Trust in Numbers

A number of authors have recognized the importance of understanding the nature of science (NOS) for scientific literacy. Different instructional strategies such as decontextualized, hands-on inquiry, and history of science (HOS) activities have been proposed for teaching NOS. This article seeks to understand the contribution of HOS in enhancing biology teachers’ understanding of NOS, and their perceptions about using HOS to teach NOS. These teachers (N = 8), enrolled in a professional development program in Chile are, according to the national curriculum, expected to teach NOS, but have no specific NOS and HOS training. Teachers’ views of NOS were assessed using the VNOS-D+ questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of two modules about science instruction and NOS. Both the pre- and the post-test were accompanied by interviews, and in the second session we collected information about teachers’ perceptions of which interventions had been more significant in changing their views on NOS. Finally, the teachers also had to prepare a lesson plan for teaching NOS that included HOS. Some of the most important study results were: significant improvements were observed in teachers’ understanding of NOS, although they assigned different levels of importance to HOS in these improvements; and although the teachers improved their understanding of NOS, most had difficulties in planning lessons about NOS and articulating historical episodes that incorporated NOS. The relationship between teachers’ improved understanding of NOS and their instructional NOS skills is also discussed.

Although NOS is included in standards and curricular frameworks in several Arab countries and many research studies have been conducted on the topic in these countries, a rigorous review of the extant literature showed that no systematic reviews of research regarding nature of science (NOS) were conducted in these countries to understand the nature and impact of this research. Consequently, this chapter reviews NOS research studies that have been conducted in Arab countries to investigate the frameworks of NOS adopted in the studies, the different constituencies’ views of NOS, the status of NOS in science textbooks and curricula, and the approaches that have been used to teach NOS. Additionally, we provide examples of approaches that can be used to teach NOS in the cultural context of Arab countries. Specifically, for this chapter we underscore that the frameworks used researching NOS in Arab countries do not provide or use a comprehensive view of NOS that is sensitive to multicultural issues. Accordingly, we propose that further research is inclusive of multicultural matter by proposing the use of an NOS framework entitled the family resemblance approach (FRA) to NOS. Our recommendation is based on the premise that FRA is responsive to NOS multicultural issues, and has the potential to engender more in-depth thinking about science and its role in society.KeywordsNature of science (NOS)Arab countriesNOS family resemblance approach frameworkNOS and multiculturalNOS in Islamic countries

This text begins with the social employment demand on graduates major in civil engineering, elaborates the connotation of cultivation mode of practical talents, and discusses the construction of practical talents training mode system from the perspectives of training objective and training standard, curricular system construction, teaching staff construction, and training program and ways. It emphasizes the importance of practical talents training mode in cultivating civil engineering students' practical ability, and puts forward supporting measures for implementing civil engineering practical talents' training mode from the perspectives of teaching content, practical teaching proportion, and teaching staff.

This article reports on the outcomes of a study that compared implicit and explicit teaching approaches on the development of contemporary conceptions of the nature of science (NoS). The sample comprised two groups of prospective primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland, all non-specialists in science. Research has shown that contemporary conceptions of NoS can be developed through implicit means—that is, by hands-on participation in scientific activities and by applying the process (scientific) skills in scientific inquiry. International research studies indicate that primary and secondary teachers, in general, do not hold contemporary (elaborate) conceptions of the NoS. This article reports on the outcomes of a comparative study that examined 148 prospective Irish primary teachers’ conceptions of NoS. Seventy-four of these students were taught about aspects of NoS through explicit approaches during a science methodology course. The study compares the effectiveness of implicit and explicit approaches in the development of students’ conceptions of NoS. The participants responded to the question ‘What is science?’ before and after a science methodology course. Interestingly, analyses of the individual responses revealed that the students who had received explicit instruction (test group) in NoS had developed more insightful conceptions of NoS, contradicting research advocating implicit approaches.

