Scientific Contributions to GEO Global Earth Observation Priorities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedl, L.; Ledrew, E.

2009-12-01

Numerous counties and non-governmental organizations have produced documents, held workshops, and published reports in the past decade that identify Earth observation needs to meet their particular objectives. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has conducted a review of these documents, workshops, and reports to identify the priority observations common to many societal benefit areas. GEO has made a concerted effort to include materials from a broad range of user types, including scientific researchers, resource managers, and policy makers. GEO has also sought an international breadth in the materials reviewed, including observation priorities from developing countries. The activity will help GEO optimize the observations in GEOSS that are most likely to provide societal benefits, and GEO members will use the results of this meta-analysis to support investment decisions. The Earth observations in GEOSS serve scientific research and applications endeavors. As a primary user of ground-based, airborne, in situ, and space-based observations of the Earth, the scientific community has a significant voice and vested interest in the observations offered through GEOSS. Furthermore, the science and technology community will have opportunities to identify critical scientific/technological advances needed to produce any observations that are needed yet not currently available. In this paper, we will discuss this GEO effort to identify Earth observations priorities. We will present initial findings for some societal benefit areas and the overall meta-analysis. We will also discuss possible roles for the science and technology community to contribute to those priorities, such as scientific advances needed to achieve the observations or to realize societal benefits from the observations.

Partners in Science: A Suggested Framework for Inclusive Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandya, R. E.

2012-12-01

Public participation in scientific research, also known as citizen science, is effective on many levels: it produces sound, publishable science and data, helps participants gain scientific knowledge and learn about the methods and practices of modern science, and can help communities advance their own priorities. Unfortunately, the demographics of citizen science programs do not reflect the demographics of the US; in general people of color and less affluent members of society are under-represented. To understand the reasons for this disparity, it is useful to look to the broader research about participation in science in a variety of informal and formal settings. From this research, the causes for unequal participation in science can be grouped into three broad categories: accessibility challenges, cultural differences, and a gap between scientific goals and community priorities. Many of these challenges are addressed in working with communities to develop an integrated program of scientific research, education, and community action that addresses community priorities and invites community participation at every stage of the process from defining the question to applying the results. In the spectrum of ways to engage the public in scientific research, this approach of "co-creation" is the most intensive. This talk will explore several examples of co-creation of science, including collaborations with tribal communities around climate change adaptation, work in the Louisiana Delta concerning land loss, and the link between weather and disease in Africa. We will articulate some of the challenges of working this intensively with communities, and suggest a general framework for guiding this kind of work with communities. This model of intensive collaboration at every stage is a promising one for adding to the diversity of citizen science efforts. It also provides a powerful strategy for science more generally, and may help us diversify our field, ensure the use and usability of our science, and help strengthen public support for and acceptance of scientific results.

"Beyond the walls": A research study of eighth-grade students mentored in a hospital setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grattan, Aileen

This research study was designed to evaluate twelve eighth-grade students participating in the fourth year of a mentoring program to determine what effect the mentoring experience would have on the students' sense of a scientific community, their understanding of scientific knowledge and process skills and attitudes toward science. The mentoring program was developed through a partnership established between the researcher, an eighth-grade science teacher at a junior high school, and an administrator of a local hospital, to provide educational opportunities for students mentored by medical professionals. The research design included qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis. The qualitative instruments were student journals and interviews. The quantitative instruments included the science subtest of the Stanford Nine Achievement Test, a Student Attitude Toward Science Survey (STATS), and a Hospital Questionnaire. The findings indicate that mentoring developed the students' understanding of a scientific community, revealed a wide range of attitudes and had a positive effect on the students' scientific knowledge and process skills. Finally, this research study has shown the benefits of mentoring as a model for teaching science in a community setting beyond the walls of the school.

The BioMart community portal: an innovative alternative to large, centralized data repositories

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The BioMart Community Portal (www.biomart.org) is a community-driven effort to provide a unified interface to biomedical databases that are distributed worldwide. The portal provides access to numerous database projects supported by 30 scientific organizations. It includes over 800 different biologi...

From Healing the Whole Person: An Argument for Therapeutic Touch as a Complement to Traditional Medical Practice

PubMed Central

Huff, Marlene B.; McClanahan, Kimberly K.; Omar, Hatim A.

2006-01-01

The growing popularity and use of therapeutic touch (TT) is an issue that has generated controversy and concern within the medical community. While anecdotal and traditional scientific evidence suggest that TT would be an advantageous addition for clinics and hospitals to include in their armamentarium of complementary interventions within the realm of traditional medicine, TT has not become widely available in the U.S. One reason for the lack of availability may be the dearth of conclusive scientific support for TT's efficacy and, therefore, its inclusion in clinic and hospital treatment planning would give it the appearance of legitimate practice, which it may not yet deserve. Whether or not deserved, if TT were added to hospital and clinic treatment protocols without substantial scientific support, it would be thought to have the implicit support of the scientific community, at which point the question of its efficacy would be moot in the minds of many people; thus patients would utilize it, because they believe it works rather than because it works. Since TT has not yet been scientifically proven as per Western standards, leaders of the health care community are likely wary of lending support to TT at this time. If TT can be found to be a scientifically sound therapeutic technique, then it will be more readily accepted in the health care community. This paper reviews TT. PMID:17370014

The EPA's Human Exposure Research Program for Assessing Cumulative Risk in Communities

EPA Science Inventory

Communities are faced with challenges in identifying and prioritizing environmental issues, taking actions to reduce their exposures, and determining their effectiveness for reducing human health risks. Additional challenges include determining what scientific tools are available...

The Social Responsibility of Scientists.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sakharov, Andrei

1981-01-01

Presents supportive statements from a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and a Nobel Peace Prize winner that the scientific community has an obligation to inform the public fully about the impact of scientific developments. Autobiographical data concerning the author is also included. (CS)

SuperAGILE Services at ASDC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Preger, B.; Verrecchia, F.; Pittori, C.; Antonelli, L. A.; Giommi, P.; Lazzarotto, F.; Evangelista, Y.

2008-05-01

The Italian Space Agency Science Data Center (ASDC) is a facility with several responsibilities including support to all the ASI scientific missions as for management and archival of the data, acting as the interface between ASI and the scientific community and providing on-line access to the data hosted. In this poster we describe the services that ASDC provides for SuperAGILE, in particular the ASDC public web pages devoted to the dissemination of SuperAGILE scientific results. SuperAGILE is the X-Ray imager onboard the AGILE mission, and provides the scientific community with orbit-by-orbit information on the observed sources. Crucial source information including position and flux in chosen energy bands will be reported in the SuperAGILE public web page at ASDC. Given their particular interest, another web page will be dedicated entirely to GRBs and other transients, where new event alerts will be notified and where users will find all the available informations on the GRBs detected by SuperAGILE.

Variation in the Interpretation of Scientific Integrity in Community-based Participatory Health Research

PubMed Central

Kraemer Diaz, Anne E.; Spears Johnson, Chaya R.; Arcury, Thomas A.

2013-01-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has become essential in health disparities and environmental justice research; however, the scientific integrity of CBPR projects has become a concern. Some concerns, such as appropriate research training, lack of access to resources and finances, have been discussed as possibly limiting the scientific integrity of a project. Prior to understanding what threatens scientific integrity in CBPR, it is vital to understand what scientific integrity means for the professional and community investigators who are involved in CBPR. This analysis explores the interpretation of scientific integrity in CBPR among 74 professional and community research team members from of 25 CBPR projects in nine states in the southeastern United States in 2012. It describes the basic definition for scientific integrity and then explores variations in the interpretation of scientific integrity in CBPR. Variations in the interpretations were associated with team member identity as professional or community investigators. Professional investigators understood scientific integrity in CBPR as either conceptually or logistically flexible, as challenging to balance with community needs, or no different than traditional scientific integrity. Community investigators interpret other factors as important in scientific integrity, such as trust, accountability, and overall benefit to the community. This research demonstrates that the variations in the interpretation of scientific integrity in CBPR call for a new definition of scientific integrity in CBPR that takes into account the understanding and needs of all investigators. PMID:24161098

The SWAN Scientific Discourse Ontology

PubMed Central

Ciccarese, Paolo; Wu, Elizabeth; Kinoshita, June; Wong, Gwendolyn T.; Ocana, Marco; Ruttenberg, Alan

2015-01-01

SWAN (Semantic Web Application in Neuromedicine) is a project to construct a semantically-organized, community-curated, distributed knowledge base of Theory, Evidence, and Discussion in biomedicine. Unlike Wikipedia and similar approaches, SWAN’s ontology is designed to represent and foreground both harmonizing and contradictory assertions within the total community discourse. Releases of the software, content and ontology will be initially by and for the Alzheimer Disease (AD) research community, with the obvious potential for extension into other disease research areas. The Alzheimer Research Forum, a 4,000-member web community for AD researchers, will host SWAN’s initial public release, currently scheduled for late 2007. This paper presents the current version of SWAN’s ontology of scientific discourse and presents our current thinking about its evolution including extensions and alignment with related communities, projects and ontologies. PMID:18583197

Ground-water models: Validate or invalidate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bredehoeft, J.D.; Konikow, Leonard F.

1993-01-01

The word validation has a clear meaning to both the scientific community and the general public. Within the scientific community the validation of scientific theory has been the subject of philosophical debate. The philosopher of science, Karl Popper, argued that scientific theory cannot be validated, only invalidated. Popper’s view is not the only opinion in this debate; however, many scientists today agree with Popper (including the authors). To the general public, proclaiming that a ground-water model is validated carries with it an aura of correctness that we do not believe many of us who model would claim. We can place all the caveats we wish, but the public has its own understanding of what the word implies. Using the word valid with respect to models misleads the public; verification carries with it similar connotations as far as the public is concerned. Our point is this: using the terms validation and verification are misleading, at best. These terms should be abandoned by the ground-water community.

Perceptions That Influence the Maintenance of Scientific Integrity in Community-Based Participatory Research

PubMed Central

Kraemer Diaz, Anne E.; Spears Johnson, Chaya R.; Arcury, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Scientific integrity is necessary for strong science; yet many variables can influence scientific integrity. In traditional research, some common threats are the pressure to publish, competition for funds, and career advancement. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a different context for scientific integrity with additional and unique concerns. Understanding the perceptions that promote or discourage scientific integrity in CBPR as identified by professional and community investigators is essential to promoting the value of CBPR. This analysis explores the perceptions that facilitate scientific integrity in CBPR as well as the barriers among a sample of 74 professional and community CBPR investigators from 25 CBPR projects in nine states in the southeastern United States in 2012. There were variations in perceptions associated with team member identity as professional or community investigators. Perceptions identified to promote and discourage scientific integrity in CBPR by professional and community investigators were external pressures, community participation, funding, quality control and supervision, communication, training, and character and trust. Some perceptions such as communication and training promoted scientific integrity whereas other perceptions, such as a lack of funds and lack of trust could discourage scientific integrity. These results demonstrate that one of the most important perceptions in maintaining scientific integrity in CBPR is active community participation, which enables a co-responsibility by scientists and community members to provide oversight for scientific integrity. Credible CBPR science is crucial to empower the vulnerable communities to be heard by those in positions of power and policy making. PMID:25588933

Conventionalism and Methodological Standards in Contending with Skepticism about Uncertainty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brumble, K. C.

2012-12-01

What it means to measure and interpret confidence and uncertainty in a result is often particular to a specific scientific community and its methodology of verification. Additionally, methodology in the sciences varies greatly across disciplines and scientific communities. Understanding the accuracy of predictions of a particular science thus depends largely upon having an intimate working knowledge of the methods, standards, and conventions utilized and underpinning discoveries in that scientific field. Thus, valid criticism of scientific predictions and discoveries must be conducted by those who are literate in the field in question: they must have intimate working knowledge of the methods of the particular community and of the particular research under question. The interpretation and acceptance of uncertainty is one such shared, community-based convention. In the philosophy of science, this methodological and community-based way of understanding scientific work is referred to as conventionalism. By applying the conventionalism of historian and philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn to recent attacks upon methods of multi-proxy mean temperature reconstructions, I hope to illuminate how climate skeptics and their adherents fail to appreciate the need for community-based fluency in the methodological standards for understanding uncertainty shared by the wider climate science community. Further, I will flesh out a picture of climate science community standards of evidence and statistical argument following the work of philosopher of science Helen Longino. I will describe how failure to appreciate the conventions of professionalism and standards of evidence accepted in the climate science community results in the application of naïve falsification criteria. Appeal to naïve falsification in turn has allowed scientists outside the standards and conventions of the mainstream climate science community to consider themselves and to be judged by climate skeptics as valid critics of particular statistical reconstructions with naïve and misapplied methodological criticism. Examples will include the skeptical responses to multi-proxy mean temperature reconstructions and congressional hearings criticizing the work of Michael Mann et al.'s Hockey Stick.

Citizen Science: Is It Worth Your Time?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Michael Chadwick

2015-01-01

This dissertation investigated citizen science, a tool that connects the public to the scientific community through research-based projects and education campaigns. Benefits include volunteers adding data to long-term data sets and improved scientific literacy among the public. Oftentimes, there is trepidation among scientists, managers, and…

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.

Intermediate outcomes of a tribal community public health infrastructure assessment.

PubMed

English, Kevin C; Wallerstein, Nina; Chino, Michelle; Finster, Carolyn E; Rafelito, Alvin; Adeky, Sarah; Kennedy, Marianna

2004-01-01

The purpose of this collaborative participatory project was to assess the strengths and needs of a tribal community as part of a larger public health capacity building program. Key project partners included: the Ramah Band of Navajo Indians, the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board, the University of New Mexico Masters in Public Health Program, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, American Indian Research and Education Center. Principal intervention steps entailed: 1) relationship-building activities among tribal programs and between the Tribe and the scientific community; 2) an orientation to public health; 3) a comprehensive public health infrastructure assessment, utilizing a standardized CDC instrument; and 4) a prioritization of identified needs. The direct outcome was the development and beginning implementation of a community specific public health strategic action plan. Broader results included: 1) increased comprehension of public health within the Tribe; 2) the creation of a community public health task force; 3) the design of a tribally applicable assessment instrument; and 4) improved collaboration between the Tribe and the scientific community. This project demonstrated that public health assessment in tribal communities is feasible and valuable. Further, the development of a tribally applicable instrument highlights a significant tribal contribution to research and assessment.

Perceptions that influence the maintenance of scientific integrity in community-based participatory research.

PubMed

Kraemer Diaz, Anne E; Spears Johnson, Chaya R; Arcury, Thomas A

2015-06-01

Scientific integrity is necessary for strong science; yet many variables can influence scientific integrity. In traditional research, some common threats are the pressure to publish, competition for funds, and career advancement. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a different context for scientific integrity with additional and unique concerns. Understanding the perceptions that promote or discourage scientific integrity in CBPR as identified by professional and community investigators is essential to promoting the value of CBPR. This analysis explores the perceptions that facilitate scientific integrity in CBPR as well as the barriers among a sample of 74 professional and community CBPR investigators from 25 CBPR projects in nine states in the southeastern United States in 2012. There were variations in perceptions associated with team member identity as professional or community investigators. Perceptions identified to promote and discourage scientific integrity in CBPR by professional and community investigators were external pressures, community participation, funding, quality control and supervision, communication, training, and character and trust. Some perceptions such as communication and training promoted scientific integrity whereas other perceptions, such as a lack of funds and lack of trust could discourage scientific integrity. These results demonstrate that one of the most important perceptions in maintaining scientific integrity in CBPR is active community participation, which enables a co-responsibility by scientists and community members to provide oversight for scientific integrity. Credible CBPR science is crucial to empower the vulnerable communities to be heard by those in positions of power and policy making. © 2015 Society for Public Health Education.

Inquiry through Modeling: Exploring the Tensions between Natural & Sexual Selection Using Crickets

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bouwma-Gearhart, Jana; Bouwma, Andrew

2015-01-01

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead States, 2013) recommend that science courses engage communities of students in scientific practices that include building accurate conceptual models of phenomena central to the understanding of scientific disciplines. We offer a set of activities, implemented successfully at both the…

A Measure of Standing for Citation Networks within a Wider Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doreian, Patrick

1994-01-01

Discusses the use of citation networks for constructing measures of the relative standing of journals in scientific journal-to-journal networks. Topics addressed include eigenvectors; measuring the standing of national scientific communities; and an empirical comparison of two measures of standing, one considering the environment and one without…

EarthCube Activities: Community Engagement Advancing Geoscience Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kinkade, D.

2015-12-01

Our ability to advance scientific research in order to better understand complex Earth systems, address emerging geoscience problems, and meet societal challenges is increasingly dependent upon the concept of Open Science and Data. Although these terms are relatively new to the world of research, Open Science and Data in this context may be described as transparency in the scientific process. This includes the discoverability, public accessibility and reusability of scientific data, as well as accessibility and transparency of scientific communication (www.openscience.org). Scientists and the US government alike are realizing the critical need for easy discovery and access to multidisciplinary data to advance research in the geosciences. The NSF-supported EarthCube project was created to meet this need. EarthCube is developing a community-driven common cyberinfrastructure for the purpose of accessing, integrating, analyzing, sharing and visualizing all forms of data and related resources through advanced technological and computational capabilities. Engaging the geoscience community in EarthCube's development is crucial to its success, and EarthCube is providing several opportunities for geoscience involvement. This presentation will provide an overview of the activities EarthCube is employing to entrain the community in the development process, from governance development and strategic planning, to technical needs gathering. Particular focus will be given to the collection of science-driven use cases as a means of capturing scientific and technical requirements. Such activities inform the development of key technical and computational components that collectively will form a cyberinfrastructure to meet the research needs of the geoscience community.

A Unique Digital Electrocardiographic Repository for the Development of Quantitative Electrocardiography and Cardiac Safety: The Telemetric and Holter ECG Warehouse (THEW)

PubMed Central

Couderc, Jean-Philippe

2010-01-01

The sharing of scientific data reinforces open scientific inquiry; it encourages diversity of analysis and opinion while promoting new research and facilitating the education of next generations of scientists. In this article, we present an initiative for the development of a repository containing continuous electrocardiographic information and their associated clinical information. This information is shared with the worldwide scientific community in order to improve quantitative electrocardiology and cardiac safety. First, we present the objectives of the initiative and its mission. Then, we describe the resources available in this initiative following three components: data, expertise and tools. The Data available in the Telemetric and Holter ECG Warehouse (THEW) includes continuous ECG signals and associated clinical information. The initiative attracted various academic and private partners whom expertise covers a large list of research arenas related to quantitative electrocardiography; their contribution to the THEW promotes cross-fertilization of scientific knowledge, resources, and ideas that will advance the field of quantitative electrocardiography. Finally, the tools of the THEW include software and servers to access and review the data available in the repository. To conclude, the THEW is an initiative developed to benefit the scientific community and to advance the field of quantitative electrocardiography and cardiac safety. It is a new repository designed to complement the existing ones such as Physionet, the AHA-BIH Arrhythmia Database, and the CSE database. The THEW hosts unique datasets from clinical trials and drug safety studies that, so far, were not available to the worldwide scientific community. PMID:20863512

SOARS: Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windham, T. L.; Hagan, M. E.

2001-05-01

SOARS, a model program, has developed a unique mutli-year mentoring and learning community to support, teach, and guide college students from diverse backgrounds. SOARS is dedicated to increasing the number of African American, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino students enrolled in master's and doctoral degree programs in the atmospheric and related sciences with the goal of supporting the development of a diverse, internationally competitive and globally engaged workforce within the scientific community. Since its 1996 inception, 51 undergraduates have participated. All 51 completed or are on schedule to complete their undergraduate degrees with a major in an atmospheric or related science. Currently 17 protégés are in graduate programs. Eight have completed M.S. degrees; two are Ph.D. candidates. SOARS has a retention rate of 82 percent. The SOARS learning community provides multi-year programing for protégés that includes educational and research opportunities, mentoring, career counseling and guidance, and the possibility of financial support for a graduate level program. Protégés spend their summers at NCAR, participate in ongoing research projects, an eight week scientific writing and communication workshop, and scientific seminars. They benefit from long-term mentoring from respected scientists and professionals, learn about career opportunities, practice leadership and are encouraged to complete a graduate program in an atmospheric or related science. In this presentation we highlight the SOARS program structure and objectives with particular emphasis on the mentoring model that is fundamental to SOARS. We conclude with a summary of SOARS protégés' contributions to the broader scientific community which include oral and poster presentations at national and regional scientific conferences, as well as co-authorship of refereed journal articles.

Do Community Recommendations Improve Metadata?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gordon, S.; Habermann, T.; Jones, M. B.; Leinfelder, B.; Mecum, B.; Powers, L. A.; Slaughter, P.

2016-12-01

Complete documentation of scientific data is the surest way to facilitate discovery and reuse. What is complete metadata? There are many metadata recommendations from communities like the OGC, FGDC, NASA, and LTER, that can provide data documentation guidance for discovery, access, use and understanding. Often, the recommendations that communities develop are for a particular metadata dialect. Two examples of this are the LTER Completeness recommendation for EML and the FGDC Data Discovery recommendation for CSDGM. Can community adoption of a recommendation ensure that what is included in the metadata is understandable to the scientific community and beyond? By applying quantitative analysis to different LTER and USGS metadata collections in DataOne and ScienceBase, we show that community recommendations can improve the completeness of collections over time. Additionally, by comparing communities in DataOne that use the EML and CSDGM dialects, but have not adopted the recommendations to the communities that have, the positive effects of recommendation adoption on documentation completeness can be measured.

Recent Enhancements to the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA’s Office of Research and Development, Computational Exposure Division held a webinar on January 31, 2017 to present the recent scientific and computational updates made by EPA to the Community Multi-Scale Air Quality Model (CMAQ). Topics covered included: (1) Improveme...

Public division about climate change rooted in conflicting socio-political identities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bliuc, Ana-Maria; McGarty, Craig; Thomas, Emma F.; Lala, Girish; Berndsen, Mariette; Misajon, Roseanne

2015-03-01

Of the climate science papers that take a position on the issue, 97% agree that climate change is caused by humans, but less than half of the US population shares this belief. This misalignment between scientific and public views has been attributed to a range of factors, including political attitudes, socio-economic status, moral values, levels of scientific understanding, and failure of scientific communication. The public is divided between climate change 'believers' (whose views align with those of the scientific community) and 'sceptics' (whose views are in disagreement with those of the scientific community). We propose that this division is best explained as a socio-political conflict between these opposing groups. Here we demonstrate that US believers and sceptics have distinct social identities, beliefs and emotional reactions that systematically predict their support for action to advance their respective positions. The key implication is that the divisions between sceptics and believers are unlikely to be overcome solely through communication and education strategies, and that interventions that increase angry opposition to action on climate change are especially problematic. Thus, strategies for building support for mitigation policies should go beyond attempts to improve the public’s understanding of science, to include approaches that transform intergroup relations.

The Role of Project Science in the Chandra X-Ray Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

O'Dell, Stephen L.; Weisskopf, Martin C.

2006-01-01

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, one of NASA's Great Observatories, has an outstanding record of scientific and technical success. This success results from the efforts of a team comprising NASA, its contractors, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the instrument groups, and other elements of the scientific community, including thousands of scientists who utilize this powerful facility for astrophysical research. We discuss the role of NASA Project Science in the formulation, development, calibration, and operation of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. In addition to representing the scientific community within the Project, Project Science performed what we term "science systems engineering". This activity encompasses translation of science requirements into technical requirements and assessment of the scientific impact of programmatic and technical trades. We briefly describe several examples of science systems engineering conducted by Chandra Project Science.

Expanding Ethics Review Processes to Include Community-Level Protections: A Case Study from Flint, Michigan.

PubMed

Key, Kent D

2017-10-01

As the Flint community endeavors to recover and move forward in the aftermath of the Flint water crisis, distrust of scientific and governmental authorities must be overcome. Future community engagement in research will require community-level protections ensuring that no further harm is done to the community. A community ethics review explores risks and benefits and complements institutional review board (IRB) review. Using the case of Flint, I describe how community-level ethical protections can reestablish a community's trust. All IRBs reviewing protocols that include risk to communities and not merely individual participants should consider how community members are engaged in the proposed research and identify and respond to questions and domains of concern from community members. © 2017 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.

Annual Historical Summary, Defense Documentation Center, 1 July 1968 to 30 June 1969.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Defense Documentation Center, Alexandria, VA.

This summary describes the more significant activities and achievements of the Defense Documentation Center (DDC) including: DDC and the scientific and technical community. The DDC role in the Department of Defense Scientific and Technical Information Program continued to shift from the traditional concept of an archival repository and a…

FY 1991 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1991-01-01

Formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 1991 are presented. Papers of MSFC contractors are also included. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Cultural Literacy and Languages: Enabling Students To Learn To Live Together.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parkinson, Wendy; Saunders, Sherryl

Cultural understanding and intercultural communication are important for young people in today's world. Many communities, including Australia, are still negotiating reconciliation with indigenous peoples and the harmonious acceptance of all cultures within the national community. Addressing the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural…

The Telemetric and Holter ECG Warehouse Initiative (THEW): a Data Repository for the Design, Implementation and Validation of ECG-related Technologies

PubMed Central

Couderc, Jean-Philippe

2011-01-01

We present an initiative supported by the National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute and the Food and Drug Administration for the development of a repository containing continuous electrocardiographic information to be shared with the worldwide scientific community. We believe that sharing data reinforces open scientific inquiry. It encourages diversity of analysis and opinion while promoting new research and facilitating the education of new researchers. In this paper, we present the resources available in this initiative for the scientific community. We describe the set of ECG signals currently hosted and we briefly discuss the associated clinical information (medical history. Disease and study-specific endpoints) and software tools we propose. Currently, the repository contains more than 250GB of data from eight clinical studies including healthy individuals and cardiac patients. This data is available for the development, implementation and validation of technologies related to body-surface ECGs. To conclude, the Telemetric and Holter ECG Warehouse (THEW) is an initiative developed to benefit the scientific community and to advance the field of quantitative electrocardiography and cardiac safety. PMID:21097349

CPTSC 2001: Managing Change and Growth in Technical and Scientific Communication. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (28th, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 11-13, 2001).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maylath, Bruce, Ed.

This proceedings presents 43 papers delivered at the 2001 annual meeting of the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). Papers in the proceedings include the following: "Act IV: On Being Less Invisible" (Bill Karis); "Building a Community of Professional Communicators by Mapping Needs and Assets"…

Cabled observatories: Connecting coastal communities to local ocean data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pelz, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Brown, J. C. K.; McLean, M. A.; Ewing, N.; Moran, K.

2015-12-01

Coastal communities are facing a wide range of rapid changes due to anthropogenic and natural environmental influences. Communities are under pressure to adapt to effects of climate change, including altered shorelines, changes in availability of seafood, and in northern regions, changes to the extent, formation and break-up of land-fast and sea-ice. Access to up-to-date scientific data and basic climate literacy are essential tools to enable community members to make informed decisions about their own coast. Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) operates the world-leading NEPTUNE and VENUS cabled ocean observatories off the west coast of British Columbia (BC). ONC also operates smaller, coastal community observatories which provide data for both scientific and educational initiatives.The first Arctic community observatory, deployed in 2012, is located in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Real-time data flowing from the platform are collected by a range of instruments, including a conductivity-temperature-depth sensor (CTD), hydrophone, video camera, and an ice profiler. There is also a meteorological station and time lapse camera on the dock. Five additional community observatories are being installed over the next year along the coast of BC. Indigenous communities, including the Inuit population in Cambridge Bay and First Nations on BC's north and central coast, are key partners and collaborators of this initiative.Benefits to communities from cabled observatory ocean monitoring can only be achieved if the data collected are relevant to community members and contribute to research priorities identified within the community. The data must be easily accessible and complement existing environmental monitoring initiatives. Community members must possess knowledge and tools to analyze and interpret the data for their purposes. For these reasons, community involvement is critical to the project, including the design of user interfaces for data access, development of educational programs, and long-term planning.Here we describe Ocean Networks Canada's community initiatives including collaboration with Indigenous knowledge holders and local experts, programs in community schools to foster K-12 climate literacy and post-secondary programs targeted to community members.

50 CFR 600.345 - National Standard 8-Communities.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 303(a)(9) of the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Qualitative and quantitative data may be used, including... fishing communities by utilizing economic and social data that are based upon the best scientific... access to the fishery within the constraints of the condition of the resource. (c) Analysis. (1) FMPs...

Integrating Authentic Earth Science Data in Online Visualization Tools and Social Media Networking to Promote Earth Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, B. L.; Campbell, B.; Chambers, L.; Davis, A.; Riebeek, H.; Ward, K.

2008-12-01

The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is one of the largest Earth Science research-based institutions in the nation. Along with the research comes a dedicated group of people who are tasked with developing Earth science research-based education and public outreach materials to reach the broadest possible range of audiences. The GSFC Earth science education community makes use of a wide variety of platforms in order to reach their goals of communicating science. These platforms include using social media networking such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as geo-spatial tools such as MY NASA DATA, NASA World Wind, NEO, and Google Earth. Using a wide variety of platforms serves the dual purposes of promoting NASA Earth Science research and making authentic data available to educational communities that otherwise might not otherwise be granted access. Making data available to education communities promotes scientific literacy through the investigation of scientific phenomena using the same data that is used by the scientific community. Data from several NASA missions will be used to demonstrate the ways in which Earth science data are made available for the education community.

Data Crosscutting Requirements Review

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

Kleese van Dam, Kerstin; Shoshani, Arie; Plata, Charity

2013-04-01

In April 2013, a diverse group of researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) scientific community assembled to assess data requirements associated with DOE-sponsored scientific facilities and large-scale experiments. Participants in the review included facilities staff, program managers, and scientific experts from the offices of Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, High Energy Physics, and Advanced Scientific Computing Research. As part of the meeting, review participants discussed key issues associated with three distinct aspects of the data challenge: 1) processing, 2) management, and 3) analysis. These discussions identified commonalities and differences among the needs of varied scientific communities.more » They also helped to articulate gaps between current approaches and future needs, as well as the research advances that will be required to close these gaps. Moreover, the review provided a rare opportunity for experts from across the Office of Science to learn about their collective expertise, challenges, and opportunities. The "Data Crosscutting Requirements Review" generated specific findings and recommendations for addressing large-scale data crosscutting requirements.« less

Field Science--the Nature and Utility of Scientific Fields.

