The Dynamics of Exchanges and References among Scientific Texts, and the Autopoiesis of Discursive Knowledge

Discursive knowledge emerges as codification in flows of communication. The flows of communication are constrained and enabled by networks of communications as their historical manifestations at each moment of time. New publications modify the existing networks by changing the distributions of attributes and relations in document sets, while the networks are self-referentially updated along trajectories. Codification operates reflexively: the network structures are reconstructed from the perspective of hindsight. Codification along different axes differentiates discursive knowledge into specialties. These intellectual control structures are constructed bottom-up, but feed top-down back upon the production of new knowledge. However, the forward dynamics of diffusion in the development of the communication networks along trajectories differs from the feedback mechanisms of control. Analysis of the development of scientific communication in terms of evolving scientific literatures provides us with a model which makes these evolutionary processes amenable to measurement

Regional and global science: Publications from Latin America and the Caribbean in the SciELO Citation Index and the Web of Science

In this article the authors compare the visibility of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) publications in the Core Collection indexes of the Web of Science (WoS) inlcuding Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index, and the SciELO Citation Index (SciELO CI) which was integrated into the larger WoS platform in 2014. The purpose of this comparison is to contribute to the broader understanding of the communication of scientific knowledge produced in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to provide some reflections on the potential benefits of the articulation of regional indexing exercises into WoS for a better understanding of geographic and disciplinary contributions. How is the regional level of SciELO CI related to the global range of WoS? In WoS, LAC authors are integrated at the global level in international networks, while SciELO has provided a platform for interactions among LAC researchers. The articulation of SciELO into WoS may improve the international visibility of the regional journals, but at the cost of own journal inclusion criteria independence

Los Estudios Sociales de la Ciencia y la Tecnología en Colombia: grupos de investigación y colaboración

Using bibliometric methods, this work identifies some of the main socio-cognitive characteristics of the academic community of Social Studies of Science and Technology (STS) in Colombia. The analysis, based on information reported in the ScienTI platform run by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, focuses on 248 research articles published by the members of ten research groups identified as STS. Pajek, Ucinet and, Vosviewer analysis tools were used to analyze and visualize the collaborative relationships between the groups included in the study. The results suggest that, despite having similar lines of research, there is little collaboration among the STS research groups in Colombia. We identified higher rates of collaboration between STS group members with non-STS identified research academics than between STS group members. The co-authorship network is composed of STS academics and non-STS academics, where those serving as nodes connect with mostly non-STS-academics. When there is a collaboration among STS groups, those belong to the same city. These results offer preliminary elements for the description of this community, but also show the need to broaden the exploration to other types of production, as well as to try to identify groups and researchers who, even without explicitly identifying themselves as dedicated to STS, use the theoretical-methodological repertoires and make contributions to this field

What is an emerging technology?

There is considerable and growing interest in the emergence of novel technologies, especially from the policy-making perspective. Yet as an area of study, emerging technologies lacks key foundational elements, namely a consensus on what classifies a technology as ’emergent’ and strong research designs that operationalize central theoretical concepts. The present paper aims to fill this gap by developing a definition of ’emerging technologies’ and linking this conceptual effort with the development of a framework for the operationalisation of technological emergence. The definition is developed by combining a basic understanding of the term and in particular the concept of ’emergence’ with a review of key innovation studies dealing with definitional issues of technological emergence. The resulting definition identifies five attributes that feature in the emergence of novel technologies. These are: (i) radical novelty, (ii) relatively fast growth, (iii) coherence, (iv) prominent impact, and (v) uncertainty and ambiguity. The framework for operationalising emerging technologies is then elaborated on the basis of the proposed attributes. To do so, we identify and review major empirical approaches (mainly in, although not limited to, the scientometric domain) for the detection and study of emerging technologies (these include indicators and trend analysis, citation analysis, co-word analysis, overlay mapping, and combinations thereof) and elaborate on how these can be used to operationalise the different attributes of emergence

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 in dementia across Latin America : A call for an urgent regional plan and coordinated response

The SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic will disproportionately impact countries with weak economies and vulnerable populations including people with dementia. Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs) are burdened with unstable economic development, fragile health systems, massive economic disparities, and a high prevalence of dementia. Here, we underscore the selective impact of SARS-CoV-2 on dementia among LACs, the specific strain on health systems devoted to dementia, and the subsequent effect of increasing inequalities among those with dementia in the region. Implementation of best practices for mitigation and containment faces particularly steep challenges in LACs. Based upon our consideration of these issues, we urgently call for a coordinated action plan, including the development of inexpensive mass testing and multilevel regional coordination for dementia care and related actions. Brain health diplomacy should lead to a shared and escalated response across the region, coordinating leadership, and triangulation between governments and international multilateral networks

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología Colombia 2014

El informe anual del OCyT presenta información sobre la inversión del país en ciencia, tecnología e innovación, inversión específica en actividades de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico, la apuesta a nivel gubernamental por este tipo de actividades, la inversión del sector privado, la evolución del perfil de nuestros jóvenes graduados y el peso en estos de carreras STEM (por las siglas en inglés ciencia, tecnología, ingenierías y medicina), que se han identificado como determinantes para una sociedad basada en el conocimiento. Se incluyen también indicadores sobre capacidades, en términos de investigadores y grupos de investigación, resultados de las actividades de CyT, artículos científicos, patentes e innovaciones entre otros

Financiamiento público para la investigación en instituciones de educación superior : algunas reflexiones y perspectivas

La tendencia global en políticas de fomento y fortalecimiento a la investigación es que se encuentren enmarcadas dentro del esquema de sistemas nacionales de innovación, donde el sector responsable del diseño e implementación de políticas públicas procura proveer un ecosistema que facilite los intercambios de conocimiento e información entre un sector generador de conocimientos científicos y un sector productivo.The global trend in research promotion and strengthening policies is that they are framed within the scheme of national innovation systems, where the sector responsible for the design and implementation of public policies seeks to provide an ecosystem that facilitates knowledge and information exchanges between a sector that generates scientific knowledge and a productive sector