bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bioética e Educação: Concepção da Terminologia Bem- Estar-Animal por Estudantes do Ensino Básico
Authors: Fischer Marta Luciane , Furlan Ana Laura Diniz
Published: January 2018

O rápido avanço tecnológico e cultural da humanidade tem resultado em sérios impactos ambientais, demandando novos paradigmas norteadores da sua relação com a natureza, principalmente, com os animais mantidos cativos por funções justificadas e para as quais não haja alternativas. Dessa forma, questionou-se como o termo bem-estar-animal tem sido disseminado nas mídias digitais, bem como a sua concepção por estudantes do ensino básico. Para tal, além da categorização do conteúdo divulgado em diferentes veículos da internet, foi realizada uma ação com estudantes do ensino fundamental e médio de escolas da rede pública e privada, envolvendo construção coletiva de conceitos, projeção de documentário e produção de material artístico e literário. Os resultados revelaram que a disseminação da terminologia bem-estar-animal ainda está associada a uma visão antropocêntrica e utilitarista, cuja maior ou menor valoração vinculase à representatividade e funcionalidade de determinados animais. A concepção dos estudantes refletiu o senso comum revelando a necessidade de apropriação do acesso às fontes de informação pela educação a fim de habilitá-los para apreender e processar o conteúdo. Assim, discute-se a importância de se pesquisar, aplicar e validar metodologias que associem a educação à bioética ambiental. Através da aplicação dessa ferramenta inovadora, busca-se promover a educação moral por meio da condução do estudante à compreensão da importância de saber ouvir, sem julgamentos, os argumentos dos todos os atores envolvidos em questões complexas. Desta maneira, podem ser pautadas em valores éticos globais e, por meio de atitudes reflexivas, críticas e responsáveis, ele possa desenvolver autonomia e espírito cooperativo para encontrar soluções consensuais e justas para as sociedades, para os animais, para a natureza, desta e de futuras gerações.
Características da Formação de Professores de Ciências Naturais
Authors: Gozzi Maria Estela , Rodrigues Maria Aparecida
Published: January 2018

Este texto discute a formação de professores para a disciplina de Ciências Naturais nos anos finais do ensino fundamental. Priorizamos investigar a discussão da categoria interdisciplinaridade socializada como fundamental para a integração curricular que fundamenta essa disciplina. Nossa proposta é analisar se tal categoria tem subsidiado a formação de docentes. De nossa perspectiva, a ausência de Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais e as dificuldades que permeiam a oferta desse curso podem indicar uma desvalorização dessa Licenciatura ao passo que, nesse mesmo contexto, encontramos as Diretrizes Curriculares para cursos específicos como Física, Química e Biologia. Elas compõem a área de Ciências e habilitam os docentes para a atuação na disciplina de Ciências do ensino fundamental. Consideramos a necessidade de uma formação docente que atenda às características de um perfil de profissional adequado aos propósitos de ensino dessa disciplina no ensino fundamental. Pautamo-nos na legislação do ensino de Ciências Naturais e da formação de professores para a educação básica. Estudamos propostas de Licenciatura em Ciências Naturais e de Ciências Biológicas de três universidades: a Universidade Estadual de Maringá (UEM); a Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO) e a Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Além disso, utilizamos fontes orais, nomeadamente entrevistas a professores experientes na atuação das disciplinas que compõem essa área. A discussão dos dados levantados é orientada pela análise dos propósitos teóricos apontados pelo “ciclo de políticas” e também pela abordagem que valoriza as diferentes variáveis envolvidas no processo educacional.
Estudo de Público sobre Aprendizagens Genéricas Promovidas por uma Exposição de Nanotecnologia em Pernambuco
Authors: Morais Carina Siqueira de , Ferreira Helaine Sivini
Published: January 2018

Os espaços não-formais são promissores para a promoção de aprendizagens e saberes que vão além do nível conceitual, ou seja, resultados não-cognitivos, como, atitudes, valores, habilidades, dimensões emocionais e sociais etc. Contudo, muitas instituições têm dificuldades de avaliar o impacto educativo de suas exposições para além do divertimento e lazer. Diante disso, o presente trabalho tem como objetivos mapear as aprendizagens amplas do público em visita a uma exposição sobre nanociência e nanotecnologia, utilizando o arcabouço teórico metodológico denominado de Resultados Genéricos da Aprendizagem (GLOs – Generic Learning Outcomes), bem como investigar o seu potencial para pesquisa nos espaços não-formais. Para tanto, aplicamos instrumentos disponibilizados pelo arcabouço GLOs com o público que visitou a exposição Nano Explora, do Museu Espaço Ciência. Após o tratamento dos dados observamos a predominância de dimensões específicas dos GLOs e consideramos seu potencial como um arcabouço teórico e metodológico eficaz para analisar aprendizagens mais amplas, características dos espaços não-formais.
Múltiplos Discursos Tratam das Ciências Naturais em Cursos de Pedagogia: Dilemas e Desafios para a Formação do Professor
Authors: Esteves Patricia Elisa do Couto Chipoletti , Gonçalves Pedro Wagner
Published: January 2018

