Epistemologies in Practice: Making Scientific Practices Meaningful for Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berland, Leema K.; Schwarz, Christina V.; Krist, Christina; Kenyon, Lisa; Lo, Abraham S.; Reiser, Brian J.

2016-01-01

Recent research and policy documents call for engaging students and teachers in scientific practices such that the goal of science education shifts from students "knowing" scientific and epistemic ideas, to students "developing and using" these understandings as tools to make sense of the world. This perspective pushes students…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Svetlana Shasharina

The goal of the Center for Technology for Advanced Scientific Component Software is to fundamentally changing the way scientific software is developed and used by bringing component-based software development technologies to high-performance scientific and engineering computing. The role of Tech-X work in TASCS project is to provide an outreach to accelerator physics and fusion applications by introducing TASCS tools into applications, testing tools in the applications and modifying the tools to be more usable.

Site Selection for Mars Surveyor Landing Sites: Some Key Factors for 2001 and Relation to Long-Term Exploration of Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Head, James W.

1999-01-01

The Site Selection Process: Site selection as a process can be subdivided into several main elements and these can be represented as the corners of a tetrahedron. Successful site selection outcome requires the interactions between these elements or corners, and should also take into account several other external factors or considerations. In principle, elements should be defined in approximately the following order: (1) major scientific and programmatic goals and objectives: What are the major questions that are being asked, goals that should be achieved, and objectives that must be accomplished. Do programmatic goals (e.g., sample return) differ from mission goals (e.g., precursor to sample return)? It is most helpful if these questions can be placed in the context of site characterization and hypothesis testing (e.g., Was Mars warm and wet in the Noachian? Land at a Noachian-aged site that shows evidence of surface water and characterize it specifically to address this question). Goals and objectives, then, help define important engineering factors such as type of payload, landing regions of interest (highlands, lowlands, smooth, rough, etc.), mobility, mission duration, etc. Goals and objectives then lead to: (2) spacecraft design and engineering landing site constraints: the spacecraft is designed to optimize the areas that will meet the goals and objectives, but this in turn introduces constraints that must be met in the selection of a landing site. Scientific and programmatic goals and objectives also help to define (3), the specific lander scientific payload requirements and capabilities. For example, what observations and experiments are required to address the major questions? How do we characterize the site in reference to the specific questions? Is mobility required and if so, how much? Which experiments are on the spacecraft, which on the rover? The results of these deliberations should lead to a surface exploration strategy, in which the goals and objectives can in principle be achieved through the exploration of a site meeting the basic engineering constraints. Armed with all of this important background information, one can then proceed to (4) the selection of optimum sites to address major scientific and programmatic objectives. Following the successful completion of this process and the selection of a site or region, there is a further step of mission optimization, in which a detailed mission profile and surface exploration plan is developed. In practice, the process never works in a linear fashion. Scientific goals are influenced by ongoing discoveries and developments and simple crystallization of thinking. Programmatic goals are influenced by evolving fiscal constraints, perspectives on program duration, and roles of specific missions in the context of the larger program. Engineering constraints are influenced by evolving fiscal constraints, decisions on hardware design that may have little to do with scientific goals (e.g., lander clearance; size of landing ellipse), and evolving understanding (e.g., assessment of engineering constraint space reveals further the degree to which mission duration is severely influenced by available solar energy and thus latitude). Lander scientific payload is influenced by fiscal constraints, total mass, evolving complexity, technological developments, and a payload selection process that may involve very long-term goals (e.g., human exploration) as well as shorter term scientific and programmatic goals. Site selection activities commonly involve scientists who are actively trying to decipher the complex geology of the crust of Mars and to unravel its geologic history through geological mapping. By the nature of the process, they are thinking in terms of broad morphostratigraphic units which may have multiple possible origins, defined using images with resolutions of many tens to hundreds of meters, and whose surfaces at the scale of the lander and rover are virtually unknown; this approach and effort is crucially important but does not necessarily readily lend itself to integration with the other elements.

Carrot Soup, Magic Bullets, and Scientific Research for Education and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chabbott, Colette

2007-01-01

Following the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set global sector specific development targets to be achieved by the year 2015. In this article, the author explores the role of health and education research in producing technological innovations and global policy options and goals, such as the MDGs. Here, she…

Argument to Foster Scientific Literacy: A Review of Argument Interventions in K-12 Science Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cavagnetto, Andy R.

2010-01-01

The goal of scientific literacy has led to a steady increase in argument-based interventions in science education contexts. It has been suggested that student participation in argument develops communication skills, metacognitive awareness, critical thinking, an understanding of the culture and practice of science, and scientific literacy.…

Teaching With and About Nature of Science, and Science Teacher Knowledge Domains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad

2013-09-01

The ubiquitous goals of helping precollege students develop informed conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and experience inquiry learning environments that progressively approximate authentic scientific practice have been long-standing and central aims of science education reforms around the globe. However, the realization of these goals continues to elude the science education community partly because of a persistent, albeit not empirically supported, coupling of the two goals in the form of `teaching about NOS with inquiry'. In this context, the present paper aims, first, to introduce the notions of, and articulate the distinction between, teaching with and about NOS, which will allow for the meaningful coupling of the two desired goals. Second, the paper aims to explicate science teachers' knowledge domains requisite for effective teaching with and about NOS. The paper argues that research and development efforts dedicated to helping science teachers develop deep, robust, and integrated NOS understandings would have the dual benefits of not only enabling teachers to convey to students images of science and scientific practice that are commensurate with historical, philosophical, sociological, and psychological scholarship (teaching about NOS), but also to structure robust inquiry learning environments that approximate authentic scientific practice, and implement effective pedagogical approaches that share a lot of the characteristics of best science teaching practices (teaching with NOS).

Building Bridges Between EPO Professionals Across Scientific Disciplines: Partnerships with NSF Centers (First Steps)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinberg, D.; Black, K.; Schultz, S.

2010-08-01

NASA, NSF and other funding organizations support science education and outreach to achieve their broader impact goals. Organizations like ASP and the NSF Research Centers Educators Network (NRCEN) are building networks of education and public outreach (EPO) professionals to enhance programmatic success in reaching these goals. As the professionals who provide these programs to the various scientific communities, we are often the key connectors between investigators at cutting-edge research centers, the education world and the public. However, our profession does not have strong ties for sharing best practices across the different scientific disciplines. To develop those ties, we need to identify our common interests and build on them by sharing lessons learned and best practices. We will use the technique of concept mapping to develop a schematic of how each of us addresses our broader impact goals and discuss the common and divergent features. We will also present the education and outreach logic model that was recently developed by the 27 Education Directors of NSF-funded Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (MRSEC). Building on this information, we will collaboratively develop a list of key areas of similar interest between ASP and NRCEN EPO professionals.

Scientific Inquiry Based Professional Development Models in Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corlu, Mehmet Ali; Corlu, M. Sencer

2012-01-01

Scientific inquiry helps students develop critical thinking abilities and enables students to think and construct knowledge like a scientist. The study describes a method course implementation at a major public teachers college in Turkey. The main goal of the course was to improve research and teaching abilities of prospective physics teachers…

Teaching animal science: education or indoctrination?

PubMed

Schillo, K K

1997-04-01

Traditional animal science curricula ignore sociological aspects of scientific research and therefore portray scientific knowledge as value-free. This view gives rise to a teaching method that involves imparting lists of scientific facts that are to be accepted by students without critical evaluation. This amounts to little more than indoctrination and misrepresents science as a system of knowledge. An alternative approach is based on the view that science is a creative human activity that reflects the values and biases of its practitioners. The goal of this approach is to teach students to think analytically and to make independent judgments about scientific claims. This requires a scientific literacy: an understanding of principal scientific theories, the nature of scientific research, and the relationship between science and society. To achieve this goal, a teacher must become less of an authority figure, whose role is to simply pass on information, and more of a facilitator, whose role is to promote questioning, exploration, and synthesis. This requires a learning community in which students feel comfortable taking risks and develop the courage to make and defend judgments. This teaching approach enhances the intellectual and ethical development of students, allowing them to serve themselves and society in responsible ways.

MICA: The Meta-Institute for Computational Astrophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMillan, Stephen L. W.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Hut, P.; Vesperini, E.; Knop, R.; Portegies Zwart, S.

2009-05-01

We describe MICA, the Meta Institute for Computational Astrophysics, the first professional scientific and educational, non-profit organization based in virtual worlds [VWs]. Most MICA activities are currently conducted in Second Life, arguably the most popular and best developed VW; we plan to expand our presence into other VWs as those venues evolve. The goals of MICA include (1) exploration, development and promotion of VWs and virtual reality [VR] technologies for professional research in astronomy and related fields; (2) development of novel networking venues and mechanisms for virtual scientific communication and interaction, including professional meetings, visualization, and telecollaboration; (3) use of VWs and VR technologies for education and public outreach; and (4) exchange of ideas and joint efforts with other scientific disciplines in promoting these goals for science and scholarship in general. We present representative example of MICA activities and achievements, and outline plans for expansion of the organization. For more information on MICA, please visit http://mica-vw.org .

Assessing Student's Level of Scientific Literacy Using Interdisciplinary Scenarios

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soobard, Regina; Rannikmae, Miia

2011-01-01

The goal of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing grade 10 and 11 student's levels of scientific literacy in the areas of problem solving and decision making. In concentrating on determining the scientific literacy of gymnasium level students, it was taken as a first; previous international studies like PISA have focused on ninth…

Incorporating Scientific Argumentation into Inquiry-Based Activities with Online Personally Seeded Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sampson, Victor; Clark, Douglas

2007-01-01

An explicit goal of the current reform movement in science education is to promote scientific literacy in the United States. One way to encourage scientific literacy is to help students develop a better understanding of science subject matter, that is, the declarative knowledge specifically associated with the physical, life, and earth sciences.…

Exploring Turkish Upper Primary Level Science Textbooks' Coverage of Scientific Literacy Themes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çakici, Yilmaz

2012-01-01

Problem Statement: Since the 1970s, scientific literacy has been a major goal of national educational systems throughout the world, and thus reform movements in science education call for all students to be scientifically literate. Despite some good curricular changes and developments across the globe, much remains to be achieved. Given that…

Socioscientific Issues: A Path Towards Advanced Scientific Literacy and Improved Conceptual Understanding of Socially Controversial Scientific Theories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinzino, Dean William

This thesis investigates the use of socioscientific issues (SSI) in the high school science classroom as an introduction to argumentation and socioscientific reasoning, with the goal of improving students' scientific literacy (SL). Current research is reviewed that supports the likelihood of students developing a greater conceptual understanding of scientific theories as well as a deeper understanding of the nature of science (NOS), through participation in informal and formal forms of argumentation in the context of SSI. Significant gains in such understanding may improve a student's ability to recognize the rigor, legitimacy, and veracity of scientific claims and better discern science from pseudoscience. Furthermore, students that participate in significant SSI instruction by negotiating a range of science-related social issues can make significant gains in content knowledge and develop the life-long skills of argumentation and evidence-based reasoning, goals not possible in traditional lecture-based science instruction. SSI-based instruction may therefore help students become responsible citizens. This synthesis also suggests that that the improvements in science literacy and NOS understanding that develop from sustained engagement in SSI-based instruction will better prepare students to examine and scrutinize socially controversial scientific theories (i.e., evolution, global warming, and the Big Bang).

SAP Minutes No.2015-03 for FIFRA meeting held 9/15-17/2015. A set of scientific issues being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding development of a spatial aquatic model(SAM)for pesticide risk assessment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

On September 15-17th, 2014, the US Environmental Protection Agency convened a public meeting of the FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) to address scientific issues associated with the agency’s “Development of a Spatial Aquatic Model (SAM) for Pesticide Risk Assessment”. The goal of SAM is to impr...

Competing Discourses of Scientific Identity among Postdoctoral Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences.

PubMed

Price, Rebecca M; Kantrowitz-Gordon, Ira; Gordon, Sharona E

2018-06-01

The postdoctoral period is generally one of low pay, long hours, and uncertainty about future career options. To better understand how postdocs conceive of their present and future goals, we asked researchers about their scientific identities while they were in their postdoctoral appointments. We used discourse analysis to analyze interviews with 30 scholars from a research-intensive university or nearby research institutions to better understand how their scientific identities influenced their career goals. We identified two primary discourses: bench scientist and principal investigator (PI). The bench scientist discourse is characterized by implementing other people's scientific visions through work in the laboratory and expertise in experimental design and troubleshooting. The PI discourse is characterized by a focus on formulating scientific visions, obtaining funding, and disseminating results through publishing papers and at invited talks. Because these discourses represent beliefs, they can-and do-limit postdocs' understandings of what career opportunities exist and the transferability of skills to different careers. Understanding the bench scientist and PI discourses, and how they interact, is essential for developing and implementing better professional development programs for postdocs.

U.S. Air Force Scientific and Technical Information Program - The STINFO Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blados, Walter R.

1991-01-01

The U.S. Air Force STINFO (Scientific and Technical Information) program has as its main goal the proper use of all available scientific and technical information in the development of programs. The organization of STINFO databases, the use of STINFO in the development and advancement of aerospace science and technology and the acquisition of superior systems at lowest cost, and the application to public and private sectors of technologies developed for military uses are examined. STINFO user training is addressed. A project for aerospace knowledge diffusion is discussed.

An Analysis of the Supports and Constraints for Scientific Discussion in High School Project-Based Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alozie, Nonye M.; Moje, Elizabeth Birr; Krajcik, Joseph S.

2010-01-01

One goal of project-based science is to promote the development of scientific discourse communities in classrooms. Holding rich high school scientific discussions is challenging, especially when the demands of content and norms of high school science pose challenges to their enactment. There is little research on how high school teachers enact…

Using The GLOBE Program to address the Global Development Goals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegner, K.; Murphy, T.; Wigbels, L.; Mauriello, H.; Kucera, P. A.

2016-12-01

The GLOBE Program (globe.gov) is an international science and education program in more than 110 countries that provides students and the public worldwide the opportunity to participate in the scientific process through Earth observations and geospatial information. To address the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, The GLOBE Program has collaborated with with international organizations such as the UNEP, Peace Corps, USAID, UNESCO, Eco-Schools, and SciStarter to address the Goals for Sustainable Development. In this presentation, GLOBE will share the alignment materials that they have created to provide pathways to achieving the goals, as well as present case studies that demonstrate how the GLOBE community uses GLOBE protocols as Earth observations to monitor and communicate environmental indicators aligned to the Global Development Goals.

Application of logic models in a large scientific research program.

PubMed

O'Keefe, Christine M; Head, Richard J

2011-08-01

It is the purpose of this article to discuss the development and application of a logic model in the context of a large scientific research program within the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). CSIRO is Australia's national science agency and is a publicly funded part of Australia's innovation system. It conducts mission-driven scientific research focussed on delivering results with relevance and impact for Australia, where impact is defined and measured in economic, environmental and social terms at the national level. The Australian Government has recently signalled an increasing emphasis on performance assessment and evaluation, which in the CSIRO context implies an increasing emphasis on ensuring and demonstrating the impact of its research programs. CSIRO continues to develop and improve its approaches to impact planning and evaluation, including conducting a trial of a program logic approach in the CSIRO Preventative Health National Research Flagship. During the trial, improvements were observed in clarity of the research goals and path to impact, as well as in alignment of science and support function activities with national challenge goals. Further benefits were observed in terms of communication of the goals and expected impact of CSIRO's research programs both within CSIRO and externally. The key lesson learned was that significant value was achieved through the process itself, as well as the outcome. Recommendations based on the CSIRO trial may be of interest to managers of scientific research considering developing similar logic models for their research projects. The CSIRO experience has shown that there are significant benefits to be gained, especially if the project participants have a major role in the process of developing the logic model. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Curriculum and Faculty Development for the Teaching of Academic Research Ethics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stern, Judy E.; Elliott, Deni

This report summarizes a three-year project to design a graduate level course in ethics and scientific research at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire). The goals of the project were: (1) to train faculty to teach a course in research ethics, (2) to pilot-teach a graduate course in ethics and scientific research, and (3) to develop teaching materials…

INTEGRATION OF AN ECONOMY UNDER IMPERFECT COMPETITION WITH A TWELVE-CELL ECOLOGICAL MODEL

EPA Science Inventory

This report documents the scientific research work done to date on developing a generalized mathematical model depicting a combined economic-ecological-social system with the goal of making it available to the scientific community. The model is preliminary and has not been tested...

Correlating electronic and vibrational motions in charge transfer systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Khalil, Munira

2014-06-27

The goal of this research program was to measure coupled electronic and nuclear motions during photoinduced charge transfer processes in transition metal complexes by developing and using novel femtosecond spectroscopies. The scientific highlights and the resulting scientific publications from the DOE supported work are outlined in the technical report.

First Colombian Solar Radio Interferometer: current stage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guevara Gómez, J. C.; Martínez Oliveros, J. C.; Calvo-Mozo, B.

2017-10-01

Solar radio astronomy is a fast developing research field in Colombia. Here, we present the scientific goals, specifications and current state of the First Colombian Solar Radio Interferometer consisting of two log-periodic antennas covering a frequency bandwidth op to 800 MHz. We describe the importance and benefits of its development to the radioastronomy in Latin America and its impact on the scientific community and general public.

The Goal Specificity Effect on Strategy Use and Instructional Efficiency during Computer-Based Scientific Discovery Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kunsting, Josef; Wirth, Joachim; Paas, Fred

2011-01-01

Using a computer-based scientific discovery learning environment on buoyancy in fluids we investigated the "effects of goal specificity" (nonspecific goals vs. specific goals) for two goal types (problem solving goals vs. learning goals) on "strategy use" and "instructional efficiency". Our empirical findings close an important research gap,…

Exploring teachers' beliefs and knowledge about scientific inquiry and the nature of science: A collaborative action research project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fazio, Xavier Eric

Science curriculum reform goals espouse the need to foster and support the development of scientific literacy in students. Two critical goals of scientific literacy are students' engagement in, and developing more realistic conceptions about scientific inquiry (SI) and the nature of science (NOS). In order to promote the learning of these curriculum emphases, teachers themselves must possess beliefs and knowledge supportive of them. Collaborative action research is a viable form of curriculum and teacher development that can be used to support teachers in developing the requisite beliefs and knowledge that can promote these scientific literacy goals. This research study used a collective case study methodology to describe and interpret the views and actions of four teachers participating in a collaborative action research project. I explored the teachers' SI and NOS views throughout the project as they investigated ideas and theories, critically examined their current curricular practice, and implemented and reflected on these modified curricular practices. By the end of the research study, all participants had uniquely augmented their understanding of SI and NOS. The participants were better able to provide explanatory depth to some SI and NOS ideas; however, specific belief revision with respect to SI and NOS ideas was nominal. Furthermore, their idealized action research plans were not implemented to the extent that they were planned. Explanations for these findings include: impact of significant past educational experiences, prior understanding of SI and NOS, depth of content and pedagogical content knowledge of the discipline, and institutional and instructional constraints. Nonetheless, through participation in the collaborative action research process, the teachers developed professionally, personally, and socially. They identified many positive outcomes from participating in a collaborative action research project; however, they espoused constraints to implementing innovative actions. Indeed, local school cultures were barriers to the participants' development. A model of teacher development embracing all the developmental areas is presented---an integration of social, personal, and professional development. Implications and recommendations for future research on teachers' beliefs and knowledge, as well as the viability of collaborative action research to facilitate teacher and curriculum development are presented.

Use of Biographical Recount of Famous Scientists to Enhance Scientific Literacy for New Pre-Service Primary Science Teachers at the Lebanese University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chatila, Hanadi

2016-01-01

The preparation of scientifically literate citizens able to use science in their daily life is becoming a major goal in science education. In light of this, Boujaoude (2002) developed a framework to investigate the balance of scientific literacy themes within the Lebanese school science curriculum. He reported the neglect of "science as a way…

Phase I Final Scientific Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lu, Xijia; Fetvedt, Jeremy; Dimmig, Walker

This Final Scientific Report addresses the accomplishments achieved during Phase I of DE- FE0023985, Coal Syngas Combustor Development for Supercritical CO 2 Power Cycles. The primary objective of the project was to develop a coal syngas-fueled combustor design for use with high-pressure, high-temperature, oxy-fuel, supercritical CO 2 power cycles, with particular focus given to the conditions required by the Allam Cycle. The primary goals, from the Statement of Project Objectives, were to develop: (1) a conceptual design of a syngas-fueled combustor-turbine block for a 300MWe high-pressure, oxy-fuel, sCO2 power plant; (2) the preliminary design of a 5MWt test combustor; andmore » (3) the definition of a combustor test program. Accomplishments for each of these goals are discussed in this report.« less

Educational interventions to advance children's scientific thinking.

PubMed

Klahr, David; Zimmerman, Corinne; Jirout, Jamie

2011-08-19

The goal of science education interventions is to nurture, enrich, and sustain children's natural and spontaneous interest in scientific knowledge and procedures. We present taxonomy for classifying different types of research on scientific thinking from the perspective of cognitive development and associated attempts to teach science. We summarize the literature on the early--unschooled--development of scientific thinking, and then focus on recent research on how best to teach science to children from preschool to middle school. We summarize some of the current disagreements in the field of science education and offer some suggestions on ways to continue to advance the science of science instruction.

ABRIXAS: scientific goal and mission concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Predehl, Peter

1999-10-01

ABRIXAS is a small German satellite project having the goal of surveying the sky in the x-ray band between 0.5 and 12 keV, thereby extending the former ROSAT all-sky survey towards higher energies. It consists of seven highly nested Wolter-I mirror systems which share one common focal plane camera, a CCD detector of the novel pn-type. ABRIXAS benefits from previously developed technologies or existing instruments. ABRIXAS was launched successfully into a low earth orbit by a Russian KOSMOS rocket in late April 1999. A few hours after its launch, however, the mission failed due to a battery problem. Currently, a repetition of the mission is under discussion because both the scientific goal and the mission concept are still be regarded as very attractive.

On the Cultivation of Automation Majors' Research Innovation Ability Based on Scientific Research Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Lipeng; Li, Mingqiu

2012-01-01

Currently, it has become a fundamental goal for the engineering major to cultivate high-quality engineering technicians with innovation ability in scientific research which is an important academic ability necessary for them. This paper mainly explores the development of comprehensive and designing experiments in automation based on scientific…

Dynamic Framing in the Communication of Scientific Research: Texts and Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Pryce R.; Russ, Rosemary S.

2015-01-01

The fields of science education and science communication share the overarching goal of helping non-experts and non-members of the professional science community develop knowledge of the content and processes of scientific research. However, the specific audiences, methods, and aims employed in the two fields have evolved quite differently and as…

Increasing Scientific Literacy about Global Climate Change through a Laboratory-Based Feminist Science Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

George, Linda A.; Brenner, Johanna

2010-01-01

The authors have developed and implemented a novel general education science course that examines scientific knowledge, laboratory experimentation, and science-related public policy through the lens of feminist science studies. They argue that this approach to teaching general science education is useful for improving science literacy. Goals for…

PARTNERING TO IMPROVE HUMAN EXPOSURE METHODS

EPA Science Inventory

Methods development research is an application-driven scientific area that addresses programmatic needs. The goals are to reduce measurement uncertainties, address data gaps, and improve existing analytical procedures for estimating human exposures. Partnerships have been develop...

The Relations between Scientific Epistemological Beliefs and Goal Orientations of Pre-Service Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaya, Gamze Inan

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations between pre-service teachers' scientific epistemological beliefs and goal orientations in 2X2 framework. Scientific epistemological beliefs are domain-specific views of people about nature and acquisition of scientific knowledge, how scientific knowledge is produced, how reliable and valid…

NASA's strategic plan for education. A strategy for change, 1993-1998

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

NASA's education vision is to promote excellence in America's education system through enhancing and expanding scientific and technological competence. In doing so, NASA strives to be recognized by the education community as the premier mission agency in support of the National Education Goals and in the development and implementation of education standards. To realize this vision, NASA has clearly defined and developed three specific goals to promote excellence in education. Specific objectives and milestones are defined for each goal in the body of this strategic plan.

Teachers' instructional goals for science practice: Identifying knowledge gaps using cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farrar, Cynthia Hamen

In AP Biology, the course goal, with respect to scientific acts and reasoning, has recently shifted toward a reform goal of science practice, where the goal is for students to have a scientific perspective that views science as a practice of a community rather than a body of knowledge. Given this recent shift, this study is interested in the gaps that may exist between an individual teacher's instructional goal and the goals of the AP Biology course. A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) methodology and perspective is used to analyze four teachers' knowledge, practice, and learning. Teachers have content knowledge for teaching, a form of knowledge that is unique for teaching called specialized content knowledge. This specialized content knowledge (SCK) defines their instructional goals, the student outcomes they ultimately aim to achieve with their students. The study employs a cultural-historical continuum of scientific acts and reasoning, which represents the development of the AP Biology goal over time, to study gaps in their instructional goal. The study also analyzes the contradictions within their teaching practice and how teachers address those contradictions to shift their instructional practice and learn. The findings suggest that teachers have different interpretations of the AP Biology goals of science practice, placing their instructional goal at different points along the continuum. Based on the location of their instructional goal, different micro-communities of teachers exist along the continuum, comprised of teachers with a shared goal, language, and culture of their AP Biology teaching. The in-depth study of one teacher's AP Biology teaching, using a CHAT perspective, provides a means for studying the mechanisms that connect SCK to classroom actions and ultimately to instructional practice. CHAT also reveals the nature and importance of contradictions or cognitive dissonance in teacher learning and the types of support teachers need to recognize contradictions and to internalize and set their instructional goal, facilitating their learning. Without recognition of contradictions, some of these micro-communities are not aware that their instruction is not in line with the AP Biology goal of science practice. An in-depth look at teacher learning revealed the criticality of reflective practice and the need for an "expert" within a teacher's community to facilitate = learning and develop SCK to incorporate science practice in classroom instruction.

Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY2011

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

none, none

2012-04-27

Berkeley Lab's research and the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program support DOE's Strategic Themes that are codified in DOE's 2006 Strategic Plan (DOE/CF-0010), with a primary focus on Scientific Discovery and Innovation. For that strategic theme, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 LDRD projects support each one of the three goals through multiple strategies described in the plan. In addition, LDRD efforts support the four goals of Energy Security, the two goals of Environmental Responsibility, and Nuclear Security (unclassified fundamental research that supports stockpile safety and nonproliferation programs). Going forward in FY 2012, the LDRD program also supports themore » Goals codified in the new DOE Strategic Plan of May, 2011. The LDRD program also supports Office of Science strategic plans, including the 20-year Scientific Facilities Plan and the Office of Science Strategic Plan. The research also supports the strategic directions periodically under consideration and review by the Office of Science Program Offices, such as LDRD projects germane to new research facility concepts and new fundamental science directions. Brief summares of projects and accomplishments for the period for each division are included.« less

Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) Project Strategy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bader, D.

The E3SM project will assert and maintain an international scientific leadership position in the development of Earth system and climate models at the leading edge of scientific knowledge and computational capabilities. With its collaborators, it will demonstrate its leadership by using these models to achieve the goal of designing, executing, and analyzing climate and Earth system simulations that address the most critical scientific questions for the nation and DOE.

Rethinking antibiotic research and development: World War II and the penicillin collaborative.

PubMed

Quinn, Roswell

2013-03-01

Policy leaders and public health experts may be overlooking effective ways to stimulate innovative antibiotic research and development. I analyzed archival resources concerning the US government's efforts to produce penicillin during World War II, which demonstrate how much science policy can differ from present approaches. By contrast to current attempts to invigorate commercial participation in antibiotic development, the effort to develop the first commercially produced antibiotic did not rely on economic enticements or the further privatization of scientific resources. Rather, this extremely successful scientific and, ultimately, commercial endeavor was rooted in government stewardship, intraindustry cooperation, and the open exchange of scientific information. For policymakers facing the problem of stimulating antibiotic research and development, the origins of the antibiotic era offer a template for effective policy solutions that concentrate primarily on scientific rather than commercial goals.

Rethinking Antibiotic Research and Development: World War II and the Penicillin Collaborative

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Policy leaders and public health experts may be overlooking effective ways to stimulate innovative antibiotic research and development. I analyzed archival resources concerning the US government’s efforts to produce penicillin during World War II, which demonstrate how much science policy can differ from present approaches. By contrast to current attempts to invigorate commercial participation in antibiotic development, the effort to develop the first commercially produced antibiotic did not rely on economic enticements or the further privatization of scientific resources. Rather, this extremely successful scientific and, ultimately, commercial endeavor was rooted in government stewardship, intraindustry cooperation, and the open exchange of scientific information. For policymakers facing the problem of stimulating antibiotic research and development, the origins of the antibiotic era offer a template for effective policy solutions that concentrate primarily on scientific rather than commercial goals. PMID:22698031

Far-Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer for Sofia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Betz, A. L.

1998-01-01

The project goal was to evaluate the scientific capabilities and technical requirements for a far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer suitable for the SOFIA Airborne Observatory, which is now being developed by NASA under contract to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The conclusions detailed below include our specific recommendations for astronomical observations, as well as our intended technical approach for reaching these scientific goals. These conclusions were presented to USRA in the form of a proposal to build this instrument. USRA subsequently awarded the University of Colorado a 3-year grant to develop the proposed Hot-Electron micro-Bolometer (HEB) mixer concept for high frequencies above 3 THz, as well as other semiconductor mixer technologies suitable for high sensitivity receivers in the 2-6 THz frequency band.

U.S. Geological Survey science strategy for highly pathogenic avian influenza in wildlife and the environment (2016–2020)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, M. Camille; Pearce, John M.; Prosser, Diann J.; White, C. LeAnn; Miles, A. Keith; Sleeman, Jonathan M.; Brand, Christopher J.; Cronin, James P.; De La Cruz, Susan; Densmore, Christine L.; Doyle, Thomas W.; Dusek, Robert J.; Fleskes, Joseph P.; Flint, Paul L.; Guala, Gerald F.; Hall, Jeffrey S.; Hubbard, Laura E.; Hunt, Randall J.; Ip, Hon S.; Katz, Rachel A.; Laurent, Kevin W.; Miller, Mark P.; Munn, Mark D.; Ramey, Andy M.; Richards, Kevin D.; Russell, Robin E.; Stokdyk, Joel P.; Takekawa, John Y.; Walsh, Daniel P.

2016-08-18

IntroductionThrough the Science Strategy for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Wildlife and the Environment, the USGS will assess avian influenza (AI) dynamics in an ecological context to inform decisions made by resource managers and policymakers from the local to national level. Through collection of unbiased scientific information on the ecology of AI viruses and wildlife hosts in a changing world, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will enhance the development of AI forecasting tools and ensure this information is integrated with a quality decision process for managing HPAI.The overall goal of this USGS Science Strategy for HPAI in Wildlife and the Environment goes beyond document­ing the occurrence and distribution of AI viruses in wild birds. The USGS aims to understand the epidemiological processes and environmental factors that influence HPAI distribution and describe the mechanisms of transmission between wild birds and poultry. USGS scientists developed a conceptual model describing the process linking HPAI dispersal in wild waterfowl to the outbreaks in poul­try. This strategy focuses on five long-term science goals, which include:Science Goal 1—Augment the National HPAI Surveillance Plan;Science Goal 2—Determine mechanisms of HPAI disease spread in wildlife and the environment;Science Goal 3—Characterize HPAI viruses circulating in wildlife;Science Goal 4—Understand implications of avian ecol­ogy on HPAI spread; andScience Goal 5—Develop HPAI forecasting and decision-making tools.These goals will help define and describe the processes outlined in the conceptual model with the ultimate goal of facilitating biosecurity and minimizing transfer of diseases across the wildlife-poultry interface. The first four science goals are focused on scientific discovery and the fifth goal is application-based. Decision analyses in the fifth goal will guide prioritization of proposed actions in the first four goals.

Final Report on DTRA Basic Research Project #BRCALL08-Per3-C-2-0006 "High-Z Non-Equilibrium Physics and Bright X-ray Sources with New Laser Targets"

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Colvin, Jeffrey D.

This project had two major goals. Final Goal: obtain spectrally resolved, absolutely calibrated x-ray emission data from uniquely uniform mm-scale near-critical-density high-Z plasmas not in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) to benchmark modern detailed atomic physics models. Scientific significance: advance understanding of non-LTE atomic physics. Intermediate Goal: develop new nano-fabrication techniques to make suitable laser targets that form the required highly uniform non-LTE plasmas when illuminated by high-intensity laser light. Scientific significance: advance understanding of nano-science. The new knowledge will allow us to make x-ray sources that are bright at the photon energies of most interest for testing radiation hardening technologies,more » the spectral energy range where current x-ray sources are weak. All project goals were met.« less

A brief history of the global effort to develop a preventive HIV vaccine.

PubMed

Esparza, José

2013-08-02

Soon after HIV was discovered as the cause of AIDS in 1983-1984, there was an expectation that a preventive vaccine would be rapidly developed. In trying to achieve that goal, three successive scientific paradigms have been explored: induction of neutralizing antibodies, induction of cell mediated immunity, and exploration of combination approaches and novel concepts. Although major progress has been made in understanding the scientific basis for HIV vaccine development, efficacy trials have been critical in moving the field forward. In 2009, the field was reinvigorated with the modest results obtained from the RV144 trial conducted in Thailand. Here, we review those vaccine development efforts, with an emphasis on events that occurred during the earlier years. The goal is to provide younger generations of scientists with information and inspiration to continue the search for an HIV vaccine. Copyright © 2013 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Big Data Analytics and Machine Intelligence Capability Development at NASA Langley Research Center: Strategy, Roadmap, and Progress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ambur, Manjula Y.; Yagle, Jeremy J.; Reith, William; McLarney, Edward

2016-01-01

In 2014, a team of researchers, engineers and information technology specialists at NASA Langley Research Center developed a Big Data Analytics and Machine Intelligence Strategy and Roadmap as part of Langley's Comprehensive Digital Transformation Initiative, with the goal of identifying the goals, objectives, initiatives, and recommendations need to develop near-, mid- and long-term capabilities for data analytics and machine intelligence in aerospace domains. Since that time, significant progress has been made in developing pilots and projects in several research, engineering, and scientific domains by following the original strategy of collaboration between mission support organizations, mission organizations, and external partners from universities and industry. This report summarizes the work to date in Data Intensive Scientific Discovery, Deep Content Analytics, and Deep Q&A projects, as well as the progress made in collaboration, outreach, and education. Recommendations for continuing this success into future phases of the initiative are also made.

Advanced Artificial Science. The development of an artificial science and engineering research infrastructure to facilitate innovative computational modeling, analysis, and application to interdisciplinary areas of scientific investigation.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Saffer, Shelley

2014-12-01

This is a final report of the DOE award DE-SC0001132, Advanced Artificial Science. The development of an artificial science and engineering research infrastructure to facilitate innovative computational modeling, analysis, and application to interdisciplinary areas of scientific investigation. This document describes the achievements of the goals, and resulting research made possible by this award.

Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): measuring undergraduates' evaluation of scientific information and arguments.

PubMed

Gormally, Cara; Brickman, Peggy; Lutz, Mary

2012-01-01

Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergraduate education and report that they teach these skills. However, few measures of scientific literacy are available to assess students' proficiency in using scientific literacy skills to solve scenarios in and beyond the undergraduate biology classroom. In this paper, we describe the development, validation, and testing of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in five general education biology classes at three undergraduate institutions. The test measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analyzing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. Measures of validity included correspondence between items and scientific literacy goals of the National Research Council and Project 2061, findings from a survey of biology faculty, expert biology educator reviews, student interviews, and statistical analyses. Classroom testing contexts varied both in terms of student demographics and pedagogical approaches. We propose that biology instructors can use the TOSLS to evaluate their students' proficiencies in using scientific literacy skills and to document the impacts of curricular reform on students' scientific literacy.

Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): Measuring Undergraduates’ Evaluation of Scientific Information and Arguments

PubMed Central

Gormally, Cara; Brickman, Peggy; Lutz, Mary

2012-01-01

Life sciences faculty agree that developing scientific literacy is an integral part of undergraduate education and report that they teach these skills. However, few measures of scientific literacy are available to assess students’ proficiency in using scientific literacy skills to solve scenarios in and beyond the undergraduate biology classroom. In this paper, we describe the development, validation, and testing of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) in five general education biology classes at three undergraduate institutions. The test measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analyzing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. Measures of validity included correspondence between items and scientific literacy goals of the National Research Council and Project 2061, findings from a survey of biology faculty, expert biology educator reviews, student interviews, and statistical analyses. Classroom testing contexts varied both in terms of student demographics and pedagogical approaches. We propose that biology instructors can use the TOSLS to evaluate their students’ proficiencies in using scientific literacy skills and to document the impacts of curricular reform on students’ scientific literacy. PMID:23222832

Supporting the Teaching and Assessment of Working Scientifically

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mepsted, James

2018-01-01

The author created a project aimed to develop and implement the assessment of working scientifically (WS) skills at Victoria Park Primary School. The author had previously identified a gap in the curriculum coverage and assessment of WS skills and his goal was to address the lack of provision for assessing children's WS skills and raise the…

Teaching Scientific Literacy in an Introductory Women's Studies Course: A Case Study in Interdisciplinary Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fuselier, Linda; Murphy, Claudia; Bender, Anita; Falcón, Kandace Creel

2015-01-01

Background and purpose: The purpose of this exploratory case study is to describe how scholars negotiated disciplinary divides to develop and communicate to their students an understanding of the basic features of scientific knowledge. Our goals were to examine boundary crossing in interdisciplinary collaboration and to assess the efficacy of…

Swedish-Portuguese Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Information and Documentation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hjerppe, Roland

Discussions between Portugal and Sweden regarding cooperation in the field of education have been going on since 1975. This report outlines short term and long range goals, conditions, and proposals of the Swedish mission to Portugal to implement modern information and documentation services in scientific and technical research and development.…

Approaches to Biology Teaching and Learning: Understanding the Wrong Answers--Teaching toward Conceptual Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanner, Kimberly; Allen, Deborah

2005-01-01

Underpinning science education reform movements in the last 20 years--at all levels and within all disciplines--is an explicit shift in the goals of science teaching from students simply creating a knowledge base of scientific facts to students developing deeper understandings of major concepts within a scientific discipline. For example, what use…

Scientizing and Cooking: Helping Middle-School Learners Develop Scientific Dispositions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clegg, Tamara; Kolodner, Janet

2014-01-01

We aim to understand how to help young people recognize the value of science in their lives and take initiative to see the world in scientific ways. Our approach has been to design "life-relevant" science-learning programs that engage middle-school learners in science through pursuit of personally meaningful goals. In this paper, we…

A Learning Progression for Scientific Argumentation: Understanding Student Work and Designing Supportive Instructional Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berland, Leema K.; McNeill, Katherine L.

2010-01-01

Argumentation is a central goal of science education because it engages students in a complex scientific practice in which they construct and justify knowledge claims. Although there is a growing body of research around argumentation, there has been little focus on developing a learning progression for this practice. We describe a learning…

An Analysis of the Educational Significance of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology in Scientific and Technological Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laherto, Antti

2010-01-01

Due to the rapid development and growing societal role of nanoscience and nanotechnology (NST), these emerging fields are also growing in educational importance. The demands for incorporating NST-related issues into curricula are often expressed with reference to the goals of scientific and technological literacy. This paper reports on a…

Goals and design of public physics lectures: perspectives of high-school students, physics teachers and lecturers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapon, S.; Ganiel, U.; Eylon, B.

2009-09-01

Many large scientific projects and scientific centres incorporate some kind of outreach programme. Almost all of these outreach programmes include public scientific lectures delivered by practising scientists. In this article, we examine such lectures from the perspectives of: (i) lecturers (7) who are practising scientists acknowledged to be good public lecturers and (ii) audiences composed of high-school students (169) and high-school physics teachers (80) who attended these lectures. We identify and discuss the main goals as expressed by the lecturers and the audiences, and the correspondence between these goals. We also discuss how the lecturers' goals impact on the design of their lectures and examine how the lecture affects audiences with different attitudes towards (and interests in) physics. Our findings suggest that the goals of the participating lecturers and the expectations of their audiences were highly congruent. Both believe that a good public scientific lecture must successfully communicate state-of-the-art scientific knowledge to the public, while inspiring interest in and appreciation of science. Our findings also suggest that exemplary public scientific lectures incorporate content, structure and explanatory means that explicitly adhere to the lecturers' goals. We identify and list several design principles.

Peer Review for EPA’s Proposed Approaches to Inform the Derivation of a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal for Perchlorate in Drinking Water

EPA Science Inventory

EPA is developing approaches to inform the derivation of a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG) for perchlorate in drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. EPA previously conducted an independent, external, scientific peer review of the draft biologically-based dose-res...

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force---Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Science Assessment and Needs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walker, Shelby; Dausman, Alyssa M.; Lavoie, Dawn L.

2012-01-01

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (GCERTF) was established by Executive Order 13554 as a result of recommendations from “America’s Gulf Coast: A Long-term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill” by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (Mabus Report). The GCERTF consists of members from 11 Federal agencies and representatives from each State bordering the Gulf of Mexico. The GCERTF was charged to develop a holistic, long-term, science-based Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy for the Gulf of Mexico. Federal and State agencies staffed the GCERTF with experts in fields such as policy, budgeting, and science to help develop the Strategy. The Strategy was built on existing authorities and resources and represents enhanced collaboration and a recognition of the shared responsibility among Federal and State governments to restore the Gulf Coast ecosystem. In this time of severe fiscal constraints, Task Force member agencies and States are committed to establishing shared priorities and working together to achieve them.As part of this effort, three staffers, one National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientist and two U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists, created and led a Science Coordination Team (SCT) to guide scientific input into the development of the Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy. The SCT leads from the GCERTF coordinated more than 70 scientists from the Federal and State Task Force member agencies to participate in development of a restoration-oriented science document focused on the entire Gulf of Mexico, from inland watersheds to the deep blue waters. The SCT leads and scientists were organized into six different working groups based on expanded goals from the Mabus Report: Coastal habitats are healthy and resilient.Living coastal and marine resources are healthy, diverse, and sustainable.Coastal communities are adaptive and resilient.Storm buffers are sustainable.Inland habitats and watersheds are managed to help support healthy and sustainable Gulf of Mexico ecosystems.Offshore environments are healthy and well managedEach working group was charged with defining their specific goal, describing the current conditions related to that goal (for example, the status of coastal habitats in the Gulf of Mexico), providing highlevel activities needed to further define and achieve the goal, with associated outcome-based performance indicators, and identifying the scientific gaps in understanding to accomplish the goal and implement the recommended activities. The overall scientific assessment reveals that the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem continues to suffer from extensive degradation, and action is necessary to develop a healthy, resilient, and sustainable Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. The six groups also were tasked with outlining the necessary monitoring, modeling, and research needs to aid in achieving the goals. Recognizing that (1) the scientific needs (monitoring, modeling, and research) overlap among many of the goals, and (2) an overarching scientific framework could be developed to implement the necessary science in support of the Strategy, a seventh group was created with several members from each of the original six working groups. This seventh group compiled all of the cross-cutting monitoring, modeling, and research needs previously identified by the individual groups. These scientific requirements are found in Chapter 5 of this document. The seventh group also has developed a Science Plan, outlined in Chapter 6. The Science Plan provides the basic science infrastructure to support the overall Gulf restoration program and Strategy. The Science Plan allows for the development of an iterative and flexible approach to adaptive management and decision-making related to restoration projects based on sound science that includes monitoring, modeling, and research. Taken in its entirety, this document helps to articulate the current state of the system and the critical science needs to support effective restoration of the Gulf of Mexico resources that have been trending towards decline for decades.

Knowing What Teachers Know

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gitomer, Drew H.; Zisk, Robert C.

2015-01-01

The current chapter focuses on philosophical and scientific developments in the assessment of teacher knowledge. The goal is to provide an overview of major developments in the assessment of teacher knowledge and to illustrate those developments with representative and significant efforts. The authors made evaluative judgments of importance based…

Scientific Goals and Objectives for the Human Exploration of Mars: 1. Biology and Atmosphere/Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Levine, Joel S.; Garvin, J. B.; Anbar, A. D.; Beaty, D. W.; Bell, M. S.; Clancy, R. T.; Cockell, C. S.; Connerney, J. E.; Doran, P. T.; Delory, G.;

Guidance, Navigation, and Control Technology Assessment for Future Planetary Science Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beauchamp, Pat; Cutts, James; Quadrelli, Marco B.; Wood, Lincoln J.; Riedel, Joseph E.; McHenry, Mike; Aung, MiMi; Cangahuala, Laureano A.; Volpe, Rich

2013-01-01

Future planetary explorations envisioned by the National Research Council's (NRC's) report titled Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022, developed for NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Planetary Science Division (PSD), seek to reach targets of broad scientific interest across the solar system. This goal requires new capabilities such as innovative interplanetary trajectories, precision landing, operation in close proximity to targets, precision pointing, multiple collaborating spacecraft, multiple target tours, and advanced robotic surface exploration. Advancements in Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) and Mission Design in the areas of software, algorithm development and sensors will be necessary to accomplish these future missions. This paper summarizes the key GN&C and mission design capabilities and technologies needed for future missions pursuing SMD PSD's scientific goals.

Divison of Environmental Education and Development Fiscal Year 1992 annual report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1992-12-31

Primary design criterion for this division`s education activities is directly related to meeting the goal of environmental compliance on an accelerated basis and cleanup of the 1989 inventory of inactive sites and facilities by the year 2019. Therefore, the division`s efforts are directed toward stimulating knowledge and capability to achieve the goals while contributing to DOE`s overall goal of increasing scientific, mathematical, and technical literacy and competency. This annual report is divided into: overview, workforce development, academic partnerships, scholarships/fellowships, environmental restoration and waste management employment program, community colleges, outreach, evaluation, and principal DOE contacts.

Mining Concept Maps from News Stories for Measuring Civic Scientific Literacy in Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tseng, Yuen-Hsien; Chang, Chun-Yen; Rundgren, Shu-Nu Chang; Rundgren, Carl-Johan

2010-01-01

Motivated by a long-term goal in education for measuring Taiwanese civic scientific literacy in media (SLiM), this work reports the detailed techniques to efficiently mine a concept map from 2 years of Chinese news articles (901,446 in total) for SLiM instrument development. From the Chinese news stories, key terms (important words or phrases),…

Human Exploration and Development of Space: Strategic Plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Branscome, Darrell (Editor); Allen, Marc (Editor); Bihner, William (Editor); Craig, Mark (Editor); Crouch, Matthew (Editor); Crouch, Roger (Editor); Flaherty, Chris (Editor); Haynes, Norman (Editor); Horowitz, Steven (Editor)

2000-01-01

The five goals of the Human Exploration and Development of Space include: 1) Explore the Space Frontier; 2) Expand Scientific Knowledge; 3) Enable Humans to Live and Work Permanently in Space; 4) Enable the Commercial Development of Space; and 5) Share the Experience and Benefits of Discovery.

Spectral Calibration of the MSFC Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

West, Edward; Kobayashi, Ken; Cirtain, Jonathan; Gary, Allen; Davis, John; Reader, Joseph

2009-01-01

This paper describes the scientific goals of a sounding rocket program called the Solar Ultraviolet Magnetograph Investigation (SUMI), presents a brief description of the optics that were developed to meet those goals and discusses the spectral, spatial and polarization characteristics of SUMI's Toroidal Variable-Line-Space (TVLS) gratings; which are critical to SUMI's measurements of the magnetic field in the Sun's transition region.

MONITORING STREAM CONDITION IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is a national research program to develop the tools necessary to monitor and assess the- status and trends of ecological resources. EMAP's goal is to develop the scientific underst...

NUTRIENT AND HABITAT INDICATORS FOR CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT IN THE GREAT LAKES COASTAL WETLANDS

EPA Science Inventory

EPA?s National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL) has developed a national research program with the goal of demonstrating approaches for establishing scientifically sound nutrient and biological criteria for coastal ecosystems. Mid-Continent Ecology D...

Scientific study in solar and plasma physics relative to rocket and balloon projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wu, S. T.

1993-01-01

The goals of this research are to provide scientific and technical capabilities in the areas of solar and plasma physics contained in research programs and instrumentation development relative to current rocket and balloon projects; to develop flight instrumentation design, flight hardware, and flight program objectives and participate in peer reviews as appropriate; and to participate in solar-terrestrial physics modeling studies and analysis of flight data and provide theoretical investigations as required by these studies.

Scientific Literacy: The Role of Goal-Directed Reading and Evaluation in Understanding Scientific Information

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Britt, M. Anne; Richter, Tobias; Rouet, Jean-François

2014-01-01

In this article, we examine the mental processes and representations that are required of laypersons when learning about science issues from texts. We begin by defining scientific literacy as the ability to understand and critically evaluate scientific content in order to achieve one's goals. We then present 3 challenges of learning from…

Locate, Plan, Develop, Use An Outdoor Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Soil Conservation Service (USDA), Upper Darby, PA.

Designed to aid educational institutions and community organizations in selecting, planning, developing and using outdoor learning areas as outdoor classrooms, this guide includes: (1) Learning by Discovery (scientific, cultural, and recreational goals); (2) The Initial Planning Effort (use of: a planning committee including teachers,…

Advanced Russian Mission Laplace-P to Study the Planetary System of Jupiter: Scientific Goals, Objectives, Special Features and Mission Profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martynov, M. B.; Merkulov, P. V.; Lomakin, I. V.; Vyatlev, P. A.; Simonov, A. V.; Leun, E. V.; Barabanov, A. A.; Nasyrov, A. F.

2017-12-01

The advanced Russian project Laplace-P is aimed at developing and launching two scientific spacecraft (SC)— Laplace-P1 ( LP1 SC) and Laplace-P2 ( LP2 SC)—designed for remote and in-situ studies of the system of Jupiter and its moon Ganymede. The LP1 and LP2 spacecraft carry an orbiter and a lander onboard, respectively. One of the orbiter's objectives is to map the surface of Ganymede from the artificial satellite's orbit and to acquire the data for the landing site selection. The main objective of the lander is to carry out in-situ investigations of Ganymede's surface. The paper describes the scientific goals and objectives of the mission, its special features, and the LP1 and LP2 mission profiles during all of the phases—from the launch to the landing on the surface of Ganymede.

Facilitating Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals through Open Scientific Data and Indicators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, R. S.; Levy, M. A.; de Sherbinin, A. M.; Fischer, A.

2015-12-01

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an unprecedented international commitment to a shared future encompassing sustainable management of the planet and significant improvement in the human condition around the world. The scientific community has both an ethical responsibility and substantial self-interest—as residents of this planet—to help the world community to better understand the complex, interlinked behavior of human and environmental systems and to elucidate pathways to achieve long-term sustainability. Critical to making progress towards the SDGs is the open availability of timely, reliable, usable, and well integrated data and indicators relevant to all SDGs and associated targets. Such data and indicators will not only be valuable in monitoring and evaluation of progress, but also in developing policies and making decisions on environmental and societal issues affecting sustainability from local to global scales. The open availability of such data and indicators can help motivate performance, promote accountability, and facilitate cooperation. A range of scientific, technical, organizational, political, and resource challenges need to be addressed in developing a coherent SDG monitoring and indicator framework. For example, assembling and integrating diverse data on consistent spatial and temporal scales across the relevant natural, social, health, and engineering sciences pose both scientific and technical difficulties, and may require new ways to interlink and organize existing cyberinfrastructure, reconcile different data policy regimes, and fund integration efforts. New information technologies promise more timely and efficient ways of collecting many types of data, but may also raise privacy, control, and equity issues. Scientific review processes to ensure data quality need to be coordinated with the types of quality control and review employed by national statistical agencies for trusted economic and social statistics. Although large investments are already being made in some observing systems such as satellite-based remote sensing, additional resources are needed to fill key gaps, make data useful for decision making, and build capacity in developing countries. Broad engagement by the scientific community is urgently needed.

