Interdisciplinary Cases and Disciplinary Knowledge

Author(s):  
Wolfgang Krohn

“Interdisciplinary Cases and Disciplinary Knowledge: Epistemic Challenges of Interdisciplinary Research” provides a conceptual framework of interdisciplinarity in the context of contemporary philosophy of science and social epistemology. It describes a widespread tension between the interdisciplinary commitment to complex real-world problems and the disciplinary strategies to build simplified models. While real-world problems call for highly specific and context-sensitive solutions, disciplinary problems serve as exemplars of more a general type. The epistemological challenge of interdisciplinarity is to relate knowledge about complex and singular cases with knowledge about generalized concepts and causalities. This relationship calls for a combination between the “humanistic” ideal of understanding the individual case, and the “scientific” search for common features of different cases. In practice interdisciplinary projects find ways to bridge causal explanation and the concern for the case. An epistemological attempt is made to conceptually integrate the search for universally applicable knowledge and idiographic richness.

MENDEL ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Petr Bujok

This paper describes three different mechanisms used in Jellyfish Search (JS) optimiser. At first, an archive of good old solutions is used to prevent getting stuck in the local-optima area. Further, a distribution coefficient beta is adapted during the search process to control population diversity. Finally, an Eigen transformation of individuals in the reproduction process is used occasionally to cope with rotated functions. Three proposed variants of the JS optimiser are compared with the original JS algorithm and nine various well-known Nature-inspired optimisation methods when solving real-world problems of CEC 2011. Provided results achieved by statistical comparison show efficiency of the individual newly employed mechanisms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Joel Weddington ◽  
Charles N. Brooks ◽  
Mark Melhorn ◽  
Christopher R. Brigham

Abstract In most cases of shoulder injury at work, causation analysis is not clear-cut and requires detailed, thoughtful, and time-consuming causation analysis; traditionally, physicians have approached this in a cursory manner, often presenting their findings as an opinion. An established method of causation analysis using six steps is outlined in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Guidelines and in the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Disease and Injury Causation, Second Edition, as follows: 1) collect evidence of disease; 2) collect epidemiological data; 3) collect evidence of exposure; 4) collect other relevant factors; 5) evaluate the validity of the evidence; and 6) write a report with evaluation and conclusions. Evaluators also should recognize that thresholds for causation vary by state and are based on specific statutes or case law. Three cases illustrate evidence-based causation analysis using the six steps and illustrate how examiners can form well-founded opinions about whether a given condition is work related, nonoccupational, or some combination of these. An evaluator's causal conclusions should be rational, should be consistent with the facts of the individual case and medical literature, and should cite pertinent references. The opinion should be stated “to a reasonable degree of medical probability,” on a “more-probable-than-not” basis, or using a suitable phrase that meets the legal threshold in the applicable jurisdiction.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 233-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Peper ◽  
Simone N. Loeffler

Current ambulatory technologies are highly relevant for neuropsychological assessment and treatment as they provide a gateway to real life data. Ambulatory assessment of cognitive complaints, skills and emotional states in natural contexts provides information that has a greater ecological validity than traditional assessment approaches. This issue presents an overview of current technological and methodological innovations, opportunities, problems and limitations of these methods designed for the context-sensitive measurement of cognitive, emotional and behavioral function. The usefulness of selected ambulatory approaches is demonstrated and their relevance for an ecologically valid neuropsychology is highlighted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5491
Author(s):  
Melissa Robson-Williams ◽  
Bruce Small ◽  
Roger Robson-Williams ◽  
Nick Kirk

The socio-environmental challenges the world faces are ‘swamps’: situations that are messy, complex, and uncertain. The aim of this paper is to help disciplinary scientists navigate these swamps. To achieve this, the paper evaluates an integrative framework designed for researching complex real-world problems, the Integration and Implementation Science (i2S) framework. As a pilot study, we examine seven inter and transdisciplinary agri-environmental case studies against the concepts presented in the i2S framework, and we hypothesise that considering concepts in the i2S framework during the planning and delivery of agri-environmental research will increase the usefulness of the research for next users. We found that for the types of complex, real-world research done in the case studies, increasing attention to the i2S dimensions correlated with increased usefulness for the end users. We conclude that using the i2S framework could provide handrails for researchers, to help them navigate the swamps when engaging with the complexity of socio-environmental problems.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 534
Author(s):  
F. Thomas Bruss

This paper presents two-person games involving optimal stopping. As far as we are aware, the type of problems we study are new. We confine our interest to such games in discrete time. Two players are to chose, with randomised choice-priority, between two games G1 and G2. Each game consists of two parts with well-defined targets. Each part consists of a sequence of random variables which determines when the decisive part of the game will begin. In each game, the horizon is bounded, and if the two parts are not finished within the horizon, the game is lost by definition. Otherwise the decisive part begins, on which each player is entitled to apply their or her strategy to reach the second target. If only one player achieves the two targets, this player is the winner. If both win or both lose, the outcome is seen as “deuce”. We motivate the interest of such problems in the context of real-world problems. A few representative problems are solved in detail. The main objective of this article is to serve as a preliminary manual to guide through possible approaches and to discuss under which circumstances we can obtain solutions, or approximate solutions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-15
Author(s):  
S.V. Nagaraj

This book is on algorithms for network flows. Network flow problems are optimization problems where given a flow network, the aim is to construct a flow that respects the capacity constraints of the edges of the network, so that incoming flow equals the outgoing flow for all vertices of the network except designated vertices known as the source and the sink. Network flow algorithms solve many real-world problems. This book is intended to serve graduate students and as a reference. The book is also available in eBook (ISBN 9781316952894/US$ 32.00), and hardback (ISBN 9781107185890/US$99.99) formats. The book has a companion web site www.networkflowalgs.com where a pre-publication version of the book can be downloaded gratis.


AI Matters ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-14
Author(s):  
Tara Chklovski

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