The speed of information propagation in the scientific network distorts biomedical research

Delays in the propagation of scientific discoveries across scientific communities have been an oft-maligned feature of scientific research for introducing a bias towards knowledge that is produced within a scientist’s closest community. The vastness of the scientific literature has been commonly blamed for this phenomenon, despite recent improvements in information retrieval and text mining. Its actual negative impact on scientific progress, however, has never been quantified. This analysis attempts to do so by exploring its effects on biomedical discovery, particularly in the discovery of relations between diseases, genes and chemical compounds. Results indicate that the probability that two scientific facts will enable the discovery of a new fact depends on how far apart these two facts were originally within the scientific landscape. In particular, the probability decreases exponentially with the citation distance. Thus, the direction of scientific progress is distorted based on the location in which each scientific fact is published, representing a path-dependent bias in which originally closely-located discoveries drive the sequence of future discoveries. To counter this bias, scientists should open the scope of their scientific work with modern information retrieval and extraction approaches.

Construction of Scientific Facts – Why is Relativism Essential in Bypassing Incommensurable Gaps in Humanities. Case of Personal Involvement – Biased Scientific Facts

This paper addresses the theory of knowledge in relativistic terms of Paul Feyerabend, stressing the importance of personal involvement in the research and theorizing. Since the topic is a constant and widely accepted premise the author is insisting that it has been actually ignored in the sociology and philosophy of science. It is apparent in discursive form, neglected in actual consequences for science in general. Defending the thesis of relativism had remained unacknowledged by the general scientific community. Biographies of mavericks and their struggle and exclusion from scientific community etc. had been constant in the history of science. Is science nowadays able to accept criticism and implement arguments of knowledge beyond the institutionalized standards? Throughout this article we argue that personal involvement creates biased scientific facts; acknowledging and applying tacit knowledge we move beyond personal involvement and create appropriate interpretations of facts and phenomena under investigation, where we reconsider the construction of facts and personal beliefs, knowing that our fields of expertise are incommensurable.

ADRB2 gene polymorphism and preterm labor

This article discusses issues related to the role of polymorphism of the ADRB2 gene encoding β2-adrenergic receptor in preterm labor and tocolysis. Information is provided on scientific studies related to the search for associations of the carriage of alleles and genotypes of ADRB2 with the preterm labor, as well as with the pharmacological response to tocolytic therapy using β2-adrenergic agonists. The history of the discovery of the relationship of ADRB2 gene polymorphisms with preterm labor is presented in chronological order. As scientific facts emerge, researchers are faced with the question: how can ADRB2 gene polymorphisms affect physiological processes? That is, whether they affect by changing the primary structure of the receptor or by changing the level of expression. Depending on the answer to this question, pharmacogenetics are faced with a further task: what to study - individual polymorphisms or haplotypes?

Ethnicity and Gender in Museum Representations of Human Evolution

Scientific representations of human evolution often embrace stereotypes of ethnicity and gender that are more aligned with socio-cultural discourses and norms than empirical facts. The present study has two connected aims: to understand how ethnicity and gender are represented in an exhibition about human evolution, and to understand how that representation influences learners’ meaning making. First, we analysed an exhibition with realistic reconstructions of early hominids in a museum of natural history, to identify dualisms related to the representation of gender and ethnicity that have been recognised in research. Then, we studied the processes of meaning making in the exhibition during an out-of-school educational activity, in which groups of teenaged students explore and discuss the hominid reconstructions. Our results show that the exhibition displays human evolution in the form of a linear sequence from a primitive African prehistory to a more advanced European present. Behind this depiction of human evolution lies stereotypic notions of ethnicity and gender: notions that were incorporated into the students’ meaning making during the educational activity. When students noticed aspects of ethnicity, their meaning making did not dispute the messages represented in the exhibition; these were accepted as scientific facts. Conversely, when the students noticed aspects related to gender, they often adopted a more critical stance and challenged the representations from different perspectives. We discuss the implications of our findings for exhibit design and evolution education more generally. In doing so, we offer our perspectives on the design of learning environments to salvage inherently sexist, racist, imperial science.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices towards Corona (COVID-19) among General Population in Pakistan

Objective: COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China, and has since spread around the world, becoming the leading cause of death in 2020 from the day it infected the first human. The aim of this study was to determine how well the general public knew about COVID-19 and to investigate their attitudes and practices. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted for the period of two months from July 2021 to August 2021.The sample size was 907. Questionnaire was divided into three components and gathered information about demographic data, knowledge of COVID-19 and their practice section that involves steps taken by the individual to prevent contracting the infection and data was analysed. Results: In this study, 51 %( 463) participants were males and 49 %( 444) were females. 91% of respondents responded that they are aware of the fact that covid-19 is contagious infection. 54% of candidates take preventive measures such as they wash hands frequently, use hand sanitizer, steam inhalation, wear facemasks etc. 50% of respondents are practicing social distance through only going out for essentials for food items, while 16% do social distancing by working from home. Conclusion: The participants indicated a high level of awareness about the COVID-19 pandemic, its outbreak, and basic information about it. Educated people are more likely to believe the scientific facts thus more compliance with preventive measures.The majority of them were satisfied with the actions done by the Government of Punjab. Keywords: Awareness; Attitude; Practices; COVID-19; Public.