Este trabalho discute a importância do ensino de Ciências Naturais para o desenvolvimento de alunos dos anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental. Os argumentos da literatura preconizam conteúdos sistêmicos ligados às Geociências; Ciência, Tecnologia, Sociedade e Ambiente porque esses discutem desafios do ambiente e interrelacionam áreas diferentes (Biologia, Química, Ciências da Terra e Física). Além disso, objetivamos analisar os discursos de dois coordenadores, três professores formadores e 103 alunos de quatro cursos presenciais de Pedagogia de duas instituições do Estado de São Paulo para conhecer suas expectativas e ideias sobre a área de CN. A pesquisa usou abordagem qualitativa para coletar e analisar dados: houve análise documental e foram feitas entrevistas e aplicados questionários. Os dados foram examinados com técnicas de análise de conteúdo e os resultados demonstraram que estudantes desejam lecionar para crianças, professores acreditam que seus alunos não querem ser docentes, coordenadores defendem que seus cursos prepararam bons professores. Não há concordância sobre como os cursos devem tratar as CN. Além disso, temas sobre a finalidade do curso emergiram dos discursos, configurando-se dilemas e desafios para a formação dos professores polivalentes. Esses resultados sugerem a necessidade de futuras e diversificadas abordagens investigativas em cursos de Pedagogia.
Discussões Sociocientíficas sobre o Uso de Agrotóxicos: uma Atividade Formativa Problematizada pelo Princípio da Precaução
Authors: Souza Leila Cristina Aoyama Barbosa , Marques Carlos Alberto
Published: January 2018

O artigo apresenta análises sobre um processo de problematização desenvolvido em atividade formativa com professores de um curso Técnico em Agropecuária de instituição mato-grossense sobre o tema “uso de agrotóxicos nas atividades agrícolas”. O planejamento e desenvolvimento dessa atividade, elaborada em perspectiva educacional freireana, pautaram-se em reflexões do tema “agrotóxicos” à luz do Princípio da Precaução e das interações Ciência, Tecnologia, Sociedade (CTS). Fazendo uso da Análise Textual Discursiva e das categorias epistemológicas freireanas de problematização e conscientização no tratamento analítico, evidenciaram-se lacunas e desestabilização dos conhecimentos prévios dos professores participantes para responder a questão problematizadora. Tal processo e a apreensão de novos conhecimentos durante a atividade formativa indicou a ampliação da visão de mundo dos professores e a tomada de consciência sobre o uso de agrotóxicos como um problema socioambiental.
A Systematic Review of Studies about Conceptions on the Nature of Science in Science Education
Authors: Azevedo Nathália Helena , Scarpa Daniela Lopes
Published: January 2018

The nature of science (NOS) has been highlighted as an important component of science education, since scientific knowledge can contribute to decision-making by contemporary citizens. There are few quantitative review studies in the field of science education. Given the importance of the topic, and the need to organize and understand the knowledge produced by research on conceptions of NOS, we carried out a systematic review based on the principles of PRISMA, in order to quantify and initiate reflection on (i) the publication trends of articles on NOS conceptions (ii) the main characteristics of these articles, (iii) the NOS aspects frequently cited as important for teaching, and (iv)the main strategies used to access NOS conceptions. We analyzed 396 articles published up to February 2015 in Teaching and Education journals listed on WebQualis 2013. Our systematic review represented an initial effort to present an overview of the area, and enabled us to identify research trends and gaps. Investigational efforts are needed to investigate NOS conceptions in the Brazilian context that are associated with the teaching of specific disciplines. We found twenty-five NOS aspects reported to be important for teaching, addressed part of the debate on consensus and the lists of NOS aspects, and presented general characteristics of the main questionnaires used to investigate NOSconceptions.
Aprendendo a Usar Evidências nos Anos Iniciais do Ensino Fundamental ao Longo do Tempo: um Estudo da Construção Discursiva de Formas de Responder Questões em Aulas de Ciências
Authors: Franco Luiz Gustavo , Munford Danusa
Published: January 2018

O uso evidências em aulas de ciências vem se consolidando como uma práticaimportante a ser desenvolvida desde o início do processo de escolarização. No presenteestudo, investigamos como uma turma do 3° ano do Ensino Fundamental construiudiscursivamente a prática de uso de evidências. Baseamo-nos na perspectiva da etnografia em educação, utilizando ferramentas teórico-metodológicas da Microetnografia e Etnografia Interacional. Caracterizamos “modos de fazer” relacionados ao uso de evidências com base no uso de recursos discursivos: palavras/expressões que foram enfatizadas pelos participantes ao longo de interações face a face, através de pistas contextuais da fala, como alterações na entonação/volume e momentos de pausa. Indicamos como esses modos de fazer se transformaram ao longo do tempo e como os participantes negociaram um modelo compartilhado na construção de respostas usando evidências. Discutimos também implicações metodológicas para a pesquisa em argumentação na área Educação em Ciências e para prática pedagógica.
Learning to Use Evidence in Elementary School Over Time: A Study of the Discursive Construction of Ways of Answering Questions in Science Lessons
Authors: Franco Luiz Gustavo , Munford Danusa
Published: January 2018

