Related Sciences Research Articles

Towards Community Driven Food Safety Model Repositories

Transferring predictive microbial models from research into real world food manufacturing or risk assessment applications is still a challenge for members of the food safety modelling community. Such knowledge transfer could be facilitated if publicly available food safety model repositories would exist.This research therefore aimed at identification of missing resources hampering the establishment of community driven food safety model repositories. Existing solutions in related scientific disciplines like Systems Biology and Data Mining were analyzed.On the basis of this analysis, some factors which would promote the establishment of community driven model repositories were identified – among them: a standardized information exchange format for models and rules for model annotation. As a consequence a proposal for a Predictive Modelling in Food Markup Language (PMF-ML) together with a prototypic implementation on the basis of the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) has been developed. In addition the adoption of MIRIAM guidelines for model annotation is proposed. In order to demonstrate the practicability of the proposed strategy, existing predictive models previously published in the scientific literature were re-implemented using an open source software tool called PMM-Lab. The models are made publicly available in the first community Food Safety Model Repository called openFSMR (https://sites.google.com/site/openfsmr/).This work illustrates that a standardized information exchange format for predictive microbial models can be established by adoption of resources from Systems Biology. Harmonized description and annotation of predictive models will also contribute to increased transparency and quality of food safety models.

Science Frontiers in Agronomy, Crops, and Soils

Science Frontiers in Agronomy, Crops, and Soils

Językoznawca jako badacz mediów (zarys problematyki)

The author presents the proceedings used by the linguists involved in the media research highlights dominant approaches, distinguishes two hypothetical ones: hegemonic and sovereign, and discusses challenges related to both of them. Hegemonic approach in the media research means the a distinctly defined subject of the study, that is the language of the media, precisely defined subject of analysis, namely the language of the media, and a supremacy of linguistic methods used in the analysis. The linguist as a sovereign prefers an open attitude towards methods applied in the study. Such an approach considers achievements of the media scholarshop as well as other related scientific disciplines. This attitude in the media research means that the linguist analyzes an image of the world in the media, a stylistic differentiation of the media communication, media genres, and the discourse. Furthermore, the linguist as a sovereign claims creating a new linguistic discipline and widens the research field with contrastive issues.

Drama and learning science: an empty space?

Constructivist teaching methods such as using drama have been promoted as productive ways of learning, especially in science. Specifically, role plays, using given roles or simulated and improvised enactments, are claimed to improve learning of concepts, understanding the nature of science and appreciation of science's relationship with society (Ødegaard 2001, Unpublished Dr. scient., Dissertation, University of Oslo). So far, theorisation of drama in learning, at least in science, has been lacking and no attempt has been made to integrate drama theory in science education with that of theatre. This article draws on Peter Brook's notion of the theatre as the ‘empty space’ (Brook 1968, The empty space, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books) to provide a new theoretical model acting as a lens through which drama activities used to teach science can be better understood and researched. An example of a physical role play is used to ground the theory. The paper concludes by suggesting areas for further research.

Biotechnology and genetic engineering in the new drug development. Part I. DNA technology and recombinant proteins

Pharmaceutical biotechnology has a long tradition and is rooted in the last century, first exemplified by penicillin and streptomycin as low molecular weight biosynthetic compounds. Today, pharmaceutical biotechnology still has its fundamentals in fermentation and bioprocessing, but the paradigmatic change affected by biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences has led to an updated definition. The biotechnology revolution redrew the research, development, production and even marketing processes of drugs. Powerful new instruments and biotechnology related scientific disciplines (genomics, proteomics) make it possible to examine and exploit the behavior of proteins and molecules.Recombinant DNA(rDNA) technologies (genetic, protein, and metabolic engineering) allow the production of a wide range of peptides, proteins, and biochemicals from naturally nonproducing cells. This technology, now approximately 25 years old, is becoming one of the most important technologies developed in the 20th century.Pharmaceutical products and industrial enzymes were the first biotech products on the world market made by means of rDNA. Despite important advances regarding rDNA applications in mammalian cells, yeasts still represent attractive hosts for the production of heterologous proteins. In this review we describe these processes.