PubMed

Casadevall, Arturo; Fang, Ferric C

2015-09-08

Fields are the fundamental sociological units of science. Despite their importance, relatively little has been written about their emergence, composition, structure, and function in the scientific enterprise. This essay considers the nature of fields and their important role in maintaining information and providing normative standards for scientific work. We suggest that fields arise naturally as a consequence of increasing information and scientific specialization. New fields tend to emerge as research communities grow, which may reflect biologically determined optima for the size of human groups. The benefits of fields include the organization of scientists with similar interests into communities that collectively define the next important problems to pursue. In the discipline of microbiology, fields are often organized on the basis of phylogenetic differences between microorganisms being studied. Although fields are essential to the proper functioning of science, their emergence can restrict access by outsiders and sustain dogmas that hinder progress. We suggest mechanisms to improve the functioning of scientific fields and to promote interdisciplinary interaction between fields. Copyright © 2015 Casadevall and Fang.

Widening the adoption of workflows to include human and human-machine scientific processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salayandia, L.; Pinheiro da Silva, P.; Gates, A. Q.

2010-12-01

Scientific workflows capture knowledge in the form of technical recipes to access and manipulate data that help scientists manage and reuse established expertise to conduct their work. Libraries of scientific workflows are being created in particular fields, e.g., Bioinformatics, where combined with cyber-infrastructure environments that provide on-demand access to data and tools, result in powerful workbenches for scientists of those communities. The focus in these particular fields, however, has been more on automating rather than documenting scientific processes. As a result, technical barriers have impeded a wider adoption of scientific workflows by scientific communities that do not rely as heavily on cyber-infrastructure and computing environments. Semantic Abstract Workflows (SAWs) are introduced to widen the applicability of workflows as a tool to document scientific recipes or processes. SAWs intend to capture a scientists’ perspective about the process of how she or he would collect, filter, curate, and manipulate data to create the artifacts that are relevant to her/his work. In contrast, scientific workflows describe the process from the point of view of how technical methods and tools are used to conduct the work. By focusing on a higher level of abstraction that is closer to a scientist’s understanding, SAWs effectively capture the controlled vocabularies that reflect a particular scientific community, as well as the types of datasets and methods used in a particular domain. From there on, SAWs provide the flexibility to adapt to different environments to carry out the recipes or processes. These environments range from manual fieldwork to highly technical cyber-infrastructure environments, i.e., such as those already supported by scientific workflows. Two cases, one from Environmental Science and another from Geophysics, are presented as illustrative examples.

Biological Evolution and the History of the Earth Are Foundations of Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2008-01-01

AGU affirms the central importance of including scientific theories of Earth history and biological evolution in science education. Within the scientific community, the theory of biological evolution is not controversial, nor have ``alternative explanations'' been found. This is why no competing theories are required by the U.S. National Science Education Standards. Explanations of natural phenomena that appeal to the supernatural or are based on religious doctrine-and therefore cannot be tested through scientific inquiry-are not scientific, and have no place in the science classroom.

USEPA-USGS Case Studies

EPA Science Inventory

The presence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the environment is an area of growing concern for the scientific community and the general public. ECs include a broad range of chemicals including personal care products, pharmaceuticles, industrial compounds, pesticides, and hormo...

High-Precision and Low Latency RT-GNSS Processed Data for Diverse Geophysical and Natural Hazard Communities.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mencin, David; Hodgkinson, Kathleen; Sievers, Charlie; David, Phillips; Charles, Meertens; Glen, Mattioli

2017-04-01

UNAVCO has been providing infrastructure and support for solid-earth sciences and earthquake natural hazards for the past two decades. Recent advances in GNSS technology and data processing are now providing position solutions with centimeter-level precision at high-rate (>1 Hz) and low latency (i.e. the time required for data to arrive for analysis, in this case less than 1 second). These data have the potential to improve our understanding in diverse areas of geophysics including properties of seismic, volcanic, magmatic and tsunami sources, and thus profoundly transform rapid event characterization and warning. Scientific and operational applications also include glacier and ice sheet motions; tropospheric modeling; and space weather. These areas of geophysics represent a spectrum of research fields, including geodesy, seismology, tropospheric weather, space weather and natural hazards. Processed Real-Time GNSS (RT-GNSS) data will require formats and standards that allow this broad and diverse community to use these data and associated meta-data in existing research infrastructure. These advances have critically highlighted the difficulties associated with merging data and metadata between scientific disciplines. Even seemingly very closely related fields such as geodesy and seismology, which both have rich histories of handling large volumes of data and metadata, do not go together well in any automated way. Community analysis strategies, or lack thereof, such as treatment of error prove difficult to address and are reflected in the data and metadata. In addition, these communities have differing security, accessibility and reliability requirements. We propose some solutions to the particular problem of making RT-GNSS processed solution data and metadata accessible to multiply scientific and natural hazard communities. Importantly, we discuss the roadblocks encounter and solved and those that remain to be addressed.

FY 1995 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations, Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1995-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY95. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 2002 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fowler, B. A. (Compiler)

2003-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 2002. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. The information in this TM may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Get Your Feet Wet--Scientifically: A Guide to Water Testing as a School Science Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sattler, Edward D.; Zalkin, Larry

1989-01-01

Describes a project involving students in hands-on scientific experiment to locate and identify areas of water pollution, based on Delta Laboratories Adopt-A-Stream Program. Describes getting started, working cooperatively, community support, recording and using data. Includes data sheet, checklist, and photographs of students at study site. (TES)

44 CFR 70.3 - Right to submit technical information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to Community-Wide Elevation Determinations § 70.3.../AO, AR/AH, AR/A, VO, V1-30, VE, and V Zones on a FHBM or a FIRM, may submit scientific or technical...) Scientific and technical information for the purpose of this part may include, but is not limited to the...

44 CFR 70.3 - Right to submit technical information.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... FOR MAP CORRECTION Mapping Deficiencies Unrelated to Community-Wide Elevation Determinations § 70.3.../AO, AR/AH, AR/A, VO, V1-30, VE, and V Zones on a FHBM or a FIRM, may submit scientific or technical...) Scientific and technical information for the purpose of this part may include, but is not limited to the...

Teaching Controversial Topics to Skeptical High School Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ford, K. S.

2012-12-01

Tennessee passes the "Monkey Bill" (HB 0368, SB 0893), North Carolina's state government passes a law to criminalize reference in state documents to scientific models that predict sea level rise to reach at least one meter by the next century, and public concern still lags far behind the scientific community's concern on climate change. The American public and even science teachers across the country seem to have lost faith in the ability of the scientific community to unify a strong message about several important scientific lessons, including global warming in particular. This lack of a unified message has weakened the ability of science teachers to effectively teach the lesson of global warming. For science teachers in strongly conservative areas of the country, it is much easier to omit difficult topics and avoid angering parents and school board members. Teachers who do feel strongly about scientifically proven, yet publically controversial topics CAN teach these topics in conservative areas by confirming students' belief systems by being honest and open about motivations surrounding both sides of controversial topics, and by using vocabulary that avoids triggering negative perceptions about these controversial topics. For true learning and change of preconceived opinion to take place, it is important for students to come to the understanding in their own minds in an open and safe learning environment instead of having the message "preached" to them, which only serves to make them feel unintelligent and defensive if they disagree. This presentation will include lessons learned from a practicing science teacher who works in a community that overwhelmingly disputes the validity of human impacts on climate change.

SEAS (Student Experiments At Sea): Helping Teachers Foster Authentic Student Inquiry in the Science Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goehring, L.; Kelsey, K.; Carlson, J.

2005-12-01

Teacher professional development designed to promote authentic research in the classroom is ultimately aimed at improving student scientific literacy. In addition to providing teachers with opportunities to improve their understanding of science through research experiences, we need to help facilitate similar learning in students. This is the focus of the SEAS (Student Experiments At Sea) program: to help students learn science by doing science. SEAS offers teachers tools and a framework to help foster authentic student inquiry in the classroom. SEAS uses the excitement of deep-sea research, as well as the research facilities and human resources that comprise the deep-sea scientific community, to engage student learners. Through SEAS, students have the opportunity to practice inquiry skills and participate in research projects along side scientists. SEAS is a pilot program funded by NSF and sponsored by the Ridge 2000 research community. The pilot includes inquiry-based curricular materials, facilitated interaction with scientists, opportunities to engage students in research projects, and teacher training. SEAS offers a framework of resources designed to help translate inquiry skills and approaches to the classroom environment, recognizing the need to move students along the continuum of scientific inquiry skills. This framework includes hands-on classroom lessons, Classroom to Sea labs where students compare their investigations with at-sea investigations, and a student experiment competition. The program also uses the Web to create a virtual ``scientific community'' including students. Lessons learned from this two year pilot emphasize the importance of helping teachers feel knowledgeable and experienced in the process of scientific inquiry as well as in the subject. Teachers with experience in scientific research were better able to utilize the program. Providing teachers with access to scientists as a resource was also important, particularly given the challenges of working in the deep-sea environment. Also, fostering authentic student investigations (i.e., working through preparatory materials, developing proposals, analyzing data and writing summary reports) is challenging to fit within the academic year. Nonetheless, teacher feedback highlights that the excitement generated by participation in real research is highly motivating. Further, students experience a ``paradigm shift'' in understanding evidence-based reasoning and the process of scientific discovery.

Evolution of models to support community and policy action with science: Balancing pastoral livelihoods and wildlife conservation in savannas of East Africa.

PubMed

Reid, R S; Nkedianye, D; Said, M Y; Kaelo, D; Neselle, M; Makui, O; Onetu, L; Kiruswa, S; Kamuaro, N Ole; Kristjanson, P; Ogutu, J; BurnSilver, S B; Goldman, M J; Boone, R B; Galvin, K A; Dickson, N M; Clark, W C

2016-04-26

We developed a "continual engagement" model to better integrate knowledge from policy makers, communities, and researchers with the goal of promoting more effective action to balance poverty alleviation and wildlife conservation in 4 pastoral ecosystems of East Africa. The model involved the creation of a core boundary-spanning team, including community facilitators, a policy facilitator, and transdisciplinary researchers, responsible for linking with a wide range of actors from local to global scales. Collaborative researcher-facilitator community teams integrated local and scientific knowledge to help communities and policy makers improve herd quality and health, expand biodiversity payment schemes, develop land-use plans, and fully engage together in pastoral and wildlife policy development. This model focused on the creation of hybrid scientific-local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy maker needs. The facilitation team learned to be more effective by focusing on noncontroversial livelihood issues before addressing more difficult wildlife issues, using strategic and periodic engagement with most partners instead of continual engagement, and reducing costs by providing new scientific information only when deemed essential. We conclude by examining the role of facilitation in redressing asymmetries in power in researcher-community-policy maker teams, the role of individual values and character in establishing trust, and how to sustain knowledge-action links when project funding ends.

Collective intelligence of the artificial life community on its own successes, failures, and future.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Steen; Raven, Michael J; Keating, Gordon N; Bedau, Mark A

2003-01-01

We describe a novel Internet-based method for building consensus and clarifying conflicts in large stakeholder groups facing complex issues, and we use the method to survey and map the scientific and organizational perspectives of the artificial life community during the Seventh International Conference on Artificial Life (summer 2000). The issues addressed in this survey included artificial life's main successes, main failures, main open scientific questions, and main strategies for the future, as well as the benefits and pitfalls of creating a professional society for artificial life. By illuminating the artificial life community's collective perspective on these issues, this survey illustrates the value of such methods of harnessing the collective intelligence of large stakeholder groups.

Young Women in Science: Impact of a Three-Year Program on Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, Mitzi M.; Johnson, Michelle Natasya; Floyd, Sondra R.; Reid, Caroline E.; Noland, Melody Powers; Leukefeld, Carl G.

Addressing the factors that discourage high school girls from pursuing careers in science, this intervention targeted young women from rural Appalachia, urging them to pursue scientific careers in drug and alcohol research. This three-year program, for 49 young women entering ninth grade in 12 southeastern Kentucky counties, included a summer camp, Saturday Academies (educational seminars held in their communities), and mentoring by university faculty and community leaders. As hypothesized, findings from analyses of baseline and postsummer session data show a reduction in participants' anxiety regarding science. Participants' scientific knowledge also increased. In turn, their science knowledge scores correlated with their third summer posttest confidence in their ability to learn science and motivation for science as well as the belief that teachers can help. The success of such a program demonstrates that the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can be ameliorated. Participants' first steps toward successful scientific careers included improving their attitudes toward science as well as increasing their knowledge.

Community Intelligence in Knowledge Curation: An Application to Managing Scientific Nomenclature

PubMed Central

Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world’s population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation. PMID:23451119

Community intelligence in knowledge curation: an application to managing scientific nomenclature.

PubMed

Dai, Lin; Xu, Chao; Tian, Ming; Sang, Jian; Zou, Dong; Li, Ang; Liu, Guocheng; Chen, Fei; Wu, Jiayan; Xiao, Jingfa; Wang, Xumin; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Zhang

2013-01-01

Harnessing community intelligence in knowledge curation bears significant promise in dealing with communication and education in the flood of scientific knowledge. As knowledge is accumulated at ever-faster rates, scientific nomenclature, a particular kind of knowledge, is concurrently generated in all kinds of fields. Since nomenclature is a system of terms used to name things in a particular discipline, accurate translation of scientific nomenclature in different languages is of critical importance, not only for communications and collaborations with English-speaking people, but also for knowledge dissemination among people in the non-English-speaking world, particularly young students and researchers. However, it lacks of accuracy and standardization when translating scientific nomenclature from English to other languages, especially for those languages that do not belong to the same language family as English. To address this issue, here we propose for the first time the application of community intelligence in scientific nomenclature management, namely, harnessing collective intelligence for translation of scientific nomenclature from English to other languages. As community intelligence applied to knowledge curation is primarily aided by wiki and Chinese is the native language for about one-fifth of the world's population, we put the proposed application into practice, by developing a wiki-based English-to-Chinese Scientific Nomenclature Dictionary (ESND; http://esnd.big.ac.cn). ESND is a wiki-based, publicly editable and open-content platform, exploiting the whole power of the scientific community in collectively and collaboratively managing scientific nomenclature. Based on community curation, ESND is capable of achieving accurate, standard, and comprehensive scientific nomenclature, demonstrating a valuable application of community intelligence in knowledge curation.

The cloning controversy.

PubMed

Nandakumar, Saranya

2006-01-01

Stem cell research has captured the imagination of many, including the scientific and medical community. But the medical community received a wake-up call early this year when a well-known researcher publicly confessed to deception. While the core question relates to honesty and integrity, it is equally necessary to examine the system that made such deception possible.

CTS United States experiments. A progress report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robbins, W. H.; Donoughe, P. L.

1976-01-01

The results are presented of the United States experiments activity to date. Wide segments of the population are involved in the Experiments Program including the scientific community, other government agencies, industry, and the education and health entities. The experiments are associated with both technological objectives and the demonstration of new community and social services via satellite.

Identifying Pedophiles "Eligible" for Community Notification under Megan's Law: A Multivariate Model for Actuarially Anchored Decisions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallone, Nathaniel J.; Hennessy, James J.; Voelbel, Gerald T.

1998-01-01

A scientifically sound methodology for identifying offenders about whose presence the community should be notified is demonstrated. A stepwise multiple regression was calculated among incarcerated pedophiles (N=52) including both psychological and legal data; a precision-weighted equation produced 90.4% "true positives." This methodology can be…

Operations Manager Tim Miller checks out software for the Airborne Synthetic Aperature Radar (AIRSAR

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

Tim Miller checks out software for the Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR). He was the AIRSAR operations manager for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The AIRSAR produces imaging data for a range of studies conducted by the DC-8. NASA is using a DC-8 aircraft as a flying science laboratory. The platform aircraft, based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., collects data for many experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world scientific community. Included in this community are NASA, federal, state, academic and foreign investigators. Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science and biology.

Community dissemination and genetic research: moving beyond results reporting.

PubMed

Trinidad, Susan Brown; Ludman, Evette J; Hopkins, Scarlett; James, Rosalina D; Hoeft, Theresa J; Kinegak, Annie; Lupie, Henry; Kinegak, Ralph; Boyer, Bert B; Burke, Wylie

2015-07-01

The community-based participatory research (CBPR) literature notes that researchers should share study results with communities. In the case of human genetic research, results may be scientifically interesting but lack clinical relevance. The goals of this study were to learn what kinds of information community members want to receive about genetic research and how such information should be conveyed. We conducted eight focus group discussions with Yup'ik Alaska Native people in southwest Alaska (N = 60) and 6 (N = 61) with members of a large health maintenance organization in Seattle, Washington. Participants wanted to receive genetic information they "could do something about" and wanted clinically actionable information to be shared with their healthcare providers; they also wanted researchers to share knowledge about other topics of importance to the community. Although Alaska Native participants were generally less familiar with western scientific terms and less interested in web-based information sources, the main findings were the same in Alaska and Seattle: participants wished for ongoing dialogue, including opportunities for informal, small-group conversations, and receiving information that had local relevance. Effective community dissemination is more than a matter of presenting study results in lay language. Community members should be involved in both defining culturally appropriate communication strategies and in determining which information should be shared. Reframing dissemination as a two-way dialogue, rather than a one-way broadcast, supports the twin aims of advancing scientific knowledge and achieving community benefit. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Community Dissemination and Genetic Research: Moving Beyond Results Reporting

PubMed Central

Trinidad, Susan Brown; Ludman, Evette J.; Hopkins, Scarlett; James, Rosalina D.; Hoeft, Theresa J.; Kinegak, Annie; Lupie, Henry; Kinegak, Ralph; Boyer, Bert B.; Burke, Wylie

2015-01-01

The community-based participatory research (CBPR) literature notes that researchers should share study results with communities. In the case of human genetic research, results may be scientifically interesting but lack clinical relevance. The goals of this study were to learn what kinds of information community members want to receive about genetic research and how such information should be conveyed. We conducted 8 focus group discussions with Yup’ik Alaska Native people in southwest Alaska (N=60) and 6 (N=61) with members of a large health maintenance organization in Seattle, Washington. Participants wanted to receive genetic information they “could do something about” and wanted clinically actionable information to be shared with their healthcare providers; they also wanted researchers to share knowledge about other topics of importance to the community. Although Alaska Native participants were generally less familiar with western scientific terms and less interested in web-based information sources, the main findings were the same in Alaska and Seattle: participants wished for ongoing dialogue, including opportunities for informal, small-group conversations and receiving information that had local relevance. Effective community dissemination is more than a matter of presenting study results in lay language. Community members should be involved in both defining culturally appropriate communication strategies and in determining which information should be shared. Reframing dissemination as a two-way dialogue, rather than a one-way broadcast, supports the twin aims of advancing scientific knowledge and achieving community benefit. PMID:25900516

Complexity and Innovation: Army Transformation and the Reality of War

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-26

necessary to instill confidence among all members of the interested community that the causal relationships...continues to gain momentum and general acceptance within the scientific community . The topic is addressed in numerous books, studies and scientific journals...scientific community has steadily grown. Since the time of Galileo and Newton, scientific endeavor has been characterized by reductionism (the process

FY 2005 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Narmore, K. A. (Compiler)

2007-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) personnel in FY 2005. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. The information in this TM may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 1994 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1994-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by Marshall Space Flight Center personnel in FY94. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors and author indexes. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

How researchers perceive research misconduct in biomedicine and how they would prevent it: A qualitative study in a small scientific community.

PubMed

Buljan, Ivan; Barać, Lana; Marušić, Ana

2018-01-01

The aim of our study has been to use a qualitative approach to explore the potential motivations and drivers for unethical behaviors in biomedicine and determine the role of institutions regarding those issues in a small scientific community setting. Three focus groups were held---two with doctoral students and one with active senior researchers. Purposive sampling was used to reach participants at different stages of their scientific careers. Participants in all three focus groups were asked the same questions regarding the characteristics and behaviors of ethical/unethical scientists, ethical climate, role, and responsibility of institutions; they were also asked to suggest ways to improve research integrity. The data analysis included coding of the transcripts, categorization of the initial codes, and identification of themes and patterns. Three main topics were derived from the focus groups discussions. The first included different forms of unethical behaviors including increasing research "waste," non-publication of negative results, authorship manipulation, data manipulation, and repression of collaborators. The second addressed the factors influencing unethical behavior, both external and internal, to the researchers. Two different definitions of ethics in science emerged; one from the categorical perspective and the other from the dimensional perspective. The third topic involved possible routes for improvement, one from within the institution through the research integrity education, research integrity bodies, and quality control, and the other from outside the institution through external supervision of institutions. Based on the results of our study, research misconduct in a small scientific community is perceived to be the consequence of the interaction of several social and psychological factors, both general and specific, for small research communities. Possible improvements should be systematic, aiming both for improvements in work environment and personal awareness in research ethics, and the implementation of those changes should be institutional responsibility.

Scientific Digital Libraries, Interoperability, and Ontologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, J. Steven; Crichton, Daniel J.; Mattmann, Chris A.

2009-01-01

Scientific digital libraries serve complex and evolving research communities. Justifications for the development of scientific digital libraries include the desire to preserve science data and the promises of information interconnectedness, correlative science, and system interoperability. Shared ontologies are fundamental to fulfilling these promises. We present a tool framework, some informal principles, and several case studies where shared ontologies are used to guide the implementation of scientific digital libraries. The tool framework, based on an ontology modeling tool, was configured to develop, manage, and keep shared ontologies relevant within changing domains and to promote the interoperability, interconnectedness, and correlation desired by scientists.

Bridging the divide between genomic science and indigenous peoples.

PubMed

Jacobs, Bette; Roffenbender, Jason; Collmann, Jeff; Cherry, Kate; Bitsói, LeManuel Lee; Bassett, Kim; Evans, Charles H

2010-01-01

The new science of genomics endeavors to chart the genomes of individuals around the world, with the dual goals of understanding the role genetic factors play in human health and solving problems of disease and disability. From the perspective of indigenous peoples and developing countries, the promises and perils of genomic science appear against a backdrop of global health disparity and political vulnerability. These conditions pose a dilemma for many communities when attempting to decide about participating in genomic research or any other biomedical research. Genomic research offers the possibility of improved technologies for managing the acute and chronic diseases that plague their members. Yet, the history of particularly biomedical research among people in indigenous and developing nations offers salient examples of unethical practice, misuse of data, and failed promises. This dilemma creates risks for communities who decide either to participate or not to participate in genomic science research. Some argue that the history of poor scientific practice justifies refusal to join genomic research projects. Others argue that disease poses such great threats to the well-being of people in indigenous communities and developing nations that not participating in genomic research risks irrevocable harm. Thus, some communities particularly among indigenous peoples have declined to participate as subjects in genomic research. At the same time, some communities have begun developing new guidelines, procedures, and practices for engaging with the scientific community that offer opportunities to bridge the gap between genomic science and indigenous and/or developing communities. Four new approaches warrant special attention and further support: consulting with local communities; negotiating the complexities of consent; training members of local communities in science and health care; and training scientists to work with indigenous communities. Implicit is a new definition of "rigorous scientific research," one that includes both community development and scientific progress as legitimate objectives of genomic research. Innovative translational research is needed to develop practical, mutually acceptable methods for crossing the divide between genomic researchers and indigenous communities. This may mean the difference between success and failure in genomic science, and in improving health for all peoples. © 2010 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Inc.

Uses of the Drupal CMS Collaborative Framework in the Woods Hole Scientific Community (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maffei, A. R.; Chandler, C. L.; Work, T. T.; Shorthouse, D.; Furfey, J.; Miller, H.

2010-12-01

Organizations that comprise the Woods Hole scientific community (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory, USGS Woods Hole Coastal and Marine Science Center, Woods Hole Research Center, NOAA NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center, SEA Education Association) have a long history of collaborative activity regarding computing, computer network and information technologies that support common, inter-disciplinary science needs. Over the past several years there has been growing interest in the use of the Drupal Content Management System (CMS) playing a variety of roles in support of research projects resident at several of these organizations. Many of these projects are part of science programs that are national and international in scope. Here we survey the current uses of Drupal within the Woods Hole scientific community and examine reasons it has been adopted. The promise of emerging semantic features in the Drupal framework is examined and projections of how pre-existing Drupal-based websites might benefit are made. Closer examination of Drupal software design exposes it as more than simply a content management system. The flexibility of its architecture; the power of its taxonomy module; the care taken in nurturing the open-source developer community that surrounds it (including organized and often well-attended code sprints); the ability to bind emerging software technologies as Drupal modules; the careful selection process used in adopting core functionality; multi-site hosting and cross-site deployment of updates and a recent trend towards development of use-case inspired Drupal distributions casts Drupal as a general-purpose application deployment framework. Recent work in the semantic arena casts Drupal as an emerging RDF framework as well. Examples of roles played by Drupal-based websites within the Woods Hole scientific community that will be discussed include: science data metadata database, organization main website, biological taxonomy development, bibliographic database, physical media data archive inventory manager, disaster-response website development framework, science project task management, science conference planning, and spreadsheet-to-database converter.

Developing a Successful High School Science Research Program via Teacher Training, Student Internships, and Community Support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danch, J. M.; Darytichen, F.

2004-12-01

The purpose of the Science Research Program is to allow students to perform authentic scientific research in disciplines of their choosing over a period of 3 years. The success of the program has allowed for expansion including community involvement, student mentorship, and a series of professional development programs. Through state and national competition and community symposia, student research is evaluated, showcased, and subsequently supported both idealistically and financially by local government and industrial partnerships. Student internships and university/industrial mentorship programs allow students to pursue research topics and utilize equipment exceeding the scope of the secondary science classroom. Involved teachers have developed and delivered professional development workshops to foster the successful implementation of scientific research programs at additional high schools throughout the state.

Environmental Resilience: Exploring Scientific Concepts for ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report This report summarizes two Community Environmental Resilience Index workshops held at EPA in May and July of 2014. The workshops explored scientific concepts for building an index of indicators of community environmental resilience to natural or human-caused disasters. The index could be used to support disaster decision-making. Key workshop outcomes include: a working definition of environmental resilience and insight into how it relates to EPA's mission and Strategic Goals, a call for an inventory of EPA resiliency tools, a preliminary list of indicators and CERI structure, identification of next steps for index development, and emergence of a network of collaborators. The report can be used to support EPA's work in resilience under PPD-8, PPD-21, and the national response and disaster recovery frameworks. It can feed into interagency efforts on building community resilience.

Public surveys at ESO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arnaboldi, Magda; Delmotte, Nausicaa; Hilker, Michael; Hussain, Gaitee; Mascetti, Laura; Micol, Alberto; Petr-Gotzens, Monika; Rejkuba, Marina; Retzlaff, Jörg; Mieske, Steffen; Szeifert, Thomas; Ivison, Rob; Leibundgut, Bruno; Romaniello, Martino

2016-07-01

ESO has a strong mandate to survey the Southern Sky. In this article, we describe the ESO telescopes and instruments that are currently used for ESO Public Surveys, and the future plans of the community with the new wide-field-spectroscopic instruments. We summarize the ESO policies governing the management of these projects on behalf of the community. The on-going ESO Public Surveys and their science goals, their status of completion, and the new projects selected during the second ESO VISTA call in 2015/2016 are discussed. We then present the impact of these projects in terms of current numbers of refereed publications and the scientific data products published through the ESO Science Archive Facility by the survey teams, including the independent access and scientific use of the published survey data products by the astronomical community.

New institutional mechanisms to bridge the information gap between climate science and public policy decisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rogers, W.; Gulledge, J. M.

2010-12-01

Many decision makers lack actionable scientific information needed to prepare for future challenges associated with climate change. Although the scope and quality of available scientific information has increased dramatically in recent years, this information does not always reach - or is not presented in a form that is useful to - decision makers who need it. The producer (i.e. scientists) community tends to be stovepiped, even though consumers (i.e. decision makers) often need interdisciplinary science and analysis. Consumers, who may also be stovepiped in various agencies or subject areas, may lack familiarity with or access to these separate communities, as well as the tools or time to navigate scientific information and disciplines. Closing the communication gap between these communities could be facilitated by institutionalizing processes designed for this purpose. We recommend a variety of mainstreaming policies within the consumer community, as well as mechanisms to generate a strong demand signal that will resonate more strongly with the producer community. We also recommend institutional reforms and methods of incentivizing policy-oriented scientific analysis within the producer community. Our recommendations focus on improving information flow to national security and foreign policy decision makers, but many are relevant to public policy writ large. Recommendations for Producers 1. The scientific community should formally encourage collaborations between natural and social scientists and reward publications in interdisciplinary outlets Incentives could include research funding and honorary awards recognizing service to public policy. 2. Academic merit review should reward research grants and publications targeted at interdisciplinary and/or policy-oriented audiences. Reforms of merit review may require new policies and engaged institutional leadership. Recommendations for Consumers 1. Congress should amend Title VI of the National Defense Education Act to encourage the development of multidisciplinary educational programs on the national security implications of climate change. 2. Federal agencies should establish funding programs to encourage producers to provide scientific information tailored to consumer needs. 3. The Department of State should appoint climate advisors to serve within the regional bureaus and on the policy and planning staff. 4. Federal agencies, the Department of Education, and the National Science Foundation should develop programs to stimulate new interdisciplinary research partnerships and training of a new generation of interdisciplinary climate change risk thinkers, assessors and managers. 5. Federal agencies should encourage Senior Executive Service decision makers to participate in science policy certi¬fication workshops and include science and technology policy as a core curricu¬lum component of the SES Federal Candidate Development Program. These recommendations are described in detail in a report published by the Center for a New American Security: Rogers, W. and J. Gulledge (2010) Lost in Translation: Closing the Gap Between Climate Science and National Security Policy (available online: http://cnas.org/node/4391)

Department of Energy Arm Facilities on the North Slope of Alaska and Plans for a North Slope "Mega-Site"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivey, M.; Verlinde, J.