The use of evidence in science lessons has been considered an important practice to bedeveloped in science education. In this study, we investigate how 3rd graders constructed discursively the practice of using evidence. The theoretical and methodological framework of the study was grounded in Microethnography and Interactional Etnography. We characterize “ways of doing” related to evidence use based on the use of discursive resources: words/expressions that were emphasized by the participants in face-to-face interactions, through contextual cues of speech, such as intonation/volume shifts and pausing moments. We indicate how these ways of doing have changed over time and how participants negotiated a shared model in building answers using evidence. We also discuss methodological implications for research in Argumentation in science education and for classroom practice.
Thinking about National Standards in Science Education
Authors: Milne Catherine
Published: January 2018

In this paper I present a critical reflection on the rationale and history of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which has sometimes been presented as the US version of a vision for a standardized science curriculum. I explore how the monograph, The Framework for K-12 Science Education, established the groundwork for the Next Generation Science Standards. I argue that crisis narratives often drive the arguments for standardization but in the US there was also an argument of the need to build a level of national uniformity in the content and practices that are presented to students as a tool for ensuring that children and youth have equitable access to important knowledge. However, at the same time educators have a responsibility for ensuring that homogenization achieved through standards does not enshrine the very inequities and ideologies public education seeks to change.
ANÁLISIS DE POSICIÓN COMPETITIVA INTERNACIONAL: UNA PROPUESTA METODOLÓGICA
Authors: Palacios Sommer Octavio Augusto
Published: January 2018

En el presente artículo se propone unir los análisis de balanza comercial y de participación de mercado para, mediante diagramas de dispersión, obtener una idea mas clara de la posición que se tiene como proveedor con respecto a otros exportadores; o de lo atractivo que es un mercado objetivo comparado con otros posibles mercados de exportación. La unión de ambos análisis se puede aplicar a nivel agregado o nacional, a nivel sectorial, o de producto.
INNOVACIÓN TECNOLÓGICA Y PRODUCTIVIDAD SECTORIAL EN LA ECONOMÍA MEXICANA: EVIDENCIA REGIONAL
Authors: Ríos Bolivar Humberto
Published: January 2018

Este artículo analiza los efectos de incorporar mano de obra calificada en los procesos productivos, así como los retornos a la inversión en la formación de ella. Para tal efecto se utilizan los datos estadísticos de los censos económicos del INEGI –años 1999 y 2004– para los sectores de manufactura, comercio y servicios. La utilización de datos de corte transversal para un total de dos mil 438 municipios permite disponer de un gran número de observaciones y desagregarla por sectores económicos. A partir de la estimación de una función de producción, se determinan las elasticidades del producto con respecto al capital y al trabajo, así como en relación con los factores tecnológicos y de innovación. En una primera aproximación a los datos, se analizan los estadísticos descriptivos habituales para las variables mencionadas. Posteriormente, se estima un modelo econométrico y se aplica el método de mínimos cuadrados ponderados. Los resultados empíricos obtenidos son coherentes con las expectativas teóricas: la inversión en la formación de capital humano, en el cambio tecnológico y en la innovación tecnológica, tiene un efecto positivo en el proceso productivo. En la mayoría de los casos, la relación es estadísticamente significativa, para los tres sectores económicos analizados.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT AND ITS DETERMINANTS IN MEXICO FROM 1992 TO 2003. A SPECIAL APPROACH IN THE EXCHANGE RATES
Authors: Salas Martínez Milton Hugo
Published: January 2018

En años recientes (de 1990 a la fecha) ha habido un incremento considerable en los flujos de Inversión Extranjera Directa (IED) y de empresas multinacionales en todas las economías del mundo. En este artículo, hacemos un análisis econométrico de los principales determinantes de la Inversión Extranjera Directa de once países en el período 1992-2003 en México, haciendo énfasis en los tipos de cambio. Para ello utilizaremos un panel de datos y se demostrará empíricamente que el salario del país receptor de IED, el PIB del país receptor de IED, el PIB del país que hace IED, el grado de apertura del país receptor de IED, el tipo de cambio del país receptor de IED y su volatilidad son variables determinantes que explican el comportamiento de la IED en México.
INNOVACIÓN DE PROCESOS Y EL COSTO DE GENERACIÓN DE ELECTRICIDAD
Authors: Carreón Rodríguez Víctor G. , Zerón Marmolejo Alfonso
Published: January 2018

En este artículo se estudia el comportamiento de la generación de energía eléctrica en México. Explícitamente, se considera el papel de la innovación tecnológica como elemento clave para la instalación de la capacidad y subsiguiente generación de energía eléctrica en el país a costos más bajos y se muestra que las políticas seguidas en la instalación de nuevas plantas de generación han aumentado los costos y la polución, al seleccionar tecnologías cuyos costos de generación son más costosos y contaminantes, cuando lo que se esperaba era lo contrario ante un esquema de avance en la tecnología disponible a través del tiempo. Específicamente, se analiza el comportamiento de los costos de generación a través del tiempo, así como la causalidad existente entre esta variable y la demanda de energía, para determinar de esta manera los efectos entre ellas.
DINÁMICA GEOGRÁFICA DE PRODUCTIVIDAD E INNOVACIÓN EN LA MANUFACTURA MEXICANA
Authors: Mayer Foulkes David
Published: January 2018

