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Scientific Process (scientific + process)
Selected AbstractsElectron microscopy encounters with unusual thermophiles helps direct genomic analysis of Aciduliprofundum booneiGEOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2008A.-L. REYSENBACH ABSTRACT Terry Beveridge's enthusiasm about the ingenuity of microorganisms has stimulated many new avenues of microbial research. One example where Terry's observations helped direct the scientific process was in the analysis of the draft genome of the thermoacidophilic archaeum, Aciduliprofundum boonei. This deep-sea vent heterotroph ferments peptides as its primary metabolic pathway, using numerous enzymes encoding for proteolytic or peptidolytic activities. An almost complete modified Embden,Meyerhof,Parnas pathway operates in the gluconeogenic direction. Terry was particularly intrigued by the S-layer and flagellum of A. boonei. Although only putative genes for the S-layer protein could be identified, several genes encoding for glycosyl transferases were located in the draft genome that could glycosylate the S-layer proteins and protect the proteins from the acidic environment. Furthermore, A. boonei possesses a unique organization to its flagellum genes and may represent a third organizational type within the Archaea. [source] Recognition of Indigenous Interests in Australian Water Resource Management, with Particular Reference to Environmental Flow AssessmentGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2008Sue Jackson Australia's new national water policy represents a substantial change from the previous approach, because it recognises a potential need for allocations to meet particular indigenous requirements, which will have to be quantitatively defined in water allocation plans. However, indigenous values associated with rivers and water are presently poorly understood by decision-makers, and some are difficult to quantify or otherwise articulate in allocation decisions. This article describes the range of Australian indigenous values associated with water, and the way they have been defined in contemporary water resource policy and discourse. It argues that the heavy reliance of indigenous values on healthy river systems indicates that, theoretically at least, they are logically suited for consideration in environmental flow assessments. However, where indigenous interests have been considered for assessment planning purposes indigenous values have tended to be overlooked in a scientific process that leaves little room for different world views relating to nature, intangible environmental qualities and human relationships with river systems that are not readily amenable to quantification. There is often an implicit but untested assumption that indigenous interests will be protected through the provision of environmental flows to meet aquatic ecosystem requirements, but the South African and New Zealand approaches to environmental flow assessment, for example, demonstrate different riverine uses potentially can be accommodated. Debate with indigenous land-holders and experimentation will show how suited different environment flow assessment techniques are to addressing indigenous environmental philosophies and values. [source] A critical evaluation of current views regarding eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): Clarifying points of confusionJOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002Byron R. Perkins EMDR is an active psychological treatment for PTSD that has received widely divergent reactions from the scientific and professional community. This article examines points of confusion in the published literature on EMDR, including the theoretical, empirical, and historical issues around EMDR and placebo effects, exposure procedures, the eye movement component, treatment fidelity issues, and outcome studies. It also examines historical information relevant to the scientific process and charges of "pseudoscience" regarding EMDR. We conclude that the confusion in the literature is due to (a) the lack of an empirically validated model capable of convincingly explaining the effects of the EMDR method, (b) inaccurate and selective reporting of research, (c) some poorly designed empirical studies, (d) inadequate treatment fidelity in some outcome research, and (e) multiple biased or inaccurate reviews by a relatively small group of authors. Reading the original research articles frequently helps to reduce the confusion arising from the research review literature. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 77,97, 2002. [source] AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS OF PHILIPPINE READY-TO-EAT FOODS FROM TAKE-AWAY PREMISESJOURNAL OF FOOD SAFETY, Issue 2 2005MA. PATRICIA V. AZANZA ABSTRACT The Aerobic Plate Counts (APCs) of some Philippine ready-to-eat (RTE) foods from take-away premises were established for the first time within the context of using the information for the development of Philippine microbial guidelines for RTE foods. The calculated APCs for most of the RTE foods analyzed in the study were ,,10,5 cfu/unit of food sample. Among the reasons cited to explain higher APC values were: use of raw ingredients for the final product, temperature abuse during vending, inadequate cooking and use of leftovers. It was recommended that the generally acceptable microbial guideline value for APC of RTE foods set at <,105 cfu/unit be adapted locally until more precise microbial criteria for this food type could be developed through an appropriate scientific process. [source] Information resources in High-Energy Physics: Surveying the present landscape and charting the future courseJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 1 2009Anne Gentil-Beccot Access to previous results is of paramount importance in the scientific process. Recent progress in information management focuses on building e-infrastructures for the optimization of the research workflow, through both policy-driven and user-pulled dynamics. For decades, High Energy Physics (HEP) has pioneered innovative solutions in the field of information management and dissemination. In light of a transforming information environment, it is important to assess the current usage of information resources by researchers and HEP provides a unique test bed for this assessment. A survey of about 10% of practitioners in the field reveals usage trends and information needs. Community-based services, such as the pioneering arXiv and SPIRES systems, largely answer the need of the scientists, with a limited but increasing fraction of younger users relying on Google. Commercial services offered by publishers or database vendors are essentially unused in the field. The survey offers an insight into the most important features that users require to optimize their research workflow. These results inform the future evolution of information management in HEP and, as these researchers are traditionally "early adopters" of innovation in scholarly communication, can inspire developments of disciplinary repositories serving other communities. [source] The TRIPSE: A process-oriented evaluation for problem-based learning courses in basic sciencesBIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 1 2002P. K. Rangachari Abstract A process-oriented problem solving exercise is discussed that attempts to mimic the scientific process. This would be particularly useful for problem-based courses in the basic biomedical sciences. [source] Perceptual Diversity: Is Polyphasic Consciousness Necessary for Global Survival?ANTHROPOLOGY OF CONSCIOUSNESS, Issue 1 2001Tara W. Lumpkin Perceptual diversity allows human beings to access knowledge through a variety of perceptual processes, rather than merely through everyday waking reality. Many of these perceptual processes are transrational altered states of consciousness (meditation, trance, dreams, imagination) and are not considered valid processes for accessing knowledge by science (which is based primarily upon quantification, reductionism, and the experimental method). According to Erika Bourguignon's (1973) research in the 1970s, approximately 90 percent of cultures have institutionalized forms of altered states of consciousness, meaning that such types of consciousness are to be found in most human societies and are "normal." Now, however, transrational consciousness is being devalued in many societies as it is simultaneously being replaced by the monophasic consciousness of "developed" nations. Not only are we are losing (1) biodiversity (biocomplexity) in environments and (2) cultural diversity in societies, we also are losing (3) perceptual diversity in human cognitive processes. All three losses of diversity (bio, cultural, and cognitive) are interrelated. Cultures that value perceptual diversity are more adaptable than cultures that do not. Perceptually diverse cultures are better able to understand whole systems (because they use a variety of perceptual processes to understand systems) than are cultures that rely only on the scientific method, which dissects systems. They also are better stewards of their environments, because they grasp the value of the whole of biodiversity (biocomplexity) through transrational as well as scientific processes. Understanding through perceptual diversity leads to a higher degree of adaptability and evolutionary competence. From the perspective of an anthropologist who has worked with development organizations, development will continue to destroy perceptual diversity because it exports the dominant cognitive process of "developed" nations, i.e., monophasic consciousness. Destroying perceptual diversity, in turn, leads to the destruction of cultural diversity and biocomplexity. Drawing from research I conducted among traditional healers in Namibia, I conclude that development organizations need to listen to those who use transrational perceptual processes and also need to find a way to incorporate and validate perceptual diversity in their theoretical and applied frameworks. [source] | ||||||||||