2014-12-01

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its scientific user facility, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility, provides scientific infrastructure and data to the international Arctic research community via its research sites located on the North Slope of Alaska. The DOE ARM Program has operated an atmospheric measurement facility in Barrow, Alaska, since 1998. Major upgrades to this facility, including scanning radars, were added in 2010. Facilities and infrastructure to support operations of unmanned aerial systems for science missions in the Arctic and North Slope of Alaska were established at Oliktok Point Alaska in 2013. Tethered instrumented balloons will be used in the near future to make measurements of clouds in the boundary layer including mixed-phase clouds. The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility is implementing "mega-sites" at the Southern Great Plains and North Slope of Alaska sites. Two workshops were held to gather input from the scientific community on these mega-sites. The NSA workshop was held September 10 and 11 in the Washington DC area. The workshops included discussions of additional profiling remote sensors, detailed measurements of the land-atmosphere interface, aerial operations to link the Barrow and Oliktok sites, unmanned aerial system measurements, and routine large eddy simulation model runs. The "mega-sites" represent a significant new scientific and infrastructure investment by DOE Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research. This poster will present information on plans for a North Slope "Megasite" as well as new opportunities for members of the arctic research community to make atmospheric measurements using unmanned aerial systems or tethered balloons in conjunction with the DOE ARM facilities on the North Slope of Alaska.

Advancing Ocean Science Through Coordination, Community Building, and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benway, H. M.

2016-02-01

The US Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Program (www.us-ocb.org) is a dynamic network of scientists working across disciplines to understand the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle and how marine ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles are responding to environmental change. The OCB Project Office, which is based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), serves as a central information hub for this network, bringing different scientific disciplines together and cultivating partnerships with complementary US and international programs to address high-priority research questions. The OCB Project Office plays multiple important support roles, such as hosting and co-sponsoring workshops, short courses, working groups, and synthesis activities on emerging research issues; engaging with relevant national and international science planning initiatives; and developing education and outreach activities and products with the goal of promoting ocean carbon science to broader audiences. Current scientific focus areas of OCB include ocean observations (shipboard, autonomous, satellite, etc.); changing ocean chemistry (acidification, expanding low-oxygen conditions, etc.); ocean carbon uptake and storage; estuarine and coastal carbon cycling; biological pump and associated biological and biogeochemical processes and carbon fluxes; and marine ecosystem response to environmental and evolutionary changes, including physiological and molecular-level responses of individual organisms, as well as shifts in community structure and function. OCB is a bottom-up organization that responds to the continually evolving priorities and needs of its network and engages marine scientists at all career stages. The scientific leadership of OCB includes a scientific steering committee and subcommittees on ocean time-series, ocean acidification, and ocean fertilization. This presentation will highlight recent OCB activities and products of interest to the ocean science community.

Toxic ignorance and right-to-know in biomonitoring results communication: a survey of scientists and study participants.

PubMed

Morello-Frosch, Rachel; Brody, Julia Green; Brown, Phil; Altman, Rebecca Gasior; Rudel, Ruthann A; Pérez, Carla

2009-02-28

Exposure assessment has shifted from pollutant monitoring in air, soil, and water toward personal exposure measurements and biomonitoring. This trend along with the paucity of health effect data for many of the pollutants studied raise ethical and scientific challenges for reporting results to study participants. We interviewed 26 individuals involved in biomonitoring studies, including academic scientists, scientists from environmental advocacy organizations, IRB officials, and study participants; observed meetings where stakeholders discussed these issues; and reviewed the relevant literature to assess emerging ethical, scientific, and policy debates about personal exposure assessment and biomonitoring, including public demand for information on the human health effects of chemical body burdens. We identify three frameworks for report-back in personal exposure studies: clinical ethics; community-based participatory research; and citizen science 'data judo.' The first approach emphasizes reporting results only when the health significance of exposures is known, while the latter two represent new communication strategies where study participants play a role in interpreting, disseminating, and leveraging results to promote community health. We identify five critical areas to consider in planning future biomonitoring studies. Public deliberation about communication in personal exposure assessment research suggests that new forms of community-based research ethics and participatory scientific practice are emerging.

Bridging the Scientific and Indigenous Communities to Study Sea Ice Change in Arctic Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mahoney, A. R.; Zappa, C. J.; Betcher, S. R.; Hauser, D.; Whiting, A.; Goodwin, J.; Harris, C.; Schaefer, B.; Schaefer, R.

2017-12-01

Ikaavik Sikukuun (Ice Bridges) is a newly-launched research partnership in Kotzebue, Alaska, that adopts an end-to-end community-based approach to study fundamental processes underlying the mechanisms and impacts of the changing sea ice in coastal Alaska. Under guidance from a local advisory council, we will use state-of-the-art observing techniques including long-range unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to study under-observed sea ice regions during critical periods of marine mammal migration, molting and reproduction. Here, we describe what, to the best of our knowledge, is a precedent-setting approach to co-creating research questions and hypotheses that integrate indigenous knowledge (IK) and interdisciplinary scientific methods. A key element of this approach is that we established an advisory committee of local IK holders before defining specific research questions. This has enabled us to iteratively develop hypotheses that incorporate IK and respond to the research needs of the local community while also addressing key geophysical and ecological questions related to changes in the seasonal ice zone. The advisory committee will be key participants in the project team, ensuring that IK is incorporated into the design of the observing plan and the synthesis and dissemination of findings. In addition to building bridges between the scientific community and indigenous residents of Kotzebue, the legacy of our project will include a video documentary that will allow us to share the story of this partnership and our findings with a broad audience.

FY 1990 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1990-01-01

Formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 90 are presented. Also included are papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from NTIS. The information may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Digital Archive Issues from the Perspective of an Earth Science Data Producer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barkstrom, Bruce R.

2004-01-01

Contents include the following: Introduction. A Producer Perspective on Earth Science Data. Data Producers as Members of a Scientific Community. Some Unique Characteristics of Scientific Data. Spatial and Temporal Sampling for Earth (or Space) Science Data. The Influence of the Data Production System Architecture. The Spatial and Temporal Structures Underlying Earth Science Data. Earth Science Data File (or Relation) Schemas. Data Producer Configuration Management Complexities. The Topology of Earth Science Data Inventories. Some Thoughts on the User Perspective. Science Data User Communities. Spatial and Temporal Structure Needs of Different Users. User Spatial Objects. Data Search Services. Inventory Search. Parameter (Keyword) Search. Metadata Searches. Documentation Search. Secondary Index Search. Print Technology and Hypertext. Inter-Data Collection Configuration Management Issues. An Archive View. Producer Data Ingest and Production. User Data Searching and Distribution. Subsetting and Supersetting. Semantic Requirements for Data Interchange. Tentative Conclusions. An Object Oriented View of Archive Information Evolution. Scientific Data Archival Issues. A Perspective on the Future of Digital Archives for Scientific Data. References Index for this paper.

Common Data Format: New XML and Conversion Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, D. B.; Liu, M. H.; McGuire, R. E.

2002-12-01

Common Data Format (CDF) is a self-describing platform-independent data format for storing, accessing, and manipulating scalar and multidimensional scientific data sets. Significant benefit has accrued to specific science communities from their use of standard formats within those communities. Examples include the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) community in using CDF for traditional space physics data (fields, particles and plasma, waves, and images), the worldwide astronomical community in using FITS (Flexible Image Transport System) for solar data (primarily spectral images), the NASA Planetary community in using Planetary Data System (PDS) Labels, and the earth science community in using Hierarchical Data Format (HDF). Scientific progress in solar-terrestrial physics continues to be impeded by the multiplicity of available standards for data formats and dearth of general data format translators. As a result, scientists today spend a significant amount of time translating data into the format they are familiar with for their research. To minimize this unnecessary data translation time and to allow more research time, the CDF office located at GSFC National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has developed HDF-to-CDF and FITS-to-CDF translators, and employed the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) technology to facilitate and promote data interoperability within the space science community. We will present the current status of the CDF work including the conversion tools that have been recently developed, conversion tools that are planned in the near future, share some of the XML experiences, and use the discussion to gain community feedback to our planned future work.

Report on the Third Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE3)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katz, Daniel S.; Choi, Sou-Cheng T.; Niemeyer, Kyle E.; Hetherington, James; Löffler, Frank; Gunter, Dan; Idaszak, Ray; Brandt, Steven R.; Miller, Mark A.; Gesing, Sandra; Jones, Nick D.; Weber, Nic; Marru, Suresh; Allen, Gabrielle; Penzenstadler, Birgit; Venters, Colin C.; Davis, Ethan; Hwang, Lorraine; Todorov, Ilian; Patra, Abani; de Val-Borro, Miguel

2016-02-01

This report records and discusses the Third Workshop on Sustainable Software for Science: Practice and Experiences (WSSSPE3). The report includes a description of the keynote presentation of the workshop, which served as an overview of sustainable scientific software. It also summarizes a set of lightning talks in which speakers highlighted to-the-point lessons and challenges pertaining to sustaining scientific software. The final and main contribution of the report is a summary of the discussions, future steps, and future organization for a set of self-organized working groups on topics including developing pathways to funding scientific software; constructing useful common metrics for crediting software stakeholders; identifying principles for sustainable software engineering design; reaching out to research software organizations around the world; and building communities for software sustainability. For each group, we include a point of contact and a landing page that can be used by those who want to join that group's future activities. The main challenge left by the workshop is to see if the groups will execute these activities that they have scheduled, and how the WSSSPE community can encourage this to happen.

A New Alliance in the Geosicences: Tribal Colleges and Universities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, B.

2008-12-01

With the passing of Tribal Colleges and Universities Executive Order 13270 by President Clinton in 1996, and subsequent amendments by President Bush in 2002, the Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) have been inundated with requests for participation in many scientific programs and proposals. Although well-meant, many approaches to this opportunity have fallen well short of capturing the positive outcomes this important Executive Order was designed to create. Consequently, the best intentions have had catastrophic effects. These effects include propagating exploitation of TCUs, reinforced stereotypes, prohibitive barriers, further isolation and greater mistrust. To overcome these barriers, the scientific community and Federal agencies must change the way they consider and perceive TCUs and Indian Country. The objective of this discussion will be to demonstrate effective strategies for appropriately engaging TCUs in sustainable partnerships. This discussion will include: (1) recommendations to federal agencies to include appropriate language in applications that encourages equitable partnerships with TCUs; (2) the appropriate procedures for engaging TCUs and tribal communities; (3) the critical elements required to establish and maintain viable working partnerships with TCUs; and (4) the fundamental scientific issues in Indian Country and the role that TCUs and their partners will play in addressing them.

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,…

Creating Meaningful Partnerships Between Communities and Environmental Health Researchers

PubMed Central

De Souza, Rachael; Aguilar, Genevieve C.; de Castro, A. B.

2014-01-01

Community engagement is a necessary, although challenging, element of environmental health research in communities. To facilitate the engagement process, direct action community organizing agencies can be useful in bringing together communities and researchers. This article describes the preliminary activities that one direct action community organizing agency used in partnership with researchers to improve community engagement in the first 6 months of an environmental health study conducted in a major U.S. city. Activities included developing communication strategies, creating opportunities for researcher–community interaction, and sustaining project momentum. To conduct environmental research that is both scientifically rigorous and relevant to communities, collaborating partners had to develop professional skills and strategies outside of their areas of expertise. PMID:23875568

Lemont B. Kier: a bibliometric exploration of his scientific production and its use.

PubMed

Restrepo, Guillermo; Llanos, Eugenio J; Silva, Adriana E

2013-12-01

We thought an appropriate way to celebrate the seminal contribution of Kier is to explore his influence on science, looking for the impact of his research through the citation of his scientific production. From a bibliometric approach the impact of Kier's work is addressed as an individual within a community. Reviewing data from his curriculum vitae, as well as from the ISI Web of Knowledge (ISI), his role within the scientific community is established and the way his scientific results circulate is studied. His curriculum vitae is explored emphasising the approaches he used in his research activities and the social ties with other actors of the community. The circulation of Kier's publications in the ISI is studied as a means for spreading and installing his discourse within the community. The citation patterns found not only show the usage of Kier's scientific results, but also open the possibility to identify some characteristics of this discursive community, such as a common vocabulary and common research goals. The results show an interdisciplinary research work that consolidates a scientific community on the topic of drug discovery.

Helping Basic Scientists Engage With Community Partners to Enrich and Accelerate Translational Research.

PubMed

Kost, Rhonda G; Leinberger-Jabari, Andrea; Evering, Teresa H; Holt, Peter R; Neville-Williams, Maija; Vasquez, Kimberly S; Coller, Barry S; Tobin, Jonathan N

2017-03-01

Engaging basic scientists in community-based translational research is challenging but has great potential for improving health. In 2009, The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science partnered with Clinical Directors Network, a practice-based research network (PBRN), to create a community-engaged research navigation (CEnR-Nav) program to foster research pairing basic science and community-driven scientific aims. The program is led by an academic navigator and a PBRN navigator. Through meetings and joint activities, the program facilitates basic science-community partnerships and the development and conduct of joint research protocols. From 2009-2014, 39 investigators pursued 44 preliminary projects through the CEnR-Nav program; 25 of those became 23 approved protocols and 2 substudies. They involved clinical scholar trainees, early-career physician-scientists, faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and others. Nineteen (of 25; 76%) identified community partners, of which 9 (47%) named them as coinvestigators. Nine (of 25; 36%) included T3-T4 translational aims. Seven (of 25; 28%) secured external funding, 11 (of 25; 44%) disseminated results through presentations or publications, and 5 (71%) of 7 projects publishing results included a community partner as a coauthor. Of projects with long-term navigator participation, 9 (of 19; 47%) incorporated T3-T4 aims and 7 (of 19; 37%) secured external funding. The CEnR-Nav program provides a model for successfully engaging basic scientists with communities to advance and accelerate translational science. This model's durability and generalizability have not been determined, but it achieves valuable short-term goals and facilitates scientifically meaningful community-academic partnerships.

Integrating scientific knowledge into large-scale restoration programs: the CALFED Bay-Delta Program experience

USGS Publications Warehouse

Taylor, Kimberly A.; Short, A.

2009-01-01

Integrating science into resource management activities is a goal of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, a multi-agency effort to address water supply reliability, ecological condition, drinking water quality, and levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of northern California. Under CALFED, many different strategies were used to integrate science, including interaction between the research and management communities, public dialogues about scientific work, and peer review. This paper explores ways science was (and was not) integrated into CALFED's management actions and decision systems through three narratives describing different patterns of scientific integration and application in CALFED. Though a collaborative process and certain organizational conditions may be necessary for developing new understandings of the system of interest, we find that those factors are not sufficient for translating that knowledge into management actions and decision systems. We suggest that the application of knowledge may be facilitated or hindered by (1) differences in the objectives, approaches, and cultures of scientists operating in the research community and those operating in the management community and (2) other factors external to the collaborative process and organization.

Perceptions That Influence the Maintenance of Scientific Integrity in Community-Based Participatory Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraemer Diaz, Anne E.; Spears Johnson, Chaya R.; Arcury, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Scientific integrity is necessary for strong science; yet many variables can influence scientific integrity. In traditional research, some common threats are the pressure to publish, competition for funds, and career advancement. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a different context for scientific integrity with additional and…

Operational Space Weather Needs - Perspectives from SEASONS 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Comberiate, J.; Kelly, M. A.; Paxton, L. J.; Schaefer, R. K.; Bust, G. S.; Sotirelis, T.; Fox, N. J.

2014-12-01

A key challenge for the operational space weather community is the gap between the latest scientific data, models, methods, and indices and those that are currently used in operational systems. The November 2014 SEASONS (Space Environment Applications, Systems, and Operations for National Security) Workshop at JHU/APL in Laurel, Maryland, brings together representatives from the operational and scientific communities. The theme of SEASONS 2014 is "Beyond Climatology," with a focus on how space weather events threaten operational assets and disrupt missions. Here we present perspectives from SEASONS 2014 on new observations, models in development, and forecasting methods that are of interest to the operational space weather community. Highlighted topics include ionospheric data assimilation and forecasting models, HF propagation models, radiation belt observations, and energetic particle modeling. The SEASONS 2014 web site can be found at https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/SEASONS/

Engaging Alaskan Students in Cryospheric Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshikawa, K.; Sparrow, E. B.; Kopplin, M.

2011-12-01

The Permafrost/Active Layer Monitoring Program is an ongoing project, which builds on work begun in 2005 to establish long-term permafrost and active layer monitoring sites adjacent to schools in Alaskan communities and in the circumpolar permafrost region. Currently, there are about 200 schools in Alaska involved in the project including also Denali National Park and Preserve. The project has both scientific and outreach components. The monitoring sites collect temperature data on permafrost, and the length and depth of the active layer (the layer above the permafrost that thaws during summer and freezes again during winter). To ensure scientific integrity, the scientist installed all of the monitoring instruments and selected the sites representative of the surrounding biome and thermal conditions. This is a unique collaboration opportunity in that 1) uses scientifically accurate instruments, 2) is scientist led and supervised including instrumentation set-up and data quality check, 3)has teacher/student organized observation network, 4) increased spatial scale of monitoring sites that covers all of the Alaskan communities. Most of the monitoring sites are located in remote communities, where the majority of residents depend on a subsistence lifestyle. Changes in climate, length of seasons, and permafrost conditions directly impact natural resources and subsistence activities. Changes in permafrost conditions also affect local ecosystems and hydrological regimes, and can influence the severity of natural disasters. In addition to extending our knowledge of the arctic environment, the program involves school-age students. Several students have been using the data for their projects and have been inspired to continue their studies. The data gathered from these stations are shared with other schools and made available to the public through our web site (http://www.uaf.edu/permafrost). Also communities have increasingly become interested in this project not only as an educational program, but also for its implications for disasters such as mud slides, loss of food storage in the ground capability, water pipes bursting from ground freezing at lower depths. Challenges in education outreach include the high cost (dollars and time) of reaching the remote study sites scattered all over the vast Alaskan landscape and how to increase understanding of the science concepts in the long-term study of permafrost and active layer, by students. In addition to the scientific measurement protocols and learning activities developed, videos of the adventures of a superhero Tunnel Man, were developed, produced and are made available on the project website as well as on YouTube. Through this project, students in remote Alaskan communities learn science in a way that is meaningful to their daily lives. In addition, they experience research participation within a larger scientific community, expanding their worldview.

Measuring mumbo jumbo: A preliminary quantification of the use of jargon in science communication.

PubMed

Sharon, Aviv J; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2014-07-01

Leaders of the scientific community encourage scientists to learn effective science communication, including honing the skill to discuss science with little professional jargon. However, avoiding jargon is not trivial for scientists for several reasons, and this demands special attention in teaching and evaluation. Despite this, no standard measurement for the use of scientific jargon in speech has been developed to date. Here a standard yardstick for the use of scientific jargon in spoken texts, using a computational linguistics approach, is proposed. Analyzed transcripts included academic speech, scientific TEDTalks, and communication about the discovery of a Higgs-like boson at CERN. Findings suggest that scientists use less jargon in communication with a general audience than in communication with peers, but not always less obscure jargon. These findings may lay the groundwork for evaluating the use of jargon.

Coproduction of Research Questions and Research Evidence in Public Health: The Study to Prevent Teen Drinking Parties.

PubMed

Wolfson, Mark; Wagoner, Kimberly G; Rhodes, Scott D; Egan, Kathleen L; Sparks, Michael; Ellerbee, Dylan; Song, Eunyoung Y; Debinski, Beata; Terrillion, Albert; Vining, Judi; Yang, Evelyn

2017-01-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a set of principles and practices intended to foster coproduction of knowledge. However, CBPR often has shortcomings when applied to population-level policy and practice interventions, including a focus on single communities and a lack of focus on policy change. At the same time, community trials focused on policy have shortcomings, including lack of stakeholder involvement in framing research questions and modest engagement in study implementation and interpretation and dissemination of results. We describe an attempt to hybridize CBPR and community trials by creating a partnership that included a national membership organization, a coalition advisory board, intervention and delayed intervention communities, and an academic study team, which collaborated on a study of community strategies to prevent underage drinking parties. We use qualitative and quantitative data to critically assess the partnership. Areas where the partnership was effective included (1) identifying a research question with high public health significance, (2) enhancing the intervention, and (3) improving research methods. Challenges included community coalition representatives' greater focus on their own communities rather than the production of broader scientific knowledge. This model can be applied in future attempts to narrow the gap between research, policy, and practice.

Reading, Writing, and Presenting Original Scientific Research: A Nine-Week Course in Scientific Communication for High School Students†

PubMed Central

Danka, Elizabeth S.; Malpede, Brian M.

2015-01-01

High school students are not often given opportunities to communicate scientific findings to their peers, the general public, and/or people in the scientific community, and therefore they do not develop scientific communication skills. We present a nine-week course that can be used to teach high school students, who may have no previous experience, how to read and write primary scientific articles and how to discuss scientific findings with a broad audience. Various forms of this course have been taught for the past 10 years as part of an intensive summer research program for rising high school seniors that is coordinated by the Young Scientist Program at Washington University in St. Louis. The format presented here includes assessments for efficacy through both rubric-based methods and student self-assessment surveys. PMID:26753027

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.

Science Highlights and Lessons Learned from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pagano, Thomas S.; Fetzer, Eric J.; Suda, Jarrod; Licata, Steve

2011-01-01

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and companion instrument, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU) on the NASA Earth Observing System Aqua spacecraft are facility instruments designed to support measurements of atmospheric temperature, water vapor and a wide range of atmospheric constituents in support of weather forecasting and scientific research in climate and atmospheric chemistry. This paper is an update to the science highlights from a paper by the authors released last year and also looks back at the lessons learned and future needs of the scientific community. These lessons not only include requirements on the measurements, but scientific shortfalls as well. Results from the NASA Science Community Workshop in IR and MW Sounders relating to AIRS and AMSU requirements and concerns are covered and reflect much of what has been learned and what is needed for future atmospheric sounding from Low Earth Orbit.

Engineering Values into Genetic Engineering: A Proposed Analytic Framework for Scientific Social Responsibility

PubMed Central

Cho, Mildred K.

2016-01-01

Recent experiments have been used to “edit” genomes of various plant, animal and other species, including humans, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, editing Cas9 endonuclease gene with a gene encoding the desired guide RNA into an organism, adjacent to an altered gene, could create a “gene drive” that could spread a trait through an entire population of organisms. These experiments represent advances along a spectrum of technological abilities that genetic engineers have been working on since the advent of recombinant DNA techniques. The scientific and bioethics communities have built substantial literatures about the ethical and policy implications of genetic engineering, especially in the age of bioterrorism. However, recent CRISPr/Cas experiments have triggered a rehashing of previous policy discussions, suggesting that the scientific community requires guidance on how to think about social responsibility. We propose a framework to enable analysis of social responsibility, using two examples of genetic engineering experiments. PMID:26632356

Engineering Values Into Genetic Engineering: A Proposed Analytic Framework for Scientific Social Responsibility.

PubMed

Sankar, Pamela L; Cho, Mildred K

2015-01-01

Recent experiments have been used to "edit" genomes of various plant, animal and other species, including humans, with unprecedented precision. Furthermore, editing the Cas9 endonuclease gene with a gene encoding the desired guide RNA into an organism, adjacent to an altered gene, could create a "gene drive" that could spread a trait through an entire population of organisms. These experiments represent advances along a spectrum of technological abilities that genetic engineers have been working on since the advent of recombinant DNA techniques. The scientific and bioethics communities have built substantial literatures about the ethical and policy implications of genetic engineering, especially in the age of bioterrorism. However, recent CRISPr/Cas experiments have triggered a rehashing of previous policy discussions, suggesting that the scientific community requires guidance on how to think about social responsibility. We propose a framework to enable analysis of social responsibility, using two examples of genetic engineering experiments.

Airborne Synthetic Aperature Radar (AIRSAR) on left rear fuselage of DC-8 Airborne Laboratory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1998-01-01

A view of the Airborne Synthetic Aperature Radar (AIRSAR) antenna on the left rear fuselage of the DC-8. The AIRSAR captures images of the ground from the side of the aircraft and can provide precision digital elevation mapping capabilities for a variety of studies. The AIRSAR is one of a number of research systems that have been added to the DC-8. NASA is using a DC-8 aircraft as a flying science laboratory. The platform aircraft, based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., collects data for many experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world scientific community. Included in this community are NASA, federal, state, academic and foreign investigators. Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science and biology.

Illogical and Unethical Scientific Sanctions Against Iranian Authors

PubMed Central

Zarghami, Mehran

2013-01-01

Restriction of free submission of Iranian manuscripts is not a new matter. However, the recent political decision of the USA Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury saying who can and who cannot publish scientific papers in journals is completely against free distribution of data in scholarly and scientific communities and scientific journals and publications which requires discussions and challenges with the statutory authorities. Publishers’ mission requires bringing suit against this illogical and unethical decision. Science should not be involved in the political game of sanctions. Policies of governments and the origins of the manuscript, including the race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and political belief of the authors should not affect the editorial decisions of scientific publications. Declaration of interest: None. PMID:24644503

Illogical and unethical scientific sanctions against Iranian authors.

PubMed

Zarghami, Mehran

2013-01-01

Restriction of free submission of Iranian manuscripts is not a new matter. However, the recent political decision of the USA Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury saying who can and who cannot publish scientific papers in journals is completely against free distribution of data in scholarly and scientific communities and scientific journals and publications which requires discussions and challenges with the statutory authorities. Publishers' mission requires bringing suit against this illogical and unethical decision. Science should not be involved in the political game of sanctions. Policies of governments and the origins of the manuscript, including the race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and political belief of the authors should not affect the editorial decisions of scientific publications. None.

Translating Volcano Hazards Research in the Cascades Into Community Preparedness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ewert, J. W.; Driedger, C. L.

2015-12-01

Research by the science community into volcanic histories and physical processes at Cascade volcanoes in the states of Washington, Oregon, and California has been ongoing for over a century. Eruptions in the 20th century at Lassen Peak and Mount St. Helen demonstrated the active nature of Cascade volcanoes; the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was a defining moment in modern volcanology. The first modern volcano hazards assessments were produced by the USGS for some Cascade volcanoes in the 1960s. A rich scientific literature exists, much of which addresses hazards at these active volcanoes. That said community awareness, planning, and preparation for eruptions generally do not occur as a result of a hazard analyses published in scientific papers, but by direct communication with scientists. Relative to other natural hazards, volcanic eruptions (or large earthquakes, or tsunami) are outside common experience, and the public and many public officials are often surprised to learn of the impacts volcanic eruptions could have on their communities. In the 1980s, the USGS recognized that effective hazard communication and preparedness is a multi-faceted, long-term undertaking and began working with federal, state, and local stakeholders to build awareness and foster community action about volcano hazards. Activities included forming volcano-specific workgroups to develop coordination plans for volcano emergencies; a concerted public outreach campaign; curriculum development and teacher training; technical training for emergency managers and first responders; and development of hazard information that is accessible to non-specialists. Outcomes include broader ownership of volcano hazards as evidenced by bi-national exchanges of emergency managers, community planners, and first responders; development by stakeholders of websites focused on volcano hazards mitigation; and execution of table-top and functional exercises, including evacuation drills by local communities.

Science and Technology Diplomacy with Cuba

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Colon, Frances

President Obama's announcement of U. S. policy change toward Cuba and increased freedom of interaction with the Cuban people opens unprecedented and long-awaited opportunities for the scientific and engineering communities in the U. S. and in Cuba to establish and expand collaborative efforts that will greatly advance U.S. and Cuba science and technology agendas. New rules for export of donated-only items for scientific use will bring researchers closer to the level of their professional peers around the world. Increasing Cubans' access to information will result in greater interactions between scientific communities and enable the sharing of ideas and discoveries that can fuel entrepreneurship on the island. The scientific community has expressed an extraordinary level of interest in the wide range of scientific opportunities that the new policy presents, in collaborating with their Cuban counterparts, and in supporting the development of scientific capacity in Cuba. In response to numerous expressions of interest and inquiries from the scientific community, the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State (STAS) has engaged in public outreach to inform the U.S. science and technology community of the implications of the new policy for collaborative research, emerging scientific opportunities, and the standing limitations for engagement with the people of Cuba.

Social behavioural epistemology and the scientific community.

PubMed

Watve, Milind

2017-07-01

The progress of science is influenced substantially by social behaviour of and social interactions within the scientific community. Similar to innovations in primate groups, the social acceptance of an innovation depends not only upon the relevance of the innovation but also on the social dominance and connectedness of the innovator. There are a number of parallels between many well-known phenomena in behavioural evolution and various behavioural traits observed in the scientific community. It would be useful, therefore, to use principles of behavioural evolution as hypotheses to study the social behaviour of the scientific community. I argue in this paper that a systematic study of social behavioural epistemology is likely to boost the progress of science by addressing several prevalent biases and other problems in scientific communication and by facilitating appropriate acceptance/rejection of novel concepts.

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.

The relative importance of relational and scientific characteristics of psychotherapy: Perceptions of community members vs. therapists.

