Interdisciplinary Links Research Articles

Governance im Gesundheitsrecht – Zur Bedeutung der Referenzgebiete für die verwaltungsrechtswissenschaftliche Methodendiskussion

German administrative law scholarship has been characterised by methodology debates in the last few years. These debates concern the question whether administrative law scholarship should be restricted to the interpretation of the letter of the law by means of the so-called <italic>Juristische Methode</italic>, or whether it should embrace those aspects that influence administrative decisions, but are not contained in the letter of the law. These discussions have come about because of doubts about the ability of the law to control administrative decisions and, in that context, to steer the increasing cooperation of the state with private agents to fulfil public duties. A key concept in these debates is the term “governance” which is drawn from the economic and social sciences. This term comprises regulatory structures which are characterized by a mixture of hierarchical (= governmental) legislation and cooperative, or even informal modes of action such as communication, negotiation and dispute resolution. The laws relating to social security and to the public health system are both areas of reference for the governance debate. They have always been governed less by detailed, hierarchical instruments and more by the goal-oriented cooperation of service providers (like health insurance companies) and service producers. To date this potential has not been recognised in the methodology discussions of public administrative scholarship; in particular, it is not acknowledged that this form of cooperation is not in need of innovation but reform. The example of the German public health law shows that governance may provide the necessary interdisciplinary link between legal and social sciences. However, it cannot serve as a means to loosen the constitutional commitments within the public health system.

Linking the workforce

Every Child Matters calls for schools to work more closely with the wider children's workforce. Marilyn Eccles from Manchester Metropolitan University has been working on a project to support these inter-disciplinary links

Interdisciplinary Links in Oceanic Spreading Center Systems: Mantle to Microbe: Integrated Studies at Oceanic Spreading Centers; Portland, Oregon, 25–26 March 2008, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge ∼35°–37.5°N Implementation Plan Workshop, Portland, Oregon, 27–28 March 2008

Ridge 2000 (R2K) is an interdisciplinary research program sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that conducts integrated studies on Earth's oceanic spreading centers and hydrothermal vent communities. R2K's scientific community gathered in Oregon for two meetings to discuss recent research results and to consider future coordinated studies.

Taxonomy development: assessing the merits of contextual classification

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to share personal experience on the early stages of taxonomy construction, reflecting on the potential role of contextual classification techniques as applied by the records management profession as a tool in effectively organising information, resources and services within intranet and/or portal environments. The paper also aims to assess the additional benefits to be secured where linking content to business purposes can create or reveal new meaning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on experience, personal opinion, published literature and discussions with peers to assess the applicability of contextual classification as a tool to support taxonomy development.FindingsThe paper concludes that classification of information, resources and services within intranet and/or portal environments using a citation order of function, activity, task, sub‐task is likely to be of significant value, requiring further investigation to fully assess impact and applicability. Contextual classification receives much discussion in general records management terms, however its applicability in supporting portal and/or intranet development appears to receive little attention. The requirement to generate improvements in information retrieval from a host of on‐line services (of which taxonomy development is one example) is reinvigorating the role of the informational professional. Given the criticality of improving the management and retrieval of information it is desirable that stronger interdisciplinary links are established across the information profession to further develop “information retrieval” as a subject discipline. Originality/valueThe article suggests that the role of contextual classification to organise information, resources and services within intranets/portals requires further investigation and reflection to assess its applicability, value and impact. Initial findings and reflection of the application of contextual classification in the design of elements of a university portal taxonomy have proven to be successful, suggesting that wider discussion and reflection is now required. It is also suggested that the information profession take steps to build stronger interdisciplinary links to advance the development of information retrieval as a subject discipline.

Ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology—Interdisciplinary links with the historical sciences

In this paper we use three disparate examples to highlight the relevance of historical methods in the context of ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology. Unfortunately, in ethnopharmacology we have only very few examples where such historical depth is possible. On the other hand the first hand data available through ethnopharmacological research, may be of relevance for interpreting historical information. Three distinct methods were used successfully in the retrospective exploration of diachronic data. In order to gain an insight into historical developments in the use of plant species and evolution of pharmacopoeias we used a botanico-historical approach ( Rosmarinus officinalis), one that combines linguistic and statistical methods (Popoluca/Mixe), and one that uses historical documentary evidence (Ch’orti). We hope that this methodological discussion encourages a wider use of such historical methods in ethnopharmacology and related areas of research.

