Search

Examines Tobler's First Law of Geography, that everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things. Nature of scientific laws from the perspective of the philosophy of science literature; Science studies; Local construction of the law.

The author reflects on the role of the journal "Technometrics" in the development and application of statistical methods in the physical, chemical and engineering sciences. He said that the journal has traditionally been an outlet for papers that deal with industrial statistics in areas related to manufacturing. The journal continues to attract and publish good papers that make valuable contributions in traditional application areas and will maintain strong standing, he emphasized.

Two new metal–organic compounds, [Ag2(HADC)2(bimh)] (1) and [Cd(ADC)(bpp)]n(2) [H2ADC = 1,3-adamantanedicarboxylic acid, bimh = 1,6-bis(2-methyl-imidazole-1-yl)hexane, bpp = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane], have been synthesized and characterized. Compound1exhibits a discrete symmetric unit with 0D?2D interpenetrating structure. Compound2crystallizes in a chiral space groupP212121and presents a threefold interpenetrated 3D diamondoid network containing three helical chains. Thermal stability, X-ray powder diffraction, and luminescence for1and2are also measured and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material has published a range of resources that promote environmentally aware collection care and management practices including climate-specific Environmental Guidelines, the Sustainable Collections wiki and the Climate Adaptation resource. The Climate Adaptation resource provides access to 180 maps illustrating potential future climate scenarios for Australia in 2030 and 2090, using the two Representative Concentration Pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. These maps were produced as part of research undertaken in 2019–2020 by Pagliarino and Meredith and supplement those published in volume 41 (issue 1) of the AICCM Bulletin. The release of updated climate change projections in the Sixth Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis – precipitated a review of the Climate Adaptation resource to confirm the continued veracity of the maps. This paper provides the results of that assessment, which confirmed the resource's ongoing accuracy and currency. In addition, the paper includes discussion of the new IPCC future climate scenarios of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, which supersede RCP, and a summary of the state of the climate in Australia with warming, humidity, fire, weather and sea level rise investigated in more detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intent of the paper is to evaluate the progress of R&D in the field of fullerene science in Russia in comparison with the world trends. With that end in view we use the databases (DBs) of Scientific and Technical Network International (STN) and also less known Russian DBs: of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (applications and grants received, research teams, titles and abstracts of the papers, published by projects participants); of ROSPATENT (patents), and of the Russian Higher Certification Commission (dissertation abstracts). Together with bibliometric statistics, institutional structure and socioeconomic problems of the scientific field development are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These days, the advancement of knowledge largely comes through periodic meetings of learned societies and through individual work published on paper and online. Sometimes, their enquiries were designed to aid navigation; thus, they developed searching sets of enquiries concerning Tenerife and Saint Helena. Thus, in November 1664, "Dr Wilkins [acquainted] the Society that some of the East India Company were ready to attend them, to give answer to their enquiries;" no doubt these enquiries often concerned trading opportunities. [Extracted from the article]

Dimensional analysis (DA) is a well-developed, widely-employed methodology in the physical and engineering sciences. The application of dimensional analysis in statistics leads to three advantages: (1) the reduction of the number of potential causal factors that we need to consider, (2) the analytical insights into the relations among variables that it generates, and (3) the scalability of results. The formalization of the dimensional-analysis method in statistical design and analysis gives a clear view of its generality and overlooked significance. In this paper, we first provide general procedures for dimensional analysis prior to statistical design and analysis. We illustrate the use of dimensional analysis with three practical examples. In the first example, we demonstrate the basic dimensional-analysis process in connection with a study of factors that affect vehicle stopping distance. The second example integrates dimensional analysis into the regression analysis of the pine tree data. In our third example, we show how dimensional analysis can be used to develop a superior experimental design for the well-known paper helicopter experiment. In the regression example and in the paper helicopter experiment, we compare results obtained via the dimensional-analysis approach to those obtained via conventional approaches. From those, we demonstrate the general properties of dimensional analysis from a statistical perspective and recommend its usage based on its favorable performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the procedures adopted in preparing a class-list for degrees in physics: it is based on two surveys recently carried out by the author. Topics discussed are: the use of a 'total mark' as the basis of the class list; the composition of this mark in terms of written examinations, laboratory work, and other course work; the use of marks relating to work done before the final year; and the character of the questions set in a sample of final examination papers. Considerable variations in practice between one department and another are shown to exist, and doubts are raised about the validity of the average degree examination as the basis for the award of a qualification to give professional standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Doxorubicin, a prominent anti-tumor agent obtained mainly for the diagnosis of breast and ovarian cancer, suffers tremendous disservices, such as poor solvency, some harmfulness and clear resistance by other tumor cells to the drug. The integration of doxorubicin with a bio-compatible substrate, such as hyaluronic acid, has been listed among the different systems suggested. In general, linking a bio-active material to a bio-compatible polymer provides various points of concern, such as improved solubilization of drugs, improved modification, specific restriction and regulated discharge. Several medical analyses have confirmed that the characteristics of medical drugs have a nearby connection with their atomic structure. Medication properties can be acquired by considering the atomic structure of relating drugs. The calculation of the topological index of a medication structure empowers researchers to have a superior comprehension of the physical science and bio-organic attributes of drugs. The algebraic polynomials play an important role in the computation of topological descriptor. In this paper, we evaluated M-polynomial and NM-polynomial with graphical representations of the structure of hyaluronic acid-doxorubicin (HAD) and then we have computed some degrees based and neighborhood degrees sum based topological indices from the expression of these polynomials which commonly used to study the pharmaceutical properties of drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphite carbon nitride (g- C 3 N 4 ) is well recognized as among the most important products for photocatalytic processes, such as for CO2 elimination, water isolation, water purification and remediation of environment by the processing of organic contaminants, and also have remarkable characteristics includes outstanding properties of optical and good thermal and physiochemical efficiency with broad applications. The calculation of the topological index of a molecular structure empowers researchers to have a superior comprehension of the physical science and bio-organic attributes of the product. The algebraic polynomials play important role for computation of topological descriptor. In this paper, we have evaluated M-polynomial and NM-polynomial with graphical representations for the structure of graphite carbon nitride (g- C 3 N 4 ) and then we have computed some degrees based and neighborhood degrees sum based topological indices from the expression of these polynomials which commonly used to study the pharmaceutical properties of drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the role of sociology in climate change research and policies. Climate change can be regarded as one of the greatest challenges facing the world today. It has attracted attention from several disciplines, with the physical sciences regarded as dominating climate change research. Apparently, despite that climate change is inherently a social problem, sociologists have been slow in tackling it, at both theoretical and policy levels. Even so, available literature contains assorted and interesting sociological contributions and insights. As such, this paper posits that sociologists are interested in climate change issues, have a lot to offer and they can draw from a number of sub-fields. For instance, using sociology of sustainable consumption sociologists can tackle how societies can re-organise consumption patterns and habits, sociology of education provokes more intriguing research into the construction of climate change science, knowledge and solutions and feminist sociology can extend robust research into how the material and discursive dimensions of climate change are profoundly gendered. Importantly, critical sociology provides a repertoire of concepts and novel methods that can be deployed in climate change research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane emissions reduction can make an effective contribution to national climate policy objectives in countries with high ratios of methane to carbon dioxide emissions. This paper explores the physical science basis for Irish climate policy targets in a 'split-gas' approach i.e. separate targets for CO $_2$ 2 and methane. Explicit calculations of Ireland's historic and future warming contribution show that the planned phaseout in fossil-CO $_2$ 2 emissions by 2050, together with relatively modest but sustained falls in methane emissions from agriculture, can lead to early stabilization of Ireland's contribution to global warming. It is proposed that this 'temperature neutrality' concept provides a pragmatic framework for aligning national climate policy with Article 2.1(a) of the Paris Agreement in countries with high shares of agricultural methane emissions. National methane reductions required to achieve temperature neutrality by a target year are shown to depend on realized future atmospheric methane concentrations, with lower concentrations requiring stronger national reductions and vice versa. Temperature neutrality (TN) is a physically well-defined concept that can be used to balance emissions of methane and long-lived greenhouse gases and to align national with global climate policy goals. Policymakers in countries with significant shares of agricultural methane emissions should evaluate the relative merits of Global Warming Potential (GWP $_{100}$ 100 ) net-zero and temperature neutrality approaches when setting policy targets. Simple Climate Model assessments of national warming contributions help inform emissions targets in countries with significant agricultural methane emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It should, however, be noted that such approximations have ultimately allowed the authors to conduct a comprehensive analysis of thousands of images from multiple studies, which further substantiates their findings. We congratulate the authors on an interesting paper which combines the ideas of shape analysis with longitudinal data analysis. This, of course, loses some of the elegance of the SRNF framework, but at a considerable ease of preserving the topology of the data and avoiding Euclidean approximations. [Extracted from the article]