Goddard's Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2011

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Centrella, Joan; Reddy, Francis; Tyler, Pat

2012-01-01

The Astrophysics Science Division(ASD) at Goddard Space Flight Center(GSFC)is one of the largest and most diverse astrophysical organizations in the world, with activities spanning a broad range of topics in theory, observation, and mission and technology development. Scientific research is carried out over the entire electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radiowavelengths as well as particle physics and gravitational radiation. Members of ASD also provide the scientific operations for three orbiting astrophysics missions WMAP, RXTE, and Swift, as well as the Science Support Center for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. A number of key technologies for future missions are also under development in the Division, including X-ray mirrors, space-based interferometry, high contract imaging techniques to serch for exoplanets, and new detectors operating at gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and radio wavelengths. The overriding goals of ASD are to carry out cutting-edge scientific research, and provide Project Scientist support for spaceflight missions, implement the goals of the NASA Strategic Plan, serve and suppport the astronomical community, and enable future missions by conceiving new conepts and inventing new technologies.

The Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2009

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Oegerle, William (Editor); Reddy, Francis (Editor); Tyler, Pat (Editor)

2010-01-01

The Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is one of the largest and most diverse astrophysical organizations in the world, with activities spanning a broad range of topics in theory, observation, and mission and technology development. Scientific research is carried out over the entire electromagnetic spectrum - from gamma rays to radio wavelengths - as well as particle physics and gravitational radiation. Members of ASD also provide the scientific operations for three orbiting astrophysics missions - WMAP, RXTE, and Swift, as well as the Science Support Center for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. A number of key technologies for future missions are also under development in the Division, including X-ray mirrors, space-based interferometry, high contrast imaging techniques to search for exoplanets, and new detectors operating at gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and radio wavelengths. The overriding goals of ASD are to carry out cutting-edge scientific research, provide Project Scientist support for spaceflight missions, implement the goals of the NASA Strategic Plan, serve and support the astronomical community, and enable future missions by conceiving new concepts and inventing new technologies.

Goddard's Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2013

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weaver, Kimberly A. (Editor); Reddy, Francis J. (Editor); Tyler, Patricia A. (Editor)

2014-01-01

The Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is one of the largest and most diverse astrophysical organizations in the world, with activities spanning a broad range of topics in theory, observation, and mission and technology development. Scientific research is carried out over the entire electromagnetic spectrum from gamma rays to radio wavelengths as well as particle physics and gravitational radiation. Members of ASD also provide the scientific operations for two orbiting astrophysics missions Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Swift as well as the Science Support Center for Fermi. A number of key technologies for future missions are also under development in the Division, including X-ray mirrors, space-based interferometry, high contrast imaging techniques to search for exoplanets, and new detectors operating at gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, infrared, and radio wavelengths. The overriding goals of ASD are to carry out cutting-edge scientific research, provide Project Scientist support for spaceflight missions, implement the goals of the NASA Strategic Plan, serve and support the astronomical community, and enable future missions by conceiving new concepts and inventing new technologies.

The astrophysics program at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pellerin, C. J.

1990-01-01

Three broad themes characterize the goals of the Astrophysics Division at NASA. These are obtaining an understanding of the origin and evolution of the universe, the fundamental laws of physics, and the birth and evolutionary cycle of galaxies, stars, planets and life. These goals are pursued through contemporaneous observations across the electromagnetic spectrum with high sensitivity and resolution. The strategy to accomplish these goals is fourfold: the establishment of long term space based observatories implemented through the Great Observatories program; attainment of crucial bridging and supporting measurements visa missions of intermediate and small scope conducted within the Explorer, Spacelab, and Space Station Attached Payload Programs; enhancement of scientific access to results of space based research activities through an integrated data system; and development and maintenance of the scientific/technical base for space astrophysics programs through the research and analysis and suborbital programs. The near term activities supporting the first two objectives are discussed.

77 FR 52105 - Announcement of the Innovation in Arms Control Challenge Under the America Competes...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-28

...,'' with the goal of spurring innovation, and developing scientific and technological options that will... transparency efforts. Processes, incentives, and technologies must, in theory, be practical and implementable...

Using Professional Development to Achieve Classroom Reform and Science Proficiency: An Urban Success Story from Southern Nevada, USA

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crippen, Kent J.; Biesinger, Kevin D.; Ebert, Ellen K.

2010-01-01

This paper provides a detailed description and evaluation of a three-year professional development project in a large urban setting in the southwestern United States. The impetus for the project was curriculum development focused on integrated scientific inquiry. Project goals included the development of a professional learning community, reformed…

Promoting children's agency and communication skills in an informal science program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wulf, Rosemary; Hinko, Kathleen; Finkelstein, Noah

2013-01-01

The Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) program at the University of Colorado Boulder brings together university and community institutions to create an environment where K-12 students join with university educators to engage in inquiry-based scientific practices after school. In our original framing, these afterschool activities were developed to reinforce the traditional learning goals of the classroom, including mastering scientific content, skills and processes. Recently, the primary focus of the PISEC curriculum has been shifted towards the development of students' scientific identity, an explicit objective of informal learning environments. The new curriculum offers students more activity choices, affords opportunities for scientific drawings and descriptions, and provides incentive for students to design their own experiments. We have analyzed student science notebooks from both old and new curricula and find that with the redesigned curriculum, students exhibit increased agency and more instances of scientific communication while still demonstrating substantial content learning gains.

TerraSAR-X mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werninghaus, Rolf

2004-01-01

The TerraSAR-X is a German national SAR- satellite system for scientific and commercial applications. It is the continuation of the scientifically and technologically successful radar missions X-SAR (1994) and SRTM (2000) and will bring the national technology developments DESA and TOPAS into operational use. The space segment of TerraSAR-X is an advanced high-resolution X-Band radar satellite. The system design is based on a sound market analysis performed by Infoterra. The TerraSAR-X features an advanced high-resolution X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar based on the active phased array technology which allows the operation in Spotlight-, Stripmap- and ScanSAR Mode with various polarizations. It combines the ability to acquire high resolution images for detailed analysis as well as wide swath images for overview applications. In addition, experimental modes like the Dual Receive Antenna Mode allow for full-polarimetric imaging as well as along track interferometry, i.e. moving target identification. The Ground Segment is optimized for flexible response to (scientific and commercial) User requests and fast image product turn-around times. The TerraSAR-X mission will serve two main goals. The first goal is to provide the strongly supportive scientific community with multi-mode X-Band SAR data. The broad spectrum of scientific application areas include Hydrology, Geology, Climatology, Oceanography, Environmental Monitoring and Disaster Monitoring as well as Cartography (DEM Generation) and Interferometry. The second goal is the establishment of a commercial EO-market in Europe which is driven by Infoterra. The commercial goal is the development of a sustainable EO-business so that the e.g. follow-on systems can be completely financed by industry from the profit. Due to its commercial potential, the TerraSAR-X project will be implemented based on a public-private partnership with the Astrium GmbH. This paper will describe first the mission objectives as well as the project organisation and major milestones. Then an overview on the satellite as well as the SAR instrument is given followed by a description of the system design. Finally the principle layout of the TerraSAR-X Ground Segment and some remarks on the European context are presented.

The TF1 Radio Astronomy Working Group in the Andean ROAD: goals and challenges for 2025

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaparro Molano, G.

2017-07-01

Since the creation of the Andean Regional Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) of the International Astronomical Union, one of the main goals has been to foster a scientific culture of radio astronomy in countries of the central and northern Andes (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Venezuela). For this reason, Andean ROAD Task Force 1 (Research and Education in Universities) created the Radio Astronomy Working Group to set a path along which collaborative endeavors can grow and yield scientific results. The first official meeting of the Working Group took place in Bogotá, Colombia during the 2nd Astronomá en los Andes Workshop (2015) where scientists actively developing projects in radio astronomy set goals for the near future, such as improving mobility for researchers and students, developing collaborations in related areas such as engineering and data science, and building transnational collaborations aiming at developing VLBI across the countries of the Andean ROAD and beyond. In this poster, I present current projects and associated research groups (ROAS - Perú, SiAMo - Colombia, Alfa-Orion UTP - Colombia, RAIG - Chile) and discuss goalposts and current challenges in the development of transnational radioastronomical projects. As a case study, I present the development and early astronomical results of the privately funded UECCI 4m Radio Telescope for 21 cm line observations in Bogotá, Colombia.

Environmental Education and Development Division (EM-522). Annual report, Fiscal year 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1993-12-31

The Environmental Education and Development Division (EM-522) is one of three divisions within the Office of Technology Integration and Environmental Education and Development (EM-52) in Environmental Restoration and Waste Management`s (EM`s) Office of Technology Development (EM-50). The primary design criterion for EM-522 education activities is directly related to meeting EM`s goal of environmental compliance on an accelerated basis and cleanup of the 1989 inventory of inactive sites and facilities by the year 2019. Therefore, EM-522`s efforts are directed specifically toward stimulating knowledge and capabilities to achieve the goals of EM while contributing to DOE`s overall goal of increasing scientific, mathematical,more » and technical literacy and competency. This report discusses fiscal year 1993 activities.« less

Parent-Child Play across Cultures: Advancing Play Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roopnarine, Jaipaul L.; Davidson, Kimberly L.

2015-01-01

In this article, the authors argue for a greater understanding of children's play across cultures through better integration of scientific thinking about the developed and developing societies, through consideration of socialization beliefs and goals, and, finally, through the use of more complex models in research investigations. They draw on…

Scientific and technical services in the development of planetary quarantine measures for automated spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

Primary goals of the Planetary Quarantine Program are defined and used to provide a basis for planning and source allocation toward the development of planetary quarantine measures for the following automated spacecrafts: Viking 1975, Pioneer F and G, and Mariner Venus-Mercury 1973.

Evaluation of clinical practice guidelines.

PubMed Central

Basinski, A S

1995-01-01

Compared with the current focus on the development of clinical practice guidelines the effort devoted to their evaluation is meagre. Yet the ultimate success of guidelines depends on routine evaluation. Three types of evaluation are identified: evaluation of guidelines under development and before dissemination and implementation, evaluation of health care programs in which guidelines play a central role, and scientific evaluation, through studies that provide the scientific knowledge base for further evolution of guidelines. Identification of evaluation and program goals, evaluation design and a framework for evaluation planning are discussed. PMID:7489550

European Hands-on Universe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doran, Rosa; Ferlet, Roger; Gómez de Castro, Ana I.; Hill, Robert; Horellou, Cathy; Mankiewicz, Lech; Melchior, Anne-Laure; Metaxa, Margarita; Zanazzi, Alessandra

2007-08-01

Hands-on Universe is a project born at UC@Berkeley. A project devoted to enrich the teaching of Astronomy within the classroom environment with a different approach, more connected to the new technologies. Its main goals are not only to promote the use of such technologies but also to reawaken on students the taste for STEM (Science, technologies, engineering and math) related issues and also to increase their scientific culture. Eight countries in Europe decided to adopt the method and, funded by MINERVA, formed the European Hands-on Universe. Several resources were produced and a data reduction software developed http://www.euhou.net/.Other European countries are interested and should join this coordinated effort in the near future. At an international level there are 20 countries using this approach. There are plans to develop scientific cooperation among these countries. Pilot scientific research projects in schools are being tested in EU-HOU schools, Russia and USA. There is also a game being developed to be used as a new tool for teaching scientific content in the classroom environment. An effort to develop an international network of scientific / educational collaboration is the next step.

HEALTH EFFECTS ASSESSMENT FOR ETHYLBENZENE

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Health Effects Assessment for Naphthalene

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

HEALTH EFFECTS ASSESSMENT FOR BENZENE

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Health Effects Assessment for Acetone

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Health Effects Assessment for Chloroform

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Far-Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer for SOFIA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Betz, A. L.; Boreiko, R. T.

1998-01-01

This report summarizes work done under NASA Grant NAG2-1062 awarded to the University of Colorado. The project goal was to evaluate the scientific capabilities and technical requirements for a far-infrared heterodyne spectrometer suitable for the SOFIA Airborne Observatory, which is now being developed by NASA under contract to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). The conclusions detailed below include our specific recommendations for astronomical observations, as well as our intended technical approach for reaching these scientific goals. These conclusions were presented to USRA in the form of a proposal to build this instrument. USRA subsequently awarded the University of Colorado a 3-year grant (USRA 8500-98-010) to develop the proposed Hot-Electron micro-Bolometer (HEB) mixer concept for high frequencies above 3 THz, as well as other semiconductor mixer technologies suitable for high sensitivity receivers in the 2-6 THz frequency band.

Visual analytics as a translational cognitive science.

PubMed

Fisher, Brian; Green, Tera Marie; Arias-Hernández, Richard

2011-07-01

Visual analytics is a new interdisciplinary field of study that calls for a more structured scientific approach to understanding the effects of interaction with complex graphical displays on human cognitive processes. Its primary goal is to support the design and evaluation of graphical information systems that better support cognitive processes in areas as diverse as scientific research and emergency management. The methodologies that make up this new field are as yet ill defined. This paper proposes a pathway for development of visual analytics as a translational cognitive science that bridges fundamental research in human/computer cognitive systems and design and evaluation of information systems in situ. Achieving this goal will require the development of enhanced field methods for conceptual decomposition of human/computer cognitive systems that maps onto laboratory studies, and improved methods for conducting laboratory investigations that might better map onto real-world cognitive processes in technology-rich environments. Copyright © 2011 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

NASA science communications strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

In 1994, the Clinton Administration issued a report, 'Science in the National Interest', which identified new national science goals. Two of the five goals are related to science communications: produce the finest scientists and engineers for the 21st century, and raise scientific and technological literacy of all Americans. In addition to the guidance and goals set forth by the Administration, NASA has been mandated by Congress under the 1958 Space Act to 'provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination concerning its activities and the results thereof'. In addition to addressing eight Goals and Plans which resulted from a January 1994 meeting between NASA and members of the broader scientific, education, and communications community on the Public Communication of NASA's Science, the Science Communications Working Group (SCWG) took a comprehensive look at the way the Agency communicates its science to ensure that any changes the Agency made were long-term improvements. The SCWG developed a Science Communications Strategy for NASA and a plan to implement the Strategy. This report outlines a strategy from which effective science communications programs can be developed and implemented across the agency. Guiding principles and strategic themes for the strategy are provided, with numerous recommendations for improvement discussed within the respective themes of leadership, coordination, integration, participation, leveraging, and evaluation.

2015 Summer Series - Jeremy Vander Kam - Burn to Shine: Experiences and Lessons from the Orion Heat Shield

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-06-25

NASA's mission to push the limits of human exploration to beyond low earth orbit and to Mars will take humans farther than ever before. Achieving these goals requires collaborations and development of new technology. NASA Ames' expertise in re-entry technology is helping develop the architecture to achieve these goals. The Orion Heat Shield is an example of the materials and technology development needed to sustain heating rates far greater than missions returning from the International Space Station. Jeremy Vander Kam describes details working with this engineering and scientific marvel.

Advancing the Evidence Base of Rehabilitation Treatments: A Developmental Approach

PubMed Central

Whyte, John; Barrett, A.M.

2013-01-01

Translational research refers to the development of new scientific discoveries into evidence-based treatments for human diseases and conditions. This developmental process requires that a number of scientific, as well as social and psychological obstacles, be overcome during a sequence of research stages that address different goals. Rehabilitation, like other biomedical disciplines, requires this kind of developmental process. For a variety of reasons, however, development of rehabilitation treatments is less linear than the familiar phases of pharmaceutical research. In addition, research on treatments intended to address impairments (body structure/function, in terms of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health), faces the challenge of determining the likely impact of an impairment-level treatment on the multifaceted activities and aspects of participation that are the typical goals of rehabilitation treatments. This article describes the application of treatment theory and enablement theory to the development of new impairment-based treatments, and examines similarities and differences between the developmental sequence needed for rehabilitation treatment research versus pharmaceutical research in other areas of medicine. PMID:22683206

Korea Brain Initiative: Integration and Control of Brain Functions.

PubMed

Jeong, Sung-Jin; Lee, Haejin; Hur, Eun-Mi; Choe, Youngshik; Koo, Ja Wook; Rah, Jong-Cheol; Lee, Kea Joo; Lim, Hyun-Ho; Sun, Woong; Moon, Cheil; Kim, Kyungjin

2016-11-02

This article introduces the history and the long-term goals of the Korea Brain Initiative, which is centered on deciphering the brain functions and mechanisms that mediate the integration and control of brain functions that underlie decision-making. The goal of this initiative is the mapping of a functional connectome with searchable, multi-dimensional, and information-integrated features. The project also includes the development of novel technologies and neuro-tools for integrated brain mapping. Beyond the scientific goals this grand endeavor will ultimately have socioeconomic ramifications that not only facilitate global collaboration in the neuroscience community, but also develop various brain science-related industrial and medical innovations. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

The Children's Lab at Northern State University. Elementary Teachers Moving toward Scientific Literacy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Knecht, Paul S.

The Children's Lab at Northern State University (South Dakota) is a science concept development laboratory for use by students in a physical science course for preservice elementary teachers. Its function is to develop science content knowledge in preservice elementary teachers, with the ultimate goal of developing science literacy in children.…

Collaborative Posters Develop Students' Ability to Communicate about Undervalued Scientific Resources to Nonscientists.

PubMed

Mayfield, Teresa J; Olimpo, Jeffrey T; Floyd, Kevin W; Greenbaum, Eli

2018-01-01

Scientists are increasingly called upon to communicate with the public, yet most never receive formal training in this area. Public understanding is particularly critical to maintaining support for undervalued resources such as biological collections, research data repositories, and expensive equipment. We describe activities carried out in an inquiry-driven organismal biology laboratory course designed to engage a diverse student body using biological collections. The goals of this cooperative learning experience were to increase students' ability to locate and comprehend primary research articles, and to communicate the importance of an undervalued scientific resource to nonscientists. Our results indicate that collaboratively created, research-focused informational posters are an effective tool for achieving these goals and may be applied in other disciplines or classroom settings.

A practical guide to manuscript writing with particular relevance to the field of pediatric hospital medicine.

PubMed

Teufel, Ronald J; Andrews, Anne L; Williams, Derek J

2014-11-01

Publishing manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, such as Hospital Pediatrics, is critical for both the academic development of practitioners in pediatric hospital medicine and the scientific advancement of our field. Understanding the purpose of scientific writing and developing a structured approach to the writing process is essential. Doing so will improve the clarity of your work and likely the ease at which your research is published and disseminated throughout the scientific community. The purposes of this article are to detail the structure of a scientific manuscript, to highlight specific writing strategies, and to provide writing tips that may help or hinder publication. Our ultimate goal is to advance the field of pediatric hospital medicine and its growing membership by promoting the dissemination of high-quality research. Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Classroom Preschool Science Learning: The Learner, Instructional Tools, and Peer-Learning Assignments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reuter, Jamie M.

The recent decades have seen an increased focus on improving early science education. Goals include helping young children learn about pertinent concepts in science, and fostering early scientific reasoning and inquiry skills (e.g., NRC 2007, 2012, 2015). However, there is still much to learn about what constitutes appropriate frameworks that blend science education with developmentally appropriate learning environments. An important goal for the construction of early science is a better understanding of appropriate learning experiences and expectations for preschool children. This dissertation examines some of these concerns by focusing on three dimensions of science learning in the preschool classroom: (1) the learner; (2) instructional tools and pedagogy; and (3) the social context of learning with peers. In terms of the learner, the dissertation examines some dimensions of preschool children's scientific reasoning skills in the context of potentially relevant, developing general reasoning abilities. As young children undergo rapid cognitive changes during the preschool years, it is important to explore how these may influence scientific thinking. Two features of cognitive functioning have been carefully studied: (1) the demonstration of an epistemic awareness through an emerging theory of mind, and (2) the rapid improvement in executive functioning capacity. Both continue to develop through childhood and adolescence, but changes in early childhood are especially striking and have been neglected as regards their potential role in scientific thinking. The question is whether such skills relate to young children's capacity for scientific thinking. Another goal was to determine whether simple physics diagrams serve as effective instructional tools in supporting preschool children's scientific thinking. Specifically, in activities involving predicting and checking in scientific contexts, the question is whether such diagrams facilitate children's ability to accurately recall initial predictions, as well as discriminate between the outcome of a scientific manipulation and their original predictions (i.e., to determine whether one's predictions were confirmed). Finally, this dissertation also explores the social context of learning science with peers in the preschool classroom. Due to little prior research in this area, it is currently unclear whether and how preschool children may benefit from working with peers on science activities in the classroom. This work aims to examine preschoolers' collaboration on a science learning activity, as well as the developmental function for such collaborative skills over the preschool years.

Health Effects Assessment for Carbon Tetrachloride (1986)

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Fronting Integrated Scientific Web Applications: Design Features and Benefits for Regulatory Environments

EPA Science Inventory

Integrated decision support systems for regulatory applications benefit from standardindustry practices such as code reuse, test-driven development, and modularization. Theseapproaches make meeting the federal government’s goals of transparency, efficiency, and quality assurance ...

Vulvodynia

MedlinePlus

... NICHD Research Information Research Goals Activities and Advances Scientific Articles Find a Study More Information Other FAQs Resources ... of life. NICHD Research Goals ​​​Activities and Advances ​Scientific Articles ​​​ More >> Find a Study Find a Study on ...

Developing a global ocean observing system that prioritises ecosystem variables from a political and societal point of view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miloslavich, P.; Bax, N. J.; Simmons, S. E.; Appeltans, W.; Garcia, M.

2016-02-01

The Biology and Ecosystems Panel of GOOS aims to develop and coordinate efforts to implement a sustained and targeted global ocean observation system. This system will be driven by societal needs (including the Sustainable Development Goals), and identify Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) to inform priority scientific and societal questions that will facilitate critical policy development and management decision-making on ocean and coastal resource sustainability and health. Mature EOVs need to have global relevance and the capacity for global measurement. Our goal is to implement at least one (set of) mature EOVs by 2019, and identify a further three (sets of) pilot EOVs with a clear pathway to maturity. Our initial work includes (1) identifying drivers and pressures of societal and scientific needs, and (2) identifying internationally agreed goals that need sustained global observations of ocean biological & ecosystem variables for a healthy ocean. We reviewed 24 major conventions/international organizations (including the CBD and 16 UN related) to identify the societal needs these organizations address through their goals, and to produce a set of overlapping objectives. Main drivers identified in these conventions were: knowledge (science/data access), development (sustainable economic growth), conservation (biodiversity & ecosystems), sustainable use (biodiversity & resources), environmental quality (health), capacity building (technology transfer), food security, threat prevention and impact mitigation (to different pressures) and improved management (integrated ecosystem approach). The main pressures identified were climate change, ocean acidification, extreme weather events, overfishing/ overexploitation, pollution/ eutrophication, mining, solid wastes. Our next step will be to develop consensus with the observing community about the EOVs that will meet these needs and support the expansion of these identified EOVs into successful global observing systems.

The Development of Scientific Literacy through Nature of Science (NoS) within Inquiry Based Learning Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Widowati, A.; Widodo, E.; Anjarsari, P.; Setuju

2017-11-01

Understanding of science instructional leading to the formation of student scientific literacy, seems not yet fully understood well by science teachers. Because of this, certainly needs to be reformed because science literacy is a major goal in science education for science education reform. Efforts of development science literacy can be done by help students develop an information conception of the Nature of Science (NoS) and apply inquiry approach. It is expected that students’ science literacy can develop more optimal by combining NoS within inquiry approach. The purpose of this research is to produce scientific literacy development model of NoS within inquiry-based learning. The preparation of learning tools will be maked through Research and Development (R & D) following the 4-D model (Define, Design, Develop, and Disseminate) and Borg & Gall. This study is a follow-up of preliminary research results about the inquiry profile of junior high school students indicating that most categories are quite good. The design of the model NoS within inquiry approach for developing scientific literacy is using MER Model in development educational reconstruction. This research will still proceed to the next stage that is Develop.

Translating PI observing proposals into ALMA observing scripts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liszt, Harvey S.

2014-08-01

The ALMA telescope is a complex 66-antenna array working in the specialized domain of mm- and sub-mm aperture synthesis imaging. To make ALMA accessible to technically inexperienced but scientifically expert users, the ALMA Observing Tool (OT) has been developed. Using the OT, scientifically oriented user input is formatted as observing proposals that are packaged for peer-review and assessment of technical feasibility. If accepted, the proposal's scientifically oriented inputs are translated by the OT into scheduling blocks, which function as input to observing scripts for the telescope's online control system. Here I describe the processes and practices by which this translation from PI scientific goals to online control input and schedule block execution actually occurs.

Structures for Facilitating Student Reflection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grossman, Robert

2009-01-01

The goal of this article is to describe a continuum of levels of reflection. It briefly focuses on Deanna Kuhn's research into the development of scientific thinking and Robert Kegan's Object-Subject Theory of Development applied to the problems of inspiring students to be able to reflect. Assignments for improving students' ability to reflect are…

DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL, POPULATION, AND SPATIAL LEVELS: INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON PISCIVOROUS BIRDS

EPA Science Inventory

The goal of the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Health and Environmental Research Laboratory's Wildlife Risk Assessment program is to develop scientifically valid methods to assess risks to wildlife and aquatic organisms from multiple stressors. To this end, the Loo...

42 CFR 52h.11 - What are the review criteria for contract projects and proposals?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... HUMAN SERVICES GRANTS SCIENTIFIC PEER REVIEW OF RESEARCH GRANT APPLICATIONS AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT... standpoint of the goals of the proposed research or development activity; (2) The availability of the... approach, the adequacy of the methodology to be utilized in carrying out the activity. (b) In carrying out...

Comparison of Views of the Nature of Science between Natural Science and Nonscience Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Desaulniers Miller, Marie C.; Montplaisir, Lisa M.; Offerdahl, Erika G.; Cheng, Fu-Chih; Ketterling, Gerald L.

2010-01-01

Science educators have the common goal of helping students develop scientific literacy, including understanding of the nature of science (NOS). University faculties are challenged with the need to develop informed NOS views in several major student subpopulations, including science majors and nonscience majors. Research into NOS views of…

Decay and Renewal. Student Edition. Cornell Scientific Inquiry Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trautmann, Nancy M.; Krasny, Marianne E.; Carlsen, William S.; Cunningham, Christine M.; Canning, Harry; Carroll, Patricia; Johnson, Mark; Khandar, Alpa; Olynciw, Elaina; Kottler, Bennett; Penningroth, Stephen; Welman, Adam

This student guide is part of the Environmental Inquiry (EI) curriculum series developed at Cornell University to enable high school students to conduct authentic environmental science research. The goals of EI are for students to: (1) develop research skills; (2) use their newly acquired skills to conduct research projects of their own design,…

Questioning and Reading Goals: Information-Seeking Questions Asked on Scientific Texts Read under Different Task Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishiwa, Koto; Sanjose, Vicente; Otero, Jose

2013-01-01

Background: A number of studies report that few questions are asked in classrooms and that many of them are shallow questions. Aims: This study investigates the way in which reading goals determine questioning on scientific texts. Reading goals were manipulated through two different tasks: reading for understanding versus reading to solve a…

The Scientific Quest for Lasting Youth: Prospects for Curing Aging

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Abstract People have always sought eternal life and everlasting youth. Recent technological breakthroughs and our growing understanding of aging have given strength to the idea that a cure for human aging can eventually be developed. As such, it is crucial to debate the long-term goals and potential impact of the field. Here, I discuss the scientific prospect of eradicating human aging. I argue that curing aging is scientifically possible and not even the most challenging enterprise in the biosciences. Developing the means to abolish aging is also an ethical endeavor because the goal of biomedical research is to allow people to be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. There is no evidence, however, that we are near to developing the technologies permitting radical life extension. One major difficulty in aging research is the time and costs it takes to do experiments and test interventions. I argue that unraveling the functioning of the genome and developing predictive computer models of human biology and disease are essential to increase the accuracy of medical interventions, including in the context of life extension, and exponential growth in informatics and genomics capacity might lead to rapid progress. Nonetheless, developing the tools for significantly modifying human biology is crucial to intervening in a complex process like aging. Yet in spite of advances in areas like regenerative medicine and gene therapy, the development of clinical applications has been slow and this remains a key hurdle for achieving radical life extension in the foreseeable future. PMID:25132068

Environmental risk, precaution, and scientific rationality in the context of WTO/NAFTA trade rules.

PubMed

Crawford-Brown, Douglas; Pauwelyn, Joost; Smith, Kelly

2004-04-01

This article considers the role of scientific rationality in understanding statements of risk produced by a scientific community. An argument is advanced that, while scientific rationality does impose constraints on valid scientific justifications for restrictions on products and practices, it also provides flexibility in the judgments needed to both develop and apply characterizations of risk. The implications of this flexibility for the understanding of risk estimates in WTO and NAFTA deliberations are explored, with the goal of finding an intermediate ground between the view that science unambiguously justifies or rejects a policy, and the view that science is yet another cultural tool that can be manipulated in support of any decision. The result is a proposal for a dialogical view of scientific rationality in which risk estimates are depicted as confidence distributions that follow from a structured dialogue of scientific panels focused on judgments of evidence, evidential reasoning, and epistemic analysis.

Analysis of the most common concept inventories in physics: What are we assessing?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laverty, James T.; Caballero, Marcos D.

2018-06-01

Assessing student learning is a cornerstone of educational practice. Standardized assessments have played a significant role in the development of instruction, curricula, and educational spaces in college physics. However, the use of these assessments to evaluate student learning is only productive if they continue to align with our learning goals. Recently, there have been calls to elevate the process of science ("scientific practices") to the same level of importance and emphasis as the concepts of physics ("core ideas" and "crosscutting concepts"). We use the recently developed Three-Dimensional Learning Assessment Protocol to investigate how well the most commonly used standardized assessments in introductory physics (i.e., concept inventories) align with this modern understanding of physics education's learning goals. We find that many of the questions on concept inventories do elicit evidence of student understanding of core ideas, but do not have the potential to elicit evidence of scientific practices or crosscutting concepts. Furthermore, we find that the individual scientific practices and crosscutting concepts that are assessed using these tools are limited to a select few. We discuss the implications that these findings have on designing and testing curricula and instruction both in the past and for the future.

Empirical grounding of the nature of scientific inquiry: A study of developing researchers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stucky, Amy Preece

This work uses grounded theory methodology for developing theory about the nature of authentic scientific inquiry that occurs on a day-to-day basis in an academic research laboratory. Symbolic interaction and situated learning provide a theoretical framework. Data were collected from field notes, over 100 hours of videotape of researchers working in a chemical research laboratory, and interviews with participants. The phenomena of a research laboratory suggest that authentic daily work stretches scientists in three learning modalities: cognitive, affective and motivational beliefs and goals, which influence action to promote learning. A laboratory's line of research is divided into individual, thematic projects. Researchers are enabled in a specialized laboratory environment with sets of unique artifacts, substances, people and theoretical concepts to facilitate production of significant research goals. The work itself consists of chemical and mechanical processes facilitated by human actions, appropriate mental states, and theoretical explanations. The cognitive, affective (emotional), and conative (motivational) stretching then leads to explicit learning as well as implicit learning in the gain of experience and tacit knowledge. Implications of these findings about the nature of authentic scientific research on a day-to-day basis are applied to inquiry in science education in undergraduate and graduate education.

Health Effects Assessment for 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane

EPA Science Inventory

The document represents a brief, quantitatively oriented scientific summary of health effects data. It was developed by the Environmental Criteria and Assessment Office to assist the Office of Emergency and Remedial Response in establishing chemical-specific health-related goals ...

Is Quaternary geology ready for the future?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ritter, Dale F.

1996-07-01

Armed with a better understanding of process and an array of developing dating techniques, Quaternary geology is poised to achieve greater recognition in the general scientific community. This recognition however, will require some thought adjustment. Quaternary geologists will have to convince government, industry and a variety of scientific groups that they possess unique training and expertise that is needed as part of the thrust to fully understand and/or resolve major scientific problems. Therefore, future research and education efforts should not focus on developing a rigidly defined identity within geoscience, but instead should seek ways to be integrated with interdisciplinary teams that will investigate complex environmental and climate change problems. Such a scenaria creates and enermous dilemma for Quaternary geologists because they will derive greater intellectual stimulation from scientists working in discplines other than geology, and their scientific collaboratiors will most likely not be their academic colleagues. This outward expansion of our scientific network will require the development of interdsciplinary research collaboration and/or degree-granting programs at the graduate level. To accomplish such goals, universities must resist "turf protection", and funding agencies muts become more efficient at facilitating interdisciplinary research.

Microgravity research opportunities for the 1990s

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The Committee on Microgravity Research (CMGR) was made a standing committee of the Space Studies Board (SSB) and charged with developing a long-range research strategy. The scientific disciplines contained within the microgravity program, and covered in this report, include fluid mechanics and transport phenomena, combustion, biological sciences and biotechnology, materials science, and microgravity physics. The purpose of this report is to recommend means to accomplish the goal of advancing science and technology in each of the component disciplines. Microgravity research should be aimed at making significant impacts in each discipline emphasized. The conclusions and recommendations presented in this report fall into five categories: (1) overall goals for the microgravity research program; (2) general priorities among the major scientific disciplines affected by gravity; (3) identification of the more promising experimental challenges and opportunities within each discipline; (4) general scientific recommendations that apply to all microgravity-related disciplines; and (5) recommendations concerning administrative policies and procedures that are essential to the conduct of excellent laboratory science.

Towards an HIV cure: a global scientific strategy.

PubMed

Deeks, Steven G; Autran, Brigitte; Berkhout, Ben; Benkirane, Monsef; Cairns, Scott; Chomont, Nicolas; Chun, Tae-Wook; Churchill, Melissa; Di Mascio, Michele; Katlama, Christine; Lafeuillade, Alain; Landay, Alan; Lederman, Michael; Lewin, Sharon R; Maldarelli, Frank; Margolis, David; Markowitz, Martin; Martinez-Picado, Javier; Mullins, James I; Mellors, John; Moreno, Santiago; O'Doherty, Una; Palmer, Sarah; Penicaud, Marie-Capucine; Peterlin, Matija; Poli, Guido; Routy, Jean-Pierre; Rouzioux, Christine; Silvestri, Guido; Stevenson, Mario; Telenti, Amalio; Van Lint, Carine; Verdin, Eric; Woolfrey, Ann; Zaia, John; Barré-Sinoussi, Françoise

2012-07-20

Given the limitations of antiretroviral therapy and recent advances in our understanding of HIV persistence during effective treatment, there is a growing recognition that a cure for HIV infection is both needed and feasible. The International AIDS Society convened a group of international experts to develop a scientific strategy for research towards an HIV cure. Several priorities for basic, translational and clinical research were identified. This Opinion article summarizes the group's recommended key goals for the international community.

Reading for tracing evidence: developing scientific knowledge through science text

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Probosari, R. M.; Widyastuti, F.; Sajidan, S.; Suranto, S.; Prayitno, B. A.

2018-05-01

The purposes of this study were to investigate students’ learning progression on reading activity, science concept comprehension and how they imply it in scientific communication in the classroom. Fifty-nine biology education students participated in this study. This classroom research was developed to portray students’ reading activity, factors affecting reading comprehension, and the development of reading motivation. Qualitative analysis was used to describe the whole activities, involve the instruction, process and the product of reading activity. The result concluded that each student has their own way in interpreting the information from scientific text, but generally, they can filter and apply it in their argument as a part of reasoning and evidence. The findings can be used to direct reading activity to the goal of inquiry in order to support the nature of reading as evidence.

Constructing Scientific Explanations: a System of Analysis for Students' Explanations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Andrade, Vanessa; Freire, Sofia; Baptista, Mónica

2017-08-01

This article describes a system of analysis aimed at characterizing students' scientific explanations. Science education literature and reform documents have been highlighting the importance of scientific explanations for students' conceptual understanding and for their understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, and despite general agreement regarding the potential of having students construct their own explanations, a consensual notion of scientific explanation has still not been reached. As a result, within science education literature, there are several frameworks defining scientific explanations, with different foci as well as different notions of what accounts as a good explanation. Considering this, and based on a more ample project, we developed a system of analysis to characterize students' explanations. It was conceptualized and developed based on theories and models of scientific explanations, science education literature, and from examples of students' explanations collected by an open-ended questionnaire. With this paper, it is our goal to present the system of analysis, illustrating it with specific examples of students' collected explanations. In addition, we expect to point out its adequacy and utility for analyzing and characterizing students' scientific explanations as well as for tracing their progression.

Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bao, Lei

2010-02-01

In STEM education, widely accepted teaching goals include not only the development of solid content knowledge but also the development of general scientific reasoning abilities that will enable students to successfully handle open-ended real-world tasks in future careers and design their own experiments to solve scientific, engineering, and social problems. Traditionally, it is often expected that consistent and rigorous content learning will help develop students' general reasoning abilities; however, our research has shown that the content-rich style of STEM education made little impact on the development of students' scientific reasoning abilities. Therefore, how to train teachers who can help students develop both solid content knowledge and adequate scientific reasoning skills has become an important question for educators and researchers. Research has also suggested that inquiry based science instruction can promote scientific reasoning abilities and that the scientific reasoning skills of instructors can also significantly affect their ability to use inquiry methods effectively in science courses. In this talk, I will compare the features of the teacher preparation programs in China and USA and discuss the possible strength and weakness of the education systems and programs in the two countries. Understanding the different education settings and the outcome can help researchers in both countries to learn from each other's success and to avoid known problems. Examples of current research that may foster such knowledge development among researchers from both countries will be discussed. )

Strategies for application of scientific findings in prevention.

PubMed

Wei, S H

1995-07-01

Dental research in the last 50 years has accomplished numerous significant advances in preventive dentistry, particularly in the area of research in fluorides, periodontal diseases, restorative dentistry, and dental materials, as well as craniofacial development and molecular biology. The transfer of scientific knowledge to clinical practitioners requires additional effort. It is the responsibility of the scientific communities to transfer the fruits of their findings to society through publications, conferences, media, and the press. Specific programs that the International Association for Dental Research (IADR) has developed to transmit science to the profession and the public have included science transfer seminars, the Visiting Lecture Program, and hands-on workshops. The IADR Strategic Plan also has a major outreach goal. In addition, the Federation Dentaire Internationale (FDI) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have initiated plans to celebrate World Health Day and the Year of Oral Health in 1994. These are important strategies for the application of scientific findings in prevention.

The Learning Healthcare System and Cardiovascular Care: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

PubMed

Maddox, Thomas M; Albert, Nancy M; Borden, William B; Curtis, Lesley H; Ferguson, T Bruce; Kao, David P; Marcus, Gregory M; Peterson, Eric D; Redberg, Rita; Rumsfeld, John S; Shah, Nilay D; Tcheng, James E

2017-04-04

The learning healthcare system uses health information technology and the health data infrastructure to apply scientific evidence at the point of clinical care while simultaneously collecting insights from that care to promote innovation in optimal healthcare delivery and to fuel new scientific discovery. To achieve these goals, the learning healthcare system requires systematic redesign of the current healthcare system, focusing on 4 major domains: science and informatics, patient-clinician partnerships, incentives, and development of a continuous learning culture. This scientific statement provides an overview of how these learning healthcare system domains can be realized in cardiovascular disease care. Current cardiovascular disease care innovations in informatics, data uses, patient engagement, continuous learning culture, and incentives are profiled. In addition, recommendations for next steps for the development of a learning healthcare system in cardiovascular care are presented. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

(CICT) Computing, Information, and Communications Technology Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDalsem, William R.

2003-01-01

The goal of the Computing, Information, and Communications Technology (CICT) program is to enable NASA's Scientific Research, Space Exploration, and Aerospace Technology Missions with greater mission assurance, for less cost, with increased science return through the development and use of advanced computing, information and communications technologies. This viewgraph presentation includes diagrams of how the political guidance behind CICT is structured. The presentation profiles each part of the NASA Mission in detail, and relates the Mission to the activities of CICT. CICT's Integrated Capability Goal is illustrated, and hypothetical missions which could be enabled by CICT are profiled. CICT technology development is profiled.

IT Strategic Planning Workshops Develop Long-Term Goals | Poster

Cancer.gov

As part of NCI’s Research IT Strategic Planning efforts, a workshop was held on the NIH main campus in June. The main purpose of the workshop was to discuss ways to better integrate IT and informatics throughout NCI, and develop specific, high-level goals and related objectives that will drive the direction of IT and informatics support over the next five years. The initiative to integrate NCI’s IT and informatics is a collaboration between the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT), Office of Scientific Operations, Data Management Services, and the IT Operations Group.

High School Intervention for Influenza Biology and Epidemics/Pandemics: Impact on Conceptual Understanding among Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dumais, Nancy; Hasni, Abdelkrim

2009-01-01

Understanding real-life issues such as influenza epidemiology may be of particular interest to the development of scientific knowledge and initiation of conceptual changes about viruses and their life cycles for high school students. The goal of this research project was to foster the development of adolescents' conceptual understanding of viruses…

The Mind Research Network - Mental Illness Neuroscience Discovery Grant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, J.; Calhoun, V.

The scientific and technological programs of the Mind Research Network (MRN), reflect DOE missions in basic science and associated instrumentation, computational modeling, and experimental techniques. MRN's technical goals over the course of this project have been to develop and apply integrated, multi-modality functional imaging techniques derived from a decade of DOE-support research and technology development.

The Effects of Online Professional Development on Fourth Grade English Language Arts Teachers' Knowledge and Instructional Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Masters, Jessica; de Kramer, Raquel Magidin; O'Dwyer, Laura M.; Dash, Sheralyn; Russell, Michael

2010-01-01

Online professional development (OPD) has great potential to improve teacher quality by improving teachers' knowledge and instructional practices, with the ultimate goal of improving student achievement. There is a dearth of scientific research, however, on the effects of OPD. This article presents the results of a randomized control trial…

Computing through Scientific Abstractions in SysBioPS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chin, George; Stephan, Eric G.; Gracio, Deborah K.

2004-10-13

Today, biologists and bioinformaticists have a tremendous amount of computational power at their disposal. With the availability of supercomputers, burgeoning scientific databases and digital libraries such as GenBank and PubMed, and pervasive computational environments such as the Grid, biologists have access to a wealth of computational capabilities and scientific data at hand. Yet, the rapid development of computational technologies has far exceeded the typical biologist’s ability to effectively apply the technology in their research. Computational sciences research and development efforts such as the Biology Workbench, BioSPICE (Biological Simulation Program for Intra-Cellular Evaluation), and BioCoRE (Biological Collaborative Research Environment) are importantmore » in connecting biologists and their scientific problems to computational infrastructures. On the Computational Cell Environment and Heuristic Entity-Relationship Building Environment projects at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we are jointly developing a new breed of scientific problem solving environment called SysBioPSE that will allow biologists to access and apply computational resources in the scientific research context. In contrast to other computational science environments, SysBioPSE operates as an abstraction layer above a computational infrastructure. The goal of SysBioPSE is to allow biologists to apply computational resources in the context of the scientific problems they are addressing and the scientific perspectives from which they conduct their research. More specifically, SysBioPSE allows biologists to capture and represent scientific concepts and theories and experimental processes, and to link these views to scientific applications, data repositories, and computer systems.« less

Towards an HIV cure: a global scientific strategy

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Given the limitations of antiretroviral therapy and recent advances in our understanding of HIV persistence during effective treatment, there is a growing recognition that a cure for HIV infection is both needed and feasible. The International AIDS Society convened a group of international experts to develop a scientific strategy for research towards an HIV cure. Several priorities for basic, translational and clinical research were identified. This Opinion article summarizes the group’s recommended key goals for the international community. PMID:22814509

ALKALI-ACTIVATED SLAG CEMENTS AS A SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIAL

EPA Science Inventory

The overall goal of this project is to develop and characterize alkali-activated slag cements with minimal carbon footprints, as well as to answer scientific questions that have yet to be satisfactorily addressed by prior research. These questions include the final disposition...

The Experimental Design Ability Test (EDAT)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sirum, Karen; Humburg, Jennifer

2011-01-01

Higher education goals include helping students develop evidence based reasoning skills; therefore, scientific thinking skills such as those required to understand the design of a basic experiment are important. The Experimental Design Ability Test (EDAT) measures students' understanding of the criteria for good experimental design through their…

Computing, Information, and Communications Technology (CICT) Program Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanDalsem, William R.

2003-01-01

The Computing, Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Program's goal is to enable NASA's Scientific Research, Space Exploration, and Aerospace Technology Missions with greater mission assurance, for less cost, with increased science return through the development and use of advanced computing, information and communication technologies

An Update on the Status of RR Lyrae Research - Report of the RRL2015 Meeting (October, Hungary) (Abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolenberg, K.

2016-06-01

(Abstract only) In October 2015 we organized the first international meeting focused on RR Lyrae research, with the goal to discuss recent developments and future RR Lyrae plans. The Scientific rationale is the following:

Knowledge, Learning, Analysis System (KLAS)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The goal of KLAS is to develop a new scientific approach that takes advantage of the data deluge, defined here as both legacy data and new data acquired from environmental and biotic sensors, complex simulation models, and improved technologies for probing biophysical samples. This approach can be i...

Telescience - Concepts And Contributions To The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchant, Will; Dobson, Carl; Chakrabarti, Supriya; Malina, Roger F.

1987-10-01

A goal of the telescience concept is to allow scientists to use remotely located instruments as they would in their laboratory. Another goal is to increase reliability and scientific return of these instruments. In this paper we discuss the role of transparent software tools in development, integration, and postlaunch environments to achieve hands on access to the instrument. The use of transparent tools helps to reduce the parallel development of capability and to assure that valuable pre-launch experience is not lost in the operations phase. We also discuss the use of simulation as a rapid prototyping technique. Rapid prototyping provides a cost-effective means of using an iterative approach to instrument design. By allowing inexpensive produc-tion of testbeds, scientists can quickly tune the instrument to produce the desired scientific data. Using portions of the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) system, we examine some of the results of preliminary tests in the use of simulation and tran-sparent tools. Additionally, we discuss our efforts to upgrade our software "EUVE electronics" simulator to emulate a full instrument, and give the pros and cons of the simulation facilities we have developed.

Attack of the Killer Fungus: A Hypothesis-Driven Lab Module †

PubMed Central

Sato, Brian K.

2013-01-01

Discovery-driven experiments in undergraduate laboratory courses have been shown to increase student learning and critical thinking abilities. To this end, a lab module involving worm capture by a nematophagous fungus was developed. The goals of this module are to enhance scientific understanding of the regulation of worm capture by soil-dwelling fungi and for students to attain a set of established learning goals, including the ability to develop a testable hypothesis and search for primary literature for data analysis, among others. Students in a ten-week majors lab course completed the lab module and generated novel data as well as data that agrees with the published literature. In addition, learning gains were achieved as seen through a pre-module and post-module test, student self-assessment, class exam, and lab report. Overall, this lab module enables students to become active participants in the scientific method while contributing to the understanding of an ecologically relevant model organism. PMID:24358387

SALTON SEA SCIENTIFIC DRILLING PROJECT: SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sass, J.H.; Elders, W.A.

1986-01-01

The Salton Sea Scientific Drilling Project, was spudded on 24 October 1985, and reached a total depth of 10,564 ft. (3. 2 km) on 17 March 1986. There followed a period of logging, a flow test, and downhole scientific measurements. The scientific goals were integrated smoothly with the engineering and economic objectives of the program and the ideal of 'science driving the drill' in continental scientific drilling projects was achieved in large measure. The principal scientific goals of the project were to study the physical and chemical processes involved in an active, magmatically driven hydrothermal system. To facilitate these studies, high priority was attached to four areas of sample and data collection, namely: (1) core and cuttings, (2) formation fluids, (3) geophysical logging, and (4) downhole physical measurements, particularly temperatures and pressures.

A Solid Earth educational module, co-operatively developed by scientists and high school teachers through the Scripps Classroom Connection GK12 Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ziegler, L. B.; van Dusen, D.; Benedict, R.; Chojnacki, P. R.; Peach, C. L.; Staudigel, H.; Constable, C.; Laske, G.

2010-12-01

The Scripps Classroom Connection, funded through the NSF GK-12 program, pairs local high school teachers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) graduate students in the earth and ocean sciences for their mutual professional development. An integral goal of the program is the collaborative production of quality earth science educational modules that are tested in the classroom and subsequently made freely available online for use by other educators. We present a brief overview of the program structure in place to support this goal and illustrate a module that we have developed on the Solid Earth & Plate Tectonics for a 9th grade Earth Science classroom. The unit includes 1) an exercise in constructing a geomagnetic polarity timescale which exposes students to authentic scientific data; 2) activities, labs, lectures and worksheets that support the scientific content; and 3) use of online resources such as Google Earth and interactive animations that help students better understand the concepts. The educational unit is being implemented in two separate local area high schools for Fall 2010 and we will report on our experiences. The co-operative efforts of teachers and scientists lead to educational materials which expose students to the scientific process and current science research, while teaching basic concepts using an engaging inquiry-based approach. In turn, graduate students involved gain experience communicating their science to non-science audiences.

Wave Climate and Wave Mixing in the Marginal Ice Zones of Arctic Seas, Observations and Modelling

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-30

ababanin.com/ LONG-TERM GOALS The long-term goals of the present project are two: wind/wave climatology for the Arctic Seas, and their current...OBJECTIVES The wind/wave climatology for the Arctic Seas will be developed based on altimeter observations. It will have a major scientific and...applied significance as presently there is no reference climatology for this region of the ocean available. The new versions of wave models for the

Facilitating career advancement for women in the Geosciences through the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastings, M. G.; Kontak, R.; Holloway, T.; Kogan, M.; Laursen, S. L.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.

2011-12-01

The Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) is a network of women geoscientists, many of who are in the early stages of their careers. The mission of ESWN is to promote career development, build community, provide informal mentoring and support, and facilitate professional collaborations, all towards making women successful in their scientific careers. ESWN currently connects over 1000 women across the globe, and includes graduate students, postdoctoral associates, faculty from a diversity of colleges and universities, program managers, and government, non-government and industry researchers. ESWN facilitates communication between its members via an email listserv and in-person networking events, and also provides resources to the broader community through the public Earth Science Jobs Listserv that hosts over 1800 subscribers. With funding from a NSF ADVANCE PAID grant, our primary goals include growing our membership to serve a wider section of the geosciences community, designing and administering career development workshops, promoting professional networking at major scientific conferences, and developing web resources to build connections, collaborations, and peer mentoring for and among women in the Earth Sciences. Recognizing that women in particular face a number of direct and indirect biases while navigating their careers, we aim to provide a range of opportunities for professional development that emphasize different skills at different stages of career. For example, ESWN-hosted mini-workshops at national scientific conferences have targeted skill building for early career researchers (e.g., postdocs, tenure-track faculty), with a recent focus on raising extramural research funding and best practices for publishing in the geosciences literature. More concentrated, multi-day professional development workshops are offered annually with varying themes such as Defining Your Research Identity and Building Leadership Skills for Success in Scientific Organizations. These workshops bring together a variety of women with the goals of identifying personal strengths, defining career goals, building a network of contacts, and supporting actions to achieve personal and career success. ESWN members have identified increasing their professional networks as one of the most important needs for advancing their careers. As part of ESWN, members have reported gains in a number of aspects of their personal and professional lives including: knowledge about career resources; a greater understanding of the challenges facing women in science and resources to overcome them; a sense of community and therefore less isolation; greater confidence in their own career trajectories; professional collaborations; emotional support on a variety of issues; and greater engagement and retention in scientific careers.