Trust, risk and health care reform

Across the developed world, governments face severe challenges in health care reform as demand rises and resource constraints grow more stringent. In the UK, the current government is devoting considerable resources to welfare state reform and (arguably) achieving real improvements in services such as the NHS and education. Despite this, the reforms remain highly controversial and there is considerable concern about lack of trust in the new welfare policies. A decline in trust may undermine the public acceptability of the reforms and threaten the ability of government to gain electoral support for them. Recent work in sociology, political science and psychology indicates that rational deliberative and non-rational valued-based or affective factors contribute to trust in institutions. At the same time, theoretical arguments suggest an increasing need for public trust. Trust facilitates the co-ordination of complex enterprises under conditions of uncertainty, especially valuable at a time when rising demand and intensifying pressures for spending constraint provide a continuing impetus for reform. One possibility is that policies designed within a rational actor framework may erode the non-rational aspects of trust, so that the service improves but trust in it declines, with consequences for the political sustainability of reformed health care systems. Risk research in health care has a good opportunity to consider issues of institutional trust and to build inter-disciplinary links in doing so.

Plant protoplast technology: Current status

Robust and reproducible protoplast-to-plant systems are crucial for underpinning genetic manipulation technology involving somatic hybridisation and transformation. Novel and effective approaches for maximising the efficiency of such protoplast cultures include supplementation of media with surfactants and artificial gas carriers, such as perfluorochemicals and haemoglobin. Physical parameters, particularly electrostimulation, also enhance the development of protoplasts and protoplast-derived cells in culture. DNA uptake into protoplasts is now a routine and universally accepted procedure in plant biotechnology for introducing and evaluating both short-term (transient) and long-term (stable) expression of genes in cells and regenerated plants. Importantly, protoplast fusion overcomes pre- and post-zygotic sexual incompatibility barriers and generates novel germplasm through new nuclear-cytoplasmic combinations. In this respect, considerable progress has been made in generating somatic hybrid plants, particularly in citrus, brassicas and potato. Isolated protoplasts are also a unique single cell system for evaluating aspects of ultrastructure, genetics and physiology, with potential for the biosynthesis of novel secondary products, including commercially-important recombinant proteins (e.g. antibodies), and as systems in toxicity screening. Recent advances in protoplast technology have benefited from advances in animal and microbial cell culture, with interesting parallels existing between these systems. Further innovations will necessitate the strengthening of interdisciplinary links in these research fields and the requirement for continued dialogue and co-operation between workers with diverse but complementary skills.

Integrated Engineering Curricula

Increasing emphasis on interdisciplinary research and education requires researchers and learners to build links between distinct disciplines. In engineering education, work on integrated curricula to help learners build connections between topics began with three programs in 1988. Integrated curricula have connections to a larger movement in higher education—learning communities, which help learners to build interdisciplinary links and social links within a community. Integrated engineering curricula have provided concrete assessment data on retention and student performance to augment research on learning communities. While innovators in both movements have offered many prototypes and gathered many data, goals and results from programs implemented to date are not sufficiently well defined to guide the design and implementation of programs at other institutions. This paper discusses the importance of integration, reviews accomplishments to date, draws conclusions by analyzing those accomplishments, and suggests future initiatives.

