• Title/Summary/Keyword: Scientific wealth

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A Framework for Description and Measurement of National Scientific Wealth with a Case Study on Iran

  • Asadi, Saeid
    • Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.21-33
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    • 2016
  • A sustainable development in science, innovation, and technology requires a balanced distribution of scientific wealth in sub-country regions. This paper addresses the issue of geographical distribution of scientific wealth and its goal is to offer a framework to describe and measure the share of provinces in national scientific wealth. Our proposed model divides the indicators of scientific wealth into two groups, production and the use of scientific wealth. To evaluate this model, the scientific wealth of Iran was studied using recorded data on IRANDOC databases. Rich, average, and poor provinces were identified and the results showed that 70% of the scientific wealth belongs to 20% of the provinces. The findings can facilitate planning for a sustainable science and technology policy.

Factors of Korean Students' Achievement in Scientific Literacy

  • Shin, Dong-Hee;Ro, Koog-Hyang
    • Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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    • v.21 no.5
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    • pp.893-905
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    • 2001
  • Korean students ranked the 3rd out of 32 participating countries in the first cycle of PISA(Programme for International Student Assessment) science field, which assessed 15-years-old students' scientific literacy. PISA developed several variables such as parents' socio-economic status, parents' educational attainment, family wealth, and cultural possession, to investigate the effects of background variables on scientific literacy. On the other hand, motivation and engagement in science study were not given much attention, partly because science was the minor area in the first cycle of PISA. Therefore, PISA Korea developed a series of variables to collect data on students' learning motives and out-of-school activities in science as a national option. The results are as followings. First, Korea was found to be one of the PISA participating countries with the scientific literacy achievement least influenced by parents' socio-economic status, family wealth, and parents' cultural possession. Second, the degree of achievement in scientific literacy according to parents' educational attainment was in a positive correlation, similar to the overall tendency of PISA. Third, the most crucial learning motive for Korean students was their desire to develop scientific thinking abilities or obtain science knowledge. On the other hand, choosing jobs in the field of science or parental expectation was the least important learning motive. In particular, the motive for scientific learning was found to have a positive relationship with the degree of scientific literacy achievement. Therefore, the higher the students achievement, the stronger the motive for scientific learning in order to develop their ability to think scientifically or acquire science knowledge. Fourth, Korean students were shown to participate very little in out-of-school scientific activities other than watching TV programs related to science. Whatever the activities may be, the more actively involved students are in out-of-school scientific activities, the higher their scientific literacy achievement. Fifth, Korean girls were rather passive compared to boys in all areas, including science learning motive and out-of-school scientific activities. The gender difference was especially more pronounced in out-of-school scientific activities with wider gaps in such activities as reading scientific books or articles and visiting science-related web sites.

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METEORITES: ROCKS FROM THE OUTER SPACE

  • Doh, Seong-Jae;Yu, Yong-Jae
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.43 no.6
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    • pp.183-190
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    • 2010
  • According to the historical documents and paintings in many civilizations, rocks that fell from the sky fascinated humans as the message from the God or supernaturals. Scientific progress allows humans to recognize these exciting extraterrestrial objects as meteorites. Meteorites contain a wealth of pivotal information regarding formation of the early Solar System. Meteorites also provide broader scientific insights on, for example, the origin of life, interplanetary transfer of life forms, massive depletion of biosphere on Earth, and evolution of lithosphere on Earth-like planetary bodies.

Characteristics of Input and Output of Scientific Research (국가별 과학연구 투입과 성과의 특성분석)

  • Park, Hyun-Woo;Kim, Kyung-Ho;Yeo, Woon-Dong
    • Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.471-498
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    • 2009
  • The ability to judge a country's scientific standing is vital for the governments and businesses that must decide scientific priorities and funding. In this paper, we analyze the output and outcomes from research investment over the recent years, to measure the quality of scientific research on national scales and to set it in an international context. There are many ways to evaluate the quality of scientific research, but few have proved satisfactory. To measure the quantity and quality of science in different nations, we analyzed the numbers of published research papers and their citations. The number of citations per paper is a useful measure of the impact of a nation's research output. Essential at a were acquired from SCI database by Thomson Scientific, which indexes more than 8,000 journals, representing most significant materials in science and engineering. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and compare the output and outcomes among nations in a variety of viewpoints and criteria. One of the implications in response to the result of analysis is that sustainable economic development in highly competitive world markets requires a direct engagement in the generation of knowledge. Even modest improvement in healthcare, clean water, sanitation, food, and transport need capabilities in engineering, technology, and medicine beyond many countries' reach. Nations exporting natural resources such as gold and oil can import technology and expertise, but only until these resources are exhausted. For them, sustainability should imply investment in alternative agricultural and technological capabilities through improvements in their skills base. A strong science base does not necessarily leat to wealth generation. However, strength in science has additional benefits for individual nations, and for the world as a whole.