A bibliometric analysis of climate engineering research

The past five years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of media and scientific publications on the topic of climate engineering, or geoengineering, and some scientists are increasingly calling for more research on climate engineering as a possible supplement to climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. In this context, understanding the current state of climate engineering research can help inform policy discussions and guide future research directions. Bibliometric analysis—the quantitative analysis of publications—is particularly applicable to fields with large bodies of literature that are difficult to summarize by traditional review methods. The multidisciplinary nature of the published literature on climate engineering makes it an ideal candidate for bibliometric analysis. Publications on climate engineering are found to be relatively recent (more than half of all articles during 1988–2011 were published since 2008), include a higher than average percentage of nonresearch articles (30% compared with 8–15% in related scientific disciplines), and be predominately produced by countries located in the Northern Hemisphere and speaking English. The majority of this literature focuses on land‐based methods of carbon sequestration, ocean iron fertilization, and solar radiation management and is produced with little collaboration among research groups. This study provides a summary of existing publications on climate engineering, a perspective on the scientific underpinnings of the global dialogue on climate engineering, and a baseline for quantitatively monitoring the development of climate engineering research in the future. WIREs Clim Change 2013, 4:417–427. doi: 10.1002/wcc.229This article is categorized under: Climate, History, Society, Culture > Disciplinary Perspectives Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Knowledge and Practice

Perspektiven von Arbeit, Alter, Gesundheit und Erwerbsteilhabe in Deutschland

The German population is aging and shrinking. This will have a significant impact on the labor market, because labor supply will start to shrink. Consequently, there is a need to develop additional labor market resources. In this setting, a crucial issue is the health and employment of the older working population. This article discusses--on the basis of nine articles in this special issue--the health of the working population in the context of work, age, and labor participation. It shows the diversity of morbidity in the work force in general and particularly in older age, and it identifies older labor force groups with good health and those with bad health. The latter shows that "working while having a bad state of health" is today's reality. Labor market participation is less dependent on health than on the "work ability" and/or the "motivation to work" of older workers. The employment dynamics of an aging population will be a key issue in future political debate. A reliable knowledge base is needed for proper discussion, judgment, and action in the economic, political, and social fields. Current research is often focused on subtopics or on subgroups; however, a network of all the related scientific disciplines and the establishment of new comprehensive research approaches are needed in this area.

Green Economy and Infrastructure Contributions of USDA Urban and Nonfarm Soil Projects in the U.S.

Green Economy and Infrastructure Contributions of USDA Urban and Nonfarm Soil Projects in the U.S.

From the Gait Laboratory to the Rehabilitation Clinic: Translation of Motion Analysis and Modeling Data to Interventions That Impact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Loads in Gait and Drop Landing

In female athletes the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury during impact-related activities such as landing is higher compared to males. Both how and why this occurs has been at the forefront of orthopedic sports medicine research over the past 20 years. Many individuals with an ACL-deficient knee compensate for joint instability in an effort to remain physically active. Yet others do not compensate and are faced with a reduction in their activities and/or meniscus tears and eventually osteoarthritis. In this article we attempt to link 2 distinct but related scientific disciplines (in vivo motion analysis assessment and computational modeling) to show how these techniques have emerged as powerful tools in our understanding of knee function. Normal knee function and the biomechanics of the ACL-deficient (ACLd) and ACL-reconstructed (ACLr) knee are summarized. Basic experiments concerning the mechanism of noncontact ACL injury as well as performance adaptations in ACLd and ACLr knees are reviewed, and the biomechanics of the normal, ACLd, and ACLr knees under more strenuous activities, such as landing from a jump, are provided.

