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PubMed1992

Testing a Mars science outpost in the Antarctic dry valleys.

Field research conducted in the Antarctic has been providing insights about the nature of Mars in the science disciplines of exobiology and geology. Located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of southern Victoria Land (160 degrees and 164 degrees E longitude and 76 degrees 30' and 78 degrees 30' S latitude), research outposts are inhabited by teams of 4-6 scientists. We propose that the design of these outposts be expanded to enable meaningful tests of many of the systems that will be needed for the successful conduct of exploration activities on Mars. Although there are some important differences between the environment in the Antarctic dry valleys and on Mars, the many similarities and particularly the field science activities, make the dry valleys a useful terrestrial analog to conditions on Mars. Three areas have been identified for testing at a small science outpost in the dry valleys; 1) studying human factors and physiology in an isolated environment; 2) testing emerging technologies (e.g., innovative power management systems, advanced life support facilities including partial bioregenerative life support systems for water recycling and food growth, telerobotics, etc.); and 3) conducting basic scientific research that will enhance our understanding of Mars while contributing to the planning for human exploration. We suggest that an important early result of a Mars habitat program will be the experience gained by interfacing humans and their supporting technology in a remote and stressful environment.

Antarctic Regions↗
PubMed2006

The art of surgery in the 21st century: based on natural sciences and new ethical dimensions.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In the future, new surgical techniques will only be introduced in clinical practice if evidence-based results--frequently the results of controlled clinical trials--are presented. Unlike any other medical discipline, surgeons provide their diagnostic and operative skills through the surgeons' hand and the use of technical equipment, which ranges from instruments and devices employed during operation to the use of surgical robots. RESULTS: Analysing the fundaments of surgery on the turn of the century, there is only a little doubt about the increasing impact of data deriving from natural sciences on knowledge in medicine and management of diseases. The natural scientific method of detecting, measuring, and verifying facts is the methodological basis of surgery as well. The autonomy of the surgeon's clinical decision making is significantly restricted by the definition of guidelines. They shift the decision from a single patient to a collective panel. Patient safety and the efficiency of new treatment modalities compared with previous standards are the criteria for the judgement of innovative surgery today. The communication and interaction between surgeon-scientist and patients is guaranteed legally by written consensus. But beside of the high probability of benefit from therapy and written consensus, the surgeon-patient relation is determined by these factors: limitation of time for care of an individual patient, increase of time for administration and documentation, increase of bureaucratic barriers for medical research, and health cost constraints. CONCLUSION: The medical mandate to cure a sick patient is an individual mandate to take action. Measures, numbers, and images are only preconditions for a surgeon's action in daily clinical work; they can never replace it. The call for an ethical imperative in scientific surgery that is dependent on technology is justified when the state of science and uncritical use of surgical skills and financial constraints have major impact on providing medical care.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1992

[Is nursing a science or a profession?].

Traditionally, human knowledge has been considered in the context of disciplines which can be divided in two groups: Academics and professionals. The aim of academic disciplines is the knowledge and their theories are descriptive in nature. For this reason they are named science. In contrast, professional disciplines are move comprehensive, directed toward practical aims and there is a need to and to work. Nursing as a professional discipline has been influenced by four school of thought named; service, administration, academic and practice. Currently the nursing practice is developed based on three different theoretic and philosophic branches.

Brazil↗
PubMed2003

[Research conditions at the preclinical medical, odontological and pharmaceutical fields].

The Danish Medical Research Council has recently published a report (in Danish) entitled "Research Conditions in the Pre-clinical and Dental Institutes of the Health Science Faculties and the Danish University of Pharmaceutical Sciences". According to this report, the Danish educational institutions within health sciences are facing a major generational change among the scientific staff within the coming 5-15 years. It is therefore worrying that young physicians, dentists and pharmacists refrain from choosing a university research career. Possible explanations include more attractive working conditions, salaries, and career possibilities outside universities. The analyses describe a number of problems regarding this matter and outline how the situation might be improved. The Council recommends that to ensure a future optimal staff balance, focus should be placed on recruitment of researchers. It is important that the future scientific staff also includes a substantial number who possess the specific education provided by the faculty. The staff should be made up of a mix of researchers with knowledge about the nature and practice of their specific discipline and researchers with other scientific backgrounds in the health sciences. It is this interplay between the basic and clinical disciplines that must be consolidated in order to meet the future challenges. The interdisciplinary nature of Danish health science has undoubtedly contributed to placing the Danish health care services in the international front line.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Improving food safety in the domestic environment: the need for a transdisciplinary approach.

