title: The last post? Post-postmodernism and the linguistic u-turn

authors: Peters, Michael A.

subjects: Linguistic turn

abstract: This paper adopts an autobiographical tone to review the linguistic turn and its demise at the hands Richard Rorty. Rorty, along with Continental philosophers like Lyotard rescued us from a philosophical delusion that we might achieve a neutral analysis resulting in linguistic and conceptual hygiene. This view became the basis of a highly influential doctrine in philosophy of education during the 1970s under R. S. Peters and the London school. I review the Wittgensteininspired movement and its conceptual affinities with postpositivism, postmodernism and postcoloniality as the dominating motifs of the age we have now passed beyond. © Michael A. Peters.

text: The last post? Post-postmodernism and the linguistic u-turn This paper adopts an autobiographical tone to review the linguistic turn and its demise at the hands Richard Rorty. Rorty, along with Continental philosophers like Lyotard rescued us from a philosophical delusion that we might achieve a neutral analysis resulting in linguistic and conceptual hygiene. This view became the basis of a highly influential doctrine in philosophy of education during the 1970s under R. S. Peters and the London school. I review the Wittgensteininspired movement and its conceptual affinities with postpositivism, postmodernism and postcoloniality as the dominating motifs of the age we have now passed beyond. © Michael A. Peters.

year: 2013

title: A flexible suite of programs for modelling the cortex with a mean-field scheme

authors: Chang, Yuan-Kuei

subjects: cortex modelling

abstract: The cerebral cortex contains many neurons. The neuron is part of the nervous system
and it receives and transmits the electrical signals. These signals are significant
to a human's behaviour. Since the neurons are charged, these charges produce electrical
fields, so these neural signals can be measured by using scalp electrodes in
electroencephalography (EEG). As long as the brain is not dead, the spontaneous
activities of neurons will produce a series of EEG signals.
There are many models that have been developed for simulating the cortical signal,
and mostly each model is focused towards a different purpose or application.
Often, a different computer code has to be written for each different application, and
this can be inefficient. Therefore, this project aims to develop a software system for
simulating cortical signals where the model used for the system can be changed easily.
Furthermore, the system is requested to be versatile and easy-to-use for many
applications.
The developed system is written in MATLAB in response to a user requirement
and mostly applies to any model which uses a mean-field approach. Only the specific
inputs need to be modified for changing the model. This thesis details how this
system is developed. The main limitation of the system is computational resources,
much the same as other cortical modelling. However, all the user requirements had
been satisfied. The system can simulate the response of the neurons for any condition
and generate simulated EEG data to the user. The user can analyze the cortical
activities using the standard signal processing techniques such as a power spectrum.
This software is very helpful for the research of sleep and anaesthesia.

text: A flexible suite of programs for modelling the cortex with a mean-field scheme The cerebral cortex contains many neurons. The neuron is part of the nervous system
and it receives and transmits the electrical signals. These signals are significant
to a human's behaviour. Since the neurons are charged, these charges produce electrical
fields, so these neural signals can be measured by using scalp electrodes in
electroencephalography (EEG). As long as the brain is not dead, the spontaneous
activities of neurons will produce a series of EEG signals.
There are many models that have been developed for simulating the cortical signal,
and mostly each model is focused towards a different purpose or application.
Often, a different computer code has to be written for each different application, and
this can be inefficient. Therefore, this project aims to develop a software system for
simulating cortical signals where the model used for the system can be changed easily.
Furthermore, the system is requested to be versatile and easy-to-use for many
applications.
The developed system is written in MATLAB in response to a user requirement
and mostly applies to any model which uses a mean-field approach. Only the specific
inputs need to be modified for changing the model. This thesis details how this
system is developed. The main limitation of the system is computational resources,
much the same as other cortical modelling. However, all the user requirements had
been satisfied. The system can simulate the response of the neurons for any condition
and generate simulated EEG data to the user. The user can analyze the cortical
activities using the standard signal processing techniques such as a power spectrum.
This software is very helpful for the research of sleep and anaesthesia.

year: 2007

title: Mouri Tu, Mouri Moko, Mouri Ora! Moko as a wellbeing strategy

authors: Penehira, Mera

subjects: Maori

abstract: This research has been undertaken within the Health Research Council funded International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership (ICIHRP) program, “The role of resiliency in responding to blood borne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Indigenous communities”. Some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been shown to experience higher rates of blood borne viral infections. There are a number of categories of health intervention that have been shown to be effective in prevention and enhancing access to treatment for blood borne viral infections, including various forms of health promotion, enhanced diagnostic and treatment services, and harm reduction measures related to injecting drug use. The present research was undertaken with the understanding that development of effective responses of this kind among Indigenous people would benefit from a better understanding of the social and cultural factors that might protect against these infections and their consequences. It is argued that such factors are linked in various ways to Indigenous resistance and resiliency, which is described as the means by which people choose to make use of individual and community strengths to protect themselves against adverse health outcomes and enhance their health and wellbeing.

