Scientific Narratives Research Articles

ScrollyVis: Interactive Visual Authoring of Guided Dynamic Narratives for Scientific Scrollytelling.

Visual stories are an effective and powerful tool to convey specific information to a diverse public. Scrollytelling is a recent visual storytelling technique extensively used on the web, where content appears or changes as users scroll up or down a page. By employing the familiar gesture of scrolling as its primary interaction mechanism, it provides users with a sense of control, exploration and discoverability while still offering a simple and intuitive interface. In this article, we present a novel approach for authoring, editing, and presenting data-driven scientific narratives using scrollytelling. Our method flexibly integrates common sources such as images, text, and video, but also supports more specialized visualization techniques such as interactive maps as well as scalar field and mesh data visualizations. We show that scrolling navigation can be used to traverse dynamic narratives and demonstrate how it can be combined with interactive parameter exploration. The resulting system consists of an extensible web-based authoring tool capable of exporting stand-alone stories that can be hosted on any web server. We demonstrate the power and utility of our approach with case studies from several diverse scientific fields and with a user study including 12 participants of diverse professional backgrounds. Furthermore, an expert in creating interactive articles assessed the usefulness of our approach and the quality of the created stories.

The behavioral origins of phylogenic responses and ontogenic habits.

An examination of innate behavior and its possible origins suggests parallels with the formation of habitual behavior. Inflexible but adaptive responses-innate reflexive behavior, Pavlovian conditioned responses, and operant habits-may have evolved from variable behavior in phylogeny and ontogeny. This form of "plasticity-first" scientific narrative was unpopular post-Darwin but has recently gained credibility in evolutionary biology. The present article seeks to identify originating events and contingencies contributing to such inflexible but adaptive behavior at both phylogenic and ontogenic levels of selection. In ontogeny, the development of inflexible performance (i.e., habit) from variable operant behavior is reminiscent of the genetic accommodation of initially variable phylogenic traits. The effects characteristic of habit (e.g., unresponsiveness to reinforcer devaluation) are explicable as the result of a conflict between behaviors at distinct levels of selection. The present interpretation validates the practice of seeking hard analogies between evolutionary biology and operant behavior. Finding such parallels implies the validity of a claim that organismal behavior, both innate and learned, is a product of selection by consequences. A complete and coherent account of organismal behavior may ultimately focus on functional selective histories in much the same way evolutionary biology does with its subject matter.

Geopoetics

This article presents an alternative political history of recent planetary thought through an examination of geopoetics rooted in the colonial politics of Indonesia and Cold War geosciences. This history reveals how geopoetics has not been marginal or critical of dominant scientific narratives but has been central to the development of modern theories of the earth. The article traces the roots of that history in colonial Indonesia through debates between geologists, Theosophists, and orientalists, and in colonial endeavors to suppress Javanese Islam through new geological narratives. It considers the work of Johannes Umbgrove, his theory of geopoetry, and its influence on Harry Hess and the theory of plate tectonics. Acknowledging this history shows us just how deeply connected geopoetics is to much longer religious, cosmological, and political conversations about narrating the earth. The article examines how geopoetics has long been preoccupied with understanding the connectivity of nature and catastrophic histories and points to contemporary possibilities for rethinking the relationship between humans, the earth, and cosmos.

Publications reveal how socio-ecological research is implemented: Lessons from the Rhône long term socio-ecological research platform

Socio-ecological research enlists inter- and transdisciplinarity to address complex environmental issues. Yet the “socio-ecological system” concept can be interpreted in many different ways. A characterization of the diverse practices in socio-ecological research could facilitate dialogue between researchers about the possible conceptual and ethical approaches. In this study, we investigated if a detailed analysis of scientific articles would reveal the nature and course of a socio-ecological research network, and the research angle of its members. The example we used was the Rhône River Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) platform in France. We combined a multivariate analysis of a reading grid of publications by Rhône River LTSER researchers and a textual analysis of the scientific narratives. The publications were from a 10-year period and corresponded to those used in a recent international comparative analysis of LTSER platforms. The analysis revealed that the research was dominated by a biophysical approach, with a progressive increase in social aspects. The emergence of a transdisciplinary approach, co-constructed with operational partners, was also shown. The research conducted by the Rhône River LTSER was grounded in the context of managing a river with strong anthropic influences and interests, and the scientific approach aimed to provide knowledge for guiding decisions. Little referencfte was made in the publications to socio-ecological conceptual frameworks. Beyond the example of this LTSER platform, we identified indicators for describing the degree of inter- and transdisciplinarity and the different perceptions of socio-ecological systems. The narrative analysis revealed the angle of the research approach; this method could be used in future studies for a comparison of the diverse approaches of multiple research groups.