To explore new business strategies in integrating advanced civil engineering technologies into the design, development, and operation of biomedical equipment manufacturing plants. This should address the conflicting demands of sustainability and efficiency in modern production facilities. This review analyses recent civil engineering advancements, such as modular construction, green building materials, and energy-efficient designs, and evaluates their applications in biomedical manufacturing plants. It further examines strategic frameworks, such as cost-benefit analysis, lifecycle assessment, and value-engineering approaches. The research identifies gaps in existing implementations, focusing on the alignment of engineering innovations with business models for enhanced scalability and operational efficiency. Incorporation of civil engineering innovations into biomedical manufacturing facilities enhances resource efficiency, flexibility in operations, and environmental sustainability. Modular construction methods reduce downtime when the facilities are expanded or upgraded. The designs are energy-efficient and hence reduce operational costs. Advanced business strategies like adaptive value engineering and strategic partnerships enhance the economic feasibility of adopting these innovations. However, barriers include high upfront costs, regulatory challenges, and the lack of interdisciplinary frameworks. The study provides a comprehensive strategy to align civil engineering advancements with business priorities for more resilient and sustainable production systems. This research bridges a critical gap by highlighting how cutting-edge civil engineering solutions can be systematically integrated into biomedical manufacturing plants through innovative business models. It offers actionable insights for addressing current barriers and sets a new direction for sustainable industrial facility design and operations.

This paper reflects on theory evolution from the perspective of considering the role that complexity science might have in social theorizing and research. We assume that just as human society is complex, dynamic, interdependent, and with future states emerging with reference to complex histories, so too are human explanations and theories. With reference to a complexity approach to postmodern ethnography, that of vortical postmodern ethnography, we make manifest the dynamic and interdependent nature of theory building, with human actor/observers and discourse evolution. We suggest that a complexity perspective on social research and theorizing may be most valuable for its role in bringing about alternative descriptions, rather than promoting certain interventions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Introduction HIV infection has important economic, societal and financial consequences, in terms of loss of productive labour, disruption of household units and burden of treatment costs on health-care systems [1]. Approximately 25–30% of infants born to HIV-infected mothers in developing countries are infected [2,3], and approaches to reducing the rate of mother-to-child (vertical) transmission (MCT) not only include prevention of new infections in women of childbearing age, but also specific therapeutic interventions targeted at pregnant women, modification of obstetric practices, and substitution of formula (bottle) feeding for breast-feeding where feasible and affordable [3]. To date, the only approach of proven effectiveness is the administration of zidovudine therapy during pregnancy, delivery and in the neonatal period in the absence of breastfeeding, as demonstrated in the United States and France [4], and very recently with a short regimen from 36 weeks of pregnancy and during delivery in Thailand [5]. Within the next year, the results of the ongoing antiretroviral trials for prevention of MCT of HIV infection in several African countries could confirm the benefit of zidovudine in breastfeeding populations. However, reduction of the risk of MCT is only one of many demands on the health–care systems, and before decisions are taken on implementation of vertical transmission therapeutic interventions, issues relating to the implementation into public health measures need to be addressed. In this article we review economic evaluation as an approach to assist in the development of policies regarding the prevention of MCT in developing countries, using data from studies evaluating antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa and Thailand. Principles of economic evaluation It is generally agreed that economic evaluations of MCT interventions should conform to the widely agreed practices regarding economic evaluations in general, with transparency in analysis and presentation [6–9]. The following methodological elements are applicable to the case of MCT interventions. Costs are defined as the monetary value of resources used as a result of the intervention(s) under consideration. The intervention's outcome(s) might be measured in several ways, including clinical outcome (paediatric HIV infection), monetary benefits, and subjective preferences, for example quality of life, often combined with survival to produce expected quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) gained or productivity/disability-adjusted life-years (DALY). By convention, evaluations comparing monetary costs with monetary outcomes are termed ‘cost-benefit', whereas evaluations comparing monetary costs with commensurate non-monetary outcomes are termed ‘cost-effectiveness'. As a subset of cost-effectiveness evaluations, those using subjective preferences as outcomes are termed ‘cost-utility’ analyses. Economic evaluations typically involve a relative assessment (i.e., a comparison of consequences of two or more approaches, one of which is usually either the status quo or no intervention). This requires that the outcomes of all the interventions under consideration are measured in the same units. Costs and outcomes generally have a different impact on different individuals or groups, such as the patient, the patient's household, the health-care system or society as a whole, and the frame of reference must be clearly defined and presented. It is possible that an intervention that is cost-beneficial to the public health system is not so for certain individuals. If some parameters used in the evaluation are variable rather than constant, results must be subjected to sensitivity analysis, and