S3 guidelines for intensive care in cardiac surgery patients: hemodynamic monitoring and cardiocirculary system.

PubMed

Carl, M; Alms, A; Braun, J; Dongas, A; Erb, J; Goetz, A; Goepfert, M; Gogarten, W; Grosse, J; Heller, A R; Heringlake, M; Kastrup, M; Kroener, A; Loer, S A; Marggraf, G; Markewitz, A; Reuter, D; Schmitt, D V; Schirmer, U; Wiesenack, C; Zwissler, B; Spies, C

2010-06-15

Hemodynamic monitoring and adequate volume-therapy, as well as the treatment with positive inotropic drugs and vasopressors are the basic principles of the postoperative intensive care treatment of patient after cardiothoracic surgery. The goal of these S3 guidelines is to evaluate the recommendations in regard to evidence based medicine and to define therapy goals for monitoring and therapy. In context with the clinical situation the evaluation of the different hemodynamic parameters allows the development of a therapeutic concept and the definition of goal criteria to evaluate the effect of treatment. Up to now there are only guidelines for subareas of postoperative treatment of cardiothoracic surgical patients, like the use of a pulmonary artery catheter or the transesophageal echocardiography. The German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Thorax-, Herz- und Gefässchirurgie, DGTHG) and the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und lntensivmedizin, DGAI) made an approach to ensure and improve the quality of the postoperative intensive care medicine after cardiothoracic surgery by the development of S3 consensus-based treatment guidelines. Goal of this guideline is to assess the available monitoring methods with regard to indication, procedures, predication, limits, contraindications and risks for use. The differentiated therapy of volume-replacement, positive inotropic support and vasoactive drugs, the therapy with vasodilatators, inodilatators and calcium sensitizers and the use of intra-aortic balloon pumps will also be addressed. The guideline has been developed following the recommendations for the development of guidelines by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF). The presented key messages of the guidelines were approved after two consensus meetings under the moderation of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF).

Realistic Goals and Processes for Future Space Astronomy Portfolio Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morse, Jon

2015-08-01

It is generally recognized that international participation and coordination is highly valuable for maximizing the scientific impact of modern space science facilities, as well as for cost-sharing reasons. Indeed, all large space science missions, and most medium and small missions, are international, even if one country or space agency has a clear leadership role and bears most of the development costs. International coordination is a necessary aspect of future mission planning, but how that coordination is done remains debatable. I propose that the community's scientific vision is generally homogeneous enough to permit international coordination of decadal-scale strategic science goals. However, the timing and budget allocation/funding mechanisms of individual countries and/or space agencies are too disparate for effective long-term strategic portfolio planning via a single international process. Rather, I argue that coordinated space mission portfolio planning is a natural consequence of international collaboration on individual strategic missions. I review the process and outcomes of the U.S. 2010 decadal survey in astronomy & astrophysics from the perspective of a government official who helped craft the survey charter and transmitted guidance to the scientific community on behalf of a sponsoring agency (NASA), while continuing to manage the current portfolio that involved ongoing negotiations with other space agencies. I analyze the difficulties associated with projecting long-term budgets, obtaining realistic mission costs (including the additional cost burdens of international partnerships), and developing new (possibly transformational) technologies. Finally, I remark on the future role that privately funded space science missions can have in accomplishing international science community goals.

XML-based information system for planetary sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carraro, F.; Fonte, S.; Turrini, D.

2009-04-01

EuroPlaNet (EPN in the following) has been developed by the planetological community under the "Sixth Framework Programme" (FP6 in the following), the European programme devoted to the improvement of the European research efforts through the creation of an internal market for science and technology. The goal of the EPN programme is the creation of a European network aimed to the diffusion of data produced by space missions dedicated to the study of the Solar System. A special place within the EPN programme is that of I.D.I.S. (Integrated and Distributed Information Service). The main goal of IDIS is to offer to the planetary science community a user-friendly access to the data and information produced by the various types of research activities, i.e. Earth-based observations, space observations, modeling, theory and laboratory experiments. During the FP6 programme IDIS development consisted in the creation of a series of thematic nodes, each of them specialized in a specific scientific domain, and a technical coordination node. The four thematic nodes are the Atmosphere node, the Plasma node, the Interiors & Surfaces node and the Small Bodies & Dust node. The main task of the nodes have been the building up of selected scientific cases related with the scientific domain of each node. The second work done by EPN nodes have been the creation of a catalogue of resources related to their main scientific theme. Both these efforts have been used as the basis for the development of the main IDIS goal, i.e. the integrated distributed service. An XML-based data model have been developed to describe resources using meta-data and to store the meta-data within an XML-based database called eXist. A search engine has been then developed in order to allow users to search resources within the database. Users can select the resource type and can insert one or more values or can choose a value among those present in a list, depending on selected resource. The system searches for all the resources containing the inserted values within the resources descriptions. An important facility of the IDIS search system is the multi-node search capability. This is due to the capacity of eXist to make queries on remote databases. This allows the system to show all resources which satisfy the search criteria on local node and to show how many resources are found on remote nodes, giving also a link to open the results page on remote nodes. During FP7 the development of the IDIS system will have the main goal to make the service Virtual Observatory compliant.

Journaling: A Bridge between School and Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGough, Julie

2013-01-01

This article describes how first-grade students create meaningful communication with families and help build the student-teacher-parent relationship through journaling. Journals are a useful tool to bridge school and home. A journal can communicate learning goals, develop scientific vocabulary, and create dialogue through oral and written…

Sea Grant in California: Twenty Years of Achievement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amidei, Rosemary

Since 1968, the California Sea Grant program has operated to produce scientific research oriented to solving problems in marine resource development, management, and conservation. This document decribes the facets of this program, their accomplishments and goals. Discussions include: (1) historical notes; (2) coastal governance; (3) coastal…

Scientific Computation Application Partnerships in Materials and Chemical Sciences, Charge Transfer and Charge Transport in Photoactivated Systems, Developing Electron-Correlated Methods for Excited State Structure and Dynamics in the NWChem Software Suite

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cramer, Christopher J.

Charge transfer and charge transport in photoactivated systems are fundamental processes that underlie solar energy capture, solar energy conversion, and photoactivated catalysis, both organometallic and enzymatic. We developed methods, algorithms, and software tools needed for reliable treatment of the underlying physics for charge transfer and charge transport, an undertaking with broad applicability to the goals of the fundamental-interaction component of the Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the exascale initiative of the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research.

CZT Detector and HXI Development at CASS/UCSD

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rothschild, Richard E.; Tomsick, John A.; Matteson, James L.

2006-06-09

The scientific goals and concept design of the Hard X-ray Imager (HXI) for MIRAX are presented to set the context for a discussion of the status of the HXI development. Emphasis is placed upon the RENA ASIC performance, the detector module upgrades, and a planned high altitude balloon flight to validate the HXI design and performance in a near-space environment.

A national center for biocomputation: in search of a patient-specific interactive virtual surgery workbench

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ross, M. D.; Montgomery, K.; Linton, S.; Cheng, R.; Smith, J.

1998-01-01

This report describes the three-dimensional imaging and virtual environment technologies developed in NASA's Biocomputation Center for scientific purposes that have now led to applications in the field of medicine. A major goal is to develop a virtual environment surgery workbench for planning complex craniofacial and breast reconstructive surgery, and for training surgeons.

A Survey of Emerging Materials for Revolutionary Aerospace Vehicle Structures and Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, Charles E.; Shuart, Mark J.; Gray, Hugh R.

2002-01-01

The NASA Strategic Plan identifies the long-term goal of providing safe and affordable space access, orbital transfer, and interplanetary transportation capabilities to enable scientific research, human, and robotic exploration, and the commercial development of space. Numerous scientific and engineering breakthroughs will be required to develop the technology required to achieve this goal. Critical technologies include advanced vehicle primary and secondary structure, radiation protection, propulsion and power systems, fuel storage, electronics and devices, sensors and science instruments, and medical diagnostics and treatment. Advanced materials with revolutionary new capabilities are an essential element of each of these technologies. A survey of emerging materials with applications to aerospace vehicle structures and propulsion systems was conducted to assist in long-term Agency mission planning. The comprehensive survey identified materials already under development that could be available in 5 to 10 years and those that are still in the early research phase and may not be available for another 20 to 30 years. The survey includes typical properties, a description of the material and processing methods, the current development status, and the critical issues that must be overcome to achieve commercial viability.

The role of collaborative ontology development in the knowledge negotiation process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera, Norma

Interdisciplinary research (IDR) collaboration can be defined as the process of integrating experts' knowledge, perspectives, and resources to advance scientific discovery. The flourishing of more complex research problems, together with the growth of scientific and technical knowledge has resulted in the need for researchers from diverse fields to provide different expertise and points of view to tackle these problems. These collaborations, however, introduce a new set of "culture" barriers as participating experts are trained to communicate in discipline-specific languages, theories, and research practices. We propose that building a common knowledge base for research using ontology development techniques can provide a starting point for interdisciplinary knowledge exchange, negotiation, and integration. The goal of this work is to extend ontology development techniques to support the knowledge negotiation process in IDR groups. Towards this goal, this work presents a methodology that extends previous work in collaborative ontology development and integrates learning strategies and tools to enhance interdisciplinary research practices. We evaluate the effectiveness of applying such methodology in three different scenarios that cover educational and research settings. The results of this evaluation confirm that integrating learning strategies can, in fact, be advantageous to overall collaborative practices in IDR groups.

Collaboration and Team Science: From Theory to Practice

PubMed Central

Gadlin, Howard

2013-01-01

Interdisciplinary efforts are becoming more critical for scientific discovery and translational research efforts. Highly integrated and interactive research teams share a number of features that contribute to their success in developing and sustaining their efforts over time. Through analysis of in-depth interviews with members of highly successful research teams and others that did not meet their goals or ended due to conflicts, we identified key elements that appear critical for team success and effectiveness. There is no debate that the scientific goal sits at the center of the collaborative effort. However, supporting features need to be in place to avoid the derailment of the team. Among the most important of these is trust: without trust the team dynamic runs the risk of deteriorating over time. Other critical factors of which both leaders and participants need to be aware include developing a shared vision, strategically identifying team members and purposefully building the team, promoting disagreement while containing conflict, and setting clear expectations for sharing credit and authorship. Self-awareness and strong communication skills contribute greatly to effective leadership and management strategies of scientific teams. While all successful teams share the characteristic of effectively carrying out these activities, there is no single formula for execution with every leader exemplifying different strengths and weaknesses. Successful scientific collaborations have strong leaders who are self -aware and are mindful of the many elements critical for supporting the science at the center of the effort. PMID:22525233

The Proof of the Pudding?: A Case Study of an "At-Risk" Design-Based Inquiry Science Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chue, Shien; Lee, Yew-Jin

2013-12-01

When students collaboratively design and build artifacts that require relevant understanding and application of science, many aspects of scientific literacy are developed. Design-based inquiry (DBI) is one such pedagogy that can serve these desired goals of science education well. Focusing on a Projectile Science curriculum previously found to be implemented with satisfactory fidelity, we investigate the many hidden challenges when using DBI with Grade 8 students from one school in Singapore. A case study method was used to analyze video recordings of DBI lessons conducted over 10 weeks, project presentations, and interviews to ascertain the opportunities for developing scientific literacy among participants. One critical factor that hindered learning was task selection by teachers, which emphasized generic scientific process skills over more important cognitive and epistemic learning goals. Teachers and students were also jointly engaged in forms of inquiry that underscored artifact completion over deeper conceptual and epistemic understanding of science. Our research surfaced two other confounding factors that undermined the curriculum; unanticipated teacher effects and the underestimation of the complexity of DBI and of inquiry science in general. Thus, even though motivated or experienced teachers can implement an inquiry science curriculum with good fidelity and enjoy school-wide support, these by themselves will not guarantee deep learning of scientific literacy in DBI. Recommendations are made for navigating the hands- and minds-on aspects of learning science that is an asset as well as inherent danger during DBI teaching.

Partnered Research Experiences for Junior Faculty at Minority-Serving Institutions Enhance Professional Success

PubMed Central

Campbell, Andrew G.; Leibowitz, Michael J.; Murray, Sandra A.; Burgess, David; Denetclaw, Wilfred F.; Carrero-Martinez, Franklin A.; Asai, David J.

2013-01-01

Scientific workforce diversity is critical to ensuring the realization of our national research goals and minority-serving institutions play a vital role in preparing undergraduate students for science careers. This paper summarizes the outcomes of supporting career training and research practices by faculty from teaching-intensive, minority-serving institutions. Support of these faculty members is predicted to lead to: 1) increases in the numbers of refereed publications, 2) increases in federal grant funding, and 3) a positive impact on professional activities and curricular practices at their home institutions that support student training. The results presented show increased productivity is evident as early as 1 yr following completion of the program, with participants being more independently productive than their matched peers in key areas that serve as measures of academic success. These outcomes are consistent with the goals of the Visiting Professorship Program to enhance scientific practices impacting undergraduate student training. Furthermore, the outcomes demonstrate the benefits of training support for research activities at minority-serving institutions that can lead to increased engagement of students from diverse backgrounds. The practices and results presented demonstrate a successful generalizable approach for stimulating junior faculty development and can serve as a basis for long-term faculty career development strategies that support scientific workforce diversity. PMID:24006388

Partnered research experiences for junior faculty at minority-serving institutions enhance professional success.

PubMed

Campbell, Andrew G; Leibowitz, Michael J; Murray, Sandra A; Burgess, David; Denetclaw, Wilfred F; Carrero-Martinez, Franklin A; Asai, David J

2013-01-01

Scientific workforce diversity is critical to ensuring the realization of our national research goals and minority-serving institutions play a vital role in preparing undergraduate students for science careers. This paper summarizes the outcomes of supporting career training and research practices by faculty from teaching-intensive, minority-serving institutions. Support of these faculty members is predicted to lead to: 1) increases in the numbers of refereed publications, 2) increases in federal grant funding, and 3) a positive impact on professional activities and curricular practices at their home institutions that support student training. The results presented show increased productivity is evident as early as 1 yr following completion of the program, with participants being more independently productive than their matched peers in key areas that serve as measures of academic success. These outcomes are consistent with the goals of the Visiting Professorship Program to enhance scientific practices impacting undergraduate student training. Furthermore, the outcomes demonstrate the benefits of training support for research activities at minority-serving institutions that can lead to increased engagement of students from diverse backgrounds. The practices and results presented demonstrate a successful generalizable approach for stimulating junior faculty development and can serve as a basis for long-term faculty career development strategies that support scientific workforce diversity.

Undergraduates Learn Evolution Through Teaching Kindergartners About Blind Mexican Cavefish

PubMed Central

Gross, Joshua B.; Gangidine, Andrew; Schafer, Rachel E.

2017-01-01

The development and implementation of a scientific outreach activity comes with a number of challenges. A successful outreach event must match the sophistication of content to the audience, be engaging, expand the knowledge base for participants, and be inclusive for a diverse audience. Ideally, a successful event will also convey the importance of scientific outreach for future scientists and citizens. In this paper, we present a simple, hands-on guide to a scientific outreach event targeted to kindergarten learners. This activity also pursued a second goal: the inclusion of undergraduate students in the development and delivery of the event. We provided a detailed set of four activities, focusing on the blind Mexican cavefish, which were enthusiastically received by kindergarten audiences. The engagement of undergraduate students in the development of this activity encouraged public outreach involvement and fostered new scientific and communication skills. The format of the outreach event we describe is flexible. We provide a set of guidelines and suggestions for adapting this approach to other biological topics. The activity and approach we describe enables the implementation of effective scientific outreach, using active learning approaches, which benefits both elementary school learners and undergraduate students. PMID:28936469

Environmental Education and Development Program

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1994-03-01

The Environmental Education and Development Program is a component on the effort to accomplish the Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management`s (EM) goal of environmental compliance and cleanup of the 1989 inventory of inactive DOE sites and facilities by the year 2019. Education and Development programs were designed specifically to stimulate the knowledge and workforce capability necessary to achieve EM goals while contributing to DOE`s overall goal of increasing scientific and technical literacy and competency. The primary implementation criterion for E&D activities involved a focus on programs and projects that had both immediate and long-range leveraging effects on infrastructure.more » This focus included programs that yielded short term results (one to five years), as well as long-term results, to ensure a steady supply of appropriately trained and educated human resources, including women and minorities, to meet EM`s demands.« less

Genesis, goals and achievements of Long-Term Ecological Research at the global scale: A critical review of ILTER and future directions.

PubMed

Mirtl, M; T Borer, E; Djukic, I; Forsius, M; Haubold, H; Hugo, W; Jourdan, J; Lindenmayer, D; McDowell, W H; Muraoka, H; Orenstein, D E; Pauw, J C; Peterseil, J; Shibata, H; Wohner, C; Yu, X; Haase, P

2018-06-01

Since its founding in 1993 the International Long-term Ecological Research Network (ILTER) has gone through pronounced development phases. The current network comprises 44 active member LTER networks representing 700 LTER Sites and ~80 LTSER Platforms across all continents, active in the fields of ecosystem, critical zone and socio-ecological research. The critical challenges and most important achievements of the initial phase have now become state-of-the-art in networking for excellent science. At the same time increasing integration, accelerating technology, networking of resources and a strong pull for more socially relevant scientific information have been modifying the mission and goals of ILTER. This article provides a critical review of ILTER's mission, goals, development and impacts. Major characteristics, tools, services, partnerships and selected examples of relative strengths relevant for advancing ILTER are presented. We elaborate on the tradeoffs between the needs of the scientific community and stakeholder expectations. The embedding of ILTER in an increasingly collaborative landscape of global environmental observation and ecological research networks and infrastructures is also reflected by developments of pioneering regional and national LTER networks such as SAEON in South Africa, CERN/CEOBEX in China, TERN in Australia or eLTER RI in Europe. The primary role of ILTER is currently seen as a mechanism to investigate ecosystem structure, function, and services in response to a wide range of environmental forcings using long-term, place-based research. We suggest four main fields of activities and advancements for the next decade through development/delivery of a: (1) Global multi-disciplinary community of researchers and research institutes; (2) Strategic global framework and strong partnerships in ecosystem observation and research; (3) Global Research Infrastructure (GRI); and (4) a scientific knowledge factory for societally relevant information on sustainable use of natural resources. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

"The Dose Makes the Poison": Informing Consumers About the Scientific Risk Assessment of Food Additives.

PubMed

Bearth, Angela; Cousin, Marie-Eve; Siegrist, Michael

2016-01-01

Intensive risk assessment is required before the approval of food additives. During this process, based on the toxicological principle of "the dose makes the poison,ˮ maximum usage doses are assessed. However, most consumers are not aware of these efforts to ensure the safety of food additives and are therefore sceptical, even though food additives bring certain benefits to consumers. This study investigated the effect of a short video, which explains the scientific risk assessment and regulation of food additives, on consumers' perceptions and acceptance of food additives. The primary goal of this study was to inform consumers and enable them to construct their own risk-benefit assessment and make informed decisions about food additives. The secondary goal was to investigate whether people have different perceptions of food additives of artificial (i.e., aspartame) or natural origin (i.e., steviolglycoside). To attain these research goals, an online experiment was conducted on 185 Swiss consumers. Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group, which was shown a video about the scientific risk assessment of food additives, or the control group, which was shown a video about a topic irrelevant to the study. After watching the video, the respondents knew significantly more, expressed more positive thoughts and feelings, had less risk perception, and more acceptance than prior to watching the video. Thus, it appears that informing consumers about complex food safety topics, such as the scientific risk assessment of food additives, is possible, and using a carefully developed information video is a successful strategy for informing consumers. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Audacious goals for health and biomedical informatics in the new millennium.

PubMed

Greenes, R A; Lorenzi, N M

1998-01-01

The 1998 Scientific Symposium of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) was devoted to developing visions for the future of health care and biomedicine and a strategic agenda for health and biomedical informatics in support of those visions. This symposium focus was prompted by the many major changes currently underway in health care delivery, education, and research, as well as in our health and biomedical enterprises, and by the constantly increasing role of information technology in both shaping and enabling these changes. The three audacious goals developed for 2008 are a virtual health care databank, a national health care knowledge base, and a personal clinical health record.

Solar system exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapman, Clark R.; Ramlose, Terri (Editor)

1989-01-01

The goal of planetary exploration is to understand the nature and development of the planets, as illustrated by pictures from the first two decades of spacecraft missions and by the imaginations of space artists. Planets, comets, asteroids, and moons are studied to discover the reasons for their similarities and differences and to find clues that contain information about the primordial process of planet origins. The scientific goals established by the National Academy of Sciences as the foundation of NASA's Solar System Exploration Program are covered: to determine the nature of the planetary system, to understand its origin and evolution, the development of life on Earth, and the principles that shape present day Earth.

Status Report on the Development of Research Campaigns

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Baer, Donald R.; Baker, Scott E.; Washton, Nancy M.

2013-06-30

Research campaigns were conceived as a means to focus EMSL research on specific scientific questions. Campaign will help fulfill the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) strategic vision to develop and integrate, for use by the scientific community, world leading capabilities that transform understanding in the environmental molecular sciences and accelerate discoveries relevant to the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) missions. Campaigns are multi-institutional multi-disciplinary projects with scope beyond those of normal EMSL user projects. The goal of research campaigns is to have EMSL scientists and users team on the projects in the effort to accelerate progress and increase impact in specificmore » scientific areas by focusing user research, EMSL resources, and expertise in those areas. This report will give a history and update on the progress of those campaigns.« less

Large Deployable Reflector Science and Technology Workshop. Volume 3: Systems and Technology Assessment. Introduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The Large Deployable Reflector (LDR), a proposed 20 m diameter telescope designed for infrared and submillimeter astronomical measurements from space, is discussed in terms of scientific purposes, capabilities, current status, and history of development. The LDR systems goals and functional/telescope requirements are enumerated.

Space: The New Frontier.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC.

This document is designed primarily to describe the U.S. Space Program, its history, its current state of development, and its goals for the future. Chapter headings include: Space and You; The Early History of Space Flight; The Solar System; Space Probes and Satellites; Scientific Satellites and Sounding Rockets; Application Satellites, Unmanned…

The Development of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kier, Meredith W.; Blanchard, Margaret R.; Osborne, Jason W.; Albert, Jennifer L.

2014-01-01

Internationally, efforts to increase student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers have been on the rise. It is often the goal of such efforts that increased interest in STEM careers should stimulate economic growth and enhance innovation. Scientific and educational organizations recommend that efforts to…

A Call for Bioimaging Software Usability

PubMed Central

Carpenter, Anne E.; Kamentsky, Lee; Eliceiri, Kevin W.

2013-01-01

Bioimaging software developed in a research setting often fails to be widely used by the scientific community. We suggest that, to maximize both the public’s and researchers’ investments, usability should be a more highly valued goal. We describe specific characteristics of usability towards which bioimaging software projects should aim. PMID:22743771

Moving Behavioral Science from Efficacy to Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hallfors, Denise; Cho, Hyunsan

2007-01-01

The gap between scientific knowledge and real world practice continues to be a major conundrum for the behavioral sciences. This paper briefly reviews the development of behavioral research and describes problems that have arisen in meeting the goal of improving behavioral interventions through science. Based on published literature and personal…

Assessing the Robustness of Chemical Prioritizations Based on ToxCast Chemical Profiling

EPA Science Inventory

A central goal of the U.S. EPA’s ToxCast™ program is to provide empirical, scientific evidence to aid in prioritizing the toxicity testing of thousands of chemicals. The agency has developed a prioritization approach, the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi™), that calculat...

Evaluating Urban Resilience to Climate Change: A Multi-Sector Approach (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA is announcing the availability of this final report prepared by the Air, Climate, and Energy (ACE) Research Program, located within the Office of Research and Development, with support from Cadmus. One of the goals of the ACE research program is to provide scientific informat...

Aflatoxin control measures: A basis for improved health in developing countries

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The goal of this IARC Working Group Report is to produce a document, based on expertly evaluated scientific evidence, which provides a set of clear, concise and focused messages to inform policymakers, international organizations and funders in their decision-making with regards to appropriate aflat...

Native Values Take Root in Plains Soil.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Merritt, Judy

1993-01-01

Describes a cooperative organic gardening program between Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota) and the University of Bonn (Germany) that is being developed into a two-year Associate Degree in organic agriculture. The program combines traditional values and scientific knowledge with the goal of promoting self-sufficiency and a healthier lifestyle…

Teaching "With" and "About" Nature of Science, and Science Teacher Knowledge Domains

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad

2013-01-01

The ubiquitous goals of helping precollege students develop informed conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and experience inquiry learning environments that progressively approximate authentic scientific practice have been long-standing and central aims of science education reforms around the globe. However, the realization of these goals…

Development and Assessment of Service Learning Projects in General Biology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felzien, Lisa; Salem, Laura

2008-01-01

Service learning involves providing service to the community while requiring students to meet learning goals in a specific course. A service learning project was implemented in a general biology course at Rockhurst University to involve students in promoting scientific education in conjunction with community partner educators. Students were…

The Physical Education Hall of Shame, Part IV: More Inappropriate Games, Activities, and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Neil F.

2015-01-01

The development of positive attitudes toward lifelong participation in sport-related physical activities through quality school-based programs is a critical goal for the physical education profession. Scientific evidence indicates that a physically active lifestyle helps to prevent disease, improve health, and increase longevity. Physical…

Science with NGST: The Origins Initiatives and a Broad IR Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stockman, P.; Mather, J.

1997-12-01

As envisioned by the HST & Beyond Committee, the focus of the NGST scientific goals is the study of the early universe, the origins of galaxies such as our Milky Way. By utilizing NGST's unprecedented sensitivity in the near-IR, astronomers will be able to probe the structures of galaxies at redshifts corresponding to the first billion years after the Big Bang and study the formation epoch of the first stars and stellar systems. Zodiacal-light limited sensitivity in NIR imaging and 2-D spectroscopy is the core technical driver of NGST. However, the astronomical potential of cooled, large, diffraction-limited optics in a low background environment is too great to restrict its use to only these cosmological goals.The astronomy community must help find an appropriate balance between all desired capabilities and financial and technical feasibility. To this end, NASA and the STScI hosted a scientific meeting in April 1997 dedicated to the scientific impact of NGST. NASA HQ has charted an Ad Hoc Science Working Group to develop the NGST science program, the Design Reference Mission, in greater detail and breadth. Already, we have gained a better understanding of NGST's potential to contribute to the long range goals of OSS with higher NIR spectroscopic resolution and with extended capabilities in the visible and mid-IR (beyond 5 microns). To pursue the instrumental and observatory implications, NASA has selected a handful of studies for the Integrated Science Instrument Module. Similar European and Canadian efforts are going on in parallel. We anticipate that the results of this work will inform the detailed design phase of NGST and lead to the ultimate selection of the NGST architecture, the development of the ISIM, and the solicitation and selection of the flight Science Working Group. We conclude with a panel of astronomers briefly describing key goals in the OSS strategic plan and how they may be achieved with NGST. Audience participation is encouraged.

Strengthening capacity building in space science research: A developing country perspective on IHY activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munyeme, G.

The economic and social impact of science based technologies has become increasingly dominant in modern world The benefits are a result of combined leading-edge science and technology skills which offers opportunities for new innovations Knowledge in basic sciences has become the cornerstone of sustainable economic growth and national prosperity Unfortunately in many developing countries research and education in basic sciences are inadequate to enable science play its full role in national development For this reason most developing countries have not fully benefited from the opportunities provided by modern technologies The lack of human and financial resources is the main reason for slow transfer of scientific knowledge and technologies to developing countries Developing countries therefore need to develop viable research capabilities and knowledge in basic sciences The advert of the International Heliophysical Year IHY may provide opportunities for strengthening capacity in basic science research in developing countries Among the science goals of the IHY is the fostering of international scientific cooperation in the study of heliophysical phenomena This paper will address and provide an in depth discussion on how basic science research can be enhanced in a developing country using the framework of science goals and objectives of IHY It will further highlight the hurdles and experiences of creating in-country training capacity and research capabilities in space science It will be shown that some of these hurdles can be

Toward Scientific Numerical Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kleb, Bil

2007-01-01

Ultimately, scientific numerical models need quantified output uncertainties so that modeling can evolve to better match reality. Documenting model input uncertainties and verifying that numerical models are translated into code correctly, however, are necessary first steps toward that goal. Without known input parameter uncertainties, model sensitivities are all one can determine, and without code verification, output uncertainties are simply not reliable. To address these two shortcomings, two proposals are offered: (1) an unobtrusive mechanism to document input parameter uncertainties in situ and (2) an adaptation of the Scientific Method to numerical model development and deployment. Because these two steps require changes in the computational simulation community to bear fruit, they are presented in terms of the Beckhard-Harris-Gleicher change model.

Development of geometry materials based on scientific approach for junior high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurafni; Siswanto, R. D.; Azhar, E.

2018-01-01

A scientific approach is a learning process designed so that learners can actively construct concepts, encourage learners to find out from various sources through observation, and not just be told. Therefore, learning by scientific approach offers a solution, because the goals, principles, and stages of the scientific approach allow for a good understanding of the students. Because of the absence of teaching materials “polyhedron geometry based on scientific approach” which is widely published in Indonesia, then we need to develop the teaching materials. The results obtained in this study are the tasks presented on teaching materials with a scientific approach both in defining the cube and the beam, identify and solve problems related to the properties and elements of cubes and beams, making cube and beam nets, solving problems related to cube and beam nets, solving problems related to cube and beam surface area. Beginning with the difficulties students face. Then, based on the results of interviews with teachers and analysis of student difficulties on each indicator, researchers revise the teaching materials as needed. Teaching materials that have not found any more student difficulties then the teaching materials are considered valid and ready for use by teachers and students.

Project BudBurst - Meeting the Needs of Climate Change Educators and Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henderson, S.

2015-12-01

It is challenging for many to get a sense of what climate change means as long periods of time are involved - like decades - which can be difficult to grasp. However, there are a number of citizen science based projects, including NEON's Project BudBurst, that provide the opportunity for both learning about climate change and advancing scientific knowledge. In this presentation, we will share lessons learned from Project BudBurst. Project BudBurst is a national citizen science initiative designed to engage the public in observations of phenological (plant life cycle) events and to increase climate literacy. Project BudBurst is important from an educational perspective, but also because it enables scientists to broaden the geographic and temporal scale of their observations. The goals of Project BudBurst are to 1) increase awareness of phenology as an area of scientific study; 2) Increase awareness of the impacts of changing climates on plants at a continental-scale; and 3) increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process. It was important to better understand if and how Project BudBurst is meeting its goals. Specifically, does participation by non-experts advance scientific knowledge? Does participation advance educational goals and outcomes? Is participation an effective approach to advance/enhance science education in both formal and informal settings? Critical examination of Project BudBurst supports advancement of scientific knowledge and realization of educational objectives. Citizen science collected observations and measurements are being used by scientists as evidenced by the increase of such data in scientific publication. In addition, we found that there is a significant increase in educators utilizing citizen science as part of their instruction. Part of this increase is due to the resources and professional development materials available to educators. Working with partners also demonstrated that the needs of both science and education are being met. Project BudBurst, partners with the PhenoCam Network, National Geographic Society, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service botanic gardens, science centers and other organizations with both a scientific and educational mission.

Orbital Observatory for Planetary Science on Low Cost Autonomous Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tavrov, Alexander; Bisikalo, Dmitry; Vedenkin, Nikolay; Korablev, Oleg; Markov, Alexander; Kiselev, Alexander; Kokorich, Mikhail

The Space Research Institute of Russian Academy of Science (IKI RAS) and Dauria Aerospace are currently developing the middle class space telescope project aiming to observe Solar system planets by a long term spectroscopy and polarimetry monitoring, as well aiming to extra solar planets (exoplanets) engineering and scientific goals. The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2017. It is planned first to be delivered on board of the ISS by the Progress spacecraft, then it will be released to the desired orbit approx. 550 km by the Progress in the way to its final destination. The “Planetary monitoring” telescope has a 0.6 meter primary mirror diameter Telescope currently includes 5 science instruments: NIR: 1000..4000 nm high-resolution spectrometer with the spectral resolution of R>10000; Visible Field camera with filters wheel; UV-VIS field resolved Fourier spectrometer; UV-VIS spectropolarimeter; Stellar coronagraph linked with a low-resolution spectrometer. The scientific goals of the “Planetary monitoring” telescope are devoted to explore not yet well studied questions on Mars (methane, ozone, dust and clouds, isotope ratio of HDO/H2O), on Venus (UV absorber, night glow, atmosphere dynamics), icy and gaseous Solar system planets, Jovian moons, Lunar exosphere, comets, meteorites. This telescope aims also for engineering development of exoplanet study by stellar coronagraphy linked with a low-resolution spectrometry. This Orbital Observatory mission uses the first low cost small satellite platform developed by the Dauria Aerospace® - Russian private company and reuses the Progress to elevate the observatory orbit. The Progress launches four times per year to provide supplies and scientific instruments to the ISS. The Progress is capable of raising the height of the orbit for the piggyback scientific missions; therefore, the implementation of the Orbital Observatory mission is considered not just as a development of a successful science mission so it is most importantly developing an affordable and frequent flight opportunities for space sciences research in Russia and worldwide. The paper describes the scientific objectives and corresponding instruments, and introduces the low cost satellite platform and launch opportunities.

MALVAC 2012 scientific forum: accelerating development of second-generation malaria vaccines

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

The World Health Organization (WHO) convened a malaria vaccines committee (MALVAC) scientific forum from 20 to 21 February 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland, to review the global malaria vaccine portfolio, to gain consensus on approaches to accelerate second-generation malaria vaccine development, and to discuss the need to update the vision and strategic goal of the Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap. This article summarizes the forum, which included reviews of leading Plasmodium falciparum vaccine candidates for pre-erythrocytic vaccines, blood-stage vaccines, and transmission-blocking vaccines. Other major topics included vaccine candidates against Plasmodium vivax, clinical trial site capacity development in Africa, trial design considerations for a second-generation malaria vaccine, adjuvant selection, and regulatory oversight functions including vaccine licensure. PMID:23140365

The extreme ultraviolet explorer mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malina, R. F.; Bowyer, S.

1988-01-01

The science design goals and engineering implementation for the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) science payload are discussed. The primary scientific goal of the EUVE payload is to carry out an all-sky survey in the 100- to 900-A band of the spectrum. Another goal of the mission is to demonstrate the use of a scientific platform in near-earth orbit. EUVE data will be used to study the distribution of EUV stars in the neighborhood of the sun and the emission physics responsible for the EUV mission.

NASA atmospheric effects of aviation projects: Status and plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wesoky, Howard L.; Thompson, Anne M.; Stolarski, Richard S.

1994-01-01

NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project is developing a scientific basis for assessment of the atmospheric impact of subsonic and supersonic aviation. Issues addressed include predicted ozone changes and climatic impact, and related uncertainties. A primary goal is to assist assessments of United Nations scientific organizations and, hence, consideration of emission standards by the International Civil Aviation Organization. Project focus is on simulation of atmospheric processes by computer models, but studies of aircraft operations, laboratory studies, and remote and in situ observations of chemical, dynamic, and radiative processes are also included.

A large-stroke cryogenic imaging FTS system for SPICA-Safari

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jellema, Willem; van Loon, Dennis; Naylor, David; Roelfsema, Peter

2014-08-01

The scientific goals of the far-infrared astronomy mission SPICA challenge the design of a large-stroke imaging FTS for Safari, inviting for the development of a new generation of cryogenic actuators with very low dissipation. In this paper we present the Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) system concept, as foreseen for SPICA-Safari, and we discuss the technical developments required to satisfy the instrument performance.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Krasheninnikov, Sergei I.; Angus, Justin; Lee, Wonjae

The goal of the Edge Simulation Laboratory (ESL) multi-institutional project is to advance scientific understanding of the edge plasma region of magnetic fusion devices via a coordinated effort utilizing modern computing resources, advanced algorithms, and ongoing theoretical development. The UCSD team was involved in the development of the COGENT code for kinetic studies across a magnetic separatrix. This work included a kinetic treatment of electrons and multiple ion species (impurities) and accurate collision operators.

A Study of Legislative Measures Designed To Facilitate Access to Education and of the Role of the Village School in the Development of Rural Areas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gagni, A. O.; Bartels, Francis L.

This report addresses the United Nations Educational Scientific Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) goals for activities related to the development of education in rural areas. Studies were conducted in China, the Philippines, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, Botswana, and Sierra Leone. The first section deals with the analytical study of information on…

MODIS algorithm development and data visualization using ACTS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, Mark R.

1992-01-01

The study of the Earth as a system will require the merger of scientific and data resources on a much larger scale than has been done in the past. New methods of scientific research, particularly in the development of geographically dispersed, interdisciplinary teams, are necessary if we are to understand the complexity of the Earth system. Even the planned satellite missions themselves, such as the Earth Observing System, will require much more interaction between researchers and engineers if they are to produce scientifically useful data products. A key component in these activities is the development of flexible, high bandwidth data networks that can be used to move large amounts of data as well as allow researchers to communicate in new ways, such as through video. The capabilities of the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) will allow the development of such networks. The Pathfinder global AVHRR data set and the upcoming SeaWiFS Earthprobe mission would serve as a testbed in which to develop the tools to share data and information among geographically distributed researchers. Our goal is to develop a 'Distributed Research Environment' that can be used as a model for scientific collaboration in the EOS era. The challenge is to unite the advances in telecommunications with the parallel advances in computing and networking.

Training in Techniques and Translation: Novel Nuclear Medicine Imaging Agents for Oncology and Neurology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tu, Zhude

The goal of this grant was to provide critical interdisciplinary research training for the next generation of radiochemists and nuclear medicine physicians through a collaboration between basic science and clinical faculty who are actively involved in the development, application, and translation of radiopharmaceuticals. Following the four year funding support period, the 10 postdocs, graduate students, as well as clinical physicians who received training have become faculty members, or senior radiochemists at different academic institutes or industry. With respect to scientific accomplishments, 26 peer-reviewed articles have been published to date as well as numerous poster and oral presentations. The goals ofmore » all four scientific projects were completed and several promising radiotracers identified for transfer into clinical investigation for human use. Some preliminary data generated from this training grant led several successful NIH grant proposals for the principal investigators.« less

Minutes of the CD-ROM Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

King, Joseph H.; Grayzeck, Edwin J.

1989-01-01

The workshop described in this document had two goals: (1) to establish guidelines for the CD-ROM as a tool to distribute datasets; and (2) to evaluate current scientific CD-ROM projects as an archive. Workshop attendees were urged to coordinate with European groups to develop CD-ROM, which is already available at low cost in the U.S., as a distribution medium for astronomical datasets. It was noted that NASA has made the CD Publisher at the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) available to the scientific community when the Publisher is not needed for NASA work. NSSDC's goal is to provide the Publisher's user with the hardware and software tools needed to design a user's dataset for distribution. This includes producing a master CD and copies. The prerequisite premastering process is described, as well as guidelines for CD-ROM construction. The production of discs was evaluated. CD-ROM projects, guidelines, and problems of the technology were discussed.

A strategy for space biology and medical science for the 1980s and 1990s

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1987-01-01

A guideline is provided for developing NASA's long-term mission plans and a rational, coherent research program. Ten topical areas for research are addressed: developmental biology, gravitropism in plants, sensorimotor integration, bone and mineral metabolism, cardiovascular/pulmonary function, muscle remodeling, nutrition, human reproduction, space anemia, and human behavior. Scientific goals, objectives, and required measurements and facilities for each of the major areas of space biology and medicine are identified and described along with primary goals and objectives for each of these disciplines. Proposals are made concerning the use of scientific panels to oversee the implementation of the strategy, life sciences' need for continuous access to spaceflight opportunities, the advantages of a focused mission strategy, certain design features that will enhance spaceflight experimentation, and general facilities. Other topics that are considered include mission planning, crew selection and training, and interagency and international cooperation.

Constructing a Scientific Explanation—A Narrative Account

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeo, Jennifer; Gilbert, John K.

2014-07-01

Studies analyzing explanations that have been constructed by science students have found that they were generally weak and lack necessary features. The goal of this study was to establish the competencies that one needs to construct a scientific explanation. Scientific explanations can be looked at in three ways, in terms of their function, form and level, as being essentially sign-making processes. Taking a case study approach and using Lemke's multimodal framework, we analyzed the scientific explanation of an electromagnetic induction phenomenon constructed by one high school student. We found that such a construction involves the complex coordination of different types of signs, not only to represent the entities in the phenomenon, but also to support thinking and reasoning about it at abstract levels. Scientific conventions and rules, and everyday material and social tools were found to be crucial in shifting from one level of abstraction to another. The findings highlight the importance of developing the skillful use of schemes of scientific representation by students and familiarizing them with commonly encountered contexts.

Engaging Underrepresented Group Youth in Environmental Science Research Activities: Catalyst for Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuff, K.; Cannady, M.; Dorph, R.; Rodriguez, V. A.; Romero, V.

2016-12-01

The UC Berkeley East Bay Academy for Young Scientists (EBAYS) program provides youth from non-dominant communities in the East San Francisco Bay Area with unique opportunities to develop deeper understanding of environmental science content, as well as fundamental scientific practice skills. A key component of EBAYS programming is collaborative research projects that generate information useful in addressing critical environmental issues. This important component also provides opportunities for youth to present results of their investigations to other community members and to the scientific community at large. Inclusion of the environmental science research component is intended to help address the following program goals: A) increasing appreciation for the value of scientific practices as a tool for addressing important community-based issues; B) helping raise community awareness of important issues; C) sparking interest in other forms of community activism; D) increasing understanding of key science concepts; and E) generating valuable environmental quality data. In an effort to assess the degree to which EBAYS programming accomplishes these goals, as well as to evaluate its capacity to be effectively replicated on a broader scale, EBAYS staff has engaged in an investigation of associated learning and youth development outcomes. In this regard a research strategy has been developed that includes the use of assessment tools that will help foster a deeper understanding of the ways in which EBAYS programming increases the extent to which participants value the application of science, affects their overall occupational trajectory, and inspires them to consider careers in STEM.

Development of Enabling Scientific Tools to Characterize the Geologic Subsurface at Hanford

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kenna, Timothy C.; Herron, Michael M.

2014-07-08

This final report to the Department of Energy provides a summary of activities conducted under our exploratory grant, funded through U.S. DOE Subsurface Biogeochemical Research Program in the category of enabling scientific tools, which covers the period from July 15, 2010 to July 14, 2013. The main goal of this exploratory project is to determine the parameters necessary to translate existing borehole log data into reservoir properties following scientifically sound petrophysical relationships. For this study, we focused on samples and Ge-based spectral gamma logging system (SGLS) data collected from wells located in the Hanford 300 Area. The main activities consistedmore » of 1) the analysis of available core samples for a variety of mineralogical, chemical and physical; 2) evaluation of selected spectral gamma logs, environmental corrections, and calibration; 3) development of algorithms and a proposed workflow that permits translation of log responses into useful reservoir properties such as lithology, matrix density, porosity, and permeability. These techniques have been successfully employed in the petroleum industry; however, the approach is relatively new when applied to subsurface remediation. This exploratory project has been successful in meeting its stated objectives. We have demonstrated that our approach can lead to an improved interpretation of existing well log data. The algorithms we developed can utilize available log data, in particular gamma, and spectral gamma logs, and continued optimization will improve their application to ERSP goals of understanding subsurface properties.« less

Passive and hybrid solar technologies program summary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1985-05-01

The goal of the national energy policy is to foster an adequate supply of energy at reasonable prices. This policy recognizes that adequate supply requires flexibility, with no undue reliance on any single source of supply. The goal of reasonable prices suggests economic efficiency so that consumers, individuals, commercial and industrial users alike, are not penalized by government regulation or subside. The strategies for achieving this energy policy goal are: (1) to minimize federal regulation in energy pricing while maintaining public health and safety and environmental quality, and (2) to promote a balanced and mixed energy resource system through research and development. One of the keys to energy sufficiently is the scientific application of passive solar energy techniques.

The Beaks of Finches & the Tool Analogy: Use with Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milne, Catherine

2008-01-01

Analogies are an integral feature of scientific theories, like evolution. They are developed to support explanations, proposed on the basis of evidence collected from experimental studies, field studies, and other observational studies. They map a known source or process to an unknown or target with the goal of helping educators understand the…

Non-Invasive Acoustic-Based Monitoring of Heavy Water and Uranium Process Solutions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pantea, Cristian; Sinha, Dipen N.; Lakis, Rollin Evan

2017-11-02

The goals of the project are to leverage laboratory scientific strength in physical acoustics for critical international safeguards applications; create hardware demonstration capability for noninvasive, near real time, and low cost process monitor to capture future technology development programs; and measure physical property data to support method applicability.

Implementation and Early Outcomes of the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program. Doc # 2004-15

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaPointe, Michelle; Stullich, Stephanie

2004-01-01

The Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program provides financial assistance to help schools develop and implement systematic approaches to schoolwide improvement that are grounded in scientifically based research and effective practices. The goal of the program is to enable all children to meet challenging state academic content and achievement…

Science Indicators, 1972.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. National Science Board.

In this report the National Science Board presents the first results from a newly initiated effort to develop indicators of the state of the scientific enterprise in the Unite States. The ultimate goal of this effort is a set of indices which will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. science and technology, in terms of the capacity and…

Development and Application of Multidisciplinary Sustainability Metrics to Environmental Management in the San Luis Basin in Colorado at AESS

EPA Science Inventory

A pilot project was initiated to create an approach to measure, monitor, and maintain prosperity and environmental quality within a regional system. The goal was to produce a scientifically defensible but straightforward and inexpensive methodology that is simple to use and int...

Exploring Students' Perspectives of College STEM: An Analysis of Course Rating Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, YunJeong; Park, Seung Won

2014-01-01

One of the crucial goals of higher education is building a scientifically literate citizenry. The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subject areas are indicated as good domains to develop knowledge and skills for becoming future leaders. However, previous research has indicated a constant decline in the number of American…

"I Want to Learn My Phone Number": Encourage Young Children to Set Their Own Learning Goals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warash, Bobbie Gibson; Smith, Keri; Root, Amy

2011-01-01

Young children's capabilities continue to be revealed through brain and other scientific research. These advances in knowledge have led to the implementation of more progressive learning experiences in preschool programs. More in-depth explorations accommodate young children's intellect and they help children develop life skills as competent…

Executive summary of the Strategic Plan for National Institutes of Health Obesity Research.

PubMed

Spiegel, Allen M; Alving, Barbara M

2005-07-01

The Strategic Plan for National Institutes of Health (NIH) Obesity Research is intended to serve as a guide for coordinating obesity research activities across the NIH and for enhancing the development of new efforts based on identification of areas of greatest scientific opportunity and challenge. Developed by the NIH Obesity Research Task Force with critical input from external scientists and the public, the Strategic Plan reflects a dynamic planning process and presents a multidimensional research agenda, with an interrelated set of goals and strategies for achieving the goals. The major scientific themes around which the Strategic Plan is framed include the following: preventing and treating obesity through lifestyle modification; preventing and treating obesity through pharmacologic, surgical, or other medical approaches; breaking the link between obesity and its associated health conditions; and cross-cutting topics, including health disparities, technology, fostering of interdisciplinary research teams, investigator training, translational research, and education/outreach efforts. Through the efforts described in the Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research, the NIH will strive to facilitate and accelerate progress in obesity research to improve public health.

The Sustainable Development Goals - conceptual approaches for science and research projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmalzbauer, Bettina; Visbeck, Martin

2017-04-01

Challenged to provide answers to some of the world's biggest societal and environmental problems, the scientific community has consistently delivered exciting and solid information that is often used to assess the situation in many different parts of the globe to document the anthropogenic cause of environmental changes and to provide perspectives on possible development scenarios. With the adoption of the Paris climate agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) major issues for society are now in its complexity in implementation. That are: consistency with other political processes (e.g. UNFCCC, IPBES), implementability (e.g. interactions between SDGs, pathways) and measurability (e.g. indicators). We argue that science can contribute to all these aspects by providing fundamental knowledge necessary for decision-making and practical implementation of the SDGs. Cooperation beyond disciplines and national boarders is essential, as well as the integration of concepts and methods of natural and social sciences. The outcome of two international conferences has called out four specific areas where science can make significant contributions towards SDG implementation: First, deep and integrated scientific knowledge is needed for better understanding key interactions, synergies and trade-offs embedded in the SDGs. Second, sound scientific input is needed for co-designing and executing of scientific assessments in the context of the SDG process (going beyond the good examples set by IPCC and IPBES). Third, science can support the establishment of evidence-based procedures for the development of scenarios and identify possible pathways for the world in 2030 or beyond. Fourth, progress on SDG implementation needs to be supported by a meaningful indicator framework, and this framework needs scientific input to refine indicators, and further develop and standardise methods. The main conclusion is that a comprehensive approach is needed that combines basic science and solution-oriented science, and integrates knowledge from natural science, social sciences, engineering and humanities (but also from other knowledge domains) to meet the overall objective of the 2030 Agenda. Foresight, integrated assessment and integrated modelling can be possible successful approaches for knowledge exchange, learning, and identifying possible coherent development pathways towards global sustainability.To ensure rapid and effective uptake of new research results the concepts of co-design of research projects and co-production of knowledge show promise.

Education, outreach, and inclusive engagement: Towards integrated indicators of successful program outcomes in participatory science.

PubMed

Haywood, Benjamin K; Besley, John C

2014-01-01

The use and utility of science in society is often influenced by the structure, legitimacy, and efficacy of the scientific research process. Public participation in scientific research (PPSR) is a growing field of practice aimed at enhancing both public knowledge and understanding of science (education outreach) and the efficacy and responsiveness of scientific research, practice, and policy (participatory engagement). However, PPSR objectives focused on "education outreach" and "participatory engagement" have each emerged from diverse theoretical traditions that maintain distinct indicators of success used for program development and evaluation. Although areas of intersection and overlap among these two traditions exist in theory and practice, a set of comprehensive standards has yet to coalesce that supports the key principles of both traditions in an assimilated fashion. To fill this void, a comprehensive indicators framework is proposed with the goal of promoting a more integrative and synergistic PPSR program development and assessment process.