La aglomeración industrial es caracterizada por fuerzas centrípetas y centrífugas que pueden medirse con la variedad industrial y el promedio de firmas por ramo. Una revisión de la teoría de geografía económica explica cómo estos indicadores se correlacionan con mayores niveles de productividad, y con competencia y congestión, respectivamente. Estimativas por niveles y dinámicas de productividad, capital físico, salario promedio, escala de producción, variedad industrial y promedio de firmas, realizadas para una base municipal correspondiente a 1993 y 1998, confirman la existencia de una muy significativa dinámica geográfica industrial en México. Observamos que entre las fuerzas centrípetas y centrífugas existen retroalimentaciones tanto positivas como negativas, ya que la competencia inhibe la formación de nuevos ramos industriales. Un subsidio local a su introducción estabilizaría la dinámica industrialy promovería su productividad y tasa de innovación. Encontramos además que las inversiones en infraestructura de transporte, y la transformación democrática mexicana, son positivas para la escala industrial y su intensidad de capital.
ALGUNOS DETERMINANTES ECONÓMICOS Y POLÍTICOS DE LA CORRUPCIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL
Authors: Carrillo Huerta Mario M. , Cerón Vargas José Arturo , Flores Castro Joaquín Roque
Published: January 2018

Este ensayo se enfoca en el estudio de las causas de la corrupción mediante un modelo teórico propuesto por Alberto Ades y Rafael Di Tella (1999). De este modelo se derivaron tres hipótesis: a) las ganancias naturales (principalmente derivadas del petróleo) incentivan la corrupción; b) los aumentos en los salarios de los burócratas disminuyen la corrupción; y c) el grado en el que una sociedad es capaz de monitorear a sus funcionarios públicos reduce el nivel de corrupción. Por cuestiones de endogeneidad, las estimaciones se realizaron por Mínimos Cuadrados en Dos Etapas (MC2E). Los resultados mostraron que, dejando como única variable que midiera el grado de monitoreo de la sociedad al PIB per capita, la totalidad de los parámetros son muy significativos. Con este modelo el empleo de la variable de exportaciones de petróleo confirma la hipótesis de que las ganancias naturales incentivan la corrupción, pero los salarios de los burócratas no tienen los signos esperados, es decir que, mayores salarios de los burócratas no reducen la corrupción en la muestra a nivel mundial. En lo que respecta al papel de las exportaciones de petróleo, su efecto sólo resultó significativo en el grupo de países de ingreso medio, observándose que tales exportaciones incrementan la corrupción de este grupo de países.
NUEVOS DESARROLLOS EN LAS TEORÍAS SOBRE LAS RESERVAS INTERNACIONALES Y SU RELACIÓN CON LA DEUDA
Authors: Fernández Ruiz Jorge
Published: January 2018

En este artículo revisamos varios modelos recientes –estrechamente vinculados a la teoría de la deuda internacional– que explican la racionalidad de acumular reservas internacionales sin recurrir a su utilidad en el manejo del tipo de cambio, cuando éste no es totalmente flexible.
VALUACIÓN DE OPCIONES EUROPEAS Y MODELO DE ESTRUCTURA DE PLAZOS VASICEK SOBRE SUBYACENTES CON CARACTERÍSTICAS DE MEMORIA LARGA: EL CASO DE MÉXICO
Authors: Sierra Juárez Guillermo
Published: January 2018

La aplicación de la metodología (R/S), de la teoría de fractales, para la determinación del coeficiente Hurst, revela la posibilidad de un comportamiento de memoria larga en alguna de las variables de mercado representativas de México. Aunque bajo ciertas pruebas dichos resultados pueden resultar ser estadísticamente no significativos. A partir del Movimiento Browniano Fraccional (MBF), que es un proceso estocástico más general que el movimiento browniano tradicional, pueden modelarse procesos con persistencia o antipersistencia. Con base en este proceso, y utilizando bases matemáticas más generales, se deduce una forma más amplia de valuación de opciones europeas y la ecuación Black-Scholes, así como la ecuación general de bonos y la estructura de plazos del modelo de tasas de Vasicek, útiles en los casos en donde las series financieras muestran comportamientos de persistencia. Dichas modelaciones se aplican al caso de una variable de mercado mexicano y se obtienen resultados interesantes.
Wettbewerbsstrategien (Essay)
Authors: Hostettler Martin
Published: January 2018

Competitive strategy (essay)

A well constructed competitive strategy makes a significant contribution to the economic success of a forest enterprise. The essay introduces Porter's analysis of competitive strategy (1980), in the context of a short description of the forest economy. Three basic competitive strategies, one focused on expenses and two on income, are presented and applied to the classical output groups of the forest economy – wood, protection from natural risks, protection of nature, leisure and recreation. The expense-focused strategy aims at reducing own costs. The first income-focused strategy looks for products or services for which the client is prepared to pay significantly more than at present. The second income-focused strategy develops areas of activity by which the forest enterprise can avoid competition and supply products or services which the client must buy from it. In this way, the forest enterprise can claim a larger share of the exchange surplus for itself. However, some of the outputs of the forest enterprise are more suited than others for this strategy.
Un ordre économique sans machine ?
Authors: Perrin Cédric
Published: January 2018

