Becoming-topologies of education: deformations,networks and the database effect

This article uses topological approaches to suggest that education is becoming-topological. Analyses presented in a recent double-issue of Theory, Culture & Society are used to demonstrate the utility of topology for education. In particular, the article explains education's topological character through examining the global convergence of education policy, testing and the discursive ranking of systems, schools and individuals in the promise of reforming education through the proliferation of regimes of testing at local and global levels that constitute a new form of governance through data. In this conceptualisation of global education policy changes in the form and nature of testing combine with it the emergence of global policy network to change the nature of the local (national, regional, school and classroom) forces that operate through the ‘system’. While these forces change, they work through a discursivity that produces disciplinary effects, but in a different way. This new–old disciplinarity, or ‘database effect’, is here represented through a topological approach because of its utility for conceiving education in an increasingly networked world.     

Intensity-dependent reductions in resting blood pressure following short-term isometric exercise training

To reduce resting blood pressure, a minimum isometric exercise training (IET) intensity has been suggested, but this is not known for short-term IET programmes. We therefore compared the effects of moderate- and low-intensity IET programmes on resting blood pressure. Forty normotensive participants (22.3 ± 3.4 years; 69.5 ± 15.5 kg; 170.2 ± 8.7 cm) were randomly assigned to groups of differing training intensities [20%EMG_peak (~23%MVC, maximum voluntary contraction, or 30%EMG_peak (~34%MVC)] or control group; 3 weeks of IET at 30%EMG_peak resulted in significant reductions in resting mean arterial pressure (e.g. ?3.9 ± 1.0 mmHg, P < 0.001), whereas 20%EMG_peak did not (?2.3 ± 2.9 mmHg; P > 0.05). Moreover, after pooling all female versus male participants, IET induced a 6.9-mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure in female participants, but only a 1.5-mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure in male participants, although the difference was not significant. An IET intensity between 20%EMG_peak and 30%EMG_peak is sufficient to elicit significant resting blood pressure reductions in a short-term training period (3 weeks). In addition, sexual dimorphism may exist in the magnitude of reductions, but further work is required to confirm this possibility, which could be important in understanding the mechanisms responsible.     

Exhibiting monstrosity: Chang and Eng, the 'original' Siamese twins

Chang and Eng, the two young men who would eventually be known around the world as the ‘original’ Siamese twins, arrived in the West in 1829. They were brought to the West to be examined by medical men and to be exhibited to the general public. Throughout the 19th century in Britain and the US, ‘monstrosities’ such as Chang and Eng, as well as a host of other people with unusual anatomies, were considered both spectacles worthy of public display and edifying medical subjects with the potential to build on medical knowledge. The unique case of Chang and Eng illustrates that the boundary between what is of legitimate medical interest and what is considered merely spectacle is often blurred.     

An implicit feedback approach for interactive information retrieval

Searchers can face problems finding the information they seek. One reason for this is that they may have difficulty devising queries to express their information needs. In this article, we describe an approach that uses unobtrusive monitoring of interaction to proactively support searchers. The approach chooses terms to better represent information needs by monitoring searcher interaction with different representations of top-ranked documents. Information needs are dynamic and can change as a searcher views information. The approach we propose gathers evidence on potential changes in these needs and uses this evidence to choose new retrieval strategies. We present an evaluation of how well our technique estimates information needs, how well it estimates changes in these needs and the appropriateness of the interface support it offers. The results are presented and the avenues for future research identified.     

Cultural differences in the relationships among autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, subjective vitality, and effort in British and Chinese physical education

Using basic psychological needs theory (BPNT; Ryan & Deci, 2000) as our guiding framework, we explored cultural differences in the relationships among physical education students' perceptions of teacher autonomy support, psychological need satisfaction, subjective vitality and effort in class. Seven hundred and fifteen students (age range from 13 to 15 years) from the U.K. and Hong Kong, China, completed a multisection inventory during a timetabled physical education class. Multilevel analyses revealed that the relationships among autonomy support, subjective vitality and effort were mediated by students' perceptions of psychological need satisfaction. The relationship between autonomy support and perceptions of competence was stronger in the Chinese sample, compared with the U.K. sample. In addition, the relationship between perceptions of relatedness and effort was not significant in the Chinese students. The findings generally support the pan-cultural utility of BPNT and imply that a teacher-created autonomy supportive environment may promote positive student experiences in both cultures.     

Trapping single human osteoblast-like cells from a heterogeneous population using a dielectrophoretic microfluidic device

We describe a system for the isolation, concentration, separation, and recovery of human osteoblast-like cells from a heterogeneous population using dielectrophoretic ring traps. Cells flowing in a microfluidic channel are immobilized inside an electric field cage using negative dielectrophoresis. A planar ring electrode creates a closed trap while repelling surrounding cells. Target cells are identified by fluorescent labeling, and are trapped as they pass across a ring electrode by an automated system. We demonstrate recovery of small populations of human osteoblast-like cells with a purity of 100%, which in turn demonstrates the potential of such a device for cell selection from a heterogeneous population.     

The Usable Past: teachers (re)playing school

This paper focuses on memory, not as a school subject with which it is still associated for many learners, but as one in which school is the subject and where the question ‘what are some of your earliest memories of playing school?’ can serve as an autobiographical prompt. In what ways do we continue to ‘play out’ early experiences of school long after we begin our teaching careers? What significance should we attach to not remembering? How can early memories of school, of teachers and of particular episodes of playing school become part of what bell hooks describes as ‘the usable past'? (hooks, 1984, Feminist Theory: from margin to centre, South End Press).