. 1041/1631). Ses réflexions sur le problème ne sont pas rassemblées dans un même livre, à la différence de Leibniz, mais disséminées dans des ouvrages de différents domaines (fiqh, kalām, philosophie per se), en arabe et en persan. Il traite successivement du problème de la liberté humaine (qadar) vs le déterminisme divin (ǧabr) ; de la notion imâmite de badāʾ, le changement apparent de la Volonté divine dans le cours de l’histoire ; du bien et du mal au regard des catégories ontologiques de l’essence (ḏāt) et de l’accident (ʿaraḍ), de l’existence (wuǧūd) et de l’inexistence (ʿadam) ; de l’exécution des menaces eschatologiques et du châtiment des damnés – embrassant ainsi toutes les dimensions du problème et du phénomène du mal. La seconde partie de l’article étudie les prolongements, à la fois cohérents et inattendus, des thèses de Mīr Dāmād chez deux de ses élèves, Mullā Šamsā Gīlānī (m. 1064/1654), dans une épître sur la perfection, et Quṭb al-Dīn Aškiwarī (m. entre 1088/1677 et 1095/1684), dans une histoire de la sagesse universelle. Le problème du mal apparaît ainsi comme un facteur d’émergence d’une authentique « philosophie shiʿite » au XIe/XVIIe siècle.

Ontological Categories

The chapter advances a preliminary account of categories of what there is. We find ourselves surrounded by objects that interact in various ways. Refining this idea points to three seemingly indispensable categories: substance, property, relation. Properties are ways particular substances are. Substance and property are correlative categories: every substance must be some way or other and every way must be a way some substance is. The possibility that relations are ‘founded’ is introduced and explicated by reference to truthmaking: truthmakers for relational truths could turn out to be nonrelational features of the universe. In the same vein, truthmakers for truths invoking traditionally important categories including universal, attribute, and modality might be fully particular propertied substances.

From Pari Khanas to Lal Bazaars and Further Away: Female Performers in Nineteenth Century Awadh

While there are a lot of contestations over the identity and subjectivity of women performers and entertainers of Awadh, three terms denote the most popular representations of these women in the nineteenth century. These are: the trained and sophisticated tawaʾif of the Nawabi court, the vulgar and titillating ‘nautch’ girls of the city and the ill-mannered and promiscuous “prostitute” of the British cantonment. For long, these terms have been used to weave a linear narrative about the courtesan’s eventual fall from grace, which does not take into account the politics behind these categorisations nor women’s participation therein. This paper focuses instead, on the making and unmaking of these ontological categories to argue that, while these categories are neither exhaustive nor holistic, they are reflective of the institutions wherein they flourished, the cultural specificities of their existence and the peculiarities of their labour practices. An analysis of these dynamics shall present a more detailed and genealogical history of how women inhabited, embodied, extended and/or negotiated with power structures. This holds the utmost importance in the context of contemporary reminiscence of Lucknow’s past, which, while being marked by a celebration of the courtesan culture, is often accompanied by erasure of their lived experiences, presenting unidimensional imagery that is both unhistorical and ahistorical.

The lived body (Der Leib) as a diagnostic and therapeutic instrument in general practice

SummaryBased on vignettes from clinical cases, supervision and Balint groups this article presents a neo-phenomenological perspective on the lived experience of healthcare professionals in interactions with patients and relatives. Specifically, the familiar phenomenon of “something in the air” between two persons will be analyzed.Constellations and situations are presented as fundamental and generic (ontological) categories that can be differentiated to understand the details and the whole (die Gestalt) of an interaction.The term atmosphere is introduced to investigate the material carrier of something that “colors the air” between healthcare provider and patient.The neo-phenomenological taxonomy of the lived body (der Leib) is used to describe the recipient structure of atmospheric mood.Finally, the potential of these concepts for a more comprehensive diagnosis and for therapeutic use in general practice will be elucidated.

