Economists as Worldly Philosophers

While leading figures in the early history of economics conceived of it as inseparable from philosophy and other humanities, there has been movement, especially in recent decades, towards its becoming an essentially technical field with narrowly specialized areas of inquiry. Certainly, specialization has allowed for great progress in economic science. However, recent events surrounding the financial crisis support the arguments of some that economics needs to develop forums for interdisciplinary interaction and to aspire to broader vision.Economic methodology, Specialization, Behavioral economics, Psychology, Rational expectations, Economics as a moral science, Pareto criterion, Interdisciplinary, Journal of Economic Perspectives

Productive resources in students’ ideas about energy: An alternative analysis of Watts’ original interview transcripts

For over 30 years, researchers have investigated students’ ideas about energy with the intent of reforming instructional practice. In this pursuit, Watts contributed an influential study with his 1983 paper “Some alternative views of energy” [Phys. Educ. 18, 213 (1983)]. Watts’ “alternative frameworks” continue to be used for categorizing students’ non-normative ideas about energy. Using a resources framework, we propose an alternate analysis of student responses from Watts’ interviews. In our analysis, we show how students’ activated resources about energy are disciplinarily productive. We suggest that fostering seeds of scientific understandings in students’ ideas about energy may play an important role in their development of scientific literacy

Students Talk about Energy in Project- Based Inquiry Science

We examine the types of emergent language eighth grade students in rural Maine middle schools use when they discuss energy in their first experiences with Project-Based Inquiry Science: Energy, a research-based curriculum that uses a specific language for talking about energy. By comparative analysis of the language used by the curriculum materials to students’ language, we find that students’ talk is at times more aligned with a Stores and Transfer model of energy than the Forms model supported by the curriculum

Triage Process in Emergency Departments: an Indonesian Study

Background: Triage process has rapidly developed in some countries in the last three decades in order to respond to the demand for emergency services by growing population and emergency health needs. However, this development does not appear to match in Indonesian hospitals. The triage process in Indonesia remains obscure.Purpose: This study aimed to describe triage process in Indonesia from a range of different perspectives.Methods: The research design of this study was descriptive qualitative using semistructured interviews of 12 policy makers or persons responsible from 5 different organizations which informed triage practice in Indonesia. The data were analyzed using a three step content analysis.Results: The result produced 3 themes. First, four steps of triage process ranging from receiving to prioritizing were reported as the triaging procedures in Indonesia which were almost similar to the International literature except for a re-triage step. Second,primary and secondary triage processes were also applied in all emergency departments in Indonesia. Last, no prolonged waiting time in Indonesia could be assumed whether the triage process was effective and efficient or it was only a quick process of sorting to rapidly increase the number of patients in the treatment rooms. Out of the themes, the result also indicated that the involvement of nurses in health policy development inIndonesia needed supportConclusion: Triage process in Indonesia still needs improvements. Patient\u27s re-triage and evaluating secondary triage should be given more frameworks in the future. An effective and efficient triage process in Indonesia will best manage the number of patients in the treatment rooms and therefore further observational researches on patterns and trends are needed. Moreover, including the role of nurses as policy makers in the curriculum of nursing undergraduate and post-graduate degrees would give nurses the evidence to seek out policy making positions in the futur

Meat consumption: Trends and quality matters

peer-reviewedThis paper uses quality theory to identify opportunities for the meat sector that are consistent with trends in meat consumption. Meat consumption has increased and is likely to continue into the future. Growth is largely driven by white meats, with poultry in particular of increasing importance globally. The influence of factors such as income and price is likely decline over time so that other factors, such as quality, will become more important. Quality is complex and consumers' quality expectations may not align with experienced quality due to misconception of certain intrinsic cues. Establishing relevant and effective cues, based on extrinsic and credence attributes, could offer advantage on the marketplace. The use of extrinsic cues can help convey quality characteristics for eating quality, but also for more abstract attributes that reflect individual consumer concerns e.g. health/nutrition, and collective concerns, e.g. sustainability. However, attributes are not of equal value to all consumers. Thus consumer segmentation and production differentiation is needed.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Irish Department of Agriculture Food and Marine for funding through their Stimulus Fund for the project entitled “Genetic selection for improved milk and meat product quality in dairy, beef and sheep”: project reference no: 11/SF/311

Planning the Kitchen

Provides a brief discussion of new trends in kitchen planning