One proven strategy to help students make sense of abstract concepts is to sequence instruction so students have exploratory opportunities to investigate science before being introduced to new science explanations (Abraham and Renner 1986; Renner, Abraham, and Birnie 1988). To help physical science teachers make sense of how to effectively sequence lessons, this article summarizes our experiences using an exploration-explanation sequence of instruction to teach Bernoulli's principle to prospective middle and secondary science teachers in a science methods course. We use demonstrations during our Bernoulli unit to help students go back and forth between their observations of phenomenon and what occurs on the microscopic level with what we have termed molecular talk. Students engage in guiding questions, consider their old and new understandings of science, and use evidence to construct new ideas during all stages of the lesson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study that contributes to the current debate among historians of chemistry concerning the role and influence of pedagogy in science. Recently, Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent and her colleagues concluded that in nineteenth-century France, 'textbooks played an important role in discipline building and in creating theories'.1 Developing this idea further, this paper examines the dissemination of knowledge through face-to-face chemical lectures, showing that the influence of pedagogical strategy on theoretical content of the science is far from negligible. The pedagogy of William Cullen was essentially responsible for the prevalence of the doctrine of affinity in British chemistry from the 1760s onwards. Cullen used his affinity theory as a pedagogical tool that to a large extent defined his discipline, and the pedagogical pyramid that he headed similarly ensured that the doctrine would remain at the heart of British chemistry. From a pedagogical tool, the doctrine of affinity was transformed over time into a chemical tool, offering British chemists a disciplinary common ground that both set and reinforced the boundaries to their discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solute redistribution law that predicts non-equilibrium phase constitution in compositionally cored binary alloys is usually attributed as Scheil's equation. Earlier studies on this subject by G. H. Gulliver are occasionally cited but are thought by some to be either approximate or incomplete. It is shown that Gulliver fully recognized and developed the limit laws for non-equilibrium segregation in solidifying binary alloys no later than 1913-almost 30 years prior to the publication of Scheil's paper. For reasons that remain obscure, however, he chose not to provide, or perhaps to burden, the reader of his paper with the mathematical details connecting his unusual, geometrically based derivation to the now well known segregation power law for solidification. By contrast, Scheil's familiar integral form for this power law was derived from a differential mass balance, which provides the standard mathematical setting used for this important equation. It is concluded that attribution of this significant accomplishment in solidification theory should properly be shared by both researchers and called the Gulliver-Scheil equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of 'applicability' of mathematics to modern physical sciences has been labeled as an 'unreasonably effective' and unexplainable 'miracle' by prominent physicists such as Eugene Wigner and Paul Dirac. Philosophers of science from contending traditions have also contributed to the debates at large. While some have tried to trivialize the problem, others, in particular those with a phenomenological orientation, have attempted to eliminate this riddle, claiming that the two domains are 'identical'. This paper, while challenging some of these interpretations, proposes a solution from a dialectical materialist position. Drawing on Evald Ilyenkov's concept of the 'ideal' as the objectivized form of human activity in social nature, it is suggested that the two realms are necessarily interconnected as schemata of human activity which aim for a highly quantified conceptualization of reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world we live in is increasingly multimodal, necessitating multiliteracy for learners to engage meaningfully with knowledge and skills. While verbal language is the primary medium for constructing, communicating and learning scientific knowledge and concepts, visuals can help learners to gain knowledge that they may not develop from verbal explanations alone. Verbal and visual semiotic modes have the potential to function in a complementary way, working together to strengthen meaning. This paper explores the dynamics of verbal–visual intersemiotic complementarity in the classroom practice of three junior secondary physical science teachers in the Oshana region of Namibia. It reports on a qualitative case study employing Systemic Functional Linguistics in the analysis of multimodal discourse. The results revealed how the content selections in the verbal and visual modes of the science teachers' practice are related in terms of the meanings and their relationships through all five intersemiotic sense relations. The results also showed that some teachers consistently employed fewer visuals. The results further highlighted low frequency of the use of intersemiotic antonymy (opposites) and hyponymy (hierarchy) by each teacher compared with intersemiotic repetition, synonymy (synonyms) and meronymy (whole–part relationships). It is recommended that Namibian science teacher training programmes incorporate intersemiotic complementarity in order to help teachers harness the full potential of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ionic liquids (ILs) are finding applications in various domains of physical sciences these days. They are used in organometallic syntheses, catalysis, electrochemistry, fuel, solar cells, lubricants, enzyme, separation technologies, nanomaterials, tissue preservation etc. However, the application of ILs in the area of mineral processing is minimal. Considering the potential use of ILs in metal extraction and many