Confronté à l’industrialisation des économies européennes, l’artisanat a pu apparaître comme un ordre économique sans machine. Or, cette identification à un travail purement manuel pose problème et elle interroge sur les façons dont l’artisanat a été pensé. L’article montre d’abord qu’il s’agit d’une construction sociopolitique fondée sur un rejet de la modernité. Celle-ci a fait obstacle à la compréhension des dynamiques qui ont travaillé ce secteur de l’économie française au xx e  siècle. En effet, les machines ont bien pénétré dans l’artisanat et la question est bien davantage de savoir comment s’est opérée cette mutation, avec quels moyens, quels obstacles… Enfin, l’introduction des machines a transformé les modes opératoires du travail artisanal, mais en suivant des relations complexes dans lesquelles l’artisan transforme également les machines et produit son propre rapport à la machine.
Le djihadisme en France : esquisse de typologie
Authors: Hecker Marc
Published: January 2018

Marc Hecker, docteur en science politique, est chercheur au Centre des études de sécurité de l’Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri). Il est par ailleurs directeur des publications de l’Ifri et rédacteur en chef de la revue Politique étrangère. Il est chargé du cours « Terrorisme et guerres asymétriques » à Sciences Po.
Lenguas migrantes y desvíos críticos en The 27th // El 27th de Eugenio Tiselli
Authors: Gómez Verónica Paula
Published: January 2018

En este trabajo analizamos el uso político de lenguajes –verbal, visual, algorítmico– en diversos discursos que integran The 27th // El 27 de Eugenio Tiselli (2014). Argumentamos en torno a tres lecturas posibles propias de la cultura visual global contemporánea. Primeramente, advertimos el uso dual y subordinado de idiomas como símbolo de apropiación de la Nación mexicana, modificándose con cada palabra traducida, su órgano máximo de orden legal, la Constitución. En segundo lugar, el lenguaje visual en el que aparece el texto en dos colores, negro (base en español) y rojo (cambios en inglés), emula en la traducción la perforación de un cuerpo “viviente”. Por último, proponemos una lectura sobre el lenguaje algorítmico necrocapitalista en relación con la propiedad privada.
Fatal Exertional Heat Stroke and American Football Players: The Need for Regional Heat-Safety Guidelines
Authors: Grundstein Andrew J. , Hosokawa Yuri , Casa Douglas J.
Published: January 2018

Context: 

Weather-based activity modification in athletics is an important way to minimize heat illnesses. However, many commonly used heat-safety guidelines include a uniform set of heat-stress thresholds that do not account for geographic differences in acclimatization.

Objective: 

To determine if heat-related fatalities among American football players occurred on days with unusually stressful weather conditions based on the local climate and to assess the need for regional heat-safety guidelines.

Design: 

Cross-sectional study.

Setting: 

Data from incidents of fatal exertional heat stroke (EHS) in American football players were obtained from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research and the Korey Stringer Institute.

Patients or Other Participants: 

Sixty-one American football players at all levels of competition with fatal EHSs from 1980 to 2014.

Main Outcome Measure(s): 

We used the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and a z-score WBGT standardized to local climate conditions from 1991 to 2010 to assess the absolute and relative magnitudes of heat stress, respectively.

Results: 

We observed a poleward decrease in exposure WBGTs during fatal EHSs. In milder climates, 80% of cases occurred at above-average WBGTs, and 50% occurred at WBGTs greater than 1 standard deviation from the long-term mean; however, in hotter climates, half of the cases occurred at near average or below average WBGTs.

Conclusions: 

The combination of lower exposure WBGTs and frequent extreme climatic values in milder climates during fatal EHSs indicates the need for regional activity-modification guidelines with lower, climatically appropriate weather-based thresholds. Established activity-modification guidelines, such as those from the American College of Sports Medicine, work well in the hotter climates, such as the southern United States, where hot and humid weather conditions are common.
Statistical Primer for Athletic Trainers: The Essentials of Understanding Measures of Reliability and Minimal Important Change
Authors: Riemann Bryan L. , Lininger Monica R.
Published: January 2018

Objective: 

To describe the concepts of measurement reliability and minimal important change.

Background: 

All measurements have some magnitude of error. Because clinical practice involves measurement, clinicians need to understand measurement reliability. The reliability of an instrument is integral in determining if a change in patient status is meaningful.

Description: 

Measurement reliability is the extent to which a test result is consistent and free of error. Three perspectives of reliability—relative reliability, systematic bias, and absolute reliability—are often reported. However, absolute reliability statistics, such as the minimal detectable difference, are most relevant to clinicians because they provide an expected error estimate. The minimal important difference is the smallest change in a treatment outcome that the patient would identify as important.