Catchments network on badlands around Mediterranean area (RESOBAM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Copard, Yoann; Lebouteiller, Caroline; Regues-Munoz, David; Latron, Jerome; Solé-Benet, Albert; Canton, Yolanda; Nadal-Romero, Estela; Della Seta, Marta; Rossi, Mauro; Capolongo, Domenico; Maquaire, Olivier; Forey, Estelle; Di-Giovanni, Christian; Gallart, Francesc; Delmonte, Maurizio; Vergari, Francesca; Massei, Nicolas; Torri, Dino

2016-04-01

Between 2013 and 2014, a network funded by MISTRALS-ENVIMED institution, was born around some instrumented catchments developing a badland-type morphology. This network has grouped 3 countries (France, Spain and Italy) with 12 scientific labs. RESOBAM has concerned two sites in France (Draix-Bléone and Vaches Noires), three in Spain (Vallcebre, Araguas and El Cautivo) and some sites in Italy (Tuscany, Basilicata). Main goal of this network was to federate the research around badlands at the European scale, by proposing some scientific topics as: sediment and water transports / budget, (bio)geochemical cycles, agricultural (farming), education, restoration, cultural heritage, soil conservation / biodiversity, climatic change etc. Other main interests were also to propose some common scientific projects and the development of students exchanges. This communication presents the synthesis of our four meetings held at Draix, Zaragoza, Almeriá and Rouen and some perspectives to continue this network.

"Do I need to know this for the exam?" Using popular media, inquiry-based laboratories, and a community of scientific practice to motivate students to learn developmental biology.

PubMed

Madhuri, Marga; Broussard, Christine

2008-01-01

One of the greatest challenges instructors face is getting students to connect with the subject in a manner that encourages them to learn. In this essay, we describe the redesign of our Developmental Biology course to foster a deeper connection between students and the field of developmental biology. In our approach, we created a community of scientific practice focused on the investigation of environmental impacts on embryonic development and informed by popular and scientific media, the students' own questions, and the instructor. Our goals were to engage students in meaningful ways with the material, to develop students' science process skills, and to enhance students' understanding of broad principles of developmental biology. Though significant challenges arose during implementation, assessments indicate using this approach to teach undergraduate developmental biology was successful.

Visualization techniques to aid in the analysis of multi-spectral astrophysical data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brugel, Edward W.; Domik, Gitta O.; Ayres, Thomas R.

1993-01-01

The goal of this project was to support the scientific analysis of multi-spectral astrophysical data by means of scientific visualization. Scientific visualization offers its greatest value if it is not used as a method separate or alternative to other data analysis methods but rather in addition to these methods. Together with quantitative analysis of data, such as offered by statistical analysis, image or signal processing, visualization attempts to explore all information inherent in astrophysical data in the most effective way. Data visualization is one aspect of data analysis. Our taxonomy as developed in Section 2 includes identification and access to existing information, preprocessing and quantitative analysis of data, visual representation and the user interface as major components to the software environment of astrophysical data analysis. In pursuing our goal to provide methods and tools for scientific visualization of multi-spectral astrophysical data, we therefore looked at scientific data analysis as one whole process, adding visualization tools to an already existing environment and integrating the various components that define a scientific data analysis environment. As long as the software development process of each component is separate from all other components, users of data analysis software are constantly interrupted in their scientific work in order to convert from one data format to another, or to move from one storage medium to another, or to switch from one user interface to another. We also took an in-depth look at scientific visualization and its underlying concepts, current visualization systems, their contributions, and their shortcomings. The role of data visualization is to stimulate mental processes different from quantitative data analysis, such as the perception of spatial relationships or the discovery of patterns or anomalies while browsing through large data sets. Visualization often leads to an intuitive understanding of the meaning of data values and their relationships by sacrificing accuracy in interpreting the data values. In order to be accurate in the interpretation, data values need to be measured, computed on, and compared to theoretical or empirical models (quantitative analysis). If visualization software hampers quantitative analysis (which happens with some commercial visualization products), its use is greatly diminished for astrophysical data analysis. The software system STAR (Scientific Toolkit for Astrophysical Research) was developed as a prototype during the course of the project to better understand the pragmatic concerns raised in the project. STAR led to a better understanding on the importance of collaboration between astrophysicists and computer scientists.

Integrated scientific assessment for ecosystem management in the interior Columbia Basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins.

Treesearch

Thomas M. Quigley; Richard W Haynes; Russell T. Graham

1996-01-01

The Integrated Scientific Assessment for Ecosystem Management for the Interior Columbia Basin links landscape, aquatic, terrestrial, social, and economic characterizations to describe biophysical and social systems. Integration was achieved through a framework built around six goals for ecosystem management and three different views of the future. These goals are:...

A Reflection on Distorted Views of Science and Technology in Science Textbooks as Obstacles to the Improvement of Students' Scientific Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calado, Florbela M.; Bogner, Franz X.

2013-01-01

Scientific literacy has been increasingly considered a major goal of science education. While textbooks remain the most widespread tools for pursuing this goal within classrooms, they have been slow to adapt to the most recent epistemological paradigms, often still conveying distorted views of science and technology. Accordingly, we present herein…

Chairmanship of the Neptune/Pluto outer planets science working group

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, S. Alan

1993-11-01

The Outer Planets Science Working Group (OPSWG) is the NASA Solar System Exploration Division (SSED) scientific steering committee for the Outer Solar System missions. OPSWG consists of 19 members and is chaired by Dr. S. Alan Stern. This proposal summarizes the FY93 activities of OPSWG, describes a set of objectives for OPSWG in FY94, and outlines the SWG's activities for FY95. As chair of OPSWG, Dr. Stern will be responsible for: organizing priorities, setting agendas, conducting meetings of the Outer Planets SWG; reporting the results of OPSWG's work to SSED; supporting those activities relating to OPSWG work, such as briefings to the SSES, COMPLEX, and OSS; supporting the JPL/SAIC Pluto study team; and other tasks requested by SSED. As the Scientific Working Group (SWG) for Jupiter and the planets beyond, OPSWG is the SSED SWG chartered to study and develop mission plans for all missions to the giant planets, Pluto, and other distant objects in the remote outer solar system. In that role, OPSWG is responsible for: defining and prioritizing scientific objectives for missions to these bodies; defining and documenting the scientific goals and rationale behind such missions; defining and prioritizing the datasets to be obtained in these missions; defining and prioritizing measurement objectives for these missions; defining and documenting the scientific rationale for strawman instrument payloads; defining and prioritizing the scientific requirements for orbital tour and flyby encounter trajectories; defining cruise science opportunities plan; providing technical feedback to JPL and SSED on the scientific capabilities of engineering studies for these missions; providing documentation to SSED concerning the scientific goals, objectives, and rationale for the mission; interfacing with other SSED and OSS committees at the request of SSED's Director or those committee chairs; providing input to SSED concerning the structure and content of the Announcement of Opportunity for payload and scientific team selection for such missions; and providing other technical or programmatic inputs concerning outer solar system missions at the request of the Director of SSED.

Chairmanship of the Neptune/Pluto outer planets science working group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stern, S. Alan

1993-01-01

The Outer Planets Science Working Group (OPSWG) is the NASA Solar System Exploration Division (SSED) scientific steering committee for the Outer Solar System missions. OPSWG consists of 19 members and is chaired by Dr. S. Alan Stern. This proposal summarizes the FY93 activities of OPSWG, describes a set of objectives for OPSWG in FY94, and outlines the SWG's activities for FY95. As chair of OPSWG, Dr. Stern will be responsible for: organizing priorities, setting agendas, conducting meetings of the Outer Planets SWG; reporting the results of OPSWG's work to SSED; supporting those activities relating to OPSWG work, such as briefings to the SSES, COMPLEX, and OSS; supporting the JPL/SAIC Pluto study team; and other tasks requested by SSED. As the Scientific Working Group (SWG) for Jupiter and the planets beyond, OPSWG is the SSED SWG chartered to study and develop mission plans for all missions to the giant planets, Pluto, and other distant objects in the remote outer solar system. In that role, OPSWG is responsible for: defining and prioritizing scientific objectives for missions to these bodies; defining and documenting the scientific goals and rationale behind such missions; defining and prioritizing the datasets to be obtained in these missions; defining and prioritizing measurement objectives for these missions; defining and documenting the scientific rationale for strawman instrument payloads; defining and prioritizing the scientific requirements for orbital tour and flyby encounter trajectories; defining cruise science opportunities plan; providing technical feedback to JPL and SSED on the scientific capabilities of engineering studies for these missions; providing documentation to SSED concerning the scientific goals, objectives, and rationale for the mission; interfacing with other SSED and OSS committees at the request of SSED's Director or those committee chairs; providing input to SSED concerning the structure and content of the Announcement of Opportunity for payload and scientific team selection for such missions; and providing other technical or programmatic inputs concerning outer solar system missions at the request of the Director of SSED.

The intelligent user interface for NASA's advanced information management systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, William J.; Short, Nicholas, Jr.; Rolofs, Larry H.; Wattawa, Scott L.

1987-01-01

NASA has initiated the Intelligent Data Management Project to design and develop advanced information management systems. The project's primary goal is to formulate, design and develop advanced information systems that are capable of supporting the agency's future space research and operational information management needs. The first effort of the project was the development of a prototype Intelligent User Interface to an operational scientific database, using expert systems and natural language processing technologies. An overview of Intelligent User Interface formulation and development is given.

Grand Challenges 1993: High Performance Computing and Communications. A Report by the Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences. The FY 1993 U.S. Research and Development Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC.

This report presents the United States research and development program for 1993 for high performance computing and computer communications (HPCC) networks. The first of four chapters presents the program goals and an overview of the federal government's emphasis on high performance computing as an important factor in the nation's scientific and…

Gravitational Influences on the Growth of Polydiacetylene Films by Ultraviolet Solution Polymerization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frazier, Donald O.

2000-01-01

Technically, the field of integrated optics using organic/polymer materials as a new means of information processing, has emerged as of vital importance to optical computers, optical switching, optical communications, the defense industry, etc. The goal is to replace conventional electronic integrated circuits and wires by equivalent miniaturized optical integrated circuits and fibers, offering larger bandwidths, more compactness and reliability, immunity to electromagnetic interference and less cost. From the Code E perspective, this research area represents an opportunity to marry "front-line" education in science and technology with national scientific and technological interests while maximizing human resources utilization. This can be achieved by the development of untapped resources for scientific research - such as minorities, women, and universities traditionally uninvolved in scientific research.

Growth in Turkish Positive Basic Sciences, 1933-1966.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ozinonu, A. Kemal

This study collected data on the measurable qualities of Turkish science in terms of high level scientific manpower, scientific productivity, and scientific fertility from 1933 to 1966 and analyzed the data collected with the goal of providing a deeper understanding of the nature of Turkish science. Scientific personnel, including Turkish…

Basic Inferences of Scientific Reasoning, Argumentation, and Discovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawson, Anton E.

2010-01-01

Helping students better understand how scientists reason and argue to draw scientific conclusions has long been viewed as a critical component of scientific literacy, thus remains a central goal of science instruction. However, differences of opinion persist regarding the nature of scientific reasoning, argumentation, and discovery. Accordingly,…

Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS) Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koike, T.

2014-12-01

It has been said that scientists and experts usually use 80% of their research time for data management (DOE, 2002). Only 20% of research time is used for purely scientific activities. This ratio should be reversed by introducing computer science technology. To realize this goal, the Japanese government supported the development of a data system called "Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS)," as one of the national key projects promoted by the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) from 2006 to 2010. A follow-up 5-year project is also ongoing. The essential aim for the DIAS was to create knowledge that would enable solutions to problems and generate socioeconomic benefits. DIAS mainly consists of four data components including data injection, management, integration, and interoperability. DIAS is now tackling a large increase in the diversity and volume of data from observing the Earth. Dictionaries have been developing an ontology system for technical and geographical terms, and a metadata design has been completed according to international standards. The volume of data stored has exponentially increased. Previously, almost all of the large-volume data came from satellites, but model outputs occupy the largest volume of our data storage nowadays. In collaboration with scientific and technological groups, DIAS can accelerate data archiving by including data loading, quality checking, metadata registration, and our system data-searching capability is being enriched. DIAS also enables us to perform integrated research and realize interdisciplinarity. Essentially, we are now working in the fields of climate, water resources, food, fisheries, and biodiversity by collaborating between different disciplines and trying to develop bases of contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Strawman Philosophical Guide for Developing International Network of GPM GV Sites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Eric A.

2005-01-01

The creation of an international network of ground validation (GV) sites that will support the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission's international science programme will require detailed planning of mechanisms for exchanging technical information, GV data products, and scientific results. An important component of the planning will be the philosophical guide under which the network will grow and emerge as a successful element of the GPM Mission. This philosophical guide should be able to serve the mission in developing scientific pathways for ground validation research which will ensure the highest possible quality measurement record of global precipitation products. The philosophical issues, in this regard, partly stem from the financial architecture under which the GV network will be developed, i.e., each participating country will provide its own financial support through committed institutions -- regardless of whether a national or international space agency is involved.At the 1st International GPM Ground Validation Workshop held in Abingdon, UK in November-2003, most of the basic tenants behind the development of the international GV network were identified and discussed. Therefore, with this progress in mind, this presentation is intended to put forth a strawman philosophical guide supporting the development of the international network of GPM GV sites, noting that the initial progress has been reported in the Proceedings of the 1st International GPM GV Workshop -- available online. The central philosophical issues themselves, all flow from the fact that each participating institution can only bring to the table, GV facilities and scientific personnel that are affordable to the sanctioning (funding) national agency (be that a research, research-support, or operational agency). This situation imposes on the network, heterogeneity in the measuring sensors, data collection periods, data collection procedures, data latencies, and data reporting capabilities. Therefore, in order for the network to be effective in supporting the central scientific goals of the GPM mission, there must be a basic agreed upon doctrine under which the network participants function vis-a-vis: (1) an overriding set of general scientific requirements, (2) a minimal set of policies governing the free flow of GV data between the scientific participants, (3) a few basic definitions concerning the prioritization of measurements and their respective value to the mission, (4) a few basic procedures concerning data formats, data reporting procedures, data access, and data archiving, and (5) a simple means to differentiate GV sites according to their level of effort and ability to perform near real-time data acquisition - data reporting tasks. Most important, in case they choose to operate as a near real-time data collection-data distribution site, they would be expected to operate under a fairly narrowly defined protocol needed to ensure smooth GV support operations. This presentation will suggest measures responsive to items (1) - (5) from which to proceed,. In addition, this presentation will seek to stimulate discussion and debate concerning how much heterogeneity is tolerable within the eventual GV site network, given that the any individual GV site can only be considered scientifically useful if it supports the achievement of the central GPM Mission goals. Only ground validation research that has a direct connection to the space mission should be considered justifiable given the overarching scientific goals of the mission. Therefore each site will have to seek some level of accommodation to what the GPM Mission requires in the way of retrieval error characterization, retrieval error detection and reporting, and generation of GV data products that support assessment and improvement of the mission's standard precipitation retrieval algorithms. These are all important scientific issues that will be best resolved in open scientific debate.

Science Goal Driven Observing: A Step Towards Maximizing Science Returns and Spacecraft Autonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koratkar, Anuradha; Grosvenor, Sandy; Jones, Jeremy; Memarsadeghi, Nargess; Wolf, Karl

2002-01-01

In the coming decade, the drive to increase the scientific returns on capital investment and to reduce costs will force automation to be implemented in many of the scientific tasks that have traditionally been manually overseen. Thus, spacecraft autonomy will become an even greater part of mission operations. While recent missions have made great strides in the ability to autonomously monitor and react to changing health and physical status of spacecraft, little progress has been made in responding quickly to science driven events. The new generation of space-based telescopes/observatories will see deeper, with greater clarity, and they will generate data at an unprecedented rate. Yet, while onboard data processing and storage capability will increase rapidly, bandwidth for downloading data will not increase as fast and can become a significant bottleneck and cost of a science program. For observations of inherently variable targets and targets of opportunity, the ability to recognize early if an observation will not meet the science goals of variability or minimum brightness, and react accordingly, can have a major positive impact on the overall scientific returns of an observatory and on its operational costs. If the observatory can reprioritize the schedule to focus on alternate targets, discard uninteresting observations prior to downloading, or download them at a reduced resolution its overall efficiency will be dramatically increased. We are investigating and developing tools for a science goal monitoring (SGM) system. The SGM will have an interface to help capture higher-level science goals from scientists and translate them into a flexible observing strategy that SGM can execute and monitor. SGM will then monitor the incoming data stream and interface with data processing systems to recognize significant events. When an event occurs, the system will use the science goals given it to reprioritize observations, and react appropriately and/or communicate with ground systems - both human and machine - for confirmation and/or further high priority analyses.

Refining Current Scientific Priorities and Identifying New Scientific Gaps in HIV-Related Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Research.

PubMed

Twigg, Homer L; Crystal, Ronald; Currier, Judith; Ridker, Paul; Berliner, Nancy; Kiem, Hans-Peter; Rutherford, George; Zou, Shimian; Glynn, Simone; Wong, Renee; Peprah, Emmanuel; Engelgau, Michael; Creazzo, Tony; Colombini-Hatch, Sandra; Caler, Elisabet

2017-09-01

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) AIDS Program's goal is to provide direction and support for research and training programs in areas of HIV-related heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) diseases. To better define NHLBI current HIV-related scientific priorities and with the goal of identifying new scientific priorities and gaps in HIV-related HLBS research, a wide group of investigators gathered for a scientific NHLBI HIV Working Group on December 14-15, 2015, in Bethesda, MD. The core objectives of the Working Group included discussions on: (1) HIV-related HLBS comorbidities in the antiretroviral era; (2) HIV cure; (3) HIV prevention; and (4) mechanisms to implement new scientific discoveries in an efficient and timely manner so as to have the most impact on people living with HIV. The 2015 Working Group represented an opportunity for the NHLBI to obtain expert advice on HIV/AIDS scientific priorities and approaches over the next decade.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and their implementation: A national global framework for health, development and equity needs a systems approach at every level.

PubMed

Morton, Stephen; Pencheon, David; Squires, Neil

2017-12-01

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of global goals for fair and sustainable health at every level: from planetary biosphere to local community. The aim is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity, now and in the future. The UN has established web-sites to inform the implementation of the SDGs and an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on an Indicator Framework. We have searched for independent commentaries and analysis. The goals represent a framework that is scientifically robust, and widely intuitive intended to build upon the progress established by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is a need for system wide strategic planning to integrate the economic, social and environmental dimensions into policy and actions. Many countries have yet to understand the difference between the MDGs and the SDGs, particularly their universality, the huge potential of new data methods to help with their implementation, and the systems thinking that is needed to deliver the vision. The danger is that individual goals may be prioritized without an understanding of the potential positive interactions between goals. There is an increasing understanding that sustainable development needs a paradigm shift in our understanding of the interaction between the real economy and quality of life. There would be many social, environmental and economic benefits in changing our current model. We need to develop systems wide understanding of what supports a healthy environment and the art and science of making change. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

Providing Goal-Based Autonomy for Commanding a Spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rabideau, Gregg; Chien, Steve; Liu, Ning

2008-01-01

A computer program for use aboard a scientific-exploration spacecraft autonomously selects among goals specified in high-level requests and generates corresponding sequences of low-level commands, understandable by spacecraft systems. (As used here, 'goals' signifies specific scientific observations.) From a dynamic, onboard set of goals that could oversubscribe spacecraft resources, the program selects a non-oversubscribing subset that maximizes a quality metric. In an early version of the program, the requested goals are assumed to have fixed starting times and durations. Goals can conflict by exceeding a limit on either the number of separate goals or the number of overlapping goals making demands on the same resource. The quality metric used in this version is chosen to ensure that a goal will never be replaced by another having lower priority. At any time, goals can be added or removed, or their priorities can be changed, and the 'best' goal will be selected. Once a goal has been selected, the program implements a robust, flexible approach to generation of low-level commands: Rather than generate rigid sequences with fixed starting times, the program specifies flexible sequences that can be altered to accommodate run time variations.

A model of "integrated scientific method" and its application for the analysis of instruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rusbult, Craig Francis

A model of 'integrated scientific method' (ISM) was constructed as a framework for describing the process of science in terms of activities (formulating a research problem, and inventing and evaluating actions--such as selecting and inventing theories, evaluating theories, designing experiments, and doing experiments--intended to solve the problem) and evaluation criteria (empirical, conceptual, and cultural-personal). Instead of trying to define the scientific method, ISM is intended to serve as a flexible framework that--by varying the characteristics of its components, their integrated relationships, and their relative importance can be used to describe a variety of scientific methods, and a variety of perspectives about what constitutes an accurate portrayal of scientific methods. This framework is outlined visually and verbally, followed by an elaboration of the framework and my own views about science, and an evaluation of whether ISM can serve as a relatively neutral framework for describing a wide range of science practices and science interpretations. ISM was used to analyze an innovative, guided inquiry classroom (taught by Susan Johnson, using Genetics Construction Kit software) in which students do simulated scientific research by solving classical genetics problems that require effect-to-cause reasoning and theory revision. The immediate goal of analysis was to examine the 'science experiences' of students, to determine how the 'structure of instruction' provides opportunities for these experiences. Another goal was to test and improve the descriptive and analytical utility of ISM. In developing ISM, a major objective was to make ISM educationally useful. A concluding discussion includes controversies about "the nature of science" and how to teach it, how instruction can expand opportunities for student experience, and how goal-oriented intentional learning (using ISM might improve the learning, retention, and transfer of thinking skills. Potential educational applications of ISM could involve its use for instructional analysis or design, or for teaching students in the classroom; or ISM and IDM (a closely related, generalized 'integrated design method') could play valuable roles in a 'wide spiral' curriculum designed for the coordinated teaching of thinking skills, including creativity and critical thinking, across a wide range of subjects.

Self-Enhancing and Self-Defeating Ego Goals in Mathematics Lessons: Relationships among Task and Avoidance Goals, Achievement, Self-Perceptions, Anxiety, and Motivation (A Scientific Educology)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skaalvik, Einar M.

2002-01-01

Educology is the fund of knowledge about the educational process, which obviously occurs within and outside of schools. Educology includes, at the least, the fund of knowledge about past education (historical educology), about current states of affairs in education (scientific educology), about effective practices within education (praxiological…

Explore with Us

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morales, Lester

2012-01-01

The fundamental goal of this vision is to advance U.S. scientific, security and economic interest through a robust space exploration program. Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program to explore the solar system and beyond. Extend human presence across the solar system, starting with a human return to the Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations. Develop the innovative technologies, knowledge, and infrastructures both to explore and to support decisions about the destinations for human exploration. Promote international and commercial participation in exploration to further U.S. scientific, security, and economic interests.

Comparing Emerging XML Based Formats from a Multi-discipline Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawyer, D. M.; Reich, L. I.; Nikhinson, S.

2002-12-01

This paper analyzes the similarity and differences among several examples of an emerging generation of Scientific Data Formats that are based on XML technologies. Some of the factors evaluated include the goals of these efforts, the data models, and XML technologies used, and the maturity of currently available software. This paper then investigates the practicality of developing a single set of structural data objects and basic scientific concepts, such as units, that could be used across discipline boundaries and extended by disciplines and missions to create Scientific Data Formats for their communities. This analysis is partly based on an effort sponsored by the ESDIS office at GSFC to compare the Earth Science Markup Language (ESML) and the eXtensible Data Format( XDF), two members of this new generation of XML based Data Description Languages that have been developed by NASA funded efforts in recent years. This paper adds FITSML and potentially CDFML to the list of XML based Scientific Data Formats discussed. This paper draws heavily a Formats Evolution Process Committee (http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/fep/) draft white paper primarily developed by Lou Reich, Mike Folk and Don Sawyer to assist the Space Science community in understanding Scientific Data Formats. One of primary conclusions of that paper is that a scientific data format object model should be examined along two basic axes. The first is the complexity of the computer/mathematical data types supported and the second is the level of scientific domain specialization incorporated. This paper also discusses several of the issues that affect the decision on whether to implement a discipline or project specific Scientific Data Format as a formal extension of a general purpose Scientific Data Format or to implement the APIs independently.

Development of Clinical Pharmacology in the Russian Federation.

PubMed

Petrov, V I; Kagramanyan, I N; Khokhlov, A L; Frolov, M U; Lileeva, E G

2016-05-01

The article aims to provide the history, organization, and approaches to clinical pharmacology in the Russian Federation. This article is based on major international and Russian documents, along with groundbreaking historical facts and scientific articles related to the development of modern clinical pharmacology the Russian Federation. Improving the quality of drug therapy is the main goal of clinical pharmacology in the Russian Federation. Decisions of the World Health Organization, scientific achievements, and the work of well-known scientists among the world community and in the Russian Federation have strongly influenced the development of clinical pharmacology the Russian Federation. Clinical pharmacology in the Russian Federation addresses a wide range of problems; it actively engages in modern scientific research, education; and clinical practice. Clinical pharmacologists participate in studies of new drugs and often have a specific area of expertise. The future development of clinical pharmacology in the Russian Federation will be related to improvements in training, refinement of the framework that regulates clinical pharmacologists, and the creation of clinical pharmacology laboratories with modern equipment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier HS Journals, Inc. All rights reserved.

EUROPLANET-RI modelling service for the planetary science community: European Modelling and Data Analysis Facility (EMDAF)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khodachenko, Maxim; Miller, Steven; Stoeckler, Robert; Topf, Florian

2010-05-01

Computational modeling and observational data analysis are two major aspects of the modern scientific research. Both appear nowadays under extensive development and application. Many of the scientific goals of planetary space missions require robust models of planetary objects and environments as well as efficient data analysis algorithms, to predict conditions for mission planning and to interpret the experimental data. Europe has great strength in these areas, but it is insufficiently coordinated; individual groups, models, techniques and algorithms need to be coupled and integrated. Existing level of scientific cooperation and the technical capabilities for operative communication, allow considerable progress in the development of a distributed international Research Infrastructure (RI) which is based on the existing in Europe computational modelling and data analysis centers, providing the scientific community with dedicated services in the fields of their computational and data analysis expertise. These services will appear as a product of the collaborative communication and joint research efforts of the numerical and data analysis experts together with planetary scientists. The major goal of the EUROPLANET-RI / EMDAF is to make computational models and data analysis algorithms associated with particular national RIs and teams, as well as their outputs, more readily available to their potential user community and more tailored to scientific user requirements, without compromising front-line specialized research on model and data analysis algorithms development and software implementation. This objective will be met through four keys subdivisions/tasks of EMAF: 1) an Interactive Catalogue of Planetary Models; 2) a Distributed Planetary Modelling Laboratory; 3) a Distributed Data Analysis Laboratory, and 4) enabling Models and Routines for High Performance Computing Grids. Using the advantages of the coordinated operation and efficient communication between the involved computational modelling, research and data analysis expert teams and their related research infrastructures, EMDAF will provide a 1) flexible, 2) scientific user oriented, 3) continuously developing and fast upgrading computational and data analysis service to support and intensify the European planetary scientific research. At the beginning EMDAF will create a set of demonstrators and operational tests of this service in key areas of European planetary science. This work will aim at the following objectives: (a) Development and implementation of tools for distant interactive communication between the planetary scientists and computing experts (including related RIs); (b) Development of standard routine packages, and user-friendly interfaces for operation of the existing numerical codes and data analysis algorithms by the specialized planetary scientists; (c) Development of a prototype of numerical modelling services "on demand" for space missions and planetary researchers; (d) Development of a prototype of data analysis services "on demand" for space missions and planetary researchers; (e) Development of a prototype of coordinated interconnected simulations of planetary phenomena and objects (global multi-model simulators); (f) Providing the demonstrators of a coordinated use of high performance computing facilities (super-computer networks), done in cooperation with European HPC Grid DEISA.

S3 guidelines for intensive care in cardiac surgery patients: hemodynamic monitoring and cardiocirculary system

PubMed Central

Carl, M.; Alms, A.; Braun, J.; Dongas, A.; Erb, J.; Goetz, A.; Goepfert, M.; Gogarten, W.; Grosse, J.; Heller, A. R.; Heringlake, M.; Kastrup, M.; Kroener, A.; Loer, S. A.; Marggraf, G.; Markewitz, A.; Reuter, D.; Schmitt, D. V.; Schirmer, U.; Wiesenack, C.; Zwissler, B.; Spies, C.

2010-01-01

Hemodynamic monitoring and adequate volume-therapy, as well as the treatment with positive inotropic drugs and vasopressors are the basic principles of the postoperative intensive care treatment of patient after cardiothoracic surgery. The goal of these S3 guidelines is to evaluate the recommendations in regard to evidence based medicine and to define therapy goals for monitoring and therapy. In context with the clinical situation the evaluation of the different hemodynamic parameters allows the development of a therapeutic concept and the definition of goal criteria to evaluate the effect of treatment. Up to now there are only guidelines for subareas of postoperative treatment of cardiothoracic surgical patients, like the use of a pulmonary artery catheter or the transesophageal echocardiography. The German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Thorax-, Herz- und Gefäßchirurgie, DGTHG) and the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und lntensivmedizin, DGAI) made an approach to ensure and improve the quality of the postoperative intensive care medicine after cardiothoracic surgery by the development of S3 consensus-based treatment guidelines. Goal of this guideline is to assess the available monitoring methods with regard to indication, procedures, predication, limits, contraindications and risks for use. The differentiated therapy of volume-replacement, positive inotropic support and vasoactive drugs, the therapy with vasodilatators, inodilatators and calcium sensitizers and the use of intra-aortic balloon pumps will also be addressed. The guideline has been developed following the recommendations for the development of guidelines by the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF). The presented key messages of the guidelines were approved after two consensus meetings under the moderation of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF). PMID:20577643

The Topic Not Included in Geography Curriculum in Turkey: Geographical Indications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Önal, Hakan

2017-01-01

Almost all countries periodically review and discuss their educational systems and their content due to the growing importance attached to educational activities. The goal here is to allow the use of innovative and different methodologies and to reflect scientific advances and social developments and innovations on school life which is one of the…

Preliminary design study for an atomospheric science facility

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hutchison, R.

1972-01-01

The activities and results of the Atmospheric Science Facility preliminary design study are reported. The objectives of the study were to define the scientific goals, to determine the range of experiment types, and to develop the preliminary instrument design requirements for a reusable, general purpose, optical research facility for investigating the earth's atmosphere from a space shuttle orbital vehicle.

The Proof of the Pudding?: A Case Study of an "At-Risk" Design-Based Inquiry Science Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chue, Shien; Lee, Yew-Jin

2013-01-01

When students collaboratively design and build artifacts that require relevant understanding and application of science, many aspects of scientific literacy are developed. Design-based inquiry (DBI) is one such pedagogy that can serve these desired goals of science education well. Focusing on a Projectile Science curriculum previously found to be…

Application Instructions | Division of Cancer Prevention

Cancer.gov

This is NOT a grant application - if successful, funds will not be transferred to your institution to support your project. Rather, this is an application to access the scientific capabilities and resources of the NCI with the goal of moving promising cancer chemopreventive agents into clinical testing. If successful, you will partner with the NCI in developing a drug

Comparable Educational Benefits in Half the Time: An Alternating Organic Chemistry Laboratory Sequence Targeting Prehealth Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Sherri C.; Colabroy, Keri L.; Baar, Marsha R.

2016-01-01

The laboratory is a mainstay in STEM education, promoting the development of critical thinking skills, dexterity, and scientific curiosity. The goals in the laboratory for nonchemistry, prehealth majors, though, could be distinguished from those for chemistry majors. In service courses such as organic chemistry, much laboratory time is often spent…

Money, Sex, and Drugs: A Case Study to Teach the Genetics of Antibiotic Resistance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cloud-Hansen, Karen A.; Kuehner, Jason N.; Tong, Lillian; Miller, Sarah; Handelsman, Jo

2008-01-01

The goal of the work reported here was to help students expand their understanding of antibiotic resistance, the Central Dogma, and evolution. We developed a unit entitled "Ciprofloxacin Resistance in "Neisseria gonorrhoeae,"" which was constructed according to the principles of scientific teaching by a team of graduate students, science faculty,…

Examining Educational Climate Change Technology: How Group Inquiry Work with Realistic Scientific Technology Alters Classroom Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bush, Drew; Sieber, Renee; Seiler, Gale; Chandler, Mark

2018-01-01

This study with 79 students in Montreal, Quebec, compared the educational use of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) global climate model (GCM) to climate education technologies developed for classroom use that included simpler interfaces and processes. The goal was to show how differing climate education technologies succeed…

Center for Social Organization of Schools. Fourth Annual Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD. Center for the Study of Social Organization of Schools.

This report describes goals, results, and work-in-progress for each of the programs through which the Center is attempting to develop a scientific knowledge of how schools affect students and to use this information for the invention of better school practices and educational forms. The major programs are 1) school organization--to determine how…

Activities in an S-STEM Program to Catalyze Early Entry into Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graham, Kate J.; McIntee, Edward J.; Raigoza, Annette F.; Fazal, M. Abul; Jakubowski, Henry V.

2017-01-01

A cohort program to increase retention of under-represented groups in chemistry was developed at the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University. In particular, this program chose to emphasize early career mentoring and early access to research. This goal was chosen because research has been repeatedly shown to increase scientific identity…

Building Bridges of Understanding through Continuing Education and Professional Development of Arabs and Israelis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Noyek, Arnold M.; Skinner, Harvey; Davis, Dave; Clark, Ian; Sriharan, Abi; Chalin, Catherine G.

2005-01-01

In this article, we present an educational approach uniquely linked to humanitarian and peace-building goals in conflicted regions of the world. We examine the Canada International Scientific Exchange Program and its lead program, the Middle East Association for Managing Hearing Loss, as a case study. Under a Canadian umbrella, continuing medical…

Building Scalable Knowledge Graphs for Earth Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramachandran, Rahul; Maskey, Manil; Gatlin, Patrick; Zhang, Jia; Duan, Xiaoyi; Miller, J. J.; Bugbee, Kaylin; Christopher, Sundar; Freitag, Brian

2017-01-01

Knowledge Graphs link key entities in a specific domain with other entities via relationships. From these relationships, researchers can query knowledge graphs for probabilistic recommendations to infer new knowledge. Scientific papers are an untapped resource which knowledge graphs could leverage to accelerate research discovery. Goal: Develop an end-to-end (semi) automated methodology for constructing Knowledge Graphs for Earth Science.

A historical examination of the nature of science and its consensus as presented in the Benchmarks for Science Literacy and National Science Education Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Felske, Daniel D.

Developing a scientific literate citizenry has fueled science education reforms for the past 40 years. A review of the literature reveals that definitions of scientific literacy during this period were greatly influenced by the goals, directions, and political agendas of the day. This approach has resulted in programs emphasizing certain aspects of scientific literacy while neglecting others. Additionally, consensus on what scientific literacy means or how to develop it has not been achieved. One aspect of scientific literacy that is agreed upon is the essential role that the nature of science (NOS) plays in its development. For this reason, an extensive review of the literature was conducted to develop a comprehensive background of this topic. The component structure of the NOS revealed in the literature was then synthesized into a NOS framework. The NOS framework served to guide the construction of a 21 item questionnaire taken from statements embedded in the consensual documents Benchmarks for Science Literacy (AAAS, 1993) and National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996). A panel of five experts who have written extensively on the nature of science was then assembled and the degree of NOS consensus measured using a modified Delphi technique. The results of the survey indicated a high level of consensus (95%) at the ≥80% level. The panelists concurred positively on 19 of 21 NOS items, concurred negatively on one of 21 NOS items (item 10), and could not reach consensus on one of 21 NOS items (item 16). These findings, as well as, the NOS framework, are important first steps toward developing programs that foster the development of scientific literacy.

Quantum information processing and communication. Strategic report on current status, visions and goals for research in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zoller, P.; Beth, Th.; Binosi, D.; Blatt, R.; Briegel, H.; Bruss, D.; Calarco, T.; Cirac, J. I.; Deutsch, D.; Eisert, J.; Ekert, A.; Fabre, C.; Gisin, N.; Grangiere, P.; Grassl, M.; Haroche, S.; Imamoglu, A.; Karlson, A.; Kempe, J.; Kouwenhoven, L.; Kröll, S.; Leuchs, G.; Lewenstein, M.; Loss, D.; Lütkenhaus, N.; Massar, S.; Mooij, J. E.; Plenio, M. B.; Polzik, E.; Popescu, S.; Rempe, G.; Sergienko, A.; Suter, D.; Twamley, J.; Wendin, G.; Werner, R.; Winter, A.; Wrachtrup, J.; Zeilinger, A.

2005-11-01

We present an excerpt of the document “Quantum Information Processing and Communication: Strategic report on current status, visions and goals for research in Europe”, which has been recently published in electronic form at the website of FET (the Future and Emerging Technologies Unit of the Directorate General Information Society of the European Commission, http://www.cordis.lu/ist/fet/qipc-sr.htm). This document has been elaborated, following a former suggestion by FET, by a committee of QIPC scientists to provide input towards the European Commission for the preparation of the Seventh Framework Program. Besides being a document addressed to policy makers and funding agencies (both at the European and national level), the document contains a detailed scientific assessment of the state-of-the-art, main research goals, challenges, strengths, weaknesses, visions and perspectives of all the most relevant QIPC sub-fields, that we report here. Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Th. Beth, one of the pioneers of QIPC, whose contributions have had a significant scientific impact on the development as well as on the visibility of a field that he enthusiastically helped to shape since its early days.

Project Artemis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birchenough, Shawn; Kato, Denise; Kennedy, Fred; Akin, David

1990-01-01

The goals of Project Artemis are designed to meet the challege of President Bush to return to the Moon, this time to stay. The first goal of the project is to establish a permanent manned base on the Moon for the purposes of scientific research and technological development. The knowledge gained from the establishment and operations of the lunar base will then be used to achieve the second goal of Project Artemis, the establishment of a manned base on the Martian surface. Throughout both phases of the program, crew safety will be the number one priority. There are four main issues that have governed the entire program: crew safety and mission success, commonality, growth potential, and costing and scheduling. These issues are discussed in more detail.

Pre-Service Elementary Teachers' Scientific Literacy and Self-Efficacy in Teaching Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al Sultan, Adam; Henson, Harvey, Jr.; Fadde, Peter J.

2018-01-01

Many educators and educational institutions worldwide have agreed that the main goal of science education is to produce a scientifically literate community. Science teachers are key to the achievement of scientific literacy at all levels of education because of the essential role they play in preparing scientifically literate individuals. Studies…

Implementing Science-Technology-Society Approaches in Middle School Science Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akcay, Hakan; Yager, Robert E.

2010-01-01

The National Science Education Standards emphasize a goal that students should achieve scientific literacy, which is defined as the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts needed in daily living. Scientific literacy enables people to not only use scientific principles and processes in making personal decisions but also to participate in…

Explaining Variation in How Classroom Communities Adapt the Practice of Scientific Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berland, Leema K.

2011-01-01

Research and practice has placed an increasing emphasis on aligning classroom practices with scientific practices such as scientific argumentation. In this paper, I explore 1 challenge associated with this goal by examining how existing classroom practices influence students' engagement in the practice of scientific argumentation. To do so, I…

Blended Training on Scientific Software: A Study on How Scientific Data Are Generated

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skordaki, Efrosyni-Maria; Bainbridge, Susan

2018-01-01

This paper presents the results of a research study on scientific software training in blended learning environments. The investigation focused on training approaches followed by scientific software users whose goal is the reliable application of such software. A key issue in current literature is the requirement for a theory-substantiated…

Factors That Help and Hinder Scientific Training in Counseling and Clinical Psychology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marks, Margaret M.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this dissertation is to better understand scientific training within clinical and counseling psychology doctoral programs. A primary goal is to extend previous research by expanding the scientific training outcome variables from research interest and productivity to include additional characteristics of scientific mindedness such as…

Manipulating Light with Transition Metal Clusters, Organic Dyes, and Metal Organic Frameworks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ogut, Serdar

The primary goals of our research program is to develop and apply state-of-the-art first-principles methods to predict electronic and optical properties of three systems of significant scientific and technological interest: transition metal clusters, organic dyes, and metal-organic frameworks. These systems offer great opportunities to manipulate light for a wide ranging list of energy-related scientific problems and applications. During this grant period, we focused our investigations on the development, implementation, and benchmarking of many-body Green’s function methods (GW approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation) to examine excited-state properties of transition metal/transition-metal-oxide clusters and organic molecules that comprise the building blocks of dyesmore » and metal-organic frameworks.« less

Flight project data book, 1991

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) is responsible for planning, directing, executing, and evaluating that part of the overall NASA program that has as its goal the use of the unique characteristics of the space environment to conduct a scientific study of the universe, to solve practical problems on Earth, and to provide the scientific research foundation for expanding human presence beyond Earth into the solar system. OSSA manages the development of NASA's flight instrumentation for space science and applications including free flying spacecraft, Shuttle and Space Station payloads, and the suborbital sounding rockets, balloons, and aircraft programs. A summary is provided of future flight missions, including those approved and currently under development and those which appear in the OSSA strategic plan.

The Development of "Water Strider" Inquiry Learning Program for Improving Scientific Inquiry Learning Ability in the Chapter "The Little Creatures World" of the Korea Elementary School 5th Grade Science Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Dongryeul

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to develop a "Water strider" Inquiry Learning Program for improved inquiry learning, and to analyze the validity of the "Water strider." The Inquiry Learning Program's goal was to create an application for finding out an on-site applicability for the "Water strider" Inquiry Learning…

NASA Facts: Edison Demonstration of Spacecraft Networks (EDSN) Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ord, Stephen; Yost, Bruce D.; Petro, Andrew J.

2013-01-01

NASA's Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks (EDSN) mission will launch and deploy a swarm of 8 cubesats into a loose formation approximately 500 km above Earth. EDSN will develop technology to send multiple, advanced, yet affordable nanosatellites into space with cross-link communications to enable a wide array of scientific, commercial, and academic research. Other goals of the mission include lowering the cost and shortening the development time for future small spacecraft.

2016 Science Mission Directorate Technology Highlights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seablom, Michael S.

2017-01-01

The role of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to enable NASA to achieve its science goals in the context of the nation's science agenda. SMD's strategic decisions regarding future missions and scientific pursuits are guided by agency goals, input from the science community including the recommendations set forth in the National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys and a commitment to preserve a balanced program across the major science disciplines. Toward this end, each of the four SMD science divisions -- Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics -- develops fundamental science questions upon which to base future research and mission programs.

Automated real-time software development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Denise R.; Walker, Carrie K.; Turkovich, John J.

1993-01-01

A Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) system has been developed at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory (CSDL) under the direction of the NASA Langley Research Center. The CSDL CASE tool provides an automated method of generating source code and hard copy documentation from functional application engineering specifications. The goal is to significantly reduce the cost of developing and maintaining real-time scientific and engineering software while increasing system reliability. This paper describes CSDL CASE and discusses demonstrations that used the tool to automatically generate real-time application code.

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ideas About Scientific Practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ricketts, Amy

2014-10-01

With the goal of producing scientifically literate citizens who are able to make informed decisions and reason critically when science intersects with their everyday lives, the National Research Council (NRC) has produced two recent documents that call for a new approach to K-12 science education that is based on scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. These documents will potentially influence future state standards and K-12 curricula. Teachers will need support in order to teach science using a practices based approach, particularly if they do not have strong science backgrounds, which is often the case with elementary teachers. This study investigates one cohort (n = 19) of preservice elementary teachers' ideas about scientific practices, as developed in a one-semester elementary science teaching methods course. The course focused on eight particular scientific practices, as defined by the National Research Council's A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (2012). Participants' written reflections, lesson plans and annotated teaching videos were analyzed in fine detail to better understand their ideas about what it means to engage in each of the practices. The findings suggest that preservice elementary teachers hold promising ideas about scientific practices (such as an emphasis on argumentation and communication between scientists, critical thinking, and answering and asking questions as the goal of science) as well as problematic ideas (including confusion over the purpose of modeling and the process of analysis, and conflating argumentation and explanation building). These results highlight the strengths and limitations of using the Framework (NRC 2012) as an instructional text and the difficulties of differentiating between preservice teachers' content knowledge about doing the practices and their pedagogical knowledge about teaching the practices.

Ethics Teaching in Higher Education for Principled Reasoning: A Gateway for Reconciling Scientific Practice with Ethical Deliberation.

PubMed

Aközer, Mehmet; Aközer, Emel

2017-06-01

This paper proposes laying the groundwork for principled moral reasoning as a seminal goal of ethics interventions in higher education, and on this basis, makes a case for educating future specialists and professionals with a foundation in philosophical ethics. Identification of such a seminal goal is warranted by (1) the progressive dissociation of scientific practice and ethical deliberation since the onset of a problematic relationship between science and ethics around the mid-19th century, and (2) the extensive mistrust of integrating ethics in science and engineering curricula beyond its "applied," "practical," or "professional" implications. Although calls by international scientific and educational bodies to strengthen ethics teaching in scientific education over the past quarter century have brought about a notion of combining competence in a certain field with competence in ethics, this is neither entrenched in the academic community, nor fleshed out as regards its core or instruments to realize it. The legitimate goals of ethics teaching in higher education, almost settled since the 1980s, can be subsumed under the proposed seminal goal, and the latter also would safeguard content and methods of ethics interventions against the intrusion of indoctrinative approaches. In this paper, derivation of the proposed seminal goal rests on an interpretation of the Kohlbergian cognitive-developmental conception of moral adulthood consisting in autonomous principled moral reasoning. This interpretation involves, based on Kant's conception of the virtuous person, integrating questions about the "good life" into the domain of principled reasoning.

Training in Geoethics: Shared Values in Serving Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peppoloni, S.; Di Capua, G.

2014-12-01

Geosciences have evident repercussions on society. Geoscientists possess knowledge and skills to investigate, manage and intervene on the Geosphere, and this implies ethical obligations. So, the adoption of ethical principles and standards is crucial if geoscientists want to best serve the public. Their ethical responsibility requires a more active role in interacting with society, by giving people valuable contexts that inform the need for sustainable development, and perspectives that reveal essential and delicate balances of natural systems that impact humanity. Geoethics consists of research and reflection on those values upon which to base appropriate behaviour and practices where human activities intersect the Geosphere, and should become an essential point of reference in geoscientists' curricula. Acting in this direction implies the awareness by the geological community of its ethical commitments and the necessity to train new generations of geoscientists that in the future will be able to transfer to society not only practical aspects of geological knowledge, but also a new way to understand our planet. The IAPG - International Association for Promoting Geoethics (www.iapg.geoethics.org) was born to build a new awareness in the scientific community. It aims at joining forces of geoscientists all over the world, through creation of an international, multidisciplinary and scientific platform for discussing ethical problems and dilemmas in Earth Sciences, for strengthening the research base on Geoethics through scientific publications and conferences. Its main goal is to give a new cultural framework of reference, in which to develop effective training tools, in order to sensitize young geoscientists on ethical and social issues related to their future work, starting from the definition of shared values within the scientific community. This work provides an overview on the IAPG goals, activities and ongoing initiatives.

Multilingual education of students on a global scale and perspective-international networking on the example of bioindication and biomonitoring (B&B technologies).

PubMed

Markert, Bernd; Baltrėnaitė, Edita; Chudzińska, Ewa; De Marco, Silvia; Diatta, Jean; Ghaffari, Zahra; Gorelova, Svetlana; Marcovecchio, Jorge; Tabors, Guntis; Wang, Meie; Yousef, Naglaa; Fraenzle, Stefan; Wuenschmann, Simone

2014-04-01

Living or formerly living organisms are being used to obtain information on the quality of the general health status of our environment by bioindication and biomonitoring methods for many decades. Thus, different roads toward this common scientific goal were developed by a lot of different international research groups. Global cooperation in between various scientific teams throughout the world has produced common ideas, scientific definitions, and highly innovative results of this extremely attractive working field. The transdisciplinary approach of different and multifaceted scientific areas-starting from biology, analytical chemistry, via health physics, up to social and economic issues-have surpassed mental barriers of individual scientists, so that "production" of straightforward common results related to the influence of material and immaterial environmental factors to the well-being of organisms and human life has now reached the forefront of international thinking. For the further sustainable development of our common scientific "hobby" of bioindication and biomonitoring, highest personal energy has to be given by us, being teachers to our students and to convince strategically decision makers as politicians to invest (financially) into the development of education and research of this innovative technique. Young people have to be intensively convinced on the "meaning" of our scientific doing, e.g., by extended forms of education. One example of multilingual education of students on a global scale and perspective is given here, which we started about 3 years ago.

The Expert System Programme of the European Space Agency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lafay, J. F.; Allard, F.

1992-08-01

ESA's Expert System Demonstration (ESD) program is discussed in terms of its goals, structure, three-phase approach, and initial results. ESD is intended to demonstrate the benefits of AI and knowledge-based systems for in-orbit infrastructures by developing a strategic technology to contribute to ESA missions. Three phases were defined for: (1) program definition and review of existing work; (2) demonstration of applications prototypes; and (3) the development of operational systems from successful prototypes. Applications of 16 proposed expert-system candidates are grouped into payload-engineering and crew/operations categories. The candidates are to be evaluated in terms of their potential contribution to strategic goals such as improving scientific return and automating operator functions to eliminate human error.

Ethics and the UN Sustainable Development Goals: The Case for Comprehensive Engineering : Commentary on "Using Student Engagement to Relocate Ethics to the Core of the Engineering Curriculum".

PubMed

van den Hoven, Jeroen

2016-12-27

In the twenty-first century, the urgent problems the world is facing (the UN Sustainable Development Goals) are increasingly related to vast and intricate 'systems of systems', which comprise both socio-technical and eco-systems. In order for engineers to adequately and responsibly respond to these problems, they cannot focus on only one technical or any other aspect in isolation, but must adopt a wider and multidisciplinary perspective of these systems, including an ethical and social perspective. Engineering curricula should therefore focus on what we call 'comprehensive engineering'. Comprehensive engineering implies ethical coherence, consilience of scientific disciplines, and cooperation between parties.

Extensive review of shale gas environmental impacts from scientific literature (2010-2015).

PubMed

Costa, Daniele; Jesus, João; Branco, David; Danko, Anthony; Fiúza, António

2017-06-01

Extensive reviews and meta-analyses are essential to summarize emerging developments in a specific field and offering information on the current trends in the scientific literature. Shale gas exploration and exploitation has been extensively debated in literature, but a comprehensive review of recent studies on the environmental impacts has yet to be carried out. Therefore, the goal of this article is to systematically examine scientific articles published between 2010 and 2015 and identify recent advances and existing data gaps. The examined articles were classified into six main categories (water resources, atmospheric emissions, land use, induced seismicity, occupational and public health and safety, and other impacts). These categories are analyzed separately to identify specific challenges, possibly existing consensus and data gaps yet remained in the literature.

From Open Data to Science-Based Services for Disaster Risk Management: the Experience of the GEO Geohazards Supersite Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvi, S.; Poland, M. P.; Sigmundsson, F.; Puglisi, G.; Borgstrom, S.; Ergintav, S.; Vogfjord, K. S.; Fournier, N.; Hamling, I. J.; Mothes, P. A.; Savvaidis, A.; Wicks, C. W., Jr.