The Structure Design of Special-Shaped PDC Reinforced-Cutter and its Finite Element Method Analysis

A new structure is proposed to solve the failure mode of PDC cutter created by its mechanical fatigue, crack and diamond table delamination, so as to improve their service life. By applying the finite element method analysis, the force allocation of PDC cutter and multi-face (as known non-planar) designed PDC reinforced-cutter revealed that: the distribution and size of the internal stress in the cutter when working was improved, and the multi-face structure further reinforced the meshing force of the cutter’s PDC layer and cemented carbide substrate. And thus significantly strengthen the shear-resistance capability. This is particularly meaningful to the kinematics of mono-cone bit and its adaptive exploration of rock-breaking features, as well as to the related scientific disciplines in the future.

TEACHING ENGINEERING STUDENTS CREATIVITY: A REVIEW OF APPLIED STRATEGIES

ERIES Journal is an international, open-access, double-blind-peer-reviewed and fully refereed scientific journal dealing with issues of efficiency and/or responsibility in education and related scientific disciplines.

Nemškoslovenski zgodovinski glosar ali poskus pisanja glosarja na področju humanistike oz. družboslovja

Avtor najprej umesti zgodovinsko znanost v okvir humanistike oz. družboslovja, ugotavlja njeno povezanost s pomožnimi vedami in sorodnimi disciplinami. Na podlagi tega opiše kriterije, ki so ga vodili pri naboru gesel za zgodovinski glosar. Ob tem se zavzema za kompromisno rešitev, torej tudi vključevanje polterminov in neterminoloških enot, saj je prepričan, da na zadevnem področju ni mogoče dosledno upoštevati tistih zakonitosti, ki sicer opredeljujejo terminologijo. Sledi opis v glosar vključenega izrazja, pri čemer loči med osrednjim in obrobnim delom zgodovinske terminologije. Takšna rešitev je po njegovem prepričanju tudi uporabniku prijazna rešitev.

Quality assurance for the query and distribution systems of the RCSB Protein Data Bank

The RCSB Protein Data Bank (RCSB PDB, www.pdb.org) is a key online resource for structural biology and related scientific disciplines. The website is used on average by 165 000 unique visitors per month, and more than 2000 other websites link to it. The amount and complexity of PDB data as well as the expectations on its usage are growing rapidly. Therefore, ensuring the reliability and robustness of the RCSB PDB query and distribution systems are crucially important and increasingly challenging. This article describes quality assurance for the RCSB PDB website at several distinct levels, including: (i) hardware redundancy and failover, (ii) testing protocols for weekly database updates, (iii) testing and release procedures for major software updates and (iv) miscellaneous monitoring and troubleshooting tools and practices. As such it provides suggestions for how other websites might be operated.Database URL: www.pdb.org

Research approach for forming a new typology of spatial planning theory

What is being suggested in this paper is the research approach for the classification of theoretical contributions in the scientific domain of the spatial planning. Typology is a multidimensional classification, actually it is the framework for the understanding of the subject area, theory and practice, ideas and methodologies. The complex approach is needed to organize the complex and diverse domain of spatial planning theory, which has been shaped by different schools of thought and the influences of the related scientific disciplines. It has been suggested that the research approach becomes the bridge between two cultures, in other words it should be the synthesis of the qualitative and quantitative methods of the typology construction. With the analysis of the existing typologies, which are quantitatively derived, the chosen concepts will be improved and completed due to the computerized statistical analysis of the appropriate bibliometrical data. Moreover, the procedure in the opposite direction will be used, which also connects empiric types with their conceptual counterparts. With that approach, the main aim is to achieve the comprehensive classification scheme, which will take part of the platform for integration of the interdisciplinary approach in the spatial planning domain. That concept of the research belongs to the wider approach that has got the aim that with the scientific innovations and imaginations bring about the solving of the problems and challenges that the spatial planning faces with. The forming of the new typology is the first step in that direction.