be interpreted as ranges of values. Costs and outcomes occurring over time must be the subject of discounting to make time-dependent values commensurate [9]. The discount rate reflects social time preference, which under perfect markets equals the opportunity cost of capital employed. The discount rate is likely to be a function of economic affluence, with people in poorer countries placing a higher premium on present consumption than those in richer countries. By implication, the appropriate discount rate for poorer countries would be higher than that for richer countries. Debate persists over whether non-monetary outcomes should be discounted at all and, if they are, whether the appropriate rate is higher or lower than, or equal to, the rate for costs [10]. However, it is essential that a sensitivity analysis of the choice of discount rate is conducted for all evaluations, and that when several interventions are being compared, common assumptions regarding the discount rate are employed. Review of evidence Available evidence relates to two studies in sub-Saharan Africa [11,12] and two in Thailand [13,14], and refers to settings where trials are currently ongoing to evaluate specific antiretroviral therapy interventions to reduce vertical transmission. The main methods, parameters and results for the economic models in these studies are summarized in Tables 1 and 2. The potential cost-effectiveness of a short-course (4 weeks at 600 mg per day prepartum) of zidovudine therapy for a hypothetical 1-year birth cohort in a developing country was estimated using a decision model [11], with assumptions made regarding the prevalence of HIV infection, the extent of breastfeeding, HIV transmission rates, costs of zidovudine therapy, testing and counselling. For the modelled cohort of 100 000 births with base-case parameters, the incidence of infant HIV infection would be reduced by 12%. The cost of the antiretroviral programme would be about US$ 20 per birth, of which 24% represents drug costs. Health-care costs of infected infants would fall by a small amount. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the programme would be cost-saving from a societal perspective if antenatal HIV prevalence was above 18%, if the cost of testing/counselling was below US$ 12 or if medical care costs for infected infants exceeded US$ 4145. However, the estimated programme costs of around US$ 20 per capita would represent a major proportion of total health-care costs in many developing countries. It was concluded [11] that it is unlikely that, in developing countries, a zidovudine intervention programme would create direct savings from the health-care system perspective, but it may prove cost-effective from a societal perspective.Table 1: Summary of methods, parameters and results of the economic models.Table 1: (continued)Table 2: Summary of clinical and efficacy parameters applied in the economic models*.The second study relevant to the African context considered three short-term regimens of combination anti–retroviral therapy (zidovudine and lamivudine), as used in the UNAIDS-sponsored trial in Africa [12], and compared these three regimens with no intervention. In regimen A, combination therapy was started at 36 weeks of pregnancy and continued until 1 week postpartum, regimen B omitted the prepartum therapy, whereas regimen C omitted both pre- and postpartum therapy. The frame of reference was the public sector medical system and the study thus considered the costs of testing and counselling and antiretroviral treatment costs in relation to expected savings in infant health-care costs. Estimates are also provided of marginal net cost per expected life-year gained, weighted for both productivity and quality of life. Basic clinical parameters were derived from the published and unpublished evidence and allowed for imperfect adherence to the regimens. The shortest and most cost-effective option was regimen C. For a cohort of 100 women with 15% HIV prevalence, net costs were estimated at US$ 3617 for regimen A, US$ 1667 for regimen B, and US$ 351 for regimen C. Regimen C had a cost of US$ 1129 per HIV infection averted and a cost of US$ 60 per DALY. Sensitivity analysis revealed that regimen C was the most sensitive to testing costs and particularly sensitive to assumptions about maternal prevalence. Cost-effectiveness declined rapidly when prevalence was below 7% or when efficacy fell below 10%. When estimated drug prices fell to low levels (e.g., < US$ 0.5 per pill), the cost-effectiveness of the more drug-intensive regimens (A and B) improved. The base-case estimate of around US$ 60 per DALY gained from the most cost-effective combination antiretroviral regimen at current drug prices compares unfavourably with other public health initiatives in most settings within the developing world, for example, immunization and treatment of other sexually transmitted diseases. However, at 20% of current drug costs, both arms B and C attain cost-effectiveness values of under US$ 50 per DALY, and a MCT control programme based on short-term anti-retroviral drug regimens might then be a sensible option, particularly in areas where more cost-effective public health interventions have already been widely adopted. The first Thai study [13], conducted before the 1997 Asian economic crisis, considered the selection of an optimal intervention strategy, given a prior government commitment to devote resources to the prevention and cure of HIV/AIDS. It argued that affordability must be a key consideration in the selection process, in that policies will only be sustainable if either governments or households (or both) are in a position to provide the programme's resource base. The study modelled 10 possible strategies, eight of which involved antiretrovirals. Two concerned themselves with MCT (formula feeding alone and zidovudine plus formula feeding), whilst eight targeted infected adults either before or after the onset of AIDS. The unit costs of treatment for adults with AIDS range from about US$ 2000 per patient-year with zidovudine monotherapy to US$ 4000 per patient-year with zidovudine plus didanosine or zalcitabine combination therapy. The unit cost of treating pregnant women following the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) 076 [4] protocol was about US$ 500 per mother–child pair. Assuming a pricing policy that fully subsidizes antiretrovirals whilst allowing for one-third recovery for other medical