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Science Approach (science + approach)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Humanities and Social Sciences50%

Selected Abstracts

Inhibitory deficits in tourette's syndrome

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Emily R. Stern
Abstract A developmental approach to the study of psychopathology can broaden understanding of a wide variety of complex psychological disorders. This article reviews research on Tourette's syndrome (TS), a developmental disorder characterized by unwanted motor and vocal tics. Over the past decade, knowledge of the neurobiology and pathophysiology of TS has progressed rapidly. The application of brain imaging techniques, primarily magnetic resonance imaging, to the study of Tourette's has increased knowledge of structural and functional deficits in brain areas associated with behavioral and psychological disturbances in the disorder. By reviewing some of this work, we will describe one way in which knowledge of brain function in TS has both informed and been informed by a developmental science approach. In particular, we will consider the extent to which the cognitive and emotional development of persons with TS may be affected by specific neurobiological characteristics of the disorder. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 50: 9,18, 2008. [source]

Endogenous Fractal Dynamics at Alpine Treeline Ecotones

GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS, Issue 3 2006
Yu Zeng
Many of the hypotheses proposed to explain ecotones are based on an individualistic paradigm and are essentially static. While they include local feedbacks, they ignore the interactions between pattern and process across scales. These feedbacks in ecotones are nonlinear in nature and complicate the relations of pattern and process in vegetation, which, combined with observed fractal patterns, suggests a complexity science approach to investigate ecotone dynamics. A cellular automaton of alpine treeline, including nonlinear, local, positive, and negative feedbacks in tree establishment and mortality, as reported in field studies, is used as a model system. Fourier analysis of simulated alpine treelines shows fractal patterns across the treeline landscapes, which are created by patch development. The temporal evolution of the spatial pattern is also fractal. Landscape scale linear correlations between spatial pattern and the rate of advance of trees into tundra arise from localized nonlinear interactions. A tree-patch-landscape scale explanation of pattern,process interaction is proposed in which the endogenous feedbacks determine the spatial and temporal fractal properties of the ecotone. The simulated treeline advance exhibits self-organized complexity and may indicate a potential strategy for monitoring change. [source]

Using program theory,driven evaluation science to crack the Da Vinci code

NEW DIRECTIONS FOR EVALUATION, Issue 106 2005
Stewart I. Donaldson
The evaluator in this chapter provides a realistic account of the actions he would take to provide external evaluation services using the program theory, driven evaluation science approach. [source]

IS IT TIME FOR BIOETHICS TO GO EMPIRICAL?

BIOETHICS, Issue 3 2008
CHRIS HERRERA
ABSTRACT Observers who note the increasing popularity of bioethics discussions often complain that the social sciences are poorly represented in discussions about things like abortion and stem-cell research. Critics say that bioethicists should be incorporating the methods and findings of social scientists, and should move towards making the discipline more empirically oriented. This way, critics argue, bioethics will remain relevant, and truly reflect the needs of actual people. Such recommendations ignore the diversity of viewpoints in bioethics, however. Bioethics can gain much from the methods and findings from ethnographies and similar research. But it is misleading to suggest that bioethicists are unaware of this potential benefit. Not only that, bioethicists are justified in having doubts about the utility of the social science approach in some cases. This is not because there is some inherent superiority in non-empirical approaches to moral argument. Rather, the doubts concern the nature of the facts that the sciences would provide. Perhaps the larger point is that disagreements about the relationship between facts and normative arguments should be seen as part of the normal inquiry in bioethics, not evidence that reform is needed. [source]

Portal-based Knowledge Environment for Collaborative Science

CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 12 2007
Karen Schuchardt
Abstract The Knowledge Environment for Collaborative Science (KnECS) is an open-source informatics toolkit designed to enable knowledge Grids that interconnect science communities, unique facilities, data, and tools. KnECS features a Web portal with team and data collaboration tools, lightweight federation of data, provenance tracking, and multi-level support for application integration. We identify the capabilities of KnECS and discuss extensions from the Collaboratory for Multi-Scale Chemical Sciences (CMCS) which enable diverse combustion science communities to create and share verified, documented data sets and reference data, thereby demonstrating new methods of community interaction and data interoperability required by systems science approaches. Finally, we summarize the challenges we encountered and foresee for knowledge environments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

RELU Special Issue: Editorial Reflections

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2006
David R. Harvey
Abstract This special issue is special in two major dimensions: the papers range intentionally over a much wider spectrum of social and natural science approaches and disciplines than is normal for the Journal of Agricultural Economics; and, the articles relate to ongoing research rather than completed work. These reflections, perhaps peculiar to a practicing applied economist and policy analyst, concentrate on the lessons to be learned and messages to be heard from the RELU programme, both by those engaged on the programme's research portfolio, and by other researchers. [source]