Home About us Contact | |||
Scientific Disciplines (scientific + discipline)
Selected AbstractsThere's more to macroecology than meets the eyeGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Tim M. Blackburn ABSTRACT Macroecology sits at the junction of, and can contribute to, the fields of ecology, biogeography, palaeontology and macroevolution, using a broad range of approaches to tackle a diverse set of questions. Here, we argue that there is more to macroecology than mapping, and that while they are potentially useful, maps are insufficient to assess macroecological pattern and process. The true nature of pattern can only be assessed, and competing hypotheses about process can only be disentangled, by adopting a statistical approach, and it is this that has been key to the development of macroecology as a respected and rigorous scientific discipline. [source] A new approach for detecting scientific specialties from raw cocitation networksJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Matthew L. Wallace We use a technique recently developed by V. Blondel, J.-L. Guillaume, R. Lambiotte, and E. Lefebvre (2008) to detect scientific specialties from author cocitation networks. This algorithm has distinct advantages over most previous methods used to obtain cocitation "clusters" since it avoids the use of similarity measures, relies entirely on the topology of the weighted network, and can be applied to relatively large networks. Most importantly, it requires no subjective interpretation of the cocitation data or of the communities found. Using two examples, we show that the resulting specialties are the smallest coherent "groups" of researchers (within a hierarchy of cluster sizes) and can thus be identified unambiguously. Furthermore, we confirm that these communities are indeed representative of what we know about the structure of a given scientific discipline and that as specialties, they can be accurately characterized by a few keywords (from the publication titles). We argue that this robust and efficient algorithm is particularly well-suited to cocitation networks and that the results generated can be of great use to researchers studying various facets of the structure and evolution of science. [source] The historiography of Swedish sociology and the bounding of disciplinary identityJOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 2 2006Anna Larsson Bounding a scientific discipline is a way of regulating its cognitive direction as well as its relations to neighboring disciplines and extra-academic authorities. In this process of identity making, disciplinary history often is a crucial element. In this article, focusing on the historiography of Swedish sociology and the reception of Gustaf Steffen, Sweden's first professional sociologist, it is argued that Steffen's marginalized role in the traditional accounts should be understood not only with reference to his supposed theoretical shortcomings, but also in the historical context of the early postwar reestablishment of sociology as an academic discipline and its prevalent need for a new disciplinary identity, strategically adjusted to the contemporary institutional and political settings. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Applying modelling experiences from the past to shape crop systems biology: the need to converge crop physiology and functional genomicsNEW PHYTOLOGIST, Issue 3 2008Xinyou Yin Summary Functional genomics has been driven greatly by emerging experimental technologies. Its development as a scientific discipline will be enhanced by systems biology, which generates novel, quantitative hypotheses via modelling. However, in order to better assist crop improvement, the impact of developing functional genomics needs to be assessed at the crop level, given a projected diminishing effect of genetic alteration on phenotypes from the molecule to crop levels. This review illustrates a recently proposed research field, crop systems biology, which is located at the crossroads of crop physiology and functional genomics, and intends to promote communications between the two. Past experiences with modelling whole-crop physiology indicate that the layered structure of biological systems should be taken into account. Moreover, modelling not only plays a role in data synthesis and quantitative prediction, but certainly also in heuristics and system design. These roles of modelling can be applied to crop systems biology to enhance its contribution to our understanding of complex crop phenotypes and subsequently to crop improvement. The success of crop systems biology needs commitments from scientists along the entire knowledge chain of plant biology, from molecule or gene to crop and agro-ecosystem. [source] A RESERVED READING OF CARNAP'S AUFBAUPACIFIC PHILOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2005CHRISTOPHER PINCOCK This paper presents a third "reserved" interpretation that emphasizes Carnap's opposition to traditional philosophy and consequent naturalism. The main consideration presented in favor of the reserved reading is Carnap's work on a physical construction system. I argue that Carnap's construction theory was an empirical scientific discipline and that the basic relations of its construction systems need not be eliminated. [source] Model competencies in regulatory therapeutic product