The scientific narrative around new food technologies needs to change

The scientific narrative around new food technologies needs to change

Microdosing psychedelics: The segregation of spiritual and scientific narratives within the r/microdosing online community

AbstractBackground and aimsMicrodosing psychedelics refers to the practice of repeatedly ingesting doses that do not reach the threshold for perceptual alterations. This practice has gained attention from mass media, businesses, and the general public, as evidenced by the proliferation of online communities dedicated to it. In this contribution, we examine the content generated within the online community r/microdosing from its creation on October 16, 2013, until the day of data collection on October 31, 2020. Our aim is to examine the narratives reflected by users' contributions, specifically the compatibility or incompatibility of spiritual and scientific narratives.MethodsIn this contribution, we used text analysis techniques and examined the content generated within the online community r/microdosing from its creation on October 16, 2013, until the day of data collection on October 31, 2020.ResultsWe clearly identified a topic that reflects a spirituality narrative as well as a topic that we coined as “neuro-cognition” and that reflects a scientific narrative. These topics were typically not present within the contributions of the same users, suggesting that the scientific and spiritual narratives are segregated within the r/subreddit community.ConclusionOur approach emphasizes the potential of text analytic techniques for uncovering the cultural repertoire surrounding a particular practice, in our case, the practice of microdosing psychedelics.

When a woman becomes a plant: looking at philosophical discourses through literary narratives

ABSTRACT Transcending the human perspective has always been a challenge – for philosophical as well as for literary and scientific narratives. The present study focuses on such a transcendence from humans to plants through a joint reading of a philosophical and a literary narrative in a form of interdisciplinary conversation. Instead of interpreting literature by means of philosophical commentaries, the philosophical narrative itself will be focused and illuminated through the literary text. The essay La vie des plantes (The Life of Plants) (2016) by Emanuele Coccia is chosen as the philosophical component of this approach. The literary lens for focusing on Coccia’s phenomenological treatise enacts the imagery concerning the gradual transformation of a woman into a plant in the story ‘The Fruit of my Woman’ published in 1997 by the South Korean author Han Kang.

Man as Memory and Metaphor of Matter: Italo Calvino’s ‘Priscilla’ and the Narration of (Bio)science

ABSTRACT This article investigates the relation between science and narration through the lens of gender and anthropocentrism. By analysing Calvino’s long, ‘biocomic’ triptych ‘Priscilla’ (published in T con zero in 1967) alongside (popular) scientific tales on (a)sexual reproduction, patterns in fictional and scientific storytelling are individuated. The three parts of Calvino’s story, starting from a unicellular organism and ending in the (primordial) sea, tell a remarkably non-anthropocentric tale. Different life forms and sexualities are explored alongside the microbiology of human reproduction. The binary terms and gendered hierarchies through which the meeting of egg and sperm is often recounted in scientific narratives are much less pronounced in ‘Priscilla’. By exploring the posthuman and non-speciesist aspects of Calvino’s story, the entanglement between past and future, pre-human and post-human, human and animal, can be reappraised in an original manner.

The Dawn of Humanity: What Can Paleoanthropologists and Geoscientists Learn from One Another?

Establishing a scientific narrative of human origins requires a better understanding of the geological processes that facilitated the fossilization and recovery of hominins and associated fauna that inform us about our human ancestors’ past environments. Paleoanthropologists rely on geologists, particularly volcanologists, geochemists, sedimentologists, and geochronologists, to help them tease out the depositional and preservation history of fossils. Here, we provide an overview of how geology has contributed to major paleoanthropological discoveries from select Plio–Pleistocene localities in eastern Africa, Tanzania (Oldupai* (Olduvai) Gorge and Laetoli), Kenya (Allia Bay, Kanapoi, and Koobi Fora), and Ethiopia (Hadar, Woranso-Mille, and Dikika) over the past 75 years of research.

