title: Commentary on “An alternative to working on machine consciousness”, by Aaron Sloman

authors: Legg, Catherine

subjects: consciousness

abstract: A commentary on a current paper by Aaron Sloman where he argues that in order to make progress in AI, consciousness (and other such unclear concepts of common-sense regarding the mind), "should be replaced by more precise and varied architecture-based concepts better suited to specify what needs to be explained by scientific theories". This original vision of philosophical inquiry as the mapping out of 'design-spaces' for a contested concept seeks to achieve a holistic, synthetic understanding of what possibilities such spaces embody and how different parameters might structure them in nomic and highly inter-connected ways. It therefore does not reduce to either "relations of ideas" or "matters of fact" in Hume's famous dichotomy. It is also shown to be in interesting ways the exact opposite of the current vogue for 'experimental philosophy'.

text: Commentary on “An alternative to working on machine consciousness”, by Aaron Sloman A commentary on a current paper by Aaron Sloman where he argues that in order to make progress in AI, consciousness (and other such unclear concepts of common-sense regarding the mind), "should be replaced by more precise and varied architecture-based concepts better suited to specify what needs to be explained by scientific theories". This original vision of philosophical inquiry as the mapping out of 'design-spaces' for a contested concept seeks to achieve a holistic, synthetic understanding of what possibilities such spaces embody and how different parameters might structure them in nomic and highly inter-connected ways. It therefore does not reduce to either "relations of ideas" or "matters of fact" in Hume's famous dichotomy. It is also shown to be in interesting ways the exact opposite of the current vogue for 'experimental philosophy'.

year: 2009

title: Mortality in the Waikato Hospital Systemic Sclerosis Cohort

authors: Ooi, Clement

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Objective

To characterize the causes of mortality and standardised mortality ratio in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Methods

A cohort of 132 patients enrolled at the Waikato Systemic Sclerosis Clinic was prospectively followed from 2005 to 2016. Patient demographics, diagnoses and laboratory reports were used to assess risk of mortality and generate standardised mortality ratios (SMR). Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods.
Results

Of the cohort of 132 patients, 20 (15%) were deceased by the end of the study period. The median age of diagnosis and death was 52 years (range 13–86) and 71 years (range 42–87) respectively. Seventy percent of deaths were SSc related and the leading causes of death were due to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), interstitial lung disease (ILD) and scleroderma renal crisis (SRC). Patients diagnosed after the age of 60 had renal or cardiac manifestations and were associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality. The overall SMR was 2.59 (95% CI 1.67–4.01) and was higher in those with diffuse versus limited SSc (6.46, 95% CI 3.08–13.54 vs. 1.93, 95% CI 1.10–3.41) and males (4.17, 95% CI 1.74–10.02 vs. 2.30, 95% CI 1.39–3.81).
Conclusion

This study demonstrated an increased risk of mortality in patients with SSc relative to that of the general population. An excess in risk was observed particularly in those with diffuse SSc and in males. Renal and cardiac involvement were found to be significant indicators of mortality and reinforces the necessity of screening for these complications.

text: Mortality in the Waikato Hospital Systemic Sclerosis Cohort Objective

To characterize the causes of mortality and standardised mortality ratio in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).
Methods

A cohort of 132 patients enrolled at the Waikato Systemic Sclerosis Clinic was prospectively followed from 2005 to 2016. Patient demographics, diagnoses and laboratory reports were used to assess risk of mortality and generate standardised mortality ratios (SMR). Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods.
Results

Of the cohort of 132 patients, 20 (15%) were deceased by the end of the study period. The median age of diagnosis and death was 52 years (range 13–86) and 71 years (range 42–87) respectively. Seventy percent of deaths were SSc related and the leading causes of death were due to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), interstitial lung disease (ILD) and scleroderma renal crisis (SRC). Patients diagnosed after the age of 60 had renal or cardiac manifestations and were associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality. The overall SMR was 2.59 (95% CI 1.67–4.01) and was higher in those with diffuse versus limited SSc (6.46, 95% CI 3.08–13.54 vs. 1.93, 95% CI 1.10–3.41) and males (4.17, 95% CI 1.74–10.02 vs. 2.30, 95% CI 1.39–3.81).
Conclusion

This study demonstrated an increased risk of mortality in patients with SSc relative to that of the general population. An excess in risk was observed particularly in those with diffuse SSc and in males. Renal and cardiac involvement were found to be significant indicators of mortality and reinforces the necessity of screening for these complications.

year: 2017

title: Have you heard of Hinehau? A research journey of reclamation

authors: Wakefield, Sandy

subjects: Te Tai Tokerau

abstract: As the Māori political and cultural movement continues to grow, issues of representation, power, and control are critiqued by Māori minds.
After discovering a tribal myth about the mana of a woman known as Hinehau, a chain reaction of enquiry develops into the reclamation of tribal knowledge.
By investigating the historical context surrounding the narrative of Hinehau, her story transcends the fairy-tale myth she was confined to, and exposes the rendering down of her story.
Under the umbrella of Western science, European and Pākehā historical archives created an enduring legacy of “Māori myth” that is synonymous with falsehood. Through the assertation of tribal oral tradition and connecting our experiences to our missing histories, Hinehau is relocated. The Hinehau story renews through reconnecting to mātauranga Māori, Ngāpuhi kōrero tuku iho and the creativity of the researcher. In this process, her story renews.
With the guidance of hapū members, mentors, and a diversity of literature, the narrative of Hinehau becomes a part of a much larger inter-tribal narrative held within an ancestral landscape which is sometimes hard to recognise in whenua we no longer have tribal autonomy over. Our Indigenous identity is still under threat as we are still “othered” in our tribal lands. This work contributes to pushing the envelope of what it means to think, exist, and challenge as tangata whenua in Aotearoa, where traditional tribal roles have been minimalised in society, or disappeared through generations of the colonial project (Tuhiwai Smith, 2012).

text: Have you heard of Hinehau? A research journey of reclamation As the Māori political and cultural movement continues to grow, issues of representation, power, and control are critiqued by Māori minds.
After discovering a tribal myth about the mana of a woman known as Hinehau, a chain reaction of enquiry develops into the reclamation of tribal knowledge.
By investigating the historical context surrounding the narrative of Hinehau, her story transcends the fairy-tale myth she was confined to, and exposes the rendering down of her story.
Under the umbrella of Western science, European and Pākehā historical archives created an enduring legacy of “Māori myth” that is synonymous with falsehood. Through the assertation of tribal oral tradition and connecting our experiences to our missing histories, Hinehau is relocated. The Hinehau story renews through reconnecting to mātauranga Māori, Ngāpuhi kōrero tuku iho and the creativity of the researcher. In this process, her story renews.
With the guidance of hapū members, mentors, and a diversity of literature, the narrative of Hinehau becomes a part of a much larger inter-tribal narrative held within an ancestral landscape which is sometimes hard to recognise in whenua we no longer have tribal autonomy over. Our Indigenous identity is still under threat as we are still “othered” in our tribal lands. This work contributes to pushing the envelope of what it means to think, exist, and challenge as tangata whenua in Aotearoa, where traditional tribal roles have been minimalised in society, or disappeared through generations of the colonial project (Tuhiwai Smith, 2012).

year: 2021