assessment: Health Canada's good review guiding principles as a reviewing community's code of intellectual conduct,,§¶PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 8 2007Robyn R. Lim PhD Abstract Purpose This article describes some work from the Therapeutic Products Directorate of Health Canada regarding Good Review Practices (GRP). Methods and Results Background information is provided on the Therapeutic Products Directorate (TPD) and its regulatory activities regarding drug and medical device assessment in both the pre- and post-market setting. The TPD Good Review Guiding Principles (GRGP) are described which include a Definition of a Good Therapeutic Product Regulatory Review, Ten Hallmarks of a Good Therapeutic Product Regulatory Review and Ten Precepts. Analysis of the guiding principles discusses possible linkages between the guiding principles and intellectual virtues. Conclusions Through this analysis an hypothesis is developed that the guiding principles outline a code of intellectual conduct for Health Canada's reviewers of evidence for efficacy, safety, manufacturing quality and benefit-risk regarding therapeutic products. Opportunities to advance therapeutic product regulatory review as a scientific discipline in its own right and to acknowledge that these reviewers constitute a specific community of practice are discussed. Integration of intellectual and ethical approaches across therapeutic product review sectors is also suggested. Copyright © 2007 Crown in the right of Canada. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A novel audit model for assessing quality in non-regulated researchQUALITY ASSURANCE JOURNAL, Issue 2 2009S. G. Volsen Abstract The need for Quality standards in non-regulated research is a matter of considerable current debate. Whilst a number of such guidelines have been developed over recent years, their successful implementation remains a challenge to all. In order to assess whether research standards are indeed improving on the bench following the instigation of such a quality system, a question posed by both senior management and scientists alike, an independent compliance programme is required. However, given the lack of predicate rules, naivety to audit process and general sensitivity to external scrutiny within the scientific ranks, then work in this ,Grey Area' generates high exposure for the conventional GLP, GCP or GMP auditor. We have developed, tried, and tested a highly effective, novel audit model for assessing the quality of non-regulated research. This simple system can be applied successfully irrespective of scientific discipline or field. Whilst common principles will always apply during any quality system audit, the refinements and idiosyncrasies we describe here will, as we have found, help underpin success. Our intentional assumption is that this is a first time endeavour for the quality professional. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Scientific workflow management and the Kepler systemCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 10 2006Bertram Ludäscher Abstract Many scientific disciplines are now data and information driven, and new scientific knowledge is often gained by scientists putting together data analysis and knowledge discovery ,pipelines'. A related trend is that more and more scientific communities realize the benefits of sharing their data and computational services, and are thus contributing to a distributed data and computational community infrastructure (a.k.a. ,the Grid'). However, this infrastructure is only a means to an end and ideally scientists should not be too concerned with its existence. The goal is for scientists to focus on development and use of what we call scientific workflows. These are networks of analytical steps that may involve, e.g., database access and querying steps, data analysis and mining steps, and many other steps including computationally intensive jobs on high-performance cluster computers. In this paper we describe characteristics of and requirements for scientific workflows as identified in a number of our application projects. We then elaborate on Kepler, a particular scientific workflow system, currently under development across a number of scientific data management projects. We describe some key features of Kepler and its underlying Ptolemy II system, planned extensions, and areas of future research. Kepler is a community-driven, open source project, and we always welcome related projects and new contributors to join. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Neuroscience instrumentation and distributed analysis of brain activity data: a case for eScience on global GridsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 15 2005Rajkumar Buyya Abstract The distribution of knowledge (by scientists) and data sources (advanced scientific instruments), and the need for large-scale computational resources for analyzing massive scientific data are two major problems commonly observed in scientific disciplines. Two popular scientific disciplines of this nature are brain science and high-energy physics. The analysis of brain-activity data gathered from the MEG (magnetoencephalography) instrument is an important research topic in medical science since it helps doctors in identifying symptoms of diseases. The data needs to be analyzed exhaustively