services, all antiretroviral options were shown to be unaffordable within the budget of the Thai National AIDS Programme, with the exception of the two MCT programmes. The modelled subsidized pricing policy would be affordable by around 50% of the population. Simulations suggested that the effectiveness (expected QALY gain) of preventing MCT is of a similar order to that of treating adults, but their cost-effectiveness ratios are about 20 times superior than antiretroviral programmes for adults. A further Thai study [14] explored the expected cost implications assuming that the full ACTG 076 protocol [4] was to be implemented in Thailand. It concluded that implementation of the ACTG 076 protocol in Thailand would not only reduce the MCT rate but would be cost-saving overall. This finding was insensitive to the choice of discount rate (within plausible bounds). The programme would be affordable within the government's AIDS budget, again before the 1997 economic crisis, even without cost recovery from private individuals. The study by Wilkinson and colleagues in this issue [15] provides additional information regarding the affordability of zidovudine therapy to reduce vertical transmission (Tables 1 and 2). In a modelling exercise, they evaluated both the long zidovudine regimen used in the ACTG 076 trial [4] and a combination regimen used in the UNAIDS trial [12] in the context of a rural population in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, and considered issues relating to the implementation of these antiretroviral therapy interventions in a general rural population. Cost data were combined with estimates of effectiveness to calculation the cost per infection prevented; the cost per potential year of life saved was calculated using a life expectancy of 63 years. They concluded by saying that providing short-course combination therapy of zidovudine and lamivudine may be cost-effective, but questioned whether it would be a realistic public health intervention. The cost of this combination therapy is relatively high despite its short antepartum duration due to the need for two-drug therapy for both mother and child, and the recently demonstrated efficacy of short-course zidovudine monotherapy [5], with a reduction in the cost of zidovudine [12], would make this a more realistic option. Sensitivity of estimates to parameter variation To understand the implications of parameter variation for the MCT evaluation results, a simplified model of antiretroviral therapy in developing countries was constructed, which included the essential features of the studies reviewed above, and two carried out in the United States [16,17]. This was part of a consensus meeting held in June 1997, and full details of the model can be found in the report of the workshop [18]. Intervention with antiretroviral therapy necessitates screening of pregnant women, counselling and other additional antenatal care and the administration of the drug regimen. Although test sensitivity and specificity were assumed to be 100%, treatment compliance and adherence rate to the drug regimen were not. This means that a proportion of pregnant women will not be tested, or not treated adequately, and their infants will thus continue to be at high risk of acquiring HIV infection. The modelling exercise showed that the values of the parameters associated with decreased cost–benefit were high costs for screening, counselling, antenatal care and drugs, low efficacy, low costs for paediatric treatment and productivity losses, low prevalence of HIV infection in the antenatal population, and low compliance rates [18]. Movements of one or more of these parameter values in the opposite direction would make the intervention more cost–beneficial. The model also allows evaluation from the health-care system perspective, and, assuming positive efficacy and positive productivity losses, the net gain to society as a result of the intervention will always exceed that of the health-care system for any given set of parameter values. The cost–benefit model can be reinterpreted in a cost-effectiveness framework, and the relevant parameter movements noted above to decrease net benefits in the cost–benefit approach also make the intervention appear less cost-effective. In addition, the parameter that would make the intervention less rather than more cost-effective is a lower differential in discounted outcome between infected and non-infected infants. However, given the possibility of compensating effects, the reliability of parameter estimates used in these cost–benefit and cost-effectiveness exercises needs to be considered. Reliability of parameter estimates Model building to evaluate an as yet unimplemented intervention generally entails both measurement (when a relevant activity is currently in place) and assumption (when an activity is not yet in place), where the former are considered to be more reliable than the latter. A randomized controlled trial provides more convincing evidence and more precise estimates of the effect of an intervention than any other study method [19], and replication of the first trial improves confidence in reliability of the estimates [4,5]. However, although randomized controlled trials may offer the best prospect of yielding reliable estimates of clinical effect, they may be less reliable as broader indicators of how an intervention would perform in everyday practice. This is especially true for economic considerations. For example, trial participants are volunteers and clinical efficacy in terms of the number of subjects enrolled gives no indication about likely compliance rates in a general population. Furthermore, clinical trials are generally conducted within a supportive infrastructure. Resource usage in such a setting might not be typical of resource usage when the intervention is introduced across a health-care system more generally. The reported drug cost varied across studies [11,12,14,17], which reflects either the world price or the purchase price negotiated at the time of analysis. There was a more than fourfold variation in counselling and testing costs in the two African studies using evidence from Zambia [12] and Uganda [11]. This difference partly reflects the costs of labour and capital involved in the procedures. The estimate for United States costs is around US$ 100 [16]. Similarly, base estimates of mean discounted lifetime paediatric HIV treatment costs range from US$ 118 [12] and US$ 396 [11] for