University Interaction in Central and South Eastern Europe

If regional groupings are a legitimate step on the road to European integration, co-operation in education, particularly university education, has a principal role to play in the process. In Central and Eastern Europe, university education is essential for finding solutions to the common problems of adopting a market economy and of achieving scientific and technological parity with the West. Its aims can be furthered by co-operation and emphasis upon multiculturalism and initiatives aimed at furthering the aims of the Bologna Declaration of June 1999 on a European Area of Higher Education.     

Data search strategy for science and technology emergence: A scalable and evolutionary query for nanotechnology tracking

Nanotechnology, like other emerging technologies that increasingly characterize the dynamic of our era, makes specific demands on datamining to track and interpret efficiently what is happening, through publications and other scientific output. We here propose and describe a strategy based on an automated lexical modular methodology to overcome rapidly evolving content and classification problems, which may otherwise accommodate poor quality of data and expert bias, with potential dire consequences for interpretation, decision and strategy. The proposed methodology is based on an initial nanostring enriched and screened by eight subfields, automatically identified and defined through the journal inter-citation network density displayed in the initial core nanodataset. Relevant keywords linked to each subfield are then tested for their specificity and relevance before being sequentially incorporated to build a modular query. We then, as a first test, compare the database constructed using this methodology for years 2003 and 2005 with those obtained by other approaches previously used to cover and explore the nanotechnology dynamic. Finally, using the inherent transparency, portablity and replicability of our methodology, we offer, in order to help our initial query evolve and develop, a set of evaluation processes for tests by researchers in the nano field, other scientometric teams and intelligence experts involved in decision-making processes.     

CAVEman: Standardized anatomical context for biomedical data mapping

The authors have created a software system called the CAVEman, for the visual integration and exploration of heterogeneous anatomical and biomedical data. The CAVEman can be applied for both education and research tasks. The main component of the system is a three‐dimensional digital atlas of the adult male human anatomy, structured according to the nomenclature of Terminologia Anatomica. The underlying data‐indexing mechanism uses standard ontologies to map a range of biomedical data types onto the atlas. The CAVEman system is now used to visualize genetic processes in the context of the human anatomy and to facilitate visual exploration of the data. Through the use of Java? software, the atlas‐based system is portable to virtually any computer environment, including personal computers and workstations. Existing Java tools for biomedical data analysis have been incorporated into the system. The affordability of virtual‐reality installations has increased dramatically over the last several years. This creates new opportunities for educational scenarios that model important processes in a patient's body, including gene expression patterns, metabolic activity, the effects of interventions such as drug treatments, and eventually surgical simulations. Anat Sci Ed 1:10–18, 2008. © 2007 American Association of Anatomists.     

Representation of morality in children: A qualitative approach

ABSTRACT

Previous research on children’s moral reasoning usually used a quantitative approach and a pre-determined set of methods in order to establish early moral landmarks. We proposed a qualitative perspective on the basis of which we have formulated three main objectives: 1) to identify the main categories of behaviors that children spontaneously associate with the notion of morality, in line with Turiel’s Domain Theory; 2) to investigate children’s conceptions of moral and social-conventional rules and 3) to assess the gender differences in the use of care and justice reasoning, in line with Gilligan’s assertion that females are care-oriented and that males consistently use the justice orientation and infrequently use the care orientation. Ninety-two children (57% boys, mean age was 8.19 years) were required to describe morality in behavioral terms without being guided by specific indications from the researchers. Our results reflected a tendency towards morality perceived through behaviors directed towards others, namely through altruism, and also the domination of moral norms as compared to social ones, partially confirming Gilligan’s theory concerning gender specificities regarding moral reasoning in the questions of care and justice.     

University Reform in Europe: Some Ethical Considerations

European universities must face the crisis of the Humboldtian model, and find new organisational solutions. This paper proceeds from two starting observations. The first is the one according to which we are in a “cultural shift” that makes culture the element on which performance, including technologically and cognitively, depends. The development of societies now depends on the culture shared by human beings more than on their economy or technology. The second observation is that culture itself and its ethical underpinning should be open for consideration. The development of society now depends on culture and on its adaptive capacity.     

The accidental conservationist: William T. Hornaday, the Smithsonian bison expeditions and the US National Zoo

In 1886 William T. Hornaday, the Chief Taxidermist of the US National Museum, led the "Smithsonian Institution Buffalo Outfit" to Montana. The American bison was fast heading toward extinction and the mission of the expedition was to locate those of the elusive animals that remained and obtain specimens for the scientific collection at the museum. The successful expedition produced the most complete scientific series, and the finest artistic grouping of taxidermied specimens of the American bison anywhere in the world. Haunted by the scattered skeletal remains of the millions of slaughtered bison that peppered the Eastern Montana Plains, Hornaday fought to establish the National Zoological Park, which would provide sanctuary for bison and other endangered species, and a captive breeding program, which would result in the eventual reintroduction of the American bison to the wild.     

Do Lions Have Manes? For Children,Generics Are About Kinds Rather Than Quantities

Generic statements (e.g., “Lions have manes”) make claims about kinds (e.g., lions as a category) and, for adults, are distinct from quantificational statements (e.g., “Most lions have manes”), which make claims about how many individuals have a given property. This article examined whether young children also understand that generics do not depend purely on quantitative information. Five‐year‐olds (n = 36) evaluated pairs of questions expressing properties that were matched in prevalence but varied in whether adults accept them as generically true (e.g., “Do lions have manes?” [true] vs. “Are lions boys?” [false]). Results demonstrated that children evaluate generics based on more than just quantitative information. Data suggest that even young children recognize that generics make claims about kinds.