Secondary school students’ epistemic insight into the relationships between science and religion – a preliminary enquiry

A number of previous studies have shown that there is a widespread view among young people that science and religion are opposed. In this paper, we suggest that it requires a significant level of what can be termed ‘epistemic insight’ to access the idea that some people see science and religion as compatible while others do not. To explore this further, we draw on previous work to devise a methodology to discover students’ thinking about apparent contradictions between scientific and religious explanations of the origins of the universe. In our discussion of the findings, we highlight that students’ epistemic insight in this context does seem in many cases to be limited and we outline some of the issues emerging from the study that seem to boost or limit students’ progress in this area.

The role of fimbriae and flagella in the adherence of avian strains of Escherichia coli O78:K80 to tissue culture cells and tracheal and gut explants

To investigate the role of fimbriae and flagella in the pathogenesis of avian colibacillosis, isogenic insertionally inactivated mutant strains of Escherichia coil O78:K80 strain EC34195 defective in the elaboration of type-1 and curli fimbriae and flagella were constructed by allelic exchange, Single and multiple non-fimbriate and non-flagellate mutant strains were compared to the wild-type in vitro in adherence assays with a HEp-2 cell line, a mucus-secreting cell line HT2916E, a non-mucus-secreting cell line HT2919A, tracheal explant and proximal gut explant, Mutant strains defective in the elaboration of type-1 fimbriae were significantly less adherent - in the order of 90% reduction - than the wild-type strain in all assays. Mutant strains defective in the elaboration of flagella were generally as adherent as the wild-type strain except when assayed with the mucus-secreting cell line HT2916E, for which a significant reduction of adherence - of the order of 90% - compared with the wild-type strain was observed. Mutant strains defective for the elaboration of curb fimbriae adhered as well as the wild-type strain in all assays, except when assayed in tests with gut explant tissue for which a significant reduction of adherence - of the order of 80% - compared with the wild-type strain was observed, Adherence to explants was to epithelial, not serous, surfaces and was 10-fold greater to tracheal than to gut explants, Together, these data support the hypothesis that type-1 fimbriae are significant factors in adherence, aided by flagella for penetration of mucus and curli fimbriae for adherence to the gut.

The role of intimin in the adherence of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 to HEp-2 tissue culture cells and to bovine gut explant tissues

Intimin, an outer membrane protein encoded by eaeA, is a key determinant for the formation of attaching and effacing (AE) lesions by enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). To investigate the role of intimin in adherence, the eaeA gene was insertionally inactivated in three EHEC O157:H7 strains of diverse origin. The absence or presence of intimin did not correlate with the extent of adhesion of mutant or wild-type O157:H7 in tissue culture and neonatal calf gut tissue explant adherence assays. Adherence of the eaeA mutants to HEp-2 cells was diffuse with no evidence of intimate attachment whereas wild-type bacteria formed microcolonies and AE lesions. Intimin-independent adherence to neonatal calf gut explants was demonstrated by eaeA mutants and wild-type strains which adhered in the greatest numbers to colon but least well to rumen tissue. These results confirm that intimin is necessary for intimate attachment and that additional adherence factors are involved in intimin-independent adherence.

Disrupted white matter in language and motor tracts in developmental stuttering

White matter tractsc onnecting areas involved in speech and motor control were examined using diffusion-tensor imagingingin a sample of peoplewhostutter (n=29) who were heterogeneous with respect to age, sex, handedness and stuttering severity. The goals were to replicate previous findings in developmental stuttering and to extend ourknowledge by evaluating the relationship between white matter differences in people who stutter and factors such as age, sex, handedness and stuttering severity. We replicated previous findings that showed reduced integrity in white matter underlying ventral premotorcortex, cerebral peduncles and posteriorcorpus callosum in people who stutter, relative to controls. Tractography analysis additionally revealed significantly reduced white matter integrity in the arcuate fasciculus bilaterally and the left corticospinal tract and significantly reduced connectivity within theleft corticobulbar tract in people who stutter. Region-of-interest analyses revealed reduced white matter integrity in people whostutter in the three pairs ocerebellar peduncles thatcarry the afferent and efferent fibers of the cerebellum. Within thegroup of people who stutter, the higher the stuttering severity index, the lower the white matter integrity in the leftangular gyrus but the greater the white matter connectivity in theleft corticobulbartract. Also,in people who stutter, handedness and age predicted the integrity of the corticospinal tract and peduncles, respectively. Further studies are needed to determine which of these white matter differences relate to the neural basis of stuttering and which reflect experience-dependent plasticity.