2017-12-01

In 2010, the Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories initiative (GSNL) established, in the framework of GEO, the concept of a global partnership among the geophysical scientific community, space agencies, and in-situ data providers, with the aim of promoting scientific advancements in the understanding of seismic and volcanic phenomena. This goal is achieved through open sharing of large volumes of remote sensing and in-situ data from specific volcanic or seismic areas of particularly high risk or scientific interest (the Supersites) as proposed by the scientific community. Data provision to the Supersites is coordinated by local research and monitoring institutions, which deploy and manage geophysical monitoring networks and have an institutional mandate for the provision of scientific data and services to the national government and other regional users. Starting in 2015, following the changes in GEO and the call for action given by the Sendai Framework 2015-2030, the GSNL initiative has promoted the rapid uptake of newly developed scientific information for maximum societal benefit in Disaster Risk Management (DRM). While the procedures by which the scientific products are provided to the local decision makers depend on the different national operational frameworks and are largely independent of the Supersite existence, the quality of the scientific information, and thus its actual benefit for DRM, is considerably enhanced at each Supersite. This growth in scientific understanding of specific volcanic and seismic areas is not only due to wider accessibility of data, but also to the increased collaboration and sharing of resources and capacities that occurs inside the Supersite scientific community. For maximum effectiveness, the GSNL initiative supports an Open Science approach, where different collaboration and communication approaches and technological solutions are developed, tested, and shared, thereby helping to sustain the scientific investigation process. We will present at the meeting the latest developments and results of the GSNL Supersite network.

Scientific and Regulatory Considerations in Solid Oral Modified Release Drug Product Development.

PubMed

Li, Min; Sander, Sanna; Duan, John; Rosencrance, Susan; Miksinski, Sarah Pope; Yu, Lawrence; Seo, Paul; Rege, Bhagwant

2016-11-01

This review presents scientific and regulatory considerations for the development of solid oral modified release (MR) drug products. It includes a rationale for patient-focused development based on Quality-by-Design (QbD) principles. Product and process understanding of MR products includes identification and risk-based evaluation of critical material attributes (CMAs), critical process parameters (CPPs), and their impact on critical quality attributes (CQAs) that affect the clinical performance. The use of various biopharmaceutics tools that link the CQAs to a predictable and reproducible clinical performance for patient benefit is emphasized. Product and process understanding lead to a more comprehensive control strategy that can maintain product quality through the shelf life and the lifecycle of the drug product. The overall goal is to develop MR products that consistently meet the clinical objectives while mitigating the risks to patients by reducing the probability and increasing the detectability of CQA failures.

The Impact of Advanced Greenhouse Gas Measurement Science on Policy Goals and Research Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abrahams, L.; Clavin, C.; McKittrick, A.

2016-12-01

In support of the Paris agreement, accurate characterizations of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates have been area of increased scientific focus. Over the last several years, the scientific community has placed significant emphasis on understanding, quantifying, and reconciling measurement and modeling methods that characterize methane emissions from petroleum and natural gas sources. This work has prompted national policy discussions and led to the improvement of regional and national methane emissions estimates. Research campaigns focusing on reconciling atmospheric measurements ("top-down") and process-based emissions estimates ("bottom-up") have sought to identify where measurement technology advances could inform policy objectives. A clear next step is development and deployment of advanced detection capabilities that could aid U.S. emissions mitigation and verification goals. The breadth of policy-relevant outcomes associated with advances in GHG measurement science are demonstrated by recent improvements in the petroleum and natural gas sector emission estimates in the EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory, ambitious efforts to apply inverse modeling results to inform or validate national GHG inventory, and outcomes from federal GHG measurement science technology development programs. In this work, we explore the variety of policy-relevant outcomes impacted by advances in GHG measurement science, with an emphasis on improving GHG inventory estimates, identifying emissions mitigation strategies, and informing technology development requirements.

The CTSA as an Exemplar Framework for Developing Multidisciplinary Translational Teams

PubMed Central

Calhoun, William J.; Wooten, Kevin; Bhavnani, Suresh; Anderson, Karl E.; Freeman, Jean

2012-01-01

Abstract Translational science requires that scientists from multiple disciplines work together to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease. Although a literature exists on the design and management of multidisciplinary teams, little has been written on multidisciplinary translational teams (MTTs). MTTs are distinct hybrid entities, with goals taken from both industry and academic models. We identified 30 design factors in 10 domains from a literature survey relevant to our MTT model: specific goals, structures, and processes. These dimensions were adapted to our own institutional environment in the selection and management of 11 MTTs that exploited resources of University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards (CTSA). Case illustrations of two specific MTTs illustrate some of the challenges encountered and opportunities realized in terms of education and scientific advances. Network depiction of disciplinarity indicated that CTSA KRs and CTSA leadership contributed to discipline diversity especially in small (or nascent) MTTs. A separate depiction of MTT‐KR utilization indicated that data analysis, translational technologies, and novel methods were heavily utilized by MTTs, whereas other KRs contributed significant effort to infrastructure development. We conclude that the CTSA can provide a rich 
infrastructural framework and scientific environment for the development of successful MTTs. Clin Trans Sci 2013; Volume 6: 60–71 PMID:23399092

Teaching/Research Project "Wheelmap"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gollenstede, Andreas

2018-05-01

In recent years new didactic concepts and approaches have been developed and evaluated at the universities. The concept for cartography lectures presented in this article is based on the close link of research and teaching/learning. The students are involved in all essential steps of a scientific project taking place during a series of lectures - beginning with the development of the scientific issues, followed by the choice and execution of the research methods and finally the presentation of the achieved outcomes. The specific project introduced here is based on self-experiments in which students took the perspective of wheelchair users entrusted with the task to map places, which are accessible for people with impairments. Among others, the goal set for the students was to develop an appropriate concept for the mobile acquisition of data and to visualise the final results by different methods of cartography.

Middle School Students' Learning about Genetic Inheritance through On-Line Scaffolding Supports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Manokore, Viola

2010-01-01

The main goal of school science is to enable learners to become scientifically literate through their participation in scientific discourses (McNeill & Krajcik, 2009). One of the key elements of scientific discourses is the ability to construct scientific explanations that consist of valid claims supported by appropriate evidence (e.g., McNeill &…

[Problems of the development of Polish Medical Periodicals in the inter-war period with particular focus on the hygiene-related press].

PubMed

Paciorek, Magdalena

2006-01-01

During the two decades between the World Wars, the medical press was an indispensable element in the development of medicine. The dissemination of scientific breakthroughs and new medical procedures as well as the opportunity to discuss them and formulate opinions thereon were the overriding goals of the scientific medical press. But the difficult economic conditions of the inter-war period were not conducive to the existence of such journals. Nevertheless, during the period under discussion the number of new medical periodicals kept increasing, adversely affecting the readership of existing journals. During the inter-war period, the development of a hitherto unencountered field of medicine, hygiene, was noted. Its further development depended on the dissemination of research results and the promotion of health-protection principles. Therefore it was in free Poland that the hygiene-related press developed apace. The article contains a list of 22 hygiene periodicals, nine of which met the criteria of scientific periodicals (of the archival type or addressed to the general public). The remaining 13 were popular magazines and health guides. An analysis of the form and content of the titles appearing during that period has been conducted.

Thermal performance modeling of NASA s scientific balloons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco, H.; Cathey, H.

The flight performance of a scientific balloon is highly dependant on the interaction between the balloon and its environment. The balloon is a thermal vehicle. Modeling a scientific balloon's thermal performance has proven to be a difficult analytical task. Most previous thermal models have attempted these analyses by using either a bulk thermal model approach, or by simplified representations of the balloon. These approaches to date have provided reasonable, but not very accurate results. Improvements have been made in recent years using thermal analysis tools developed for the thermal modeling of spacecraft and other sophisticated heat transfer problems. These tools, which now allow for accurate modeling of highly transmissive materials, have been applied to the thermal analysis of NASA's scientific balloons. A research effort has been started that utilizes the "Thermal Desktop" addition to AUTO CAD. This paper will discuss the development of thermal models for both conventional and Ultra Long Duration super-pressure balloons. This research effort has focused on incremental analysis stages of development to assess the accuracy of the tool and the required model resolution to produce usable data. The first stage balloon thermal analyses started with simple spherical balloon models with a limited number of nodes, and expanded the number of nodes to determine required model resolution. These models were then modified to include additional details such as load tapes. The second stage analyses looked at natural shaped Zero Pressure balloons. Load tapes were then added to these shapes, again with the goal of determining the required modeling accuracy by varying the number of gores. The third stage, following the same steps as the Zero Pressure balloon efforts, was directed at modeling super-pressure pumpkin shaped balloons. The results were then used to develop analysis guidelines and an approach for modeling balloons for both simple first order estimates and detailed full models. The development of the radiative environment and program input files, the development of the modeling techniques for balloons, and the development of appropriate data output handling techniques for both the raw data and data plots will be discussed. A general guideline to match predicted balloon performance with known flight data will also be presented. One long-term goal of this effort is to develop simplified approaches and techniques to include results in performance codes being developed.

The Polaris Project: Undergraduate Research Catalyzing Advances in Arctic Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schade, J. D.; Holmes, R. M.; Natali, S.; Mann, P. J.; Bunn, A. G.; Frey, K. E.

2017-12-01

With guidance and sufficient resources, undergraduates can drive the exploration of new research directions, lead high impact scientific products, and effectively communicate the value of science to the public. As mentors, we must recognize the strong contribution undergraduates make to the advancement of scientific understanding and their unique ability and desire to be transdisciplinary and to translate ideas into action. Our job is to be sure students have the resources and tools to successfully explore questions that they care about, not to provide or lead them towards answers we already have. The central goal of the Polaris Project is to advance understanding of climate change in the Arctic through an integrated research, training, and outreach program that has at its heart a research expedition for undergraduates to a remote field station in the Arctic. Our integrative approach to training provides undergraduates with strong intellectual development and they bring fresh perspectives, creativity, and a unique willingness to take risks on new ideas that have an energizing effect on research and outreach. Since the projects inception in summer 2008, we have had >90 undergraduates participate in high-impact field expeditions and outreach activities. Over the years, we have also been fortunate enough to attract an ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse group of students, including students from Puerto Rico, Hispanic-, African- and Native-Americans, members of the LGBT community, and first-generation college students. Most of these students have since pursued graduate degrees in ecology, and many have received NSF fellowships and Fulbright scholarships. One of our major goals is to increase the diversity of the scientific community, and we have been successful in our short-term goal of recruiting and retaining a diverse group of students. The goal of this presentation is to provide a description of the mentoring model at the heart of the Polaris Project, share narratives to highlight student research and outreach activities, and summarize the impact these experiences have had on our students over the years. We hope that sharing our perspective will spur a wider conversation on the role of a diverse group of undergraduate researchers as catalysts of both scientific advancement and effective communication.

The dual Green Revolutions in South Korea: reforestation and agricultural revolution under the authoritarian regime.

PubMed

Moon, Manyong

2012-01-01

In South Korea, the Green Revolution has been commonly understood as the development and dissemination of new rice varieties ('Tongil' rice) and the rapid increase of rice yield in the 1970s. However, revolutionary success in agriculture was not the only green revolution South Korea experienced; another green revolution lay in the success of reforestation projects. In the 1970s, South Korea's forest greening was closely related to its agricultural revolution in several ways. Therefore, South Korea's Green Revolution was an intrinsically linked double feature of agriculture and forestry. This two-pronged revolution was initiated by scientific research - yet accomplished by the strong administrative mobilization of President Park Chung Hee's regime. The process of setting goals and meeting them through a military-like strategy in a short time was made possible under the authoritarian regime, known as 'Yushin', though the administration failed to fully acknowledge scientific expertise in the process of pushing to achieve goals.

Early Detection of Cancer by Affinity Mass Spectrometry-Set Aside funds — EDRN Public Portal

Cancer.gov

A.   RATIONALE The recent introduction of multiple reaction monitoring capabilities offers unprecedented capability to the research arsenal available to protein based biomarker discovery. Specific to the discovery process this technology offers an ability to monitor specific protein changes in concentration and/or post-translational modification. The ability to accurately confirm specific biomarkers in a sensitive and reproducible manner is critical to the confirmation and pre-validation process. We are proposing two collaborative studies that promise to develop Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) work flows for the biomarker scientific community and specifically for EDRN. B.   GOALS The overall goal for this proposal is the identification of protein biomarkers that can be associated with prostate cancer detection. The underlying goal is the application of a novel technological approach aided by MRM toward biomarker discovery. An additional goal will be the dissemination of knowledge gained from these studies EDRN wide.

Determination the Effects of Vocational High School Students' Logical and Critical Thinking Skills on Mathematics Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aksu, Gökhan; Koruklu, Nermin

2015-01-01

Problem Statement: One of the main goals of education is to nurture individuals who know and improve themselves; who is well educated and have scientific perspective; who have developed communal coherency level; who are active, democratic and respectful to human rights. At the present time, according to an up to date mentality in mathematics…

An Old-Growth Definition for Red River Bottom Forests in the Eastern United States

Treesearch

Ted Shear; Mike Young; Robert Kellison

1997-01-01

Our goal was to develop a description of old-growth red river bottom forests of the Southeastern United States. We compared the characteristics of forests described in the scientific literature and forests we examined to various published criteria for old-growth condition. Because red rivers are a relatively new landscape feature (most 250 years old, resulting from...

A Look into Students' Retention of Acquired Nature of Science Understandings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khishfe, Rola

2015-01-01

Having the learning and retention of science content and skills as a goal of scientific literacy, it is significant to study the issue of retention as it relates to teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS). Then, the purpose of this study was to investigate the development of NOS understandings of students, and the retention of these…

Mind, Brain, and Education: Building a Scientific Groundwork for Learning and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fischer, Kurt W.

2009-01-01

The primary goal of the emerging field of Mind, Brain, and Education is to join biology, cognitive science, development, and education in order to create a sound grounding of education in research. The growing, worldwide movement needs to avoid the myths and distortions of popular conceptions of brain and genetics and build on the best integration…

Exploring the Film.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuhns, William; Stanley, Robert

The purpose of film study is defined here in the words of D. W. Griffiths: "My goal is above all to make you see." This book is intended to be used as a text in a film study course. It traces the development of films from a scientific curiosity through silent films to modern wide screen productions. A comic strip is used to demonstrate the effect…

Final Report: Sensorpedia Phase 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gorman, Bryan L; Resseguie, David R

2011-02-01

This report is a summary of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory s (ORNL s) Phase 3 development of Sensorpedia, a sensor information sharing platform. Sensorpedia is ORNL s Wikipedia for Sensors. The overall goal of Sensorpedia is to enable global scale sensor information sharing for scientific research, national security and defense, public health and safety, emergency preparedness and response, and general community awareness and outreach.

Late postacute neurologic rehabilitation: neuroscience, engineering, and clinical programs.

PubMed

Bach-y-Rita, Paul

2003-08-01

This lecture highlights my career in rehabilitation research. My principal efforts in rehabilitation have been to study (1) mechanisms of brain plasticity related to reorganization of the brain and recovery of function; (2) late postacute rehabilitation; (3) sensory substitution; and (4) rehabilitation engineering. A principal goal has been to aid in the development of a strong scientific base in rehabilitation.

Transforming University Education and Quality Assurance for Sustainable Development in Nigeria for a Globalized World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mamman, F. N.

2013-01-01

Education has been recognized as an important tool for achieving a nation's goals, vision and objectives. The quality of Nigerian universities has been and still is an issue of concern among stakeholders due to the challenges posed by globalization and the need for continued scientific and technological advancement. Over the years, this concern…

NASA Earth Science Partnerships - The Role and Value of Commercial and Non-Profit Partnerships with Government in the Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Favors, J.; Cauffman, S.; Ianson, E.; Kaye, J. A.; Friedl, L.; Green, D. S.; Lee, T. J.; Murphy, K. J.; Turner, W.

2017-12-01

NASA's Earth Science Division (ESD) seeks to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth as a dynamic, integrated system of diverse components that interact in complex ways - analogous to the human body. The Division approaches this goal through a coordinated series of satellite and airborne missions, sponsored basic and applied research, and technology development. Integral to this approach are strong collaborations and partnerships with a spectrum of organizations with technical and non-technical expertise. This presentation will focus on a new commercial and non-profit partnership effort being undertaken by ESD to integrate expertise unique to these sectors with expertise at NASA to jointly achieve what neither group could alone. Highlights will include case study examples of joint work with perspectives from both NASA and the partner, building interdisciplinary teams with diverse backgrounds but common goals (e.g., economics and Earth observations for valuing natural capital), partnership successes and challenges in the co-production of science and applications, utilizing partner networks to amplify project outcomes, and how involving partners in defining the project scope drives novel and unique scientific and decision-making questions to arise.

NASA Citizen Science: Looking at Impact in the Science Community and Beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thaller, M.

2017-12-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate has invested in several citizen scinece programs with the goal of addressing specific scientific goals which will lead to publishable results. For a complete list of these programs, go to https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscientists. In this paper, we will look at preliminary evalution of the impact of these programs, both in the production of scientific papers and the participation of the general public.

Organizing human functioning and rehabilitation research into distinct scientific fields. Part I: Developing a comprehensive structure from the cell to society.

PubMed

Stucki, Gerold; Grimby, Gunnar

2007-05-01

There is a need to organize rehabilitation and related research into distinct scientific fields in order to overcome the current limitations of rehabilitation research. Based on the general distinction in basic, applied and professional sciences applicable to research in general, and the rehabilitation relevant distinction between the comprehensive perspective based on WHO's integrative model of human functioning (ICF) and the partial perspective focusing on the biomedical aspects of functioning, it is possible to identify 5 distinct scientific fields of human functioning and rehabilitation research. These are the emerging human functioning sciences and integrative rehabilitation sciences from the comprehensive perspective, the established biosciences and biomedical rehabilitation sciences and engineering from the partial perspective, and the professional rehabilitation sciences at the cutting edge of research and practice. The human functioning sciences aim to understand human functioning and to identify targets for comprehensive interventions, with the goal of contributing to the minimization of the experience of disability in the population. The biosciences in rehabilitation aim to explain body injury and repair and to identify targets for biomedical interventions. The integrative rehabilitation sciences design and study comprehensive assessments and interventions that integrate biomedical, personal factor and environmental approaches suited to optimize people's performance. The biomedical rehabilitation sciences and engineering study diagnostic measures and interventions suitable to minimize impairment, including symptom control, and to optimize people's capacity. The professional rehabilitation sciences study how to provide best care with the goal of enabling people with health conditions experiencing or likely to experience disability to achieve and maintain optimal functioning in interaction with the environment. The organization of human functioning and rehabilitation research into the 5 distinct scientific fields facilitates the development of academic training programs and career building as well as the development of research structures dedicated to human functioning and rehabilitation research.

The Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

1999-01-01

The flood of 1993 in the Upper Mississippi River Basin caused widespread devastation. The human and economic costs were high. The total flood and other related damage estimates were in the $10 billion to $16 billion range, with total Federal expenditures in excess of $5.4 billion. In response to the effects of the flood of 1993, the White House established the Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team (SAST) on November 24, 1993. The SAST?s goals are to provide scientific advice and assistance to policymakers and officials responsible for flood recovery and river basin management in the Upper Mississippi River Basin and to prepare a data base to support those goals.

Visualization techniques to aid in the analysis of multispectral astrophysical data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brugel, E. W.; Domik, Gitta O.; Ayres, T. R.

1993-01-01

The goal of this project was to support the scientific analysis of multi-spectral astrophysical data by means of scientific visualization. Scientific visualization offers its greatest value if it is not used as a method separate or alternative to other data analysis methods but rather in addition to these methods. Together with quantitative analysis of data, such as offered by statistical analysis, image or signal processing, visualization attempts to explore all information inherent in astrophysical data in the most effective way. Data visualization is one aspect of data analysis. Our taxonomy as developed in Section 2 includes identification and access to existing information, preprocessing and quantitative analysis of data, visual representation and the user interface as major components to the software environment of astrophysical data analysis. In pursuing our goal to provide methods and tools for scientific visualization of multi-spectral astrophysical data, we therefore looked at scientific data analysis as one whole process, adding visualization tools to an already existing environment and integrating the various components that define a scientific data analysis environment. As long as the software development process of each component is separate from all other components, users of data analysis software are constantly interrupted in their scientific work in order to convert from one data format to another, or to move from one storage medium to another, or to switch from one user interface to another. We also took an in-depth look at scientific visualization and its underlying concepts, current visualization systems, their contributions and their shortcomings. The role of data visualization is to stimulate mental processes different from quantitative data analysis, such as the perception of spatial relationships or the discovery of patterns or anomalies while browsing through large data sets. Visualization often leads to an intuitive understanding of the meaning of data values and their relationships by sacrificing accuracy in interpreting the data values. In order to be accurate in the interpretation, data values need to be measured, computed on, and compared to theoretical or empirical models (quantitative analysis). If visualization software hampers quantitative analysis (which happens with some commercial visualization products), its use is greatly diminished for astrophysical data analysis. The software system STAR (Scientific Toolkit for Astrophysical Research) was developed as a prototype during the course of the project to better understand the pragmatic concerns raised in the project. STAR led to a better understanding on the importance of collaboration between astrophysicists and computer scientists. Twenty-one examples of the use of visualization for astrophysical data are included with this report. Sixteen publications related to efforts performed during or initiated through work on this project are listed at the end of this report.

Final Scientific Report - Wireless and Sensing Solutions Advancing Industrial Efficiency

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Budampati, Rama; McBrady, Adam; Nusseibeh, Fouad

2009-09-28

The project team's goal for the Wireless and Sensing Solution Advancing Industrial Efficiency award (DE-FC36-04GO14002) was to develop, demonstrate, and test a number of leading edge technologies that could enable the emergence of wireless sensor and sampling systems for the industrial market space. This effort combined initiatives in advanced sensor development, configurable sampling and deployment platforms, and robust wireless communications to address critical obstacles in enabling enhanced industrial efficiency.

Bioconductor: open software development for computational biology and bioinformatics

PubMed Central

Gentleman, Robert C; Carey, Vincent J; Bates, Douglas M; Bolstad, Ben; Dettling, Marcel; Dudoit, Sandrine; Ellis, Byron; Gautier, Laurent; Ge, Yongchao; Gentry, Jeff; Hornik, Kurt; Hothorn, Torsten; Huber, Wolfgang; Iacus, Stefano; Irizarry, Rafael; Leisch, Friedrich; Li, Cheng; Maechler, Martin; Rossini, Anthony J; Sawitzki, Gunther; Smith, Colin; Smyth, Gordon; Tierney, Luke; Yang, Jean YH; Zhang, Jianhua

2004-01-01

The Bioconductor project is an initiative for the collaborative creation of extensible software for computational biology and bioinformatics. The goals of the project include: fostering collaborative development and widespread use of innovative software, reducing barriers to entry into interdisciplinary scientific research, and promoting the achievement of remote reproducibility of research results. We describe details of our aims and methods, identify current challenges, compare Bioconductor to other open bioinformatics projects, and provide working examples. PMID:15461798

Scaffolding Student Learning in the Discipline-Specific Knowledge through Contemporary Science Practices: Developing High-School Students' Epidemiologic Reasoning through Data Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oura, Hiroki

Science is a disciplined practice about knowing puzzling observations and unknown phenomena. Scientific knowledge of the product is applied to develop technological artifacts and solve complex problems in society. Scientific practices are undeniably relevant to our economy, civic activity, and personal lives, and thus public education should help children acquire scientific knowledge and recognize the values in relation to their own lives and civil society. Likewise, developing scientific thinking skills is valuable not only for becoming a scientist, but also for becoming a citizen who is able to critically evaluate everyday information, select and apply only the trustworthy, and make wise judgments in their personal and cultural goals as well as for obtaining jobs that require complex problem solving and creative working in the current knowledge-based economy and rapid-changing world. To develop students' scientific thinking, science instruction should focus not only on scientific knowledge and inquiry processes, but also on its epistemological aspects including the forms of causal explanations and methodological choices along with epistemic aims and values under the social circumstances in focal practices. In this perspective, disciplinary knowledge involves heterogeneous elements including material, cognitive, social, and cultural ones and the formation differs across practices. Without developing such discipline-specific knowledge, students cannot enough deeply engage in scientific "practices" and understand the true values of scientific enterprises. In this interest, this dissertation explores instructional approaches to make student engagement in scientific investigations more authentic or disciplinary. The present dissertation work is comprised of three research questions as stand-alone studies written for separate publication. All of the studies discuss different theoretical aspects related to disciplinary engagement in epidemiologic inquiry and student development in epidemiologic reasoning. The first chapter reviews literature on epistemological instruction and explores theoretical frameworks for epistemically-guided instruction. The second chapter explores methodological strategies to elicit students' disciplinary understanding and demonstrates an approach with a case study in which students engaged in a curriculum unit for an epidemiologic investigation. The last chapter directs the focus into scientific reasoning and demonstrates how the curriculum unit and its scaffolds helped students develop epidemiologic reasoning with a focus on population-based reasoning.

Gas-Liquid Flow in Pipelines

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Thomas J. Hanratty

A research program was carried out at the University of Illinois in which develops a scientific approach to gas-liquid flows that explains their macroscopic behavior in terms of small scale interactions. For simplicity, fully-developed flows in horizontal and near-horizontal pipes. The difficulty in dealing with these flows is that the phases can assume a variety of configurations. The specific goal was to develop a scientific understanding of transitions from one flow regime to another and a quantitative understanding of how the phases distribute for a give regime. These basic understandings are used to predict macroscopic quantities of interest, such asmore » frictional pressure drop, liquid hold-up, entrainment in annular flow and frequency of slugging in slug flows. A number of scientific issues are addressed. Examples are the rate of atomization of a liquid film, the rate of deposition of drops, the behavior of particles in a turbulent field, the generation and growth of interfacial waves. The use of drag-reducing polymers that change macroscopic behavior by changing small scale interactions was explored.« less

Peer Review for EPA's Biologically Based Dose-Response ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA is developing a regulation for perchlorate in drinking water. As part the regulatory process EPA must develop a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG). FDA and EPA scientists developed a biologically based dose-response (BBDR) model to assist in deriving the MCLG. This model is designed to determine under what conditions of iodine nutrition and exposure to perchlorate across sensitive lifestages would result in low serum free and total thyroxine (hypothyroxinemia). EPA is undertaking a peer review to provide a focused, objective independent peer evaluation of the draft model and its model results report. EPA is undertaking a peer review to provide a focused, objective independent peer evaluation of the draft model and its model results report. Peer review is an important component of the scientific process. The criticism, suggestions, and new ideas provided by the peer reviewers stimulate creative thought, strengthen the interpretation of the reviewed material, and confer credibility on the product. The peer review objective is to provide advice to EPA on steps that will yield a highly credible scientific product that is supported by the scientific community and a defensible perchlorate MCLG.

Partnership for Environmental Technology Education: Tribal Colleges Initiative in Science and Environmental Education

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1999-01-01

The Tribal Colleges Initiatives in Science and Environmental Education (TCI) was developed in collaboration with the Partnership for Environmental Technology Education (PETE). This program is focused on long-term, systematic change through assisting tribally-controlled colleges in improving science and technology infrastructure, faculty and curricula. The goals are to: develop new or enhance existing science and technology education programs within tribally-controlled colleges and affiliates with a focus on environmental education and technology; establish and maintain clearly defined and secure educational pathways for Native American students; produce more Native American environmental and advanced degree graduates who can contribute to meeting the environmental/natural resourcemore » management and economic development goals of Indian Nations; and enhance the general level of Native American scientific literacy through improved public access to information.« less

Measuring the difference made by conservation initiatives: protected areas and their environmental and social impacts.

PubMed

Ferraro, Paul J; Pressey, Robert L

2015-11-05

Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component of conservation efforts globally. To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas' past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. Complementing these scientific advances, conservation funders and practitioners are paying increasing attention to evaluating their investments with more scientifically rigorous evaluation designs. This theme issue highlights recent advances in the science of protected area evaluations and explores the challenges to developing a more credible evidence base that can help societies achieve their goals of protecting nature while enhancing human welfare. © 2015 The Author(s).

Measuring the difference made by conservation initiatives: protected areas and their environmental and social impacts

PubMed Central

Ferraro, Paul J.; Pressey, Robert L.

2015-01-01

Success in conservation depends on our ability to reduce human pressures in areas that harbour biological diversity and ecosystem services. Legally protecting some of these areas through the creation of protected areas is a key component of conservation efforts globally. To develop effective protected area networks, practitioners need credible, scientific evidence about the degree to which protected areas affect environmental and social outcomes, and how these effects vary with context. Such evidence has been lacking, but the situation is changing as conservation scientists adopt more sophisticated research designs for evaluating protected areas' past impacts and for predicting their future impacts. Complementing these scientific advances, conservation funders and practitioners are paying increasing attention to evaluating their investments with more scientifically rigorous evaluation designs. This theme issue highlights recent advances in the science of protected area evaluations and explores the challenges to developing a more credible evidence base that can help societies achieve their goals of protecting nature while enhancing human welfare. PMID:26460123

Engaging Experts: Science-Policy Interactions and the Introduction of Congestion Charging in Stockholm.

PubMed

Broström, Anders; McKelvey, Maureen

2018-01-01

This article analyzes the conditions for mobilizing the science base for development of public policy. It does so by focusing upon the science-policy interface, specifically the processes of direct interaction between scientists and scientifically trained experts, on the one hand, and agents of policymaking organizations, on the other. The article defines two dimensions - cognitive distance and expert autonomy - which are argued to influence knowledge exchange, in such a way as to shape the outcome. A case study on the implementation of congestion charges in Stockholm, Sweden, illustrates how the proposed framework pinpoints three central issues for understanding these processes: (1) Differentiating the roles of, e.g., a science-based consultancy firm and an academic environment in policy formation; (2) Examining the fit between the organizational form of the science-policy interface and the intended goals; and (3) Increasing our understanding of when policymaker agents themselves need to develop scientific competence in order to interact effectively with scientific experts.

Ghost Imaging of Space Objects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Strekalov, Dmitry V.; Erkmen, Baris I.; Yu, Nan

2016-01-01

Development of innovative aerospace technologies is critical for our nation to meet its goals to explore and under-stand the Earth, our solar system, and the universe. The spectacular success of many recent NASA missions hinges on the extensive technological innovations that NASA has been supporting for the past decades. To sustain this successful tradition it is very important to identify and stimulate the scientific research that may turn into a viable technology in the decades yet to come. Investment in innovative low-TRL research stimulates the growth of the scientific knowledge and enhances the technical capabilities in a way that answers the new questions and responds to new requirements.

Geoscience research databases for coastal Alabama ecosystem management

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hummell, Richard L.

1995-01-01

Effective management of complex coastal ecosystems necessitates access to scientific knowledge that can be acquired through a multidisciplinary approach involving Federal and State scientists that take advantage of agency expertise and resources for the benefit of all participants working toward a set of common research and management goals. Cooperative geostatic investigations have led toward building databases of fundamental scientific knowledge that can be utilized to manage coastal Alabama's natural and future development. These databases have been used to assess the occurrence and economic potential of hard mineral resources in the Alabama EFZ, and to support oil spill contingency planning and environmental analysis for coastal Alabama.

Particle acceleration, transport and turbulence in cosmic and heliospheric physics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Matthaeus, W.

1992-01-01

In this progress report, the long term goals, recent scientific progress, and organizational activities are described. The scientific focus of this annual report is in three areas: first, the physics of particle acceleration and transport, including heliospheric modulation and transport, shock acceleration and galactic propagation and reacceleration of cosmic rays; second, the development of theories of the interaction of turbulence and large scale plasma and magnetic field structures, as in winds and shocks; third, the elucidation of the nature of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence processes and the role such turbulence processes might play in heliospheric, galactic, cosmic ray physics, and other space physics applications.

Learning Science, Learning about Science, Doing Science: Different goals demand different learning methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodson, Derek

2014-10-01

This opinion piece paper urges teachers and teacher educators to draw careful distinctions among four basic learning goals: learning science, learning about science, doing science and learning to address socio-scientific issues. In elaboration, the author urges that careful attention is paid to the selection of teaching/learning methods that recognize key differences in learning goals and criticizes the common assertion that 'current wisdom advocates that students best learn science through an inquiry-oriented teaching approach' on the grounds that conflating the distinction between learning by inquiry and engaging in scientific inquiry is unhelpful in selecting appropriate teaching/learning approaches.

Pedagogical Affordances of Multiple External Representations in Scientific Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Hsin-Kai; Puntambekar, Sadhana

2012-12-01

Multiple external representations (MERs) have been widely used in science teaching and learning. Theories such as dual coding theory and cognitive flexibility theory have been developed to explain why the use of MERs is beneficial to learning, but they do not provide much information on pedagogical issues such as how and in what conditions MERs could be introduced and used to support students' engagement in scientific processes and develop competent scientific practices (e.g., asking questions, planning investigations, and analyzing data). Additionally, little is understood about complex interactions among scientific processes and affordances of MERs. Therefore, this article focuses on pedagogical affordances of MERs in learning environments that engage students in various scientific processes. By reviewing literature in science education and cognitive psychology and integrating multiple perspectives, this article aims at exploring (1) how MERs can be integrated with science processes due to their different affordances, and (2) how student learning with MERs can be scaffolded, especially in a classroom situation. We argue that pairing representations and scientific processes in a principled way based on the affordances of the representations and the goals of the activities is a powerful way to use MERs in science education. Finally, we outline types of scaffolding that could help effective use of MERs including dynamic linking, model progression, support in instructional materials, teacher support, and active engagement.

Astronomy in the Russian Scientific-Educational Project: "KAZAN-GEONA-2010"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusev, A.; Kitiashvili, I.

2006-08-01

The European Union promotes the Sixth Framework Programme. One of the goals of the EU Programme is opening national research and training programs. A special role in the history of the Kazan University was played by the great mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky - the founder of non-Euclidean geometry (1826). Historically, the thousand-year old city of Kazan and the two-hundred-year old Kazan University carry out the role of the scientific, organizational, and cultural educational center of the Volga region. For the continued successful development of educational and scientific-educational activity of the Russian Federation, the Republic Tatarstan, Kazan was offered the national project: the International Center of the Sciences and Internet Technologies "GeoNa" (Geometry of Nature - GeoNa - is wisdom, enthusiasm, pride, grandeur). This is a modern complex of conference halls including the Center for Internet Technologies, a 3D Planetarium - development of the Moon, PhysicsLand, an active museum of natural sciences, an oceanarium, and a training complex "Spheres of Knowledge". Center GeoNa promotes the direct and effective channel of cooperation with scientific centers around the world. GeoNa will host conferences, congresses, fundamental scientific research sessions of the Moon and planets, and scientific-educational actions: presentation of the international scientific programs on lunar research and modern lunar databases. A more intense program of exchange between scientific centers and organizations for a better knowledge and planning of their astronomical curricula and the introduction of the teaching of astronomy are proposed. Center GeoNa will enable scientists and teachers of the Russian universities with advanced achievements in science and information technologies to join together to establish scientific communications with foreign colleagues in the sphere of the high technology and educational projects with world scientific centers.

Low/Medium Density Biomass, Coastal and Ocean Carbon: A Carbon Cycle Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Esper, Jaime; Gervin, Jan; Kirchman, Frank; Middleton, Elizabeth; Knox, Robert; Gregg, Watson; Mannino, Antonio; McClain, Charles; Herman, Jay; Hall, Forrest

2003-01-01

As part of the Global Carbon Cycle research effort, an agency-wide planning initiative was organized between October 2000 and June 2001 by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) at the behest of the Associate Administrator for Earth Science. The goal was to define future research and technology development activities needed for implementing a cohesive scientific observation plan. A timeline for development of missions necessary to acquire the selected new measurements was laid out, and included missions for low - medium density terrestrial biomass / coastal ocean / and ocean carbon. This paper will begin with the scientific justification and measurement requirements for these specific activities, explore the options for having separate or combined missions, and follow-up with an implementation study centered on a hyperspectral imager at geosynchronous altitudes.

AGU and Wiley-Blackwell to partner on publication of journals and books

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEntee, Chris

2012-07-01

AGU has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Wiley-Blackwell to partner in journal and book publishing. The agreement, effective 1 January 2013, is a significant step forward in transforming AGU publishing consistent with our strategic plan goal of scientific leadership and collaboration. Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Family-owned and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the company is strong in every major academic and professional field and partners with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell, a leader in developing models for open access and providing developing nations with access to science, publishes nearly 1500 peer-reviewed journals and more than 1500 new books annually. The company publishes approximately 700 society titles.

Final Scientific Report - Wind Powering America State Outreach Project

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sinclair, Mark; Margolis, Anne

2012-02-01

The goal of the Wind Powering America State Outreach Project was to facilitate the adoption of effective state legislation, policy, finance programs, and siting best practices to accelerate public acceptance and development of wind energy. This was accomplished by Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) through provision of informational tools including reports and webinars as well as the provision of technical assistance to state leaders on wind siting, policy, and finance best practices, identification of strategic federal-state partnership activities for both onshore and offshore wind, and participation in regional wind development collaboratives. The Final Scientific Report - Wind Powering America Statemore » Outreach Project provides a summary of the objectives, activities, and outcomes of this project as accomplished by CESA over the period 12/1/2009 - 11/30/2011.« less

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: Examining the Effectiveness of Authentic Scientific Research on High School Students' Science Skills and Interest.

PubMed

Ward, Tony J; Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-01-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. A quasi-experimental design was used in order to understand: 1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and 2) how the open inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path . Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.

Multidrug-Resistant TB: Implementing the Right to Health through the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress.

PubMed

London, Leslie; Cox, Helen; Coomans, Fons

2016-06-01

The right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress (REBSP) is a little-known but potentially valuable right that can contribute to rights-based approaches to addressing multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). We argue that better understanding of the REBSP may help to advance legal and civil society action for health rights. While the REBSP does not provide an individual entitlement to have a new drug developed for MDR-TB, it sets up entitlements to expect a state to establish a legislative and policy framework aimed at developing scientific capacity to address the most important health issues and at disseminating the outcomes of scientific research. By making scientific findings available and accessible, people can be enabled to claim the use of science for social benefits. Inasmuch as the market fails to address neglected diseases such as MDR-TB, the REBSP provides a potential counterbalance to frame a positive obligation on states to both marshal their own resources and to coordinate the actions of multiple other actors towards this goal, including non-state actors. While the latter do not hold the same level of accountability as states, the REBSP can still enable the recognition of obligations at a level of "soft law" responsibilities.

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: examining the effectiveness of authentic scientific research on high school students' science skills and interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ward, Tony J.; Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-04-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. This research explored: (1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and (2) how the open-inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom.

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky: Examining the Effectiveness of Authentic Scientific Research on High School Students’ Science Skills and Interest

PubMed Central

Delaloye, Naomi; Adams, Earle Raymond; Ware, Desirae; Vanek, Diana; Knuth, Randy; Hester, Carolyn Laurie; Marra, Nancy Noel; Holian, Andrij

2016-01-01

Air Toxics Under the Big Sky is an environmental science outreach/education program that incorporates the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 8 Practices with the goal of promoting knowledge and understanding of authentic scientific research in high school classrooms through air quality research. A quasi-experimental design was used in order to understand: 1) how the program affects student understanding of scientific inquiry and research and 2) how the open inquiry learning opportunities provided by the program increase student interest in science as a career path. Treatment students received instruction related to air pollution (airborne particulate matter), associated health concerns, and training on how to operate air quality testing equipment. They then participated in a yearlong scientific research project in which they developed and tested hypotheses through research of their own design regarding the sources and concentrations of air pollution in their homes and communities. Results from an external evaluation revealed that treatment students developed a deeper understanding of scientific research than did comparison students, as measured by their ability to generate good hypotheses and research designs, and equally expressed an increased interest in pursuing a career in science. These results emphasize the value of and need for authentic science learning opportunities in the modern science classroom. PMID:28286375

Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY 2008 Annual Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

editor, Todd C Hansen

2009-02-23

The Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab or LBNL) is a multi-program national research facility operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy (DOE). As an integral element of DOE's National Laboratory System, Berkeley Lab supports DOE's missions in fundamental science, energy resources, and environmental quality. Berkeley Lab programs advance four distinct goals for DOE and the nation: (1) To perform leading multidisciplinary research in the computing sciences, physical sciences, energy sciences, biosciences, and general sciences in a manner that ensures employee and public safety and protection of the environment. (2) To develop and operatemore » unique national experimental facilities for qualified investigators. (3) To educate and train future generations of scientists and engineers to promote national science and education goals. (4) To transfer knowledge and technological innovations and to foster productive relationships among Berkeley Lab's research programs, universities, and industry in order to promote national economic competitiveness. Berkeley Lab's research and the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program support DOE's Strategic Themes that are codified in DOE's 2006 Strategic Plan (DOE/CF-0010), with a primary focus on Scientific Discovery and Innovation. For that strategic theme, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 LDRD projects support each one of the three goals through multiple strategies described in the plan. In addition, LDRD efforts support the four goals of Energy Security, the two goals of Environmental Responsibility, and Nuclear Security (unclassified fundamental research that supports stockpile safety and nonproliferation programs). The LDRD program supports Office of Science strategic plans, including the 20-year Scientific Facilities Plan and the Office of Science Strategic Plan. The research also supports the strategic directions periodically under consideration and review by the Office of Science Program Offices, such as LDRD projects germane to new research facility concepts and new fundamental science directions. Berkeley Lab LDRD program also play an important role in leveraging DOE capabilities for national needs. The fundamental scientific research and development conducted in the program advances the skills and technologies of importance to our Work For Others (WFO) sponsors. Among many directions, these include a broad range of health-related science and technology of interest to the National Institutes of Health, breast cancer and accelerator research supported by the Department of Defense, detector technologies that should be useful to the Department of Homeland Security, and particle detection that will be valuable to the Environmental Protection Agency. The Berkeley Lab Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program FY2008 report is compiled from annual reports submitted by principal investigators following the close of the fiscal year. This report describes the supported projects and summarizes their accomplishments. It constitutes a part of the LDRD program planning and documentation process that includes an annual planning cycle, project selection, implementation, and review.« less

Poster Development and Presentation to Improve Scientific Inquiry and Broaden Effective Scientific Communication Skills.

PubMed

Rauschenbach, Ines; Keddis, Ramaydalis; Davis, Diane

2018-01-01

We have redesigned a tried-and-true laboratory exercise into an inquiry-based team activity exploring microbial growth control, and implemented this activity as the basis for preparing a scientific poster in a large, multi-section laboratory course. Spanning most of the semester, this project culminates in a poster presentation of data generated from a student-designed experiment. Students use and apply the scientific method and improve written and verbal communication skills. The guided inquiry format of this exercise provides the opportunity for student collaboration through cooperative learning. For each learning objective, a percentage score was tabulated (learning objective score = points awarded/total possible points). A score of 80% was our benchmark for achieving each objective. At least 76% of the student groups participating in this project over two semesters achieved each learning goal. Student perceptions of the project were evaluated using a survey. Nearly 90% of participating students felt they had learned a great deal in the areas of formulating a hypothesis, experimental design, and collecting and analyzing data; 72% of students felt this project had improved their scientific writing skills. In a separate survey, 84% of students who responded felt that peer review was valuable in improving their final poster submission. We designed this inquiry-based poster project to improve student scientific communication skills. This exercise is appropriate for any microbiology laboratory course whose learning outcomes include the development of scientific inquiry and literacy.

Poster Development and Presentation to Improve Scientific Inquiry and Broaden Effective Scientific Communication Skills †

PubMed Central

Rauschenbach, Ines; Keddis, Ramaydalis; Davis, Diane

2018-01-01

We have redesigned a tried-and-true laboratory exercise into an inquiry-based team activity exploring microbial growth control, and implemented this activity as the basis for preparing a scientific poster in a large, multi-section laboratory course. Spanning most of the semester, this project culminates in a poster presentation of data generated from a student-designed experiment. Students use and apply the scientific method and improve written and verbal communication skills. The guided inquiry format of this exercise provides the opportunity for student collaboration through cooperative learning. For each learning objective, a percentage score was tabulated (learning objective score = points awarded/total possible points). A score of 80% was our benchmark for achieving each objective. At least 76% of the student groups participating in this project over two semesters achieved each learning goal. Student perceptions of the project were evaluated using a survey. Nearly 90% of participating students felt they had learned a great deal in the areas of formulating a hypothesis, experimental design, and collecting and analyzing data; 72% of students felt this project had improved their scientific writing skills. In a separate survey, 84% of students who responded felt that peer review was valuable in improving their final poster submission. We designed this inquiry-based poster project to improve student scientific communication skills. This exercise is appropriate for any microbiology laboratory course whose learning outcomes include the development of scientific inquiry and literacy. PMID:29904518

Working Group on Virtual Data Integration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, D. N.; Palanisamy, G.; van Dam, K. K.

2016-02-04

This report is the outcome of a workshop commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) to examine current and future data infrastructure requirements foundational for achieving CESD scientific mission goals in advancing a robust, predictive understanding of Earth’s climate and environmental systems. Over the past several years, data volumes in CESD disciplines have risen sharply to unprecedented levels (tens of petabytes). Moreover, the complexity and diversity of this research data— including simulations, observations, and reanalysis— have grown significantly, posing new challenges for data capture, storage, verification, analysis, and integration. With the trends ofmore » increased data volume (in the hundreds of petabytes), more complex analysis processes, and growing cross-disciplinary collaborations, it is timely to investigate whether the CESD community has the computational and data support needed to fully realize the scientific potential of its data collections. In recognition of the challenges, a partnership is forming across CESD and among national and international agencies to examine the viability of creating an integrated, collaborative data infrastructure: a Virtual Laboratory. The overarching goal of this report is to identify the community’s key data technology requirements and high-priority development needs for sustaining and growing its scientific discovery potential. The report also aims to map these requirements to existing solutions and to identify gaps in current services, tools, and infrastructure that will need to be addressed in the short, medium, and long term to advance scientific progress.« less

Data And Informatics Working Group On Virtual Data Integration Workshop Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, D. N.; Palanisamy, G.; Dam, K. K.

2015-10-13

This report is the outcome of a workshop that was commissioned by the Department of Energy’s Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) to examine current and future data infrastructure requirements that would be foundational to achieving CESD’s scientific mission goals. Over the past several years, data volumes in CESD disciplines have risen sharply to unprecedented levels (tens of petabytes). So too has the complexity and diversity of the research data (simulation, observation, and reanalysis) needing to be captured, stored, verified, analyzed, and integrated. With the trends of increased data volume (in the hundreds of petabytes), more complex analysis processes, andmore » growing crossdisciplinary collaborations, it is timely to investigate whether the CESD community has the right computational and data support to realize the full scientific potential from its data collections. In recognition of the challenges, a partnership is forming across CESD and with national and international agencies to investigate the viability of creating an integrated, collaborative data infrastructure: a virtual laboratory. The overarching goal of this report is to identify the community’s key data technology requirements and high-priority development needs for sustaining and growing their scientific discovery potential. The report also aims to map these requirements to existing solutions and to identify gaps in current services, tools, and infrastructure that will need to be addressed in the short, medium, and long term so as not to impede scientific progress« less

Integrating nutrition and child development interventions: scientific basis, evidence of impact, and implementation considerations.

PubMed

Black, Maureen M; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Rao, Sylvia Fernandez

2015-11-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to unprecedented reductions in poverty and improvement in the lives of millions of men, women, and children in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, hundreds of millions of children under 5 y of age are not reaching their developmental potential. This article reviews the scientific basis for early childhood nutrition and child development interventions, the impact of integrated interventions on children's linear growth and cognitive development, and implementation strategies for integrated nutrition and child development programs. Advances in brain science have documented that the origins of adult health and well-being are grounded in early childhood, from conception through age 24 mo (first 1000 d) and extending to age 5 y (second 1000 d). Young children with adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and opportunities for early learning have the best chances of thriving. Evidence from adoption, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies has shown that stunting prevention is sensitive during the first 1000 d, and sensitivity to child development interventions extends through the second 1000 d. Cognitive development responds to interventions post–1000 d with effect sizes that are inversely associated with initial age and length of program exposure. Integrated interventions need governance structures that support integrated policies and programming, with attention to training, supervision, and monitoring. The MDGs have been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with targets for the next 15 y. Achievement of the SDGs depends on children receiving adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and learning opportunities from conception through age 5.

Integrating Nutrition and Child Development Interventions: Scientific Basis, Evidence of Impact, and Implementation Considerations123

PubMed Central

Black, Maureen M; Pérez-Escamilla, Rafael; Fernandez Rao, Sylvia

2015-01-01

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have contributed to unprecedented reductions in poverty and improvement in the lives of millions of men, women, and children in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, hundreds of millions of children under 5 y of age are not reaching their developmental potential. This article reviews the scientific basis for early childhood nutrition and child development interventions, the impact of integrated interventions on children’s linear growth and cognitive development, and implementation strategies for integrated nutrition and child development programs. Advances in brain science have documented that the origins of adult health and well-being are grounded in early childhood, from conception through age 24 mo (first 1000 d) and extending to age 5 y (second 1000 d). Young children with adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and opportunities for early learning have the best chances of thriving. Evidence from adoption, experimental, and quasi-experimental studies has shown that stunting prevention is sensitive during the first 1000 d, and sensitivity to child development interventions extends through the second 1000 d. Cognitive development responds to interventions post–1000 d with effect sizes that are inversely associated with initial age and length of program exposure. Integrated interventions need governance structures that support integrated policies and programming, with attention to training, supervision, and monitoring. The MDGs have been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with targets for the next 15 y. Achievement of the SDGs depends on children receiving adequate nutrition, nurturant caregiving, and learning opportunities from conception through age 5. PMID:26875208

Life Sciences Data Archive Scientific Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buckey, Jay C., Jr.

1995-01-01

The Life Sciences Data Archive will provide scientists, managers and the general public with access to biomedical data collected before, during and after spaceflight. These data are often irreplaceable and represent a major resource from the space program. For these data to be useful, however, they must be presented with enough supporting information, description and detail so that an interested scientist can understand how, when and why the data were collected. The goal of this contract was to provide a scientific consultant to the archival effort at the NASA-Johnson Space Center. This consultant (Jay C. Buckey, Jr., M.D.) is a scientist, who was a co-investigator on both the Spacelab Life Sciences-1 and Spacelab Life Sciences-2 flights. In addition he was an alternate payload specialist for the Spacelab Life Sciences-2 flight. In this role he trained on all the experiments on the flight and so was familiar with the protocols, hardware and goals of all the experiments on the flight. Many of these experiments were flown on both SLS-1 and SLS-2. This background was useful for the archive, since the first mission to be archived was Spacelab Life Sciences-1. Dr. Buckey worked directly with the archive effort to ensure that the parameters, scientific descriptions, protocols and data sets were accurate and useful.

Enabling Data Intensive Science through Service Oriented Science: Virtual Laboratories and Science Gateways

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lescinsky, D. T.; Wyborn, L. A.; Evans, B. J. K.; Allen, C.; Fraser, R.; Rankine, T.