to efficiently diagnose and analyze brain functions and requires access to large-scale computational resources. The potential platform for solving such resource intensive applications is the Grid. This paper presents the design and development of MEG data analysis system by leveraging Grid technologies, primarily Nimrod-G, Gridbus, and Globus. It describes the composition of the neuroscience (brain-activity analysis) application as parameter-sweep application and its on-demand deployment on global Grids for distributed execution. The results of economic-based scheduling of analysis jobs for three different optimizations scenarios on the world-wide Grid testbed resources are presented along with their graphical visualization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Drosophila melanogaster: the model organismENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, Issue 2 2006David B. Roberts Abstract In the 20th century, there were two decades during which Drosophila melanogaster was the most significant model organism and each decade led to the establishment of new scientific disciplines. The first decade was roughly from 1910 and during this period a small group at Columbia University, headed by Thomas Hunt Morgan, established the rules of transmission genetics with which we are all familiar. In the second decade, roughly from 1970, many of the principles and techniques of the earlier period were used to determine the genetic control of basic aspects of the biology of organisms, notably their development and their behaviour. In this review I will show that it was not only the genius of the research workers (five were awarded Nobel Prizes and it has been argued, with justification, that at least one more should have been awarded) but also the special features of D. melanogaster that led to these advances. While Drosophila is still a significant model organism, the advent of molecular biology permits the investigation of organisms less amenable to genetic analysis, but the principles applied in these investigations were in the main principles laid down during the earlier work on Drosophila. [source] Lie detection by functional magnetic resonance imagingHUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 3 2002Tatia M.C. Lee Abstract The accurate detection of deception or lying is a challenge to experts in many scientific disciplines. To investigate if specific cerebral activation characterized feigned memory impairment, six healthy male volunteers underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging with a block-design paradigm while they performed forced-choice memory tasks involving both simulated malingering and under normal control conditions. Malingering that demonstrated the existence and involvement of a prefrontal-parietal-sub-cortical circuit with feigned memory impairment produced distinct patterns of neural activation. Because astute liars feign memory impairment successfully in testing once they understand the design of the measure being employed, our study represents an extremely significant preliminary step towards the development of valid and sensitive methods for the detection of deception. Hum. Brain Mapping 15:157,164, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Osteopontin: a key cytokine in cell-mediated and granulomatous inflammationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY, Issue 6 2000Anthony O'Regan Osteopontin (Opn) is a secreted adhesive, glycosylated phosphoprotein that contains the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) cell-binding sequence that is found in many extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins (for a review of Opn see References Denhardt & Guo 1993; Patarca et al. 1993; Rittling & Denhardt 1999). Since its initial description in 1979 as a secreted protein associated with malignant transformation, Opn has been independently discovered by investigators from diverse scientific disciplines, and has been associated with a remarkable range of pathologic responses. Opn is an important bone matrix protein, where it is thought to mediate adhesion of osteoclasts to resorbing bone. However, studies from the past decade have identified an alternative role for Opn as a key cytokine regulating tissue repair and inflammation. Recent work by our laboratory and that of others has underlined the importance of Opn as a pivotal cytokine in the cellular immune response. Despite this Opn is not well known to the immunologist. In this review we will focus on studies that pertain to the role of Opn in cell-mediated and granulomatous inflammation. [source] Molecular imaging: The latest generation of contrast agents and tissue characterization techniquesJOURNAL OF CELLULAR BIOCHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2003Francis G. BlankenbergArticle first published online: 25 AUG 200 Abstract Molecular Imaging technologies will have a profound impact on both basic research and clinical imaging in the near future. As the field covers many different specialties and scientific disciplines it is not possible to review all in a single article. In the current article we will turn our attention to those modalities that are either currently in use or in development for the medical imaging clinic. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Inflammatory bowel disease: Established and evolving considerations on its etiopathogenesis and therapyJOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES, Issue 5 2010Anja SCHIRBEL Modern studies of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) pathogenesis have been pursued for about four decades, a period of time where the pace of progress has been steadily increasing. This progress has occurred in parallel with and is largely due to developments in multiple basic scientific disciplines that range from population and social studies, genetics, microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and DNA engineering. From this cumulative and constantly expanding knowledge base the fundamental pillars of IBD pathogenesis appear to have been identified and consolidated during the last couple of decades. Presently there is a general consensus among basic IBD investigators that both Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the result of the combined effects of four basic components: global changes in the environment, the input of multiple genetic variations, alterations in the intestinal microbiota, and aberrations of innate and adaptive immune responses. There is also agreement on the conclusion that none of these four components can by itself trigger or maintain intestinal inflammation. A combination of various factors, and most likely of all four factors, is probably needed to bring about CD or UC in individual patients, but each patient or set of patients seems to have a different combination of alterations leading to the disease. This would imply that different causes and diverse mechanisms underlie IBD, and this could also explain why every patient displays his or her own clinical manifestations and a personalized response to therapy, and requires tailored approaches with different medications. While we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of this individual variability, we have only a superficial notion of the reasons why this occurs, as hinted by the uniqueness of the genetic background and of the gut flora in each person. So, we are apparently facing the paradox of having to deal with the tremendous complexity of the mechanisms responsible for chronic intestinal inflammation in the setting of each patient's individuality in the response to this biological complexity. This obviously poses considerable challenges to reaching a full understanding of IBD pathogenesis, but being aware of the difficulties is the first step in finding answers to them. [source] Portraying science in the classroom: The manifestation of scientists' beliefs in classroom practiceJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2003Sherry A. Southerland If the goals of science education reform are to be realized, science instruction must change across the academic spectrum, including at the collegiate level. This study examines the beliefs and teaching practices of three scientists as they designed and implemented an integrated science course for nonmajors that was designed to emphasize the nature of science. Our results indicated that, like public school teachers, scientists' beliefs about the nature of science are manifested in their enactment of curriculum,although this manifestation is clearly not a straightforward or simplistic one. Personal beliefs about the nature of science can differ from those of the course, thus resulting in an enactment that differs from original conceptions. Even when personal beliefs match those of the course, sophisticated understandings of the nature of science are not enough to ensure the straightforward translation of beliefs into practice. Mitigating factors included limited pedagogical content knowledge, difficulty in achieving integration of the scientific disciplines, and lack of opportunity and scaffolding to forge true consensus between the participating scientists. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 669,691, 2003 [source] Science and Religion: Philosophical IssuesPHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2008Alan G. Padgett An overview of several philosophical issues that arise from the recent growth of interest in the relationships between science (especially natural science) and theology (especially Christian thought). The interactions between theology and science are complex, and often highly contextual in nature. This makes simple typologies of their interaction rather dubious. There are some similarities between religion and science, including the difficulty of defining them. Concerns about the use and meaning of language, and issues of realism and anti-realism, are found in both areas of thought. Epistemology is important to both areas, and there is increasing acceptance of differing epistemologies not only in religion and science, but also within the various scientific disciplines. One central issue is the question of legitimate influence between science and theology given their aims and methods. Another issue surrounds the question of naturalism in natural science. Also important to note is the variety of god-concepts at work in the current dialogue between science and theology. [source] Brief communication: Locomotor limb preferences in captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Implications for morphological asymmetries in limb bonesAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2008William D. Hopkins Abstract Understanding the evolutionary origins of hemispheric specialization remains a topic of considerable interest in a variety of scientific disciplines. Whether nonhuman primates exhibit population-level limb preferences continues to be a controversial topic. In this study, limb preferences for ascending and descending locomotion were assessed as a means of examining the hypothesis that asymmetries in forelimb bones might be attributed to asymmetries in posture. The results indicated that captive chimpanzees showed a population-level leftward asymmetry in descending locomotion but no group bias for ascending locomotion. The results are consistent with previous behavioral studies in captive chimpanzees as well as studies on skeletal asymmetries of the forelimbs of chimpanzees. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Impulsive versus premeditated aggression: implications for mens rea decisionsBEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 5 2003Ernest S. Barratt Ph.D. Science can provide more information about the nature of aggressive acts, and therefore the mens rea of criminal offenses, than is commonly assumed. For example, progress has been made in classifying aggression as impulsive or premeditated within the context of the role of conscious experience in controlling behavior. This review of the status of the scientific ability to distinguish conscious from unconscious acts and more specifically impulsive from premeditated aggressive acts is organized around four themes: (i) How is aggression defined and measured in general? (ii) How does the distinction between impulsive and premeditated aggression relate to the legal concept of mens rea? (iii) How do various scientific disciplines contribute to the mind/body discourse? (iv) What risk factors are associated with impulsive and premeditated aggression respectively? The authors conclude that the most promising approach to researching the nature of behavioral intention and motivation is to apply a discipline neutral model that integrates the data from multiple disciplines, collectively designated the cognitive neurosciences. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Zwischen Naturphilosophie und Wissenschaftspolitik: Zum Profil der Isis oder Encyklopädischen Zeitschrift von Oken als naturwissenschaftliches Publikationsorgan in den Jahren 1817 bis 1822,BERICHTE ZUR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE, Issue 1 2003Katrin Stiefel Abstract Isis oder Encyklopädische Zeitung, edited by the German natural philosopher Lorenz Oken (1779-1851), is supposed to be one of the most significant journals of natural sciences in the early 19th century. The following study, based on a quantitative analyses of all articles (1817-1822), investigates the profile of the natural sciences in this journal. The results are interpreted according to Oken's concept of the journal as well as his editorial notes. It is shown that the encyclopedically broadly designed journal focuses on the natural sciences as major part of it's content, presenting the descriptive history of natural sciences (Naturgeschichte) as main subject. The journal's research perspective follows the encyclopedical spread of issues and scientific subjects; a clear research profile of scientific disciplines can not be discerned. Although scientific subjects, issues and authors are heterogeneous, Oken preserves an inner coherence by a common perspective founded in natural philosophy: his strategy was therefore to interfere with the content of the articles by comments and footnotes. Finally it is shown that Oken's idea of encyclopedism and it's realisation in Isis comprises sciences as well as politics as two sides of the same coin: based on the philosophical understanding of the unity of nature Oken tries to educate the consciousness of his readers towards a socially and politically homogeneous nation. [source] Recent Progress in Biomolecular EngineeringBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 1 2000Dewey D. Y. Ryu During the next decade or so, there will be significant and impressive advances in biomolecular engineering, especially in our understanding of the biological roles of various biomolecules inside the cell. The advances in high throughput screening technology for discovery of target molecules and the accumulation of functional genomics and proteomics data at accelerating rates will enable us to design and discover novel biomolecules and proteins on a rational basis in diverse areas of pharmaceutical, agricultural, industrial, and environmental applications. As an applied molecular evolution technology, DNA shuffling will play a key role in biomolecular engineering. In contrast to the point mutation techniques, DNA shuffling exchanges large functional domains of sequences to search for the best candidate molecule, thus mimicking and accelerating the process of sexual recombination in the evolution of life. The phage-display system of combinatorial peptide libraries will be extensively exploited to design and create many novel proteins, as a result of the relative ease of screening and identifying desirable proteins. Even though this system has so far been employed mainly in screening the combinatorial antibody libraries, its application will be extended further into the science of protein-receptor or protein-ligand interactions. The bioinformatics