Scientific Theories Research Articles

Ravens and Strawberries: Remarks on Hempel’s and Ramsey’s Accounts of laws and scientific explanation

Hempel never met Ramsey, but he knew his work. In his 1958 The Theoretician’s Dilemma: a study in the logic of theory construction, Hempel introduces the term Ramsey sentence, referring to Ramsey’s attempt in Theories to get rid of theoretical terms in formal accounts of scientific theories. In this paper, I draw the attention to another connection between Ramsey’s and Hempel’s works. Hempel’s Deductive-Nomological (DN) account of scientific explanation resembles very closely Ramsey’s account of a certain type of conditional sentences. In the first part of the paper, by introducing a fictional story, I highlight the similarities and differences between the two. In the last part of the paper, I claim that the most relevant difference between Ramsey and Hempel can be used to offer original solutions to Hempel’s Raven Paradox. Two possibilities are presented, arguing that the second, which requires a reconsideration of the formalisation of laws, is the most promising.

Doing Violence to Darwin: Conflicting Christian Evaluations of Darwinism and Violence

At issue is the degree to which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection is to blame for violence caused by communism, Nazism, and other societal dysfunctions. Conservative Christian opponents claim Darwinism undermines Biblical authority and supports ideologies causing violence. Secular and Christian supporters of Darwinism argue that Darwinism has not promoted violence but has been used to provide a scientific rationale for violence that would have been caused anyway. Moreover, Christian supporters of Darwinism maintain that Darwinism is by no means incompatible with the Bible. This paper examines claims by both sides as well as the attempts by Darwinism’s Christian opponents to supplant Darwinism with theories which they hope will restore Biblical authority, including Creationism, Creation Science, and Intelligent Design theory. The paper concludes that despite the legal setbacks encountered by adherents to these alternative theories, the conflict continues.

Historical and theoretical roots of the big events framework

This article traces the evolution of the Big Events framework since it began as an attempt to understand why sociopolitical transitions in the Former Soviet Union, South Africa, and Indonesia were followed by HIV outbreaks. Big Events frameworks have evolved over time, but all versions try to concretize how macrosocial changes lead to social, personal and environmental changes that shape risk environments and drug use or other behavioral patterns in ways that may lead to epidemics. Important stages in the evolution of the Big Events framework included understanding that the sequelae of Big Events were contingent rather than deterministic, and the development of new survey measures to understand pathways through which Big Events affect social and epidemiologic outcomes. On a broader level, the Big Events framework is a useful crystallization and application of more abstract sociological, social epidemiologic and Marxist frameworks about upstream/downstream relationships and how major social changes are related to epidemics. As such, they raise issues of how to conduct research on dialectical interaction processes. On another level, this article traces the Big Events “style of thought” as Mannheim (Mannheim, 1971) termed it, within the historical context of changes in public health and social science theory, particularly during and after the 1960s.

Synergistic effects of students’ mathematics and science motivational beliefs on achievement, and their determinants

BackgroundStudents’ mathematics and science motivational beliefs are crucial determinants of their school academic achievement in math and science. The current study aimed to identify the group memberships of students’ motivational beliefs in math and science, which are closely related. Furthermore, this study probed the predictive effects of individual students’ experiences at school on forming group membership. We also tested the mean differences of the identified latent groups in math and science achievement.ResultsUsing latent profile analysis modeling, we examined data from 3857 Korean eighth-grade students participating in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. The theoretical rationale and supplementary statistical indices showed a five-group membership as the optimal solution. The five groups are high motivation, medium motivation, low math/high science motivation, low motivation, and very low motivation. Students’ sense of school belonging was the most crucial predictor in forming group membership, whereas perceived student bullying did not predict group membership. Finally, students in distinct motivational belief groups exhibited differences in their math and science achievements.ConclusionsThis study identified five subgroups of students based on their distinct motivational beliefs in math and science, and variations in their association with achievements. In terms of policy development and intervention, it is important to nurture students’ sense of school belonging. This study advances motivational theories in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and provides practical suggestions for improving educational practices to enhance student math and science motivational beliefs.