Microbial food safety has been the focus of research across various disciplines within the risk analysis community. Natural scientists involved in food microbiology and related disciplines work on the identification of health hazards, and the detection of pathogenic microorganisms. To perform risk assessment, research activities are increasingly focused on the quantification of microbial contamination of food products at various stages in the food chain, and modeling the impact of this contamination on human health. Social scientists conduct research into how consumers perceive food risks, and how best to develop effective risk communication with consumers in order to improve public health through improved food handling practices. The two approaches converge at the end of the food chain, where the activities regarding food preparation and food consumption are considered. Both natural and social sciences may benefit from input and expertise from the perspective of the alternative discipline, although, to date, the integration of social and natural sciences has been somewhat limited. This article therefore explores the potential of a transdisciplinary approach to food risk analysis in terms of delivering additional improvements to public health. Developing knowledge arising from research in both the natural and social sciences, we present a novel framework involving the integration of the two approaches that might provide the most effective way to improve the consumer health associated with food-borne illness.

Communication↗
PubMed1980

The consciousness disciplines and the behavioral sciences: questions of comparison and assessment.

In recent years a number of assessments of the non-Western consciousness disciplines have been undertaken by Western behavioral scientists. The author suggests that a variety of conceptual, methodological, experimential, and content inadequacies render the conclusions of these investigations of doubtful validity. He then describes the models of human nature postulated by these disciplines and the Western behavioral sciences, suggesting that comparing them results in a paradigm clash. The failure to recognize this clash seems to have resulted in inappropriate pathologizing interpretations. Attention is drawn to the relevance of recent findings in state-dependent learning, meditation studies, peak and transcendental experiences, transpersonal psychology, and quantum physics to an assessment of the consciousness disciplines, and suggestions for more adequate investigation are provided.

Behavioral Sciences↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Transferring behavioral technology across applications.

Application flows naturally from good science, and behavioral toxicology is no exception. Phenomena discovered and procedures developed in behavioral laboratories are being applied on a wide scale in commercial, industrial, and governmental settings. In behavioral toxicology, this transfer of technology has occurred in an ad hoc manner, albeit with a degree of sophistication. The development of technology transfer in other disciplines is instructive. A symposium at the May 2001 meeting of the Behavioral Toxicology Society examined this issue, and some participants provide their contributions here. Henry Pennypacker examines the issue of whether behavioral procedures can meet the demanding standards required to transfer technology to commercial endeavors and concludes that, under some conditions, they can. He notes that the shortage of well-developed and transferred behavioral technologies results from a lack of understanding of the process of technology transfer on the part of behavior analysts. In the field of engineering, the results of basic research are transformed to candidate technologies that meet standardized criteria with respect to three properties: quantification, repetition, and verification. Kent Anger describes the challenging steps in the trail from the laboratory to wide-scale application-steps that are essential for the scaling up of any behavioral technique. Finally, Paul Mele describes the legal background to patenting and copyrighting ideas, a process that behaviorists have rarely used. Together, these topics identify the requirements and warn of the challenges and intricacies that await those who seek to transfer behavioral technology beyond the laboratory.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM).

The Japanese Association for Acute Medicine (JAAM) is an academic association and a suborganization of Japan Medical Association. In Japan, emergency medicine specialists who treat critical patients exclusively were the byproducts of the advent of tertiary emergency centers. Acute medicine naturally covers a wide range disciplines, from basic sciences and clinical medicine to sociomedical considerations. These facts, as well as the presence of JAAM, have contributed to the creation of the new multidisciplinary clinical science of "pantraumatology." Despite the progress in acute medicine over the last several years in Japan, important future tasks include the support and dissemination of emergency medical research, improved organization in the emergency care system, and standards for general clinical competency of emergency specialists at all levels.

Education, Medical↗
PubMed2004

Siren call of metaphor: subverting the proper task of neuroscience.

Under the assumption that nervous systems form a distinct category among the objects in Nature, applying metaphors of psychological and behavioral science disciplines is flawed and invites confusion. Moreover, such practices obscure and detract from the primary task of Neurophysiology: to investigate the intrinsic properties of nervous systems, uncontaminated with concepts borrowed from other disciplines.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

[In France, school health education].

Since 1976 health education has been incorporated in most school programmes at various levels, from the kindergarten (3 years) to the end of high school (16 years). In kindergarten and at primary level health education belongs to a series of activities called d'éveil meant to sharpen the interest of the child in the social, cultural and artistic fields. At secondary level, health education, though not an autonomous discipline, is usually incorporated in courses of natural sciences or biology. There are also specific health education activities when an entire form spends a month by the sea shore or in the mountains. To help teachers in their task the French Committee for Health Education produces every year teaching material specially conceived for different age groups. The main subjects dealt with concern oral health, the prevention of home accidents, nutrition, smoking control and the promotion of health. The various activities of the French Committee for Health Education have revealed new needs which concern the training of teachers, change in mentality and improved coordination.