PubMed

Farrell, Nicholas R; Deacon, Brett J

2016-03-01

Although client preferences are an integral component of evidence-based practice in psychology (American Psychological Association, 2006), relatively little research has examined what potential mental health consumers value in the psychotherapy they may receive. The present study was conducted to examine community members' preferences for the scientific and relational aspects of psychotherapy for different types of presenting problems, and how accurately therapists perceive these preferences. Community members (n = 200) were surveyed about the importance of scientific (e.g., demonstrated efficacy in clinical trials) and relational (e.g., therapist empathy) characteristics of psychotherapy both for anxiety disorders (e.g., obsessive-compulsive disorder) and disorder-nonspecific issues (e.g., relationship difficulties). Therapists (n = 199) completed the same survey and responded how they expected the average mental health consumer would. Results showed that although community members valued relational characteristics significantly more than scientific characteristics, the gap between these two was large for disorder-nonspecific issues (d = 1.24) but small for anxiety disorders (d = .27). Community members rated scientific credibility as important across problem types. Therapists significantly underestimated the importance of scientific characteristics to community members, particularly in the treatment of disorder-nonspecific issues (d = .74). Therapists who valued research less in their own practice were more likely to underestimate the importance of scientific credibility to community members. The implications of the present findings for understanding the nature of client preferences in evidence-based psychological practice are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ports Primer: 8.1 Using Scientific Data and Research

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Communities can demonstrate environmental concerns by providing scientific evidence of environmental impact. Communities may be able to access existing local data and conduct their own analyses or communities may turn to existing studies.

National Geomagnetism Program: Current Status & Five-Year Plan, 2006-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Love, Jeffrey J.

2006-01-01

Executive Summary: The U.S. Geological Survey's Geomagnetism Program serves the scientific community and the broader public by collecting and distributing magnetometer data from an array of ground-based observatories and by conducting scientific analysis on those data. Preliminary, variational time-series can be collected and distributed in near-real time, while fully calibrated, absolute time-series are distributed after processing. The data are used by the civilian and military parts of the Federal Government, by private industry, and by academia, for a wide variety of purposes of both immediately practical importance and long-term scientific interest, including space-weather diagnosis and related hazard mitigation, mapping of the magnetic field and measurement of its activity, and research on the nature of the Earth's interior and the near-Earth space environment. This document reviews the current status of the Program, in terms of its situation within the Government and within the scientific community; summarizes the Program's operations, its staffing situation, and its facilities; describes the diversity of uses of Program magnetometer data; and presents a plan for the next 5 years for enhancing the Program's data-based services, developing products, and conducting scientific research.

The Global Burden of Journal Peer Review in the Biomedical Literature: Strong Imbalance in the Collective Enterprise.

PubMed

Kovanis, Michail; Porcher, Raphaël; Ravaud, Philippe; Trinquart, Ludovic

2016-01-01

The growth in scientific production may threaten the capacity for the scientific community to handle the ever-increasing demand for peer review of scientific publications. There is little evidence regarding the sustainability of the peer-review system and how the scientific community copes with the burden it poses. We used mathematical modeling to estimate the overall quantitative annual demand for peer review and the supply in biomedical research. The modeling was informed by empirical data from various sources in the biomedical domain, including all articles indexed at MEDLINE. We found that for 2015, across a range of scenarios, the supply exceeded by 15% to 249% the demand for reviewers and reviews. However, 20% of the researchers performed 69% to 94% of the reviews. Among researchers actually contributing to peer review, 70% dedicated 1% or less of their research work-time to peer review while 5% dedicated 13% or more of it. An estimated 63.4 million hours were devoted to peer review in 2015, among which 18.9 million hours were provided by the top 5% contributing reviewers. Our results support that the system is sustainable in terms of volume but emphasizes a considerable imbalance in the distribution of the peer-review effort across the scientific community. Finally, various individual interactions between authors, editors and reviewers may reduce to some extent the number of reviewers who are available to editors at any point.

The Global Burden of Journal Peer Review in the Biomedical Literature: Strong Imbalance in the Collective Enterprise

PubMed Central

Porcher, Raphaël; Ravaud, Philippe; Trinquart, Ludovic

2016-01-01

The growth in scientific production may threaten the capacity for the scientific community to handle the ever-increasing demand for peer review of scientific publications. There is little evidence regarding the sustainability of the peer-review system and how the scientific community copes with the burden it poses. We used mathematical modeling to estimate the overall quantitative annual demand for peer review and the supply in biomedical research. The modeling was informed by empirical data from various sources in the biomedical domain, including all articles indexed at MEDLINE. We found that for 2015, across a range of scenarios, the supply exceeded by 15% to 249% the demand for reviewers and reviews. However, 20% of the researchers performed 69% to 94% of the reviews. Among researchers actually contributing to peer review, 70% dedicated 1% or less of their research work-time to peer review while 5% dedicated 13% or more of it. An estimated 63.4 million hours were devoted to peer review in 2015, among which 18.9 million hours were provided by the top 5% contributing reviewers. Our results support that the system is sustainable in terms of volume but emphasizes a considerable imbalance in the distribution of the peer-review effort across the scientific community. Finally, various individual interactions between authors, editors and reviewers may reduce to some extent the number of reviewers who are available to editors at any point. PMID:27832157

Advocating for responsible oil and natural gas extraction policies; FracTracker as a mechanism for overcoming the barriers to scientific advocacy for academics and communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrar, K. J.; Malone, S.; Kelso, M.; Lenker, B.

2013-12-01

The inability to translate data to scientific information that can readily be incorporated by citizens into the public arena is an obstacle for science-based advocacy. This issue is particularly poignant for shale oil and natural gas development via hydraulic fracturing, as the issue has become highly politicized. Barriers to engaging in policy debate are different but highly related for community members and scientists. For citizens and interest groups, barriers including accessibility, public awareness and data presentation limit the motivation for community involvement in political interactions. To overcome such barriers, social researchers call for public engagement to move upstream and many call for a broad engagement of scientists in science-based advocacy. Furthermore surveys have shown that citizens, interest groups, and decision-makers share a broad desire for scientists to engage in environmental policy development. Regardless, scientists face a number of perceived barriers, with academics expressing the most resistance to overcoming the tension created by adherence to the scientific method and the need to engage with the broader society, described by Schneider (1990) as the 'double ethical bind'. For the scientific community the appeal of public dissemination of information beyond the scope of academic journals is limited for a number of reasons. Barriers include preservation of credibility, peer attitudes, training, and career trajectory. The result is a lack of translated information available to the public. This systematic analysis of the FracTracker platform provides an evaluation of where the features of the public engagement, GIS platform has been successful at overcoming these barriers to public dissemination, where the platform needs further development or is ill-suited to address these issues, and the development of FracTracker as an outlet for scientific researchers to engage with citizens. The analysis will also provide insight into what information the public is most interested in concerning hydraulic fracturing and unconventional oil and natural gas development. The evaluations in consideration of these core barriers to public engagement and science-based advocacy will provide insight into the future development of programs, as well as the improvement of the FracTracker platform.

C-DEBI Community College Research Internship for Scientific Engagement: Effective Practices in Running a Non-Residential Research Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, S.

2016-02-01

The Center For Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI), an NSF Science and Technology Center, is located in the heart of Los Angeles, surrounded by nineteen community colleges. C-DEBI recognizes the community college student as an untapped STEM resource and piloted the Community College Research Internship for Scientific Engagement (CC-RISE) in 2013. A non-residential, research-focused summer internship, the successful program expanded to UC-Santa Cruz and the Marine Biological Laboratory in 2014 and 2015, respectively. A non-residential research program gives students who are often first generation or non-traditional a stepping stone to experience the research environment while reducing transfer shock. Formal evaluation of CC-RISE indicates that in addition to providing an immersive research experience for community college students, the key components to running a successful non-residential program include weekly informal meetings to allow the students to create a cohort, as well as program aspects dedicated to professional development topics such as the transfer process and using resources at 4-year institutions to maximize success.

Community-Supported Data Repositories in Paleobiology: A 'Middle Tail' Between the Geoscientific and Informatics Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J. W.; Ashworth, A. C.; Betancourt, J. L.; Bills, B.; Blois, J.; Booth, R.; Buckland, P.; Charles, D.; Curry, B. B.; Goring, S. J.; Davis, E.; Grimm, E. C.; Graham, R. W.; Smith, A. J.

2015-12-01

Community-supported data repositories (CSDRs) in paleoecology and paleoclimatology have a decades-long tradition and serve multiple critical scientific needs. CSDRs facilitate synthetic large-scale scientific research by providing open-access and curated data that employ community-supported metadata and data standards. CSDRs serve as a 'middle tail' or boundary organization between information scientists and the long-tail community of individual geoscientists collecting and analyzing paleoecological data. Over the past decades, a distributed network of CSDRs has emerged, each serving a particular suite of data and research communities, e.g. Neotoma Paleoecology Database, Paleobiology Database, International Tree Ring Database, NOAA NCEI for Paleoclimatology, Morphobank, iDigPaleo, and Integrated Earth Data Alliance. Recently, these groups have organized into a common Paleobiology Data Consortium dedicated to improving interoperability and sharing best practices and protocols. The Neotoma Paleoecology Database offers one example of an active and growing CSDR, designed to facilitate research into ecological and evolutionary dynamics during recent past global change. Neotoma combines a centralized database structure with distributed scientific governance via multiple virtual constituent data working groups. The Neotoma data model is flexible and can accommodate a variety of paleoecological proxies from many depositional contests. Data input into Neotoma is done by trained Data Stewards, drawn from their communities. Neotoma data can be searched, viewed, and returned to users through multiple interfaces, including the interactive Neotoma Explorer map interface, REST-ful Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), the neotoma R package, and the Tilia stratigraphic software. Neotoma is governed by geoscientists and provides community engagement through training workshops for data contributors, stewards, and users. Neotoma is engaged in the Paleobiological Data Consortium and other efforts to improve interoperability among cyberinfrastructure in the paleogeosciences.

Using Citizen Science for Water Quality Monitoring: Preaching the Message Beyond the Choir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jollymore, A. J.

2015-12-01

Citizen science has emerged a means for augmenting the scope of research while educating the community. Environmental research has a particularly strong motivation for engagement, given its often-local context. We implemented a citizen science campaign to investigate relationships between land use and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface water environments proximal to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Citizen science was intended to increase sampling breadth, and engage the community about human activities and water quality effects. Participants were given a sample kit and a simple sampling protocol; we then used fast and economic absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometry to determine DOM concentration and composition. Participants, including individuals from over 10 municipalities and community organizations, submitted over 200 samples; these were compared to investigator-led sampling, as well as data mining existing sources, to verify results. Analyzing the fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) with a five-component parallel factor (PARAFAC) model showed that samples from watersheds with increased urbanization had unique microbial-like peaks, suggesting variances in DOM lability and origins compared to more pristine watersheds. Community engagement was extended by making data available online in an interactive map, as well as by presenting the project to the public. Despite this, engagement occurred most with community organizations; these participants tended to have scientific training, with a higher knowledge baseline regarding their specific watershed and water quality issues generally. While this served scientific goals, our campaign was less successful at engaging citizens with less-developed scientific backgrounds. In this presentation we will discuss the merits and scientific milestones enabled by citizen science, and lessons learned about how to get beyond 'preaching to the choir' in crafting and implementing such projects.

Alzforum and SWAN: the present and future of scientific web communities.

PubMed

Clark, Tim; Kinoshita, June

2007-05-01

Scientists drove the early development of the World Wide Web, primarily as a means for rapid communication, document sharing and data access. They have been far slower to adopt the web as a medium for building research communities. Yet, web-based communities hold great potential for accelerating the pace of scientific research. In this article, we will describe the 10-year experience of the Alzheimer Research Forum ('Alzforum'), a unique example of a thriving scientific web community, and explain the features that contributed to its success. We will then outline the SWAN (Semantic Web Applications in Neuromedicine) project, in which Alzforum curators are collaborating with informatics researchers to develop novel approaches that will enable communities to share richly contextualized information about scientific data, claims and hypotheses.

A Model to Translate Evidence-Based Interventions Into Community Practice

PubMed Central

Christiansen, Ann L.; Peterson, Donna J.; Guse, Clare E.; Maurana, Cheryl A.; Brandenburg, Terry

2012-01-01

There is a tension between 2 alternative approaches to implementing community-based interventions. The evidence-based public health movement emphasizes the scientific basis of prevention by disseminating rigorously evaluated interventions from academic and governmental agencies to local communities. Models used by local health departments to incorporate community input into their planning, such as the community health improvement process (CHIP), emphasize community leadership in identifying health problems and developing and implementing health improvement strategies. Each approach has limitations. Modifying CHIP to formally include consideration of evidence-based interventions in both the planning and evaluation phases leads to an evidence-driven community health improvement process that can serve as a useful framework for uniting the different approaches while emphasizing community ownership, priorities, and wisdom. PMID:22397341

Bridging the Gap between Scientific Data Producers and Consumers: A Provenance Approach

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

Stephan, Eric G.; Pinheiro da Silva, Paulo; Kleese van Dam, Kerstin

2013-06-03

Despite the methodical and painstaking efforts made by scientists to record their scientific findings and protocols, a knowledge gap problem continues to persist today between producers of scientific results and consumers because technology is performing the exchange of data as opposed to scientists making direct contact. Provenance is a means to formalize how this knowledge is transferred. However, for it to be meaningful to scientists, the provenance research community needs continued contributions from the scientific community to extend and leverage provenance-based vocabularies and technology from the provenance community. Going forward the provenance community must also be vigilant to meet scalabilitymore » needs of data intensive science« less

Co-Producing Accessible Climate Knowledge: Case Study of a Scientific Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourqui, M.; Charriere, M. K. M.; Bolduc, C.

2016-12-01

This talk presents the process of and the lessons learned from a scientific challenge where climate scientists re-framed their research for the general public in interaction with members of the general public. This challenge was organized by Climanosco in the context of its launch in the fall 2015 and is due to end in September 2016. It led to the publication of 11 articles from scientific authors spanning 7 countries and engaged the participation of 24 members of the general public. The process of interaction between scientists and members of the general public took place along an extended peer-review process which included on-line community discussions and non-scientific review reports. Details of this interaction, as perceived by the participants and evaluated by a survey, will be discussed in this talk. On the longer term this co-production of accessible climate knowledge, which represents the main goal of the non-profit association Climanosco, is meant to serve as a reliable, research-based source, the decision makers but also the journalists, teachers and communities around the world.

Virtual Congresses

PubMed Central

Lecueder, Silvia; Manyari, Dante E.

2000-01-01

A new form of scientific medical meeting has emerged in the last few years—the virtual congress. This article describes the general role of computer technologies and the Internet in the development of this new means of scientific communication, by reviewing the history of “cyber sessions” in medical education and the rationale, methods, and initial results of the First Virtual Congress of Cardiology. Instructions on how to participate in this virtual congress, either actively or as an observer, are included. Current advantages and disadvantages of virtual congresses, their impact on the scientific community at large, and future developments and possibilities in this area are discussed. PMID:10641960

Communities needs, values, and representations of the world: lessons learned from Greenland's and Senegal's ARTisticc's study sites.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baztan, J.; Vanderlinden, J. P.; Cordier, M.; Da Cunha, C.; Gaye, N.; Huctin, J. M.; Kane, A.; Quensiere, J.; Remvikos, Y.; Seck, A.

2016-12-01

The cultural dimensions of climate change impacts and adaptation have been increasingly examined in recent years through various disciplinary lenses, exposing a clear need for mainstream natural sciences to address the question of how to incorporate the values of communities facing global changes into their work. With this in mind, the work presented here addresses three main questions: (i) Do community members consider available scientific data and findings credible? Answering this question provides insight into whether available scientific knowledge expresses causal links that are mobilized by affected communities. (ii) Do community members consider available scientific data and findings salient? Answering this question provides insight into whether available scientific knowledge focuses on phenomena that those in affected communities think should receive attention. (iii) Do community members consider available scientific data and findings legitimate? Answering this question provides insight into whether available scientific knowledge expresses what is good, tolerable, and/or acceptable for affected communities. These three questions delve into the ways in which adaptation requires affected individuals and communities to adopt attitudes by integrating/woven from potentially conflicting evidence, relevance, and/or normative claims. These questions also shed light on the links between mainstream sciences and studied affected communities. The research presented here focuses on 2 communities: (i) Uummannaq, an island of 12km2 in a fjord, located along the middle of Greenland's west coast and (ii) Joal-Fadiouth & M'bour area in the wester African's coast, few Km south of Dakar, Senegal. This communication shares the results from field work experiences from ARTiticc's interdisciplinary approach to identifying the needs, values, and representations of the world of the communities, and how to fit these elements into mainstream sciences in order to bridge gaps between communities and research efforts and by doing so, determine the optimal adaptation strategies through which to engage global changes.

Building a Culture of Health Informatics Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A New Frontier.

PubMed

Househ, Mowafa; Alshammari, Riyad; Almutairi, Mariam; Jamal, Amr; Alshoaib, Saleh

2015-01-01

Entrepreneurship and innovation within the health informatics (HI) scientific community are relatively sluggish when compared to other disciplines such as computer science and engineering. Healthcare in general, and specifically, the health informatics scientific community needs to embrace more innovative and entrepreneurial practices. In this paper, we explore the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship as they apply to the health informatics scientific community. We also outline several strategies to improve the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the health informatics scientific community such as: (I) incorporating innovation and entrepreneurship in health informatics education; (II) creating strong linkages with industry and healthcare organizations; (III) supporting national health innovation and entrepreneurship competitions; (IV) creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within healthcare organizations; (V) developing health informatics policies that support innovation and entrepreneurship based on internationally recognized standards; and (VI) develop an health informatics entrepreneurship ecosystem. With these changes, we conclude that embracing health innovation and entrepreneurship may be more readily accepted over the long-term within the health informatics scientific community.

Institutionalization of community action projects to reduce alcohol-use related problems: systematic facilitators.

PubMed

Holder, H D; Moore, R S

2000-01-01

This article reviews papers from a recent conference on community action research in order to identify factors that contribute to long-term maintenance, sustainability, or institutionalization of community project interventions. The descriptions of long-term outcomes and aftereffects of projects that emerged in the conference are valuable because relatively few instances of institutionalization have been documented in the scientific literature. After a general theoretical discussion of institutionalization in communities, the article identifies characteristics of successful community action programs that outlived their original funding. These characteristics include honoring community values and cultural relevance, cultivating key leader support, and utilizing indigenous staff. They also include developing local resources, maintaining flexibility, and leveraging prior success. The paper concludes by noting that aiming for policy and structural changes is a goal for an institutionalization of measures positively affecting desired health outcomes, even if the programs which created them are not themselves sustained.

Model Representation of Secondary Organic Aerosol in CMAQ v4.7

EPA Science Inventory

Numerous scientific upgrades to the representation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are incorporated into the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Additions include several recently identified SOA precursors: benzene, isoprene, and sesquiterpenes; and pathwa...

A plea for a global natural history collection - online

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Species are the currency of comparative biology: scientists from many biological disciplines, including community ecology, conservation biology, pest management, and biological control rely on scientifically sound, objective species data. However, large-scale species identifications are often not fe...

Information sources in science and technology in Finland

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haarala, Arja-Riitta

1994-01-01

Finland poses some problems to be overcome in the field of scientific and technical information: a small user community which makes domestic systems costly; great distances within the country between users and suppliers of information; great distances to international data systems and large libraries abroad; and inadequate collections of scientific and technical information. The national bibliography Fennica includes all books and journals published in Finland. Data base services available in Finland include: reference data bases in science and technology; data banks for decision making such as statistical time series or legal proceedings; national bibliographies; and library catalogs.

Coproduction of Research Questions and Research Evidence in Public Health: The Study to Prevent Teen Drinking Parties

PubMed Central

Wagoner, Kimberly G.; Rhodes, Scott D.; Egan, Kathleen L.; Sparks, Michael; Ellerbee, Dylan; Song, Eunyoung Y.; Debinski, Beata; Terrillion, Albert; Vining, Judi; Yang, Evelyn

2017-01-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides a set of principles and practices intended to foster coproduction of knowledge. However, CBPR often has shortcomings when applied to population-level policy and practice interventions, including a focus on single communities and a lack of focus on policy change. At the same time, community trials focused on policy have shortcomings, including lack of stakeholder involvement in framing research questions and modest engagement in study implementation and interpretation and dissemination of results. We describe an attempt to hybridize CBPR and community trials by creating a partnership that included a national membership organization, a coalition advisory board, intervention and delayed intervention communities, and an academic study team, which collaborated on a study of community strategies to prevent underage drinking parties. We use qualitative and quantitative data to critically assess the partnership. Areas where the partnership was effective included (1) identifying a research question with high public health significance, (2) enhancing the intervention, and (3) improving research methods. Challenges included community coalition representatives' greater focus on their own communities rather than the production of broader scientific knowledge. This model can be applied in future attempts to narrow the gap between research, policy, and practice. PMID:28695128

Research partnerships with local communities: two case studies from Papua New Guinea and Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almany, G. R.; Hamilton, R. J.; Williamson, D. H.; Evans, R. D.; Jones, G. P.; Matawai, M.; Potuku, T.; Rhodes, K. L.; Russ, G. R.; Sawynok, B.

2010-09-01

Partnerships between scientists and local communities can increase research capacity and data delivery while improving management effectiveness through enhanced community participation. To encourage such collaboration, this study demonstrates how these partnerships can be formed, drawing on two case studies in coral reef ecosystems in very different social settings (Papua New Guinea and Australia). In each case, steps towards successfully engaging communities in research were similar. These included: (1) early engagement by collaborating organizations to build trust, (2) ensuring scientific questions have direct relevance to the community, (3) providing appropriate incentives for participation, and (4) clear and open communication. Community participants engaged in a variety of research activities, including locating and capturing fishes, collecting and recording data (weight, length and sex), applying external tags, and removing otoliths (ear bones) for ageing and elemental analysis. Research partnerships with communities enhanced research capacity, reduced costs and, perhaps more importantly, improved the likelihood of long-term community support for marine protected areas (MPAs).

Research as Art: Using figures to make science approachable

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rabinowitz, H. S.; Barth, A.; Russell, J. B.; Frischkorn, K.; Yehudai, M.

2017-12-01

As scientists, we spend a significant amount of time thinking about how best to express the results of our research through figures. These can range from graphs to microscope images to movies, but they all serve the purpose of communicating complicated ideas to our colleagues in the scientific community. One component of scientific data representation that is often overlooked is the aesthetic of the image. Many images produced for data communication and publication are visually engaging even to a lay audience, allowing them to serve as a point of entry to learning about scientific research for the non-specialist. To help researchers embrace this secondary goal of scientific figures, we have instituted an annual event at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University (LDEO) called Research as Art. For this event, scientists submit figures from their work that they see as artistic. These figures are displayed in a gallery-type exhibit for the community to appreciate. This year, the exhibit included movie and sculpture categories, allowing for attendees to interact with a broader range of scientific work. Each piece is accompanied by a brief, non-technical caption. Research as Art provides a gateway for scientists from a broad range of disciplines within the Earth Sciences to learn about work that is entirely unrelated to their own. After the event, attendees commented that they had never before thought about how a non-specialist would view their figures and that they would keep this in mind when making future figures. Thus, one of the biggest benefits of exhibits such as this is to teach scientists to view our work through a non-specialist's eyes. However, future plans for Research as Art include establishing a temporary exhibit at a local bar to expand the reach to a broader segment of the Columbia University area community. Our figures are art, and when we start to treat them that way, we open a world of possibilities for teaching the public about our research.

Integrated Exoplanet Modeling with the GSFC Exoplanet Modeling & Analysis Center (EMAC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mandell, Avi M.; Hostetter, Carl; Pulkkinen, Antti; Domagal-Goldman, Shawn David

2018-01-01

Our ability to characterize the atmospheres of extrasolar planets will be revolutionized by JWST, WFIRST and future ground- and space-based telescopes. In preparation, the exoplanet community must develop an integrated suite of tools with which we can comprehensively predict and analyze observations of exoplanets, in order to characterize the planetary environments and ultimately search them for signs of habitability and life.The GSFC Exoplanet Modeling and Analysis Center (EMAC) will be a web-accessible high-performance computing platform with science support for modelers and software developers to host and integrate their scientific software tools, with the goal of leveraging the scientific contributions from the entire exoplanet community to improve our interpretations of future exoplanet discoveries. Our suite of models will include stellar models, models for star-planet interactions, atmospheric models, planet system science models, telescope models, instrument models, and finally models for retrieving signals from observational data. By integrating this suite of models, the community will be able to self-consistently calculate the emergent spectra from the planet whether from emission, scattering, or in transmission, and use these simulations to model the performance of current and new telescopes and their instrumentation.The EMAC infrastructure will not only provide a repository for planetary and exoplanetary community models, modeling tools and intermodal comparisons, but it will include a "run-on-demand" portal with each software tool hosted on a separate virtual machine. The EMAC system will eventually include a means of running or “checking in” new model simulations that are in accordance with the community-derived standards. Additionally, the results of intermodal comparisons will be used to produce open source publications that quantify the model comparisons and provide an overview of community consensus on model uncertainties on the climates of various planetary targets.

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook: A collaboration between scientific and Indigenous communities to support safety and food security in a changing Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheffield Guy, L.; Wiggins, H. V.; Schreck, M. B.; Metcalf, V. K.

2017-12-01

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO) provides Alaskan Native subsistence walrus hunters and Bering Strait coastal communities with weekly reports on spring sea ice and weather conditions to promote hunter safety, food security, and preservation of cultural heritage. These reports integrate scientific and Indigenous knowledge into a co-produced tool that is used by both local and scientific communities. SIWO is a team effort led by the Arctic Research Consortium of the U.S. (ARCUS, with funding from NSF Arctic Sciences Section), with the Eskimo Walrus Commission, National Weather Service - Alaska Sea Ice Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks - International Arctic Research Center, and local observers. For each weekly outlook, the National Weather Service provides location-specific weather and sea ice forecasts and regional satellite imagery. Local observations of sea ice, weather, and hunting conditions are provided by observers from five Alaskan communities in the Bering Strait region: Wales, Shishmaref, Nome, Gambell, and Savoonga. These observations typically include a written description of conditions accompanied by photographs of sea ice or subsistence activities. Outlooks are easily accessible and provide a platform for sharing of knowledge among hunters in neighboring communities. The opportunity to contribute is open, and Indigenous language and terms are encouraged. These observations from local hunters and community members also provide a valuable tool for validation of weather forecasts, satellite products, and other information for scientists. This presentation will discuss the process, products, and mutually beneficial outcomes of the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook.

Social Network and Content Analysis of the North American Carbon Program as a Scientific Community of Practice

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Molly E.; Ihli, Monica; Hendrick, Oscar; Delgado-Arias, Sabrina; Escobar, Vanessa M.; Griffith, Peter

2015-01-01

The North American Carbon Program (NACP) was formed to further the scientific understanding of sources, sinks, and stocks of carbon in Earth's environment. Carbon cycle science integrates multidisciplinary research, providing decision-support information for managing climate and carbon-related change across multiple sectors of society. This investigation uses the conceptual framework of com-munities of practice (CoP) to explore the role that the NACP has played in connecting researchers into a carbon cycle knowledge network, and in enabling them to conduct physical science that includes ideas from social science. A CoP describes the communities formed when people consistently engage in shared communication and activities toward a common passion or learning goal. We apply the CoP model by using keyword analysis of abstracts from scientific publications to analyze the research outputs of the NACP in terms of its knowledge domain. We also construct a co-authorship network from the publications of core NACP members, describe the structure and social pathways within the community. Results of the content analysis indicate that the NACP community of practice has substantially expanded its research on human and social impacts on the carbon cycle, contributing to a better understanding of how human and physical processes interact with one another. Results of the co-authorship social network analysis demonstrate that the NACP has formed a tightly connected community with many social pathways through which knowledge may flow, and that it has also expanded its network of institutions involved in carbon cycle research over the past seven years.

A Systematic Review of Community Interventions to Improve Aboriginal Child Passenger Safety

PubMed Central

Oudie, Eugenia; Desapriya, Ediriweera; Turcotte, Kate; Pike, Ian

2014-01-01

We evaluated evidence of community interventions to improve Aboriginal child passenger safety (CPS) in terms of its scientific merit and cultural relevance. We included studies if they reported interventions to improve CPS in Aboriginal communities, compared at least pre- and postintervention conditions, and evaluated rates and severity of child passenger injuries, child restraint use, or knowledge of CPS. We also appraised quality and cultural relevance of studies. Study quality was associated with community participation and cultural relevance. Strong evidence showed that multicomponent interventions tailored to each community improves CPS. Interventions in Aboriginal communities should incorporate Aboriginal views of health, involve the community, and be multicomponent and tailored to the community’s circumstances and culture. PMID:24754652

Development of a data reduction expert assistant

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Glenn E.

1994-01-01

This report documents the development and deployment of the Data Reduction Expert Assistant (DRACO). The system was successfully applied to two astronomical research projects. The first was the removal of cosmic ray artifacts from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera data. The second was the reduction and calibration of low-dispersion CCD spectra taken from a ground-based telescope. This has validated our basic approach and demonstrated the applicability of this technology. This work has been made available to the scientific community in two ways. First, we have published the work in the scientific literature and presented papers at relevant conferences. Secondly, we have made the entire system (including documentation and source code) available to the community via the World Wide Web.

Stop, Collaborate, and Listen: Lessons Learned from Collaborating with a Houston Environmental Justice Organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, C.; Arellano, Y.; Phartiyal, P.

2016-12-01

Scientists are increasingly showing interest in conducting research at the community level, yet community groups often struggle with lack of access to scientific information. Collaborations between the two are mutually beneficial: scientists can include assessment of societal implications in their research, and community-specific scientific evidence can be used by local groups to inform public decisions that benefit community interests. Recognizing the need for and utility of such partnerships, the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science-based policy and advocacy organization, partnered with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS), an environmental justice organization based in Manchester in Houston, to provide the technical support and resources needed to strengthen TEJAS' advocacy work. Working closely with TEJAS, we connected community members with local experts, developed educational products to inform community members about environmental health risks in their neighborhoods, published a report highlighting chemical safety issues in the community, and assisted in constructing a community survey to assess residents' health concerns. The products were created with the intention of raising the profile of these issues with local government and regional EPA officials. This talk will discuss the projects done in collaboration with TEJAS, as well as important lessons learned that offer insight into best practices for other organizations and technical experts to partner with community groups on local projects.

Scientific Research for Integrated Solutions to Community Challenges: The Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udu-gama, N.; Pandya, R.