African settings, through approximately US$ 5000 for Thailand [14], to US$ 98 915 [17] and US$ 161 137 [16] for the United States. The conventional method for estimating the value of productivity losses is to assume that premature mortality has prevented the individual concerned from generating mean per capita gross domestic product (GDP), or some other macroeconomic aggregate, such as national income. In developing countries generally, GDP figures are considered to be less reliable, owing to measurement error and the large volume of activity generated by non-market production. Using the GDP figures specifically for the present purpose makes the strong assumption that production resulting from the avoidance of HIV infection can be represented as a mean contribution to output. This would clearly be misleading if infants concerned were born in, for example, regions where subsistence agriculture predominates or in urban areas of high unemployment. Generally, when ranking these costs on a per intervention basis, treatment costs savings and productivity losses avoided greatly exceed unit testing, counselling and drug costs. The margin between these two cost classes increases as the level of development of the country concerned increases. This leads to the general conclusion that the likelihood of an antiretroviral intervention to be shown to be cost–beneficial increases with the level of development of the country, considering only the cost variable and assuming that other factors remain unchanged. Despite the variety of settings for which MCT intervention models have been constructed, their assumed effectiveness parameters are based on the results of a single trial [4] conducted in the United States and France on mildly symptomatic women with no prior antiretroviral treatment. Although little information is available on adherence to the drug regimen, our descriptive model demonstrated the sensitivity of cost-effectiveness and cost–benefit results to compliance effects. Lower compliance reduces the intervention's effectiveness of MCT risk reduction. A study of zidovudine use among women in the United States suggests that diverse attitudinal and perceptual barriers to the use of zidovudine amongst HIV-infected women exist and that these may be strongest among minority women, particularly African Americans [20]. This may also be the case in many African countries, where fear of stigmatization is high. Completeness of the models Models are designed to answer clearly specified questions, and are constructed in order to make a complex process comprehensible. However, the assumptions used in the construction of these models should not be overlooked, especially when we consider using the results of a model as a criterion for effecting policy changes. Below we note a number of issues, explicitly absent from the economic models thus far considered, which a policymaker might consider relevant. Reducing the risk of MCT is likely to increase the number of orphans in society. Although in many countries the extended family system has been able to accommodate these children, the impact on the household economy is unknown. As HIV/AIDS deaths increase over time, more reliance may have to be placed on the government. If this factor was to be included in the evaluation models, the costs of care of orphans would offset to some degree the treatment cost saved by less HIV infection amongst infants. In addition, it is possible that the employment circumstances of orphans in any particular country would differ from that of the average individual; it is believed, for example, that orphans and children in one-parent families typically receive less education than children in two-parent families [1]. A relative lack of education would make such individuals less competitive in the labour market, other things remaining equal. Assuming we accept this proposition, then the estimates of productivity losses avoided by preventing the birth of an HIV-infected child, which are based on mean contribution to GDP, are likely to be overestimates. Assuming that antiretroviral therapy is adopted and proves acceptable to women, we could anticipate a change in behaviour with respect to decisions about reproduction that could impact on overall population growth. Reducing MCT transmission increases the probability of producing an uninfected child. This may result in either higher levels of reproduction (if families value higher numbers of healthy children) or lower levels (if families aim to achieve a given family size). Economic intuition supports either possibility and thus the reaction cannot be predicted reliably without further evidence. In the models discussed thus far, the health-care system frame of reference has not been disaggregated into public and private contributions. In policy terms, such a disaggregation may be significant, in view of the importance currently attached to user charges and cost recovery in the health-care systems of developing countries. Although there is a strong case in favour of cost recovery in health care generally, there are also important counter-arguments in specific cases, such as the administrative costs of operating charges, equity considerations and the likely disincentive effects to service use generated for households subject to charges [21]. It is quite possible, for example, for cost recovery to transfer a sufficient part of the public funding burden to households such that the practical effectiveness of the new intervention is nullified by poor uptake. In the MCT case, we do not yet possess information regarding household's price and income elasticity of demand with respect to risk-reduction services. Comparability and affordability Economic evaluation as a decision-making tool facilitates the ranking of alternatives: for example, intervention A is cost-saving relative to the status quo, or intervention A is more cost-effective than intervention B. With respect to MCT, evaluations in developing countries have generally concerned antiretroviral treatments, although other risk-reduction options are recognized [3,22]. To date, however, of these of MCT reduction have been proven to be of cost-effectiveness within MCT MCT policies are part of a more general public health programme at the of women and children and their cost-effectiveness should be compared with other public health programmes might include and and to the around of all the health of the under in developing countries can be by interventions