for genome and proteome analyses will contribute substantially toward ever more accelerated advances in the pharmaceutical industry. Biomolecular engineering will no doubt become one of the most important scientific disciplines, because it will enable systematic and comprehensive analyses of gene expression patterns in both normal and diseased cells, as well as the discovery of many new high-value molecules. When the functional genomics database, EST and SAGE techniques, microarray technique, and proteome analysis by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis or capillary electrophoresis in combination with mass spectrometer are all put to good use, biomolecular engineering research will yield new drug discoveries, improved therapies, and significantly improved or new bioprocess technology. With the advances in biomolecular engineering, the rate of finding new high-value peptides or proteins, including antibodies, vaccines, enzymes, and therapeutic peptides, will continue to accelerate. The targets for the rational design of biomolecules will be broad, diverse, and complex, but many application goals can be achieved through the expansion of knowledge based on biomolecules and their roles and functions in cells and tissues. Some engineered biomolecules, including humanized Mab's, have already entered the clinical trials for therapeutic uses. Early results of the trials and their efficacy are positive and encouraging. Among them, Herceptin, a humanized Mab for breast cancer treatment, became the first drug designed by a biomolecular engineering approach and was approved by the FDA. Soon, new therapeutic drugs and high-value biomolecules will be designed and produced by biomolecular engineering for the treatment or prevention of not-so-easily cured diseases such as cancers, genetic diseases, age-related diseases, and other metabolic diseases. Many more industrial enzymes, which will be engineered to confer desirable properties for the process improvement and manufacturing of high-value biomolecular products at a lower production cost, are also anticipated. New metabolites, including novel antibiotics that are active against resistant strains, will also be produced soon by recombinant organisms having de novo engineered biosynthetic pathway enzyme systems. The biomolecular engineering era is here, and many of benefits will be derived from this field of scientific research for years to come if we are willing to put it to good use. [source] eDrug: a dynamic interactive electronic drug formulary for medical studentsBRITISH JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 6 2006Simon R. J. Maxwell What is already known about this subject ,,Delivering education about an ever-increasing number of prescribable drugs to medical students represents a major challenge. ,,Drug names are generally not logical or intuitive, and many students find learning them akin to learning a foreign language. ,,Pharmacology and therapeutics teaching is struggling for visibility in some integrated medical curricula. What this study adds ,,Development of electronic tools allowing web delivery of a restricted student formulary facilitates dynamic access to core learning materials, improves the profile of this aspect of the curriculum and is highly appreciated by students. Aims Prescribing drugs is a key responsibility of a doctor and requires a solid grounding in the relevant scientific disciplines of pharmacology and therapeutics (PT). The move away from basic science disciplines towards a more system-based and integrated undergraduate curriculum has created difficulties in the delivery of PT teaching in some medical schools. We aimed to develop a web-based strategy to overcome these problems and improve the PT learning experience. Methods We designed and introduced ,eDrug', a dynamic interactive web-based student formulary, as an aid to teaching and learning of PT throughout a 5-year integrated medical curriculum in a UK medical school of 1300 students. This was followed by a prospective observational study of student-reported views about its impact on their PT learning experience. Results eDrug was rated highly by students and staff, with the main benefits being increased visibility of PT in the curriculum, clear identification of core drugs, regular sourcing of drug information via direct links to accredited sources including the British National Formulary, prioritization of learning, immediate access and responsiveness. It has also served as a focus of discussion concerning core PT learning objectives amongst staff and students. Conclusions Web-based delivery of PT learning objectives actively supports learning within an integrated curriculum. [source] Consistent concepts of self-organization and self-assemblyCOMPLEXITY, Issue 2 2008Julianne. We critically review concepts of self-organization and self-assembly, and extract from this analysis consistent and workable definitions of both concepts that are applicable across many scientific disciplines. In essence, we distinguish self-organization from self-assembly on a thermodynamic basis, where self-organization implies a nonequilibrium process and self-assembly is reserved for spontaneous processes tending toward equilibrium. This discrimination is consistent with early uses of both terms. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 2008. [source] |