The Russian Origin of hybrid warfare as a tool to promote the Anti-Russian Agenda in Western Society

The author examines the publications of Western authors on the subject of hybrid warfare from 2014 to 2022, inclusive. The purpose of the study is to analyze the views of Western political and military experts that hybrid warfare is a development of Russian military thought, as one of the mechanisms to promote the anti-Russian agenda. The subject of the study is the publications of Western researchers on the topics of information and hybrid warfare from 2014 to 2022. The object of the study is a Russophobic narrative created around the phenomenon of hybrid warfare by Western political and military experts. The Russophobic narrative means a constructed sequence of images and ideas of an anti-Russian orientation, clothed in the form of a scientific narrative. Due to the huge array of publications for the period from 2014 to 2022, the work analyzed studies reflecting the main specifics of the views of Western authors on the subject under consideration. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that Western researchers began to attribute hybrid warfare to the development of Russian military theorists in 2014, which falls on a new round of active confrontation between Russia and the United States and the beginning of an active anti-Russian campaign in the West. Hybrid warfare has become a journalistic cliche today, which experts and journalists use to describe any actions that do not fit within the framework of traditional ideas about the principles of conventional warfare. Based on initially false and unsubstantiated theses, Western authors accuse Russia of waging a "barbaric war" on the territory of Ukraine in the period from 2014 to 2022. This study revealed that all the tools and elements of hybrid warfare described by Western experts have been successfully used by the United States and the NATO bloc in the course of modern military conflicts. Thus, the humanitarian sphere in the West has turned into another element of propaganda.

Israel Kirzner's Use of Narratives to Illuminate the Limitations of Neoclassical Economics and the Austrian Alternative

Abstract This article investigates how Israel Kirzner approached mainstream economists with his view of the Austrian theory. It discusses the role of narrative elements in Kirzner's theory in his use of stories to illuminate ideas in entrepreneurship, the theory of the firm, and the knowledge problem. This article argues that the use of narrative made Kirzner's theory more open to dialogue without tying him to the scientific demarcation criteria used in mainstream economics. The scientific narratives in Kirzner's work allow him to (i) emphasize the logical order of economic phenomena, (ii) highlight causal mechanisms in economic theory, (iii) make some generalizations but without perfect predictions with economics, (iv) explore different scenarios from contingent events in the economy, and (v) illustrate economic ideas with fictional but plausible cases. The article concludes that these narrative aspects help Kirzner illuminate the limitations of neoclassical economics and offer an alternative perspective based on the entrepreneurial state of “alertness” from an Austrian point of view.

First experiences to ground agroforestry Innovation Platforms into their local institutional context

Description of the subject. We present a literature overview of innovation platform practices in Africa, combined with case studies of sub-national platforms established in Senegal and Burkina Faso. Objectives. The main objective was to understand how the facilitation process of innovation platforms can become more effective. Two specific objectives were to study RAMSES II innovation platform cases in Senegal and Burkina Faso where we observed and reflect on the facilitation of agroforestry innovation platforms. A final objective was to position the case results in a literature overview of IP experiences in Africa. Method. Information on innovation platforms was collected by combining an analysis of RAMSES II agroforestry innovation platform cases and an innovation platform literature review. Results. The study illustrates how the organizational position of the facilitating research agents contributed to shaping platform agendas, functions, and outcomes. This process hinges on the deployment of legitimacy claims, which appeal to technical expertise and scientific narratives, in this case on agroforestry. Institutional embeddedness is shown to be a critical aspect of agency in innovation platform multi-actor processes, contributing to framing local understandings of agroforestry and to channel collective efforts. Conclusions. The institutional identity of facilitating research agents and their relationship to members of a platform requires a more open and process oriented role. Coordination and facilitation roles can also be taken up by other members of the platform. This enhances the platform’s ability to ground their agendas into local needs and priorities. It also enhances sustainability, as active membership during the project period prepares platform members to continue after project closure.

Teologia jako nauka

The article explores how theology functions within the scientific context. It begins by noting that Christian theology differs from the theology of other religions, as well as among its own branches, such as Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Theology, viewed as a systematic study of Christian revelation, has a long history dating back to the 2nd century AD and was regarded as a science for many centuries. Currently, questions arise about its place in the academic environment and its adherence to scientific criteria. The article suggests that theology must justify its value both internally, in terms of research and teaching, and externally, in relation to other fields. Critics point out differences in theological methods of knowledge acquisition and challenges in adapting to scientific discoveries. Various theological approaches are discussed, ranging from Origen to contemporary thinkers who emphasize the importance of critical and systematic methodologies in theology. The concluding section reflects on the potential role of theology as a science, highlighting its potential for critical analysis of ideological and scientific narratives.