Finite Element Analysis of Leaf Spring Fabricated Via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

An introduction to fused deposition modeling, or 3D printing technology, will be given in this chapter. The basic idea of additive manufacturing and its underlying scientific theory will be presented at the outset of this chapter as a novel and emerging industrial technology. The parameters used to predict the melt deposition of polymers and their basic interactions with the structural component qualities will also be covered in this chapter. The chapter will provide a brief description of the quality features of FDM products concerning the process parameters. The additive manufacturing process will involve layering material to produce three-dimensional (3D) parts using a class of manufacturing technologies known as additive manufacturing (AM). This substance will include composite, metal, polymer, or concrete materials. A manufacturing process will need to have the following three main elements to be designated as an AM technique: making visual 3D models with computers and computer-aided design (CAD), utilizing a variety of CAD tools such as AutoCAD, SolidWorks, CATIA, and others. Some of these programs will be either closed- source or open-source. For additive manufacturing to be successful, an engineer or artist working with several computers will need to be proficient in using multiple operating systems. With these CAD tools and user experiences, it will be possible to produce a variety of complex 3D product models. The amount of material a 3D printer will take and the time it will require will be important factors influencing the additive manufacturing process.

Effects of different intensity resistance training on fat level, energy intake, and appetite among overweight and obese female college students

This study examines how different intensity resistance exercises impact fat, energy intake, and appetite regulation in overweight and obese female college students in Jiangsu Province, China. This study used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design that investigates resistance training intensity-target result causation. The study determines the impact of High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Moderate-Intensity Resistance Training (MIRT) on body composition, fat level/body composition, and muscle mass them. In Jiangsu Province, China, 515 overweight and obese female college students aged 18–25 were sampled. Intervention groups were assigned randomly to campus recruits based on demographic and anthropometric. This study demonstrated significant correlations between resistance training intensity, body composition, diet, and appetite regulation in overweight and obese colleagues. MIRT and HIIT outperformed Control in weight loss and diet and used valid measures like DEXA (Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry), blood tests and food diaries to regulate appetite hormones. Increased protein and muscle mass minimize resistance exercise intensity-metabolic consequences. The study analyzes these impacts to show how exercise intensity, food, and metabolic health are interconnected. These findings help build evidence-based obesity prevention and treatment strategies for this demographic. Healthcare providers, legislators, and university stakeholders use this study to tackle college student obesity. The results suggest that campus wellness initiatives should focus on resistance exercise and diet to combat obesity. This research promotes exercise science and health behavior change theory for cross-cultural lifestyle interventions.

The modern methodological conceptions and the development of anglo-american economics in the 20th century

Purpose: The aim of this article is to reconstruct the basic methodological assumptions that are relevant to contemporary conceptions of the science of economics developing in English and American literature during the 20th century. Methodology/approach: The paper aims to outline the logical structure of scientific theories in economics, which determines the objectivity of this science. Theoretical testing of hypotheses is performed by referring to more general and higher theoretical knowledge. Findings: The prevalence of utilitarian attitudes described in the article, which limit economic cognition to cost and profit calculations and economic processes to activities around profit maximisation, promotes the instrumentalisation of the norms and principles of this science, and indirectly indicates the absence of other autonomous values besides profit. Practical implications: Making the starting point in this article expressed in the work of British and American classics writing in the twentieth century demonstrates that they were moderate and flexible thinkers, as the structure of their theories reflects the changes that occurred in the leading methodological currents of the time. Originality/value: In every epoch of the development of the science of economics, there are concepts that consciously need to be guarded against variability (e.g. the concept of truth) and to strive to ensure that methodological concepts form as coherent a scientific belief system as possible.

The utility of high-dosage experiments in everyday life to test theories in clinical science.

This viewpoint article discusses the utility of high-dosage experiments (HDEs) in everyday life to test theories in clinical science. HDEs involve experimental manipulations and assessments that occur over much longer periods of time than traditional experiments-generally days or even weeks. By nature, they also occur outside the lab, in the everyday environments of participants. Additionally, as with other experiments, the purpose of the study is concealed from participants. Experimental design is one of the most distinguishable characteristics of psychology that separates it from other behavioral sciences. Studies that rely on experiments are essential for theory testing and establishing the potential causal role of mechanisms that underlie psychopathology. Yet despite the value of experimental research, experimental studies are not currently given special prominence in clinical psychological science. For example, in the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, of all the empirical studies in the most recent year (2023), only three of 77 incorporated an experimental manipulation. Experimental research appears to be less popular in clinical psychology than in other fields, such as social psychology. What might account for this discrepancy? First, clinical samples are more difficult to recruit. This is important because experimental manipulations may produce small effects that require large samples for detection. Additionally, mechanisms hypothesized to underlie psychopathology are often chronic and intransigent. For example, cognitive factors (e.g., perfectionistic beliefs) could require an especially strong manipulation to modify in isolation. Researchers have argued that psychology has been experiencing a crisis in theory development. Eronen and Bringmann (2021) stated that one major reason for this crisis is the difficulty in establishing causal relationships between psychological constructs. The replication crisis has garnered even more attention (Open Science Collaboration, 2015). HDEs would help address these two crises and provide stronger and more replicable tests of theory. This could allow us to more precisely identify important mechanisms underlying psychopathology, potentially enhancing treatment efficacy, and enabling us to move the field forward. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Maximal extractable value: Current understanding, categorization, and open research questions