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The Human Brain and Information Science: Lessons from Popular Neuroscience

  • Sturges, Paul
    • International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.19-29
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    • 2013
  • Insights from the recent wealth of popular books on neuroscience are offered to suggest a strengthening of theory in information science. Information theory has traditionally neglected the human dimension in favour of 'scientific' theory often derived from the Shannon-Weaver model. Neuroscientists argue in excitingly fresh ways from the evidence of case studies, non-intrusive experimentation and the measurements that can be obtained from technologies that include electroencephalography, positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). The way in which the findings of neuroscience intersect with ideas such as those of Kahneman on fast and slow thinking and Csikszentmihalyi on flow, is tentatively explored as lines of connection with information science. It is argued that the beginnings of a theoretical underpinning for current web-based information searching in relation to established information retrieval methods can be drawn from this.

Stochastic nature of magnetic processes studied by full-field soft X-ray microscopy

  • Im, Mi-Young
    • Current Applied Physics
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    • v.18 no.11
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    • pp.1174-1181
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    • 2018
  • In nanomagnetism, one of the crucial scientific questions is whether magnetic behaviors are deterministic or stochastic on a nanoscale. Apart from the exciting physical issue, this question is also of paramount highest relevance for using magnetic materials in a wealth of technological applications such as magnetic storage and sensor devices. In the past, the research on the stochasticity of a magnetic process has been mainly done by macroscopic measurements, which only offer ensemble-averaged information. To give more accurate answer for the question and to fully understand related underlying physics, the direct observation of statistical behaviors in magnetic structures and magnetic phenomena utilizing advanced characterization techniques is highly required. One of the ideal tools for such study is a full-field soft X-ray microscope since it enables imaging of magnetic structures on the large field of view within a few seconds. Here we review the stochastic behaviors of various magnetic processes including magnetization reversal process in thin films, magnetic domain wall motions in nanowires, and magnetic vortex formations in nanodisks studied by full-field soft X-ray microscopy. The origin triggering the stochastic nature witnessed in each magnetic process and the way to control the intrinsic nature are also discussed.

Assessing Publication Productivity of the Top 10 Countries Across Medical Specialties: Prolific Versus Prestigious Journals

  • Kim, Eungi;Lee, Yong-Gu
    • Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.74-85
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    • 2022
  • This study aimed to investigate publication productivity in various medical specialties in the top 10 countries with the highest number of published journal articles, considering the distinction between prolific and prestigious journals. For this study, we selected 10 specialties from the Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR) and used journals listed in both SJR and PubMed. Bibliographic details of these journals' articles published from 2017 to 2019 were downloaded from PubMed. The results showed that various aspects of medical publication output were influenced by country characteristics such as specialty, journal type, population size, wealth, and healthcare expenditure. China showed the greatest variability in terms of specialty, as its publications in Oncology (ONCGY) were exceptionally high compared with the specialties of other countries. China's publications in ONCGY exceeded even those of the United States in ONCGY. Furthermore, the western countries, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States in particular published more articles in prestigious journals than the other top 10 countries, where the East Asian countries published more articles in prolific journals than in prestigious journals.