Kreowanie upośledzonej tożsamości Innego w środowisku edukacyjnym (psychiatryzowanie)

The aim of the article, based on a qualitative study, is to identify and interpret the meanings parents assign to messages conveyed by school personnel about the behavior of students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities coupled with autism. The main research objective is to present the mechanism of impairment of the identity of pupils in special education, known as psychiatricization. The phenomenon of psychiatricization occurs in situations where school staff abuse and misinterpret the behaviour of people with intellectual disabilities, looking for mental illness in the behaviours they present. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the misunderstood, behavioural-coded communication of pupils perceived as mentally ill by teachers who are convinced they should be diagnosed and treated with appropriate psychotropic drugs in order to subdue and quieten the awkward pupil. A consequence of the activities and discourse of school staff, i.e. psychiatricization, including stigmatization, harm, abuse of power-knowledge, is falsifying the identity of students, depriving them of opportunities and opportunities for optimal development and satisfying their special educational needs. The presented qualitative research is located in the constructivistinterpretative paradigm, and the mainstream of the scientific narrative is the critical theory.

Правоведы российского лесного законодательства XIX века

The article analyzes the contribution of law scholars of forest legislation of the 19th century; highlights their creative and life path. No state can exist without laws in general and without development of legislation of specific institutions, industries, structures, clusters, etc. Long-standing underdevelopment of Russian forest legislation can be explained by vastness of forests, lack of access to the seas, and lack of market relations. Transition from artisan mode of production to manufacture, the country's need for a fleet, and awareness of the necessity of replenishing the treasury through timber trade radically changed the picture and drew attention to the forest. All these changes required development of forest legislation, which actually happened in the 18th – 19th centuries. There are certain people behind each phenomenon, and the forest legislation is no exception. Those people, who harmonized fragmented and overlapping forest laws and in part, narratively, gave the legislative forest process itself a problem-chronological and explanatory character, did a huge and very useful theoretical and practical work, fully deserving the good memory of their descendants and recognition of jurists and all engaged in forestry. The empirical basis of the research is sources, which can be divided into several groups: reference books and encyclopedias of forest legislation; works analyzing the formation and improvement of Russian forest legislation; normative legal acts concerning forests. The methodological basis of the study is general dialectical method of cognition contributing to progressive development from specific to the general, as well as method of hermeneutics, lore of understanding and interpretation of legal texts; and approach emphasizing the objective nature of a historical personality’s activities, revealed through causality and conformity of historical development. The approach proposed by the author to consider the formation of the issue and its development by superimposing it with the history of personalities who solved the issue provides a new look on the problem, a better understanding of reasons that prompted scientists to deal with it, and saturates scientific narrative with brighter colors. The peculiarity of biographical research conducted by the author consists in understanding their life path, creative credo, and the history of the Fatherland.

Evidence based Scientific Narrative Review on the Anticoagulant Mechanisms of Allium sativum (Garlic)

Introduction: Garlic (Allium sativum, Family: Amaryllidaceae) is a seasoning plant cultivated all over the world. Garlic contains a lot of bioactive compounds including organosulfur compounds, saponins, phenolic compounds, and polysaccharides. Anticoagulant activity is one of the pharmacological properties of Garlic. The aim of this study was to review the mechanism of the anticoagulant activity of garlic and summarise the potential evidence about the anticoagulant activity of garlic from past studies. Method: Literature searches were conducted on PubMed and Google Scholar databases. 44 full articles were reviewed in detail in this study. The findings were reviewed and potential evidence for the anticoagulant mechanisms of garlic was summarised. Results: Organosulfur compounds in garlic play a major role in the anticoagulant property of garlic. Garlic exhibits anticoagulant activity mainly through three mechanisms. Those are inhibiting platelet aggregation, retarding thrombin formation, and promoting fibrinolysis. The anticoagulant activity of garlic is proven by several human, animal and in-vitro studies. Garlic significantly inhibits adenosine diphosphate and epinephrine induced platelet aggregation in healthy subjects. Garlic administration inhibit the thrombus formation in rats. Aqueous and methanolic extracts of garlic prolong prothrombin time. Extension in clotting time is reported with increasing concentrations of garlic extract. Conclusions: Garlic has been reported as a medicinal plant showing anticoagulant activity by resisting platelet aggregation, inhibiting thrombin formation and enhancing fibrinolysis and this study suggests that garlic reduces the risk of thrombosis therefore cardiovascular complications.
 
 Keywords: Anticoagulant Activity, Garlic, Thrombosis

Psychiatric semiology in postmodernity

This article intends to reflect on the validation of psychiatric semiology and nosography that is taught in clinical psychologists and psychiatrists training programs. The vision of academic psychiatry of our times, strongly influenced by scientific narrative, seeks to consolidate an universal nosography that aims to erase the culture marks. However, the prevalence of certain diagnoses over others is determined by the social context and cultural changes that determine, in turn, the classifying standards of professionals. For this reason, it is important to include the contributions of public intellectuals and cultural theorists for an updated and culturalized semiology of clinical phenomena. We will use the developments of Mark Fisher on Capitalist Realism to rethink the main symptoms of depression.