In traditional financial markets, front-running is a well-structured phenomenon. It represents a form of privileged actors utilizing knowledge or power advantages to extract undue profit at the cost of other stakeholders. Various mitigation strategies have emerged, ranging from market design to regulatory measures. More recently, a similar and substantially richer variety of means to gain unethical profit from power asymmetries has appeared in the context of blockchain-based decentralized applications. This phenomenon is called “maximal extractable value” (MEV). Despite the decentralized nature and inherent transparency of blockchain ledgers, MEV is particularly prevalent and challenging to mitigate. While related work in computer science and algorithmic game theory has already identified several different ways in which MEV manifests in decentralized finance (DeFi) and outlined partial solution approaches, a discussion of its impacts in the information systems (IS) domain is still absent. A holistic definition of MEV and how it can be exploited is necessary for the discussion of its potential implications for blockchain-based IS for businesses and public institutions. This paper conducts a systematic literature review to close this gap. It consolidates the diverging definitions of MEV and provides a categorization of the different ways in which it can manifest. As such, we synthesize and review the existing state of knowledge on MEV and point to undiscovered areas relevant to decentralized electronic markets in the form of a research agenda.

Ontologies and Research Data

This study examines the relationship between ontologies and open research data within the framework of the Semantic Web. The objective is to investigate the interconnectivity of both subjects through scholarly works that offer enhancements to the Web ecosystem and scientific research processes. The paper reviews critical theoretical frameworks related to the Semantic Web and the significance of metadata within this model. It also delves into the function that ontologies can fulfill in the Semantic Web landscape. The paper provides a historical overview of the emergence of ontologies and definitions in both Computer Science and Information Science. It chronicles how theorists in Information Science have progressively embraced the concept of ontologies since the late 20th century and assesses the current scholarly consensus on the subject. The study also addresses the importance of open research data in modern science by doing a systematic literature review; this study sources relevant publications from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, with a temporal focus from 2000 to 2023. The findings offer a comprehensive analysis of existing literature that bridges the two domains above, aiding in the theoretical and methodological systematization of the subject matter. The discussion section elaborates on the findings, offering insights into the evolutionary trajectory of the subject matter. Emphasis is placed on the utility of ontologies as tools for the sustainable and effective utilization of research data, accentuating the value of such data as a basis for future scholarly work. In conclusion, we advocate for information science to take a leading role in initiatives that leverage ontological frameworks to manage specialized knowledge in research data sets effectively, ensuring that such data remains an asset for advancing scientific understanding.

Perception, Evolution, and the Explanatory Scope of Scientific Theories

According to the interface theory of perception, our perceptual systems have evolved to provide a species-specific interface to guide adaptive behaviour, and not to provide veridical representations of an observer-independent world. Results of simulations of evolutionary resource games, genetic algorithms, and multiple mathematical theorems have supported and fleshed out this claim in various ways. They indicate that the probability is zero that any perceptual system has been shaped by natural selection to represent the true structure of an observer-independent world. Bagwell (2023) thinks that this argument is self-defeating because it implies that organisms, resources, genes, etc. that are essential constituents of Darwin's theory do not provide an insight into the nature of observerindependent reality. Bagwell's argument relies on a false premise, however — namely, that the mathematical formulation of a scientific theory cannot dethrone its fundamental concepts. More broadly, his argument involves a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of scientific theories — of their explanatory scope and their necessary limits.

Health Misinformation Research

ABSTRACTHealth misinformation research has dramatically increased since the start of the COVID‐19 pandemic, although not all of this work has taken advantage of the rich theoretical and methodological background information science as a discipline has to contribute. This panel presentation will feature information scientists conducting health misinformation research from and in various settings, to showcase the value and range of information science approaches to health misinformation research. Each panelist will describe their work in the area of understanding and/or addressing health misinformation in institutions such as libraries and schools, health systems and interventions such as vaccination or public health promotion, or the general public in their online or offline information environments. Presentations will also highlight the ways researchers are applying information science theory, methods, and/or approaches to health misinformation topics, as well as lessons panelists have learned through this work. The panel will conclude with an interactive audience discussion that will center on the ways in which information science can help understand and address health misinformation challenges around the world.

THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULATORY FUNCTIONS AIMED AT INCREASING HUMAN VALUE IN THE SYSTEM OF SOCIAL RELATIONS

The article gives a sociological definition of the concept of human value, reveals the role and significance of human value in the development of society and the state. Also, the scientific theories and discoveries of Eastern thinkers who lived and worked in the 9th-11th centuries, such as Abu Nasr Farabi, Musa Al-Khorazmi, Al Fargani, Mirza Ulugbek, which had a methodological influence on increasing the value of man, are analyzed in detail and a sociological assessment is given by scientists of the East and The West with their scientific discoveries and theories, scientific views. KEY WORDS: Teachings of Eastern thinkers, Western Europe, human value, social, social state, social inequality, society, methodological influence, human needs, science and discoveries, civilizational processes, Avesta, Abu Nasr Farabi, Musa Al-Khorazmi, Al Fargani.

Period poverty, menstrual health and menstrual (in)justice in the context of social work – in the opinions of students and graduates of social work

Menstruation, until recently treated as a purely biological phenomenon, is beginning to be perceived as a social phenomenon, becoming the subject of research, scientific theorizing and publications. Third-sector organizations are being formed to tackle period poverty, promote menstrual health and work for menstrual justice. Menstrual poverty and broadly understood menstrual inequalities are often experienced by socially vulnerable individuals, families, groups and communities, who become social welfare institutions and social work service users. The article presents selected results of a survey with participation of social work students (current and graduates) on their perception of the relationship between social work and the elimination of menstrual poverty, the promotion of menstrual health and the prevention of menstrual injustice.

Study of Topological Spaces that Don’t Rely on Points as their Basis

Traditionally, the concept of points and neighborhood structures has been quite dominant in defining and further analyzing various properties in the study of topological spaces. In pointless topology-or point-free topology, also referred to as locale theory-the key emphasis is shifted from points to lattices of open sets. In addition to gaining further insight into spatial properties, this approach has important implications in fields like theoretical computer science, logic, and categorical theory. It is the purpose of the present work to be mainly interested in issues of the foundation of point-free topology: locales, frames, mutual relationships between them; the ways of interpreting classical topological concepts in the new language and the strong and weak points of such a point-free view. In the process, we focus on some of the significant applications of point-free topology, both within mathematics and beyond. The present paper is an attempt to give a broad overview of pointfree topology, discussing both its theoretical basis and its practical significance.

Using the Google Books Ngram Corpus to Study Social Evolution

This article briefly summarizes primary publications that use Google Books Ngram (GBN) to study societal change. GBN is the most extensive tagged diachronic corpus available. Trends in societal evolution can be studied using year-by-year word frequency statistics. The development of individualism, changes in emotions and happiness, social psychology, and some other topics are among those examined in this article as research areas that have attracted the most interest. This paper discusses the specific findings and the research methodology, particularly its limitations. There are some examples of how GBN can be used to test existing scientific theories. New, unexpected, and scientifically significant findings are possible with GBN that would not be possible with other approaches.

Законодательная регламентация вопросов противодействия новым формам девиантного поведения в сети «Интернет»

Introduction. The article deals with the problem of legislative counteraction to new forms of deviant behavior that have recently appeared in the information space of the Internet. Trash streams represent the greatest public danger among its currently existing varieties. With the application of general scientific and private scientific methods, as well as the method of systemic formal- legal analysis, an attempt was made to determine some general provisions concerning the possibility of bringing the organizers and participants of trash streams to criminal, as well as in some cases to administrative responsibility. From the position of the theory of criminal legal science, as well as the currently available law enforcement practice, a number of draft laws prepared by the public and legislators, which are currently being considered as legislative initiatives, have been analyzed. In particular, the draft law on introducing alterations and additions to criminal legislation, proposing to establish criminal liability for committing such acts on the Internet. The subject of the study is federal laws, regulations and documents governing social relations in the field of combating criminal manifestations of deviant behavior on the Internet. The material base of the study was formed by the works of domestic forensic scientists devoted to the problem under study, as well as periodical press materials, judicial and investigative practice. Methods. The methodological basis of the study was formed by the basic provisions of the dialectical method of cognition, general scientific and private scientific methods, such as comparative-legal, concrete-sociological, formal-logical, systemic and historical, which made it possible to state some general conclusions. Results. As a result of the research the relevance of the systemic formal-legal approach has been established, starting from the legislative fixation of the concepts related to the signs of trash streaming, an attempt has been made to formulate the general conditions of criminalization of this kind of phenomena, legislative initiatives and proposals aimed at combating trash streaming have been named and analyzed. In addition, the conclusion is drawn of the complexity of criminal legal qualification of trash streaming as an act enshrined in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a specific criminal law norm due to the formal absence of indicia of public danger and illegality, as well as the need for further work on draft laws, taking into account, among other things, the opinion of the scientific community.