chemical reactions, these compounds may play an essential role in the selective recovery of mineral values from the ores having multiple mineral phases. In this paper, the application of some selected ILs in the mineral flotation studies has been reviewed. The interaction of ILs with the desired mineral phases has been described vide the evidence from zeta potential, X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectra as well as molecular modeling studies. The results of the studies carried out on low-grade iron ores have indicated that ILs under investigation can be compared with the conventional iron ore collectors such as dodecylamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a presentation of an autonomous area of knowledge (called econophysics) which has emerged at the frontier of physical sciences and economics. Although this field is in its infancy, an increasing number of papers on econophysics have been published in physics journals, several meeting series dedicated to this topic are regularly organised and moreover, new university education dedicated to econophysics has recently appeared in some universities. This article aims to give a clear and succinct theoretical and institutional presentation of econophysics by also presenting the major contextual factors that have favoured the emergence of this new approach. The last section will also offer a quick overview of the existing studies developed by econophysicists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers tribute to professor Janusz R. Mika on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Mika was born on March 24, 1934, in the small Polish town of Krasnystaw. He studied theoretical physics at the University of Lublin in Poland, receiving an MSc degree in 1955, according to the author. Mika has written the paper "Neutro Transport with Anisotropic Scattering," which appeared in the 1961 issue of "Nuclear Science and Engineering."

In this paper we combine the findings from two recent studies relating to participation and attainment in school science -- a re-analysis of existing official data for England and a review of wider international research evidence in the literature relevant to the UK. Although the secondary data are drawn mainly from England, the comprehensiveness of these datasets, together with our inclusion of a review of international studies on maths and science participation provides a useful reference point for an international audience. The research was prompted by concerns over a reduction in the uptake of the physical sciences post-16 and especially in higher education and interest in ways of encouraging the study of science by students from less prestigious socio-economic status backgrounds. Such concerns are not unique to the UK. Using large-scale official datasets we show that participation and attainment in science are stratified by socio-economic status. Students from poorer families arc less likely to take sciences at post-16 than many other subjects and those who do are then less likely to obtain grades high enough to encourage further study of the subject. No conclusive evidence has been found to explain this satisfactorily. Plausible reasons suggested in the literature include the relative scarcity of local opportunities putting off those who do not wish to study away from home or the perceived time demands of studying science, and so the difficulties of combining part-time study and part-time work for those needing to continue earning while studying. Direct support from professional parents may also lead to greater participation in post-16 science for students from higher SES. Perhaps the simplest explanation is that participation in science at any level is often predicated upon success at the previous educational stage. There are clear differences in science attainment at age 16 between students of differing backgrounds, which could explain the subsequent differential participation. However, these differences arc not dissimilar to those for all subjects. The largest gap presented in the paper is between students eligible and not eligible for free school meals. We also show that these patterns appear early in the life of children. At ages 7 and 11, attainment in the three core subjects (English, maths and science) is negatively related to living in an area of deprivation. The paper ends with a discussion of suggestions for research, policy and practice emerging from this review of the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various phenomena of life are typically explained by the physical sciences. Although the biological structures of a living being are subject to physical laws, we suggest that life, information, and consciousness are biological phenomena that are not. In this paper, we present new concepts and viewpoints about the very nature of biology. Life, information, and consciousness are identified as a unique set of biological phenomena that are common to only and all living beings. These three distinct phenomena always occur together in a whole pattern, and matter is viewed as the carrier of these phenomena. We explore the unique characteristics of life, information, and consciousness, and their relationships to one another. The experiences and behaviors of human beings, our presentday knowledge of biology, and some organisms' simple behaviors that we can observe are used to understand these biological phenomena. A distinction between genetic information and nongenetic information is also made, and their importance to life is emphasized. The interactions of biological activities between living beings and their environments are explained in the context of improving their chance of survival. Additionally, consciousness is simplified and exemplified via five categories from a hierarchical perspective, and various types of death are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition, the request for information is also driven by the need to cover data poor regions of low income countries where the coverage of the information is rarely available outside the largest cities (Farrell [15]). In addition, the project recognizes that the EO based information needs to be integrated with statistical demographic and socio-economic records, and generated from new data sources including that of voluntary geographic information and human sensors on the move such as from mobile phones. First, it provides a computing space for image processing specialists to process large data volumes and data streams; second, it provides access of open information products on settlements grouped under specific windows; and, third, it facilitates the dissemination of information and results to potential decision makers. We look forward to future improvements in the extraction of information that will be coming from Big Data Earth Observation (EO) data archives (Corbane et al. [8]) and the incoming open source EO data streams. [Extracted from the article]