2015-12-01

There is tremendous unmet and sometimes unrealized need for Earth and space science (ESS) expertise as part of civic decisions and local planning for climate change, natural hazards and natural resources. The Thriving Earth Exchange (TEX) helps AGU contribute that expertise to humanity in respectful, integrated ways. TEX brings ESS scientists together with local communities tackling issues of climate change, natural hazards and natural resources to co-design solutions that equitably integrate both scientific and community knowledge. To achieve this ambitious goal, TEX is partnering with organizations that are respected by and knowledgeable about communities both in the United States and internationally. Such partnerships include Rockefeller's 100 Resilient Cities Initiative, ICLEI USA, MIT's Climate Colab, among others. TEX works with these partners to approach communities who are ready to or already addressing ESS related issues. With partners, we help the communities define their goals, develop specific projects, and connect with relevant and helpful ESS scientists. We will also show how we help scientists and community leaders work productively together, and the tools we bring to support their innovation. It will highlight international examples, such as in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan-Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia, and provide concrete examples of how these initiatives are helping TEX further expand the frontiers of collaborative research.

Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waits, J. E. Turner (Compiler)

2001-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 2000. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Private Sector Engagement: An Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benjamin, G.

2016-12-01

Public health organizations serve as scientific societies as a major part of their core mission. In addition, mobilizing partners to identify health threats and to work collaboratively to improve community health involves engagement of a variety of partners including those in the private sector. Increased concerns about conflicts of interest, transparency and undue influence are emerging as a major concern. This presentation will explore one framework for decision making to minimize risks and enhancing independence in scientific inquiry and public health programming.

Cognitive Foundations for Visual Analytics

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

Greitzer, Frank L.; Noonan, Christine F.; Franklin, Lyndsey

In this report, we provide an overview of scientific/technical literature on information visualization and VA. Topics discussed include an update and overview of the extensive literature search conducted for this study, the nature and purpose of the field, major research thrusts, and scientific foundations. We review methodologies for evaluating and measuring the impact of VA technologies as well as taxonomies that have been proposed for various purposes to support the VA community. A cognitive science perspective underlies each of these discussions.

FY 1998 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waits, J. E. Turner (Compiler)

1999-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center) personnel in FY98. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, J. E. (Compiler)

2000-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY99. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. All of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), 7121 Standard Drive, Hanover, MD 21076-1320 The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Detecting and analyzing research communities in longitudinal scientific networks.

PubMed

Leone Sciabolazza, Valerio; Vacca, Raffaele; Kennelly Okraku, Therese; McCarty, Christopher

2017-01-01

A growing body of evidence shows that collaborative teams and communities tend to produce the highest-impact scientific work. This paper proposes a new method to (1) Identify collaborative communities in longitudinal scientific networks, and (2) Evaluate the impact of specific research institutes, services or policies on the interdisciplinary collaboration between these communities. First, we apply community-detection algorithms to cross-sectional scientific collaboration networks and analyze different types of co-membership in the resulting subgroups over time. This analysis summarizes large amounts of longitudinal network data to extract sets of research communities whose members have consistently collaborated or shared collaborators over time. Second, we construct networks of cross-community interactions and estimate Exponential Random Graph Models to predict the formation of interdisciplinary collaborations between different communities. The method is applied to longitudinal data on publication and grant collaborations at the University of Florida. Results show that similar institutional affiliation, spatial proximity, transitivity effects, and use of the same research services predict higher degree of interdisciplinary collaboration between research communities. Our application also illustrates how the identification of research communities in longitudinal data and the analysis of cross-community network formation can be used to measure the growth of interdisciplinary team science at a research university, and to evaluate its association with research policies, services or institutes.

Detecting and analyzing research communities in longitudinal scientific networks

PubMed Central

Vacca, Raffaele; Kennelly Okraku, Therese; McCarty, Christopher

2017-01-01

A growing body of evidence shows that collaborative teams and communities tend to produce the highest-impact scientific work. This paper proposes a new method to (1) Identify collaborative communities in longitudinal scientific networks, and (2) Evaluate the impact of specific research institutes, services or policies on the interdisciplinary collaboration between these communities. First, we apply community-detection algorithms to cross-sectional scientific collaboration networks and analyze different types of co-membership in the resulting subgroups over time. This analysis summarizes large amounts of longitudinal network data to extract sets of research communities whose members have consistently collaborated or shared collaborators over time. Second, we construct networks of cross-community interactions and estimate Exponential Random Graph Models to predict the formation of interdisciplinary collaborations between different communities. The method is applied to longitudinal data on publication and grant collaborations at the University of Florida. Results show that similar institutional affiliation, spatial proximity, transitivity effects, and use of the same research services predict higher degree of interdisciplinary collaboration between research communities. Our application also illustrates how the identification of research communities in longitudinal data and the analysis of cross-community network formation can be used to measure the growth of interdisciplinary team science at a research university, and to evaluate its association with research policies, services or institutes. PMID:28797047

Recontextualization of Science from Lab to School: Implications for Science Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sharma, Ajay; Anderson, Charles W.

2009-01-01

Scientists' science differs remarkably from school science. In order to be taught to students, science is recontextualized from scientific research communities to science classrooms. This paper examines scientific discourse in scientific research communities, and discusses its transformation from an internally-persuasive and authoritative…

Space Weather - Current Capabilities, Future Requirements, and the Path to Improved Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Ian

2016-07-01

We present an overview of Space Weather activities and future opportunities including assessments of current status and capabilities, knowledge gaps, and future directions in relation to both observations and modeling. The review includes input from the scientific community including from SCOSTEP scientific discipline representatives (SDRs), COSPAR Main Scientific Organizers (MSOs), and SCOSTEP/VarSITI leaders. The presentation also draws on results from the recent activities related to the production of the COSPAR-ILWS Space Weather Roadmap "Understanding Space Weather to Shield Society" [Schrijver et al., Advances in Space Research 55, 2745 (2015) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2015.03.023], from the activities related to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) actions in relation to the Long-term Sustainability of Outer Space (LTS), and most recently from the newly formed and ongoing efforts of the UN COPUOS Expert Group on Space Weather.

EVER-EST: a virtual research environment for Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marelli, Fulvio; Albani, Mirko; Glaves, Helen

2016-04-01

There is an increasing requirement for researchers to work collaboratively using common resources whilst being geographically dispersed. By creating a virtual research environment (VRE) using a service oriented architecture (SOA) tailored to the needs of Earth Science (ES) communities, the EVEREST project will provide a range of both generic and domain specific data management services to support a dynamic approach to collaborative research. EVER-EST will provide the means to overcome existing barriers to sharing of Earth Science data and information allowing research teams to discover, access, share and process heterogeneous data, algorithms, results and experiences within and across their communities, including those domains beyond Earth Science. Researchers will be able to seamlessly manage both the data involved in their computationally intensive disciplines and the scientific methods applied in their observations and modelling, which lead to the specific results that need to be attributable, validated and shared both within the community and more widely e.g. in the form of scholarly communications. Central to the EVEREST approach is the concept of the Research Object (RO) , which provides a semantically rich mechanism to aggregate related resources about a scientific investigation so that they can be shared together using a single unique identifier. Although several e-laboratories are incorporating the research object concept in their infrastructure, the EVER-EST VRE will be the first infrastructure to leverage the concept of Research Objects and their application in observational rather than experimental disciplines. Development of the EVEREST VRE will leverage the results of several previous projects which have produced state-of-the-art technologies for scientific data management and curation as well those which have developed models, techniques and tools for the preservation of scientific methods and their implementation in computational forms such as scientific workflows. The EVER-EST data processing infrastructure will be based on a Cloud Computing approach, in which new applications can be integrated using "virtual machines" that have their own specifications (disk size, processor speed, operating system etc.) and run on shared private (physical deployment over local hardware) or commercial Cloud infrastructures. The EVER-EST e-infrastructure will be validated by four virtual research communities (VRC) covering different multidisciplinary Earth Science domains including: ocean monitoring, natural hazards, land monitoring and risk management (volcanoes and seismicity). Each VRC will use the virtual research environment according to its own specific requirements for data, software, best practice and community engagement. This user-centric approach will allow an assessment to be made of the capability for the proposed solution to satisfy the heterogeneous needs of a variety of Earth Science communities for more effective collaboration, and higher efficiency and creativity in research. EVER-EST is funded by the European Commission's H2020 for three years starting in October 2015. The project is led by the European Space Agency (ESA), involves some of the major European Earth Science data providers/users including NERC, DLR, INGV, CNR and SatCEN.

Transformed Science: Overcoming Barriers of Inequality and Mistrust to Pursue the Agenda of Underrepresented Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyons, Renee

Educational programs created to provide opportunities for all, in reality often reflect social inequalities. Such is the case for Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) Projects. PPSR projects have been proposed as an effective way to engage more diverse audiences in science, yet the demographics of PPSR participants do not correspond with the demographic makeup of the United States. The field of PPSR as a whole has struggled to recruit low SES and underrepresented populations to participate in project research efforts. This research study explores factors, which may be affecting an underrepresented community's willingness to engage in scientific research and provides advice from PPSR project leaders in the field, who have been able to engage underrepresented communities in scientific research, on how to overcome these barriers. Finally the study investigates the theoretical construct of a Third Space within a PPSR project. The research-based recommendations for PPSR projects desiring to initiate and sustain research partnerships with underrepresented communities well align with the theoretical construct of a Third Space. This study examines a specific scientific research partnership between an underrepresented community and scientific researchers to examine if and to what extent a Third Space was created. Using qualitative methods to understand interactions and processes involved in initiating and sustaining a scientific research partnership, this study provides advice on how PPSR research partnerships can engage underrepresented communities in scientific research. Study results show inequality and mistrust of powerful institutions stood as participation barriers for underrepresented community members. Despite these barriers PPSR project leaders recommend barriers can be confronted by open dialogue with communities about the abuse and alienation they have faced, by signaling respect for the community, and by entering the community through someone the community already trusts. Finally although many of the principles of a Third Space well align with the larger level of activity, which existed in the PPSR project examined in this study, study findings challenge others to critically examine assumptions behind the idea of a Third Space in PPSR and urge other PPSR project leaders towards a transformed view of science.

Getting the Most out of Electrophoresis Units

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mulvihill, Charlotte

2007-01-01

At Oklahoma City Community College, they have developed gel electrophoresis activities that support active learning of many scientific concepts, including: pH, electrolysis, oxidation reduction, electrical currents, potentials, conductivity, molarity, gel electrophoresis, DNA and protein separation, and DNA fingerprinting. This article presents…

Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies 2011 Annual Report

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

Sanders, Antonya

We are pleased to share with you this 2011 edition of the Annual Report from the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) and the growing excitement we feel around cementing our brand as a leader in integration nanoscience. This can be seen most readily in the momentum we have achieved in our signature Integration Focus Activities (IFAs). These efforts unite our scientists across our four scientific Thrust areas with our users to concentrate research on larger-scale nanoscience integration challenges for specific classes of nanomaterials, systems, and phenomena. All three of our current IFAs (p. 10) now have a full head ofmore » steam, and nearly 30% of our current user projects map in some meaningful way to one of these IFAs. As part of our redoubled effort to increase our industrial user base, we are also looking to leverage these IFAs to build a stronger link to and spur recruitment within our industrial user community. We believe that the IFAs are a natural community-building tool with an intrinsic value proposition for industry; an R&D pipeline that can lead to more mature, more commercially well-positioned technologies. Finally, as nanoscience and nanotechnology are maturing, we as a research community are beginning to see our efforts extend in many exciting new directions. Our focus on nanoscience integration positions us very well to capitalize on new opportunities including the emerging Mesoscale Initiative within the DOE Office of Science. Many aspects of mesoscale science are embodied in the integration of nanoscale building blocks. We are equally proud of our continuing strong performance in support of our user program. We have fully transitioned to our new user proposal database providing enhanced convenience and flexibility for proposal submission and review. In our two regular proposal calls this year we received a total of 225 proposals, an increase of 10% over our 2010 performance. Our official count on number of users for the period remains at {approx}350 and continues to reflect full engagement of our scientific staff. We are also seeing a steady increase in our industrial user base, with the number of industrial proposals (including Rapid Access proposals) doubling in 2011. We attribute this in part of our outreach efforts including our focused industrial session in each of our past two annual User Conferences. The Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) operating as a national user facility devoted to establishing the scientific principles that govern the design, performance, and integration of nanoscale materials. Jointly operated by Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, CINT explores the continuum from scientific discovery to use-inspired research, with a focus on the integration of nanoscale materials and structures to achieve new properties and performance and their incorporation into the micro- and macro worlds. Through its Core Facility at Sandia National Laboratories and its Gateway Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, CINT provides open access to tools and expertise needed to explore the continuum from scientific discovery to the integration of nanostructures into the micro- and macro worlds. In its overall operations, CINT strives to achieve the following goals common to all Nanoscale Science Research Centers: (1) Conduct forefront research in nanoscale science; (2) Operate as a user facility for scientific research; (3) Provide user access to the relevant BES-supported expertise and capabilities at the host national laboratory; and (4) Leverage other relevant national laboratory capabilities to enhance scientific opportunities for the nanoscience user community. These additional goals are specific to the unique CINT mission: (5) Establish and lead a scientific community dedicated to solving nanoscale science integration challenges; and (6) Create a single user facility program that combines expertise and facilities at both Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories. The CINT user program provides the international scientific community with open access to world-class scientific staff and state-of-the-art facilities for theory and simulation, nanomaterials synthesis and characterization, and unique capabilities for nanoscale materials integration, from the level of nanoscale synthesis to the fabrication of micro- and macroscale structures and devices. The staff of CINT includes laboratory scientists, postdocs and technical support staff who are leaders in the nanoscience research programs in CINT scientific thrust areas: (1) Nanoscale Electronics and Mechanics, (2) Nanophotonics and Optical Nanomaterials, (3) Soft, Biological and Composite Nanomaterials, and (4) Theory and Simulation of Nanoscale Phenomena.« less

Design and Construction for Community Health Service Precision Fund Appropriation System Based on Performance Management.

PubMed

Gao, Xing; He, Yao; Hu, Hongpu

2017-01-01

Allowing for the differences in economy development, informatization degree and characteristic of population served and so on among different community health service organizations, community health service precision fund appropriation system based on performance management is designed, which can provide support for the government to appropriate financial funds scientifically and rationally for primary care. The system has the characteristic of flexibility and practicability, in which there are five subsystems including data acquisition, parameter setting, fund appropriation, statistical analysis system and user management.

Dealing with scientific integrity issues: the Spanish experience.

PubMed

Puigdomènech, Pere

2014-02-01

Integrity has been an important matter of concern for the scientific community as it affects the basis of its activities. Most countries having a significant scientific activity have dealt with this problem by different means, including drafting specific legal or soft law regulations and the appointment of stable or ad hoc committees that take care of these questions. This has also been the case in Spain. After the period of transition between dictatorship to a democratic regime, and, particularly, after the entrance in the European Union, scientific activity has increased in the country. As it could be expected, problems of misconduct have appeared and different institutions have been dealing with these matters. One of the best examples is that of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the largest institution devoted to scientific research belonging to the Spanish Government. The experience of the CSIC’s Ethics Committee in dealing with conflicts related to scientific practices is discussed here.

EVEREST: a virtual research environment for the Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Glaves, H. M.; Marelli, F.; Albani, M.

2015-12-01

There is an increasing requirement for researchers to work collaboratively using common resources whilst being geographically dispersed. By creating a virtual research environment (VRE) using a service oriented architecture (SOA) tailored to the needs of Earth Science (ES) communities, the EVEREST project will provide a range of both generic and domain specific data management services to support a dynamic approach to collaborative research. EVER-EST will provide the means to overcome existing barriers to sharing of Earth Science data and information allowing research teams to discover, access, share and process heterogeneous data, algorithms, results and experiences within and across their communities, including those domains beyond Earth Science. Data providers will be also able to monitor user experiences and collect feedback through the VRE, improving their capacity to adapt to the changing requirements of their end-users. The EVER-EST e-infrastructure will be validated by four virtual research communities (VRC) covering different multidisciplinary ES domains: including ocean monitoring, selected natural hazards (flooding, ground instability and extreme weather events), land monitoring and risk management (volcanoes and seismicity). Each of the VRC represents a different collaborative use case for the VRE according to its own specific requirements for data, software, best practice and community engagement. The diverse use cases will demonstrate how the VRE can be used for a range of activities from straight forward data/software sharing to investigating ways to improve cooperative working. Development of the EVEREST VRE will leverage on the results of several previous projects which have produced state-of-the-art technologies for scientific data management and curation as well those initiatives which have developed models, techniques and tools for the preservation of scientific methods and their implementation in computational forms such as scientific workflows.

Golden rice: scientific, regulatory and public information processes of a genetically modified organism.

PubMed

Moghissi, A Alan; Pei, Shiqian; Liu, Yinzuo

2016-01-01

Historically, agricultural development evolved in three phases. During the first phase the plants were selected on the basis of the availability of a plant with desirable properties at a specific location. The second phase provided the agricultural community with crossbreeding plants to achieve improvement in agricultural production. The evolution of biological knowledge has provided the ability to genetically engineer (GE) crops, one of the key processes within genetically modified organisms (GMO). This article uses golden rice, a species of transgenic Asian rice which contains a precursor of vitamin A in the edible part of the plant as an example of GE/GMO emphasizing Chinese experience in agricultural evolution. It includes a brief review of agricultural evolution to be followed by a description of golden rice development. Golden rice was created as a humanitarian project and has received positive comments by the scientific community and negative voices from certain environmental groups. In this article, we use the Best Available Science (BAS) Concept and Metrics for Evaluation of Scientific Claims (MESC) derived from it to evaluate claims and counter claims on scientific aspects of golden rice. This article concludes that opposition to golden rice is based on belief rather than any of its scientifically derived nutritional, safety or environmental properties.

Biomedical Impact in Implantable Devices-The Transcatheter Aortic Valve as an example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anastasiou, Alexandros; Saatsakis, George

2015-09-01

Objective: To update of the scientific community about the biomedical engineering involvement in the implantable devices chain. Moreover the transcatheter Aortic Valve (TAV) replacement, in the field of cardiac surgery, will be analyzed as an example of contemporary implantable technology. Methods: A detailed literature review regarding biomedical engineers participating in the implantable medical product chain, starting from the design of the product till the final implantation technique. Results: The scientific role of biomedical engineers has clearly been established. Certain parts of the product chain are implemented almost exclusively by experienced biomedical engineers such as the transcatheter aortic valve device. The successful professional should have a multidisciplinary knowledge, including medicine, in order to pursue the challenges for such intuitive technology. This clearly indicates that biomedical engineers are among the most appropriate scientists to accomplish such tasks. Conclusions: The biomedical engineering involvement in medical implantable devices has been widely accepted by the scientific community, worldwide. Its important contribution, starting from the design and extended to the development, clinical trials, scientific support, education of other scientists (surgeons, cardiologists, technicians etc.), and even to sales, makes biomedical engineers a valuable player in the scientific arena. Notably, the sector of implantable devices is constantly raising, as emerging technologies continuously set up new targets.

Bringing Planetary Data into Learning Environments: A Community Effort

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shipp, S.; Higbie, M.; Lowes, L.

2005-12-01

Recognizing the need to communicate scientific findings, and the power of using real planetary data in educational settings to engage students in Earth and space science in meaningful ways, the South Central Organization of Researchers and Educators and the Solar System Exploration Education Forum, part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Support Network, have established the Planetary Data in Education (PDE) Initiative. The Initiative strives to: 1) Establish a collaborative community of educators, education specialists, curriculum developers, tool developers, learning technologists, scientists, and data providers to design and develop educationally appropriate products; 2) Build awareness in the broader educational and scientific community of existing programs, products, and resources; 3) Address issues hindering the effective use of planetary data in formal and informal educational settings; and 4) Encourage partnerships that leverage the community's expertise The PDE community has hosted two conferences exploring issues in using data in educational settings. The community recognizes that data are available through venues such as the Planetary Data Systems (PDS), but not in a format that the end-user in a formal or informal educational setting can digest; these data are intended for the scientific audience. Development of meaningful educational programs using planetary data requires design of appropriate learner interfaces and involvement of data providers, product developers, learning technologists, scientists, and educators. The PDE community will participate in the development of Earth Exploration Toolbooks during the DLESE Data Services Workshop and will host a workshop in the summer of 2006 to bring together small groups of educators, data providers, and learning technologists, and scientists to design and develop products that bring planetary data into educational settings. In addition, the PDE community hosts a Web site that presents elements identified as needed by the community, including examples of planetary data use in education, recommendations for program development, links to data providers, opportunities for collaboration, pertinent research, and a Web portal to access educational resources using planetary data on the DLESE Web site.

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database: An International Community-Curated Resource for Paleoecological and Paleoenvironmental Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, J. W.; Grimm, E. C.; Ashworth, A. C.; Blois, J.; Charles, D. F.; Crawford, S.; Davis, E.; Goring, S. J.; Graham, R. W.; Miller, D. A.; Smith, A. J.; Stryker, M.; Uhen, M. D.

2017-12-01

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database supports global change research at the intersection of geology and ecology by providing a high-quality, community-curated data repository for paleoecological data. These data are widely used to study biological responses and feedbacks to past environmental change at local to global scales. The Neotoma data model is flexible and can store multiple kinds of fossil, biogeochemical, or physical variables measured from sedimentary archives. Data additions to Neotoma are growing and include >3.5 million observations, >16,000 datasets, and >8,500 sites. Dataset types include fossil pollen, vertebrates, diatoms, ostracodes, macroinvertebrates, plant macrofossils, insects, testate amoebae, geochronological data, and the recently added organic biomarkers, stable isotopes, and specimen-level data. Neotoma data can be found and retrieved in multiple ways, including the Explorer map-based interface, a RESTful Application Programming Interface, the neotoma R package, and digital object identifiers. Neotoma has partnered with the Paleobiology Database to produce a common data portal for paleobiological data, called the Earth Life Consortium. A new embargo management is designed to allow investigators to put their data into Neotoma and then make use of Neotoma's value-added services. Neotoma's distributed scientific governance model is flexible and scalable, with many open pathways for welcoming new members, data contributors, stewards, and research communities. As the volume and variety of scientific data grow, community-curated data resources such as Neotoma have become foundational infrastructure for big data science.

Generating community-built tools for data sharing and analysis in environmental networks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Read, Jordan S.; Gries, Corinna; Read, Emily K.; Klug, Jennifer; Hanson, Paul C.; Hipsey, Matthew R.; Jennings, Eleanor; O'Reilley, Catherine; Winslow, Luke A.; Pierson, Don; McBride, Christopher G.; Hamilton, David

2016-01-01

Rapid data growth in many environmental sectors has necessitated tools to manage and analyze these data. The development of tools often lags behind the proliferation of data, however, which may slow exploratory opportunities and scientific progress. The Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) collaborative model supports an efficient and comprehensive data–analysis–insight life cycle, including implementations of data quality control checks, statistical calculations/derivations, models, and data visualizations. These tools are community-built and openly shared. We discuss the network structure that enables tool development and a culture of sharing, leading to optimized output from limited resources. Specifically, data sharing and a flat collaborative structure encourage the development of tools that enable scientific insights from these data. Here we provide a cross-section of scientific advances derived from global-scale analyses in GLEON. We document enhancements to science capabilities made possible by the development of analytical tools and highlight opportunities to expand this framework to benefit other environmental networks.

Scientific Infrastructure to Support Atmospheric Science and Aerosol Science for the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Programs at Barrow, Alaska.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lucero, D. A.; Ivey, M.; Helsel, F.; Hardesty, J.; Dexheimer, D.

2015-12-01

Scientific infrastructure to support atmospheric science and aerosol science for the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement programs at Barrow, Alaska.The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's located at Barrow, Alaska is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site. The site provides a scientific infrastructure and data archives for the international Arctic research community. The infrastructure at Barrow has been in place since 1998, with many improvements since then. Barrow instruments include: scanning precipitation Radar-cloud radar, Doppler Lidar, Eddy correlation flux systems, Ceilometer, Manual and state-of-art automatic Balloon sounding systems, Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), Micro-pulse Lidar (MPL), Millimeter cloud radar, High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) along with all the standard metrological measurements. Data from these instruments is placed in the ARM data archives and are available to the international research community. This poster will discuss what instruments are at Barrow and the challenges of maintaining these instruments in an Arctic site.

DC-8 Airborne Laboratory in flight during research mission - view from above

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

The DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratroy is shown flying above a solid layer of clouds. The aircraft was transferred from the Ames Research Center to the Dryden Flight Research Center in late 1997. Over the past several years, it has undertaken a wide range of research in such fields as archeology, ecology, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, and other fields. In this photo, it is shown flying over a bank of clouds. NASA is using a DC-8 aircraft as a flying science laboratory. The platform aircraft, based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., collects data for many experiments in support of scientific projects serving the world scientific community. Included in this community are NASA, federal, state, academic and foreign investigators. Data gathered by the DC-8 at flight altitude and by remote sensing have been used for scientific studies in archeology, ecology, geography, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, volcanology, atmospheric chemistry, soil science and biology.

The EPA's human exposure research program for assessing cumulative risk in communities.

PubMed

Zartarian, Valerie G; Schultz, Bradley D

2010-06-01

Communities are faced with challenges in identifying and prioritizing environmental issues, taking actions to reduce their exposures, and determining their effectiveness for reducing human health risks. Additional challenges include determining what scientific tools are available and most relevant, and understanding how to use those tools; given these barriers, community groups tend to rely more on risk perception than science. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and collaborators are developing and applying tools (models, data, methods) for enhancing cumulative risk assessments. The NERL's "Cumulative Communities Research Program" focuses on key science questions: (1) How to systematically identify and prioritize key chemical stressors within a given community?; (2) How to develop estimates of exposure to multiple stressors for individuals in epidemiologic studies?; and (3) What tools can be used to assess community-level distributions of exposures for the development and evaluation of the effectiveness of risk reduction strategies? This paper provides community partners and scientific researchers with an understanding of the NERL research program and other efforts to address cumulative community risks; and key research needs and opportunities. Some initial findings include the following: (1) Many useful tools exist for components of risk assessment, but need to be developed collaboratively with end users and made more comprehensive and user-friendly for practical application; (2) Tools for quantifying cumulative risks and impact of community risk reduction activities are also needed; (3) More data are needed to assess community- and individual-level exposures, and to link exposure-related information with health effects; and (4) Additional research is needed to incorporate risk-modifying factors ("non-chemical stressors") into cumulative risk assessments. The products of this research program will advance the science for cumulative risk assessments and empower communities with information so that they can make informed, cost-effective decisions to improve public health.

Caltech/JPL Conference on Image Processing Technology, Data Sources and Software for Commercial and Scientific Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Redmann, G. H.

1976-01-01

Recent advances in image processing and new applications are presented to the user community to stimulate the development and transfer of this technology to industrial and commercial applications. The Proceedings contains 37 papers and abstracts, including many illustrations (some in color) and provides a single reference source for the user community regarding the ordering and obtaining of NASA-developed image-processing software and science data.

What is the Value of Space Exploration? - A Prairie Perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

The symposium addresses different topics within Space Exploration. The symposium was fed, using satellite downlinks, to several communities in North Dakota, the first such symposium of its type ever held. The specific topics presented by different community members within the state of North Dakota were: the economic, cultural, scientific and technical, political, educational and social value of Space Exploration. Included is a 22 minute VHS video cassette highlighting the symposium.

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.

Corporate Involvement Fuels Science Education Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wrather, Joan

1985-01-01

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is involved in projects to capitalize on resources the scientific community can share with schools. Projects and sponsors include "The National Forum for School Science" (Carnegie Corporation), "Challenge of the Unknown" (Phillips Petroleum), and "Science Resources…

Making Geoscience Data Relevant for Students, Teachers, and the Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taber, M.; Ledley, T. S.; Prakash, A.; Domenico, B.

2009-12-01

The scientific data collected by government funded research belongs to the public. As such, the scientific and technical communities are responsible to make scientific data accessible and usable by the educational community. However, much geoscience data are difficult for educators and students to find and use. Such data are generally described by metadata that are narrowly focused and contain scientific language. Thus, data access presents a challenge to educators in determining if a particular dataset is relevant to their needs, and to effectively access and use the data. The AccessData project (EAR-0623136, EAR-0305058) has developed a model for bridging the scientific and educational communities to develop robust inquiry-based activities using scientific datasets in the form of Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet) chapters. EET chapters provide step-by-step instructions for accessing specific data and analyzing it with a software analysis tool to explore issues or concepts in science, technology, and mathematics. The AccessData model involves working directly with small teams made up of data providers from scientific data archives or research teams, data analysis tool specialists, scientists, curriculum developers, and educators (AccessData, http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata/accessdata). The process involves a number of steps including 1) building of the team; 2) pre-workshop facilitation; 3) face-to-face 2.5 day workshop; 4) post-workshop follow-up; 5) completion and review of the EET chapter. The AccessData model has been evolved over a series of six annual workshops hosting ~10 teams each. This model has been expanded to other venues to explore expanding its scope and sustainable mechanisms. These venues include 1) workshops focused on the data collected by a large research program (RIDGE, EarthScope); 2) a workshop focused on developing a citizen scientist guide to conducting research; and 3) facilitating a team on an annual basis within the structure of the Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation), leveraging their semi-annual meetings. In this presentation we will describe the AccessData model of making geoscience data accessible and usable in educational contexts from the perspective of both the organizers and from a team. We will also describe how this model has been adapted to other contexts to facilitate a broader reach of geoscience data.