Jean Hanson’s role as inspirational teacher, mentor and researcher

My first encounter with Jean was as a schoolboy attending an interview for a place on the biology degree programme. When I entered the room, she and David Hall were sitting across the table from me, she beamed at me, welcoming me into the interview and helping me to relax. She asked if there was anything scientific that particularly interested me, and when I started to reply she leant across the table, exuding interest in what I had to say, and encouraging me to tell her more. It was a great boost to my confidence that someone so eminent should display such interest in what a mere schoolboy might have to say. I had the great good fortune to have Jean as my scientific tutor during my first term. At the first tutorial she disarmed our small group by announcing that these tutorials would have to concentrate on muscle contraction, because that was the only topic she knew enough about. The tutorials were fascinating, as Jean showed us how what we knew about muscle was based on doing good experiments. I particularly recall the occasion when a tutorial was interrupted by a knock on her office door, and a researcher in her group announced that he had a fascinating new specimen in the electron microscope, was unsure what to make of it, and would Jean please come and have a look. She turned to us, obviously excited, and asked if we would mind terribly if we went with her to have a look. So we gathered round the microscope as Jean sat down at it. In those days the electron image was displayed on a dim green phosphor screen, so Jean turned off the room lights, and we all peered in as she turned up the magnification and began to examine the specimen. This was for me fantastic: to see at first hand the excitement of research at an early stage of my undergraduate life. Jean’s enthusiasm for research, and her ability to engage and enthuse those around her were innate and infectious. From that moment my undergraduate career was focussed at getting good enough grades to be accepted for postgraduate study of muscle contraction, and preferably at King’s. Her lectures on muscle to her undergraduates radiated the same enthusiasm for the subject that her tutorials had. She engaged the attention of the class, and communicated the excitement she felt at the new results that were emerging at that time (Figure 1). She made us feel that we were at the limits of knowledge of the muscle contraction mechanism, and we wanted to know more. She stressed how new knowledge had come from well-designed experiments, often harnessing newlydeveloped technologies, and the practical classes of the module reflected that: we used electron microscopes, and X-ray and light diffraction to see for ourselves how the new data were obtained. As an undergraduate, I was not really aware of how much work Jean, together with Sir John Randall, had put in to instigate the School of Biological Sciences, to pioneer the modular course programmes that I had found attractive when browsing the King’s prospectus as a schoolboy. Jean had worked to put in place the interdisciplinary links that enabled undergraduates to explore a wide range of modules across all the departments of the School. Cell biology modules were taught in the department where the best cell biologists were, molecular biology likewise, so as a student with an interest in these areas, I shuttled between Botany, Zoology, Physiology and Biophysics Departments. Breaking down of barriers between departments, so that students can learn from the best in a variety of fields is still an ongoing process in our universities: the School of Biological Sciences at King’s over 30 years ago was an example of how to do it well.

Examining Instructional Practices of Elementary Science Teachers for Mathematics and Literacy Integration

Integration of content in core disciplines is viewed as an important curricular component in promoting scientific literacy. This study characterized the current practices of a group of elementary teachers relative to their development of interdisciplinary links between science, mathematics, and literacy. A qualitative analysis of survey data showed that there were substantial differences in the use of a well‐developed process for integrating instruction. Teachers also lacked a conceptual connection to integration, showed contradictions in the importance placed on hands‐on experiences, used measurement as the primary interdisciplinary connection between mathematics and science, and did not use instructional strategies designed specifically for nonfiction/expository text. The findings underscore the need for professional development that assists teachers in changing their conceptual perspectives to integration while also building pedagogical knowledge related to integration of science, mathematics, and literacy.

The Centre for Medical Humanities, Royal Free and University College Medical School, London, England.

The Centre for Medical Humanities is based within the Royal Free and University College Medical School. With a student body of more than 2,000, this large United Kingdom medical school benefits from being a fully integrated component of University College London. With its strong humanities and science faculties, University College London was founded more than 175 years ago to make education available to wider social and religious groups. With this background, it is logistically and ideologically well suited to sustaining a medical humanities program. The Centre's aims are to raise awareness of the field of medical humanities, to develop resources for the academic and teaching communities, and to build a broad and well-grounded educational program supported by sound educational principles and innovative research. Since 1998, the Centre and its predecessor, the Medical Humanities Unit, which was established by a group of medical educators with a diverse range of interests in the arts and humanities, has built interdisciplinary links and collaborative relationships with individuals and institutions within the university and beyond, nationally and internationally. These links and relationships have provided invaluable contributions and stimulus to the Centre's activities. The undergraduate educational program described in this article includes core and optional teaching throughout the curriculum, and a 1-year intercalated Bachelor of Science in Medical Humanities degree. For postgraduates, the Centre offers the United Kingdom's first continuing professional development accredited 2-day course in medical humanities, and an annual residential retreat open only to graduates of the course.

Exploring the Designed World: Some Aspects of Course Development in the Greek Context

AbstractThis paper presents student projects realised as parts of design history and theory courses which have been under development in new, design‐related university departments in Greece. An outline of the state of design and design education in Greece is first provided. In this context, the ideas behind the projects' brief are explained and some of the outcomes are discussed. Open‐ended, self‐defined student projects are proposed as a way to approach the multiplicity of meanings afforded by industrially produced objects. Some of the resulting student work is discussed and evaluated. It appears that the project‐based approach described has great potential, especially in terms of broadening the scope of design history and theory education, as well as in forging numerous interdisciplinary links.