This paper describes the design of a new practical class in pharmaceutical chemistry, which creatively guides the students through the subject area of physical and analytical sciences with the help of a 'virtual client'. The design focuses on the active integration of knowledge and professional skills in an area which has been seen to be typically least popular with the students. The course is designed for a duration of 20 teaching weeks, categorized into four 5-week blocks, where the same set of learning outcomes are repeatedly approached from different angles. Students are provided with feed-back and feed-forward points after each 5-week block. Evaluation of the design has shown that the students actively learn to integrate knowledge and positively engage with the practical and their 'virtual client'. Engagement parameters, such as peer observations and marks, grades, and attendance are all very encouraging compared to traditional practical classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued that awareness of the distinction between dynamical and variational symmetrics is crucial to understanding the significance of Noether's 1918 work. Special attention is paid, by way of a number of striking examples, to Noether's first theorem, which establishes a correlation between dynamical symmetries and conservation principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates the use of simulation-based performance assessment (PA) methodology in a recent study of eighth-grade students’ understanding of physical science concepts. A set of four simulation-based PA tasks were iteratively developed to assess student understanding of an array of physical science concepts, including net force, acceleration, velocity, and inertia. Illustrative examples drawn from the administration of these simulation-based PA tasks to a sample of eighth-grade students (n = 74) highlight the potential of simulation-based tasks for revealing conceptual understanding of science concepts and for informing curriculum development within the context of design-based implementation research. The paper also describes a variety of challenges encountered over the course of the development, administration, and analysis of the PA data that may be informative for researchers and educators as they consider implementing simulation-based PAs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Integrated science is a ubiquitous school subject that is an amalgamation of science disciplines; its teaching allows topics to be sequenced in any order and given various degrees of coverage and emphasis in the classroom. Ensuring canonical coherence, which is the logical organization of subject matter for effective instruction is therefore necessary for meaningful student learning to occur. Purpose: We examine the coherence as well as closely related ideas of coverage and emphasis of the integrated science curriculum and textbooks from Singapore. Such an analysis has not been attempted before, which might shed light on strong student achievement reported from this region in this subject. Methods: Coherence was determined by finding buttress topics and upper triangular patterns based on a list of standard science topics––these inter-related curricular features aid in conceptual learning of a subject. We also investigated questions about coverage and emphasis from the number of learning outcomes, topics in curriculum and textbooks, and page surface area of textbooks following past TIMSS research. Results: Three buttress topics and two upper triangular patterns in life and physical science disciplines were found, but not among earth science topics. Two topics were strongly emphasised in the curriculum and textbooks––organs, tissues and physical properties of matter––and there was a close alignment between topics in the curriculum and textbooks. Integrated science here was relatively restricted compared to three other high-performing East-Asian regions, but there was a common strong emphasis on physical science topics. Conclusions: Integrated science in Singapore has shown some evidence of coherence in its curriculum and textbooks that have also emphasised physical science topics. Because learning outcomes here were intentionally trimmed due to past general educational reforms, the findings lend tentative support to arguments stating that a reduced, but well-designed science curriculum has benefits for learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption of weighty metal particles from contaminated water sources has garnered significant attention due to its critical role in environmental remediation and ensuring safe drinking water. Heavy metal ions can be removed from water using conventional adsorbents such as activated zeolites; however, these materials have low absorption and slow kinetics. To solve these issues, carbon-based adsorbents that exhibit easy synthesis, high porosity, design ability, and stability have been proposed. In this review, a carbon-based adsorbent, named M-NC, and graphene oxide were created for the particular evacuation of weighty metal particles. To increase the potential for Heavy Metals (HM) immobilization, sulfide-modified biochar was created via a process called synchronous carbon layer epitome. A hypothetical physicochemical and thermodynamic examination of the adsorption of weighty metals Zn2+, Cd2+, Ni2+, Ag2+, Pb2+ and Cu2+ on carbon-based adsorbents was done with factual material science fundaments. The biochar with large surface areas is utilized to eliminate weighty metal