Recommendations: 

Clinicians should use absolute reliability characteristics, preferably the minimal detectable difference, to determine the extent of error around a patient's measurement. The minimal detectable difference, coupled with an appropriately estimated minimal important difference, can assist the practitioner in identifying clinically meaningful changes in patients.
An Empirical Study of Taiwan’s Real Business Cycle
Authors: Chin Kuo-Hsuan , Huang Tzu-Yun
Published: January 2018

We study the characteristics of the real business cycle and the sources of the economic fluctuation in Taiwan over the last forty years, when it experienced both developing and developed stages of the economy, by considering a small open economy real business cycle model with financial friction. In particular, the breaking time point that distinguishes between developing and developed stages of the economy in Taiwan is chosen on the basis of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We use a Bayesian approach to obtain the posterior densities for the structural parameters of interest. Conditioning on the Bayesian point estimates, the posterior mean in particular, we generate a set of statistical moments and related statistics that characterize the features and sources of the real business cycle. We find that a real business cycle model with financial friction explains the features of real business cycle in a developing stage of Taiwan’s economy well. However, the results it provides are unsatisfactory for matching the characteristics of real business cycle in a developed stage of Taiwan’s economy. In addition, the technology shock explains a large fraction of the economic fluctuation, particularly in real output, consumption and investment. More precisely, permanent technology shock explains a larger fraction of the economic fluctuation than a transitory technology shock.
Mouse xenograft models for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms
Authors: Ng Wenfa
Published: January 2018

Divergence of treatment responses to chemotherapy exists across patients (often with underlying mechanisms unknown). More important, certain patients exhibit worsened outcome upon treatment. Genomic approaches (such as microarray and whole-genome sequencing) hold promise for transforming the cancer treatment landscape, particularly, in tailoring drug regimen to specific patients. Nevertheless, formulating effective personalized treatment via profiling the mutational landscape remains difficult, due to current deficiencies in predicting drug sensitivity from genotype. Xenografts, both indirect (via cell line) and direct (from primary tumours), are good physiologic models of cancers. Their utility in informing cancer treatment, however, is constrained by high cost of generating and maintaining genetically modified animals, and the paucity of tissue samples from biopsies. Advent of high throughput biomolecular profiling tools finally enables reading out the expansive molecular fingerprints that encode observed phenotypes in xenografts. Using pheochromocytoma (a adrenal medulla cancer) as example, this short essay attempts to provide a broad overview of the scientific and clinical possibilities offered by xenograft models for understanding resistance mechanisms to particular chemotherapeutic regimens, and upon identification of the putative mutations, confirms their functional roles as either oncogenes or tumour suppressors. Additionally, workflow involved in generating a predictive platform, based on non-invasive blood biomarkers, for informing drug treatment options is discussed. Known as an integrated genomic classifier, combination of physiological response of direct xenografts to drug treatment and bioinformatics-enabled correlation of blood biomarkers to observed phenotype at cellular and animal levels, provides the biological basis for predicting patients’ prognosis without invasive biopsy of solid tumours. Elucidation of drug resistance mechanisms entails: (i) recapitulating in vivo tumour behavior using cell lines derived from primary tumour; (ii) identification of aetiological mutations and longitudinal profiling of phenotypic response; and (iii) validation of mutations and phenotype via both knockout mice and direct allogenic xenografts. Biological models seek to recapitulate human physiology at specific levels of abstraction for answering particular questions, but incongruence in phenotype is inevitable. Nevertheless, xenografts (especially those derived from patients, PDTX), are powerful tools for addressing basic science, clinical and treatment-related questions using close functional replicas of patient physiology in an animal model. Residual incompatibility between model and patient response would require the expertise and clinical experience of oncologists for fine-tuning model suggested drug regimen to particular patients.
Mouse xenograft models for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms
Authors: Ng Wenfa
Published: January 2018

Divergence of treatment responses to chemotherapy exists across patients (often with underlying mechanisms unknown). More important, certain patients exhibit worsened outcome upon treatment. Genomic approaches (such as microarray and whole-genome sequencing) hold promise for transforming the cancer treatment landscape, particularly, in tailoring drug regimen to specific patients. Nevertheless, formulating effective personalized treatment via profiling the mutational landscape remains difficult, due to current deficiencies in predicting drug sensitivity from genotype. Xenografts, both indirect (via cell line) and direct (from primary tumours), are good physiologic models of cancers. Their utility in informing cancer treatment, however, is constrained by high cost of generating and maintaining genetically modified animals, and the paucity of tissue samples from biopsies. Advent of high throughput biomolecular profiling tools finally enables reading out the expansive molecular fingerprints that encode observed phenotypes in xenografts. Using pheochromocytoma (an adrenal medulla cancer) as example, this short essay attempts to provide a broad overview of the scientific and clinical possibilities offered by xenograft models for understanding resistance mechanisms to particular chemotherapeutic regimens, and upon identification of the putative mutations, confirms their functional roles as either oncogenes or tumour suppressors. Additionally, workflow involved in generating a predictive platform, based on non-invasive blood biomarkers, for informing drug treatment options is discussed. Known as an integrated genomic classifier, combination of physiological response of direct xenografts to drug treatment and bioinformatics-enabled correlation of blood biomarkers to observed phenotype at cellular and animal levels, provides the biological basis for predicting patients’ prognosis without invasive biopsy of solid tumours. Elucidation of drug resistance mechanisms entails: (i) recapitulating in vivo tumour behavior using cell lines derived from primary tumour; (ii) identification of aetiological mutations and longitudinal profiling of phenotypic response; and (iii) validation of mutations and phenotype via both knockout mice and direct allogenic xenografts. Biological models seek to recapitulate human physiology at specific levels of abstraction for answering particular questions, but incongruence in phenotype is inevitable. Nevertheless, xenografts (especially those derived from patients, PDTX), are powerful tools for addressing basic science, clinical and treatment-related questions using close functional replicas of patient physiology in an animal model. Residual incompatibility between model and patient response would require the expertise and clinical experience of oncologists for fine-tuning model suggested drug regimen to particular patients.
Mouse xenograft models for elucidating drug resistance mechanisms
Authors: Ng Wenfa
Published: January 2018