Rainforest Composition and Histories of Human Disturbance in Solomon Islands

On the basis of a Solomon Islands case study, we report that tropical rainforests hitherto perceived as untouched, pristine, virgin, etc., are actually sites of former settlement, extensive forest clearance, and irrigated/swidden agriculture. An unusually wide range of sources--rainforest ecology, forest classification and mapping, ethnobotany, land-use history, oral traditions, ethnographic and archaeological observations--supports our conclusions. These observations have bearings for contemporary perspectives on scenarios for rainforest regeneration after logging. They also force a revision of certain assumptions concerning Melanesian prehistory and historical demography, and indicate that interdisciplinary links between botany, archaeology and social anthropology are needed to achieve a better appreciation of rainforest dynamics.

BIOÉTICA Y DISCAPACIDAD PSIQUIÁTRICA: ASPECTOS CLÍNICOS Y JURÍDICOS

This monography seeks to establish an interdisciplinary link between bioethics and the clinical and juridical aspects that connect with attention, protection...

Writing Ireland's historical geographies

This paper seeks to review the progress that has taken place in Irish historical geography during the twentieth century, and to assess the way in which published writings have produced an extraordinarily evocative and colourful elucidation of Ireland's past histories and geographies. It is shown how revisionist writings have played a significant role in the revising of traditional nationalist interpretations of Ireland's past, and how new interdisciplinary links have been established by Irish historical geographers with cognate disciplines such as economic and social history. In terms of methodology, it will also be shown how Irish geographers have moved away from their former ethnographic concentration on the morphology of the Irish landscape to a more manuscript-orientated approach to reconstructing the history of Ireland's past geographies. Recent work by ‘new’ cultural geographers on Ireland's ‘modern historical geographies’ is also explored.

Performance-based design in earthquake engineering: a multi-disciplinary review

This paper reviews the contributions of research towards the development of the methodologies associated with Performance-Based Seismic Engineering (PBSE). Research undertaken in various related disciplines is reviewed, under the broad section headings of (i) Engineering Seismology and Geology (Seismic Activity Modelling), (ii) Engineering Seismology (Seismic Hazard Modelling), (iii) Soil Dynamics, (iv) System Dynamics, and (v) Mechanics of Materials (Concrete used as example). The sequence of the discussion is consistent with a typical seismic assessment procedure, which commences with seismic activity modelling in the ‘upstream’ end of the procedure and finishes with consideration of structural mechanics behaviour at the ‘downstream’ end. Each section provides an outline of historical research and development, leading to a review of the state-of-the-art approaches. Particular emphasis is given to the inter-linking of the disciplines, and the paper refers to such links as ‘Nodal Points’. An example of a nodal point is the definition of probabilistic seismic hazard coefficients that are used to define seismic hazard in terms of elastic response spectra, for example the response spectral accelerations at key periods of 0.3 and 1.0 s. Each of the Nodal Points associated with the various disciplines has been critically reviewed, and shortcomings have been identified. For example, the inability of a probabilistic approach to fully represent an earthquake event as a physical process is highlighted. Also, the importance of putting emphasis in future research on determining the Maximum Credible (or Considered) Earthquake, MCE, is emphasised. The paper brings to light the fact that, although significant achievements have been made in each of the related disciplines and in the connection of the Nodal Points, there has been relatively little change in substance at the Nodal Points themselves. An important outcome of this multi-disciplinary review is the identification of some key limitations in current procedures. The source of these limitations was traced upstream, and thence to the Nodal Points that provide the inter-disciplinary links. This process has been referred to herein as Upstream Feedback. A review of the problems at these links sows the seeds for further development, which would not have been possible had all the recent contributions been confined within the individual disciplines. Such an Upstream Feedback process, enabling improvements to the multi-discipinary links, would be instrumental in enhancing the overall effectiveness of PBSE in the future.