Child↗
PubMed2005

Ergonomics and human factors: the paradigms for science, engineering, design, technology and management of human-compatible systems.

This paper provides a theoretical perspective on human factors and ergonomics (HFE), defined as a unique and independent discipline that focuses on the nature of human-artefact interactions, viewed from the unified perspective of the science, engineering, design, technology and management of human-compatible systems. Such systems include a variety of natural and artificial products, processes and living environments. The distinguishing features of the contemporary HFE discipline and profession are discussed and a concept of ergonomics literacy is proposed. An axiomatic approach to ergonomics design and a universal measure of system-human incompatibility are also introduced. It is concluded that the main focus of the HFE discipline in the 21st century will be the design and management of systems that satisfy human compatibility requirements.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2004

Systems theory and the ethics of human enhancement: a framework for NBIC convergence.

Representatives from government and the private sector recommend a major, cooperative initiative directed toward using NBIC (nano-, bio-, info-, and cogno-) technologies for human enhancement. By appropriately seeding the convergence of NBIC domains, they believe that the rate of development can be both accelerated and simultaneously channeled to avoid adverse risk and advance human good. However, to accomplish these goals, leaders of the convergence efforts identified as a major intellectual barrier the "development of a hierarchical architecture for integrating science across many scales, disciplines, and data modalities." Such a holistic framework requires a radical rethinking of the nature of science and engineering, and, beyond this, is also necessary for addressing their normative ethical and societal implications. In the first part of this essay, I consider the claim that a new view of science and engineering is needed. After reviewing the central features of a classical view of science, I consider aspects of the nano-revolution, showing why the classical conception is inappropriate and how a systems-oriented perspective is responsive to the character of this new science. I then consider how both science and engineering are transformed, calling into question older dichotomies between pure and applied domains. With the reworking of this distinction comes opportunities for rethinking the relation between science and the humanities more generally, which is necessary if we are to more appropriately address normative ethical aspects of the convergence initiative. After providing this groundwork for the needed hierarchical architecture, I consider a useful example of how a systems perspective might guide NBIC convergence. In the 1960s-1990s George Engel advocated a systems-theoretic model as an alternative to a more reductionistic "biomedical model" in medicine, and he did it for the exact same reasons as those advocated by the leaders of the NBIC convergence; namely, it embodies a more appropriate notion of science and enables one to address ethical aspects of medicine that were insufficiently addressed in the older model. By reviewing Engel's "biopsychosocial model" we can learn important lessons for developing the needed NBIC framework. I close by extending Engel's model so that it addresses all areas of enhancement envisioned as a part of NBIC convergence, and then identify areas where future research is still needed.

Biomedical Enhancement↗
PubMed1990

Toward applied behavior analysis of life aloft.

This article deals with systems at multiple levels, at least from cell to organization. It also deals with learning, decision making, and other behavior at multiple levels. Technological development of a human behavioral ecosystem appropriate to space environments requires an analytic and synthetic orientation, explicitly experimental in nature, dictated by scientific and pragmatic considerations, and closely approximating procedures of established effectiveness in other areas of natural science. The conceptual basis of such an approach has its roots in environmentalism which has two main features: (1) knowledge comes from experience rather than from innate ideas, divine revelation, or other obscure sources; and (2) action is governed by consequences rather than by instinct, reason, will, beliefs, attitudes or even the currently fashionable cognitions. Without an experimentally derived data base founded upon such a functional analysis of human behavior, the overgenerality of "ecological systems" approaches render them incapable of ensuring the successful establishment of enduring space habitats. Without an experimentally derived function account of individual behavioral variability, a natural science of behavior cannot exist. And without a natural science of behavior, the social sciences will necessarily remain in their current status as disciplines of less than optimal precision or utility. Such a functional analysis of human performance should provide an operational account of behavior change in a manner similar to the way in which Darwin's approach to natural selection accounted for the evolution of phylogenetic lines (i.e., in descriptive, nonteleological terms). Similarly, as Darwin's account has subsequently been shown to be consonant with information obtained at the cellular level, so too should behavior principles ultimately prove to be in accord with an account of ontogenetic adaptation at a biochemical level. It would thus seem obvious that the most productive conceptual and methodological approaches to long-term research investments focused upon human behavior in space environments will require multidisciplinary inputs from such wide-ranging fields as molecular biology, environmental physiology, behavioral biology, architecture, sociology, and political science, among others.

Behavior↗