Culture, cognition and e-commerce behavior

Existing research has given little attention to the relationship between culture characteristics and consumer’s internal beliefs particularly in the pre-purchase stage, and how this relationship affects consumer’s purchase decision. This paper considers the theory of cognitive dissonance and its extended model (the 3D-RAB), as a means to study the current distribution of consumer’s pre-purchase cognitive dissonance, which allows us to investigate the effects of culture characteristics on this distribution. Results revealed that individualism versus collectivism and high power distance dimensions, from Hofstede’s cultural model, influence consumer’s pre-purchase cognitive dissonance. These dimensions must be considered in the design of e-commerce website, by tailoring motivational/influences methods and techniques to reflect targeted consumers culture.

Language and thought in bilinguals: the case of grammatical number and nonverbal classification preferences

Recent research shows that speakers of languages with obligatory plural marking (English) preferentially categorize objects based on common shape, whereas speakers of nonplural-marking classifier languages (Yucatec and Japanese) preferentially categorize objects based on common material. The current study extends that investigation to the domain of bilingualism. Japanese and English monolinguals, and Japanese–English bilinguals were asked to match novel objects based on either common shape or color. Results showed that English monolinguals selected shape significantly more than Japanese monolinguals, whereas the bilinguals shifted their cognitive preferences as a function of their second language proficiency. The implications of these findings for conceptual representation and cognitive processing in bilinguals are discussed.

Language and thought in a multilingual context: the case of isiXhosa

Situated within the grammatical aspect approach to motion event cognition, this study takes a first step in investigating language and thought in functional multilinguals by studying L1 isiXhosa speakers living in South Africa. IsiXhosa being a non-aspect language, the study investigates how the knowledge and use of additional languages with grammatical aspect influence cognition of endpoint-oriented motion events among L1 isiXhosa speakers. Results from a triads-matching task show that participants who often used aspect languages and had greater exposure to English in primary education were less prone to rely on endpoints when categorising motion events.

Secondary school teachers' perspectives on teaching about topics that bridge science and religion

The question of where to locate teaching about the relationships between science and religion has produced a long-running debate. Currently, Science and Religious Education (RE) are statutory subjects in England and are taught in secondary schools by different teachers. This paper reports on an interview study in which 16 teachers gave their perceptions of their roles and responsibilities when teaching topics that bridge science and religion and the extent to which they collaborated with teachers in the other subject area. We found that in this sample, teachers reported very little collaboration between the curriculum areas. Although the science curriculum makes no mention of religion, all the science teachers said that their approaches to such topics were affected by their recognition that some pupils hold religious beliefs. All the RE teachers reported struggling to ensure students know of a range of views about how science and religion relate. The paper concludes with a discussion about implications for curriculum design and teacher training.

Culture, compassion and clinical neglect: probity in the NHS after Mid Staffordshire

Speaking of the public response to the deaths of children at the Bristol Royal Infirmary before 2001, the BMJ commented that the NHS would be 'all changed, changed utterly'. Today, two inquiries into the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust suggest nothing changed at all. Many patients died as a result of their care and the stories of indifference and neglect there are harrowing. Yet Bristol and Mid Staffordshire are not isolated reports. In 2011, the Health Services Ombudsman reported on the care of elderly and frail patients in the NHS and found a failure to recognise their humanity and individuality and to respond to them with sensitivity, compassion and professionalism. Likewise, the Care Quality Commission and Healthcare Commission received complaints from patients and relatives about the quality of nursing care. These included patients not being fed, patients left in soiled bedding, poor hygiene practices, and general disregard for privacy and dignity. Why is there such tolerance of poor clinical standards? We need a better understanding of the circumstances that can lead to these outcomes and how best to respond to them. We discuss the findings of these and other reports and consider whether attention should be devoted to managing individual behaviour, or focus on the systemic influences which predispose hospital staff to behave in this way. Lastly, we consider whether we should look further afield to cognitive psychology to better understand how clinicians and managers make decisions?