The FY 1992 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1992-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY92. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 1988 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1988-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 88. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the NationaL Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY87 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1987-01-01

The document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY87. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Va. 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 1996 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations. Volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner-Waits, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1996-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY96. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 2001 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waits, J. E. Turner (Compiler)

2002-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY 2001. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this TM may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Fiscal year 1993 scientific and technical reports, articles, papers, and presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, Joyce E. (Compiler)

1993-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY93. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 2004 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fowler, B. A. (Compiler)

2006-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) personnel FY 2004. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161. The information in this TM maybe of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

FY 1999 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Waits, J.oyce E.Turner

2000-01-01

This document presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by MSFC personnel in FY99. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. All of the NASA series reports may be obtained from the NASA Center for AeroSpace Information (CASI), 7121 Standard Drive, Hanover, MD 21076-1320 The information in this report may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Status on U.S. Marine Research. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Oceanography of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session on U.S. Marine Scientific Research Capabilities Oversight (September 26, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.

These hearings focused on the major problems and opportunities in marine research and on the role of both the government and the scientific community in responding to future needs. Included are statements by: James Baker; Donald Boesch; Robert Corell; Tudor Davies; M. Grant Gross; G. Ross Heath; Joel Pritchard; David Ross; J. R. Schubel; Gerry…

FY 2003 Scientific and Technical Reports, Articles, Papers, and Presentations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fowler, B. A. (Compiler)

2004-01-01

This Technical Memorandum (TM) presents formal NASA technical reports, papers published in technical journals, and presentations by Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) personnel in FY 2003. It also includes papers of MSFC contractors. After being announced in STAR, all NASA series reports may be obtained from the National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Spring.eld, VA 22161. The information in this TM may be of value to the scientific and engineering community in determining what information has been published and what is available.

Scientific Ocean Drilling: A Legacy of ODP Education and Community Engagement by JOI/USSSP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, A.; Cortes, M.; Farrell, J. W.

2003-12-01

The U.S. Science Support Program (USSSP) was established in 1986 to support the participation of U.S. scientists in the international Ocean Drilling Program (ODP). Since inception, USSSP has been managed by Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), through a cooperative agreement with NSF, and guided by the U.S. Science Advisory Committee (USSAC). One of USSSP's primary goals has been to enhance the scientific contribution of ocean drilling and to maintain its vitality through a broad range of education and outreach activities. USSSP's first educational program, the Schlanger Ocean Drilling Fellowship, was established to encourage doctoral candidates to conduct research aboard the ODP drill ship, JOIDES Resolution. Since 1987, 74 fellowships have been awarded and the program has been expanded to include shorebased ODP-related research and Masters degree candidates. USSSP's second major educational activity is the Distinguished Lecturer Series. To date, 70 scientists have spoken about their ODP research at 334 institutions, effectively reaching new and diverse educational communities. In addition, USSSP has developed and distributed two interactive educational CD-ROMs (ODP: Mountains to Monsoons and Gateways to Glaciation) and an educational poster (Blast from the Past). All three items are popular supplements in classrooms from middle school to college because they present accessible scientific content, demonstrate the scientific method, and illustrate the collaborative and international nature of scientific research. USSSP's outreach efforts have included publishing the JOI/USSAC Newsletter since 1988 and ODP's Greatest Hits (abstracts written by U.S. scientists). The latter is broadly used because it communicates exciting scientific results in lay terms. USSSP has sponsored other educational efforts including a workshop to seek recommendations for educational activities to be associated with future scientific ocean drilling. NSF is currently considering the response to their solicitation of proposals to manage a successor program to USSSP, which will support the involvement of U.S. scientists in the new Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. The educational and outreach component of the new USSSP will target students at all levels, building upon improving on the USSSP-ODP achievements.

The configuration of the Brazilian scientific field.

PubMed

Barata, Rita B; Aragão, Erika; de Sousa, Luis E P Fernandes; Santana, Taris M; Barreto, Mauricio L

2014-03-01

This article describes the configuration of the scientific field in Brazil, characterizing the scientific communities in every major area of knowledge in terms of installed capacity, ability to train new researchers, and capacity for academic production. Empirical data from several sources of information are used to characterize the different communities. Articulating the theoretical contributions of Pierre Bourdieu, Ludwik Fleck, and Thomas Kuhn, the following types of capital are analyzed for each community: social capital (scientific prestige), symbolic capital (dominant paradigm), political capital (leadership in S & T policy), and economic capital (resources). Scientific prestige is analyzed by taking into account the volume of production, activity index, citations, and other indicators. To characterize symbolic capital, the dominant paradigms that distinguish the natural sciences, the humanities, applied sciences, and technology development are analyzed theoretically. Political capital is measured by presidency in one of the main agencies in the S & T national system, and research resources and fellowships define the economic capital. The article discusses the composition of these different types of capital and their correspondence to structural capacities in various communities with the aim of describing the configuration of the Brazilian scientific field.

AmeriFlux and EuroFlux: History of a Strong Collaboration that Provided Unique Resources to the Scientific Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papale, D.; Agarwal, D.; Biraud, S.; Canfora, E.; Pastorello, G.; Torn, M. S.; Trotta, C.

2017-12-01

In 1995 scientific communities in Europe and North America using the eddy covariance technique to measure carbon, water, and energy exchanges between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere started to organize their respective regional networks. Although there was a general interest and agreement to collaborate and exchange information and data between the two communities, these mainly occurred at the single site or individual levels through direct communications rather than systematically across networks. Between 2000 and 2008 common strategies to facilitate data sharing, promote data use across the two networks, and outreach to the scientific community, started to be more deeply discussed. Early on, harmonization across networks was deemed necessary to the success of both networks. This actually required major effort including lengthy discussions, compromises, and interactions between the networks for concrete implementation of common platforms and tools. Topics such as measurement units, variable definitions and labeling, data processing methods, data sharing policy, data distribution systems and formats, were key elements that had to be addressed and agreed upon carefully to build integrated and inter-operable research infrastructures (RIs). Today, AmeriFlux and EuroFlux are the basis, not only of the continental research infrastructures (ICOS in Europe), but they are also the driving force behind FLUXNET, where other regional networks are joining this coalition and contributing to the definition of a common system to make complex measurements accessible and comparable across continents. The latest dataset produced from this collaboration includes data contributed by over 200 sites around the world, with records spanning over two decades of data, and has been downloaded by over 900 users in the first 1.5 years of its publication. The core strategy of this collaboration, critical aspects and implemented solutions, as well as the current state of this effort will be presented to stimulate a community discussion aiming at growing the number of participating RIs and/or to stimulate similar processes in other research areas.

A quick guide for building a successful bioinformatics community.

PubMed

Budd, Aidan; Corpas, Manuel; Brazas, Michelle D; Fuller, Jonathan C; Goecks, Jeremy; Mulder, Nicola J; Michaut, Magali; Ouellette, B F Francis; Pawlik, Aleksandra; Blomberg, Niklas

2015-02-01

"Scientific community" refers to a group of people collaborating together on scientific-research-related activities who also share common goals, interests, and values. Such communities play a key role in many bioinformatics activities. Communities may be linked to a specific location or institute, or involve people working at many different institutions and locations. Education and training is typically an important component of these communities, providing a valuable context in which to develop skills and expertise, while also strengthening links and relationships within the community. Scientific communities facilitate: (i) the exchange and development of ideas and expertise; (ii) career development; (iii) coordinated funding activities; (iv) interactions and engagement with professionals from other fields; and (v) other activities beneficial to individual participants, communities, and the scientific field as a whole. It is thus beneficial at many different levels to understand the general features of successful, high-impact bioinformatics communities; how individual participants can contribute to the success of these communities; and the role of education and training within these communities. We present here a quick guide to building and maintaining a successful, high-impact bioinformatics community, along with an overview of the general benefits of participating in such communities. This article grew out of contributions made by organizers, presenters, panelists, and other participants of the ISMB/ECCB 2013 workshop "The 'How To Guide' for Establishing a Successful Bioinformatics Network" at the 21st Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) and the 12th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB).

What Scientific Objectives Have Been Defined by the French Scientific Community for Mars Exploration?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sotin, Christophe

2000-07-01

Every four or five years, the French scientific community is invited by the French space agency (CNES) to define the scientific priorities of the forthcoming years. The last workshop took place in March 98 in Arcachon, France. During this three-day workshop, it was clear that the study of Mars was very attractive for everyone because it is a planet very close to the Earth and its study should allow us to better understand the chemical and physical processes which drive the evolution of a planet by comparing the evolution of the two planets. For example, the study of Mars should help to understand the relationship between mantle convection and plate tectonics, the way magnetic dynamo works, and which conditions allowed life to emerge and evolve on Earth. The Southern Hemisphere of planet Mars is very old and it should have recorded some clues on the planetary evolution during the first billion years, a period for which very little is known for the Earth because both plate tectonics and weathering have erased the geological record. The international scientific community defined the architecture of Mars exploration program more than ten years ago. After the scientific discoveries made (and to come) with orbiters and landers, it appeared obvious that the next steps to be prepared are the delivery of networks on the surface and the study of samples returned from Mars. Scientific objectives related to network science include the determination of the different shells which compose the planet, the search for water in the subsurface, the record of atmospheric parameters both in time and space. Those related to the study of samples include the understanding of the differentiation of the planet and the fate of volatiles (including H2O) thanks to very accurate isotopic measurements which can be performed in laboratories, the search for minerals which can prove that life once existed on Mars, the search for present life on Mars (bacteria). Viking landers successfully landed on the surface of Mars in the mid seventies. Mars Pathfinder showed that rovers could be delivered at the surface of the planet and move around a lander. If it seems feasible that such a lander can grab samples and return them to the lander, a technical challenge is to launch successfully a rocket from the surface of Mars, put in orbit the samples, collect the sample in orbit and bring them back to the surface of the Earth. Such a technical challenge in addition to the amount of scientific information which will be returned, makes the Mars Sample Return mission a very exciting mission at the turn of the millenium. Following the Arcachon meeting, CNES made the decision to support strongly Mars exploration. This program includes three major aspects: (1) strong participation in the ESA Mars Express mission, (2) development of network science in collaboration with European partners, and (3) participation in the NASA-lead Mars Sample Return mission. In addition, participation in micromissions is foreseen to increase the scientific return with low-cost missions.

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.

Leveraging Carbon Cycling in Coastal Wetlands for Habitat Conservation: Blue Carbon Policy Opportunities (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutton-Grier, A.

2013-12-01

Recent scientific studies suggest that the carbon sequestered and stored in coastal wetlands (specifically mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrass meadows) is an important, previously not well-recognized service provided by these ecosystems. Coastal wetlands have unique characteristics that make them incredibly efficient, natural carbon sinks with most carbon stored belowground in soils. Based on this new scientific evidence, there is growing interest in leveraging the carbon services of these habitats (termed 'blue carbon') to develop new policy opportunities to protect and restore coastal wetlands around the globe. The overall goal is to take full advantage of the carbon services of these habitats in order to ensure and maintain the many benefits provided to society by these habitats - including natural climate, food security, and storm protection benefits - and to enhance the resiliency of coastal communities and economies around the world. This presentation will give an update on some of the policy opportunities including: (1) examining how the implementation of U.S. federal policies can be expanded to include carbon services of ecosystems in order to improve management and decision making; (2) developing an international blue carbon community of science and practice to provide best practice guidance for protection and restoration of blue carbon habitats; and (3) developing innovative financing mechanisms for coastal conservation including carbon market credits for wetlands. Finally, the presentation will conclude by highlighting some of the most pressing blue carbon scientific gaps that need to be filled in order to support these developing policies.

Health Disparities and Toxicant Exposure of Akwesasne Mohawk Young Adults: A Partnership Approach to Research

PubMed Central

Schell, Lawrence M.; Ravenscroft, Julia; Cole, Maxine; Jacobs, Agnes; Newman, Joan

2005-01-01

In this article we describe a research partnership between the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation and scientists at the University at Albany, State University of New York, initiated to address community and scientific concerns regarding environmental contamination and its health consequences (thyroid hormone function, social adjustment, and school functioning). The investigation focuses on cultural inputs into health disparities. It employs a risk-focusing model of biocultural interaction: behaviors expressing cultural identity and values allocate or focus risk, in this instance the risk of toxicant exposure, which alters health status through the effects of toxicants. As culturally based behaviors and activities fulfill a key role in the model, accurate assessment of subtle cultural and behavioral variables is required and best accomplished through integration of local expert knowledge from the community. As a partnership project, the investigation recognizes the cultural and socioeconomic impacts of research in small communities beyond the production of scientific knowledge. The components of sustainable partnerships are discussed, including strategies that helped promote equity between the partners such as hiring community members as key personnel, integrating local expertise into research design, and developing a local Community Outreach and Education Program. Although challenges arose during the design and implementation of the research project, a collaborative approach has benefited the community and facilitated research. PMID:16330372

From "sit and listen" to "shake it out yourself": Helping urban middle school students to bridge personal knowledge to scientific knowledge through a collaborative environmental justice curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadeh, Shamu Fenyvesi

Science education and environmental education are not meeting the needs of marginalized communities such as urban, minority, and poor communities (Seller, 2001; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 1996). There exists an equity gap characterized by the racial and socioeconomic disparities in: levels of participation in scientific and environmental careers and environmental organizations (Lewis & James, 1995; Sheppard, 1995), access to appropriate environmental education programs (U.S. EPA, 1996), exposure to environmental toxins (Bullard, 1993), access to environmental amenities and legal protections (Bullard, 1993), and in grades and standardized test scores in K-12 science (Jencks & Phillips, 1998; Johnston & Viadero, 2000). Researchers point to the cultural divide between home and school culture as one of the reasons for the equity gap in science education (Barton, 2003; Delpit, 1995; Seiler, 2001). This study is designed to address the equity gap by helping students connect personal/cultural knowledge to scientific knowledge. A collaborative action research study was conducted in 8th-grade science classrooms of low-income African American and Latino students. The participating teacher and the researcher developed, enacted and evaluated a curriculum that elicited students' personal and cultural knowledge in the investigation of local community issues. Using qualitative methods, data were collected through student and teacher interviews, observation, and written documents. Data were analyzed to answer questions on student participation and learning, bridging between personal and scientific knowledge, and student empowerment. The most compelling themes from the data were described as parts of three stories: tensions between the empire of school and the small student nation, bridging between the two nations, and students gaining empowerment. This study found that the bridging the curriculum intended was successful in that many students brought personal knowledge to class and started to bring scientific knowledge into their personal worlds. Students translated between scientific language and their own language, displayed an understanding of community environmental health issues, and expressed a sense of empowerment as students and community members. Recommendations to science educators and researchers included: eliciting students' personal and cultural knowledge in the classroom, helping students to create new ways of participating in science, and engaging in collaborative research efforts.

Drinking policies and exercise-associated hyponatraemia: is anyone still promoting overdrinking?

PubMed

Beltrami, F G; Hew-Butler, T; Noakes, T D

2008-10-01

The purpose of this review is to describe the evolution of hydration research and advice on drinking during exercise from published scientific papers, books and non-scientific material (advertisements and magazine contents) and detail how erroneous advice is likely propagated throughout the global sports medicine community. Hydration advice from sports-linked entities, the scientific community, exercise physiology textbooks and non-scientific sources was analysed historically and compared with the most recent scientific evidence. Drinking policies during exercise have changed substantially throughout history. Since the mid-1990s, however, there has been an increase in the promotion of overdrinking by athletes. While the scientific community is slowly moving away from "blanket" hydration advice in which one form of advice fits all and towards more modest, individualised, hydration guidelines in which thirst is recognised as the best physiological indicator of each subject's fluid needs during exercise, marketing departments of the global sports drink industry continue to promote overdrinking.

Best Practices in NASA's Astrophysics Education and Public Outreach Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hasan, H.; Smith, D.

2015-11-01

NASA's Astrophysics Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program has partnered scientists and educators since its inception almost twenty years ago, leading to authentic STEM experiences and products widely used by the education and outreach community. We present examples of best practices and representative projects. Keys to success include effective use of unique mission science/technology, attention to audience needs, coordination of effort, robust partnerships and publicly accessible repositories of EPO products. Projects are broadly targeted towards audiences in formal education, informal education, and community engagement. All NASA programs are evaluated for quality and impact. New technology is incorporated to engage young students being raised in the digital age. All projects focus on conveying the excitement of scientific discoveries from NASA's Astrophysics missions, advancing scientific literacy, and engaging students in science and technology careers.

The Impact of Community Design and Land-Use Choices on Public Health: A Scientific Research Agenda

PubMed Central

Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Jackson, Richard J.; Frumkin, Howard; Schieber, Richard A.; Pratt, Michael; Kochtitzky, Chris; Tilson, Hugh H.

2003-01-01

The design of a community’s built environment influences the physical and mental health of its residents. Because few studies have investigated this relationship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a workshop in May 2002 to help develop a scientific research agenda on these issues. Workshop participants’ areas of expertise included physical activity, injury prevention, air pollution, water quality, urban planning, transportation, architecture, epidemiology, land use, mental health, social capital, housing, and social marketing. This report describes the 37 questions in the resulting research agenda. The next steps are to define priorities and obtain resources. The proposed research will help identify the best practices for designing new communities and revitalizing old ones in ways that promote physical and mental health. PMID:12948970

NASA's Microgravity Fluid Physics Strategic Research Roadmap

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Motil, Brian J.; Singh, Bhim S.

2004-01-01

The Microgravity Fluid Physics Program at NASA has developed a substantial investigator base engaging a broad crosssection of the U.S. scientific community. As a result, it enjoys a rich history of many significant scientific achievements. The research supported by the program has produced many important findings that have been published in prestigious journals such as Science, Nature, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Physics of Fluids, and many others. The focus of the program so far has primarily been on fundamental scientific studies. However, a recent shift in emphasis at NASA to develop advanced technologies to enable future exploration of space has provided motivation to add a strategic research component to the program. This has set into motion a year of intense planning within NASA including three workshops to solicit inputs from the external scientific community. The planning activities and the workshops have resulted in a prioritized list of strategic research issues along with a corresponding detailed roadmap specific to fluid physics. The results of these activities were provided to NASA s Office of Biological and Physical Research (OBPR) to support the development of the Enterprise Strategy document. This paper summarizes these results while showing how the planned research supports NASA s overall vision through OBPR s organizing questions.

Transgenes and transgressions: scientific dissent as heterogeneous practice.

PubMed

Delborne, Jason A

2008-08-01

Although scholars in science and technology studies have explored many dynamics and consequences of scientific controversy, no coherent theory of scientific dissent has emerged. This paper proposes the elements of such a framework, based on understanding scientific dissent as a set of heterogeneous practices. I use the controversy over the presence of transgenic DNA in Mexican maize in the early 2000s to point to a processual model of scientific dissent. 'Contrarian science' includes knowledge claims that challenge the dominant scientific trajectory, but need not necessarily lead to dissent. 'Impedance' represents efforts to undermine the credibility of contrarian science (or contrarian scientists) and may originate within or outside of the scientific community. In the face of impedance, contrarian scientists may become dissenters. The actions of the scientist at the center of the case study, Professor Ignacio Chapela of the University of California, Berkeley, demonstrate particular practices of scientific dissent, ranging from 'agonistic engagement' to 'dissident science'. These practices speak not only to functional strategies of winning scientific debate, but also to attempts to reconfigure relations among scientists, publics, institutions, and politics that order knowledge production.

2012 U.S. Department of Energy: Joint Genome Institute: Progress Report

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

Gilbert, David

2013-01-01

The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) is to serve the diverse scientific community as a user facility, enabling the application of large-scale genomics and analysis of plants, microbes, and communities of microbes to address the DOE mission goals in bioenergy and the environment. The DOE JGI's sequencing efforts fall under the Eukaryote Super Program, which includes the Plant and Fungal Genomics Programs; and the Prokaryote Super Program, which includes the Microbial Genomics and Metagenomics Programs. In 2012, several projects made news for their contributions to energy and environment research.

A core observational data model for enhancing the interoperability of ontologically annotated environmental data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schildhauer, M.; Bermudez, L. E.; Bowers, S.; Dibner, P. C.; Gries, C.; Jones, M. B.; McGuinness, D. L.; Cao, H.; Cox, S. J.; Kelling, S.; Lagoze, C.; Lapp, H.; Madin, J.

2010-12-01

Research in the environmental sciences often requires accessing diverse data, collected by numerous data providers over varying spatiotemporal scales, incorporating specialized measurements from a range of instruments. These measurements are typically documented using idiosyncratic, disciplinary specific terms, and stored in management systems ranging from desktop spreadsheets to the Cloud, where the information is often further decomposed or stylized in unpredictable ways. This situation creates major informatics challenges for broadly discovering, interpreting, and merging the data necessary for integrative earth science research. A number of scientific disciplines have recognized these issues, and been developing semantically enhanced data storage frameworks, typically based on ontologies, to enable communities to better circumscribe and clarify the content of data objects within their domain of practice. There is concern, however, that cross-domain compatibility of these semantic solutions could become problematic. We describe here our efforts to address this issue by developing a core, unified Observational Data Model, that should greatly facilitate interoperability among the semantic solutions growing organically within diverse scientific domains. Observational Data Models have emerged independently from several distinct scientific communities, including the biodiversity sciences, ecology, evolution, geospatial sciences, and hydrology, to name a few. Informatics projects striving for data integration within each of these domains had converged on identifying "observations" and "measurements" as fundamental abstractions that provide useful "templates" through which scientific data can be linked— at the structural, composited, or even cell value levels— to domain terms stored in ontologies or other forms of controlled vocabularies. The Scientific Observations Network, SONet (http://sonet.ecoinformatics.org) brings together a number of these observational data efforts, and is harmonizing their models. The specific observational data models currently under consideration include the OGC's Observations and Measurements Encoding Standard, O&M; the ecological community's Extensible Observation Ontology, OBOE'; the evolutionary community's Entity-Quality model, EQ; and the VSTO core classes, intended for describing atmospheric and solar-terrestrial phenomena, VSTO.OWL. These models all share high structural similarities, expressed in different languages (e.g. UML or OWL), and are intended for use with very different forms of data. The main focus of this talk will be describing these Observational Data Models, and more importantly, how harmonizing these will catalyze semantically enhanced access to large additional data resources across the earth and life sciences.

Workshop on Advancing Experimental Rock Deformation Research: Scientific and Technical Needs

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

Tullis, Terry E.

A workshop for the experimental rock deformation community was held in Boston on August 16-19, 2012, following some similar but smaller preliminary meetings. It was sponsored primarily by the NSF, with additional support from the DOE, the SCEC, and in-kind support by the USGS. A white paper summarizing the active discussions at the workshop and the outcomes is available (https://brownbox.brown.edu/download.php?hash=0b854d11). Those attending included practitioners of experimental rock deformation, i.e., those who conduct laboratory experiments, as well as users of the data provided by practitioners, namely field geologists, seismologists, geodynamicists, earthquake modelers, and scientists from the oil and gas industry. Amore » considerable fraction of those attending were early-career scientists. The discussion initially focused on identifying the most important unsolved scientific problems in all of the research areas represented by the users that experiments would help solve. This initial session was followed by wide-ranging discussions of the most critical problems faced by practitioners, particularly by early-career scientists. The discussion also focused on the need for designing and building the next generation of experimental rock deformation equipment required to meet the identified scientific challenges. The workshop participants concluded that creation of an experimental rock deformation community organization is needed to address many of the scientific, technical, and demographic problems faced by this community. A decision was made to hold an organizational meeting of this new organization in San Francisco on December 1-2, 2012, just prior to the Fall Meeting of the AGU. The community has decided to name this new organization “Deformation Experimentation at the Frontier Of Rock and Mineral research” or DEFORM. As of May 1, 2013, 64 institutions have asked to be members of DEFORM.« less

Raising the Bar for Reproducible Science at the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development

EPA Science Inventory

Considerable concern has been raised regarding research reproducibility both within and outside the scientific community. Several factors possibly contribute to a lack of reproducibility, including a failure to adequately employ statistical considerations during study design, bia...

Survey: Tribal Colleges Deeply Involved in Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ambler, Marjane; Crazy Bull, Cheryl

1997-01-01

Describes results of survey distributed to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium's 31 colleges. Findings from the 11 who responded indicate that both faculty and students conduct educational, scientific, and cultural (including local tribal communities) research, using a range of qualitative and quantitative methods. (YKH)

STRATCOM-8 scientific objectives and mission orginization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reed, E. I. (Compiler)

1977-01-01

Stratospheric photochemistry was studied, with emphasis on the Ozone-NOx-ultraviolet flux interactions, but also including members of the chlorine, water vapor, and carbon-containing families. Secondary objectives include: (1) study of the balloon environment, (2) comparison of independent measurements of ozone and of NO, (3) development of new sensor systems; and (4) some measurements for exploratory purposes. Most, but not all, systems and instruments performed as planned, and it is believed that data are available to achieve most of the planned scientific and engineering objectives. The emphasis on photochemistry in the 35 to 40 km region is greater than anticipated, and observations are more complete for sunset than for sunrise. The planned instruments and a summary of the flight operations is discussed partly for the mutual information of those participating and partly for the wider scientific community.

The Early Scientific Contributions of J. Robert Oppenheimer: Why Did the Scientific Community Miss the Black Hole Opportunity?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega-Rodríguez, M.; Solís-Sánchez, H.; Boza-Oviedo, E.; Chaves-Cruz, K.; Guevara-Bertsch, M.; Quirós-Rojas, M.; Vargas-Hernández, S.; Venegas-Li, A.

2017-04-01

We assess the scientific value of Oppenheimer's research on black holes in order to explain its neglect by the scientific community, and even by Oppenheimer himself. Looking closely at the scientific culture and conceptual belief system of the 1930s, the present article seeks to supplement the existing literature by enriching the explanations and complicating the guiding questions. We suggest a rereading of Oppenheimer as a figure both more intriguing for the history of astrophysics and further ahead of his time than is commonly supposed.

A Model for Enabling an Effective Outcome-Oriented Communication between the Scientific and Educational Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ledley, Tamara Shapiro; Taber, Michael R.; Lynds, Susan; Domenico, Ben; Dahlman, LuAnn

2012-01-01

Traditionally, there has been a large gap between the scientific and educational communities in terms of communication, which hinders the transfer of new scientific knowledge to teachers and students and the understanding of each other's needs and capabilities. In this paper, we describe a workshop model we have developed to facilitate…

Exploring "The World around Us" in a Community of Scientific Enquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunlop, Lynda; Compton, Kirsty; Clarke, Linda; McKelvey-Martin, Valerie

2013-01-01

The primary Communities of Scientific Enquiry project is one element of the outreach work in Science in Society in Biomedical Sciences in partnership with the School of Education at the University of Ulster. The project aims to develop scientific understanding and skills at key stage 2 and is a response to several contemporary issues in primary…

Toward a Model of Social Influence that Explains Minority Student Integration into the Scientific Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Estrada, Mica; Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Schultz, P. Wesley

2011-01-01

Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, indicating that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than nonminority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same…

Enabling large-scale next-generation sequence assembly with Blacklight

PubMed Central

Couger, M. Brian; Pipes, Lenore; Squina, Fabio; Prade, Rolf; Siepel, Adam; Palermo, Robert; Katze, Michael G.; Mason, Christopher E.; Blood, Philip D.

2014-01-01

Summary A variety of extremely challenging biological sequence analyses were conducted on the XSEDE large shared memory resource Blacklight, using current bioinformatics tools and encompassing a wide range of scientific applications. These include genomic sequence assembly, very large metagenomic sequence assembly, transcriptome assembly, and sequencing error correction. The data sets used in these analyses included uncategorized fungal species, reference microbial data, very large soil and human gut microbiome sequence data, and primate transcriptomes, composed of both short-read and long-read sequence data. A new parallel command execution program was developed on the Blacklight resource to handle some of these analyses. These results, initially reported previously at XSEDE13 and expanded here, represent significant advances for their respective scientific communities. The breadth and depth of the results achieved demonstrate the ease of use, versatility, and unique capabilities of the Blacklight XSEDE resource for scientific analysis of genomic and transcriptomic sequence data, and the power of these resources, together with XSEDE support, in meeting the most challenging scientific problems. PMID:25294974

Scientific integrity resource guide: Efforts by federal agencies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, professional societies, and academia in the United States

PubMed Central

Kretser, Alison; Murphy, Delia; Dwyer, Johanna

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Scientific integrity is at the forefront of the scientific research enterprise. This paper provides an overview of key existing efforts on scientific integrity by federal agencies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, professional societies, and academia from 1989 to April 2016. It serves as a resource for the scientific community on scientific integrity work and helps to identify areas in which more action is needed. Overall, there is tremendous activity in this area and there are clear linkages among the efforts of the five sectors. All the same, scientific integrity needs to remain visible in the scientific community and evolve along with new research paradigms. High priority in instilling these values falls upon all stakeholders. PMID:27748637

Technologies and Methods Used at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) to Serve Solar Irradiance Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pankratz, Chris; Beland, Stephane; Craft, James; Baltzer, Thomas; Wilson, Anne; Lindholm, Doug; Snow, Martin; Woods, Thomas; Woodraska, Don

2018-01-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA operates the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) NASA mission, as well as several other NASA spacecraft and instruments. Dozens of Solar Irradiance data sets are produced, managed, and disseminated to the science community. Data are made freely available to the scientific immediately after they are produced using a variety of data access interfaces, including the LASP Interactive Solar Irradiance Datacenter (LISIRD), which provides centralized access to a variety of solar irradiance data sets using both interactive and scriptable/programmatic methods. This poster highlights the key technological elements used for the NASA SORCE mission ground system to produce, manage, and disseminate data to the scientific community and facilitate long-term data stewardship. The poster presentation will convey designs, technological elements, practices and procedures, and software management processes used for SORCE and their relationship to data quality and data management standards, interoperability, NASA data policy, and community expectations.

Technology for increased human productivity and safety on orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ambrus, Judith; Gartrell, Charles F.

1991-01-01

Technologies are addressed that can facilitate the efficient performance of station operations on the Space Station Freedom (SSF) and thereby optimize the utilization of SSF for scientific research. The dedication of SSF capabilities to scientific study and to the payload-user community is a key goal of the program. Robotics applications are discussed in terms of automating the processing of experiment materials on-orbit by transferring ampules to a furnace system or by handling plant-tissue cultures. Noncontact temperature measurement and medical support technology are considered important technologies for maximizing time for scientific purposes. Detailed examinations are conducted of other technologies including advanced data systems and furnace designs. The addition of the listed technologies can provide an environment in which scientific research is more efficient and accurate.