Divergence of treatment responses to chemotherapy exists across patients (often with underlying mechanisms unknown), with some patients exhibiting worsened outcome upon treatment. Genomic approaches (such as microarray profiling and whole-genome sequencing) hold promise for transforming cancer treatment, particularly, in tailoring drug regimen to specific patients. Nevertheless, formulating effective personalized treatment via surveying the mutational landscape remains difficult, due to current deficiencies in predicting drug sensitivity from genotype. Xenografts, both indirect (via cell line) and direct (from primary tumours), are good physiologic models of cancers. Their utility in informing cancer treatment, however, is constrained by high cost of generating and maintaining genetically modified animals, and the paucity of tissue samples from biopsies. Advent of high throughput biomolecular profiling tools finally enables reading out the expansive molecular fingerprints that encode observed phenotypes in xenografts. Using pheochromocytoma (an adrenal medulla cancer) as example, this short essay provides a broad overview of the scientific and clinical possibilities offered by xenograft models for understanding resistance mechanisms to particular chemotherapeutic regimens, and upon identification of the putative mutations, confirms their functional roles as either oncogenes or tumour suppressors. Additionally, workflow involved in generating a predictive platform, based on non-invasive blood biomarkers, for informing drug treatment options is discussed. Known as an integrated genomic classifier, combination of physiological response of direct xenografts to drug treatment and bioinformatics-enabled correlation of blood biomarkers to observed phenotype at cellular and animal levels, provides the biological basis for predicting patients’ prognosis without invasive biopsy of solid tumours. Elucidation of drug resistance mechanisms entails: (i) recapitulating in vivo tumour behavior using cell lines derived from primary tumour; (ii) identification of aetiological mutations and longitudinal profiling of phenotypic response; and (iii) validation of mutations and phenotype via both knockout mice and direct allogenic xenografts. Biological models seek to recapitulate human physiology at specific levels of abstraction for answering particular questions, but incongruence in phenotype is inevitable. Nevertheless, xenografts (especially those derived from patients, PDTX), are powerful tools for addressing basic science, clinical and treatment-related questions using close functional replicas of patient physiology in an animal model. Residual incompatibility between model and patient response would require the expertise and clinical experience of oncologists for fine-tuning model suggested drug regimen to particular patients.
Sensitivity and specificity of information criteria
Authors: Dziak John J. , Coffman Donna L. , Lanza Stephanie T. , Li Runze
Published: January 2018

Choosing a model with too few parameters can involve making unrealistically simple assumptions and lead to high bias, poor prediction, and missed opportunities for insight. Such models are not flexible enough to describe the sample or the population well. A model with too many parameters can t the observed data very well, but be too closely tailored to it. Such models may generalize poorly. Penalized-likelihood information criteria, such as Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC), the Consistent AIC, and the Adjusted BIC, are widely used for model selection. However, different criteria sometimes support different models, leading to uncertainty about which criterion is the most trustworthy. In some simple cases the comparison of two models using information criteria can be viewed as equivalent to a likelihood ratio test, with the different models representing different alpha levels (i.e., different emphases on sensitivity or specificity; Lin & Dayton 1997). This perspective may lead to insights about how to interpret the criteria in less simple situations. For example, AIC or BIC could be preferable, depending on sample size and on the relative importance one assigns to sensitivity versus specificity. Understanding the differences among the criteria may make it easier to compare their results and to use them to make informed decisions.
A security survey of middleware for the Internet of Things
Authors: Fremantle Paul , Scott Philip
Published: January 2018

The rapid growth of small Internet connected devices, known as the Internet of Things (IoT), is creating a new set of challenges to create secure, private infrastructures. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature on the challenges and approaches to security and privacy in the Internet of Things, with an especial focus on how these aspects are handled in IoT middleware. We focus on IoT middleware because many systems are built from existing middleware and these inherit the underlying security properties of the middleware framework. The paper is composed of three main sections. Firstly, we look at the general security and privacy challenges around IoT. Secondly, we present a structured literature review of the available middleware and how security is handled in these middleware approaches. Finally, we draw a set of conclusions and identify further work in this area.
Problems in using text-mining and p-curve analysis to detect rate of p-hacking
Authors: Bishop Dorothy V , Thompson Paul A
Published: January 2018

