The constructive (i.e. Build) activity in Design Research is where human cognitive (e.g., complexity, creativity, control) and social (e.g., collaboration) activities contribute to the design of novel artifacts that improve the human condition. In this essay, we model the design activity as an iterative process with flows connecting external and internal environments and problem and solution sp...

metabolic syndrome (mets) as a collection of obesity-associated disorders is associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, pro-thrombotic state, elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. adiponectin is one of the most abundant peptide hormones derived from adipose tissue. this protein plays a major role in glucose and lipid metabolism and prevents development of ...

The purpose of this introductory article is to provide an overview of the contributions that make up this Special Series of Informing Science on The Role of Case Studies in Informing Systems, summarizing the major findings and discussing the key issues. In the first two articles, the founder of a leading consultancy and a veteran Harvard Business School professor offer their unique insights on ...

IT projects fail for many reasons. Often this is attributed to poor project management; however, knowledge, though a critical resource within organizations and projects, is often overlooked as a cause of project failure. Changes to project teams can affect the knowledge balance within the team and new entrants often have to learn large amounts of information before actively contributing to the ...

The paper opens by generalizing the concept of 'informing science'. It then introduces some meta-scientific perspectives and a discussion of a metaphor that has considerable explanatory power. Two main schools of metascience are presented and contrasted. The difference between treating invariances in natural sciences and in social and cultural sciences is discussed. The double helix is introduc...

With our ever-changing society there seems to be more pressures on young people. Recent epidemiological studies in Australia have found that adolescent mental health is an important public health problem (Sawyer et al., 2001). As many as one in five Australian children aged from 4 to 17 have significant mental health concerns (Zubrick, Silburn, Burton, & Blair, 2000). However, only one in four ...

Nearly everyone can be successfully involved with intellectual frontiers – if they are efficiently educated to do so. This article offers evidence of the processes applied to bring ordinary citizens to the edges of the known, and beyond, which the article calls, “edGe-ucating.” David Cavallo, for example, an MIT engineer, has guided Thai villagers to break through expert understandings to addre...

Patients suffering from endocrine disorders, which affect the function of central nervous system, need a special care and approach in the process of smoking cessation. The process of informing about negative effects of smoking addiction, including potential aggravation of the disease, has to be specially tailored to the need of the patient and the type of the disease. The informing physician sh...