RURAL AND REMOTE ORAL HEALTH, PROBLEMS AND MODELS FOR IMPROVEMENT: A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT: Oral healthcare in rural communities shares many of the dilemmas faced by medicine in providing services to large geographical areas with dispersed populations. This study examined the population data and service provision data relevant to the geographical distribution of oral health care in Western Australia (WA). Of the 1.7 million people resident in WA, 72% were resident in the five major urban centres with only 13% in rural and remote regions. Of the 320 postcode regions, 186 had a population of less than 2500, 31 had a population from 2500 to 5000, 42 from 5000 to 10 000, 37 from 10 000 to 20 000, and 24 had a population greater that 20 000. Almost 80% of postcode regions with a population less than 2500 are in non‐urban regions. Of the total of 690 dentists who were analysed in this study, it was found that the vast majority (greater than 85%) worked in practices in postcode regions within metropolitan Perth or the major urban centres. A total of 43 postcode regions did not have a dental practice within their bounds. In order to address this disparity in service availability, strategies including the development of training for medical practitioners and auxiliaries, the use of modern technology, school‐based programs and the development of interdisciplinary links should be implemented. These strategies would also facilitate the development of closer links between medical and dental practitioners and the development of skills within the medical fraternity that would facilitate improved oral health in rural and remote communities.

RURAL AND REMOTE ORAL HEALTH, PROBLEMS AND MODELS FOR IMPROVEMENT: A WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE

Oral healthcare in rural communities shares many of the dilemmas faced by medicine in providing services to large geographical areas with dispersed populations. This study examined the population data and service provision data relevant to the geographical distribution of oral health care in Western Australia (WA). Of the 1.7 million people resident in WA, 72% were resident in the five major urban centres with only 13% in rural and remote regions. Of the 320 postcode regions, 186 had a population of less than 2500, 31 had a population from 2500 to 5000, 42 from 5000 to 10,000, 37 from 10,000 to 20,000, and 24 had a population greater that 20,000. Almost 80% of postcode regions with a population less than 2500 are in non-urban regions. Of the total of 690 dentists who were analysed in this study, it was found that the vast majority (greater than 85%) worked in practices in postcode regions within metropolitan Perth or the major urban centres. A total of 43 postcode regions did not have a dental practice within their bounds. In order to address this disparity in service availability, strategies including the development of training for medical practitioners and auxiliaries, the use of modern technology, school-based programs and the development of interdisciplinary links should be implemented. These strategies would also facilitate the development of closer links between medical and dental practitioners and the development of skills within the medical fraternity that would facilitate improved oral health in rural and remote communities.

Evolution of cognition : Towards the theory of origin of human logic

The main problem discussed in this paper is: “Why and how did animal cognition abilities arise?” It is argued that investigations of the evolution of animal cognition abilities are very important from an epistemological point of view. A new direction for interdisciplinary researches – the creation and development of the theory of human logic origin – is proposed. The approaches to the origination of such a theory (mathematical models of ``intelligent invention'' of biological evolution, the cybernetic schemes of evolutionary progress and purposeful adaptive behavior) as well as potential interdisciplinary links of the theory are described and analyzed.

The Malnutrition Initiative: Results of a Program Enhancing Dietitian Impact on Revenue Generation

A program of aggressive dietitian (RD) identification and documentation of malnutrition as defined by World Health Organization ICD-9-CM codes has resulted in increased reimbursement and secured adequate clinical staffing in a Chicago hospital. Located in a federally designated medically underserved area of the country, 3 3% of hospital admissions exhibit nutrition risk and 85% are served by Medicare or Medicaid governed by the Diagnostic-Related Group (DRG) system of payment DRGs recognize malnutrition as a qualifying complication/comorbidity (cc) which can increase reimbursement. Currently in it's fourth year, “The Malnutrition Initiative” created new interdisciplinary links between its RD coordinator and Medical Records, Information Management Services (IMS) and hospital Finance to track documentation and reimbursement. Medical Records defined appropriate nomenclature for RD documentation, interprets diagnostic codes to determine cases where malnutrition affects reimbursement, and provides annual DRG updates. IMS developed computer pathways to audit confirmation of malnutrition as a cc on discharge statements. Finance provides access to accounts payable and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement information. Program audits reveal 72% of patients presenting nutrition risk on admission are subsequently documented by RDs as malnourished. Physician support for RD intervention is evident in an average 75% attestation to the diagnosis of malnutrition on discharge statements. The presence of malnutrition as a cc in eligible cases has resulted in program revenue exceeding program costs and secured the RD coordinator position salary. In addition to these financial outcomes, the program provides ample clinical data to study the efficacy of Medical Nutrition Therapy in treating malnutrition.