Macroeconomics: Science or Faith Based Discipline?

Whether or not macroeconomics is a science depends on the scientific nature of macroeconomic theories and how the discipline responds when the empirical evidence fails to match the underlying assumptions and predictions of the theories. By way of an example, four conditions for macroeconomics to be a science are developed and used to examine the 'modern' theories of the Phillips curve. It is found that while the discipline in general maintains one condition it routinely violates the other three. This suggests the macroeconomics discipline has some way to go before it can call itself a 'pure science.'

Bayesian Networks for Probabilistic Inference and Decision Analysis in Forensic Science

Continuing developments in science and technology mean that the amounts of information forensic scientists are able to provide for criminal investigations is ever increasing. The commensurate increase in complexity creates difficulties for scientists and lawyers with regard to evaluation and interpretation, notably with respect to issues of inference and decision. Probability theory, implemented through graphical methods, and specifically Bayesian networks, provides powerful methods to deal with this complexity. Extensions of these methods to elements of decision theory provide further support and assistance to the judicial system. Bayesian Networks for Probabilistic Inference and Decision Analysis in Forensic Science provides a unique and comprehensive introduction to the use of Bayesian decision networks for the evaluation and interpretation of scientific findings in forensic science, and for the support of decision-makers in their scientific and legal tasks. Includes self-contained introductions to probability and decision theory. Develops the characteristics of Bayesian networks, object-oriented Bayesian networks and their extension to decision models. Features implementation of the methodology with reference to commercial and academically available software. Presents standard networks and their extensions that can be easily implemented and that can assist in the reader's own analysis of real cases. Provides a technique for structuring problems and organizing data based on methods and principles of scientific reasoning. Contains a method for the construction of coherent and defensible arguments for the analysis and evaluation of scientific findings and for decisions based on them. Is written in a lucid style, suitable for forensic scientists and lawyers with minimal mathematical background. Includes a foreword by Ian Evett. The clear and accessible style of this second edition makes this book ideal for all forensic scientists, applied statisticians and graduate students wishing to evaluate forensic findings from the perspective of probability and decision analysis. It will also appeal to lawyers and other scientists and professionals interested in the evaluation and interpretation of forensic findings, including decision making based on scientific information.

Compensatory β-cell mass expansion: a big role for a tiny actor.

Comment on: Jacovetti C, et al. J Clin Invest 2012; 122:3541-51.

El naturalismo científico en la obra de John Tyndall: Fragments of science

El análisis de los ensayos de John Tyndall, Fragments of Science, permite identificar la teoría atómica, el principio de conservación de la energía y el evolucionismo darwinista como los elementos constitutivos del andamiaje teórico del naturalismo científico. Así, en su ensayo “On the Study of Physics” se resumen sus brillantes facetas como educador y divulgador científico, desarrolladas fundamentalmente en el seno de la Royal Institution. En la lectura “On Force”, Tyndall da por finalizada la controversia Joule- Mayer sobre la primacía del descubrimiento del principio de conservación de la energía, a la vez que plantea algunas de las claves de la lucha por el liderazgo en el seno de la comunidad científica. El discurso presidencial ante la British Association de 1874 en Belfast ejemplifica el coraje de Tyndall en su empeño por demarcar los territorios de la ciencia y la religión, a la luz de los nuevos desafíos científicos. En el trasfondo subyacen los procesos de secularización de la sociedad y de profesionalización de una comunidad científica heterogénea. El compromiso cívico que Tyndall demuestra en “The Belfast Address” es digno corolario de una vida y obra que permite situarlo como paradigma de lo que, en la terminología de Turner, se ha dado en denominar científico público.

Big data and other challenges in the quest for orthologs.

Given the rapid increase of species with a sequenced genome, the need to identify orthologous genes between them has emerged as a central bioinformatics task. Many different methods exist for orthology detection, which makes it difficult to decide which one to choose for a particular application. Here, we review the latest developments and issues in the orthology field, and summarize the most recent results reported at the third 'Quest for Orthologs' meeting. We focus on community efforts such as the adoption of reference proteomes, standard file formats and benchmarking. Progress in these areas is good, and they are already beneficial to both orthology consumers and providers. However, a major current issue is that the massive increase in complete proteomes poses computational challenges to many of the ortholog database providers, as most orthology inference algorithms scale at least quadratically with the number of proteomes. The Quest for Orthologs consortium is an open community with a number of working groups that join efforts to enhance various aspects of orthology analysis, such as defining standard formats and datasets, documenting community resources and benchmarking. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: All such materials are available at http://questfororthologs.org. CONTACT: erik.sonnhammer@scilifelab.se or c.dessimoz@ucl.ac.uk.