Open set identification of malicious encrypted traffic based on multi-feature fusion

In the current network environment, an increasing amount of malicious traffic is transmitted through encrypted channels, carrying control commands and data. With the continuous development of communication protocols and applications, new types of malicious encrypted traffic are emerging, posing significant challenges for network management (e.g., traffic engineering). Therefore, accurately identifying malicious traffic in complex open network spaces has become a hot research topic in network security. In this study, we draw inspiration from channel theory in image science and innovatively convert traffic data into Red-Green-Blue (RGB) image format to achieve the fusion of multiple features. Inspired by image recognition technologies, we have designed a multi-granularity network model that integrates both global and local features, serving as our core network architecture. At the top of the model, we have equipped each known category with a unique autoencoder, using its generated manifold to replace traditional prototypes for model construction. Classification is accomplished through a scoring mechanism that evaluates category membership and by setting thresholds to achieve open set recognition of unknown categories. Relying on our self-created dataset,Malicious and Encrypted Traffic 2024 (MNET2024), we conduct a series of extensive experiments. The results demonstrate that our proposed method exhibits outstanding performance in both closed-set and open-set recognition tasks.

Мир объективного знания и социально-экономическая реальность (К. Поппер & К. Маркс)

The growing specialization and formalization of economic knowledge threatens to break away from the general scientific base that forms the worldview of the researcher. An urgent task is presented in the reintegration of basic methodological principles and categories of science into modern social science and economic theory. The article conducts a comparative analysis of the works of K. Marx and K. Popper, who made revolutionary changes in the methodology and ideological attitudes (conceptual frameworks) of scientific knowledge. Marx’s contribution focuses on dialectical and historical materialism, the doctrine of the economic basis of society and the change of socio-economic formations; Popper’s contribution focuses on his trial and error method with falsifying interpretation of results and the concept of successive three worlds of the universe. Popper’s criticisms of Marxist doctrine (essentialism, elements of mythology, teleologism) and the counterarguments of consistent Marxists are evaluated. The paper characterizes Popper’s positions on the realism of scientific knowledge, the world of predispositions, flexible management in animate and inanimate nature, the world of mental states of consciousness and the world of the objective content of thinking. Their commonality with the provisions of dialectical and historical materialism (the material nature of objective reality, the theory of reflection, the role of objective mental forms and ideological social relations) in the formation of the ‘world of objective knowledge’ is shown. The insufficiency of Popper’s epistemology for the study of the economic basis of social life is revealed. Based on a structural and logical analysis of the methodological principles and theoretical positions of Marx and Popper, the paper outlines the paths to the development of a system of concepts that brings together the complementary results of their apparently opposing research programs. Also presented are sources showing the relevance of the ideas of Marx and Popper in modern methodological and socio-economic literature. It is concluded that the world of objective knowledge (the key category of Popper’s social science) is part of the socio-economic life of society (in its Marxist interpretation), which, in turn, is incomplete without taking into account the realities of this world and needs additional study from the appropriate angle.

A Conceptualist Reading of the Continuity Argument

In this paper I analyze the non-conceptualist continuity argument to show that it implies an implausible conception of perceptual experience in animals that are supposed to lack concepts. In order to do this, I show the limitations and implicit premises in the traditional formulations of the argument, and the additional premises needed to use it as an objection against conceptualism. Then, I review studies in cognitive neuroscience, ethology, comparative psychology, developmental psychology, and philosophical considerations to show that the argument implies a conception of animal experience that is at odds with our scientific theories and even with the motivations for adopting non-conceptualism. I conclude that, if we wish to defend the continuity between adult human’s and other animal’s experiences, we should do it by attributing concepts to the latter.