Grotesque Metamorphoses and Creative Practices in Jan Svankmajer

This paper explores stop motion puppetry films through the lens of the grotesque, to see how this aesthetic category helps in understanding the medium and its appeals. Noel Carroll describes the grotesque as, a “departure from the ordinary” whereas Wolfgang Kayser tries to explain its nature as that of an “estranged world”. The animated works of pioneering filmmaker Jan Svankmajer have been pivotal when it comes to visual manifestations of hybrid forms and the formation of illusory supernatural life by merging objects of animate and inanimate simulacra. I will discuss in which ways the grotesque is portrayed in Svankmajer’s films by examining manifestations of grotesque in the bodies of the puppets as well as in the filmmaker’s creative process. When going into a more in-depth analysis, Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the ‘grotesque body’ and its relationship to the earth as an unfinished metamorphosis of existence and Wolfgang Kayser’s writings on the grotesque as an alienated world created through the practices of the artist will also be used to identify how Svankmajer mixes and alters the biological and ontological categories of everyday objects.

Engels, humanism and revolutionary praxis: The centrality of the dynamic analysis of historical materialism and its inherent relation to overcoming capitalist alienation

At the end of the 19th century, a debate emerged among academics of historical materialism on the apparent divergence between Engels’ and Marx’s theoretical developments. During the 20th century, those who wanted to argue that there was a dichotomy between the two authors identified Engels as responsible for historical materialism’s crises. This paper aims to demonstrate that Engels, far from distancing himself from Marx’s central positions, contributed to the formation of historical materialism as a revolutionary praxis that seeks a more rational regulation of the human metabolism with nature through overcoming the alienating conditions of the capitalist system. For this reason, the paper analyses Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, one of Engels’ most controversial texts, and exposes the correlation with the historical development of the revolutionary praxis in the Engels’ and Marx’s work. The article will be drawing on Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez’s Philosophy of Praxis, understood as a ‘revolutionary’ activity, and his analysis of Marx’s and Engels’ work. It is argued that one of Engels’ primary purposes, in Ludwig Feuerbach, was to show the demystification process of the Hegelian dialectical method, resulting in the formation of historical materialism as a dynamic epistemic model, that seeks to transform social reality through revolutionary praxis. The Feuerbachian ontological categories and Feuerbach’s perception of nature were the objects of the same process of demystification and critique, resulting in the characterisation of the human being in Marxism as a generic, social and historical being. Finally, it is shown that Engels demonstrates the possibilities for transformation of the human subject; for that reason, Engels’ argument is associated with the revolutionary praxis.

Ontological Perspectivism and Geographical Categorizations

According to ontological perspectivism, there can be, in principle, multiple and alternative perspectives on the world that can be sliced, systematized, and conceptualized in different ways. Surely, such an ontological position has many categorial implications, which may vary depending on different disciplinary contexts. This paper explores parts of these implications in the realm of geography. In particular, it aims at discussing the ontological categories that one might use to describe the geographical world in an overarching perspective – that is, the perspective that puts toether all the partial views coming from the different branches of the geographical investigation. We will see that if the overarching perspective is expected to include all the views on the geographical world, then such a perspective should be all-embracing in terms of contents and categories. This means that the overarching perspective might also comprehend inconsistencies that derive from how the various partial perspectives conceptualize differently the geographical world.

Traces and Roots: Exploring Lexical Rapport of the Bisayan and Tausug Languages

Languages in a country are considered to share common characteristics and possibly similar features. This can be attributed to many factors, but one holds true, language is essential in keeping a community. Its vitality molds a society’s identity. The more active the language is, the more its culture gets the exposure it needs. This notion goes two ways for culture cannot also stand without the usage of a language. In this study, Bisayan and Tausug lexicons were compared using a Samarin list to identify factors of similarities as well as their relationship in terms of their semantic and ontological categories. The list was subjected to a qualitative-descriptive analysis. The result of the study revealed that both Tausug and Bisayan (Cebuano) cultures have come from the same linguistic family. Both belong to the Philippine VISAYAN LANGUAGES. Of all the Visayan cultures, the TAUSUG is a Muslim dominated culture which makes it the reason why people associate Tausug language as part of the Mindanao language. The study showed that of the 200 lexicons used based on a Samarin list, 72 of those are true cognates and 28 are cognates with few differences and changes in the spelling. The findings also indicate that these similarities can be attributed to different factors like tracing language relationship by means of genetics, the environmental changes, the language sounds and language arbitrariness.