less than US$ 100 per DALY saved The one study that has cost-effectiveness estimates [12] suggested that the cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy could be below this but the reliability of this estimate for antiretroviral therapy would be by the of further evidence. However, there may be other paediatric interventions, such as prevention and treatment of which offer value for than antiretroviral therapy, and their could be more cost-effective than the of maternal antiretroviral therapy to be considered before implementation of interventions to reduce vertical evaluations of MCT interventions, either in randomized controlled trials or in should include economic evaluation to whether the if found to be can or should be implemented as a public health economic evaluations should be and include a sensitivity analysis of the most important to effectiveness and costs. However, in addition, the issue of affordability should also be and outcome measures and of both to comparison with other interventions and to potential between the of of decision should be employed. information regarding the cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in reducing vertical transmission a degree of particularly until the Thai results available the efficacy of short-course treatment was [5]. is and policy decisions regarding anti-retroviral interventions should be based on of the results of trials currently in In the cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in countries is more sensitive to the drug price than it is in or However, within the range of antiretroviral interventions for HIV treatment in general, it is likely that MCT prevention will prove both more cost-effective and affordable than and will part of the HIV in many developing countries. relating to affordability and remain to be addressed. The for the and the workshop for their general and their on the

Social informatics is the body of research that examines the design, uses and consequences of information and communication technologies in ways that take into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts. This article draws upon some 25 years of systematic, analytical and critical research about information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social change to illustrate key ideas from social informatics research.

The state of the art in social work research indicates major difficulties concerning the knowledge basis of the discipline. This article aims to contribute to the discourse on the nature of social work research as a scientific activity. The starting‐point is the philosophy of science developed within the realist approach. It is argued that knowledge is primarily gained through activity in attempting to change social reality and through communication with other people. Knowledge is also recognized as knowing how to do something. The character of the social work knowledge may particularly be understood within the frame of reference presented by the realist approach. The history of the ideas of social work demonstrates the importance of understanding the interplay between theory and practice in social work. The article attempts to delimit the provisional borders of social work research. A model of social work research fields is presented.

In this essay I debate critically, and somehow playfully, some assumptions and shortcomings of quantitative/positivist social research, using a dash of common sense typical of engineers. Civil engineers, in designing concrete structures, particularly those made up of concrete, have to continuously consider the error embedded in the limits of available systems of calculation, ending up adopting substantial factors of safety as counter-measures. The study of resistance of concrete structures is a good metaphor for social research; and yet, quantitative/positivist researchers, in their search for “falsifiable generalizations”, often forget about the omnipresence of error, let alone adopt the factors of safety. In short, the common sense of engineers is useful to casts some not-so-frequently-considered doubts over the capacity of quantitative methods and positivist epistemologies to create generalizable social science findings in face of uncertainty and the complexity of human societies. By casting such doubts, I advocate for a more relaxed (but not less rigorous) approach to social research and its complexity.

This study aims to gain an overview and knowledge of the graduates of job profilesthat include the type of work that occupied areas, the waiting period to get a job, how to get a job, the amount of earned income, and employment status.&#x0D; The research was conducted on D3 in Civil Engineering who graduated in odd semester of 2005/2006 until the second semester 2009/2010. Sampling was done by purposive sampling. The study population numbered 113 people. The research sample consists of 29 people. This research uses descriptive method with the waythe survey.&#x0D; From the results of this study found that graduates who pursue work in the field of civilengineering work is now 82,76 %, while those working outside the field of civil engineering as much as 17,24 %. And for the first time job as much as 79,31 %worked in the field of civil engineering, while 20,69 % outside of civil engineering.Employment status of graduates on the job is now 55% is fixed and for the work of the first 72,41 % of the contract. Large salary in first job 48,28 % range between Rp 1.500.000 - Rp 2.500.000 per month, and the work that is now 27.58 % ranges between Rp 1.500.000 - Rp 2.500.000 and Rp 3.500.000 - Rp 4.500.000 per month. Graduation GPA of the most sought after companies ranging from 2,51-3,00. Organizational experience during campus 77.78 % were helped in the work world 48.27% obtained employment information from the internet. The waiting period to get a job at 86.21% is less than 3 months.&#x0D; The conclusion from this study that the quality of the D3 in Civil Engineering work has begun to be recognized in the world. From the field of employment, graduates can work not only on earth but also can ketekniksipilan outside of civil engineering.Although most of the graduates are working in the world of civil engineering. And the expected results of this research can provide input to the future for D3 in Civil Engineering courses to be able to better tailor its curriculum current with the times to produce future graduates more competitive in the world of work.