2014-12-01

We present collaborative work on a generic, modular infrastructure for virtual laboratories (VLs, similar to science gateways) that combine online access to data, scientific code, and computing resources as services that support multiple data intensive scientific computing needs across a wide range of science disciplines. We are leveraging access to 10+ PB of earth science data on Lustre filesystems at Australia's National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) Research Data Storage Infrastructure (RDSI) node, co-located with NCI's 1.2 PFlop Raijin supercomputer and a 3000 CPU core research cloud. The development, maintenance and sustainability of VLs is best accomplished through modularisation and standardisation of interfaces between components. Our approach has been to break up tightly-coupled, specialised application packages into modules, with identified best techniques and algorithms repackaged either as data services or scientific tools that are accessible across domains. The data services can be used to manipulate, visualise and transform multiple data types whilst the scientific tools can be used in concert with multiple scientific codes. We are currently designing a scalable generic infrastructure that will handle scientific code as modularised services and thereby enable the rapid/easy deployment of new codes or versions of codes. The goal is to build open source libraries/collections of scientific tools, scripts and modelling codes that can be combined in specially designed deployments. Additional services in development include: provenance, publication of results, monitoring, workflow tools, etc. The generic VL infrastructure will be hosted at NCI, but can access alternative computing infrastructures (i.e., public/private cloud, HPC).The Virtual Geophysics Laboratory (VGL) was developed as a pilot project to demonstrate the underlying technology. This base is now being redesigned and generalised to develop a Virtual Hazards Impact and Risk Laboratory (VHIRL); any enhancements and new capabilities will be incorporated into a generic VL infrastructure. At same time, we are scoping seven new VLs and in the process, identifying other common components to prioritise and focus development.

Application of science-based restoration planning to a desert river system.

PubMed

Laub, Brian G; Jimenez, Justin; Budy, Phaedra

2015-06-01

Persistence of many desert river species is threatened by a suite of impacts linked to water infrastructure projects that provide human water security where water is scarce. Many desert rivers have undergone regime shifts from spatially and temporally dynamic ecosystems to more stable systems dominated by homogenous physical habitat. Restoration of desert river systems could aid in biodiversity conservation, but poses formidable challenges due to multiple threats and the infeasibility of recovery to pre-development conditions. The challenges faced in restoring desert rivers can be addressed by incorporating scientific recommendations into restoration planning efforts at multiple stages, as demonstrated here through an example restoration project. In particular, use of a watershed-scale planning process can identify data gaps and irreversible constraints, which aid in developing achievable restoration goals and objectives. Site-prioritization focuses limited the resources for restoration on areas with the greatest potential to improve populations of target organisms. Investment in research to understand causes of degradation, coupled with adoption of a guiding vision is critical for identifying feasible restoration actions that can enhance river processes. Setting monitoring as a project goal, developing hypotheses for expected outcomes, and implementing restoration as an experimental design will facilitate adaptive management and learning from project implementation. Involvement of scientists and managers during all planning stages is critical for developing process-based restoration actions and an implementation plan to maximize learning. The planning process developed here provides a roadmap for use of scientific recommendations in future efforts to recover dynamic processes in imperiled riverine ecosystems.

Application of Science-Based Restoration Planning to a Desert River System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laub, Brian G.; Jimenez, Justin; Budy, Phaedra

2015-06-01

Persistence of many desert river species is threatened by a suite of impacts linked to water infrastructure projects that provide human water security where water is scarce. Many desert rivers have undergone regime shifts from spatially and temporally dynamic ecosystems to more stable systems dominated by homogenous physical habitat. Restoration of desert river systems could aid in biodiversity conservation, but poses formidable challenges due to multiple threats and the infeasibility of recovery to pre-development conditions. The challenges faced in restoring desert rivers can be addressed by incorporating scientific recommendations into restoration planning efforts at multiple stages, as demonstrated here through an example restoration project. In particular, use of a watershed-scale planning process can identify data gaps and irreversible constraints, which aid in developing achievable restoration goals and objectives. Site-prioritization focuses limited the resources for restoration on areas with the greatest potential to improve populations of target organisms. Investment in research to understand causes of degradation, coupled with adoption of a guiding vision is critical for identifying feasible restoration actions that can enhance river processes. Setting monitoring as a project goal, developing hypotheses for expected outcomes, and implementing restoration as an experimental design will facilitate adaptive management and learning from project implementation. Involvement of scientists and managers during all planning stages is critical for developing process-based restoration actions and an implementation plan to maximize learning. The planning process developed here provides a roadmap for use of scientific recommendations in future efforts to recover dynamic processes in imperiled riverine ecosystems.

Application of science-based restoration planning to a desert river system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Laub, Brian G.; Jimenez, Justin; Budy, Phaedra

2015-01-01

Persistence of many desert river species is threatened by a suite of impacts linked to water infrastructure projects that provide human water security where water is scarce. Many desert rivers have undergone regime shifts from spatially and temporally dynamic ecosystems to more stable systems dominated by homogenous physical habitat. Restoration of desert river systems could aid in biodiversity conservation, but poses formidable challenges due to multiple threats and the infeasibility of recovery to pre-development conditions. The challenges faced in restoring desert rivers can be addressed by incorporating scientific recommendations into restoration planning efforts at multiple stages, as demonstrated here through an example restoration project. In particular, use of a watershed-scale planning process can identify data gaps and irreversible constraints, which aid in developing achievable restoration goals and objectives. Site-prioritization focuses limited the resources for restoration on areas with the greatest potential to improve populations of target organisms. Investment in research to understand causes of degradation, coupled with adoption of a guiding vision is critical for identifying feasible restoration actions that can enhance river processes. Setting monitoring as a project goal, developing hypotheses for expected outcomes, and implementing restoration as an experimental design will facilitate adaptive management and learning from project implementation. Involvement of scientists and managers during all planning stages is critical for developing process-based restoration actions and an implementation plan to maximize learning. The planning process developed here provides a roadmap for use of scientific recommendations in future efforts to recover dynamic processes in imperiled riverine ecosystems.

Earth Observations, Models and Geo-Design in Support of SDG Implementation and Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plag, H. P.; Jules-Plag, S.

2016-12-01

Implementation and Monitoring of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires support from Earth observation and scientific communities. Applying a goal-based approach to determine the data needs to the Targets and Indicators associated with the SDGs demonstrates that integration of environmental with socio-economic and statistical data is required. Large data gaps exist for the built environment. A Geo-Design platform can provide the infrastructure and conceptual model for the data integration. The development of policies and actions to foster the implementation of SDGs in many cases requires research and the development of tools to answer "what if" questions. Here, agent-based models and model webs combined with a Geo-Design platform are promising avenues. This advanced combined infrastructure can also play a crucial role in the necessary capacity building. We will use the example of SDG 5 (Gender equality) to illustrate these approaches. SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) is used to underline the cross-goal linkages and the joint benefits of Earth observations, data integration, and modeling tools for multiple SDGs.

[Sport as a means to prevention, rehabilitation, and health promotion. An expert opinion].

PubMed

Brehm, W; Bös, K; Graf, C H; Hartmann, H; Pahmeier, I; Pfeifer, K; Rütten, A; Sygusch, R; Tiemann, M; Tittlbach, S; Vogt, L; Wagner, P

2013-10-01

Physical activities are particularly health effective when they are structured and systematically organized, for example, with respect to a dose-response relationship or to psychosocial aspects. Which insights can be gained from scientific knowledge on the structure of physical activities? Which health-related goals can be sought with different physical activities in the field of sport? Which target groups can be reached with these kinds of sport? These questions are addressed in this article on the basis of current scientific knowledge-to promote the development of health-enhancing physical activities especially in sport federations, but also to create a communication platform between the sport and the health sector. The work of researchers in this field is focused mainly on health-enhancing physical activity, but they are also engaged in health-related scientific organizations and in sport federations.

[History of the Strasbourg Society of Biology].

PubMed

Antony, Pierre; Romier, Christophe; Mantz, Jean-Marie

2017-01-01

The Society of Biology of Strasbourg (SBS) is a learned society that was created in 1919 based on the model of the Society of Biology of which it is a subsidiary. Like its Parisian colleague, SBS aims at diffusing and promoting scientific knowledge in biology. To achieve this goal, SBS initiated since its creation a dialogue interface between researchers in biology and physicians, and more recently with other scientific disciplines, industry and the civil society. At the dawn of its first century, the Society of Biology of Strasbourg must continue to reinvent itself to pursue its development and to fulfil its mission of sharing scientific knowledge. This work continues in strong collaboration with our partners that share with SBS the willingness to foster excellence in biological research in Strasbourg, its region and beyond. © Société de Biologie, 2017.

Research on Urban Road Traffic Congestion Charging Based on Sustainable Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Sun

Traffic congestion is a major problem which bothers our urban traffic sustainable development at present. Congestion charging is an effective measure to alleviate urban traffic congestion. The paper first probes into several key issues such as the goal, the pricing, the scope, the method and the redistribution of congestion charging from theoretical angle. Then it introduces congestion charging practice in Singapore and London and draws conclusion and suggestion that traffic congestion charging should take scientific plan, support of public, public transportation development as the premise.

The Path to a UV/optical/IR Flagship: ATLAST and Its Predecessors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thronson, Harley; Bolcar, Matthew R.; Clampin, Mark; Crooke, Julie; Feinberg, Lee; Oegerle, William; Postman, Marc; Rioux, Norman; Stahl, H. Philip; Stapelfeldt, Karl

2016-01-01

The recently completed study for the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Telescope (ATLAST) was the culmination of three years of work that built upon earlier engineering designs, science objectives, and sustained recommendations for technology investments. Since the mid-1980s, multiple teams of astronomers, technologists, and engineers have developed concepts for a large-aperture UV/optical/IR space observatory to follow the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Especially over the past decade, technology advances and exciting scientific results has led to growing support for development in the 2020s of a large UVOIR space observatory. Here we summarize the history of major mission designs, scientific goals, key technology recommendations, community workshops and conferences, and recommendations to NASA for a major UV/optical/IR observatory to follow HST. We conclude with a capsule summary of the ATLAST reference design developed over the past three years.

Taking Another Look at the Data Management Life Cycle: Deconstruction, Agile, and Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, J. W.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Parsons, M. A.; Benedict, K. K.

2014-12-01

The data life cycle has figured prominently in describing the context of digital scientific data stewardship and cyberinfractructure in support of science. There are many different versions of the data life cycle, but they all follow a similar basic pattern: plan, collect, ingest, asses, preserve, discover, and reuse. The process is often interpreted in a fairly linear fashion despite it being a cycle conceptually. More recently at GeoData 2014 and elsewhere, questions have been raised about the utility of the data life cycle as it is currently represented. We are proposing to the community a re-examination of the data life cycle using an agile lens. Our goal is not to deploy agile methods, but to use agile principles as a heuristic to think about how to incorporate data stewardship across the scientific process from proposal stage to research and beyond. We will present alternative conceptualizations of the data life cycle with a goal to solicit feedback and to develop a new model for conceiving and describing the overall data stewardship process. We seek to re-examine past assumptions and shed new light on the challenges and necessity of data stewardship. The ultimate goal is to support new science through enhanced data interoperability, usability, and preservation.

Experience and Perspectives of Art History Development in Educational Space of Siberia at the Turn of XX-XXI ?enturies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nekhvyadovich, Larisa Ivanovna; Chernyaeva, Irina Valerievna

2016-01-01

The article has a program-analytical nature, contains an analysis and assessment of the scientific school of T. M. Stepanskaya, Doctor of Arts, professor, member of Russian Union of Artists. The goal of T. M. Stepanskaya's professional activity is incorporation of Art History in higher educational institutions in Siberia. The authors consider the…

Biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and the U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program: Past contributions and future directions

Treesearch

P. N. Manley; D. C. Hayes

2006-01-01

U.S. Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program is part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) MAB program, and is one of six regional MAB programs that span the globe. The MAB Program was created in 1971 with the goal to explore, demonstrate, promote, and encourage harmonious relationships between people and their environments....

The Cultural Argument for Understanding Nature of Science: A Chance to Reflect on Similarities and Differences Between Science and Humanities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reiners, Christiane S.; Bliersbach, Markus; Marniok, Karl

2017-01-01

Understanding Nature of Science (NOS) is a central component of scientific literacy, which is agreed upon internationally, and consequently has been a major educational goal for many years all over the globe. In order to justify the promotion of an adequate understanding of NOS, educators have developed several arguments, among them the cultural…

Theoretical Foundations of Wireless Networks

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-22

Optimal transmission over a fading channel with imperfect channel state information,” in Global Telecommun. Conf., pp. 1–5, Houston TX , December 5-9...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: The goal of this project is to develop a formal theory of wireless networks providing a scientific basis to understand...randomness and optimality. Randomness, in the form of fading, is a defining characteristic of wireless networks. Optimality is a suitable design

The Population of Small Comets: Optimum Techniques for Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brandt, John C.

1997-01-01

The goals of this project were: (1) to present evidence to the scientific community for the importance of the small comet population and (2) to develop techniques for optimum detection in order to characterize the population. Our work on techniques has been to develop algorithms for searching images for SCs based on the distinctive properties of comets; (1) motion with respect to background stars; (2) extended source with most light coming from the coma rather than the nucleus; and characteristic spectral signature.

Prospects For Gamma-ray Focusing Telescopes Beyond 70/100 Kev

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frontera, F.

2011-09-01

I will report on the LAUE project, devoted to the development of a lens petal with 20 m focal length. The final goal is to develop a technology for building Laue lenses with a passband from 70/100 to 600 keV. The project is on the way in a synergic collaboration between scientific institutions (University of Ferrara; INAF/IASF, Bologna; CNR/IMEM, Parma; DTM, Modena; Thales-Alenia Space Italy). The LAUE project is supported by the Italian Space Agency ASI.

1995 Laboratory-Directed Research and Development Annual report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cauffman, D.P.; Shoaf, D.L.; Hill, D.A.

1995-12-31

The Laboratory-Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD) is a key component of the discretionary research conducted by Lockheed Idaho Technologies Company (Lockheed Idaho) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). The threefold purpose and goal of the LDRD program is to maintain the scientific and technical vitality of the INEL, respond to and support new technical opportunities, and enhance the agility and flexibility of the national laboratory and Lockheed Idaho to address the current and future missions of the Department of Energy.

Architectural frameworks: defining the structures for implementing learning health systems.

PubMed

Lessard, Lysanne; Michalowski, Wojtek; Fung-Kee-Fung, Michael; Jones, Lori; Grudniewicz, Agnes

2017-06-23

The vision of transforming health systems into learning health systems (LHSs) that rapidly and continuously transform knowledge into improved health outcomes at lower cost is generating increased interest in government agencies, health organizations, and health research communities. While existing initiatives demonstrate that different approaches can succeed in making the LHS vision a reality, they are too varied in their goals, focus, and scale to be reproduced without undue effort. Indeed, the structures necessary to effectively design and implement LHSs on a larger scale are lacking. In this paper, we propose the use of architectural frameworks to develop LHSs that adhere to a recognized vision while being adapted to their specific organizational context. Architectural frameworks are high-level descriptions of an organization as a system; they capture the structure of its main components at varied levels, the interrelationships among these components, and the principles that guide their evolution. Because these frameworks support the analysis of LHSs and allow their outcomes to be simulated, they act as pre-implementation decision-support tools that identify potential barriers and enablers of system development. They thus increase the chances of successful LHS deployment. We present an architectural framework for LHSs that incorporates five dimensions-goals, scientific, social, technical, and ethical-commonly found in the LHS literature. The proposed architectural framework is comprised of six decision layers that model these dimensions. The performance layer models goals, the scientific layer models the scientific dimension, the organizational layer models the social dimension, the data layer and information technology layer model the technical dimension, and the ethics and security layer models the ethical dimension. We describe the types of decisions that must be made within each layer and identify methods to support decision-making. In this paper, we outline a high-level architectural framework grounded in conceptual and empirical LHS literature. Applying this architectural framework can guide the development and implementation of new LHSs and the evolution of existing ones, as it allows for clear and critical understanding of the types of decisions that underlie LHS operations. Further research is required to assess and refine its generalizability and methods.

Multidrug-Resistant TB

PubMed Central

Cox, Helen; Coomans, Fons

2016-01-01

Abstract The right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress (REBSP) is a little-known but potentially valuable right that can contribute to rights-based approaches to addressing multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). We argue that better understanding of the REBSP may help to advance legal and civil society action for health rights. While the REBSP does not provide an individual entitlement to have a new drug developed for MDR-TB, it sets up entitlements to expect a state to establish a legislative and policy framework aimed at developing scientific capacity to address the most important health issues and at disseminating the outcomes of scientific research. By making scientific findings available and accessible, people can be enabled to claim the use of science for social benefits. Inasmuch as the market fails to address neglected diseases such as MDR-TB, the REBSP provides a potential counterbalance to frame a positive obligation on states to both marshal their own resources and to coordinate the actions of multiple other actors towards this goal, including non-state actors. While the latter do not hold the same level of accountability as states, the REBSP can still enable the recognition of obligations at a level of “soft law” responsibilities. PMID:27780997

A DBMS architecture for global change research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hachem, Nabil I.; Gennert, Michael A.; Ward, Matthew O.

1993-08-01

The goal of this research is the design and development of an integrated system for the management of very large scientific databases, cartographic/geographic information processing, and exploratory scientific data analysis for global change research. The system will represent both spatial and temporal knowledge about natural and man-made entities on the eath's surface, following an object-oriented paradigm. A user will be able to derive, modify, and apply, procedures to perform operations on the data, including comparison, derivation, prediction, validation, and visualization. This work represents an effort to extend the database technology with an intrinsic class of operators, which is extensible and responds to the growing needs of scientific research. Of significance is the integration of many diverse forms of data into the database, including cartography, geography, hydrography, hypsography, images, and urban planning data. Equally important is the maintenance of metadata, that is, data about the data, such as coordinate transformation parameters, map scales, and audit trails of previous processing operations. This project will impact the fields of geographical information systems and global change research as well as the database community. It will provide an integrated database management testbed for scientific research, and a testbed for the development of analysis tools to understand and predict global change.

[Goals in the discussion of old age insurance - a sketch].

PubMed

Schmähl, W

1980-01-01

In the Federal Republic of Germany often the discussion on social policy deals with instruments, yet seldom with goals to be realised. Scientific work on goals for old-age security policy is just starting. In this article the importance of distinctly defined goals is shown for rational economic and social policy, for an assessment of the existing situation, for a goal oriented selection and formation of measures and for success control. With reference to distributive goals in old-age security policy it is exemplified in which way scientific work can be helpful in defining goals in an operationalised form. For this it is important to deal with several distributive aspects, which are often mixed in discussions. As measures in one area of economic and social policy cannot be taken isolated, in order to avoid unwanted consequences, it is necessary for old-age security policies too, to take into consideration a general system of economic and social policy goals. As an example, it must be stated that e.g. aspects of business cycle and growth policy have to be considered while constructing a system of old-age security. Finally, some other criteria for old-age security policies, such as transparence, political feasibility and practicability are mentioned.

Medical Writing Competency Model - Section 1: Functions, Tasks, and Activities.

PubMed

Clemow, David B; Wagner, Bertil; Marshallsay, Christopher; Benau, Dan; L'Heureux, Darryl; Brown, David H; Dasgupta, Devjani Ghosh; Girten, Eileen; Hubbard, Frank; Gawrylewski, Helle-Mai; Ebina, Hiroko; Stoltenborg, Janet; York, J P; Green, Kim; Wood, Linda Fossati; Toth, Lisa; Mihm, Michael; Katz, Nancy R; Vasconcelos, Nina-Maria; Sakiyama, Norihisa; Whitsell, Robin; Gopalakrishnan, Shobha; Bairnsfather, Susan; Wanderer, Tatyana; Schindler, Thomas M; Mikyas, Yeshi; Aoyama, Yumiko

2018-01-01

This article provides Section 1 of the 2017 Edition 2 Medical Writing Competency Model that describes the core work functions and associated tasks and activities related to professional medical writing within the life sciences industry. The functions in the Model are scientific communication strategy; document preparation, development, and finalization; document project management; document template, standard, format, and style development and maintenance; outsourcing, alliance partner, and client management; knowledge, skill, ability, and behavior development and sharing; and process improvement. The full Model also includes Section 2, which covers the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors needed for medical writers to be effective in their roles; Section 2 is presented in a companion article. Regulatory, publication, and other scientific writing as well as management of writing activities are covered. The Model was developed to aid medical writers and managers within the life sciences industry regarding medical writing hiring, training, expectation and goal setting, performance evaluation, career development, retention, and role value sharing to cross-functional partners.

A quarter-long exercise that introduces general education students to neurophysiology and scientific writing.

PubMed

Krilowicz, B I; Henter, H; Kamhi-Stein, L

1997-06-01

Providing large numbers of general education students with an introduction to science is a challenge. To meet this challenge, a quarter-long neurophysiology project was developed for use in an introductory biology course. The primary goals of this multistep project were to introduce students to the scientific method, scientific writing, on-line scientific bibliographic databases, and the scientific literature, while improving their academic literacy skills. Students began by collecting data on their own circadian rhythms in autonomic, motor, and cognitive function, reliably demonstrating the predicted circadian changes in heart rate, eye-hand coordination, and adding speed. Students wrote a journal-style article using pooled class data. Students were prepared to write the paper by several methods that were designed to improve academic language skills, including a library training exercise, "modeling" of the writing assignment, and drafting of subsections of the paper. This multistep neurophysiology project represents a significant commitment of time by both students and instructors, but produces a valuable finished product and ideally gives introductory students a positive first experience with science.

Science Goals, Objectives, and Investigations of the 2016 Europa Lander Science Definition Team Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hand, Kevin P.; Murray, Alison; Garvin, James; and the Europa Lander Science Definition Team, Project Science Team, and Project Engineering Team.

2017-10-01

In June of 2016 NASA convened a 21-person team of scientists to establish the science goals, objectives, investigations, measurement requirements, and model payload of a Europa lander mission concept. The NASA HQ Charter goals, in priority order, are as follows:1) Search for evidence of life on Europa, 2) Assess the habitability of Europa via in situ techniques uniquely available to a lander mission, 3) Characterize surface and subsurface properties at the scale of the lander to support future exploration of Europa.Within Goal 1, four Objectives were developed for seeking signs of life. These include the need to: a) detect and characterize any organic indicators of past or present life, b) identify and characterize morphological, textural, and other indicators of life, c) detect and characterize any inorganic indicators of past or present life, and d) determine the provenance of Lander-sampled material. Goal 2 focuses on Europa’s habitability and ensures that even in the absence of the detection of any potential biosignatures, significant ocean world science is still achieved. Goal 3 ensures that the landing site region is quantitatively characterized in the context needed for Goals 1 and 2, and that key measurements about Europa’s ice shell are made to enable future exploration.Critically, scientific success cannot be, and should never be, contingent on finding signs of life - such criteria would be levying requirements on how the universe works. Rather, scientific success is defined here as achieving a suite of measurements such that if convincing signs of life are present on Europa’s surface they could be detected at levels comparable to those found in benchmark environments on Earth, and, further, that even if no potential biosignatures are detected, the science return of the mission will significantly advance our fundamental understanding of Europa’s chemistry, geology, geophysics, and habitability.

Science Overview

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bruning, Claus; Ko, Malcolm; Lee, David; Miake-Lye, Richard

2006-01-01

This report presents an overview of the latest scientific consensus understanding of the effect of aviation emissions on the atmosphere for both local air quality and climate change in order to provide a contextual framework for raising future questions to help assess the environmental benefits of technology goals. The questions may take the form of what are the environmental benefits that would result if goals are achieved, what are the consequences for other aviation pollutants, and whether tools exist to evaluate the trade-off. In addition to this documents, presentations will be made at the meeting to illustrate current developing views on these subjects. To facilitate studies on trade-offs among environmental impacts from aviation, one must start with scientific investigations that quantify the impacts. A second step is to select representative metrics with policy relevance so that diverse impacts can be put on the same common scale. The IPCC Special Report on Aviation (IPCC, 1999) serves as an excellent example of the first step. The report was produced by IPCC's Working Group 1, whose mandate is to provide the assessment of the scientific aspects of the climate system and climate change. An example of the second step is Witt et al. (2005), a study commissioned by the Environment DG of the European Commission. Within the context of CAEP, step 1 is aligned with the responsibilities of the Research Focal Points, while step 2 is more related to activities of FESG. These steps are likely to be iterative as proposed policy options will raise new science questions, and new science will expand or limit policy options. Past experiences show that clearly defined policy-related scientific needs will help focus the scientific community to marshal their intellects to provide the needed answers.

Socioscientific Issues and the Affective Domain: Scientific Literacy's Missing Link.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sadler, Troy D.

The promotion of scientific literacy has become an important goal for science education, and the ability to negotiate socioscientific issues is at least one aspect of scientific literacy. This paper focuses on how the moral dimensions of socioscientific issues influence decision-making regarding these issues. Morality is examined from multiple…

Scientific challenges in shrubland ecosystems

Treesearch

William T. Sommers

2001-01-01

A primary goal in land management is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the country’s rangelands and shrublands for future generations. This type of sustainable management is to assure the availability and appropriate use of scientific information for decisionmaking. Some of most challenging scientific problems of shrubland ecosystem management are...

I Wonder…Scientific Exploration and Experimentation as a Practice of Christian Faith

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaver, Ruth E.

2016-01-01

"I Wonder...Gaining Wisdom and Growing Faith Through Scientific Exploration" is an intergenerational science curriculum designed to be used in congregations. The goal of this curriculum and the theoretical work underpinning it is to counter the perception that people of faith cannot also be people who possess a scientific understanding…

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ideas about Scientific Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricketts, Amy

2014-01-01

With the goal of producing scientifically literate citizens who are able to make informed decisions and reason critically when science intersects with their everyday lives, the National Research Council (NRC) has produced two recent documents that call for a new approach to K-12 science education that is based on scientific practices, crosscutting…

Constructing a Scientific Explanation--A Narrative Account

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yeo, Jennifer; Gilbert, John K.

2014-01-01

Studies analyzing explanations that have been constructed by science students have found that they were generally weak and lack necessary features. The goal of this study was to establish the competencies that one needs to construct a scientific explanation. Scientific explanations can be looked at in three ways, in terms of their function, form…

Engaging in Vocabulary Learning in Science: The Promise of Multimodal Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, Dianna; Brock, Cynthia; Morrison, Jennifer D.

2018-01-01

To a science 'outsider', science language often appears unnecessarily technical and dense. However, scientific language is typically used with the goal of being concise and precise, which allows those who regularly participate in scientific discourse communities to learn from each other and build upon existing scientific knowledge. One essential…

Surviving and Thriving-Shifting the Public Health Response to HIV-Exposed Uninfected Children: Report of the 3rd HIV-Exposed Uninfected Child Workshop.

PubMed

Slogrove, Amy L; Becquet, Renaud; Chadwick, Ellen G; Côté, Hélène C F; Essajee, Shaffiq; Hazra, Rohan; Leroy, Valériane; Mahy, Mary; Murenga, Maurine; Wambui Mwangi, Jacqueline; Oyiengo, Laura; Rollins, Nigel; Penazzato, Martina; Seage, George R; Serghides, Lena; Vicari, Marissa; Powis, Kathleen M

2018-01-01

Great gains were achieved with the introduction of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, including improved child survival. Transition to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) focused on surviving, thriving, and transforming, representing an important shift to a broader public health goal, the achievement of which holds the promise of longer-term individual and societal benefits. A similar shift is needed with respect to outcomes for infants born to women living with HIV (WLHIV). Programming to prevent vertical HIV transmission has been successful in increasingly achieving a goal of HIV-free survival for infants born to WLHIV. Unfortunately, HIV-exposed uninfected (HEU) children are not achieving comparable health and developmental outcomes compared with children born to HIV-uninfected women under similar socioeconomic circumstances. The 3rd HEU Child Workshop, held as a satellite session of the International AIDS Society's 9th IAS Conference in Paris in July 2017, provided a venue to discuss HEU child health and development disparities. A summary of the Workshop proceedings follows, providing current scientific findings, emphasizing the gap in systems for long-term monitoring, and highlighting the public health need to establish a strategic plan to better quantify the short and longer-term health and developmental outcomes of HEU children.

Integration of a zebrafish research project into a molecular biology course to support critical thinking and course content goals.

PubMed

Felzien, Lisa K

2016-11-12

Engaging undergraduates in research is essential for teaching them to think like scientists, and it has become a desired component of classroom and laboratory instruction. Research projects that span an entire semester expose students to a variety of concepts and techniques and allow students to use experiments to learn scientific principles, understand why specific techniques are applicable, critically analyze varied data, and examine how experimentation leads to acquiring knowledge. To provide an experience with these features, a semester long research project was integrated into a combined lecture and laboratory course, Molecular Biology. The project utilized the zebrafish model to examine gene expression during embryonic development and required students to develop and test hypotheses about the timing of expression of previously uncharacterized genes. The main goals for the project were to provide opportunities for students to develop critical thinking skills required for conducting research and to support the content goals of the course. To determine whether these goals were met, student performance on the steps of the project and related pre-test and post-test questions was examined. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 44(6):565-573, 2016. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Ecosystem-Based Management and the Sustainable Delivery of Marine Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogarty, M.; Schwing, F. B.

2016-12-01

Ecosystem-Based Management can provide an essential framework for the sustainable delivery of a broad spectrum of marine Ecosystem Services (ES) essential to human well being. Key elements of the approach involve the specification of clearly articulated goals for EBM; the development of an accompanying Marine Ecosystem Services Assessment (MESA) designed to evaluate the status of delivery of these services; and strategies for the implementation of management options designed to achieve the stated goals of the program. The specification of goals is the purview of managers. In the United States under the provisions of the National Ocean Policy, Regional Planning Bodies are charged with the responsibility of articulating goals and developing strategies to meet these goals. Government agencies, in concert with the broader scientific community, hold the responsibility for assessing the status of the delivery of ecosystem services in relation to designated objectives and advising on appropriate management strategies. In this presentation, I will illustrate the specification of a MESA for the Northwest U.S Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NES LME). The approach focuses on the evaluation of ES indicators and additional metrics related to threats and impacts to the sustainable delivery of these services. Results are combined into an overall index of status of the NES LME.

Students' abilities to critique scientific evidence when reading and writing scientific arguments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knight, Amanda M.

Scientific arguments are used to persuade others for explanations that make sense of the natural world. Over time, through the accumulation of evidence, one explanation for a scientific phenomenon tends to take precedence. In science education, arguments make students' thinking and reasoning visible while also supporting the development of their conceptual, procedural, and epistemic knowledge. As such, argumentation has become a goal within recent policy documents, including the Next Generation Science Standards, which, in turn, presents a need for comprehensive, effective, and scalable assessments. This dissertation used assessments that measure students' abilities to critique scientific evidence, which is measured in terms of the form of justification and the support of empirical evidence, when reading and writing scientific arguments. Cognitive interviews were then conducted with a subset of the students to explore the criteria they used to critique scientific evidence. Specifically, the research investigated what characteristics of scientific evidence the students preferred, how they critiqued both forms of justification and empirical evidence, and whether the four constructs represented four separate abilities. Findings suggest that students' prioritized the type of empirical evidence to the form of justification, and most often selected relevant-supporting justifications. When writing scientific arguments, most students constructed a justified claim, but struggled to justify their claims with empirical evidence. In comparison, when reading scientific arguments, students had trouble locating a justification when it was not empirical data. Additionally, it was more difficult for students to critique than identify or locate empirical evidence, and it was more difficult for students to identify than locate empirical evidence. Findings from the cognitive interviews suggest that students with more specific criteria tended to have more knowledge of the construct. Lastly, dimensional analyses suggest that these may not be four distinct constructs, which has important implications for curriculum development and instructional practice. Namely, teachers should attend to the critique of scientific evidence separately when reading and writing scientific arguments.

The 1989 long-range program plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

The President's National Space Policy of 1988 reaffirms that space activities serve a variety of vital national goals and objectives, including the strengthening of U.S. scientific, technological, political, economic, and international leadership. The new policy stresses that civil space activities contribute significantly to enhancing America's world leadership. Goals and objectives must be defined and redefined, and each advance toward a given objective must be viewed as a potential building block for future programs. This important evolutionary process for research and development is reflected, describing NASA's program planning for FY89 and later years. This plan outlines the direction of NASA's future activities by discussing goals, objectives, current programs, and plans for the future. The 1989 plan is consistent with national policy for both space and aeronautics, and with the FY89 budget that the President submitted to Congress in February 1988.

Global Analysis, Interpretation and Modelling: An Earth Systems Modelling Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Berrien, III; Sahagian, Dork

1997-01-01

The Goal of the GAIM is: To advance the study of the coupled dynamics of the Earth system using as tools both data and models; to develop a strategy for the rapid development, evaluation, and application of comprehensive prognostic models of the Global Biogeochemical Subsystem which could eventually be linked with models of the Physical-Climate Subsystem; to propose, promote, and facilitate experiments with existing models or by linking subcomponent models, especially those associated with IGBP Core Projects and with WCRP efforts. Such experiments would be focused upon resolving interface issues and questions associated with developing an understanding of the prognostic behavior of key processes; to clarify key scientific issues facing the development of Global Biogeochemical Models and the coupling of these models to General Circulation Models; to assist the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) process by conducting timely studies that focus upon elucidating important unresolved scientific issues associated with the changing biogeochemical cycles of the planet and upon the role of the biosphere in the physical-climate subsystem, particularly its role in the global hydrological cycle; and to advise the SC-IGBP on progress in developing comprehensive Global Biogeochemical Models and to maintain scientific liaison with the WCRP Steering Group on Global Climate Modelling.

The ALMA high speed optical communication link is here: an essential component for reliable present and future operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filippi, G.; Ibsen, J.; Jaque, S.; Liello, F.; Ovando, N.; Astudillo, A.; Parra, J.; Saldias, Christian

2016-07-01

Announced in 2012, started in 2013 and completed in 2015, the ALMA high bandwidth communication system has become a key factor to achieve the operational and scientific goals of ALMA. This paper summarizes the technical, organizational, and operational goals of the ALMA Optical Link Project, focused in the creation and operation of an effective and sustainable communication infrastructure to connect the ALMA Operations Support Facility and Array Operations Site, both located in the Atacama Desert in the Northern region of Chile, with the point of presence of REUNA in Antofagasta, about 400km away, and from there to the Santiago Central Office in the Chilean capital through the optical infrastructure created by the EC-funded EVALSO project and now an integral part of the REUNA backbone. This new infrastructure completed in 2014 and now operated on behalf of ALMA by REUNA, the Chilean National Research and Education Network, uses state of the art technologies, like dark fiber from newly built cables and DWDM transmission, allowing extending the reach of high capacity communication to the remote region where the Observatory is located. The paper also reports on the results obtained during the first year and a half testing and operation period, where different operational set ups have been experienced for data transfer, remote collaboration, etc. Finally, the authors will present a forward look of the impact of it to both the future scientific development of the Chajnantor Plateau, where many installations area are (and will be) located, as well as the potential Chilean scientific backbone long term development.

Psychoactive Substances Bill and Act of New Zealand: A Chance to Engage Undergraduate Scientists with Society using a Transfer Learning Paradigm.

PubMed

Gliddon, Catherine M; Cridge, Belinda

2015-01-01

Our aim was to develop a teaching paradigm that connected undergraduate's neuropharmacological/toxicological knowledge to that of government policy. One goal of undergraduate education should be to help develop scientists that can use their scientific knowledge to critique government policy. There is little research, however, on whether democratization of science occurs: nor how to achieve this. Our work focused on a semi-structured workshop designed around the Psychoactive Substances Bill (PSB). Third year science students were given a questionnaire that was designed to address whether participating in the workshop enhanced their understanding of the PSB and its relationship to their established knowledge (i.e., transfer learning). Furthermore, whether they felt that they had enough expertise to consider making a submission (i.e., societal engagement). Results showed that the students appreciated the opportunity to explore potential application of their knowledge and delve into a socio-scientific issue. However, our findings suggested they felt uncomfortable discussing their ideas outside the classroom: nor, did they identify themselves as having sufficient knowledge to contribute to a submission. In conclusion, this study highlights two points. First, that discussion based transfer learning can be used in the tertiary sector and students value the opportunity to apply their knowledge to socio-scientific issue. Second, if social participation and democratization of science is a goal, then more emphasis should be placed on how students can realistically and confidently apply their learning to change social policy. In order to achieve this, education programs need to focus on legitimate real-life processes such as the PSB for engagement.

Integrative medicine in hematology/oncology: benefits, ethical considerations, and controversies.

PubMed

Rosenthal, David S; Dean-Clower, Elizabeth

2005-01-01

Integrative Medicine (IM), a newly emerging field, has evolved from Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). CAM refers to diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered part of conventional medicine and generally have limited scientific evidence. In the US, CAM is a multi-billion dollar, unregulated industry with potential benefits and risks to consumers, including cancer patients, who are high utilizers of complementary therapies. Patients' CAM use often is unsupervised by physicians, yet patients need the advice and guidance of their hematologists/oncologists as part of total cancer care. Ethical and legal issues physicians need to address include inquiring about and educating patients regarding potential interactions (e.g., drug-herb, radiation-antioxidant) or product contaminants, while discussing other therapies that may alleviate symptoms and/or improve quality of life. Administratively, CAM offerings in medical settings require relevant policies and procedures, such as properly credentialing practitioners and providing financial assistance counseling for those who cannot afford fee-for-service. Unlike "Alternative Medicine," the goal of IM is to combine mainstream medical therapies and CAM therapies (e.g., acupuncture, meditation, music therapy) that have some high-quality scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness. The Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO), a new international organization of oncology professionals studying and integrating effective complementary therapies in cancer care, serves as a forum for presenting scientific data on these therapies while emphasizing the importance of developing infrastructure that promotes IM principles and practices. The ultimate goal is to develop multidisciplinary expertise and therapeutic synergy between conventional and complementary therapies.

Quantitative evaluation of Iranian radiology papers and its comparison with selected countries.

PubMed

Ghafoori, Mahyar; Emami, Hasan; Sedaghat, Abdolrasoul; Ghiasi, Mohammad; Shakiba, Madjid; Alavi, Manijeh

2014-01-01

Recent technological developments in medicine, including modern radiology have promoted the impact of scientific researches on social life. The scientific outputs such as article and patents are products that show the scientists' attempt to access these achievements. In the current study, we evaluate the current situation of Iranian scientists in the field of radiology and compare it with the selected countries in terms of scientific papers. For this purpose, we used scientometric tools to quantitatively assess the scientific papers in the field of radiology. Radiology papers were evaluated in the context of medical field audit using retrospective model. We used the related databases of biomedical sciences for extraction of articles related to radiology. In the next step, the situation of radiology scientific products of the country were determined with respect to the under study regional countries. Results of the current study showed a ratio of 0.19% for Iranian papers in PubMed database published in 2009. In addition, in 2009, Iranian papers constituted 0.29% of the Scopus scientific database. The proportion of Iranian papers in the understudy region was 7.6%. To diminish the gap between Iranian scientific radiology papers and other competitor countries in the region and achievement of document 2025 goals, multifold effort of the society of radiology is necessary.

Comparing different scientific approaches to personalized medicine: research ethics and privacy protection.

PubMed

Langanke, Martin; Brothers, Kyle B; Erdmann, Pia; Weinert, Jakob; Krafczyk-Korth, Janina; Dörr, Marcus; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Kroemer, Heyo K; Assel, Heinrich

2011-07-01

In this article, two different scientific approaches to personalized medicine are compared. Biorepository at Vanderbilt University (BioVU) is a genomic biorepository at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, USA. Genetic biosamples are collected from leftover clinical blood samples; medical information is derived from an electronic medical records. Greifswald Approach to Individualized Medicine is a research resource at the University of Greifswald, Germany, comprised of clinical records combined with biosamples collected for research. We demonstrate that although both approaches are based on the collection of clinical data and biosamples, different legal milieus present in the USA and Germany as well as slight differences in scientific goals have led to different 'ethical designs'. While BioVU can successfully operate with an 'opt-out' mechanism, an informed consent-based 'opt-in' model is indispensable to allow GANI_MED to reach its scientific goals.

Comparing different scientific approaches to personalized medicine: research ethics and privacy protection

PubMed Central

Langanke, Martin; Brothers, Kyle B; Erdmann, Pia; Weinert, Jakob; Krafczyk-Korth, Janina; Dörr, Marcus; Hoffmann, Wolfgang; Kroemer, Heyo K; Assel, Heinrich

2011-01-01

In this article, two different scientific approaches to personalized medicine are compared. Biorepository at Vanderbilt University (BioVU) is a genomic biorepository at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, USA. Genetic biosamples are collected from leftover clinical blood samples; medical information is derived from an electronic medical records. Greifswald Approach to Individualized Medicine is a research resource at the University of Greifswald, Germany, comprised of clinical records combined with biosamples collected for research. We demonstrate that although both approaches are based on the collection of clinical data and biosamples, different legal milieus present in the USA and Germany as well as slight differences in scientific goals have led to different ‘ethical designs’. While BioVU can successfully operate with an ‘opt-out’ mechanism, an informed consent-based ‘opt-in’ model is indispensable to allow GANI_MED to reach its scientific goals. PMID:21892358

Solar C: Scatter-Free Observatory for Limb Active Regions and Coronae

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

The SOLARC observatory is a 0.5m off-axis reflecting coronagraph. NASA SRT funding has allowed the completion of this telescope facility, which we believe is now the world's largest operational coronagraph. We have achieved our proposal goals both in the development of the new technology for this facility and in the demonstration of its scientific and educational potential: 1) The SOLARC engineering development was successful and has spawned other similar instruments. The off-axis design of ATST (a new 4m telescope) has benefited from the SOLARC development. The off-axis 1.6m NST facility at BBSO is also now under construction and will be the world's largest solar disk observing telescope until ATST is completed. Both of these telescope designs are derivatives of the SOLARC 0.5m off-axis. Some of this technical development is described in the publications. 2) The most important scientific goal of SOLARC has been to demonstrate that coronal magnetic fields can be measured using infrared spectropolarimetry techniques. With the completion of the optical fiber-bundle imaging spectropolarimeter we have measured the coronal field strength with a sensitivity to the line-of-sight field component of 2G at 150,OOOkm above the limb. We believe this capability opens new opportunities for space weather, and coronal physics research. In particular we have demonstrated a new tool for understanding the effect of the Sun on the terrestrial space environment. A paper reporting these results has recently been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The Relationship in Biology between the Nature of Science and Scientific Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kremer, Kerstin; Specht, Christiane; Urhahne, Detlef; Mayer, Jürgen

2014-01-01

Informed understandings of nature of science and scientific inquiry are generally accepted goals of biology education. This article points out central features of scientific inquiry with relation to biology and the nature of science in general terms and focuses on the relationship of students' inquiry skills in biology and their beliefs on the…

Mobile Apps for Weight Management: A Scoping Review.

PubMed

Rivera, Jordan; McPherson, Amy; Hamilton, Jill; Birken, Catherine; Coons, Michael; Iyer, Sindoora; Agarwal, Arnav; Lalloo, Chitra; Stinson, Jennifer

2016-07-26

Obesity remains a major public health concern. Mobile apps for weight loss/management are found to be effective for improving health outcomes in adults and adolescents, and are pursued as a cost-effective and scalable intervention for combating overweight and obesity. In recent years, the commercial market for 'weight loss apps' has expanded at rapid pace, yet little is known regarding the evidence-based quality of these tools for weight control. To characterize the inclusion of evidence-based strategies, health care expert involvement, and scientific evaluation of commercial mobile apps for weight loss/management. An electronic search was conducted between July 2014 and July 2015 of the official app stores for four major mobile operating systems. Three raters independently identified apps with a stated goal of weight loss/management, as well as weight loss/management apps targeted to pediatric users. All discrepancies regarding selection were resolved through discussion with a fourth rater. Metadata from all included apps were abstracted into a standard assessment criteria form and the evidence-based strategies, health care expert involvement, and scientific evaluation of included apps was assessed. Evidence-based strategies included: self-monitoring, goal-setting, physical activity support, healthy eating support, weight and/or health assessment, personalized feedback, motivational strategies, and social support. A total of 393 apps were included in this review. Self-monitoring was most common (139/393, 35.3%), followed by physical activity support (108/393, 27.5%), weight assessment (100/393, 25.4%), healthy eating support (91/393, 23.2%), goal-setting (84/393, 21.4%), motivational strategies (28/393, 7.1%), social support (21/393, 5.3%), and personalized feedback (7/393, 1.8%). Of apps, 0.8% (3/393) underwent scientific evaluation and 0.3% (1/393) reported health care expert involvement. No apps were comprehensive in the assessment criteria, with the majority of apps meeting less than two criteria. Commercial mobile apps for weight loss/management lack important evidence-based features, do not involve health care experts in their development process, and have not undergone rigorous scientific testing. This calls into question the validity of apps' claims regarding their effectiveness and safety, at a time when the availability and growth in adoption of these tools is rapidly increasing. Collaborative efforts between developers, researchers, clinicians, and patients are needed to develop and test high-quality, evidence-based mobile apps for weight loss/management before they are widely disseminated in commercial markets.

Building partnerships with Indigenous communities around climate change: A new UCAR initiative.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandya, R. E.

2008-12-01

The atmospheric and related sciences have one of the lowest rates of participation by American Indians of any physical science. This not only disadvantages the atmospheric sciences by isolating them from a rich and relevant intellectual heritage, it disadvantages tribal communities who seek to apply the insights from atmospheric sciences to planning their own future. In a time of rapid environmental change and its impact on tribal lands and all lands, the need for connection between these two communities is especially urgent. In 2007, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research launched a new Community Building Program, in order to catalyze and coordinate activities that contribute to UCAR's strategic goal of developing a diverse atmospheric science workforce. A key goal of this program has been to look for partnerships with the American Indian community around climate change issues. The goal of these partnerships is to support North American tribal efforts to enhance their own scientific and adaptive capacity around climate change. In the early stages of this partnership, we have listened to some important messages from Indigenous communities: •Climate change, like all things related to the landscape, is intimately connected to identity and sovereignty • Scientific expertise is one among many skills indigenous people employ in their relation with their homelands • Climate change research and education are embedded in decision-making about economic development, energy, public health as well as cultural preservation, language, and tribal sovereignty This presentation will be an opportunity to check and extend these insights discuss and use them as a basis for a long-term partnership between UCAR and tribal communities.

Developing a Program to Increase Diversity in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prendeville, J. C.

2001-05-01

The Geosciences have a history of poor participation by minorities- African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and persons with disabilities. Demographic data concerning population trends over the next decades make it clear that, without intervention, underrepresentation of these groups in the geosciences will only worsen. The Directorate for Geosciences of the National Science Foundation has acknowledged the problem of underrepresentation and the loss of intellectual resources that it represents. The Directorate has established a program to create a pool of students from underrepresented groups who will take their place in the future as both scientific researchers and educators, as well as scientifically knowledgeable citizens. The strategy employed in developing the Geosciences Diversity program emphasizes community direction and inclusion. Steps in developing the program included examining data that demonstrate where the "leaks" in the educational pipeline occur; reviewing the programs that are offered by the NSF, by other federal agencies and by professional societies; and gaining insights from individuals who have developed or managed programs that have similar goals.

The Development of High Transition Temperature Superconducting Ceramic Thick Films and Wire Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-12-02

number of protein or sugar agents were experimented with including Agar, pectin, carboxymethylcellulose, gelatin, alginic acid, xanthan gum , guar gum ...I) Introduction and Description of Scientific Goals 1 II) Material and Powder Synthesis 1 A) Freeze Dried Fabrication of Powders 1 B) Utilization of...composites. II). Material and Powder Synthesis The availability of a reliable technique for producing large quantities of phase pure, submicron powders

The Population of Small Comets: Optimum Techniques for Detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schleicher, D.; AHearn, M.; Stewart, I. A. F.; Randall, C.; Brandt, J.

1999-01-01

The goals of this project were: (1) to present evidence to the scientific community for the importance of the small comet population and (2) to develop techniques for optimum detection in order to characterize the population. The work has been carried out by D. Schleicher (Lowell Observatory), M. A'Hearn and Y. Fernandez (University of Maryland), I.A.F. Stewart, C. Randall, and J. Brandt (University of Colorado).

The Production and Study of Antiprotons and Cold Antihydrogen

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-10

techniques required to produce and store atoms made entirely of anti- matter . Anti- matter provides high-density energy storage that far outstrips even nuclear...materials. Potential applications for anti- matter include rocketry and explosives. In the last grant period, a new positron accumulator was developed...encounter with ordinary matter will cause them to turn all their mass into energy as they annihilate. The scientific goal, which gives this program a

Cyclotron Road at Berkeley Lab – U.S. Department of Energy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuhl, Kendra; Weitekamp, Raymond; Lehmann, Marcus

The Department of Energy is testing a new model for clean energy research and development (R&D) through a program called Cyclotron Road. The goal is to support scientific R&D that is still too risky for private‐sector investment, and too applied for academia. Participants receive the time, space and capital to pursue their research and the support to find viable pathways to the market.

Flight Project Data Book

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

The Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) is responsible for the overall planning, directing, executing, and evaluating that part of the overall NASA program that has the goal of using the unique characteristics of the space environment to conduct a scientific study of the universe, to understand how the Earth works as an integrated system, to solve practical problems on Earth, and to provide the scientific and technological research foundation for expanding human presence beyond Earth orbit into the solar system. OSSA guides its program toward leadership through its pursuit of excellence across the full spectrum of disciplines. OSSA pursues these goals through an integrated program of ground-based laboratory research and experimentation, suborbital flight of instruments on airplanes, balloons, and sounding rockets; flight of instruments and the conduct of research on the Shuttle/Spacelab system and on Space Station Freedom; and development and flight of automated Earth-orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft. The OSSA program is conducted with the participation and support of other Government agencies and facilities, universities throughout the United States, the aerospace contractor community, and all of NASA's nine Centers. In addition, OSSA operates with substantial international participation in many aspects of our Space Science and Applications Program. OSSA's programs currently in operation, those approved for development, and those planned for future missions are described.

The Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics as a Community of Practice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, L.; Kellogg, L. H.

2016-12-01

Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG), geodynamics.org, originated in 2005 out of community recognition that the efforts of individual or small groups of researchers to develop scientifically-sound software is impossible to sustain, duplicates effort, and makes it difficult for scientists to adopt state-of-the art computational methods that promote new discovery. As a community of practice, participants in CIG share an interest in computational modeling in geodynamics and work together on open source software to build the capacity to support complex, extensible, scalable, interoperable, reliable, and reusable software in an effort to increase the return on investment in scientific software development and increase the quality of the resulting software. The group interacts regularly to learn from each other and better their practices formally through webinar series, workshops, and tutorials and informally through listservs and hackathons. Over the past decade, we have learned that successful scientific software development requires at a minimum: collaboration between domain-expert researchers, software developers and computational scientists; clearly identified and committed lead developer(s); well-defined scientific and computational goals that are regularly evaluated and updated; well-defined benchmarks and testing throughout development; attention throughout development to usability and extensibility; understanding and evaluation of the complexity of dependent libraries; and managed user expectations through education, training, and support. CIG's code donation standards provide the basis for recently formalized best practices in software development (geodynamics.org/cig/dev/best-practices/). Best practices include use of version control; widely used, open source software libraries; extensive test suites; portable configuration and build systems; extensive documentation internal and external to the code; and structured, human readable input formats.