particles, quite possibly the most significant heavy metal pollutants, from aqueous solutions. The limit of the adsorbent for eliminating weighty metal ions was concentrated on utilizing Langmuir adsorption isotherm under ultrasound-helped conditions. The Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (MNCs) can be applied to the Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetics. It is possible to use the Langmuir and second-order kinetic equations to accurately explain the adsorption method. Thermodynamic limitations were also envisioned because sorption is exothermic when it happens spontaneously. A homogeneous measurable physical science adsorption typically was utilized to describe and analyze the experimental heavy metal removal isotherms at 30°C and pH5 utilizing adsorbents produced by pyrolysis of biomasses (broccoli stalks). The experimental results were investigated in terms of Langmuir and pseudo-2nd-order kinetic equations, Freundlich and isotherm models. The outcome of pH, initial heavy metal ion concentration, contact time, and adsorbent dosage regarding the adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of Pb2+ and Cd2+ on the hydrogel was examined. This study contributes to the advancement of information in the ground of environmentally friendly heavy metal removal techniques, specifically focusing on the usage of biomass-based adsorbents. These findings have the potential to address the need for effective solutions in water purification and environmental cleanup efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little formal training in skills is given within undergraduate courses in chemistry. The paper describes an attempt to correct this through the introduction of specially devised exercises. These are described and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) was introduced in South Africa in 2012 to, among others, drive a learner-centred and constructivist approach to practical work in the high school subject Physical Sciences. This study investigates teachers' concerns with the implementation of practical work in Physical Sciences. A survey of 81 high school physical science teachers' concerns was conducted in a school district in South Africa. Participants were selected from 52 schools by means of convenience sampling. The seven stage concerns-based adoption model was used to identify teachers' stages of concern on the practical component of CAPS. The findings indicate that 69% of the participants (n = 47) had management concerns of high significance (p = 0.51), while the collaboration and consequence concerns were only slightly significant (p = 0.96). With regards to CAPS experience, respondents who had been implementing CAPS for less than three years had more personal concerns compared with those who had been executing it for three to four years. Equally, respondents with less experience with CAPS had marginally more management concerns compared with respondents with more experience. These trends were also observed with the collaboration and refocusing concerns suggesting that teachers with less CAPS experience worry more about their ability to manage practical work and to make laboratory activities workable in their contexts. The paper concludes with a discussion on the variety of concerns and how these might be addressed through targeted teacher professional development support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the concept of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) and its interaction with matter (absorption, reflection, and transmission) can be difficult for students in seventh and eighth grade physical science classes. This inquiry-based activity (IBA) is aimed at improving their understanding of these concepts by exploring the interaction of EMR with leaves of different plant species or health conditions. Incorporating at least two different types of leaves from the local environment and measuring their interaction with EMR peaks student interest in this activity. After completing this IBA, students will see how objects interact in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum and gain a better understanding of phenomena such as reflection and absorption. Further, this IBA can help them understand how human eyes perceive different colors. This activity can be expanded by a biology teacher to include a discussion about leaf pigments and how their interaction with EMR determines the colors of leaves. Concepts covered in this IBA can be related to remote sensing science and how sensors on board satellites collect Earth Observation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the intellectual history of Western civilization, highlighting key figures and events that have shaped the modern world. It explores contrasting philosophies such as Plato's emphasis on form and matter and Aristotle's focus on natural observation. The influence of Christianity, particularly in separating spiritual and political realms, is also discussed. The text delves into major historical conflicts, including the tension between Church and State supremacy in the Middle Ages, the impact of Germanic tribes on Western culture, the Scientific Revolution, the Protestant Reformation, the transition from Aristotelian to modern philosophy, the founding of America by Anglo-Protestants, and the Enlightenment Project's belief in a science of the social world. The article concludes by examining the role of the contemporary state and the differing views on limited government and big government. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the experiences reported by scientists and graduate students regarding the experiences that first engaged them in science. The interviews analysed for this paper come from Project Crossover, a mixed-methods study of the transition from graduate student to PhD scientist in the fields of chemistry and physics. This analysis involved review of 116 interviews collected from graduate students and scientists and focused on the timing, source, and nature of their earliest interest in science. The majority (65%) of participants reported that their interest in science began before middle school. Females were more likely to report that their interest was sparked by school-related activities, while most males recounted self-initiated activities. Our findings indicate that current policy efforts (which focus on high school science reform) to increase the numbers of students studying in the science fields, may be misguided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ontic structural realism is the view that structures are what is real in the first place in the domain of fundamental physics. The structures are usually conceived as including a primitive modality. However, it has not been spelled out as yet what exactly that modality amounts to. This paper proposes to fill this lacuna by arguing that the fundamental physical structures possess a causal essence, being powers. Applying the debate about causal vs categorical properties in analytic metaphysics to ontic structural realism, I show that the standard argument against categorical and for causal properties holds for structures as well. Structural realism, as a position in the metaphysics of science that is a form of scientific realism, is committed to causal structures. The metaphysics of causal structures is supported by physics, and it can provide for a complete and coherent view of the world that includes all domains of empirical science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The density of various trialkyl phosphates (TalP) such as tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP), tri-iso-butyl phosphate (TiBP), tri-sec-butyl phosphate (TsBP), tri-n-amyl phosphate (TAP), tri-2-methylbutyl phosphate (T2MBP), tri-iso-amyl phosphate (tri-3-methylbutyl phosphate, TiAP), tri-sec-amyl phosphate (tri-2-amyl phosphate, TsAP), tri-cyclo-amyl phosphate (TcyAP), tri-n-hexyl phosphate (THP), and 1.1 M solutions of some of these phosphates in various diluents, solubility of water in trialkyl phosphates, and the aqueous solubility of trialkyl phosphates have been measured. Extraction of nitric acid, Th(IV), and U(VI) by trialkyl phosphates has also been studied by the batch extraction method. Metal-solvate stoichiometry in the extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) by some of the phosphates has been evaluated. Data on the extraction of U(VI) by various trialkyl phosphates as a function of equilibrium aqueous-phase nitric acid concentration at 303 K are presented in this paper. Data on the extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI) from 1 M and 5 M HNO3 by trialkyl phosphates as a function of equilibrium aqueous-phase metal concentration at 303 K are also presented in this paper. The effects of the structure of trialkyl phosphates on their physicochemical properties and extraction behavior are described in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to present a chronological review of the structural concepts that have been developed to characterize quasicrystals, starting from the experimental discovery of D. Shechtman and the concomitant theoretical definition of quasicrystal as proposed by D. Levine and P. Steinhardt, up to the present research in the field. The largest part of the paper is a discussion of the specific points that make the atomic structure determination of quasicrystals an original and difficult scientific challenge. We finally discuss the soundness of our knowledge of the actual atomic structure in quasicrystals: we do have quite a solid idea of where the atoms are but we are not sure about the distribution of the chemical species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the analysis of data collected by Durham University’s YELLIS project, over the period of 1999 to 2004. Included in this data was the degree to which pupils in England at the end of their secondary education ‘liked’ or ‘disliked’ different subjects, and their expected examination grades in these subjects. The authors’ study focused on the perceptions of pupils in the science subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Using the available data, they were able to analyse the perceptions of a large number of pupils (e.g. 9827 pupils in 2004) who took examinations in the separate sciences. The study found that physics was perceived as the least popular science, particularly by female pupils. We also found that the expected grade in a particular science subject correlated quite strongly (Spearman’s rho of around 0.5) with the liking of that subject. These expected grades were found to be the lowest in physics, again particularly for female pupils. The authors therefore concluded that in order to redress the gender imbalance in physics, they need to tackle this problem that physics is perceived as difficult by female pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the analysis of the resolution of a paper-and-pencil problem, by eight undergraduate students majoring in engineering (six) and physics (two) at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The problem concerns kinetics of a rigid body, and the analysis was done in the light of Johnson-Laird’s mental models theory and Vergnaud’s conceptual fields theory. The problem-solving process has been investigated from the presentation of the problems’ variables and the pictures that followed it, up to the resolution itself. This investigation was carried out by analysing the knowledge-in-action that students have used as inferred from their written solutions and from what they said in semi-structured interviews. The findings of this analysis identified some characteristics in their answers that may help us to understand the processes used by students during the problem-solving task, with possible consequences for classroom procedures used by teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a critical analysis of data analysis requirements in physics tertiary entrance examinations. The setting is Western Australia. Common aspects of the questions asked over 14 years and changes in the questions since a major syllabus reform are identified. Similar changes in other jurisdictions are referenced. The data analysis questions reflect minimally the changes in emphasis in the reform syllabus. They imply science is unassailable laws and not science is inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A curious appendage to the Oxford Museum of Natural History has an