The implications of Wikipedia for contemporary science education: Using Social Network Analysis Techniques for Automatic Organisation of Knowledge

Wikipedia is an Open Content resource, which is constructed by a users community, and is widely employed in educational contexts by both students and teachers. Wikipedia articles have hyperlinks that connect them, so it is possible to represent Wikipedia as a network, in which the nodes are the articles and the edges are hyperlinks. In this paper we analyze a complete copy of the Spanish Wikipedia. We apply Social Networks Analysis Techniques and, more precisely, Communities Detection Techniques, in order to identify clusters of articles with similar content. As the number of clusters is relatively small we use manual analyses to detect science articles. In addition we identify the most representative scientific fields and their main features. We conclude that science articles are about 11.66 % of Spanish Wikipedia articles and that the most important clusters of scientific articles do not always coincide with classical Science disciplines. This kind of analyses contributes to understanding better Wikipedia as an educational tool

Wikipedia as a tool for introducing social concerns into science education

Wikipedia is becoming a main source for scientific information. However, we know very little of the nature of science transmitted by Wikipedia. In this paper we present the preliminary results of our attempt to characterize scientific knowledge on the Spanish Wikipedia. Our analysis consists of two stages: Identifying scientific and technological content and highlighting the relationships among its components. Comparing our results with similar procedures carried out on school textbooks, suggests that there is a significant difference between scientific culture in traditional educational aids and on the Web. Scientific content in textbooks is characterized by a traditional disciplinary division, in spite of efforts to integrate interdisciplinary approaches and significant social contexts. It seems that for its dynamic nature Wikipedia is more prone to an interdisciplinary structure of contents. This relative flexibility also opens the way to the incorporation of social concerns alongside traditional scientific disciplines. We believe thus that the popularity of Wikipedia can contribute to changing the nature of scientific content available to students

Wikipedia as a tool for introducing social implications into science education

Whether we like it or not there is mounting evidence that Wikipedia is becoming a main source for scientific information. In fact for students on all levels Wikipedia is the first stop for investigating any topic. Its accessibility, vast content and dynamic character make it an easy and updated source of information. Although there are few scholars that criticize its reliability, most research validates its epistemic qualities. More important it is regularly included in the 10 most visited cites demonstrating its importance as a source of knowledge. However, we know very little of the nature of science transmitted by Wikipedia. As a result we believe that there is an urgent need to understand better the character of Wikipedia´s scientific contents. In this paper we present the preliminary results of our attempt to characterize scientific knowledge on the Spanish Wikipedia. Our analysis consists of two stages designed to carry out the above mentioned tasks: Identifying scientific and technological content and highlighting the relationships among its components. Comparing our results with similar procedures carried out on school textbooks, suggests that there is a significant difference between scientific culture in traditional educational aids and on the Web. Scientific content in textbooks is characterized by a traditional disciplinary division, in spite of efforts to integrate interdisciplinary approaches and significant social contexts. On Wikipedia on the other hand it seems that the distribution of scientific contents does not depend solely on traditional academic disciplines but also on current social concerns. We believe thus that the popularity of Wikipedia is can contribute to changing the nature of scientific content available to students

Inside the Redbox: Applications of haematology in wildlife monitoring and ecosystem health assessment

Blood analyses have great potential in studies of ecology, ecotoxicology and veterinary science inwild vertebrates based on advances in human and domestic animalmedicine. The major caveat for field researchers, however, is that the ‘rules’ for human or domestic animal haematology do not always apply towildlife. The present overview shows the strengths and limitations of blood analyses inwild vertebrates, and proposes a standardisation of preanalytical procedures plus some suggestions for a more systematic examination of blood smears to increase the diagnostic value of blood data. By discussing the common problems that field researchers face with blood variables, we also aim to highlight common ground enabling new researchers in the field to accurately collect blood samples and interpret and place their haematological findings into the overall picture of an ecological or eco-toxicological study. Besides showing the practicality and ecological relevance of simple blood variables, this study illustrates the suitability of blood samples for the application of cutting-edge analytical procedures for expanding the current repertoire of diagnostic tools inwildlifemonitoring and ecosystemhealth assessmentPeer reviewe

Sexual selection explains Rensch's rule of allometry for sexual size dimorphism

In 1950, Rensch first described that in groups of related species, sexual size dimorphism is more pronounced in larger species. This widespread and fundamental allometric relationship is now commonly referred to as ‘Rensch's rule’. However, despite numerous recent studies, we still do not have a general explanation for this allometry. Here we report that patterns of allometry in over 5300 bird species demonstrate that Rensch's rule is driven by a correlated evolutionary change in females to directional sexual selection on males. First, in detailed multivariate analysis, the strength of sexual selection was, by far, the strongest predictor of allometry. This was found to be the case even after controlling for numerous potential confounding factors, such as overall size, degree of ornamentation, phylogenetic history and the range and degree of size dimorphism. Second, in groups where sexual selection is stronger in females, allometry consistently goes in the opposite direction to Rensch's rule. Taken together, these results provide the first clear solution to the long-standing evolutionary problem of allometry for sexual size dimorphism: sexual selection causes size dimorphism to correlate with species size

Seasonal variation in sex-specific immunity in wild birds

Whilst the immune system often varies seasonally and exhibits differences between males and females, the general patterns in seasonality and sex differences across taxa have remained controversial. Birds are excellent model organisms to assess these patterns, because the immune system of many species is well characterised. We conducted a meta-analysis using 41 wild bird species from 24 avian families to investigate sex differences and seasonal (breeding/non-breeding) variations in immune status, including white blood cell counts, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) test, bacteria-killing ability (BKA), haemolysis and haemagglutination assays. We found male-biased macrophage concentration, BKA and haemolysis titers, but only during the breeding season. Sexspecific heterophil concentrations, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios and PHA responses differed between breeding and non-breeding, suggesting larger changes in males than in females. Importantly, sex differences in immune status are stronger during the breeding period than during the non-breeding period. Taken together, our study suggests that both seasonal variation and sex differences in immune system are common in birds, although their associations are more complex than previously thoughtPeer reviewe

Seasonal variation in sex-specific immunity in wild birds

Whilst the immune system often varies seasonally and exhibits differences between males and females, the general patterns in seasonality and sex differences across taxa have remained controversial. Birds are excellent model organisms to assess these patterns, because the immune system of many species is well characterised. We conducted a meta-analysis using 41 wild bird species from 24 avian families to investigate sex differences and seasonal (breeding/non-breeding) variations in immune status, including white blood cell counts, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) test, bacteria-killing ability (BKA), haemolysis and haemagglutination assays. We found male-biased macrophage concentration, BKA and haemolysis titers, but only during the breeding season. Sex-specific heterophil concentrations, heterophil/lymphocyte ratios and PHA responses differed between breeding and non-breeding, suggesting larger changes in males than in females. Importantly, sex differences in immune status are stronger during the breeding period than during the non-breeding period. Taken together, our study suggests that both seasonal variation and sex differences in immune system are common in birds, although their associations are more complex than previously thought