Using Communication Technology to Facilitate Scientific Literacy: A Framework for Engaged Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

VanBuskirk, Shireen Adele

The purpose of this research project is to describe how existing communication technologies are used to foster scientific literacy for secondary students. This study develops a new framework as an analytic tool to categorize the activities of teachers and students involved in scientific literacy to describe what elements of scientific literacy are facilitated by such technologies. Four case studies are analyzed using the framework to describe the scientific literacy initiatives. Data collection at each site included interviews with the teacher, student focus groups, student surveys, and classroom observations. Qualitative analysis of the data provided insight into the learning activities and student experiences in the four cases. This study intentionally provides a platform for student voice. Very few previous empirical studies in the area of scientific literacy include the student experience. This represents a significant gap in the current literature on scientific literacy. An interpretation of scientific literacy that promotes student engagement, interaction, and initiative corresponds to a need to listen to students' perspectives on these experiences. Findings of the study indicated that the classroom activities depended on the teacher's philosophy regarding scientific literacy. Communication technology was ubiquitous; where the teacher did not initiate the use of social media in the classroom, the students did. The goal of supporting scientific literacy in students is an objective that extends beyond the boundaries of classroom walls, and it can be facilitated by technologies that seem both abundant and underutilized. Technology-enhanced pedagogy altered the classroom practices and resulted in more student participation and engagement.

Identifying Decision-Makers’ Science Needs for Adaptation to Climate-Related Impacts on Forest Ecosystem Services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, E.; Lukas, J.

2009-12-01

Through the Western Water Assessment RISA program, we are conducting a research project that will produce science synthesis information to help local, state, and federal decision-makers in Colorado and Wyoming develop adaptation strategies to deal with climate-related threats to forest ecosystem services, in particular bark beetle infestations and stand-replacing wildfires. We begin by using the problem orientation framework, a policy sciences methodology, to understand how decision-makers can most effectively address policy problems that threaten the attainment of socially accepted goals. By applying this framework to the challenges facing decision-makers, we more accurately identify specific areas where scientific research can improve decision-making. WWA researchers will next begin to connect decision-makers with relevant scientific literature and identify specific areas of future scientific research that will be most effective at addressing their needs.

The challenge of cardiac modeling--interaction and integration.

PubMed

Sideman, Samuel

2006-10-01

The goal of clinical cardiology is to obtain an integrated picture of the interacting parameters of muscle and vessel mechanics, blood circulation and myocardial perfusion, oxygen consumption and energy metabolism, and electrical activation and heart rate, thus relating to the true physiological and pathophysiological characteristics of the heart. Scientific insight into the cardiac physiology and performance is achieved by utilizing life sciences, for example, molecular biology, genetics and related intra- and intercellular phenomena, as well as the exact sciences, for example, mathematics, computer science, and related imaging and visualization techniques. The tools to achieve these goals are based on the intimate interactions between engineering science and medicine and the developments of modern, medically oriented technology. Most significant is the beneficiary effect of the globalization of science, the Internet, and the unprecedented international interaction and scientific cooperation in facing difficult multidisciplined challenges. This meeting aims to explore some important interactions in the cardiac system and relate to the integration of spatial and temporal interacting system parameters, so as to gain better insight into the structure and function of the cardiac system, thus leading to better therapeutic modalities.

Helios: Understanding Solar Evolution Through Text Analytics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Randazzese, Lucien

This proof-of-concept project focused on developing, testing, and validating a range of bibliometric, text analytic, and machine-learning based methods to explore the evolution of three photovoltaic (PV) technologies: Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), Dye-Sensitized solar cells (DSSC), and Multi-junction solar cells. The analytical approach to the work was inspired by previous work by the same team to measure and predict the scientific prominence of terms and entities within specific research domains. The goal was to create tools that could assist domain-knowledgeable analysts in investigating the history and path of technological developments in general, with a focus on analyzing step-function changes in performance,more » or “breakthroughs,” in particular. The text-analytics platform developed during this project was dubbed Helios. The project relied on computational methods for analyzing large corpora of technical documents. For this project we ingested technical documents from the following sources into Helios: Thomson Scientific Web of Science (papers), the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (patents), the U.S. Department of Energy (technical documents), the U.S. National Science Foundation (project funding summaries), and a hand curated set of full-text documents from Thomson Scientific and other sources.« less

Scientific Teaching: Defining a Taxonomy of Observable Practices

PubMed Central

Couch, Brian A.; Brown, Tanya L.; Schelpat, Tyler J.; Graham, Mark J.; Knight, Jennifer K.

2015-01-01

Over the past several decades, numerous reports have been published advocating for changes to undergraduate science education. These national calls inspired the formation of the National Academies Summer Institutes on Undergraduate Education in Biology (SI), a group of regional workshops to help faculty members learn and implement interactive teaching methods. The SI curriculum promotes a pedagogical framework called Scientific Teaching (ST), which aims to bring the vitality of modern research into the classroom by engaging students in the scientific discovery process and using student data to inform the ongoing development of teaching methods. With the spread of ST, the need emerges to systematically define its components in order to establish a common description for education researchers and practitioners. We describe the development of a taxonomy detailing ST’s core elements and provide data from classroom observations and faculty surveys in support of its applicability within undergraduate science courses. The final taxonomy consists of 15 pedagogical goals and 37 supporting practices, specifying observable behaviors, artifacts, and features associated with ST. This taxonomy will support future educational efforts by providing a framework for researchers studying the processes and outcomes of ST-based course transformations as well as a concise guide for faculty members developing classes. PMID:25713097

Developing Effective Communications about Extreme Weather Risks.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruine de Bruin, W.

2014-12-01

Members of the general public often face complex decisions about the risks that they face, including those associated with extreme weather and climate change adaptation. Scientific experts may be asked to develop communications with the goal of improving people's understanding of weather and climate risks, and informing people's decisions about how to protect against these risks. Unfortunately, scientific experts' communication efforts may fail if they lack information about what people need or want to know to make more informed decisions or what wording people prefer use to describe relevant concepts. This presentation provides general principles for developing effective risk communication materials that aim for widespread dissemination, such as brochures and websites. After a brief review of the social science evidence on how to design effective risk communication materials, examples will focus on communications about extreme weather events and climate change. Specifically, data will be presented from ongoing projects on flood risk perception, public preparedness for heat waves, and public perceptions of climate change. The presentation will end with specific recommendations about how to improve recipients' understanding about risks and inform decisions. These recommendations should be useful to scientific experts who aim to communicate about extreme weather, climate change, or other risks.

Review of NASA's Planned Mars Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1996-01-01

Contents include the following: Executive Summary; Introduction; Scientific Goals for the Exploration of Mars; Overview of Mars Surveyor and Others Mars Missions; Key Issues for NASA's Mars Exploration Program; and Assessment of the Scientific Potential of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.

Team science for science communication.

PubMed

Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Strauss, Benjamin H

2014-09-16

Natural scientists from Climate Central and social scientists from Carnegie Mellon University collaborated to develop science communications aimed at presenting personalized coastal flood risk information to the public. We encountered four main challenges: agreeing on goals; balancing complexity and simplicity; relying on data, not intuition; and negotiating external pressures. Each challenge demanded its own approach. We navigated agreement on goals through intensive internal communication early on in the project. We balanced complexity and simplicity through evaluation of communication materials for user understanding and scientific content. Early user test results that overturned some of our intuitions strengthened our commitment to testing communication elements whenever possible. Finally, we did our best to negotiate external pressures through regular internal communication and willingness to compromise.

Minority University Research and Education Division (MURED) Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Malone, John

2000-01-01

Program priorities include: (1) Expand and advance NASA's scientific and technological base by building on prior year's efforts in research and academic infrastructure; (2) Increase exposure to NASA's unique mission and facilities by developing closer relationships with NASA Strategic Enterprises; (3) Increase involvement in competitive peer review and merit selection processes; (4) Contribute significantly to the Agency's strategic goals and objectives; (5) Create systemic and sustainable change through partnerships and programs that enhance research and education programs; (6) Prepare faculty and students at HBCU's for NASA-related fields and increase number of students that enter and successfully complete degrees in NASA-related fields; (7) Establish measurable program goals and objectives; and (8) Improve financial management performance.

Exploring the living universe: A strategy for space life sciences

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1988-01-01

The knowledge obtained by space life sciences will play a pivotal role as humankind reaches out to explore the solar system. Information is needed concerning the existence of life beyond the Earth, the potential interactions between planets and living organisms, and the possibilities for humans to inhabit space safely and productively. Programs in the involved disciplines are an integral part of NASA's current and future missions. To realize their objectives, the development and operation of diverse ground and flight facilities and clost coordination with numerous scientific and governmental organizations in the U.S. and abroad are required. The status and goals of the life sciences programs are examined. Ways and means for attaining these goals are suggested.

The Living with a Star Program: NASA's Role in Assuring Performance in Space and Atmospheric Environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barth, Janet L.; LaBel, Kenneth; Brewer, Dana; Withbroe, George; Kauffman, Billy

2001-01-01

NASA has initiated the Living with a Star (LWS) Program to develop the scientific understanding to address the aspects of the Connected Sun-Earth system that affect life and society. A goal of the program is to bridge the gap between science, engineering, and user application communities. This will enable future science, operational, and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects of solar variability on technological systems. A pre-formulation study determined the optimum combination of science missions, modeling, and technology infusion elements to accomplish this goal. The results of the study are described.

Introduction and Goals for the National Children’s Study

PubMed Central

Hirschfeld, Steven

2018-01-01

The National Children’s Study (NCS) evolved in concept and planning to become an integrated systems based initiative to assess a full spectrum of health and capture the environmental factors and other influences that shape the trajectory of child development. The NCS built on prior work in health assessment, epidemiology, logistics, and methodology in order to address the broad goals of its mandate. To develop the specific methods and tools to conduct a study in multiple environments outside conventional health care delivery clinics the NCS invested in new approaches such as informatics, study operations, and the establishment of a Health Measurements Network to provide accurate, cost effective, and scientifically valid data that would be interoperable with data collected by other longitudinal studies around the world as well as with major national and international health improvement initiatives. PMID:29520353

A Revolution in the Making: Advances in Materials That May Transform Future Exploration Infrastructures and Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Harris, Charles E.; Dicus, Dennis L.; Shuart, Mark J.

2001-01-01

The NASA Strategic Plan identifies the long-term goal to provide safe and affordable space access, orbital transfer, and interplanetary transportation capabilities to enable research, human exploration, and the commercial development of space; and to conduct human and robotic missions to planets and other bodies in our solar system. Numerous scientific and engineering breakthroughs will be required to develop the technology necessary to achieve this goal. Critical technologies include advanced vehicle primary and secondary structure, radiation protection, propulsion and power systems, fuel storage, electronics and devices, sensors and science instruments, and medical diagnostics and treatment. Advanced materials with revolutionary new capabilities are an essential element of each of these technologies. This paper discusses those materials best suited for aerospace vehicle structure and highlights the enormous potential of one revolutionary new material, carbon nanotubes.

The 2008 California climate change assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Franco, G.

2008-12-01

In 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-03-05, which laid the foundation for California's ambitious greenhouse gas mitigation reduction efforts. The 2020 goal is now codified in state law requiring bringing 2020 emissions to the 1990 levels. The Executive Order also mandates the preparation of biennial updates on the latest climate change science, potential impacts, and assessment of the state's efforts to manage its climate change risks through various adaptation options. In 2006, the first of these mandated scientific assessments (The Governor's Scenarios Report) was released. Based on new scientific studies conducted in the interim, the next assessment, the '2008 Governor's Scenarios Report' is currently in preparation. It has three principal goals: (1) to improve the assessment of climate changes for California and associated impacts on key physical and biological indicators; (2) to begin to translate these physical and biological impacts into sectoral economic impacts; and (3) to begin to develop and evaluate strategies for key sectors or regions for adapting to climate changes already underway. Contributors to this session will present some of this new research to the scientific community. Among the most exciting new insights are impacts assessments for the all-important water and agricultural sectors, coastal areas, public health and related air quality and environmental justice issues, the forestry and energy sectors. This presentation will give an overview of the overall effort which will result in about 35 scientific papers from different research institutions in California. All of the studies are interlinked in such a way as to produce a consistent overall assessment.

The PACA Project: Creating Synergy Between Observing Campaigns, Outreach and Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanamandra-Fisher, Padma

2017-04-01

The PACA (Pro-Am Collaborative Astronomy) Project's primary goal is to develop and build synergy between professional and amateur astronomers from observations in the many aspects of support of missions and campaigns. To achieve this, the PACA has three main components: observational campaigns aligned with scientific research; outreach to engage all forms of audiences and citizen science projects that aim to produce specific scientific results, by engaging professional scientific and amateur communities and a variety of audiences. The primary observational projects are defined by specific scientific goals by professionals, resulting in global observing campaigns involving a variety of observers, and observing techniques. Some of PACA's observing campaigns have included global characterization of comets (e.g., C/ISON, SidingSpring, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Lovejoy, etc.), planets (Jupiter, Saturn and Mars) and currently expanded to include (i) polarimetric exploration of solar system objects with small apertures and (ii) in collaboration with CITIZEN CATE, a citizen science observing campaign to observe the 2017 Continental America Total Eclipse, engage many levels of informal audiences using interactive social media to participate in the campaign. Our Outreach campaigns leverage the multiple social media/platforms for at least two important reasons: (i) the immediate dissemination of observations and interaction with the global network and (ii) free or inexpensive resources for most of the participants. The final stage of the PACA ecosystem is the integration of these components into publications. We shall highlight some of the interesting challenges and solutions of the PACA Project so far and provide a view of future projects and new partnerships in all three categories.

Science Alive!: Connecting with Elementary Students through Science Exploration.

PubMed

Raja, Aarti; Lavin, Emily Schmitt; Gali, Tamara; Donovan, Kaitlin

2016-05-01

A novel program called Science Alive! was developed by undergraduate faculty members, K-12 school teachers, and undergraduate students to enrich science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) literacy at community schools located near the university. The ultimate goal of the program is to bolster the scientific knowledge and appreciation of local area students and community members and serve as a model for similar programs. Through the program, we observed that elementary school students made gains toward learning their grade-level science curricula after a hands-on learning experience and had fun doing these hands-on activities. Through the program, undergraduate students, working with graduate students and alumni, build scientific learning modules using explanatory handouts and creative activities as classroom exercises. This helps better integrate scientific education through a collaborative, hands-on learning program. Results showed that elementary school students made the highest learning gains in their performance on higher-level questions related to both forces and matter as a result of the hands-on learning modules. Additionally, college students enjoyed the hands-on activities, would consider volunteering their time at such future events, and saw the service learning program as a benefit to their professional development through community building and discipline-specific service. The science modules were developed according to grade-level curricular standards and can be used year after year to teach or explain a scientific topic to elementary school students via a hands-on learning approach.

Enhancing the Popularity and the Relevance of Science Teaching in Portuguese Science Classes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galvão, Cecília; Reis, Pedro; Freire, Sofia; Almeida, Paulo

2011-11-01

PARSEL Project emerged from the urgent need to overcome the problem of lack of scientific literacy in the population, which should be a priority in a society where science occupies a central place. Indeed, nowadays for any citizen to participate in a responsible and informed way in society he has to be scientifically acknowledgeable. Nevertheless, not only are scientific levels low in the general population, but also there is an increasing number of students who avoid science and technology courses and related professions. Within this context, PARSEL aims at raising science and scientific courses' popularity and relevancy as well as at enacting teachers' professional development. In order to achieve these goals, the PARSEL group developed 54 pan-European modules, which were tested and evaluated by several teachers in several European countries and Israel. Teachers maintained a close relationship with the university, were highly encouraged to appropriate the modules and to adapt them to their local conditions and, also to discuss and share their experiences. In Portugal, modules were tested by a group of eight teachers, and their students. This paper presents data concerning teachers' evaluation. Data was collected by means of interviews, observation and written documents and reveals that teachers positively evaluated PARSEL's impact on their own professional development. Furthermore, they considered modules as well as the teaching-learning approach essential for making science learning relevant and popular for their students.

Connecting the sustainable development goals by their energy inter-linkages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCollum, David L.; Gomez Echeverri, Luis; Busch, Sebastian; Pachauri, Shonali; Parkinson, Simon; Rogelj, Joeri; Krey, Volker; Minx, Jan C.; Nilsson, Måns; Stevance, Anne-Sophie; Riahi, Keywan

2018-03-01

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide guide-posts to society as it attempts to respond to an array of pressing challenges. One of these challenges is energy; thus, the SDGs have become paramount for energy policy-making. Yet, while governments throughout the world have already declared the SDGs to be ‘integrated and indivisible’, there are still knowledge gaps surrounding how the interactions between the energy SDG targets and those of the non-energy-focused SDGs might play out in different contexts. In this review, we report on a large-scale assessment of the relevant energy literature, which we conducted to better our understanding of key energy-related interactions between SDGs, as well as their context-dependencies (relating to time, geography, governance, technology, and directionality). By (i) evaluating the nature and strength of the interactions identified, (ii) indicating the robustness of the evidence base, the agreement of that evidence, and our confidence in it, and (iii) highlighting critical areas where better understanding is needed or context dependencies should be considered, our review points to potential ways forward for both the policy making and scientific communities. First, we find that positive interactions between the SDGs outweigh the negative ones, both in number and magnitude. Second, of relevance for the scientific community, in order to fill knowledge gaps in critical areas, there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary research geared toward developing new data, scientific tools, and fresh perspectives. Third, of relevance for policy-making, wider efforts to promote policy coherence and integrated assessments are required to address potential policy spillovers across sectors, sustainability domains, and geographic and temporal boundaries. The task of conducting comprehensive science-to-policy assessments covering all SDGs, such as for the UN’s Global Sustainable Development Report, remains manageable pending the availability of systematic reviews focusing on a limited number of SDG dimensions in each case.

Microscopy Images as Interactive Tools in Cell Modeling and Cell Biology Education

PubMed Central

Araújo-Jorge, Tania C.; Cardona, Tania S.; Mendes, Cláudia L. S.; Henriques-Pons, Andrea; Meirelles, Rosane M. S.; Coutinho, Cláudia M. L. M.; Aguiar, Luiz Edmundo V.; Meirelles, Maria de Nazareth L.; de Castro, Solange L.; Barbosa, Helene S.; Luz, Mauricio R. M. P.

2004-01-01

The advent of genomics, proteomics, and microarray technology has brought much excitement to science, both in teaching and in learning. The public is eager to know about the processes of life. In the present context of the explosive growth of scientific information, a major challenge of modern cell biology is to popularize basic concepts of structures and functions of living cells, to introduce people to the scientific method, to stimulate inquiry, and to analyze and synthesize concepts and paradigms. In this essay we present our experience in mixing science and education in Brazil. For two decades we have developed activities for the science education of teachers and undergraduate students, using microscopy images generated by our work as cell biologists. We describe open-air outreach education activities, games, cell modeling, and other practical and innovative activities presented in public squares and favelas. Especially in developing countries, science education is important, since it may lead to an improvement in quality of life while advancing understanding of traditional scientific ideas. We show that teaching and research can be mutually beneficial rather than competing pursuits in advancing these goals. PMID:15257338

Interpretation of lung cancer study outcomes.

PubMed

Cortinovis, Diego; Abbate, Marida; Bidoli, Paolo; Pelizzoni, Davide; Canova, Stefania

2015-11-01

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. However, in the last few years we observed an important acceleration in drug development due to oncogenic driver tumors discovery. Sharing and putting together preclinical data from benchmark and data from clinical research is the scientific paradigm that allows real breakthrough in clinical practice in this field, but only a few targeted agents are worthy and practice changing. The clinical research and proper use of statistical methodology are the pillars to continue to achieve important goals like improvement of overall survival. A good medical oncologist should be able to critically read a scientific paper and move from the observed outcomes into clinical perspective. Despite clinical improvements, sometimes the union of promising targeted agents and optimistic expectations misrepresent the reality and the value of clinical research. In this article, we try to analyze the meaning of statistical assumptions from clinical trials, especially in lung cancer, through a critical review of the concept of value-based medicine. We also attempt to give the reader some practical tools to weigh scientific value of literature reports.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Law, B E

Research involves analysis and field direction of AmeriFlux operations, and the PI provides scientific leadership of the AmeriFlux network. Activities include the coordination and quality assurance of measurements across AmeriFlux network sites, synthesis of results across the network, organizing and supporting the annual Science Team Meeting, and communicating AmeriFlux results to the scientific community and other users. Objectives of measurement research include (i) coordination of flux and biometric measurement protocols (ii) timely data delivery to the Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center (CDIAC); and (iii) assurance of data quality of flux and ecosystem measurements contributed by AmeriFlux sites. Objectives ofmore » integration and synthesis activities include (i) integration of site data into network-wide synthesis products; and (ii) participation in the analysis, modeling and interpretation of network data products. Communications objectives include (i) organizing an annual meeting of AmeriFlux investigators for reporting annual flux measurements and exchanging scientific information on ecosystem carbon budgets; (ii) developing focused topics for analysis and publication; and (iii) developing data reporting protocols in support of AmeriFlux network goals.« less

Evolution and structure of sustainability science.

PubMed

Bettencourt, Luís M A; Kaur, Jasleen

2011-12-06

The concepts of sustainable development have experienced extraordinary success since their advent in the 1980s. They are now an integral part of the agenda of governments and corporations, and their goals have become central to the mission of research laboratories and universities worldwide. However, it remains unclear how far the field has progressed as a scientific discipline, especially given its ambitious agenda of integrating theory, applied science, and policy, making it relevant for development globally and generating a new interdisciplinary synthesis across fields. To address these questions, we assembled a corpus of scholarly publications in the field and analyzed its temporal evolution, geographic distribution, disciplinary composition, and collaboration structure. We show that sustainability science has been growing explosively since the late 1980s when foundational publications in the field increased its pull on new authors and intensified their interactions. The field has an unusual geographic footprint combining contributions and connecting through collaboration cities and nations at very different levels of development. Its decomposition into traditional disciplines reveals its emphasis on the management of human, social, and ecological systems seen primarily from an engineering and policy perspective. Finally, we show that the integration of these perspectives has created a new field only in recent years as judged by the emergence of a giant component of scientific collaboration. These developments demonstrate the existence of a growing scientific field of sustainability science as an unusual, inclusive and ubiquitous scientific practice and bode well for its continued impact and longevity.

Teacher Field Research Experiences: Building and Maintaining the Passion for K-12 Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunton, K.; Schonberg, S.

2006-12-01

Academic scientists and researchers are increasingly encouraged to develop connections with K-12 educators to promote scientific literacy and bring excitement into the classroom. Such partnerships carry long-term benefits to both teachers and researchers. Teachers gain the tools, confidence, and knowledge to develop research activities with their students that promote scientific inquiry, and researchers benefit from outreach activities that improve communication skills for sharing scientific knowledge with the public. Our K-12 programs have been field based under a theme of Classrooms Without Walls, to take advantage of our local marine environment and a long-term research program on the Alaskan Arctic coast. Our professional development programs for teachers have included the creation of an annual summer graduate level course (Application of Field Research Experiences for K-12 Science and Math Educators) as an introduction to scientific methodology, observation, and inquiry based learning. We provide graduate students as resources in classrooms and for field trip experiences and provide supplies and instrumentation to teachers for K-12 field projects. Finally, teachers have an opportunity to join our researchers to remote sites under various competitive programs that receive federal support (e.g. GK-12, ARMADA). We provide examples of our activities, which are based on recent needs assessment surveys of science teachers; these included development of content knowledge and providing students with opportunities to connect concepts with experiences. Our goal is to provide field experiences to teachers and students that enable them to relate science concepts to the real world.

Evolution and structure of sustainability science

PubMed Central

Bettencourt, Luís M. A.; Kaur, Jasleen

2011-01-01

The concepts of sustainable development have experienced extraordinary success since their advent in the 1980s. They are now an integral part of the agenda of governments and corporations, and their goals have become central to the mission of research laboratories and universities worldwide. However, it remains unclear how far the field has progressed as a scientific discipline, especially given its ambitious agenda of integrating theory, applied science, and policy, making it relevant for development globally and generating a new interdisciplinary synthesis across fields. To address these questions, we assembled a corpus of scholarly publications in the field and analyzed its temporal evolution, geographic distribution, disciplinary composition, and collaboration structure. We show that sustainability science has been growing explosively since the late 1980s when foundational publications in the field increased its pull on new authors and intensified their interactions. The field has an unusual geographic footprint combining contributions and connecting through collaboration cities and nations at very different levels of development. Its decomposition into traditional disciplines reveals its emphasis on the management of human, social, and ecological systems seen primarily from an engineering and policy perspective. Finally, we show that the integration of these perspectives has created a new field only in recent years as judged by the emergence of a giant component of scientific collaboration. These developments demonstrate the existence of a growing scientific field of sustainability science as an unusual, inclusive and ubiquitous scientific practice and bode well for its continued impact and longevity. PMID:22114186

Catastrophe-driven vs what?

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stever, H.G.

1995-12-31

The author notes that much has been accomplished by catastrophe-driven scientific effort. Examples include World War II and the social wars against crime, poverty and hunger and famine. A positive approach is suggested to be more appropriate as the drivers of science. Three tables are presented and outline a positive base for justifying scientific endeavor: (1) Examples of Major Societal Goals to Which Science and Technology Contribute. (2) Policy Areas That Would Benefit from the Articulation of Long-Term S&T Goals; and (3) Major Components of the Science and Technology Base.

Disentangling self-management goal setting and action planning: A scoping review

PubMed Central

Daniëls, Ramon; van Bokhoven, Marloes Amantia; van der Weijden, Trudy; Beurskens, Anna

2017-01-01

Introduction The ongoing rise in the numbers of chronically ill people necessitates efforts for effective self-management. Goal setting and action planning are frequently used, as they are thought to support patients in changing their behavior. However, it remains unclear how goal setting and action planning in the context of self-management are defined in the scientific literature. This study aimed to achieve a better understanding of the various definitions used. Methods A scoping review was conducted, searching PubMed, Cinahl, PsychINFO and Cochrane. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were formulated to ensure the focus on goal setting/action planning and self-management. The literature was updated to December 2015; data selection and charting was done by two reviewers. A qualitative content analysis approach was used. Results Out of 9115 retrieved articles, 58 met the inclusion criteria. We created an overview of goal setting phases that were applied (preparation, formulation of goals, formulation of action plan, coping planning and follow-up). Although the phases we found are in accordance with commonly known frameworks for goal setting, it was striking that the majority of studies (n = 39, 67%) did not include all phases. We also prepared an overview of components and strategies for each goal setting phase. Interestingly, few strategies were found for the communication between patients and professionals about goals/action plans. Most studies (n = 35, 60%) focused goal setting on one single disease and on a predefined lifestyle behavior; nearly half of the articles (n = 27, 47%) reported a theoretical framework. Discussion The results might provide practical support for developers of interventions. Moreover, our results might encourage professionals to become more aware of the phases of the goal setting process and of strategies emphasizing on patient reflection. However, more research might be useful to examine strategies to facilitate communication about goals/action plans. It might also be worthwhile to develop and evaluate goal setting/action planning strategies for people with different and multiple chronic conditions. PMID:29176800

RICO Graduate Student Research Flight: The Island Tail Objective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Small, J. D.; Anderson-Bereznicki, S. D.; Medeiros, B.; Nuijens, L.; Henry, C. K.; O'Donnell, D. M.; Morales, F.; Shen, H.

2005-12-01

The Rain in Cumulus over the Ocean (RICO) project was an intensive field project aimed to study and understand precipitation processes in trade wind cumulus. The project took place from Nov 23, 2004 until Jan 25, 2005 on two small islands of the Lesser Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, where trade wind cumulus fields frequently occur during suppressed wintertime conditions. RICO provided a unique combination of research and education by offering the RICO Graduate Seminar Series and the development and implementation of a graduate student designed and directed research flight. One of the main goals of the graduate student research flight was to allow graduate students to participate in the process of developing a research flight plan and identifying scientific goals and objectives first-hand. Added benefits included the possibility of addressing scientific questions not included in the main RICO objectives. This also involved collaboration when discussing different ideas and initiatives and the full development of all stages of the research flight including the coordination of two research aircraft (NCAR-C130, University of Wyoming King Air), one research vessel (RV Seward Johnson), S-Pol radar site and real time operations center satellite information. Seventeen graduate students from both the US and Europe developed two different plans to be presented to RICO project principle investigators; both of which were approved. The island tail objective aimed at characterizing the line of clouds known as 'island tails' that frequently form off the leeward coast of the Caribbean islands. This objective was successful in its implementation on Jan 18, 2005 with measurements made in vigorous, waterspout producing tail clouds immediately downwind of Barbuda. The investigation of these 'tails' fills a void in current cloud physics research since it is the first time this ubiquitous feature of trade-wind islands has been the focus of careful study. Scientific questions to be addressed with data collected on the island tail include: 1) Are these clouds forced by a heated island effect or another dynamical mechanism? 2) Do islands serve merely as source regions of aerosol which act as nucleation sites? 3) Where in the island tail does rain develop, if at all? A description of the unique learning experience and the educational and scientific benefits of the graduate student research flight island tail objective are outlined and discussed.

Immersive Virtual Reality Technologies as a New Platform for Science, Scholarship, and Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Djorgovski, Stanislav G.; Hut, P.; McMillan, S.; Knop, R.; Vesperini, E.; Graham, M.; Portegies Zwart, S.; Farr, W.; Mahabal, A.; Donalek, C.; Longo, G.

2010-01-01

Immersive virtual reality (VR) and virtual worlds (VWs) are an emerging set of technologies which likely represent the next evolutionary step in the ways we use information technology to interact with the world of information and with other people, the roles now generally fulfilled by the Web and other common Internet applications. Currently, these technologies are mainly accessed through various VWs, e.g., the Second Life (SL), which are general platforms for a broad range of user activities. As an experiment in the utilization of these technologies for science, scholarship, education, and public outreach, we have formed the Meta-Institute for Computational Astrophysics (MICA; http://mica-vw.org), the first professional scientific organization based exclusively in VWs. The goals of MICA are: (1) Exploration, development and promotion of VWs and VR technologies for professional research in astronomy and related fields. (2) Providing and developing novel social networking venues and mechanisms for scientific collaboration and communications, including professional meetings, effective telepresence, etc. (3) Use of VWs and VR technologies for education and public outreach. (4) Exchange of ideas and joint efforts with other scientific disciplines in promoting these goals for science and scholarship in general. To this effect, we have a regular schedule of professional and public outreach events in SL, including technical seminars, workshops, journal club, collaboration meetings, public lectures, etc. We find that these technologies are already remarkably effective as a telepresence platform for scientific and scholarly discussions, meetings, etc. They can offer substantial savings of time and resources, and eliminate a lot of unnecessary travel. They are equally effective as a public outreach platform, reaching a world-wide audience. On the pure research front, we are currently exploring the use of these technologies as a venue for numerical simulations and their visualization, as well as the immersive and interactive visualization of highly-dimensional data sets.

Final Report for DOE Project: Portal Web Services: Support of DOE SciDAC Collaboratories

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mary Thomas, PI; Geoffrey Fox, Co-PI; Gannon, D

2007-10-01

Grid portals provide the scientific community with familiar and simplified interfaces to the Grid and Grid services, and it is important to deploy grid portals onto the SciDAC grids and collaboratories. The goal of this project is the research, development and deployment of interoperable portal and web services that can be used on SciDAC National Collaboratory grids. This project has four primary task areas: development of portal systems; management of data collections; DOE science application integration; and development of web and grid services in support of the above activities.

CICT Computing, Information, and Communications Technology Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Laufenberg, Lawrence; Tu, Eugene (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The CICT Program is part of the NASA Aerospace Technology Enterprise's fundamental technology thrust to develop tools. processes, and technologies that enable new aerospace system capabilities and missions. The CICT Program's four key objectives are: Provide seamless access to NASA resources- including ground-, air-, and space-based distributed information technology resources-so that NASA scientists and engineers can more easily control missions, make new scientific discoveries, and design the next-generation space vehicles, provide high-data delivery from these assets directly to users for missions, develop goal-oriented human-centered systems, and research, develop and evaluate revolutionary technology.

Developing focused wellness programs: using concept analysis to increase business value.

PubMed

Byczek, Lance; Kalina, Christine M; Levin, Pamela F

2003-09-01

Concept analysis is a useful tool in providing clarity to an abstract idea as well as an objective basis for developing wellness program products, goals, and outcomes. To plan for and develop successful wellness programs, it is critical for occupational health nurses to clearly understand a program concept as applied to a particular community or population. Occupational health nurses can use the outcome measures resulting from the concept analysis process to help demonstrate the business value of their wellness programs. This concept analysis demonstrates a predominance of the performance related attributes of fitness in the scientific literature.

Cost effectiveness as applied to the Viking Lander systems-level thermal development test program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buna, T.; Shupert, T. C.

1974-01-01

The economic aspects of thermal testing at the systems-level as applied to the Viking Lander Capsule thermal development program are reviewed. The unique mission profile and pioneering scientific goals of Viking imposed novel requirements on testing, including the development of a simulation technique for the Martian thermal environment. The selected approach included modifications of an existing conventional thermal vacuum facility, and improved test-operational techniques that are applicable to the simulation of the other mission phases as well, thereby contributing significantly to the cost effectiveness of the overall thermal test program.

Mars exploration program analysis group goal one: determine if life ever arose on Mars.

PubMed

Hoehler, Tori M; Westall, Frances

2010-11-01

The Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) maintains a standing document that articulates scientific community goals, objectives, and priorities for mission-enabled Mars science. Each of the goals articulated within the document is periodically revisited and updated. The astrobiology-related Goal One, "Determine if life ever arose on Mars," has recently undergone such revision. The finalized revision, which appears in the version of the MEPAG Goals Document posted on September 24, 2010, is presented here.

Thai Pre-Service Science Teachers' Struggles in Using Socio-Scientific Issues (SSIs) during Practicum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitiporntapin, Sasithep; Yutakom, Naruemon; Sadler, Troy D.

2016-01-01

In educational reform, teaching through socio-scientific issues (SSIs) is considered the best way to promote scientific literacy for citizenship as the goal of science teaching. To bring SSIs into the science classroom, Thai pre-service science teachers (PSTs) are expected to understand the concept of SSI-based teaching and to use it effectively…

A "Theory Bite" on the Meaning of Scientific Inquiry: A Companion to Kuhn and Pease

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

diSessa, Andrea A.

2008-01-01

There are many meanings of "scientific reasoning" or "scientific inquiry" in use, and many corresponding orientations toward its enhancement and tracking. Deciding what these terms mean once and for all is an elusive and likely chimerical goal. However, setting down some core models might help in being clear on where different researchers stand…

A Writing-Intensive Course Improves Biology Undergraduates' Perception and Confidence of Their Abilities to Read Scientific Literature and Communicate Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brownell, Sara E.; Price, Jordan V.; Steinman, Lawrence

2013-01-01

Most scientists agree that comprehension of primary scientific papers and communication of scientific concepts are two of the most important skills that we can teach, but few undergraduate biology courses make these explicit course goals. We designed an undergraduate neuroimmunology course that uses a writing-intensive format. Using a mixture of…

Position Paper: Applying Machine Learning to Software Analysis to Achieve Trusted, Repeatable Scientific Computing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Prowell, Stacy J; Symons, Christopher T

2015-01-01

Producing trusted results from high-performance codes is essential for policy and has significant economic impact. We propose combining rigorous analytical methods with machine learning techniques to achieve the goal of repeatable, trustworthy scientific computing.

Towards sustainable environmental quality: A call to prioritize global research needs

EPA Science Inventory

Identifying, prioritizing, and advancing research priorities are important goals for those engaged in scientific enterprise. Anticipating the greatest scientific needs and challenges presents opportunities to be more agile in response, more efficient in purpose, and more intentio...

Using a modified Learning Potential Assessment Device and Mediated Learning Experiences to Assess Minority Student Progress and Program Goals in an Undergraduate Research Based Geoscience Program Serving American Indians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mitchell, L. W.

2002-12-01

During the initiation of a new program at the University of North Dakota designed to promote American Indians to engage in geoscience research and complete geoscience related degrees, an evaluation procedure utilizing a modified Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) and Mediated Learning Experiences (MLE) to assess minority student progress was implemented. The program, called Indians Into Geosciences (INGEOS), utilized a modified form of the Learning Potential Assessment Device first to assess cultural factors, determination, and other baseline information, and second, utilized a series of Mediated Learning Experiences to enhance minority students' opportunities in a culturally appropriate, culturally diverse, and scientifically challenging manner in an effort to prepare students for competitive research careers in the geosciences. All of the LPADs and MLEs corresponded directly to the three goals or eight objectives of INGEOS. The three goals of the INGEOS program are: 1) increasing the number of American Indians earning degrees at all levels, 2) engaging American Indians in challenging and technically based scientific research, and 3) preparing American Indians for successful geoscience careers through multicultural community involvement. The eight objectives of the INGEOS program, called the Eight Points of Success, are: 1) spiritual health, 2) social health, 3) physical health, 4) mental health, 5) financial management, 6) research involvement, 7) technical exposure, and 8) multicultural community education. The INGEOS program goals were evaluated strictly quantitatively utilizing a variety of data sources such as grade point averages, number of credits earned, research project information, and developed products. The INGEOS Program goals reflected a combined quantitative score of all participants, whereas the objectives reflected qualitative measures and are specific for each INGEOS participant. Initial results indicate that those participants which show progress through Mediated Learning Experiences within all of the Eight Points of Success, have a higher likelihood of contributing to all three of the INGEOS programs goals.

"One hundred percent efficiency": Technology and the pursuit of scientific literacy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Kenneth Paul

This dissertation examined the role of technology in science education during the twentieth century. A historical approach was taken to examine teacher practices in the use of technology. The three technologies considered in this study were the motion picture, the television, and the computer. As an organizing principle, historical definitions of "scientific literacy" were used to examine the goals of using technology within science education. The evolution of the concept of science literacy is traced from the early part of the twentieth century to the late 1990s. Documentation examined revealed the "best practices" associated with the use of technology. The use of the motion picture was traced from the silent film through film loops, videotape, videodisc and the advent of the digital video disc, and the means by which teachers used this technology were considered. The instructional use of television was examined from several different approaches: commercial broadcasts, educational and instructional programming, closed circuit approaches and the use of cable and satellite programming. The manner in which these approaches were used to achieve goals of scientific literacy was considered. The use of the computer was examined in terms of the purpose of the software involved. Teaching practice to achieve scientific literacy, using computers as a means of accessing information, as an analytical tool, as a creativity tool, and as a means of communication were addressed. In each of these technologies, similar implementation trends were present within each one. The literature supporting the use of the technology described first the focus on the hardware, followed by the development of appropriate pedagogy, and then by the proliferation of software supporting the use of the technology. Suggestions for additional study were offered as well as speculation as to future practices with technology in science teaching. Investigations using expectation-value theory suggest particular promise with regard to staff development needs among teachers using technology. The convergence of the various technologies into a single entity represents one likely scenario for the use of technology within science teaching. Further developments with telecommunications may provide simple and direct delivery systems for national and/or state curricula.

Guidelines in the Register of the Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany – A Quality Improvement Campaign

PubMed Central

Nothacker, M. J.; Muche-Borowski, C.; Kopp, I. B.

2014-01-01

The Association of Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF) is the umbrella organization of medical scientific societies in Germany. The development of guidelines goes back to an initiative of the medical scientific societies and is coordinated by the AWMF. Rules for the inclusion of guidelines in the AWMF Guideline Register have been defined including how guidelines are classified. S1 guidelines are based only on recommendations by experts, whereas S2 guidelines require a structured consensus process or a systematic literature review. S3 guidelines include both elements. In addition to compulsory disclosure of any potential conflict of interest, transparent handling of potential conflicts of interest is an important confidence-building measure. For years, the trend has been to develop higher order (S2/S3) guidelines, and the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGGG) has been no exception to the trend. In addition to its responsibility for specific S2 and S3 guidelines, the DGGG is also involved in numerous other interdisciplinary guidelines. When developing a guideline, it is essential to define the guidelineʼs scope, identify aspects which require improvement and agree on the goals. Target groups affected by the guidelines should be involved if they are interested. Different formats (long and short versions, practical instructions, conventional or electronic decision aids, patient versions) are useful to disseminate the guideline. The guideline can be adapted to local circumstances to encourage implementation of its recommendations. Implementation can be measured using quality indicators. Feedback from practitioners is important as this highlights areas which require improvement. The medical scientific societies in Germany can look back on almost two decades of work spent on developing guidelines, most of it done by unpaid voluntary contributors, making this a very successful quality initiative. PMID:25061235

Knowledge, Belief, and Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferreira, Tiago Alfredo S.; El-Hani, Charbel N.; da Silva-Filho, Waldomiro José

2016-10-01

This article intends to show that the defense of "understanding" as one of the major goals of science education can be grounded on an anti-reductionist perspective on testimony as a source of knowledge. To do so, we critically revisit the discussion between Harvey Siegel and Alvin Goldman about the goals of science education, especially where it involves arguments based on the epistemology of testimony. Subsequently, we come back to a discussion between Charbel N. El-Hani and Eduardo Mortimer, on the one hand, and Michael Hoffmann, on the other, striving to strengthen the claim that rather than students' belief change, understanding should have epistemic priority as a goal of science education. Based on these two lines of discussion, we conclude that the reliance on testimony as a source of knowledge is necessary to the development of a more large and comprehensive scientific understanding by science students.

Office of Space Science: Integrated technology strategy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huntress, Wesley T., Jr.; Reck, Gregory M.

1994-01-01

This document outlines the strategy by which the Office of Space Science, in collaboration with the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology and the Office of Space Communications, will meet the challenge of the national technology thrust. The document: highlights the legislative framework within which OSS must operate; evaluates the relationship between OSS and its principal stakeholders; outlines a vision of a successful OSS integrated technology strategy; establishes four goals in support of this vision; provides an assessment of how OSS is currently positioned to respond to the goals; formulates strategic objectives to meet the goals; introduces policies for implementing the strategy; and identifies metrics for measuring success. The OSS Integrated Technology Strategy establishes the framework through which OSS will satisfy stakeholder expectations by teaming with partners in NASA and industry to develop the critical technologies required to: enhance space exploration, expand our knowledge of the universe, and ensure continued national scientific, technical and economic leadership.

Bridge over troubled waters: A Synthesis Session to connect ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Lack of access to relevant scientific data has limited decision makers from incorporating scientific information into their management and policy schemes. Yet, there is increasing interest among decision makers and scientists to integrate coastal and marine science into the policy and management process. Strategies designed to build communication between decision makers and scientists can be an effective means to disseminate and/or generate policy relevant scientific information. Here researchers develop, test, and present a workshop model designed to bridge the gap between coastal and marine decision makers and scientists. Researchers identify successful components of such a workshop as well as areas for improvement and recommendations to design and conduct similar workshops in the future. This novel workshop format can be used in other fora to effectively connect decision makers and scientists, and to initiate an iterative process to generate and transfer policy relevant scientific information into evidence-based decisions, an important element in protecting coastal and marine resources. In this paper we develop and present a model for increasing collaboration between scientists and decision makers to promote evidence based decisions. Successes and areas for improvement in the tested model are discussed. This novel workshop model is intended to build and sustain connections, with the ultimate goal of creating better policy and management practices. In a recent

Vision for the Future of Lws TR&T

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwadron, N.; Mannucci, A. J.; Antiochos, S. K.; Bhattacharjee, A.; Gombosi, T. I.; Gopalswamy, N.; Kamalabadi, F.; Linker, J.; Pilewskie, P.; Pulkkinen, A. A.; Spence, H. E.; Tobiska, W. K.; Weimer, D. R.; Withers, P.; Bisi, M. M.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Miller, K. L.; Moretto, T.; Onsager, T. G.; Roussev, I. I.; Viereck, R. A.

2014-12-01

The Living With a Star (LWS) program addresses acute societal needs for understanding the effects of space weather and developing scientific knowledge to support predictive capabilities. Our society's heavy reliance on technologies affected by the space environment, an enormous number of airline customers, interest in space tourism, and the developing plans for long-duration human exploration space missions are clear examples that demonstrate urgent needs for space weather models and detailed understanding of space weather effects and risks. Since its inception, the LWS program has provided a vehicle to innovate new mechanisms for conducting research, building highly effective interdisciplinary teams, and ultimately in developing the scientific understanding needed to transition research tools into operational models that support the predictive needs of our increasingly space-reliant society. The advances needed require broad-based observations that cannot be obtained by large missions alone. The Decadal Survey (HDS, 2012) outlines the nation's needs for scientific development that will build the foundation for tomorrow's space weather services. Addressing these goals, LWS must develop flexible pathways to space utilizing smaller, more diverse and rapid development of observational platforms. Expanding utilization of ground-based assets and shared launches will also significantly enhance opportunities to fulfill the growing LWS data needs. Partnerships between NASA divisions, national/international agencies, and with industry will be essential for leveraging resources to address increasing societal demand for space weather advances. Strengthened connections to user communities will enhance the quality and impact of deliverables from LWS programs. Thus, we outline the developing vision for the future of LWS, stressing the need for deeper scientific understanding to improve forecasting capabilities, for more diverse data resources, and for project deliverables that address the growing needs of user communities.

Perspectives on distributed computing : thirty people, four user types, and the distributed computing user experience.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Childers, L.; Liming, L.; Foster, I.

2008-10-15

This report summarizes the methodology and results of a user perspectives study conducted by the Community Driven Improvement of Globus Software (CDIGS) project. The purpose of the study was to document the work-related goals and challenges facing today's scientific technology users, to record their perspectives on Globus software and the distributed-computing ecosystem, and to provide recommendations to the Globus community based on the observations. Globus is a set of open source software components intended to provide a framework for collaborative computational science activities. Rather than attempting to characterize all users or potential users of Globus software, our strategy has beenmore » to speak in detail with a small group of individuals in the scientific community whose work appears to be the kind that could benefit from Globus software, learn as much as possible about their work goals and the challenges they face, and describe what we found. The result is a set of statements about specific individuals experiences. We do not claim that these are representative of a potential user community, but we do claim to have found commonalities and differences among the interviewees that may be reflected in the user community as a whole. We present these as a series of hypotheses that can be tested by subsequent studies, and we offer recommendations to Globus developers based on the assumption that these hypotheses are representative. Specifically, we conducted interviews with thirty technology users in the scientific community. We included both people who have used Globus software and those who have not. We made a point of including individuals who represent a variety of roles in scientific projects, for example, scientists, software developers, engineers, and infrastructure providers. The following material is included in this report: (1) A summary of the reported work-related goals, significant issues, and points of satisfaction with the use of Globus software; (2) A method for characterizing users according to their technology interactions, and identification of four user types among the interviewees using the method; (3) Four profiles that highlight points of commonality and diversity in each user type; (4) Recommendations for technology developers and future studies; (5) A description of the interview protocol and overall study methodology; (6) An anonymized list of the interviewees; and (7) Interview writeups and summary data. The interview summaries in Section 3 and transcripts in Appendix D illustrate the value of distributed computing software--and Globus in particular--to scientific enterprises. They also document opportunities to make these tools still more useful both to current users and to new communities. We aim our recommendations at developers who intend their software to be used and reused in many applications. (This kind of software is often referred to as 'middleware.') Our two core recommendations are as follows. First, it is essential for middleware developers to understand and explicitly manage the multiple user products in which their software components are used. We must avoid making assumptions about the commonality of these products and, instead, study and account for their diversity. Second, middleware developers should engage in different ways with different kinds of users. Having identified four general user types in Section 4, we provide specific ideas for how to engage them in Section 5.« less

A Study for Mars Manned Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorney, Daniel J.; Scimemi, Sam

2012-01-01

Over the last five decades there have been numerous studies devoted to developing, launching and conducting a manned mission to Mars by both Russian and U.S. organizations. These studies have proposed various crew sizes, mission length, propulsion systems, habitation modules, and scientific goals. As a first step towards establishing an international partnership approach to a Mars mission, the most recent Russian concepts are explored and then compared to NASA's latest Mars reference mission.

Cyclotron Road at Berkeley Lab – U.S. Department of Energy

ScienceCinema

Kuhl, Kendra; Weitekamp, Raymond; Lehmann, Marcus; Cave, Etosha; Gur, Ilan; Lounis, Sebastien

2018-01-16

The Department of Energy is testing a new model for clean energy research and development (R&D) through a program called Cyclotron Road. The goal is to support scientific R&D that is still too risky for private‐sector investment, and too applied for academia. Participants receive the time, space and capital to pursue their research and the support to find viable pathways to the market.

Possible Scenarios for Mars Manned Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dorney, Daniel J.; Schumacher, Daniel M.

2012-01-01

Over the last five decades there have been numerous studies devoted to developing, launching and conducting a manned mission to Mars by both Russian and U.S. organizations. These studies have proposed various crew sizes, mission length, propulsion systems, habitation modules, and scientific goals. As a first step towards establishing an international partnership approach to a Mars mission, the most recent Russian concepts are explored and then compared to NASA's current Mars reference mission.

Voyager 1: Encounter with Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Panagakos, N.

1980-01-01

The history of the Voyager Project is reviewed as well as known facts about Saturn and its satellites. Important results of encounters with Jupiter are summarized. Scientific objectives of the flyby of Saturn involve the planet's atmosphere, rings, and magnetic field interactions with the solar wind and satellites. The search for additional satellites, and various aspects of Titan, Rhea, Dione, Mimas, Iapetus, Hyperion, and Enceladas are also of interest. The instruments developed to obtain these goals are described.

Comparative Effectiveness of TI-84 Graphing Calculators on Algebra I and Geometry Outcomes: A Report of Randomized Experiments in the East Side Union High School District and San Diego Unified School District. Research Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Gloria I.; Jaciw, Andrew; Hoshiko, Brandon; Wei, Xin

2007-01-01

Texas Instruments has undertaken a research program with the goal of producing scientifically-based evidence of the effectiveness of graphing calculators and the "TI-Navigator"[TM] classroom networking system in the context of a professional development and curriculum framework. The program includes a two-year longitudinal study. The…

High Performance Databases For Scientific Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

French, James C.; Grimshaw, Andrew S.

1997-01-01

The goal for this task is to develop an Extensible File System (ELFS). ELFS attacks the problem of the following: 1. Providing high bandwidth performance architectures; 2. Reducing the cognitive burden faced by applications programmers when they attempt to optimize; and 3. Seamlessly managing the proliferation of data formats and architectural differences. The approach for ELFS solution consists of language and run-time system support that permits the specification on a hierarchy of file classes.

The Henry Cecil Ranson McBay Chair in Space Science

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bota, Kofi B.; King, James, Jr.

1999-01-01

The goals and objectives of the Henry Cecil Ransom McBay Chair in Space Sciences were to: (1) provide leadership in developing and expanding Space Science curriculum; (2) contribute to the research and education endeavors of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program; (3) expand opportunities for education and hands-on research in Space and Earth Sciences; (4) enhance scientific and technological literacy at all educational levels and to increase awareness of opportunities in the Space Sciences; and (5) develop a pipeline, starting with high school, of African American students who will develop into a cadre of well-trained scientists with interest in Space Science Research and Development.