Defining pharmacology of natural products in the 21st century - challenge on multiple fronts

Natural products are of significant interest to us in many ways. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the foods we eat are all natural products. Many drug products and toxins are also “natural”. Natural product sciences now face challenges at many fronts. At a global and economical level, biodiversity is dimin-ishing everyday as the rain forest gives away to farmland and the coral reef is destroyed by pollution. As a result, many potentially valuable natural products are lost forever before we even know their very existence. An immediate implica-tion beyond the direct loss is that we have less natural products to “copy” from. We pharmacolo-gists may not have the power to change the world, but we can certainly contribute. At a social level, natural products are generally perceived as safe and largely devoid of side effects. This belief has been taken advantage of to promote “natural health products”. Beneficial effects of some are substantiated, but the only benefit of great many is only psychological. Some even created much damage to the believers. Aristolochic acid nephropathy is but only one example. Pharmacologists can, and are obliged to educate the public. At a scientific level, pharmacologists who are interested in natural products also face many challenges. First, rapid advances in related scientific disciplines (e.g. molecular biology, immunology) made us look like dino-saurs. We need to learn new concepts and technologies, and more importantly, to incorporate what we learn in our re-search. Second, modern chemistry and material sciences have blurred the boundary between natural products and synthetic materials. A great many of substances are neither natural nor purely man-made. We need to venture out of our comfort zones to embrace such great opportunities. Third, the use of natural products by human beings to combat diseases and promote health has never been with sin-gle known chemical identity until very recently. Many substances/recipes are known to have solid impact on human health; some have been validated by good clinical practice. Acceptance of application for herbal medications with multi-ple ingredients by the US FDA signals to the world a change of attitude towards acknowledging “good clinical observation”. This change probably also reflects a much more fundamental issue: the human body is a very complex organism. Very few diseases could be traced to a single cause. Multiple causes and pathological changes un-der most diseases call for intervention at multiple sites. One commonly encountered phenomenon in this area is the loss of biological activity in search of the “active compound”. Some, and probably most, are due to technical reasons, but we need to consider the alternative: 1 + 1 may be much more than 2. It is a general policy that studies accepted by this journal must be of known chemical entity or entities. This policy is needed to ensure the scientific quality but creates a set of problems. Frankly, we do not have a clear strategy to deal with this dilemma. Last but not least, we also face challenges at a practical level. First, many natural products with biological activity have poor solubility in water. As a result, research on these natural products is often difficult. Second, natural products are often limited in supply. Semi or total synthesis is a discipline that attempts to address this issue. Third, many natu-ral compounds with biological activity have complex chemical structures. Considering the almost infinite combination of chemical modifications, investigating the structure-activity relationship is tremendously time- and resource-consuming. Great challenges are often synonymous to great opportunities. The creation of this journal is a testimony to our collective effort in rising up to the challenges and turn opportunities to advances. We welcome submission of schol-arly manuscripts that may advance the pharmacology of natural sciences from every possible angle.

Essential veterinary education in infectious diseases of livestock and related scientific disciplines

The World Organisation for Animal Health (commonly referred to bythe acronym of its original French name Office International des Epizooties [OIE]) was created in 1924 with the aim of controlling the international spread of infectious animal diseases. The OIE mandate has broadened since then, but the prevention and control of infectious and parasitic diseases are still at the heart of OIE activities. To plan and implement effective disease control strategies the Veterinary Services of OIE Member Countries need well-educated veterinarians who have extensive knowledge of how and why outbreaks of infectious animal diseases occur and spread and how they can be prevented and controlled. The teaching of fundamental scientific disciplines - virology, bacteriology, parasitology, epidemiology, risk analysis, immunology and vaccinology--is therefore a vital component of all veterinary education programmes.