EarthChem: International Collaboration for Solid Earth Geochemistry in Geoinformatics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, J. D.; Lehnert, K. A.; Hofmann, A. W.; Sarbas, B.; Carlson, R. W.

2005-12-01

The current on-line information systems for igneous rock geochemistry - PetDB, GEOROC, and NAVDAT - convincingly demonstrate the value of rigorous scientific data management of geochemical data for research and education. The next generation of hypothesis formulation and testing can be vastly facilitated by enhancing these electronic resources through integration of available datasets, expansion of data coverage in location, time, and tectonic setting, timely updates with new data, and through intuitive and efficient access and data analysis tools for the broader geosciences community. PetDB, GEOROC, and NAVDAT have therefore formed the EarthChem consortium (www.earthchem.org) as a international collaborative effort to address these needs and serve the larger earth science community by facilitating the compilation, communication, serving, and visualization of geochemical data, and their integration with other geological, geochronological, geophysical, and geodetic information to maximize their scientific application. We report on the status of and future plans for EarthChem activities. EarthChem's development plan includes: (1) expanding the functionality of the web portal to become a `one-stop shop for geochemical data' with search capability across databases, standardized and integrated data output, generally applicable tools for data quality assessment, and data analysis/visualization including plotting methods and an information-rich map interface; and (2) expanding data holdings by generating new datasets as identified and prioritized through community outreach, and facilitating data contributions from the community by offering web-based data submission capability and technical assistance for design, implementation, and population of new databases and their integration with all EarthChem data holdings. Such federated databases and datasets will retain their identity within the EarthChem system. We also plan on working with publishers to ease the assimilation of geochemical data into the EarthChem database. As a community resource, EarthChem will address user concerns and respond to broad scientific and educational needs. EarthChem will hold yearly workshops, town hall meetings, and/or exhibits at major meetings. The group has established a two-tier committee structure to help ease the communication and coordination of database and IT issues between existing data management projects, and to receive feedback and support from individuals and groups from the larger geosciences community.

Engagement Between Decision Makers and the Research Community in Califonria'a Climate Assessments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bedsworth, L. W.; Franco, G.; Wilhelm, S.; DeLaRosa, J.

2016-12-01

The State of California has been supporting the development of regional climate change science for more than two decades. The engagement between the scientific community in California and State agencies has been strong, and supported by multiple formalized relationships. For example, research results have informed state climate policy formulation such as the passage of AB32, a law that requires the State to bring GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and three Bills on climate adaptation that became law late in 2015. Scientific research has also been used for long-term planning of state resources such as the Forestry Plan, the Water Plan, and the Integrated Energy Policy Report. The Climate Action Team Research Working Group meets monthly to coordinate climate-related research activities supported by more than 20 state agencies and is the steering committee for the next California Climate Assessment that will be released in 2018. The State is co-producing the research commissioned for the 2018 Assessment in various ways, including the identification of research projects, the integration of more than 50 research studies, and active participation during execution of the research. The presentation will discuss the State's successes in linking decision-makers and the scientific community as well as challenges and potential ways to enhance these linkages.

User-friendly solutions for microarray quality control and pre-processing on ArrayAnalysis.org

PubMed Central

Eijssen, Lars M. T.; Jaillard, Magali; Adriaens, Michiel E.; Gaj, Stan; de Groot, Philip J.; Müller, Michael; Evelo, Chris T.

2013-01-01

Quality control (QC) is crucial for any scientific method producing data. Applying adequate QC introduces new challenges in the genomics field where large amounts of data are produced with complex technologies. For DNA microarrays, specific algorithms for QC and pre-processing including normalization have been developed by the scientific community, especially for expression chips of the Affymetrix platform. Many of these have been implemented in the statistical scripting language R and are available from the Bioconductor repository. However, application is hampered by lack of integrative tools that can be used by users of any experience level. To fill this gap, we developed a freely available tool for QC and pre-processing of Affymetrix gene expression results, extending, integrating and harmonizing functionality of Bioconductor packages. The tool can be easily accessed through a wizard-like web portal at http://www.arrayanalysis.org or downloaded for local use in R. The portal provides extensive documentation, including user guides, interpretation help with real output illustrations and detailed technical documentation. It assists newcomers to the field in performing state-of-the-art QC and pre-processing while offering data analysts an integral open-source package. Providing the scientific community with this easily accessible tool will allow improving data quality and reuse and adoption of standards. PMID:23620278

The top 10 oomycete pathogens in molecular plant pathology

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Oomycetes form a deep lineage of eukaryotic organisms that includes a large number of plant pathogens that threaten natural and managed ecosystems. We undertook a survey to query the community for their ranking of plant pathogenic oomycete taxa based on scientific and economic importance. In total, ...

Community Guide to Cholesterol Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Heart and Lung Inst. (DHHS/NIH), Bethesda, MD.

This guide is divided into two sections, one for physicians and the other for patients. The physician section lists different resources including continuing medical education opportunities on the medical and scientific aspects of cholesterol and heart disease and on the physician's role in diagnosis and patient management. Additional materials on…

Social Science: Course Proposal.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Charles Gene

A proposal is presented for a Community College of Philadelphia course surveying basic social science skills and information, including scientific method, map usage, evolution, native peoples, social groups, and U.S. Government. Following a standard cover form, a statement of purpose for the course indicates that it is designed to provide…

How Does the Scientific Community Contribute to Gene Ontology?

PubMed

Lovering, Ruth C

2017-01-01

Collaborations between the scientific community and members of the Gene Ontology (GO) Consortium have led to an increase in the number and specificity of GO terms, as well as increasing the number of GO annotations. A variety of approaches have been taken to encourage research scientists to contribute to the GO, but the success of these approaches has been variable. This chapter reviews both the successes and failures of engaging the scientific community in GO development and annotation, as well as, providing motivation and advice to encourage individual researchers to contribute to GO.

The PhenX Toolkit: Get the Most From Your Measures

PubMed Central

Hamilton, Carol M.; Strader, Lisa C.; Pratt, Joseph G.; Maiese, Deborah; Hendershot, Tabitha; Kwok, Richard K.; Hammond, Jane A.; Huggins, Wayne; Jackman, Dean; Pan, Huaqin; Nettles, Destiney S.; Beaty, Terri H.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Kraft, Peter; Marazita, Mary L.; Ordovas, Jose M.; Pato, Carlos N.; Spitz, Margaret R.; Wagener, Diane; Williams, Michelle; Junkins, Heather A.; Harlan, William R.; Ramos, Erin M.; Haines, Jonathan

2011-01-01

The potential for genome-wide association studies to relate phenotypes to specific genetic variation is greatly increased when data can be combined or compared across multiple studies. To facilitate replication and validation across studies, RTI International (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (Bethesda, Maryland) are collaborating on the consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures (PhenX) project. The goal of PhenX is to identify 15 high-priority, well-established, and broadly applicable measures for each of 21 research domains. PhenX measures are selected by working groups of domain experts using a consensus process that includes input from the scientific community. The selected measures are then made freely available to the scientific community via the PhenX Toolkit. Thus, the PhenX Toolkit provides the research community with a core set of high-quality, well-established, low-burden measures intended for use in large-scale genomic studies. PhenX measures will have the most impact when included at the experimental design stage. The PhenX Toolkit also includes links to standards and resources in an effort to facilitate data harmonization to legacy data. Broad acceptance and use of PhenX measures will promote cross-study comparisons to increase statistical power for identifying and replicating variants associated with complex diseases and with gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. PMID:21749974

The influence of authentic scientific research experiences on teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) and their NOS teaching practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moriarty, Meghan A.

This study explored the influence of teachers' authentic scientific research experiences (ASREs) on teachers' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS) and teachers' NOS instruction. Twelve high school biology teachers participated in this study. Six of the participants had authentic scientific research experience (ASRE) and six had not participated in authentic scientific research. Data included background surveys, modified Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) questionnaires, interviews, and teaching observations. Data was coded based on the eight NOS understandings outlined in 2013 in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Evidence from this study indicates participating in authentic scientific research as a member of a scientific community has dual benefits of enabling high school science teachers with informed understandings of the NOS and positioning them to teach with the NOS. However, these benefits do not always result from an ASRE. If the nature of the ASRE is limited, then it may limit teachers' NOS understandings and their NOS teaching practices. The results of this study suggest that participation in ASREs may be one way to improve teachers' NOS understandings and teaching practices if the experiences themselves offer a comprehensive view of the NOS. Because ASREs and other science learning experiences do not always offer such experiences, pre-service teacher education and professional development opportunities may engage science teachers in two ways: (1) becoming part of a scientific community may enable them to teach with NOS and (2) being reflective about what being a scientist means may improve teachers' NOS understandings and better position them to teach about NOS.. Keywords: nature of science, authentic scientific research experiences, Next Generation Science Standards, teaching about NOS, teaching with NOS.

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

Re/Production of science process skills and a scientific ethos in an early childhood classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirch, Susan A.

2007-10-01

Many educators and researchers are convinced that age limits what students can learn and achieve in science. Elementary school curricula focus on isolated process skills under the faulty assumption that young students are not capable of combining the process skills and content knowledge necessary for reasoning scientifically. In the present study, I demonstrate that many process skills are produced in conversations between second grade students and between these students and their teachers, including: questioning, hypothesis formation, experimental design, identifying relevant evidence, critical analysis of hypotheses and predictions, hypothesis reconstruction, and variable identification. Through conversation analysis I show that most classroom community members adopted the role of skeptic at some time, but there was a strong tendency to defer to authoritative sources when resolving debates. This latter observation led to further investigation of when and how authoritative sources were consulted and used, and when and how a skeptical stance was taken. I show that, as students used science process skills and interacted with each other and teacher-mediators, community practices, values, and mores were shaped and an ethos of science began to emerge. It is my contention that this ethos often emerges unconsciously as part of the community's dynamic set of rules and schema. Teachers who are attuned to the tension between open-mindedness and skepticism, and how they and their students cope with this dialectic, however, can actively shape the scientific ethos of their classroom community.

Being a Scientist While Teaching Science: Implementing Undergraduate Research Opportunities for Elementary Educators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hock, Emily; Sharp, Zoe

2016-03-01

Aspiring teachers and current teachers can gain insight about the scientific community through hands-on experience. As America's standards for elementary school and middle school become more advanced, future and current teachers must gain hands-on experience in the scientific community. For a teacher to be fully capable of teaching all subjects, they must be comfortable in the content areas, equipped to answer questions, and able to pass on their knowledge. Hands-on research experiences, like the Summer Astronomy Research Experience at California Polytechnic University, pair liberal studies students with a cooperative group of science students and instructors with the goal of doing research that benefits the scientific community and deepens the team members' perception of the scientific community. Teachers are then able to apply the basic research process in their classrooms, inspire students to do real life science, and understand the processes scientists' undergo in their workplace.

A Quick Guide for Building a Successful Bioinformatics Community

PubMed Central

Budd, Aidan; Corpas, Manuel; Brazas, Michelle D.; Fuller, Jonathan C.; Goecks, Jeremy; Mulder, Nicola J.; Michaut, Magali; Ouellette, B. F. Francis; Pawlik, Aleksandra; Blomberg, Niklas

2015-01-01

“Scientific community” refers to a group of people collaborating together on scientific-research-related activities who also share common goals, interests, and values. Such communities play a key role in many bioinformatics activities. Communities may be linked to a specific location or institute, or involve people working at many different institutions and locations. Education and training is typically an important component of these communities, providing a valuable context in which to develop skills and expertise, while also strengthening links and relationships within the community. Scientific communities facilitate: (i) the exchange and development of ideas and expertise; (ii) career development; (iii) coordinated funding activities; (iv) interactions and engagement with professionals from other fields; and (v) other activities beneficial to individual participants, communities, and the scientific field as a whole. It is thus beneficial at many different levels to understand the general features of successful, high-impact bioinformatics communities; how individual participants can contribute to the success of these communities; and the role of education and training within these communities. We present here a quick guide to building and maintaining a successful, high-impact bioinformatics community, along with an overview of the general benefits of participating in such communities. This article grew out of contributions made by organizers, presenters, panelists, and other participants of the ISMB/ECCB 2013 workshop “The ‘How To Guide’ for Establishing a Successful Bioinformatics Network” at the 21st Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB) and the 12th European Conference on Computational Biology (ECCB). PMID:25654371

Scientific planning for the VLT and VLTI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leibundgut, B.; Berger, J.-P.

2016-07-01

An observatory system like the VLT/I requires careful scientific planning for operations and future instruments. Currently the ESO optical/near-infrared facilities include four 8m telescopes, four (movable) 1.8m telescopes used exclusively for interferometry, two 4m telescopes and two survey telescopes. This system offers a large range of scientific capabilities and setting the corresponding priorities depends good community interactions. Coordinating the existing and planned instrumentation is an important aspect for strong scientific return. The current scientific priorities for the VLT and VLTI are pushing for the development of the highest angular resolution imaging and astrometry, integral field spectroscopy and multi-object spectroscopy. The ESO 4m telescopes on La Silla will be dedicated to time domain spectroscopy and exo-planet searches with highly specialized instruments. The next decade will also see a significant rise in the scientific importance of massive ground and space-based surveys. We discuss how future developments in astronomical research could shape the VLT/I evolution.

48 CFR 35.004 - Publicizing requirements and expanding research and development sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... obtain a broad base of the best contractor sources from the scientific and industrial community, agencies... information on sources (including small business concerns) competent to perform R&D work. These efforts should... and expanding research and development sources. 35.004 Section 35.004 Federal Acquisition Regulations...

The Farmer in the Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huss, Jeanine; Baker, Cheryl

2010-01-01

Agriculture can play a key role in fostering scientific literacy because it brings important plant and ecosystem concepts into the classroom. Plus, agriculture, like science, is not static and includes much trial and error, investigation, and innovation. With help from community experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research…

Data, Data Everywhere but Not a Byte to Read: Managing Monitoring Information.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stafford, Susan G.

1993-01-01

Describes the Forest Science Data Bank that contains 2,400 data sets from over 350 existing ecological studies. Database features described include involvement of the scientific community; database documentation; data quality assurance; security; data access and retrieval; and data import/export flexibility. Appendices present the Quantitative…

The Hoosier-Shawnee Ecological assessment

Treesearch

Frank R., III, ed. Thompson; ed.

2004-01-01

This report is a scientific assessment of the characteristic composition, structure, and processes of ecosystems in the southern one-third of Illinois and Indiana and a small part of western Kentucky. It includes chapters on ecological sections and soils, water resources, forest, plants, and communities, aquatic animals, terrestrial animals, forest diseases and pests...

Enhancing Mathematics (STEM) Teacher Education in Regional Australia: Pedagogical Interactions and Affect

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolcott, Geoff; Yeigh, Tony

2015-01-01

This article reports on initial findings, including the mathematics components, of a multi-institutional Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) project, "It's part of my life: Engaging university and community to enhance science and mathematics education." This project is focussed on improving the scientific and…

Improvement of High-Resolution Tropical Cyclone Structure and Intensity Forecasts using COAMPS-TC

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

scientific community including the recent T- PARC /TCS08, ITOP, and HS3 field campaigns to build upon the existing modeling capabilities. We will...heating and cooling rates in developing and non-developing tropical disturbances during tcs-08: radar -equivalent retrievals from mesoscale numerical

The Profound Power of Groups

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brendtro, Larry K.; Mitchell, Martin L.

2010-01-01

Decades of studies show that children's behavior is shaped by relationships in the "social ecology" of family, peers, school, and community. But in recent decades the prevailing scientific dogma was that genes determine destiny. Now it is clear that experience changes genes. For better or worse, environmental experiences including nutrition,…

Tier One: Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Volume 2. Realignment of Mountain Home Air Force Base and Proposed Expanded Range Capability

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-02-01

in section S3.1, Airspace Management. oue ORNL 1988 data. S3.10-2 S3.10.4 Community Services Community services provided at the county level include...Under the Base Realignment Project. Mountain Home City Clerk’s Office. 1989. Proposed Fiscal 1990 Budget. Oak Ridge National Laboratory ( ORNL ). 1988. Low...Altitude Airspace Database. Submitted to the U.S. Air Force. ORNL and Consultants. 1988. Reviews of Scientific Literatures on the Environmental

International programs - A growing trend

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bunner, A. N.

1990-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has collaborated successfully in space science missions with a multiplicity of partners, including the European Space Agency, Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan, and the Soviet Union, among others. These collaborations generally arise out of common scientific goals and in the interest of economizing to take advantage of skills and capabilities among the partners. A trend towards increased cooperation in space is expected to continue as the global scientific community works together to plan future space science missions and the missions become more sophisticated.

Text Recycling in Scientific Writing.

PubMed

Moskovitz, Cary

2018-03-15

Text recycling, often called "self-plagiarism", is the practice of reusing textual material from one's prior documents in a new work. The practice presents a complex set of ethical and practical challenges to the scientific community, many of which have not been addressed in prior discourse on the subject. This essay identifies and discusses these factors in a systematic fashion, concluding with a new definition of text recycling that takes these factors into account. Topics include terminology, what is not text recycling, factors affecting judgements about the appropriateness of text recycling, and visual materials.

NAS (Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Program) technical summaries, March 1989 - February 1990

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

Given here are selected scientific results from the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation (NAS) Program's third year of operation. During this year, the scientific community was given access to a Cray-2 and a Cray Y-MP supercomputer. Topics covered include flow field analysis of fighter wing configurations, large-scale ocean modeling, the Space Shuttle flow field, advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes for rotary-wing airloads and performance prediction, turbulence modeling of separated flows, airloads and acoustics of rotorcraft, vortex-induced nonlinearities on submarines, and standing oblique detonation waves.

Milliarcsecond Astronomy with the CHARA Array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaefer, Gail; ten Brummelaar, Theo; Gies, Douglas; Jones, Jeremy; Farrington, Christopher

2018-01-01

The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy offers 50 nights per year of open access time at the CHARA Array. The Array consists of six telescopes linked together as an interferometer, providing sub-milliarcsecond resolution in the optical and near-infrared. The Array enables a variety of scientific studies, including measuring stellar angular diameters, imaging stellar shapes and surface features, mapping the orbits of close binary companions, and resolving circumstellar environments. The open access time is part of an NSF/MSIP funded program to open the CHARA Array to the broader astronomical community. As part of the program, we will build a searchable database for the CHARA data archive and run a series of one-day community workshops at different locations across the country to expand the user base for stellar interferometry and encourage new scientific investigations with the CHARA Array.

Responses and Clarifications Regarding Science and Worldviews

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gauch, Hugh G.

2009-06-01

This article responds to the other 10 papers in this thematic issue on science and worldviews and it clarifies some of the points in my lead article. The Bayesian framework provides helpful structure for worldview inquiries by recognizing and integrating both public and personal evidence. Drawing upon the other 10 papers, six kinds of potential evidence or considerations are identified: the problem of evil, evolution, miracles and prayer, the Anthropic Principle, religious experience, and natural theology. The thesis is defended that considerations informing worldview convictions include public evidence from the sciences and the humanities and personal evidence from individual experience. Additional topics addressed briefly include scientific realism, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, science’s presuppositions, the relationship between natural science and natural theology, the nature of religious faith, and the importance of philosophy in science education. Seven questions are posed for which further leadership from the AAAS and NAS would benefit the scientific community.

The contamination of scientific literature: looking for an antidote

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liotta, Marcello

2017-04-01

Science may have very strong implications for society. The knowledge of the processes occurring around the society represents a good opportunity to take responsible decisions. This is particularly true in the field of geosciences. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, climate changes and many other natural phenomena still need to be further investigated. The role of the scientific community is to increase the knowledge. Each member can share his own ideas and data thus allowing the entire scientific community to receive a precious contribution. The latter one often derives from research activities, which are expensive in terms of consumed time and resources. Nowadays the sharing of scientific results occurs through the publication on scientific journals. The reading of available scientific literature thus represents a unique opportunity to define the state of the art on a specific topic and to address research activities towards something new. When published results are obtained through a rigorous scientific process, they constitute a solid background where each member can add his ideas and evidences. Differently, published results may be affected by scientific misconduct; they constitute a labyrinth where the scientists lose their time in the attempt of truly understanding the natural processes. The normal scientific dialectic should unmask such results, thus avoiding literature contamination and making the scientific framework more stimulating. The scientific community should look for the best practice to reduce the risk of literature contamination.

Laboratory for Atmospheres: Philosophy, Organization, Major Activities, and 1999 Highlights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

The Laboratory for Atmospheres is helping to answer questions related to climate, and climate change and other scientific questions about our planet and its neighbors. The Laboratory conducts a broad theoretical and experimental research program studying all aspects of the atmospheres of the Earth and other planets, including their structural, dynamical, radiative, and chemical properties. In this report,there is a statement of the labs philosophy and a description of it's role in NASA's mission. A broad description of the research and a summary of the scientists' major accomplishments in 1999 is also included. The report also presents useful information on human resources, scientific interactions, and outreach activities with the outside community.

What are Scientific Leaders? The Introduction of a Normalized Impact Factor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsas, George E. A.

2012-12-01

We define a normalized impact factor (NIF) suitable for assessing in a simple way both the strength of scientific communities and the research influence of individuals. We define those with NIF ≥ 1 as scientific leaders because they influence their peers at least as much as they are influenced by them. The NIF has two outstanding characteristics: (a) it has a clear and universal meaning and (b) it is robust against self-citation misuse. We show how a single lognormal function obtained from a simplified version of the NIF leads to a clear "radiography" of the corresponding scientific community. An illustrative application analyzes a community derived from the list of outstanding referees recognized by the American Physical Society in 2008.

Broader Impact and the Arctic Coring Expedition of Summer 2004: A Science Teacher Brings the Pole to the Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Couchon, K. M.

2006-12-01

The ARMADA Project, funded by NSF and administered through the University of Rhode Island Office of Marine Programs, pairs 12-14 teachers with ocean, polar, and environmental scientists each year, affording these teachers an authentic research experience. One middle-school science teacher, Kathleen Couchon of Narragansett, Rhode Island, participated in the IODP Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX) in the summer of 2004. Sailing for 6 weeks aboard the Swedish Icebreaker Oden, Kathleen participated in many aspects of the polar ocean-drilling expedition and was accepted by scientists and crew alike as part of the international science party. Upon return to the classroom, Kathleen found multiple opportunities to share her Arctic research experiences through effective public outreach both within and outside of the educational community. In the classroom, she has developed and implemented inquiry-based activities, allowing her students the opportunity to function as scientists themselves. Mentoring new science teachers within the district and presenting multi- media presentations to other teachers and students at the Narragansett Pier Middle School and Narragansett High School in Rhode Island, provided a wider audience for this important polar geoscience enterprise. An expanded circle of impact was gained through presentations at local district, state, and national teacher gatherings, including two National Science Teacher Association annual conventions and a high school audience at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, Arizona. Within the community-at-large, Kathleen has impacted diverse audiences including the Girl Scouts, the Rotary Club, and senior citizen groups - all enthusiastically receptive and appreciative of hearing the scientific news of research from the North Pole. These experiences have served to establish a linkage between the scientific community and the public, with a teacher-researcher sharing and interpreting the scientific research goals and methodologies, as well as results, in layman's terminology. This presentation will highlight some of the effective outreach ideas that fostered a greater public appreciation for the polar scientific endeavors of the ACEX cruise.

The Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN): A member-driven network approach to supporting women in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastings, M. G.; Kontak, R.; Adams, A. S.; Barnes, R. T.; Fischer, E. V.; Glessmer, M. S.; Holloway, T.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Rodriguez, C.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.; Laursen, S. L.

2013-12-01

The Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN) is an organization of women geoscientists, many in the early stages of their careers. The mission of ESWN is to promote success in scientific careers by facilitating career development, community, informal mentoring and support, and professional collaborations. ESWN currently connects nearly 2000 women across the globe, and includes graduate students, postdoctoral scientists, tenure and non-tenure track faculty from diverse colleges and universities, program managers, and government, non-government and industry researchers. In 2009, ESWN received an NSF ADVANCE PAID award, with the primary goals to grow our membership to serve a wider section of the geosciences community, to design and administer career development workshops, to promote professional networking at scientific conferences, and to develop web resources to build connections, collaborations, and peer mentoring for and among women in the Earth Sciences. Now at the end of the grant, 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 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. The new ESWN web center (www.ESWNonline.org), a major development supported by NSF ADVANCE and AGU, was created to facilitate communication and networking among our members. The web center offers a state-of-the-art social networking platform and features: 1) a public site offering information on ESWN, career resources for all early career scientists, and a 'members' spotlight' highlighting members' scientific and professional achievements; and 2) a password protected member area where users can personalize profiles, create and respond to discussions, and connect with other members. The new member area's archive of discussions and member database are searchable, providing better tools for targeted networking and collaboration.

Whole earth modeling: developing and disseminating scientific software for computational geophysics.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kellogg, L. H.

2016-12-01

Historically, a great deal of specialized scientific software for modeling and data analysis has been developed by individual researchers or small groups of scientists working on their own specific research problems. As the magnitude of available data and computer power has increased, so has the complexity of scientific problems addressed by computational methods, creating both a need to sustain existing scientific software, and expand its development to take advantage of new algorithms, new software approaches, and new computational hardware. To that end, communities like the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics (CIG) have been established to support the use of best practices in scientific computing for solid earth geophysics research and teaching. Working as a scientific community enables computational geophysicists to take advantage of technological developments, improve the accuracy and performance of software, build on prior software development, and collaborate more readily. The CIG community, and others, have adopted an open-source development model, in which code is developed and disseminated by the community in an open fashion, using version control and software repositories like Git. One emerging issue is how to adequately identify and credit the intellectual contributions involved in creating open source scientific software. The traditional method of disseminating scientific ideas, peer reviewed publication, was not designed for review or crediting scientific software, although emerging publication strategies such software journals are attempting to address the need. We are piloting an integrated approach in which authors are identified and credited as scientific software is developed and run. Successful software citation requires integration with the scholarly publication and indexing mechanisms as well, to assign credit, ensure discoverability, and provide provenance for software.

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data – The Convergence of Data and Computing

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

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kerstin

Scientific user facilities—particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more—operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

Management, Analysis, and Visualization of Experimental and Observational Data -- The Convergence of Data and Computing

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

Bethel, E. Wes; Greenwald, Martin; Kleese van Dam, Kersten

Scientific user facilities---particle accelerators, telescopes, colliders, supercomputers, light sources, sequencing facilities, and more---operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC) generate ever increasing volumes of data at unprecedented rates from experiments, observations, and simulations. At the same time there is a growing community of experimentalists that require real-time data analysis feedback, to enable them to steer their complex experimental instruments to optimized scientific outcomes and new discoveries. Recent efforts in DOE-SC have focused on articulating the data-centric challenges and opportunities facing these science communities. Key challenges include difficulties coping with data size, rate, and complexity inmore » the context of both real-time and post-experiment data analysis and interpretation. Solutions will require algorithmic and mathematical advances, as well as hardware and software infrastructures that adequately support data-intensive scientific workloads. This paper presents the summary findings of a workshop held by DOE-SC in September 2015, convened to identify the major challenges and the research that is needed to meet those challenges.« less

EURRECA: development of tools to improve the alignment of micronutrient recommendations.

PubMed

Matthys, C; Bucchini, L; Busstra, M C; Cavelaars, A E J M; Eleftheriou, P; Garcia-Alvarez, A; Fairweather-Tait, S; Gurinović, M; van Ommen, B; Contor, L

2010-11-01

Approaches through which reference values for micronutrients are derived, as well as the reference values themselves, vary considerably across countries. Harmonisation is needed to improve nutrition policy and public health strategies. The EURRECA (EURopean micronutrient RECommendations Aligned, http://www.eurreca.org) Network of Excellence is developing generic tools for systematically establishing and updating micronutrient reference values or recommendations. Different types of instruments (including best practice guidelines, interlinked web pages, online databases and decision trees) have been identified. The first set of instruments is for training purposes and includes mainly interactive digital learning materials. The second set of instruments comprises collection and interlinkage of diverse information sources that have widely varying contents and purposes. In general, these sources are collections of existing information. The purpose of the majority of these information sources is to provide guidance on best practice for use in a wider scientific community or for users and stakeholders of reference values. The third set of instruments includes decision trees and frameworks. The purpose of these tools is to guide non-scientists in decision making based on scientific evidence. This platform of instruments will, in particular in Central and Eastern European countries, contribute to future capacity-building development in nutrition. The use of these tools by the scientific community, the European Food Safety Authority, bodies responsible for setting national nutrient requirements and others should ultimately help to align nutrient-based recommendations across Europe. Therefore, EURRECA can contribute towards nutrition policy development and public health strategies.

Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, Linda

2002-10-01

The Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) will be a user facility with a strong component of joint, collaborative research. CNMS is being developed, together with the scientific community, with support from DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences. The Center will provide a thriving, multidisciplinary environment for research as well as the education of students and postdoctoral scholars. It will be co-located with the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and the Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences (JINS). The CNMS will integrate nanoscale research with neutron science, synthesis science, and theory/modeling/simulation, bringing together four areas in which the United States has clear national research and educational needs. The Center's research will be organized under three scientific thrusts: nano-dimensioned "soft" materials (including organic, hybrid, and interfacial nanophases); complex "hard" materials systems (including the crosscutting areas of interfaces and reduced dimensionality that become scientifically critical on the nanoscale); and theory/modeling/simulation. This presentation will summarize the progress towards identification of the specific research focus topics for the Center. Currently proposed topics, based on two workshops with the potential user community, include catalysis, nanomagnetism, synthetic and bio-inspired macromolecular materials, nanophase biomaterials, nanofluidics, optics/photonics, carbon-based nanostructures, collective behavior, nanoscale interface science, virtual synthesis and nanomaterials design, and electronic structure, correlations, and transport. In addition, the proposed 80,000 square foot facility (wet/dry labs, nanofabrication clean rooms, and offices) and the associated technical equipment will be described. The CNMS is scheduled to begin construction in spring, 2003. Initial operations are planned for late in 2004.