One major challenge human societies are facing is the urgent need to transition to more sustainable management of energies and resources. Such transitions have been disrupting past societies throughout human history, and lessons from the past can largely benefit the current policies. The theory of Energy Regimes offers a functional analysis of resource and energy sources that sustain the development of past societies, and investigates the mechanisms of past energy transitions. Human societies have lived on three Energy Regimes: the Foraging regime, the Agrarian regime and the Industrial regime, but modern societies are currently transitioning to a fourth regime with more sustainable and low-carbon energy management. The aim of this dissertation is to explore the mechanisms of energy transitions in Northern Spain from the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 24,000 cal BP, 22050 BC) up until the Industrial Revolution (ca. 150 cal BP, AD 1800). Human societies developed at different time periods, within different climatic, environmental and cultural contexts. Consequently, they had different impact at different intensity on landscapes, depending on which Energy Regime they relied on. This dissertation has two main objectives: 1) Identify and document changes in Energy Regimes through time, and 2) Evaluate the benefits of using the framework of Energy Regimes. In order to meet these objectives, different approaches have been used: 1) Foraging societies have been investigated through the lens of archaeological remains, whilst 2) anthropogenic palaeoenvironmental proxies have been used to investigate Agrarian societies. The main finding is the establishment of the full sequence of Energy Regime’s successions through time, together with the analysis of the transition process in energy systems. The framework of Energy Regimes is also adding a new layer of understanding to the field of archaeology, helping to tackle long-standing limitations related to the traditional timeline sequence of cultural phases. The main implications of this research is the establishment and the evaluation of a qualitative methodology to link past, present and future societies through human dependence on energy. Therefore, this work can serve as a basis for further studies exploring what lessons can be learnt from the past in order to be applied to the current transition towards low-carbon societies.

The study of university entrants’ motivation in choosing a specialty does not lose relevance, because social changes at the state and global levels have the greatest impact on young people, on the formation of their attitude to themselves and their future professional activities. The purpose of the article is to determine the motivational factors for choosing a specialty by freshmen of technical specialties at Lutsk National Technical University. For the study, the following research methods were used: theoretical - analysis of psychological-pedagogical and scientific-methodical literature - to identify the state of the researched problem; empirical methods - surveys, mathematical processing of results. A sociological survey was conducted for the first-year students majoring in 181 - Food Technology, 192 - Construction and Civil Engineering, and 208 - Agricultural Engineering at Lutsk National Technical University; the results were processed statistically. The analysis of value determinants showed that among the motives for choosing the specialty are both internal, personal reasons, caused by the desire for professional self-affirmation, and external reasons, related to financial factors or the desire to avoid military service. The most significant factors that motivated to obtain higher technical education in the chosen specialty, according to the surveyed students, are interest in the profession and its prestige, as well as the prepositions to profession. Factors such as the desire to engage in scientific activities and the desire to change the place of residence had the least motivating effect. We can state that first-year students do not see prospects in the development of their scientific career in the future. Most factors do not differ significantly in gender. However, for female students, the desire to change their place of residence is more important than for male; for later the personal factor is more important due to the possibility of receiving a delay for a military service. Based on the study, the purposeful pedagogical influence on the future professionals was implemented, focusing on the motivational component of professional competence. Recommendations for improving career guidance work have been developed.