The ‘ethic of knowledge’ and responsible science: Responses to genetically motivated racism

This study takes off from the ethical problem that racism grounded in population genetics raises. It is an analysis of four standard scientific responses to the problem of genetically motivated racism, seen in connection with the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP): (1) Discriminatory uses of scientific facts and arguments are in principle ‘misuses’ of scientific data that the researcher cannot be further responsible for. (2) In a strict scientific sense, genomic facts ‘disclaim racism’, which means that an epistemically correct grasp of genomics should be ethically justified. (3) Ethical difficulties are issues to be ‘resolved’ by an ethics institution or committee, which will guarantee the ethical quality of the research scrutinized. (4) Although population genetics occasionally may lead to racism, its overall ‘value’ for humankind justifies its cause as a desirable pursuit. I argue that these typical responses to genetically motivated racism supervene on a principle called the ‘ethic of knowledge’, which implies that an epistemically correct account has intrinsic ethical value. This principle, and its logically related ideas concerning the ethic of science, effectively avoids a deeper ethical question of responsibility in science from being raised.

أثر القرآن الكريم و أئمة القراءة في حفظ اللغة العربية

أثر القرآن الكريم و أئمة القراءة في حفظ اللغة العربية After the presentation and prefacing of the research topic, I followed talking about the impact of the Koran and the Imams of reading in the maintenance of the Arabic language and its development, and how it acquired the Arabic language the Holy Light and eternal True to the verse( Verily We have revealed the Holy Quran and We promise to keep it )AI Higgr:9. .( Then dealt with based on scientific facts and historical monuments that show their efforts in keeping the Arabic language and its development and prosperity of the building and have even become etymological dictionaries more frequent and good in eloquence. Then 1 pointed out with explanation and examples of how excellence and uniqueness and fluency in language is due to the descent of the Holy Quran and it has the impact of the great excellence of the tongue speakers and conservers of its bases in terms of voice, grammatical, morphological and rhetorical: and how this excellence was reflected on scientist's readings and intonation which created rules of morphological phenomena and this was not preceded by any new voice in the Arabic tongue or any other tongue

Applied cultural studies and culture management: research methodology

The purpose of the article is to study the interconnection of applied cultural studies and culture management, develop methodological basis for analysis of efficiency of their integration, define viability of realizing cultural practices in the context of applied cultural studies branch. The methodology. By analyzing and synthesizing the scientific knowledge, a flexible methodological system is created, which enables analyzing the present and predicting the future, and create, not only in theory, but in practice, the culture­creation technologies, thus setting the vector for culture development. The leading methods of research are analysis of scientific facts, juxtaposition of theoretical positions, generalization and synthesis of methodological basis for defining leading scientific approaches to researching applied cultural studies and culture management. The results. Utilization of developed methodology enables examination of applied cultural studies as a mechanism of culture creativity, and culture management as a tool of scientifically justified regulation of this process. Thanks to applied cultural studies, management gains deep meanings, and not only rational management and realization of its own functions, and applied cultural studies is manifested in practice and transforms into a technological plane the meanings and concepts of contemporary culture model. The topicality. It was defined that gnoseological, worldview, logic­gnoseological, scientific content­related, technological and scientific­methodological levels of methodology allows to create the applied cultural studies and culture management analysis model in a substantial interconnection. Justification was provided for some scientific approaches, which are taken as the baseline of methodological analysis of integrating applied cultural studies branch and management in the sociocultural field. The practical significance. According to the results of the study, applied cultural studies have a broad social mission, which manifests itself in creation of advantageous environment of interaction in the object field of culture, constructing mechanisms of implementing innovations in the sociocultural field, and developing future cultural practices models, which will eventually promote establishment of its new formats. In order to achieve this task, culture management implements social marketing, innovative and investment varieties of management technologies, branding, purposeful communication and human resource management, etc., which opens new perspectives of diversifying research of culture management in the context of applied cultural studies.

Al-Qur'an dan Filsafat Ilmu Pengetahuan

The Qur'an is not a text of science, although in general scientific facts (phenomena of nature) are mentioned in it. It's just that in the era of the revelation of the Qur'an 17th century, the development of science is not like today. Hence the contemporary Muslim intellectuals to prove over the miracle of the Qur'an that actually contain the philosophy of knowledge that is very influential in the development of modern science. Various approaches have been used in order to give new meaning to the text of the Qur'an is static-limited with scientific approaches that are active-dynamic. One of them with hermeneutics to reread and reinterpret the text of the Qur’an to revive the text of the Qur'an itself.