Dissidents, Rebels, and Everyday Heroes: New Perspectives on the Digital Archiving of Cultural Resistance Under State Socialism

The aim of this article is to present and study how a digital archive can shape and create new ways of producing, publishing, and studying historical sources. Based on our analysis of the COURAGE (Cultural Opposition—Understanding the CultuRal HeritAGE of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries) Registry about cultural dissent under state socialism in Eastern Europe in the second half of the twentieth century (and focusing on collections about environmental issues in this registry), we seek to understand how different private, amateur, and professional archivists have shaped the scientific and public legacy of cultural dissent under state socialism. The COURAGE Registry conveys a unique view of the history of the Soviet Bloc, providing an assemblage of documents concerning people, groups, institutions, events, and pieces from the time. Together, they tell an alternative story of cultural opposition under socialism, shedding light on important—but until now marginalized—problems, topics, and actors. Our results have shown that cultural opposition in the Registry is understood and constructed as a wide range of forms of engagement and activities, and it is not limited to specific high-cultural or direct political products. The structure of the COURAGE Registry creates a balance among collections that are very diverse in form, and its linked data structure helps connect the information and stories compiled in it. The COURAGE Registry enables researchers to use it as a tool with which to build their own scientific narratives about dissent under socialism.

Advances in Pigmentation Management: A Multipronged Approach.

Key cellular players regulating human skin pigmentation include melanocytes in the epidermis that synthesize melanin, neighboring keratinocytes that receive and distribute melanin in the upper layers, and fibroblasts in the dermis that affect overlying melanocytes and keratinocytes. In addition, endocrine factors from the blood supply (endothelial cells) and inflammation-related factors play a role. Thus, new strategies for affecting pigmentation need to consider these multiple cell lines to adequately cover various causes and disease processes associated with hyperpigmentation. Pathophysiologic mechanisms and cellular pathways involved in melanogenesis were thoroughly reviewed with particular emphasis on the cellular interplay involved in the process. A complex system of interlinking and independent pathways was defined and described demonstrating differing pathways for altered pigmentary disorders - melasma associated with endothelial cell interactions; post inflammatory hyperpigmentation associated with keratinocyte inflammatory mediators (PGE2 in particular); and photodamage involving all 4 cell types. In vitro validation studies were then undertaken to define differing cell group gene expression profiles with selected peptides and other active agents. Melanocytic production of pigment was then tested with these agents to identify key potential players capable of limiting pigmentation. Hexapeptide-12 and lactoferrin (melanocytes), Hexapeptide-11 (in keratinocytes), and phosphatidylserine (endothelial cells) were identified as major inhibitors of melanogenesis based on their gene expression profiles. This was confirmed by secondary melanin production tests performed on melanocytic lines. Additional active agents were also identified as inhibitors of melanocytic production of melanin, and together, these constituents formed the basis for a novel formulation for use in pigmentary disorders. A comprehensive scientific narrative of the various facets relating to pigmentation has been presented including differing pathways affecting varied cell lines that effect pigment production. Based on this concept, actives were tested using gene expression studies as well as in vitro melanogenic model testing in different cell lines. Using this novel multi-faceted approach, we have selected and validated a series of active agents to be used in a formulation targeting the complex problem of hyperpigmentation. J Drugs Dermatol. 2022;21(11):1206-1220. doi:10.36849/JDD.7013.

#MagicMantras: Bhaktamar Mantra Healing Between Jainism and the Spiritual Marketplace

This article addresses Bhaktamar Mantra Healing (BMH), a healing practice based on a popular Jain stotra. After a preliminary discussion of Tantra and Tantric elements in Jainism, BMH is introduced as the most recent layer in a complex tradition that grew around the Bhaktāmar Stotra and conceptualized as a “Tantric reconfiguration”: a relatively recent creative blending of Jain devotional and Tantric elements with some new influences resulting in a systematized, democratized, and (to an extent) commodified brand of spiritual healing available on the spiritual marketplace. It then proceeds to examine BMH’s significant digital media presence to demonstrate how information provided on the effectiveness and mechanics of mantra healing reveals a complex interplay of shifting religious, spiritual, and scientific narratives and how functional differences between different digital media forms impact upon the prevalence of these different narratives. Ultimately, the article argues that approaching BMH as a Tantric reconfiguration emerging from an encounter of a Jain practice with consumer culture is helpful to make sense of what sets BMH apart from other uses of Jain mantras and of the importance of the digital space BMH has made for itself.