Background: The p-curve is a plot of the distribution of p-values below .05 reported in a set of scientific studies. It has been used to estimate the frequency of bias in the selection of variables and analyses for publication, p-hacking. A recent study by Head et al. (2015) combined this approach with automated text-mining of p-values from over 100 000 published papers and concluded that although there was evidence of p-hacking, it was not common enough to cause serious distortions in the literature. Methods: P-hacking can take various forms. For the current paper, we developed R code to simulate the use of ghost variables, where an experimenter gathers data on numerous variables but reports only those with statistically significant effects. In addition, we examined the dataset used by Head et al. to assess its suitability for investigating p-hacking. This consisted of a set of open access papers that reported at least one p-value below .05; where more than one p-value was less than .05, one was randomly sampled per paper. Results: For uncorrelated variables, simulated p-hacked data do not give the signature left-skewed p-curve that Head et al. took as evidence of p-hacking. A right-skewed p-curve is obtained, as expected, when there is a true difference between groups, but it was also obtained in p-hacked datasets containing a high proportion of cases with a true null effect. The automated text mining used by Head et al. detected any p-value mentioned in the Results or Abstract of a paper, including those reported in the course of validation of materials or methods, or confirmation of well-established facts, as opposed to hypothesis-testing. There was no information on the statistical power of studies, nor on the statistical test conducted. In addition, Head et al. excluded p-values in tables, p-values reported as 'less than' rather than 'equal to' a given value, and those reported using scientific notation or in ranges. Conclusions: Use of ghost variables, a form of p-hacking where the experimenter tests many variables and reports only those with the largest effect sizes, does not give the kind of p-curve with left-skewing around .05 that Head et al. focused on. Furthermore, to interpret a p-curve we need to know whether the p-values were testing a specific hypothesis, and to be confident that if any p-values are excluded, the effect on the p-curve is random rather than systematic. It is inevitable that with automated text-mining there will be some inaccuracies in data: the key question is whether the advantages of having very large amounts of extracted data compensates for these inaccuracies. The analysis presented here suggests that the potential of systematic bias is mined data is substantial and invalidates conclusions about p-hacking based on p-values obtained by text-mining.
Problems in using p-curve analysis and text-mining to detect rate of p-hacking
Authors: Bishop Dorothy V , Thompson Paul A
Published: January 2018

Background: The p-curve is a plot of the distribution of p-values below .05 reported in a set of scientific studies. Comparisons between ranges of p-values have been used to evaluate fields of research in terms of the extent to which studies have genuine evidential value, and the extent to which they suffer from bias in the selection of variables and analyses for publication, p-hacking. We argue that binomial tests on the p-curve are not robust enough to be used for this purpose. Methods: P-hacking can take various forms. Here we used R code to simulate the use of ghost variables, where an experimenter gathers data on several dependent variables but reports only those with statistically significant effects. We also examined a text-mined dataset used by Head et al. (2015) and assessed its suitability for investigating p-hacking. Results: We first show that a p-curve suggestive of p-hacking can be obtained if researchers misapply parametric tests to data that depart from normality, even when no p-hacking occurs. We go on to show that when there is ghost p-hacking, the shape of the p-curve depends on whether dependent variables are intercorrelated. For uncorrelated variables, simulated p-hacked data do not give the "p-hacking bump" just below .05 that is regarded as evidence of p-hacking, though there is a negative skew when simulated variables are inter-correlated. The way p-curves vary according to features of underlying data poses problems when automated text mining is used to detect p-values in heterogeneous sets of published papers. Conclusions: A significant bump in the p-curve just below .05 is not necessarily evidence of p-hacking, and lack of a bump is not indicative of lack of p-hacking. Furthermore, while studies with evidential value will usually generate a right-skewed p-curve, we cannot treat a right-skewed p-curve as an indicator of the extent of evidential value, unless we have a model specific to the type of p-values entered into the analysis. We conclude that it is not feasible to use the p-curve to estimate the extent of p-hacking and evidential value unless there is considerable control over the type of data entered into the analysis.
Unit testing, model validation, and biological simulation
Authors: Sarma Gopal , Jacobs Travis W , Watts Mark D , Ghayoomie S. Vahid , Larson Stephen D , Gerkin Richard C
Published: January 2018

The growth of the software industry has gone hand in hand with the development of tools and cultural practices for ensuring the reliability of complex pieces of software. These tools and practices are now acknowledged to be essential to the management of modern software. As computational models and methods have become increasingly common in the biological sciences, it is important to examine how these practices can accelerate biological software development and improve research quality. In this article, we give a focused case study of our experience with the practices of unit testing and test-driven development in OpenWorm, an open-science project aimed at modeling Caenorhabditis elegans. We identify and discuss the challenges of incorporating test-driven development into a heterogeneous, data-driven project, as well as the role of model validation tests, a category of tests unique to software which expresses scientific models.