Making the Most of Online Collaboration

In her Perspective (“Technology and informal education: What is taught, what is learned,” 2 January, p. [69][1]), P. M. Greenfield emphasizes that scientific thinking should go beyond mere visual literacy to include “reflection, analysis, critical thinking, mindfulness, and imagination.” Informal learning on the Internet can encompass facets other than visual media. As avid readers and writers of science at the online international undergraduate The Journal of Young Investigators (JYI) ([ 1 ][2]), we believe that informal education through Internet-based media promotes active and critical scientific thought. Despite the prevalence of visual media, text remains the primary form of communication and collaboration on the Internet. Online science media such as JYI provide opportunities for students to critically read and write about literature by constructing logical scientific arguments. Practicing scientists often note that 50% of the scientific process involves strong written communication in the form of grant writing and journal articles. Grant proposals in particular require students to communicate their ideas compellingly to generalists and situate the work in a broader context. ![Figure][3] CREDIT: ISTOCK Undergraduate publication experience also introduces students to the world of peer review, a cornerstone of scientific collaboration. They are forced to address criticism of their own research experiments or of their interpretation of the literature. The global reach of the Internet ensures exposure to many schools of thought. JYI itself has students from 60 undergraduate institutions across 14 countries. Such experiences give students an edge as budding scientists by not only developing strong scientific writing and thinking, but also by encouraging the habit of staying abreast of the latest advances in science outside of the student's area of specialization. Students gain a broad understanding of science's relationship to society, so that they may advocate on science's behalf. In this way, informal online collaboration involving writing stimulates critical discussion of scientific issues and allows students to actively shape their own education. 1. [↵][4] The Journal of Young Investigators ([www.jyi.org][5]). 2. Science has provided editorial support to JYI. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1167190 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: pending:yes [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1 in text [5]: http://www.jyi.org

Are animals stuck in time or are they chronesthetic creatures?

Although psychologists study both the objective (behavior) and the subjective (phenomenology) components of cognition, we argue that an overemphasis on the subjective drives a wedge between psychology and other closely related scientific disciplines, such as comparative studies of cognition and artificial intelligence. This wedge is particularly apparent in contemporary studies of episodic recollection and future planning, two related abilities that many have assumed to be unique to humans. We shall challenge this doctrine. To do so, we shall adopt an ethological approach to comparative cognition and this necessitates two requirements. The first is that memory and planning need to be characterized in terms of objectively defined properties as opposed to purely phenomenological ones; the ability to remember what happened, where, and how long ago is a critical behavioral criterion for episodic memory. The second requirement is the identification of an ethological context in which these memories would confer a selective advantage. As a consequence, we turn this debate into an empirical evaluation in nonlinguistic animals and one embodied in synthetic creatures. Indeed, our behavioral conception of flexibly deployable information about "what, where, and when" has so far supported a comparative cognition in animals as diverse as corvids and primates. We argue that this approach may clarify and challenge ideas that have been based solely on research with human subjects, without the need to be constrained by phenomenological assumptions based on human-centric ways of thinking.

The place of the scientific discipline of documentation in the system of sciences

Theoreticians’ views of the place occupied by the scientific discipline of documentation among the related scientific disciplines were considered. A new approach has been suggested, taking into consideration the relationships between the scientific discipline of documentation and the metasciences (documentology, noocommunicology, and informology) and the structuring of the scientific discipline of documentation itself.

Pervasive Healthcare as a Scientific Discipline

The OECD countries are facing a set of core challenges; an increasing elderly population; increasing number of chronic and lifestyle-related diseases; expanding scope of what medicine can do; and increasing lack of medical professionals. Pervasive healthcare asks how pervasive computing technology can be designed to meet these challenges. The objective of this paper is to discuss 'pervasive healthcare' as a research field and tries to establish how novel and distinct it is, compared to related work within biomedical engineering, medical informatics, and ubiquitous computing. The paper presents the research questions, approach, technologies, and methods of pervasive healthcare and discusses these in comparison to those of other related scientific disciplines. A set of central research themes are presented; monitoring and body sensor networks; pervasive assistive technologies; pervasive computing for hospitals; and preventive and persuasive technologies. Two projects illustrate the kind of research being done in pervasive healthcare. The first project is targeted at home-based monitoring of hypertension; the second project is designing context-aware technologies for hospitals. Both projects approach the healthcare challenges in a new way, apply a new type of research method, and come up with new kinds of technological solutions. 'Clinical proof-of-concept' is recommended as a new method for pervasive healthcare research; the method helps design and test pervasive healthcare technologies, and in ascertaining their clinical potential before large-scale clinical tests are needed. The paper concludes that pervasive healthcare as a research field and agenda is novel; it is addressing new emerging research questions, represents a novel approach, designs new types of technologies, and applies a new kind of research method.