As Robert Merton believes, as Science is a social construct, researchers in a certain research community have to share their findings. However, one of the main activities of knowledge management is the sharing knowledge through formal channels, including theses and dissertations, books, articles, conferences, etc., because it has a significant impact on the advancement of sciences and will improve the quality of R&D activities, organizational performance, and the achievement of researchers to competitive advantage. Current global databases such as Scopus, web of science, Google Scholar, as well as academic social network sites (SNS) such as Researchgate and Academia.edu are not successful in demonstrating the dynamics of knowledge In order to understand the dynamics of science, scientific collaboration, industrialization of the countries, we analyze and draw a strategic map in Earth Sciences and Mines of Iran's to help science and technology policy-makers, based on reviewing of the research activities of researchers in different dimensions of geology and mining field study. Through a scientometrics approach, 8431 publications including thesis (1967 to 2015) and papers (1991 to 2016) in two special fields of geology and mining were analyzed. According to the findings, a total of 127 universities in the 80 field study and 294 disciplines in the field of geosciences, 52 universities, and 13 disciplines in the field of geology and 36 universities and 26 disciplines in the field of mining and geophysics have been involved in the production of theses. Among them, the largest amount of publications in the field of geosciences includes fields of geology, mining engineering, civil engineering, natural geography, natural resources engineering respectively. There is an incremental growth of scientific activities in the mineral sector of Iran but unacceptable trend in relation to the number of minerals deposits, mines as well as the total number of mines in Iran. According to the International Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC), researchers in this area are more interested and performed the most scientific activity in metal (7), non-metallic and decorative (8), and oil and gas (5) section and (3), (5), (2) categories respectively. Also developing the statistical and GIS Mapping of research activities show low index of relationship between industrial needs and university research activities, lowest to medium (dispersive) overlap and duplicates, and insufficient research activities in various fields of the earth's sciences and subsequently lowest growth of quantity of the publications in this field so far for geosciences education of Iran despite the advances in the field of geosciences over the past 50 years. These findings improved our knowledge and helped us to know about our deficiencies/potential so that we suggest to develop a new generation of freely geosciences research activities databases based on web-GIS and scientometrics for researches/ers in the world in the 3rd millennium. In fact, understanding of these and drawing the universal research activities strategic map in the geosciences field study will help us to make an appropriate policies and decisions, improving initiatives and creativity, shed light on developing multi-dimensions of geosciences.

THE King's birthday honours list contains the following names of scientific workers and others associated with scientific activities: Baron: The Right Hon. Noel Edward Buxton, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Baronets: Mr. Basil Mott, past president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and Mr. F. H. Royce, founder, director, and chief engineer of Rolls Royce, Limited. Order of Merit: Prof. S. Alexander, in recognition of his eminent position as a British philosopher and for his services as a writer and teacher. Knights: Dr. E. Brown, secretary of the National Poultry Council of England and Wales; Major T. H. Crozier, Chief Inspector of Explosives, Home Office; Prof. A. S. Eddington, Plumian professor of astronomy in the University of Cambridge; Prof. Leonard E. Hill, director of the Department of Applied Physiology, National Institute of Medical Research; Dr. G. A. K. Marshall, director of the Imperial Bureau of Entomology; Prof. J. Arthur Thomson, Regius professor of natural history in the University of Aberdeen; Mr. H. W. A. Watson, lately Chief Conservator of Forests, Burma; Mr. H. Wright, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Governing Body, Imperial College of Science and Technology, South Kensington. K.B.E.: Sir Philip Hartog, chairman of the Education Committee, Indian Statutory Commission. C.B.E.: Dr. E. W. Smith, honorary technical adviser to the Area Gas Supply Committee, Board of Trade. O.B.E.: Mr. T. P. W. Barty, lecturer in civil engineering, Gordon College, Khartoum, and Municipal Engineer, Khartoum; Mr. J. A. B. Horsley, Electrical Inspector of Mines, Mines Department, Board of Trade; Prof. W. M. Roberts, professor of mathematics, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; Dr. F. B. Young, Principal Scientific Officer, Admiralty Research Laboratory. M.B.E.: Mr. J. Haworth, general manager of the Sewage Disposal Department and Chief Chemist and Water Examiner, Sheffield Corporation; Mr. H. W. Jack, economic botanist, Agricultural Department, Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States; Mr. H. G. D. Rooke, lately Chief Locust Officer, Ministry of Irrigation and Agriculture, Iraq; Dr. A. Winstanley, Junior Inspector of Mines, Mines Department, Board of Trade. C.I.E.: Mr. F. F. R. Channer, lately Chief Conservator of Forests, United Provinces; Lieut.—Col. H. R. Dutton, lately Principal, Prince of Wales' Medical College, Patna, and Superintendent of the Patna Medical College Hospital, Bihar and Orissa; Mr. L. Mason, lately Chief Forest Officer, Andamans; Mr. R. R. Simpson, Chief Inspector ef Mines in India. C.V.O.: Mr. Evelyn C. Shaw, secretary since 1910 to the Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851. I.S.O.: Mr. D. Keiller, head laboratory assistant, Imperial Institute of Veterinary Research, Muktesar, United Provinces.