The NGEE Arctic Data Archive -- Portal for Archiving and Distributing Data and Documentation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boden, Thomas A; Palanisamy, Giri; Devarakonda, Ranjeet

2014-01-01

The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments (NGEE Arctic) project is committed to implementing a rigorous and high-quality data management program. The goal is to implement innovative and cost-effective guidelines and tools for collecting, archiving, and sharing data within the project, the larger scientific community, and the public. The NGEE Arctic web site is the framework for implementing these data management and data sharing tools. The open sharing of NGEE Arctic data among project researchers, the broader scientific community, and the public is critical to meeting the scientific goals and objectives of the NGEE Arctic project and critical to advancing the mission ofmore » the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Biological and Environmental (BER) Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) program.« less

Methods of Scientific Research: Teaching Scientific Creativity at Scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robbins, Dennis; Ford, K. E. Saavik

2016-01-01

We present a scaling-up plan for AstroComNYC's Methods of Scientific Research (MSR), a course designed to improve undergraduate students' understanding of science practices. The course format and goals, notably the open-ended, hands-on, investigative nature of the curriculum are reviewed. We discuss how the course's interactive pedagogical techniques empower students to learn creativity within the context of experimental design and control of variables thinking. To date the course has been offered to a limited numbers of students in specific programs. The goals of broadly implementing MSR is to reach more students and early in their education—with the specific purpose of supporting and improving retention of students pursuing STEM careers. However, we also discuss challenges in preserving the effectiveness of the teaching and learning experience at scale.

JCESR Scientific Sprints – Better Polymers for Better Batteries

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brushett, Fikile; Moore, Jeff; Zhang, Lu

2016-02-19

Argonne National Laboratory leads the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a major collaborative research partnership with the goal of developing next-generation energy storage technologies. JCESR supplements its traditional project management approach with scientific “Sprints.” The Sprint described in this video involved a multidisciplinary team from Argonne, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan. As they studied how polymers in solution can react electrochemically to store energy, the team solved a crucial battery problem: “crossover,” which is caused by molecules mixing together when they should not, resulting in reduced performance. Manymore » possible materials were tested, and a set of candidate polymers were chosen that are stable, cheap to make, and suitable for conditions required in batteries. The collaboration allowed timely development that would have taken much longer had the groups been working independently.« less

LDRD 2016 Annual Report: Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program Activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hatton, D.

Each year, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is required to provide a program description and overview of its Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD) to the Department of Energy (DOE) in accordance with DOE Order 413.2C dated October 22, 2015. This report provides a detailed look at the scientific and technical activities for each of the LDRD projects funded by BNL in FY 2016, as required. In FY 2016, the BNL LDRD Program funded 48 projects, 21 of which were new starts, at a total cost of $11.5M. The investments that BNL makes in its LDRD program support the Laboratory’smore » strategic goals. BNL has identified four Critical Outcomes that define the Laboratory’s scientific future and that will enable it to realize its overall vision. Two operational Critical Outcomes address essential operational support for that future: renewal of the BNL campus; and safe, efficient laboratory operations.« less

JCESR Scientific Sprints – Better Polymers for Better Batteries

ScienceCinema

Brushett, Fikile; Moore, Jeff; Zhang, Lu; Rodriguez-Lopez, Joaquin; Sevov, Christo; Gavvalapalli, Nagarjuna; Montoto, Elena

2018-06-25

Argonne National Laboratory leads the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a major collaborative research partnership with the goal of developing next-generation energy storage technologies. JCESR supplements its traditional project management approach with scientific “Sprints.” The Sprint described in this video involved a multidisciplinary team from Argonne, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Michigan. As they studied how polymers in solution can react electrochemically to store energy, the team solved a crucial battery problem: “crossover,” which is caused by molecules mixing together when they should not, resulting in reduced performance. Many possible materials were tested, and a set of candidate polymers were chosen that are stable, cheap to make, and suitable for conditions required in batteries. The collaboration allowed timely development that would have taken much longer had the groups been working independently.

[Indicators monitoring the process of specialized nutritional support. Grupo de Nutrición de la SEFH].

PubMed

Sirvent, Mariola; Victoria Calvo, María; Sagalés, María; Rodríguez-Penin, Isaura; Cervera, Mercedes; Piñeiro, Guadalupe; García-Rodicio, Sonsoles; Gomis, Pilar; Caba, Isabel; Vazquez, Amparo; Gomez, María E; Pedraza, Luis

2013-01-01

To identify and develop monitoring indicators of the process of specialized nutritional support that will allow measuring the level of adherence to the established practice standards. Those practice standards considered to be key elements of the process were selected to develop performance indicators. The construction of these indicators combined the scientific evidence with expert opinion. Key goals were identified within each standard provided that its consecution would allow increasing the achievement of the standard. Particular improvement initiatives associated to each key goal were generated. Lastly, monitoring indicators were defined allowing undertaking a follow-up of the implementation of the improvement initiatives or either to assess the level of achievement of the key goals identified. Nineteen practice standards were selected representative of the critical points of the process. The strategic map for each standard has been defined, with the identification of 43 key goals. In order to achieve these key goals, a portfolio of improvements has been generated comprising 56 actions. Finally, 44 monitoring indicators have been defined grouped into three categories: 1. Numeric: they assess the level of goal achievement; 2. Dichotomic (yes/no): they inform on the execution of the improvement actions; 3. Results of the practice audits. We have made available monitoring indicators that allow assessing the level of adherence to the practice standards of the process of specialized nutritional support and the impact of the implementation of improvement actions within this process. Copyright © 2013 SEFH. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Development towards sustainability: how to judge past and proposed policies?

PubMed

Dittmar, Michael

2014-02-15

Most countries have, at least since the 1992 United Nations summit in RIO, adopted some vague "sustainable development" policies. The goals of such policies are to combine economic growth with social development, while protecting our fragile planetary life support system. The scientific data about the state of our planet, presented at the 2012 (Rio+20) summit, documented that today's human family lives even less sustainably than it did in 1992. The data indicate furthermore that the environmental impacts from our current economic activities are so large, that we are approaching situations where potentially controllable regional problems can easily lead to uncontrollable global disasters. Despite these obvious failures, our political global leaders and their institutions are continuing the same "sustainable development" policies, which are now supplemented by equally vague ideas about future "green economies". Assuming that (1) the majority of the human family, once adequately informed, wants to achieve a "sustainable way of life" and (2) that the "development towards sustainability" roadmap will be based on scientific principles, one must begin with unambiguous and quantifiable definitions of these goals. As will be demonstrated, the well known scientific method to define abstract and complex issues by their negation, satisfies these requirements. Following this new approach, it also becomes possible to decide if proposed and actual policy changes will make our way of life less unsustainable, and thus move us potentially into the direction of sustainability. Furthermore, if potentially dangerous tipping points are to be avoided, the transition roadmap must include some minimal speed requirements. Combining the negation method and the time evolution of that remaining natural capital in different domains, the transition speed for a "development towards sustainability" can be quantified at local, regional and global scales. The presented ideas allow us to measure the rate of natural capital depletion and the rate of restoration that will be required if humanity is to avoid reaching a sustainable future by a collapse transition. Unfortunately, the existence of quantifiable methods and tools in no way guarantees that they will be used in changing the direction of our journey. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Lessons from the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) Workshop "Defining Your Research Identity"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kontak, R.; Kogan, M.; Adams, A. S.; DeBoer, A.; Hastings, M. G.; Holloway, T.; Laursen, S. L.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.

2011-12-01

The Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) is an international network of and for early-career women geoscientists, including graduate students, postdocs, faculty, program managers, and government, non-government and industry researchers. The mission of ESWN since 2002 is to promote career development, build community, provide informal mentoring and support, and facilitate professional collaborations, all towards making women successful in their scientific careers. With support from a National Science Foundation ADVANCE PAID grant, ESWN is meeting those goals through activities such as the workshop "Defining Your Research Identity." The overall goals of the 2011 ESWN Workshop were to help women at all career stages-but particularly early in their chosen track-to think through their personal, career and research goals, and to articulate these interests and goals in a way that reflects their professional strengths, both verbally and in writing. The focus of "Defining Your Research Identity" provided an opportunity for participants to walk away with a better sense of who they are, what they want, and how to achieve their goals by helping them identify the steps, resources and support needed. "Defining Your Research Identity," was selected as a workshop topic because the theme is relevant to all career stages. In particular, we set workshop goals of identifying personal strengths, defining a mission statement, networking with other ESWN members, and putting the newly-developed personal mission into action. Participants reported significant increases in personal motivation and support and encouragement from the network to pursue their goals, including research, writing, and applications for funding and programs.

American Heart Association Response to the 2015 Institute of Medicine Report on Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival.

PubMed

Neumar, Robert W; Eigel, Brian; Callaway, Clifton W; Estes, N A Mark; Jollis, James G; Kleinman, Monica E; Morrison, Laurie J; Peberdy, Mary Ann; Rabinstein, Alejandro; Rea, Thomas D; Sendelbach, Sue

2015-09-15

The American Heart Association (AHA) commends the recently released Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, Strategies to Improve Cardiac Arrest Survival: A Time to Act (2015). The AHA recognizes the unique opportunity created by the report to meaningfully advance the objectives of improving outcomes for sudden cardiac arrest. For decades, the AHA has focused on the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease though robust support of basic, translational, clinical, and population research. The AHA also has developed a rigorous process using the best available evidence to develop scientific, advisory, and guideline documents. These core activities of development and dissemination of scientific evidence have served as the foundation for a broad range of advocacy initiatives and programs that serve as a foundation for advancing the AHA and IOM goal of improving cardiac arrest outcomes. In response to the call to action in the IOM report, the AHA is announcing 4 new commitments to increase cardiac arrest survival: (1) The AHA will provide up to $5 million in funding over 5 years to incentivize resuscitation data interoperability; (2) the AHA will actively pursue philanthropic support for local and regional implementation opportunities to increase cardiac arrest survival by improving out-of-hospital and in-hospital systems of care; (3) the AHA will actively pursue philanthropic support to launch an AHA resuscitation research network; and (4) the AHA will cosponsor a National Cardiac Arrest Summit to facilitate the creation of a national cardiac arrest collaborative that will unify the field and identify common goals to improve survival. In addition to the AHA's historic and ongoing commitment to improving cardiac arrest care and outcomes, these new initiatives are responsive to each of the IOM recommendations and demonstrate the AHA's leadership in the field. However, successful implementation of the IOM recommendations will require a timely response by all stakeholders identified in the report and a coordinated approach to achieve our common goal of improved cardiac arrest outcomes. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Strategic plan for science-U.S. Geological Survey, Ohio Water Science Center, 2010-15

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2010-01-01

This Science Plan identifies specific scientific and technical programmatic issues of current importance to Ohio and the Nation. An examination of those issues yielded a set of five major focus areas with associated science goals and strategies that the Ohio Water Science Center will emphasize in its program during 2010-15. A primary goal of the Science Plan is to establish a relevant multidisciplinary scientific and technical program that generates high-quality products that meet or exceed the expectations of our partners while supporting the goals and initiatives of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Science Plan will be used to set the direction of new and existing programs and will influence future training and hiring decisions by the Ohio Water Science Center.

Charter for the ARM Climate Research Facility Science Board

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferrell, W

The objective of the ARM Science Board is to promote the Nation’s scientific enterprise by ensuring that the best quality science is conducted at the DOE’s User Facility known as the ARM Climate Research Facility. The goal of the User Facility is to serve scientific researchers by providing unique data and tools to facilitate scientific applications for improving understanding and prediction of climate science.

Methods and decision making on a Mars rover for identification of fossils

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eberlein, Susan; Yates, Gigi

1989-01-01

A system for automated fusion and interpretation of image data from multiple sensors, including multispectral data from an imaging spectrometer is being developed. Classical artificial intelligence techniques and artificial neural networks are employed to make real time decision based on current input and known scientific goals. Emphasis is placed on identifying minerals which could indicate past life activity or an environment supportive of life. Multispectral data can be used for geological analysis because different minerals have characteristic spectral reflectance in the visible and near infrared range. Classification of each spectrum into a broad class, based on overall spectral shape and locations of absorption bands is possible in real time using artificial neural networks. The goal of the system is twofold: multisensor and multispectral data must be interpreted in real time so that potentially interesting sites can be flagged and investigated in more detail while the rover is near those sites; and the sensed data must be reduced to the most compact form possible without loss of crucial information. Autonomous decision making will allow a rover to achieve maximum scientific benefit from a mission. Both a classical rule based approach and a decision neural network for making real time choices are being considered. Neural nets may work well for adaptive decision making. A neural net can be trained to work in two steps. First, the actual input state is mapped to the closest of a number of memorized states. After weighing the importance of various input parameters, the net produces an output decision based on the matched memory state. Real time, autonomous image data analysis and decision making capabilities are required for achieving maximum scientific benefit from a rover mission. The system under development will enhance the chances of identifying fossils or environments capable of supporting life on Mars

Psychoactive Substances Bill and Act of New Zealand: A Chance to Engage Undergraduate Scientists with Society using a Transfer Learning Paradigm

PubMed Central

Gliddon, Catherine M.; Cridge, Belinda

2015-01-01

Our aim was to develop a teaching paradigm that connected undergraduate’s neuropharmacological/toxicological knowledge to that of government policy. One goal of undergraduate education should be to help develop scientists that can use their scientific knowledge to critique government policy. There is little research, however, on whether democratization of science occurs: nor how to achieve this. Our work focused on a semi-structured workshop designed around the Psychoactive Substances Bill (PSB). Third year science students were given a questionnaire that was designed to address whether participating in the workshop enhanced their understanding of the PSB and its relationship to their established knowledge (i.e., transfer learning). Furthermore, whether they felt that they had enough expertise to consider making a submission (i.e., societal engagement). Results showed that the students appreciated the opportunity to explore potential application of their knowledge and delve into a socio-scientific issue. However, our findings suggested they felt uncomfortable discussing their ideas outside the classroom: nor, did they identify themselves as having sufficient knowledge to contribute to a submission. In conclusion, this study highlights two points. First, that discussion based transfer learning can be used in the tertiary sector and students value the opportunity to apply their knowledge to socio-scientific issue. Second, if social participation and democratization of science is a goal, then more emphasis should be placed on how students can realistically and confidently apply their learning to change social policy. In order to achieve this, education programs need to focus on legitimate real-life processes such as the PSB for engagement. PMID:26557790

Does Taking an Introductory Astronomy Course Increase Student Understanding of the Nature of Science?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duncan, Douglas K.; Arthurs, L.; CATS

2009-01-01

Surveys of those who teach Astro 101 say that increasing students’ understanding of the nature and process of science is an important goal. It is also one of the justifications for the "breadth requirement” that supports most of the Astro 101 enterprise in the US. However, little work has been done to measure if this goal is achieved. We interviewed 60 students drawn from two introductory astronomy classes at the beginning and end of the course. Each student was asked 9 questions concerning the nature of science and how it is applied. One of the two introductory classes made a special point of explicitly discussing the nature of science and "science vs. pseudoscience.” Otherwise the two classes were similar. We are investigating how students changed in 4 areas: 1. Do they understand what science is? 2. Do they have the ability to think scientifically themselves? 3. Can they distinguish believable scientific results from bogus ones? 4. Do students develop "basic science literacy?" In addition to the interviews we gave the Epistemological Beliefs Assessment for Physical Science (EBAPS, Elby et al. 2001; www.flaguide.org) to approximately 300 students. Initial results will be reported in our poster, and full results in a publication expected in early 2009. In addition, the results of this study are being used to develop a survey instrument designed specifically for use with Astro 101 students to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction on their scientific attitudes and beliefs as a Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) research project. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

THE VIRTUAL INSTRUMENT: SUPPORT FOR GRID-ENABLED MCELL SIMULATIONS

PubMed Central

Casanova, Henri; Berman, Francine; Bartol, Thomas; Gokcay, Erhan; Sejnowski, Terry; Birnbaum, Adam; Dongarra, Jack; Miller, Michelle; Ellisman, Mark; Faerman, Marcio; Obertelli, Graziano; Wolski, Rich; Pomerantz, Stuart; Stiles, Joel

2010-01-01

Ensembles of widely distributed, heterogeneous resources, or Grids, have emerged as popular platforms for large-scale scientific applications. In this paper we present the Virtual Instrument project, which provides an integrated application execution environment that enables end-users to run and interact with running scientific simulations on Grids. This work is performed in the specific context of MCell, a computational biology application. While MCell provides the basis for running simulations, its capabilities are currently limited in terms of scale, ease-of-use, and interactivity. These limitations preclude usage scenarios that are critical for scientific advances. Our goal is to create a scientific “Virtual Instrument” from MCell by allowing its users to transparently access Grid resources while being able to steer running simulations. In this paper, we motivate the Virtual Instrument project and discuss a number of relevant issues and accomplishments in the area of Grid software development and application scheduling. We then describe our software design and report on the current implementation. We verify and evaluate our design via experiments with MCell on a real-world Grid testbed. PMID:20689618

Strategies, Programs and Projects 2008 of the Astrophysical Group "SPACE-Universidad Nacional Mayor De San Marcos, Peru" - Preparing for the IYA2009

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vera, Victor; Aguilar, M.; Huisacayna, J.

2008-05-01

We present a review of our efforts to introduce astronomy as scientific career in Peru, showing how our astronomy outreach programs have been one of the most important keys to reach our national astronomical scientific goals, remarking the crucial role that the celebration of the IYA2009 must play, in order to promote PhD programmes in astronomy in developing countries. We show the importance of the creation of the Seminario Permanente de Astronomía y Ciencias Espaciales (SPACE) in the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, as an academic scientific and cultural center in Peru, to support our 26 years-old "Astronomical Fridays” which are addressed to wide range of public, from schoolchildren to scientists. We also show how important was to rediscover our ancient astronomical cultural past of Incas in order to promote the construction of a Astronomical Center located near Cusco city over 4000 meters above sea level, which includes a tourist-educational observatory, a scientific optical observatory and a solar radio observatory.

Metadata for data rescue and data at risk

USGS Publications Warehouse

Anderson, William L.; Faundeen, John L.; Greenberg, Jane; Taylor, Fraser

2011-01-01

Scientific data age, become stale, fall into disuse and run tremendous risks of being forgotten and lost. These problems can be addressed by archiving and managing scientific data over time, and establishing practices that facilitate data discovery and reuse. Metadata documentation is integral to this work and essential for measuring and assessing high priority data preservation cases. The International Council for Science: Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) has a newly appointed Data-at-Risk Task Group (DARTG), participating in the general arena of rescuing data. The DARTG primary objective is building an inventory of scientific data that are at risk of being lost forever. As part of this effort, the DARTG is testing an approach for documenting endangered datasets. The DARTG is developing a minimal and easy to use set of metadata properties for sufficiently describing endangered data, which will aid global data rescue missions. The DARTG metadata framework supports rapid capture, and easy documentation, across an array of scientific domains. This paper reports on the goals and principles supporting the DARTG metadata schema, and provides a description of the preliminary implementation.

Final Technical Report: "New Tools for Physics with Low-energy Antimatter"

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Surko, Clifford M.

2013-10-02

The objective of this research is to develop new tools to manipulate antimatter plasmas and to tailor them for specific scientific and technical uses. The work has two specific objectives. One is establishing the limits for positron accumulation and confinement in the form of single-component plasmas in Penning-Malmberg traps. This technique underpins a wealth of antimatter applications. A second objective is to develop an understanding of the limits for formation of cold, bright positron beams. The research done in this grant focused on particular facets of these goals. One focus was extracting tailored beams from a high-field Penning-Malmberg trap frommore » the magnetic field to form new kinds of high-quality electrostatic beams. A second goal was to develop the technology for colder trap-based beams using a cryogenically cooled buffer gas. A third objective was to conduct the basic plasma research to develop a new high-capacity multicell trap (MCT) for research with antimatter. Progress is reported here in all three areas. While the goal of this research is to develop new tools for manipulating positrons (i.e., the antiparticles of electrons), much of the work was done with test electron plasmas for increased data rate. Some of the techniques developed in the course of this work are also relevant to the manipulation and use of antiprotons.« less

Putting the community back in community ecology and education: the role of field schools and private reserves in the ethical training of primatologists.

PubMed

Garber, P A; Molina, A; Molina, R L

2010-09-01

In 1993 and 1999, with the assistance of a Nicaraguan family, we founded La Suerte Biological Research Station in northeastern Costa Rica and Ometepe Biological Research Station in southern Nicaragua as a privately owned conservation-oriented business. Our goal was to develop a program of sustainable community ecology focused on education, research, and the conservation of primates and tropical forests. In order to accomplish this we developed field courses in which undergraduate and graduate students conduct scientific research, experience local cultures, and learn about conservation. Over 120 of these students have received doctoral degrees or are currently in graduate programs. Four doctoral dissertations, several MA theses, and some 20 scientific articles have been published based on research conducted at our field stations. In order to achieve our long-term goals of preserving the environment, we also needed to engage directly with local communities to address their needs and concerns. To this end, we developed a series of community-based initiatives related to health care, bilingual education, and conservation education using traditional and on-line teaching tools. In this article, we describe our efforts in Costa Rica and Nicaragua teaching conservation-oriented field courses and working with the local human communities. Building upon these experiences, we outline a set of ethical considerations and responsibilities for private reserves, conservation-oriented businesses, NGOs, and conservancies that help integrate members of the local community as stakeholders in conservation. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Scientific Goals of the Human Genome Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wills, Christopher

1993-01-01

The Human Genome Project, an effort to sequence all the DNA of a human cell, is needed to better understand the behavior of chromosomes during cell division, with the ultimate goal of understanding the specific genes contributing to specific diseases and disabilities. (MSE)

Protein crystal growth in microgravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, Daniel

1992-01-01

The overall scientific goals and rationale for growing protein crystals in microgravity are discussed. Data on the growth of human serum albumin crystals which were produced during the First International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-1) are presented. Potential scientific advantages of the utilization of Space Station Freedom are discussed.

Cinderella Separates a Mixture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Streller, Sabine

2014-01-01

Scientific investigations are usually introduced to children by referring to phenomena and occurrences that they already know about from their environment. The goal is that children learn to understand everyday observations and experiences from a scientific perspective, pose questions, express and test simple hypotheses by planning and performing…

Challenges in Elevated CO2 Experiments on Forests

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Current forest Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiments are reaching completion. It is the time to define the scientific goals and priorities of future experimental facilities. The overarching issues are three-fold: first, which are the most urgent scientific questions and which technological aspe...

Developing a heart institute: the execution of a strategic plan.

PubMed

Krawczeski, Catherine D; McDonald, Mark B

2013-01-01

The Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center was chartered in July 2008 with the purpose of integrating clinical cardiovascular medicine with basic science research to foster innovations in care of patients with congenital heart problems. The initial administrative steering committee included representation from a basic scientist, a cardiologist, and a cardiothoracic surgeon and was charged with the development of a strategic plan for the evolution of the Institute over a five-year horizon. Using structured focus groups and staff interviews, the vision, mission, and goals were identified and refined. An integrated implementation plan addressing recruitment, capitalization, infrastructure, and market opportunities was created and executed. The preliminary results demonstrated clinical outcome improvements, increased scientific and academic productivity, and financial sustainability. All of the goals identified in the initial planning sequence were achieved within the five-year time frame, prompting an early evaluation and revision of the strategic plan.

The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program: Prologue to the Future

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The NASA STI Program offers researchers an infrastructure of people and systems that facilitates access to STI; worldwide. The Program is also NASA's institutional mechanism for disseminating the results of its research and developing activities. Through discussions in 1991, the STI Program formulated its Strategic Plan. The plan gives the Program a renewed sense of direction by focusing on future opportunities, customer requirements and Program goals, along with the changes needed to achieve those goals. The Program provides users access to a massive flow of STI which, in fact, represents the largest collection of aeronautical and space science information in the world. The STI Program products and services are outlined, along with the NASA centers, international operations, and the fact that total quality management drives NASA wide program developments. As is detailed, the NASA STI Program is using its resources as effectively as possible to meet the missing needs of NASA.

Antiviral drug research proposal activity.

PubMed

Injaian, Lisa; Smith, Ann C; Shipley, Jennifer German; Marbach-Ad, Gili; Fredericksen, Brenda

2011-01-01

The development of antiviral drugs provides an excellent example of how basic and clinical research must be used together in order to achieve the final goal of treating disease. A Research Oriented Learning Activity was designed to help students to better understand how basic and clinical research can be combined toward a common goal. Through this project students gained a better understanding of the process of scientific research and increased their information literacy in the field of virology. The students worked as teams to research the many aspects involved in the antiviral drug design process, with each student becoming an "expert" in one aspect of the project. The Antiviral Drug Research Proposal (ADRP) culminated with students presenting their proposals to their peers and local virologists in a poster session. Assessment data showed increased student awareness and knowledge of the research process and the steps involved in the development of antiviral drugs as a result of this activity.

Competency-Based Education for the Molecular Genetic Pathology Fellow

PubMed Central

Talbert, Michael L.; Dunn, S. Terence; Hunt, Jennifer; Hillyard, David R.; Mirza, Imran; Nowak, Jan A.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna; Vnencak-Jones, Cindy L.

2009-01-01

The following report represents guidelines for competency-based fellowship training in Molecular Genetic Pathology (MGP) developed by the Association for Molecular Pathology Training and Education Committee and Directors of MGP Programs in the United States. The goals of the effort were to describe each of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies as they apply to MGP fellowship training, provide a summary of goals and objectives, and recommend assessment tools. These guidelines are particularly pertinent to MGP training, which is a relatively new specialty that operates within a rapidly changing scientific and technological arena. It is hoped that this document will provide additional material for directors of existing MGP programs to consider for improvement of program objectives and enhancement of evaluation tools already in place. In addition, the guidelines should provide a valuable framework for the development of new MGP programs. PMID:19797613

DARPA-funded efforts in the development of novel brain-computer interface technologies.

PubMed

Miranda, Robbin A; Casebeer, William D; Hein, Amy M; Judy, Jack W; Krotkov, Eric P; Laabs, Tracy L; Manzo, Justin E; Pankratz, Kent G; Pratt, Gill A; Sanchez, Justin C; Weber, Douglas J; Wheeler, Tracey L; Ling, Geoffrey S F

2015-04-15

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has funded innovative scientific research and technology developments in the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) since the 1970s. This review highlights some of DARPA's major advances in the field of BCI, particularly those made in recent years. Two broad categories of DARPA programs are presented with respect to the ultimate goals of supporting the nation's warfighters: (1) BCI efforts aimed at restoring neural and/or behavioral function, and (2) BCI efforts aimed at improving human training and performance. The programs discussed are synergistic and complementary to one another, and, moreover, promote interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, engineers, and clinicians. Finally, this review includes a summary of some of the remaining challenges for the field of BCI, as well as the goals of new DARPA efforts in this domain. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A New Approach to Active Learning in the Planetarium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodge, T. M.; Saderholm, J. C.

2012-08-01

In a recent survey, Small & Plummer (2010) found that the goals of planetarium professionals are aligned with inquiry-based, active learning. However, most planetarium shows are designed as passive entertainment, with education as a secondary goal. In addition, there are very few research-based studies on the types of activities which promote greater learning within the planetarium environment, particularly at the post-secondary level. We report the results of the pilot test of a novel use of the planetarium to provide a simulated night sky, which students use to make longitudinal observations and measurements of planetary positions. In spite of several pragmatic limitations, the planetarium environment is well suited to student construction of both geocentric and heliocentric models of the solar system from direct observation. The curriculum we are developing addresses common misconceptions about the nature of science, in particular the use of modeling in the development of scientific knowledge.

Updates from the AmeriFlux Management Project Tech Team

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biraud, S.; Chan, S.; Dengel, S.; Polonik, P.; Hanson, C. V.; Billesbach, D. P.; Torn, M. S.

2017-12-01

The goal of AmeriFlux is to develop a network of long-term flux sites for quantifying and understanding the role of the terrestrial biosphere in global climate and environmental change. The AmeriFlux Management Program (AMP) Tech Team at LBNL strengthens the AmeriFlux Network by (1) standardizing operational practices, (2) developing calibration and maintenance routines, and (3) setting clear data quality goals. In this poster we will present results and recent progress in three areas: IRGA intercomparison experiment in cooperation with UC Davis, and main manufacturers of sensors used in the AmeriFlux network (LI-COR, Picarro, and Campbell Scientific). Gill sonic anemometers characterization in collaboration with John Frank and Bill Massman (US Forest Service) following the discovery of a significant firmware problem in commonly used Gill Sonic anemometer, Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and sensors systematically used at AmeriFlux sites to improve site characterization.

Schistosomiasis elimination strategies and potential role of a vaccine in achieving global health goals.

PubMed

Mo, Annie X; Agosti, Jan M; Walson, Judd L; Hall, B Fenton; Gordon, Lance

2014-01-01

In March 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-sponsored a meeting entitled "Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategy and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals" to discuss the potential role of schistosomiasis vaccines and other tools in the context of schistosomiasis control and elimination strategies. It was concluded that although schistosomiasis elimination in some focal areas may be achievable through current mass drug administration programs, global control and elimination will face several significant scientific and operational challenges, and will require an integrated approach with other, additional interventions. These challenges include vector (snail) control; environmental modification; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and other future innovative tools such as vaccines. Defining a clear product development plan that reflects a vaccine strategy as complementary to the existing control programs to combat different forms of schistosomiasis will be important to develop a vaccine effectively.

Antiviral Drug Research Proposal Activity †

PubMed Central

Injaian, Lisa; Smith, Ann C.; Shipley, Jennifer German; Marbach-Ad, Gili; Fredericksen, Brenda

2011-01-01

The development of antiviral drugs provides an excellent example of how basic and clinical research must be used together in order to achieve the final goal of treating disease. A Research Oriented Learning Activity was designed to help students to better understand how basic and clinical research can be combined toward a common goal. Through this project students gained a better understanding of the process of scientific research and increased their information literacy in the field of virology. The students worked as teams to research the many aspects involved in the antiviral drug design process, with each student becoming an “expert” in one aspect of the project. The Antiviral Drug Research Proposal (ADRP) culminated with students presenting their proposals to their peers and local virologists in a poster session. Assessment data showed increased student awareness and knowledge of the research process and the steps involved in the development of antiviral drugs as a result of this activity. PMID:23653735

The LSST OCS scheduler design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado, Francisco; Schumacher, German

2014-08-01

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is a complex system of systems with demanding performance and operational requirements. The nature of its scientific goals requires a special Observatory Control System (OCS) and particularly a very specialized automatic Scheduler. The OCS Scheduler is an autonomous software component that drives the survey, selecting the detailed sequence of visits in real time, taking into account multiple science programs, the current external and internal conditions, and the history of observations. We have developed a SysML model for the OCS Scheduler that fits coherently in the OCS and LSST integrated model. We have also developed a prototype of the Scheduler that implements the scheduling algorithms in the simulation environment provided by the Operations Simulator, where the environment and the observatory are modeled with real weather data and detailed kinematics parameters. This paper expands on the Scheduler architecture and the proposed algorithms to achieve the survey goals.

SMD Technology Development Story for NASA Annual Technology report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seablom, Michael S.

2017-01-01

The role of the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is to enable NASA to achieve its science goals in the context of the Nation's science agenda. SMD's strategic decisions regarding future missions and scientific pursuits are guided by Agency goals, input from the science community-including the recommendations set forth in the National Research Council (NRC) decadal surveys-and a commitment to preserve a balanced program across the major science disciplines. Toward this end, each of the four SMD science divisions-Heliophysics, Earth Science, Planetary Science, and Astrophysics-develops fundamental science questions upon which to base future research and mission programs. Often the breakthrough science required to answer these questions requires significant technological innovation-e.g., instruments or platforms with capabilities beyond the current state of the art. SMD's targeted technology investments fill technology gaps, enabling NASA to build the challenging and complex missions that accomplish groundbreaking science.

NASA strategic plan

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1994-01-01

The NASA Strategic Plan is a living document. It provides far-reaching goals and objectives to create stability for NASA's efforts. The Plan presents NASA's top-level strategy: it articulates what NASA does and for whom; it differentiates between ends and means; it states where NASA is going and what NASA intends to do to get there. This Plan is not a budget document, nor does it present priorities for current or future programs. Rather, it establishes a framework for shaping NASA's activities and developing a balanced set of priorities across the Agency. Such priorities will then be reflected in the NASA budget. The document includes vision, mission, and goals; external environment; conceptual framework; strategic enterprises (Mission to Planet Earth, aeronautics, human exploration and development of space, scientific research, space technology, and synergy); strategic functions (transportation to space, space communications, human resources, and physical resources); values and operating principles; implementing strategy; and senior management team concurrence.

MS PHD'S Professional Development Program: A Scientific Renaissance in Cyberspace

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powell, J. M.; Williamson, V. A.; Griess, C. A.; Pyrtle, A. J.

2004-12-01

This study is a component of a four-year investigation of MS PHD'S Professional Development Program's virtual community through the lenses of underrepresented minority students in Earth system science and engineering fields. In this presentation, the development, assessment and projected utilization of the ongoing study will be discussed. The overall goal of this study is to examine the effectiveness of virtual team building methods and understand how the development of a communal cyberinfrastructure acts as an integral part of the emergence of a Scientific Renaissance. The exemplar, Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science (MS PHD'S), provides professional development experiences to facilitate the advancement of students of color achieving outstanding Earth system careers. Undergraduate and graduate students are supported through access to scientific conferences, mentorship and virtual community building. Framed by critical theory, this ethnographic exploration uses a mixed methods research design to record, observe, and analyze both the processes and products of the website, listserv and synchronous web-based dialogue. First, key findings of the formative evaluation and annual reports of the successfully implemented 2003 MS PHD'S Pilot Project are presented. These findings inform future evaluations of the use of technological resources and illustrate how this public space provides peer support and enriched research opportunities. Quantitative methods such as statistical analysis, academic and professional tracking and evaluative tools for scientific content and competency are complimented by qualitative methods that include observations, heuristic case studies and focus group interviews. The findings of this ongoing investigation will provide insight on how national organizations, higher education practitioners, community-based support systems and underrepresented minorities in the sciences promote diversity by developing successful cyberspace programs and networks. Through the examination of the transformation, expansion and democratization of the Earth system science community, new knowledge will be obtained on how a cyber-community fuses science, diversity and technology to form dialectics between creating and analyzing a Scientific Renaissance.

New perspectives in forensic anthropology.

PubMed

Dirkmaat, Dennis C; Cabo, Luis L; Ousley, Stephen D; Symes, Steven A

2008-01-01

A critical review of the conceptual and practical evolution of forensic anthropology during the last two decades serves to identify two key external factors and four tightly inter-related internal methodological advances that have significantly affected the discipline. These key developments have not only altered the current practice of forensic anthropology, but also its goals, objectives, scope, and definition. The development of DNA analysis techniques served to undermine the classic role of forensic anthropology as a field almost exclusively focused on victim identification. The introduction of the Daubert criteria in the courtroom presentation of scientific testimony accompanied the development of new human comparative samples and tools for data analysis and sharing, resulting in a vastly enhanced role for quantitative methods in human skeletal analysis. Additionally, new questions asked of forensic anthropologists, beyond identity, required sound scientific bases and expanded the scope of the field. This environment favored the incipient development of the interrelated fields of forensic taphonomy, forensic archaeology, and forensic trauma analysis, fields concerned with the reconstruction of events surrounding death. Far from representing the mere addition of new methodological techniques, these disciplines (especially, forensic taphonomy) provide forensic anthropology with a new conceptual framework, which is broader, deeper, and more solidly entrenched in the natural sciences. It is argued that this new framework represents a true paradigm shift, as it modifies not only the way in which classic forensic anthropological questions are answered, but also the goals and tasks of forensic anthropologists, and their perception of what can be considered a legitimate question or problem to be answered within the field.

A guide for writing in the scientific forum.

PubMed

Kotsis, Sandra V; Chung, Kevin C

2010-11-01

When considering the importance of scientific writing in disseminating new discoveries and ideas, it is quite remarkable that few physicians have received any formal instruction in this essential process. This article focuses on the fundamental principles of scientific writing that also include a "style and grace" component. The art of good scientific writing is to convey scientific materials in a clear and interesting way, while avoiding incomprehensible sentences that only serve to disguise marginal contents within the article. The goal of this article is to encourage authors and readers to critically examine the art of scientific writing to overcome the barrier to effective communication.

A new vision for the study of benign prostate disease: the NIDDK Prostate Research Strategic Plan.

PubMed

Mullins, Chris; Kaplan, Steven A

2009-03-01

The American population continues to enjoy a steady increase in life expectancy. A major goal for this population is to maintain and improve quality of life as it ages. For men a major source of age related health burden is benign disorders of the prostate which, despite much research, remain poorly defined and require greater advancement in prevention and treatment. Thus, there is a substantial need to develop a long-range vision to focus and promote efforts to better understand and manage benign prostate disease. In response the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases convened a panel of key opinion leaders including basic researchers, translational scientists, epidemiologists, and clinicians and clinical researchers to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to advance research in benign prostate disease. The overall mission statement of this effort is "To discuss, evaluate, and propose research needs and a long-range research agenda (ie a strategic plan) for NIDDK grant portfolios related to research into benign prostate disease." Implementation and practical application of this strategic plan will require a partnership of the scientific community, the Federal Government, and other public and private organizations and institutions. This focused group of research and thought leaders identified 4 major areas of key significance for future investigation: basic science, epidemiology/population based studies, translational opportunities and clinical sciences. Great opportunities are identified within these 4 areas to develop new insights, and translate findings for benign prostate diseases and related syndromes between the research laboratory and the clinical setting. The product of these efforts, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Prostate Research Strategic Plan, represents a blueprint that researchers and Federal Government can use to review where the field has been, define where the field is and, most importantly, identify where and how future research efforts should be directed. To accomplish this goal many priorities must be addressed, including the need to create more effective lines of communication among scientific disciplines to improve translation of research findings and ultimately advance patient treatment. The overall goals and missions of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Prostate Research Strategic Plan, along with key scientific recommendations and priorities for the major areas of focus, are summarized.

Educational NASA Computational and Scientific Studies (enCOMPASS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Memarsadeghi, Nargess

2013-01-01

Educational NASA Computational and Scientific Studies (enCOMPASS) is an educational project of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center aimed at bridging the gap between computational objectives and needs of NASA's scientific research, missions, and projects, and academia's latest advances in applied mathematics and computer science. enCOMPASS achieves this goal via bidirectional collaboration and communication between NASA and academia. Using developed NASA Computational Case Studies in university computer science/engineering and applied mathematics classes is a way of addressing NASA's goals of contributing to the Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) National Objective. The enCOMPASS Web site at http://encompass.gsfc.nasa.gov provides additional information. There are currently nine enCOMPASS case studies developed in areas of earth sciences, planetary sciences, and astrophysics. Some of these case studies have been published in AIP and IEEE's Computing in Science and Engineering magazines. A few university professors have used enCOMPASS case studies in their computational classes and contributed their findings to NASA scientists. In these case studies, after introducing the science area, the specific problem, and related NASA missions, students are first asked to solve a known problem using NASA data and past approaches used and often published in a scientific/research paper. Then, after learning about the NASA application and related computational tools and approaches for solving the proposed problem, students are given a harder problem as a challenge for them to research and develop solutions for. This project provides a model for NASA scientists and engineers on one side, and university students, faculty, and researchers in computer science and applied mathematics on the other side, to learn from each other's areas of work, computational needs and solutions, and the latest advances in research and development. This innovation takes NASA science and engineering applications to computer science and applied mathematics university classes, and makes NASA objectives part of the university curricula. There is great potential for growth and return on investment of this program to the point where every major university in the U.S. would use at least one of these case studies in one of their computational courses, and where every NASA scientist and engineer facing a computational challenge (without having resources or expertise to solve it) would use enCOMPASS to formulate the problem as a case study, provide it to a university, and get back their solutions and ideas.

Environmental Effects of Agricultural Practices - Summary of Workshop Held on June 14-16, 2005

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2006-01-01

A meeting between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners was held June 14-16, 2005, in Denver, CO, to discuss science issues and needs related to agricultural practices. The goals of the meeting were to learn about the (1) effects of agricultural practices on the environment and (2) tools for identifying and quantifying those effects. Achieving these goals required defining the environmental concerns, developing scientific actions to address assessment of environmental effects, and creating collaborations to identify future research requirements and technical gaps. Five areas of concern were discussed-emerging compounds; water availability; genetically modified organisms; effects of conservation practices on ecosystems; and data, methods, and tools for assessing effects of agricultural practices.

Using Rubrics as a Scientific Writing Instructional Method in Early Stage Undergraduate Neuroscience Study.

PubMed

Clabough, Erin B D; Clabough, Seth W

2016-01-01

Scientific writing is an important communication and learning tool in neuroscience, yet it is a skill not adequately cultivated in introductory undergraduate science courses. Proficient, confident scientific writers are produced by providing specific knowledge about the writing process, combined with a clear student understanding about how to think about writing (also known as metacognition). We developed a rubric for evaluating scientific papers and assessed different methods of using the rubric in inquiry-based introductory biology classrooms. Students were either 1) given the rubric alone, 2) given the rubric, but also required to visit a biology subject tutor for paper assistance, or 3) asked to self-grade paper components using the rubric. Students who were required to use a peer tutor had more negative attitudes towards scientific writing, while students who used the rubric alone reported more confidence in their science writing skills by the conclusion of the semester. Overall, students rated the use of an example paper or grading rubric as the most effective ways of teaching scientific writing, while rating peer review as ineffective. Our paper describes a concrete, simple method of infusing scientific writing into inquiry-based science classes, and provides clear avenues to enhance communication and scientific writing skills in entry-level classes through the use of a rubric or example paper, with the goal of producing students capable of performing at a higher level in upper level neuroscience classes and independent research.

Using Rubrics as a Scientific Writing Instructional Method in Early Stage Undergraduate Neuroscience Study

PubMed Central

Clabough, Erin B.D.; Clabough, Seth W.

2016-01-01

Scientific writing is an important communication and learning tool in neuroscience, yet it is a skill not adequately cultivated in introductory undergraduate science courses. Proficient, confident scientific writers are produced by providing specific knowledge about the writing process, combined with a clear student understanding about how to think about writing (also known as metacognition). We developed a rubric for evaluating scientific papers and assessed different methods of using the rubric in inquiry-based introductory biology classrooms. Students were either 1) given the rubric alone, 2) given the rubric, but also required to visit a biology subject tutor for paper assistance, or 3) asked to self-grade paper components using the rubric. Students who were required to use a peer tutor had more negative attitudes towards scientific writing, while students who used the rubric alone reported more confidence in their science writing skills by the conclusion of the semester. Overall, students rated the use of an example paper or grading rubric as the most effective ways of teaching scientific writing, while rating peer review as ineffective. Our paper describes a concrete, simple method of infusing scientific writing into inquiry-based science classes, and provides clear avenues to enhance communication and scientific writing skills in entry-level classes through the use of a rubric or example paper, with the goal of producing students capable of performing at a higher level in upper level neuroscience classes and independent research. PMID:27980476

Scientific analogs and the development of human mission architectures for the Moon, deep space and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, D. S. S.; Abercromby, A.; Beaton, K.; Brady, A. L.; Cardman, Z.; Chappell, S.; Cockell, C. S.; Cohen, B. A.; Cohen, T.; Deans, M.; Deliz, I.; Downs, M.; Elphic, R. C.; Hamilton, J. C.; Heldmann, J.; Hillenius, S.; Hoffman, J.; Hughes, S. S.; Kobs-Nawotniak, S. E.; Lees, D. S.; Marquez, J.; Miller, M.; Milovsoroff, C.; Payler, S.; Sehlke, A.; Squyres, S. W.

2016-12-01

Analogs are destinations on Earth that allow researchers to approximate operational and/or physical conditions on other planetary bodies and within deep space. Over the past decade, our team has been conducting geobiological field science studies under simulated deep space and Mars mission conditions. Each of these missions integrate scientific and operational research with the goal to identify concepts of operations (ConOps) and capabilities that will enable and enhance scientific return during human and human-robotic missions to the Moon, into deep space and on Mars. Working under these simulated mission conditions presents a number of unique challenges that are not encountered during typical scientific field expeditions. However, there are significant benefits to this working model from the perspective of the human space flight and scientific operations research community. Specifically, by applying human (and human-robotic) mission architectures to real field science endeavors, we create a unique operational litmus test for those ConOps and capabilities that have otherwise been vetted under circumstances that did not necessarily demand scientific data return meeting the rigors of peer-review standards. The presentation will give an overview of our team's recent analog research, with a focus on the scientific operations research. The intent is to encourage collaborative dialog with a broader set of analog research community members with an eye towards future scientific field endeavors that will have a significant impact on how we design human and human-robotic missions to the Moon, into deep space and to Mars.

Coordinating Council. Third Meeting: STI Strategic Plans

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The NASA Scientific and Technical Information Program Coordinating Council conducts meetings after which both modified transcripts of presentations and interactive discussions are published. The theme for the November 1990 meeting was 'STI Strategic Plans'. This theme was the focus of recorded discussions by members of the council. The last section of the report presents visuals on strategic goals for the STI Information Division. NASA's vision is to be at the forefront of advancements in aeronautics, space science, and exploration. More specific NASA goals are listed followed by the STI Division mission statement. The Strategic Goals for the STI Division are outlined as follows: Implement effective management strategies, Accomplish rapid deployment of the NASA STI Network, Seek out and develop cooperative partnerships, Establish the STI Program as an integral part of the NASA R&D effort, Enhance the quality of our products and services through a focus on the customer, Build an attitude of quality throughout the enterprise, Expand the existing participant community, Assert a NASA leadership role for STI policy, and Develop a program for information science R&D. The STI division mission statement appears on the document cover as follows 'The mission of the NASA STI Program is to advance aerospace knowledge, contribute to U.S. competitiveness, and become an integral partner in NASA R&D programs to support NASA goals.'

[The Internet and its security].

PubMed

Masić, Izet; Ahmetović, Ademir; Jakupović, Safet; Masić, Zlatan; Zunić, Lejla

2002-01-01

Internet, is the greatest world net by by means of which nowadays the planet communicates, rapidly goes forward. The last years of the university in USA the commonly develop the more progressive concept of the net (Internet 2), thanks to the constant growing technologies, with the goal to answer the needs of the scientific and the educational institutions, but also the commercial institutions and the organizations. Almost the there is no more significant institution in the world which has not developed their web pages and data bases with the most actual contents available to the wider circle of the users. In this paper we have given the section of the most actual web pages. However, Internet is not immune to those users who are not benevolent and who have developed the different tools in the goal of the destroying or unabling of the normal use of all the Internet conveniences. The authors is considering the protection problem and the data security which get distributed by Internet.

Ecosystem Management and Sustainability

Treesearch

J.D. Peine; B.L. Jacobs; K.E. Franzreb; M.R. Stevens

2011-01-01

Ecosystem management (EM) promotes an integrated approach to environmental issues; its central goal is the protection of entire ecosystems. By focusing on an interdisciplinary solution to environmental challenges, EM can help to synthesize societal, economic scientific, and governmental goals. Furthermore, as EM becomes part of the foundation of environmental...

Diversifying Science: Intervention Programs Moderate the Effect of Stereotype Threat on Motivation and Career Choice

PubMed Central

Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Schultz, P. Wesley

2016-01-01

Stereotypes influence academic interests, performance, and ultimately career goals. The long-standing National Institutes of Health Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) training program has been shown to be effective at retaining underrepresented minorities in science. We argue that programs such as RISE may alter the experience and impact of stereotype threat on academic achievement goals and future engagement in a scientific career. We report analyses of a national sample comparing RISE students with a propensity score-matched control group over a 6-year period. Mediation analyses revealed that while RISE program membership did not buffer students from stereotype threat, it changed students' downstream responses and ultimately their academic outcomes. Nonprogram students were less likely than RISE students to persist in the sciences, partially because feelings of stereotype threat diminished their adoption of mastery goals. We discuss how these findings inform stereotype threat and goal orientation theories and provide insight into the success of intervention programs. PMID:27668075

Using Network Analysis to Characterize Biogeographic Data in a Community Archive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wellman, T. P.; Bristol, S.

2017-12-01

Informative measures are needed to evaluate and compare data from multiple providers in a community-driven data archive. This study explores insights from network theory and other descriptive and inferential statistics to examine data content and application across an assemblage of publically available biogeographic data sets. The data are archived in ScienceBase, a collaborative catalog of scientific data supported by the U.S Geological Survey to enhance scientific inquiry and acuity. In gaining understanding through this investigation and other scientific venues our goal is to improve scientific insight and data use across a spectrum of scientific applications. Network analysis is a tool to reveal patterns of non-trivial topological features in the data that do not exhibit complete regularity or randomness. In this work, network analyses are used to explore shared events and dependencies between measures of data content and application derived from metadata and catalog information and measures relevant to biogeographic study. Descriptive statistical tools are used to explore relations between network analysis properties, while inferential statistics are used to evaluate the degree of confidence in these assessments. Network analyses have been used successfully in related fields to examine social awareness of scientific issues, taxonomic structures of biological organisms, and ecosystem resilience to environmental change. Use of network analysis also shows promising potential to identify relationships in biogeographic data that inform programmatic goals and scientific interests.

Secularization and Popularization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Logan, Robert A.

Scientists and science writers are often thought to be at odds about the goals and strategies of communicating scientific information to the public. However, a value judgment underlies the "raison d' etre" for scientific communications and links the diffusion of information about science with an ensuing public trust for science. Scientists and…

Promoting Scientific and Technological Literacy: Teaching Biodiesel.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eilks, Ingo

2000-01-01

Describes a unit on biodiesel from a socio-critical chemistry teaching approach aimed at improving student participation and decision making. Explores the use of biodiesel (chemically changed vegetable oils), especially in Europe. The unit proved to be successful as students participated enthusiastically and social and scientific goals were…

Classroom Communities' Adaptations of the Practice of Scientific Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berland, Leema K.; Reiser, Brian J.

2011-01-01

Scientific argumentation is increasingly seen as a key inquiry practice for students in science classrooms. This is a complex practice that entails three overlapping, instructional goals: Participants "articulate their understandings" and work to "persuade others of those understandings" in order to "make sense of the…

The 1000 Genomes Project: data management and community access.

PubMed

Clarke, Laura; Zheng-Bradley, Xiangqun; Smith, Richard; Kulesha, Eugene; Xiao, Chunlin; Toneva, Iliana; Vaughan, Brendan; Preuss, Don; Leinonen, Rasko; Shumway, Martin; Sherry, Stephen; Flicek, Paul

2012-04-27

The 1000 Genomes Project was launched as one of the largest distributed data collection and analysis projects ever undertaken in biology. In addition to the primary scientific goals of creating both a deep catalog of human genetic variation and extensive methods to accurately discover and characterize variation using new sequencing technologies, the project makes all of its data publicly available. Members of the project data coordination center have developed and deployed several tools to enable widespread data access.

Study of compressed baryonic matter at FAIR: JINR participation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Derenovskaya, O.; Kurilkin, P.; Gusakov, Yu.; Ivanov, V.; Ladygin, V.; Ladygina, N.; Malakhov, A.; Peshekhonov, V.; Zinchenko, A.

2017-11-01

The scientific goal of the CBM (Compressed Baryonic Matter) experiment at FAIR (Darmstadt) is to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at highest baryon densities. The physics program of the CBM experiment is complimentary to the programs to be realized at MPD and BMN facilities at NICA and will start with beam derived by the SIS100 synchrotron. The results of JINR participation in the development of different sub-projects of the CBM experiment are presented.