interesting history. Although, in its original form, its architecture may have suggested a chapel, it was built as a chemical laboratory in the 1850s. Was its Gothic style an idle fancy, or was it intended to contribute to some grand design? The choice of architectural style may suggest a purely aesthetic interpretation. Alternatively the high roof and ventilation of the laboratory points to a purely utilitarian purpose. Yet neither of these views can be accepted as more than a partial explanation. Overriding these is the dominant religious context of a university imbued with the values of the mid-Victorian Church of England. It would be a mistake to discount the university politics of the time. There is often a strong ideological basis to architecture. Oxford's classical curriculum was challenged by the claims of science and, among the sciences, chemistry suffered from particularly strong prejudices. Indeed its image represented a gross caricature. Yet, if chemistry was to be fully accepted, as an essentially experimental science, its pursuit demanded special facilities. The paper provides a study of the gradual acceptance of an experimental science in one particular social context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study which examined the secondary physical sciences curriculum in Ethiopia with a particular focus on practical work. It describes the intention and realization of the science curriculum in terms of that which is intended by policy makers and curriculum developers and that which is implemented by classroom science teachers. Ethiopia's new Education and Training Policy and Sector Strategy (EMPDA, 1994a and b) advocates — as did its predecessors — that science be taught emphasizing a problem-solving, practical approach in the classroom. The main methods used by the study to gather data were: analysis of documents — policy statements, textbooks, examination papers; classroom observation; and analysis of 80 science lessons in four sample schools, enriched through interviews with a range of those involved — from policy makers to students in schools. The study revealed that the link between policy and practice in secondary science with regard to practical work was always tenuous. Broad and specific curriculum objectives as well as the teaching and learning activities prescribed in the textbooks were neither internally coherent nor congruent with the stated policy objectives. Furthermore, assessment practice and school practice did not match intentions. As a consequence, Ethiopian secondary students do not receive the practical experiences specified in the official science curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The science of biology has been transforming dramatically and so the need for a stronger mathematical background for biology students has increased. Biological students reaching the senior or post-graduate level often come to realize that their mathematical background is insufficient. Similarly, students in a mathematics programme, interested in biological phenomena, find it difficult to master the complex systems encountered in biology. In short, the biologists do not have enough mathematics and the mathematicians are not being taught enough biology. The need for interdisciplinary curricula that includes disciplines such as biology, physical science, and mathematics is widely recognized, but has not been widely implemented. In this paper, it is suggested that students develop a skill set of ecology, mathematics and technology to encourage working across disciplinary boundaries. To illustrate such a skill set, a predator–prey model that contains self-limiting factors for both predator and prey is suggested. The general idea of dynamics, is introduced and students are encouraged to discover the applicability of this approach to more complex biological systems. The level of mathematics and technology required is not advanced; therefore, it is ideal for inclusion in a senior-level or introductory graduate-level course for students interested in mathematical biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent editorial in International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education (IRGEE) highlighted an opportunity for the inclusion of geography as a subject in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tests. At present, TIMSS tests only encompass mathematics and physical sciences. The IRGEE editors encouraged geography educators to take the initiative and be proactive for a TIMSS international assessment in geography to become a reality. This paper reports on a research project to identify the perceptions of the global geography education community on the advantages and challenges of initiating and implementing such tests. The authors highlight a number of consistencies and tensions revealed by the respondents as well as potential issues of validity, reliability and fairness of a geography assessment instrument. The implications of these findings for ongoing research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the paper of MacLafferty entitled "Urban Structure and Geographical Access to Public Services". Relationship between urban structure and geographical access to public services; Nature of public services; Use of physical distance as a measure of accessibility; Concepts of efficiency; equality and equity.

In this paper, a brief summary is given about marble quarries in Carrara (Italy) and Iscehisar (Turkey), the Elmeri method is introduced, work accidents that can happen in marble quarries and their causes besides work safety behaviours in fields are explained, and the Elmeri monitoring method is applied and analysed. For this reason, marble quarries are divided into seven in terms of working conditions and active six quarries both in Carrara and Iscehisar areas, and work safety behaviours are analysed. Analysis process is based on True–False method; there are 18 items in total under six main topics; three items on each topic. The safety index for each section and the main topics are also calculated. According to the calculated safety indexes, Carrara area marble quarries (65.08%) are safer than Iscehisar area marble quarries (46.01%). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]