Sustainability Evaluation for Shellfish Production in Gamak Bay Based on the Systems Ecology 2. Environmental Accounting for the Improvement of the Natural Environment Based on the Emergy Evaluation (시스템 생태학적 접근법에 의한 가막만 패류생산의 지속성평가 2. 가막만 환경개선에 관한 환경회계)

  • Oh, Hyun-Taik;Lee, Suk-MO;Lee, Won-Chan;Jung, Rae-Hong;Hong, Suk-Jin;Kim, Nam-Kook;Tilburg, Charles
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.17 no.8
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    • pp.857-869
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    • 2008
  • The objective of this research is to apply more scientific, quantitative methods and procedures of environmental investigation to the development of the natural environment and the improvement of the human environment during the establishment of a sewage treatment plant and special facilities using environmental accounting. This research was performed to develop a method of strategic environmental assessment on the operation of sewage treatment plant and reuse of shellfish seeding areas through the use of environmental accounting based on EMERGY evaluation. The result was applied to marine environment policy in order to evaluate the real wealth of the regional environment and economy for both the present phase and the proposed developed phase. Using results from the comparison of EMERGY indices between the present situation and future scenarios, cost benefit analysis was performed for three different scenarios: (I) construction of a new sewage treatment plant, (2) relocation and recovery of the shellfish seeding area, and (3) relocation and re-seeding of shellfish area and construction of a new sewage treatment plant. Cost-benefit ratios of the three scenarios are 1.88, 0.94, and 1.38, respectively.

A Bibliographical study on Modem Agricultural Books in Korea (한국근대의 농서에 관한 서지학적 연구)

  • Kim Bong-Hee
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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    • v.29
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    • pp.205-230
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    • 1995
  • The publication of books on modern agriculture started under the influence of Silhak Thought developed from the late Chosun Dynasty. The common intention found in these publications is the objective to enrich the country through increased agricultural productivity and thus to secure national independence from the surrounding powers. The study reviews three different categories in this area; five general books on agriculture, three on agriculture related legal regulations, and ten books introducing techniques of commercial agriculture. The first category is comprehensive treatment of general agricultural content and the second is legal regulations which affected the contemporary agriculture. The third category is introductory books on commercial techniques aimed at accumulating wealth through agriculture. Silkworm cultivation occupies an important place in these publications owing to the active encouragement given by the Section of Silkworm Cultivation in the Ministry of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry. We can recognise the extensive involvement of Suh Pyung Sook, who served as the Section Chief of Silkworm Cultivation in 1904, by examining introductions and prefaces of many books in this category. The examples of general books on agriculture are 'New Agricultural Administration' (농정신편), 'General Introduction on Agiculture' (농업대요), 'New Textbook on Agricuture' (신찬농업교과서), 'Pragmatic Agriculture' (실리농방신편), Of these, 'New Agricultural Administration' (농정신편) is evaluated as the first publication on modern agriculture. It was written in 1881, and the first edition was published was published in 1901 with the second edition following in 1905. Examples of the second category are; 'The regulation on utilizing uncultivated state owned land' (국유미간지리용법) legislated and declared with the intention of expanding cultivated area, 'Mining and Forestry Regulation' (광임법규), 'Forest Land Regulation' (임야법령) to administer mining and forestry. Books on commercial agriculture take up the highest proportion in the agricultural publication of this period. These cover silkworm cultivation, chicken farming, vegetables and fruits. The books introduce Western techniques with more scientific and rational approach especially on Silkworm cultivation and chichen farming which had become increasingly significant as commercial agriculture from the late Chosun Dynasty.

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Nature and Prospect of Complexity Paradigm (복잡계 패러다임의 특성과 전망)

  • Kim Mun-Cho
    • Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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    • v.3 no.2 s.6
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    • pp.1-27
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    • 2003
  • Complexity paradigm is a scientific amalgam that aims to unite a range of theoretical perspectives and research agendas across natural and social sciences. Proponents of complexity paradigm lay claims to an increasing number of areas of study, including artificial life, interpersonal networks, internal/international patterning of organizations, mapping of cyberspace, etc. All of those can be subsumed under the title, 'complexity turn.' Owing to the idea of open system, complexity paradigm has developed a number of new concepts/themes/perspectives that help to account for the complex mechanism of living and non-living creatures. A complex system comprises a number of properties such as disequilibrium, nonlinearity, dissipative structure, self-organization fractal geometry, autopoiesis, coevolution. Following a brief introduction to theoretical development, those properties are succinctly discussed. The complexity turn has provided a wealth of insights that enable to analyze system operations of any kind. It contributes a lot to illuminating the working of social system as well. The most remarkable attempt may be Niklas Luhmann's 'neofunctional system theory.' Merits and shortcomings of complexity paradigm were examined and its future prospect were assessed with the conclusion that complexity paradigm would continue to be useful both as effective transdisciplinary framework and powerful analytical tool.

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