In this thesis I explore how people and their identity are affected when you are part of a marginalised or vulnerable population – namely, Māori women who have contracted the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). I argue that traditional knowledge and healing practices are central to Māori getting well and keeping well, and that the use of cultural frameworks and practices have potentially restorative, therapeutic and healing values that are not yet researched or understood by the health field. I argue that a Māori framework of wellbeing, namely ‘Mana Kaitiakitanga’, provides the context in which tā moko (Māori traditional tattoo) fits naturally as a healing intervention. I share the stories of Māori women with HCV who have applied this (tā moko and other forms of tattoo) in their lives and in their journeys back to wellness. Tā moko is a process that penetrates the flesh and marks the skin; it is a process that involves both blood and pain, which may seem incongruous with healing. It is argued however that through pain comes understanding; through pain comes a RE-membering of strength; through pain comes joy; and finally through marking comes identity of who we are and how well we have been and can be again.

Issues and intersections of identity, marginalisation, gender, health, and wellbeing are at the forefront of this research story and of the journeys of the three women whose case studies are presented in this thesis. What makes this thesis unique is that it researches all three of these potential cornerstones of health: identity; wellbeing (spiritual and emotional), and physical wellbeing, in relation to a specific health problem, namely HCV. It is intended that this work will add power to what might be viewed as a particularly Indigenous solution to a virus that disproportionately affects our Indigenous population. This is not about rejecting Western health solutions, but it is about recognising and returning to Indigenous health solutions.

text: Mouri Tu, Mouri Moko, Mouri Ora! Moko as a wellbeing strategy This research has been undertaken within the Health Research Council funded International Collaborative Indigenous Health Research Partnership (ICIHRP) program, “The role of resiliency in responding to blood borne viral and sexually transmitted infections in Indigenous communities”. Some Indigenous communities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have been shown to experience higher rates of blood borne viral infections. There are a number of categories of health intervention that have been shown to be effective in prevention and enhancing access to treatment for blood borne viral infections, including various forms of health promotion, enhanced diagnostic and treatment services, and harm reduction measures related to injecting drug use. The present research was undertaken with the understanding that development of effective responses of this kind among Indigenous people would benefit from a better understanding of the social and cultural factors that might protect against these infections and their consequences. It is argued that such factors are linked in various ways to Indigenous resistance and resiliency, which is described as the means by which people choose to make use of individual and community strengths to protect themselves against adverse health outcomes and enhance their health and wellbeing.

In this thesis I explore how people and their identity are affected when you are part of a marginalised or vulnerable population – namely, Māori women who have contracted the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). I argue that traditional knowledge and healing practices are central to Māori getting well and keeping well, and that the use of cultural frameworks and practices have potentially restorative, therapeutic and healing values that are not yet researched or understood by the health field. I argue that a Māori framework of wellbeing, namely ‘Mana Kaitiakitanga’, provides the context in which tā moko (Māori traditional tattoo) fits naturally as a healing intervention. I share the stories of Māori women with HCV who have applied this (tā moko and other forms of tattoo) in their lives and in their journeys back to wellness. Tā moko is a process that penetrates the flesh and marks the skin; it is a process that involves both blood and pain, which may seem incongruous with healing. It is argued however that through pain comes understanding; through pain comes a RE-membering of strength; through pain comes joy; and finally through marking comes identity of who we are and how well we have been and can be again.

Issues and intersections of identity, marginalisation, gender, health, and wellbeing are at the forefront of this research story and of the journeys of the three women whose case studies are presented in this thesis. What makes this thesis unique is that it researches all three of these potential cornerstones of health: identity; wellbeing (spiritual and emotional), and physical wellbeing, in relation to a specific health problem, namely HCV. It is intended that this work will add power to what might be viewed as a particularly Indigenous solution to a virus that disproportionately affects our Indigenous population. This is not about rejecting Western health solutions, but it is about recognising and returning to Indigenous health solutions.

year: 2011