Describing Nanomaterials: A Uniform Description System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumble, John; Freiman, Steve; Teague, Clayton

2014-03-01

Products involving nanomaterials are growing rapidly and nanoparticles also occur naturally. Materials, scientists, engineers, health officials, and regulators have realized they need a common description system. Led by CODATA and VAMAS, a Uniform Description System (UDS) for nanomaterials is being developed to meet the requirements of a broad range of scientific and technical disciplines and different user communities. The goal of the CODATA/VAMAS effort is the creation of a complete set of descriptors that can be used by all communities, e.g., materials, physics, chemistry, agricultural, medical, etc., interested in nanomaterials. The description system must be relevant to researchers, manufacturers of nanomaterials, materials selectors, and regulators. The purpose of the UDS for materials on the nanoscale is twofold: Uniqueness and Equivalency. The first step in the development of the UDS has been the creation of a Framework that will be used by the different communities to guide in the selection of descriptors relevant to their needs. This talk is a brief description of the draft of such a Framework, and how the framework will be translated into a robust description system with input from many scientific communities including physics. A contribution from the CODATA/VAMAS Working Group on the Description of Nanomaterials.

Investigating introductory astronomy students' perceived impacts from participation in course-based undergraduate research experiences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wooten, Michelle M.; Coble, Kim; Puckett, Andrew W.; Rector, Travis

2018-06-01

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Astronomy Education Research.] This study investigates students' perceived impacts regarding their participation in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in astronomy. Each research experience adopted one or more projects from the Research Based Science Education for Undergraduates (RBSEU) curriculum, which teaches analysis of astronomical data coming from various national observatories. Participating students were enrolled in introductory astronomy courses at one of four universities using the curriculum. They were invited to respond to several instruments, including surveys (N =199 ), essays (N =94 ), and interviews (N =19 ). Each university implemented the curriculum differently with respect to content covered, length of instruction, and whether students' research results were contributed to the astronomical community. We found that participation in all versions of the curriculum had the potential to significantly increase students' perceived confidence participating in science. However, participation in experiences wherein results were contributed to the scientific community more often led to students' nuanced perceptions of science processes, including increased understanding of the role of analysis and the utility of scientific communities and collaborations. We frame our study according to a pathway model under study by discipline-based education researchers of CUREs and explore our findings' connections with psychological theories.

Tools and data services registry: a community effort to document bioinformatics resources

PubMed Central

Ison, Jon; Rapacki, Kristoffer; Ménager, Hervé; Kalaš, Matúš; Rydza, Emil; Chmura, Piotr; Anthon, Christian; Beard, Niall; Berka, Karel; Bolser, Dan; Booth, Tim; Bretaudeau, Anthony; Brezovsky, Jan; Casadio, Rita; Cesareni, Gianni; Coppens, Frederik; Cornell, Michael; Cuccuru, Gianmauro; Davidsen, Kristian; Vedova, Gianluca Della; Dogan, Tunca; Doppelt-Azeroual, Olivia; Emery, Laura; Gasteiger, Elisabeth; Gatter, Thomas; Goldberg, Tatyana; Grosjean, Marie; Grüning, Björn; Helmer-Citterich, Manuela; Ienasescu, Hans; Ioannidis, Vassilios; Jespersen, Martin Closter; Jimenez, Rafael; Juty, Nick; Juvan, Peter; Koch, Maximilian; Laibe, Camille; Li, Jing-Woei; Licata, Luana; Mareuil, Fabien; Mičetić, Ivan; Friborg, Rune Møllegaard; Moretti, Sebastien; Morris, Chris; Möller, Steffen; Nenadic, Aleksandra; Peterson, Hedi; Profiti, Giuseppe; Rice, Peter; Romano, Paolo; Roncaglia, Paola; Saidi, Rabie; Schafferhans, Andrea; Schwämmle, Veit; Smith, Callum; Sperotto, Maria Maddalena; Stockinger, Heinz; Vařeková, Radka Svobodová; Tosatto, Silvio C.E.; de la Torre, Victor; Uva, Paolo; Via, Allegra; Yachdav, Guy; Zambelli, Federico; Vriend, Gert; Rost, Burkhard; Parkinson, Helen; Løngreen, Peter; Brunak, Søren

2016-01-01

Life sciences are yielding huge data sets that underpin scientific discoveries fundamental to improvement in human health, agriculture and the environment. In support of these discoveries, a plethora of databases and tools are deployed, in technically complex and diverse implementations, across a spectrum of scientific disciplines. The corpus of documentation of these resources is fragmented across the Web, with much redundancy, and has lacked a common standard of information. The outcome is that scientists must often struggle to find, understand, compare and use the best resources for the task at hand. Here we present a community-driven curation effort, supported by ELIXIR—the European infrastructure for biological information—that aspires to a comprehensive and consistent registry of information about bioinformatics resources. The sustainable upkeep of this Tools and Data Services Registry is assured by a curation effort driven by and tailored to local needs, and shared amongst a network of engaged partners. As of November 2015, the registry includes 1785 resources, with depositions from 126 individual registrations including 52 institutional providers and 74 individuals. With community support, the registry can become a standard for dissemination of information about bioinformatics resources: we welcome everyone to join us in this common endeavour. The registry is freely available at https://bio.tools. PMID:26538599

Bringing scientific rigor to community-developed programs in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Fabrizio, Cecilia S; Hirschmann, Malia R; Lam, Tai Hing; Cheung, Teresa; Pang, Irene; Chan, Sophia; Stewart, Sunita M

2012-12-31

This paper describes efforts to generate evidence for community-developed programs to enhance family relationships in the Chinese culture of Hong Kong, within the framework of community-based participatory research (CBPR). The CBPR framework was applied to help maximize the development of the intervention and the public health impact of the studies, while enhancing the capabilities of the social service sector partners. Four academic-community research teams explored the process of designing and implementing randomized controlled trials in the community. In addition to the expected cultural barriers between teams of academics and community practitioners, with their different outlooks, concerns and languages, the team navigated issues in utilizing the principles of CBPR unique to this Chinese culture. Eventually the team developed tools for adaptation, such as an emphasis on building the relationship while respecting role delineation and an iterative process of defining the non-negotiable parameters of research design while maintaining scientific rigor. Lessons learned include the risk of underemphasizing the size of the operational and skills shift between usual agency practices and research studies, the importance of minimizing non-negotiable parameters in implementing rigorous research designs in the community, and the need to view community capacity enhancement as a long term process. The four pilot studies under the FAMILY Project demonstrated that nuanced design adaptations, such as wait list controls and shorter assessments, better served the needs of the community and led to the successful development and vigorous evaluation of a series of preventive, family-oriented interventions in the Chinese culture of Hong Kong.

Modeling Guru: Knowledge Base for NASA Modelers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seablom, M. S.; Wojcik, G. S.; van Aartsen, B. H.

2009-05-01

Modeling Guru is an on-line knowledge-sharing resource for anyone involved with or interested in NASA's scientific models or High End Computing (HEC) systems. Developed and maintained by the NASA's Software Integration and Visualization Office (SIVO) and the NASA Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS), Modeling Guru's combined forums and knowledge base for research and collaboration is becoming a repository for the accumulated expertise of NASA's scientific modeling and HEC communities. All NASA modelers and associates are encouraged to participate and provide knowledge about the models and systems so that other users may benefit from their experience. Modeling Guru is divided into a hierarchy of communities, each with its own set forums and knowledge base documents. Current modeling communities include those for space science, land and atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, and oceanography. In addition, there are communities focused on NCCS systems, HEC tools and libraries, and programming and scripting languages. Anyone may view most of the content on Modeling Guru (available at http://modelingguru.nasa.gov/), but you must log in to post messages and subscribe to community postings. The site offers a full range of "Web 2.0" features, including discussion forums, "wiki" document generation, document uploading, RSS feeds, search tools, blogs, email notification, and "breadcrumb" links. A discussion (a.k.a. forum "thread") is used to post comments, solicit feedback, or ask questions. If marked as a question, SIVO will monitor the thread, and normally respond within a day. Discussions can include embedded images, tables, and formatting through the use of the Rich Text Editor. Also, the user can add "Tags" to their thread to facilitate later searches. The "knowledge base" is comprised of documents that are used to capture and share expertise with others. The default "wiki" document lets users edit within the browser so others can easily collaborate on the same document, even allowing the author to select those who may edit and approve the document. To maintain knowledge integrity, all documents are moderated before they are visible to the public. Modeling Guru, running on Clearspace by Jive Software, has been an active resource to the NASA modeling and HEC communities for more than a year and currently has more than 100 active users. SIVO will soon install live instant messaging support, as well as a user-customizable homepage with social-networking features. In addition, SIVO plans to implement a large dataset/file storage capability so that users can quickly and easily exchange datasets and files with one another. Continued active community participation combined with periodic software updates and improved features will ensure that Modeling Guru remains a vibrant, effective, easy-to-use tool for the NASA scientific community.

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

ResearchGate is no longer reliable: leniency towards ghost journals may decrease its impact on the scientific community.

PubMed

Memon, Aamir Raoof

2016-12-01

ResearchGate has been regarded as one of the most attractive academic social networking site for scientific community. It has been trying to improve user-centered interfaces to gain more attractiveness to scientists around the world. Display of journal related scietometric measures (such as impact factor, 5-year impact, cited half-life, eigenfactor) is an important feature in ResearchGate. Open access publishing has added more to increased visibility of research work and easy access to information related to research. Moreover, scientific community has been much interested in promoting their work and exhibiting its impact to others through reliable scientometric measures. However, with the growing market of publications and improvements in the field of research, this community has been victimized by the cybercrime in the form of ghost journals, fake publishers and magical impact measures. Particularly, ResearchGate more recently, has been lenient in its policies against this dark side of academic writing. Therefore, this communication aims to discuss concerns associated with leniency in ResearchGate policies and its impact of scientific community.

Scientific explanations in Greek upper secondary physics textbooks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velentzas, Athanasios; Halkia, Krystallia

2018-01-01

In this study, an analysis of the structure of scientific explanations included in physics textbooks of upper secondary schools in Greece was completed. In scientific explanations for specific phenomena found in the sample textbooks, the explanandum is a logical consequence of the explanans, which in all cases include at least one scientific law (and/or principle, model or rule) previously presented, as well as statements concerning a specific case or specific conditions. The same structure is also followed in most of the cases in which the textbook authors explain regularities (i.e. laws, rules) as consequences of one or more general law or principle of physics. Finally, a number of the physics laws and principles presented in textbooks are not deduced as consequences from other, more general laws, but they are formulated axiomatically or inductively derived and the authors argue for their validity. Since, as it was found, the scientific explanations presented in the textbooks used in the study have similar structures to the explanations in internationally known textbooks, the findings of the present work may be of interest not only to science educators in Greece, but also to the community of science educators in other countries.

Research Infrastructure and Scientific Collections: The Supply and Demand of Scientific Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, E.; Schindel, D. E.

2016-12-01

Research infrastructure is essential in both experimental and observational sciences and is commonly thought of as single-sited facilities. In contrast, object-based scientific collections are distributed in nearly every way, including by location, taxonomy, geologic epoch, discipline, collecting processes, benefits sharing rules, and many others. These diffused collections may have been amassed for a particular discipline, but their potential for use and impact in other fields needs to be explored. Through a series of cross-disciplinary activities, Scientific Collections International (SciColl) has explored and developed new ways in which the supply of scientific collections can meet the demand of researchers in unanticipated ways. From cross-cutting workshops on emerging infectious diseases and food security, to an online portal of collections, SciColl aims to illustrate the scope and value of object-based scientific research infrastructure. As distributed infrastructure, the full impact of scientific collections to the research community is a result of discovering, utilizing, and networking these resources. Examples and case studies from infectious disease research, food security topics, and digital connectivity will be explored.

Homage to Professor Meinhart H. Zenk: Crowd accelerated research and innovation.

PubMed

Heinz, Nanna; Møller, Birger Lindberg

2013-07-01

Professor Meinhart H. Zenk has had an enormous impact within the plant biochemistry area. Throughout his entire career he was able to identify and address key scientific issues within chemistry and plant secondary metabolism. Meinhart H. Zenk and his research associates have provided seminal scientific contributions within a multitude of research topics. A hallmark in Meinhart H. Zenk's research has been to rapidly introduce and apply new technologies and to initiate cross-disciplinary collaborations to provide groundbreaking new knowledge within research areas that at the time appeared highly complex and inaccessible to experimentation. He strived and managed to reach scientific excellence. In this way, he was an eminent key mentor within the plant biochemistry research community. Today, few single individuals possess so much knowledge. However, web-based social platforms enable fast and global distribution and sharing of information also including science related matters, unfortunately often prior to assessment of its correctness. Thus the demand of scientific mentoring that Meinhart H. Zenk offered the science community is as important as ever. In the honor of Meinhart H. Zenk, let us keep up that tradition and widen our engagement to encompass the new social media and benefit from the opportunities offered by crowd accelerated innovation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid 2-D and 3-D Immersive and Interactive User Interface for Scientific Data Visualization

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

visualization, 3-D interactive visualization, scientific visualization, virtual reality, real -time ray tracing 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17...scientists to employ in the real world. Other than user-friendly software and hardware setup, scientists also need to be able to perform their usual...and scientific visualization communities mostly have different research priorities. For the VR community, the ability to support real -time user

MSL: Facilitating automatic and physical analysis of published scientific literature in PDF format.

PubMed

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Dandekar, Thomas

2015-01-01

Published scientific literature contains millions of figures, including information about the results obtained from different scientific experiments e.g. PCR-ELISA data, microarray analysis, gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry data, DNA/RNA sequencing, diagnostic imaging (CT/MRI and ultrasound scans), and medicinal imaging like electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), echocardiography  (ECG), positron-emission tomography (PET) images. The importance of biomedical figures has been widely recognized in scientific and medicine communities, as they play a vital role in providing major original data, experimental and computational results in concise form. One major challenge for implementing a system for scientific literature analysis is extracting and analyzing text and figures from published PDF files by physical and logical document analysis. Here we present a product line architecture based bioinformatics tool 'Mining Scientific Literature (MSL)', which supports the extraction of text and images by interpreting all kinds of published PDF files using advanced data mining and image processing techniques. It provides modules for the marginalization of extracted text based on different coordinates and keywords, visualization of extracted figures and extraction of embedded text from all kinds of biological and biomedical figures using applied Optimal Character Recognition (OCR). Moreover, for further analysis and usage, it generates the system's output in different formats including text, PDF, XML and images files. Hence, MSL is an easy to install and use analysis tool to interpret published scientific literature in PDF format.

40 CFR 63.90 - Program overview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as equivalent or better) that is... enforceable test method involving “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as... interest; and (3) “Combining” a federally required method with another proven method for application to...

40 CFR 63.90 - Program overview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as equivalent or better) that is... enforceable test method involving “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as... interest; and (3) “Combining” a federally required method with another proven method for application to...

The PRISM project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guilyardi, E.

2003-04-01

The European Union's PRISM infrastructure project (PRogram for Integrated earth System Modelling) aims at designing a flexible environment to easily assemble and run Earth System Models (http://prism.enes.org). Europe's widely distributed modelling expertise is both a strength and a challenge. Recognizing this, the PRISM project aims at developing an efficient shared modelling software infrastructure for climate scientists, providing them with an opportunity for greater focus on scientific issues, including the necessary scientific diversity (models and approaches). The proposed PRISM system includes 1) the use - or definition - and promotion of scientific and technical standards to increase component modularity, 2) an end-to-end software environment (coupler, user interface, diagnostics) to launch, monitor and analyze complex Earth System Models built around the existing and future community models, 3) testing and quality standards to ensure HPC performance on a variety of platforms and 4) community wide inputs and requirements capture in all stages of system specifications and design through user/developers meetings, workshops and thematic schools. This science driven project, led by 22 institutes* and started December 1st 2001, benefits from a unique gathering of scientific and technical expertise. More than 30 models (both global and regional) have expressed interest to be part of the PRISM system and 6 types of components have been identified: atmosphere, atmosphere chemistry, land surface, ocean, sea ice and ocean biochemistry. Progress and overall architecture design will be presented. * MPI-Met (Coordinator), KNMI (co-coordinator), MPI-M&D, Met Office, University of Reading, IPSL, Meteo-France, CERFACS, DMI, SMHI, NERSC, ETH Zurich, INGV, MPI-BGC, PIK, ECMWF, UCL-ASTR, NEC, FECIT, SGI, SUN, CCRLE

Community Capacity Building as a vital mechanism for enhancing the growth and efficacy of a sustainable scientific software ecosystem: experiences running a real-time bi-coastal "Open Science for Synthesis" Training Institute for young Earth and Environmental scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schildhauer, M.; Jones, M. B.; Bolker, B.; Lenhardt, W. C.; Hampton, S. E.; Idaszak, R.; Rebich Hespanha, S.; Ahalt, S.; Christopherson, L.

2014-12-01

Continuing advances in computational capabilities, access to Big Data, and virtual collaboration technologies are creating exciting new opportunities for accomplishing Earth science research at finer resolutions, with much broader scope, using powerful modeling and analytical approaches that were unachievable just a few years ago. Yet, there is a perceptible lag in the abilities of the research community to capitalize on these new possibilities, due to lacking the relevant skill-sets, especially with regards to multi-disciplinary and integrative investigations that involve active collaboration. UC Santa Barbara's National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), and the University of North Carolina's Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), were recipients of NSF OCI S2I2 "Conceptualization awards", charged with helping define the needs of the research community relative to enabling science and education through "sustained software infrastructure". Over the course of our activities, a consistent request from Earth scientists was for "better training in software that enables more effective, reproducible research." This community-based feedback led to creation of an "Open Science for Synthesis" Institute— a innovative, three-week, bi-coastal training program for early career researchers. We provided a mix of lectures, hands-on exercises, and working group experience on topics including: data discovery and preservation; code creation, management, sharing, and versioning; scientific workflow documentation and reproducibility; statistical and machine modeling techniques; virtual collaboration mechanisms; and methods for communicating scientific results. All technologies and quantitative tools presented were suitable for advancing open, collaborative, and reproducible synthesis research. In this talk, we will report on the lessons learned from running this ambitious training program, that involved coordinating classrooms among two remote sites, and included developing original synthesis research activities as part of the course. We also report on the feedback provided by participants as to the learning approaches and topical issues they found most engaging, and why.

Politics and the Erosion of Federal Scientific Capacity: Restoring Scientific Integrity to Public Health Science

PubMed Central

Rest, Kathleen M.; Halpern, Michael H.

2007-01-01

Our nation’s health and prosperity are based on a foundation of independent scientific discovery. Yet in recent years, political interference in federal government science has become widespread, threatening this legacy. We explore the ways science has been misused, the attempts to measure the pervasiveness of this problem, and the effects on our long-term capacity to meet today’s most complex public health challenges. Good government and a functioning democracy require public policy decisions to be informed by independent science. The scientific and public health communities must speak out to defend taxpayer-funded science from political interference. Encouragingly, both the scientific community and Congress are exploring ways to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking. PMID:17901422

Politics and the erosion of federal scientific capacity: restoring scientific integrity to public health science.

PubMed

Rest, Kathleen M; Halpern, Michael H

2007-11-01

Our nation's health and prosperity are based on a foundation of independent scientific discovery. Yet in recent years, political interference in federal government science has become widespread, threatening this legacy. We explore the ways science has been misused, the attempts to measure the pervasiveness of this problem, and the effects on our long-term capacity to meet today's most complex public health challenges. Good government and a functioning democracy require public policy decisions to be informed by independent science. The scientific and public health communities must speak out to defend taxpayer-funded science from political interference. Encouragingly, both the scientific community and Congress are exploring ways to restore scientific integrity to federal policymaking.

Recruitment Campaigns as a Tool for Social and Cultural Reproduction of Scientific Communities: A case study on how scientists invite young people to science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrée, Maria; Hansson, Lena

2014-08-01

Young people's interest in pursuing science and science-intense educations has been expressed as a concern in relation to societal, economic and democratic development by various stakeholders (governments, industry and university). From the perspective of the scientific communities, the issues at stake do not necessarily correspond to the overall societal aims. Rather, initiatives to recruit young people to science are also ways for the scientific community to engage in the social and cultural reproduction of itself. For a community to survive and produce a future, it needs to secure regeneration of itself in succeeding generations. The aim of this study is to, from a perspective of social and cultural production/reproduction, shed light on an initiative from the scientific community to recruit young people to science education. This is a case study of one recruitment campaign called the Chemistry Advent calendar. The calendar consists of 25 webcasted films, produced and published by the science/technology faculty at a university. The analysed data consist of the films and additional published material relating to the campaign such as working reports and articles published about the campaign. The analysis focussed on what messages are communicated to potential newcomers. The messages were categorised by means of a framework of subjective values. The results are discussed both from a perspective of how the messages mirror traditions and habits of the scientific community, and in relation to research on students' educational choices.

Scientific Software - the role of best practices and recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fritzsch, Bernadette; Bernstein, Erik; Castell, Wolfgang zu; Diesmann, Markus; Haas, Holger; Hammitzsch, Martin; Konrad, Uwe; Lähnemann, David; McHardy, Alice; Pampel, Heinz; Scheliga, Kaja; Schreiber, Andreas; Steglich, Dirk

2017-04-01

In Geosciences - like in most other communities - scientific work strongly depends on software. For big data analysis, existing (closed or open source) program packages are often mixed with newly developed codes. Different versions of software components and varying configurations can influence the result of data analysis. This often makes reproducibility of results and reuse of codes very difficult. Policies for publication and documentation of used and newly developed software, along with best practices, can help tackle this problem. Within the Helmholtz Association a Task Group "Access to and Re-use of scientific software" was implemented by the Open Science Working Group in 2016. The aim of the Task Group is to foster the discussion about scientific software in the Open Science context and to formulate recommendations for the production and publication of scientific software, ensuring open access to it. As a first step, a workshop gathered interested scientists from institutions across Germany. The workshop brought together various existing initiatives from different scientific communities to analyse current problems, share established best practices and come up with possible solutions. The subjects in the working groups covered a broad range of themes, including technical infrastructures, standards and quality assurance, citation of software and reproducibility. Initial recommendations are presented and discussed in the talk. They are the foundation for further discussions in the Helmholtz Association and the Priority Initiative "Digital Information" of the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany. The talk aims to inform about the activities and to link with other initiatives on the national or international level.

Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Oxides of Nitrogen ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Oxides of Nitrogen and Sulfur - Ecological Criteria. This document represents a concise synthesis and evaluation of the most policy-relevant science and will ultimately provide the scientific bases for EPA's decision on retaining or revising the current secondary standards for oxides of nitrogen (NO2 and SO2). The intent of the ISA, according to the CAA, is to “accurately reflect the latest scientific knowledge expected from the presence of [a] pollutant in ambient air” (U.S. Code, 1970a, 1970b). It includes scientific research from atmospheric sciences, exposure and deposition, biogeochemistry, hydrology, soil science, marine science, plant physiology, animal physiology, and ecology conducted at multiple scales (e.g., population, community, ecosystem, landscape levels). Key information and judgments formerly found in the Air Quality Criteria Documents (AQCDs) for NOX and SOX are included; Annexes provide a more detailed discussion of the most pertinent scientific literature. Together, the ISA and Annexes serve to update and revise the last NOX and SOX AQCDs which were published in 1993 and 1982, respectively.

Anti-reductionism at the confluence of philosophy and science: Arthur Koestler and the biological periphery

PubMed Central

Stark, James F.

2016-01-01

The Hungarian-born intellectual Arthur Koestler produced a wide-ranging corpus of written work throughout the mid twentieth century. Despite being the subject of two huge biographies in recent years, his long-standing engagement with numerous scientific disciplines remains unexplored. This paper situates Koestler's scientific philosophy within the context of mid-twentieth-century science and explores his relationship with key figures, including Dennis Gábor, C. H. Waddington, Ludwig von Bertalanffy and J. R. Smythies. The argument presented is threefold. First, surprisingly, serious scientists, particularly in the biological sciences, took Koestler's scientific work seriously; second, despite Koestler's best efforts, his allies could not agree on a single articulation of anti-reductionism; and third, the reductionist/anti-reductionist debates of the mid twentieth century constituted a battle for the authority to speak on behalf of ‘science’ that led Koestler into direct conflict with figures including Peter Medawar. By exploring the community associated with Koestler, the paper sheds new light on the status of scientific authority and the relationship between scientists’ metaphysical beliefs and their practices.

European Union research in support of environment and health: Building scientific evidence base for policy.

PubMed

Karjalainen, Tuomo; Hoeveler, Arnd; Draghia-Akli, Ruxandra

2017-06-01

Opinion polls show that the European Union citizens are increasingly concerned about the impact of environmental factors on their health. In order to respond and provide solid scientific evidence for the numerous policies related to the protection of human health and the environment managed at the Union level, the European Union made a substantial investment in research and innovation in the past two decades through its Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, including the current programme, Horizon 2020, which started in 2014. This policy review paper analysed the portfolio of forty collaborative projects relevant to environment and health, which received a total amount of around 228 million euros from the EU. It gives details on their contents and general scientific trends observed, the profiles of the participating countries and institutions, and the potential policy implications of the results obtained. The increasing knowledge base is needed to make informed policy decisions in Europe and beyond, and should be useful to many stakeholders including the scientific community and regulatory authorities. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Theater Level War Games.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-02

to Army Modeling efforts. Include design for future priori- ties and specific actions. (13) Establish standards, methodology and formats for exter- I...with models and the wider technological-scientific-academic community, (4) increased centralized management of data, and (5) design of a proactive...andObjectives ............... 2 Purposes and Preliminary Results . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Scope of Study .................... 6 Methodology

Overcoming Objections to the Use of Temperament Variables in Selection.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hough, Leaetta M.

Much of the scientific community has believed that temperament variables could not be included in batteries of tests to predict job performance because no generalized principles could be discerned from the results. For Project A, a major Army project on the prediction of job performance, a temperament inventory was developed and implemented. This…

Contributions of Piagetian and Post-Piagetian Theories to Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchand, Helena

2012-01-01

The aim of this article was to reflect on the contributions of Piagetian and neo-Piagetian theories to education. Topics analyzed included the evolution of Piaget's and co-workers' theory, the reaction by the scientific community to the main theoretical and methodological aspects of each period of his work, the educational potentialities of…

Turn on Chemistry Program with a Focus on Community Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalra, R. M.

The program is a terminal course in chemistry for 9-12 grade students who are non-science majors, low achievers, and/or American Indians. Its objectives include to provide a systematic and practical overview of the discipline of chemistry; to change student behavior through this knowledge; to develop social responsibility, scientific attitude, and…

The Hoosier-Shawnee ecological assessment: Table of contents

Treesearch

Frank R., III ed. Thompson

2004-01-01

This report is a scientific assessment of the characteristic composition, structure, and processes of ecosystems in the southern one-third of Illinois and Indiana and a small part of western Kentucky. It includes chapters on ecological sections and soils, water resources, forest, plants, and communities, aquatic animals, terrestrial animals, forest diseases and pests,...

The Introduction of Non-Verbal Communication in Greek Education: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stamatis, Panagiotis J.

2012-01-01

Introduction: The introductory part of this paper underlines the research interest of the educational community in the issue of non-verbal communication in education. The question for the introduction of this scientific field in Greek education enter within the context of this research which include many aspects. Method: The paper essentially…

Integrating Medical and Environmental Sociology with Environmental Health: Crossing Boundaries and Building Connections through Advocacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Phil

2013-01-01

This article reviews the personal and professional processes of developing an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex issues of environmental health in their community, political-economic, social science, and scientific contexts. This interdisciplinary approach includes a synthesis of research, policy work, and advocacy. To examine…

Unethical Admissions: Academic Integrity in Question.

PubMed

Ansah, Richard Hannis; Aikhuele, Daniel O; Yao, Liu

2017-08-01

The increasing unethical practices of graduates' admissions have heightened concerns about the integrity of the academy. This article informs this important subject that affects the students, admission systems, and the entire scientific community, thus, representing an approach against scholarly black market activities including falsified documents and unethical practices by consultants and students' recruitment agencies.

Lessons Learned from the Whole Child and Coordinated School Health Approaches

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rasberry, Catherine N.; Slade, Sean; Lohrmann, David K.; Valois, Robert F.

2015-01-01

Background: The new Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, designed to depict links between health and learning, is founded on concepts of coordinated school health (CSH) and a whole child approach to education. Methods: The existing literature, including scientific articles and key publications from national agencies and…

A Whole School Approach: Collaborative Development of School Health Policies, Processes, and Practices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunt, Pete; Barrios, Lisa; Telljohann, Susan K.; Mazyck, Donna

2015-01-01

Background: The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model shows the interrelationship between health and learning and the potential for improving educational outcomes by improving health outcomes. However, current descriptions do not explain how to implement the model. Methods: The existing literature, including scientific articles,…

Sciologer: Visualizing and Exploring Scientific Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bales, Michael Eliot

2009-01-01

Despite the recognized need to increase interdisciplinary collaboration, there are few information resources available to provide researchers with an overview of scientific communities--topics under investigation by various groups, and patterns of collaboration among groups. The tools that are available are designed for expert social network…

44 CFR 67.8 - Appeal procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... technical or scientific data submitted by the community that tend to negate or contradict the information... FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.8 Appeal procedure. (a) If a community appeals the proposed flood... to an independent scientific body or appropriate Federal agency for advice. (c) The final...

44 CFR 67.8 - Appeal procedure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... technical or scientific data submitted by the community that tend to negate or contradict the information... FLOOD ELEVATION DETERMINATIONS § 67.8 Appeal procedure. (a) If a community appeals the proposed flood... to an independent scientific body or appropriate Federal agency for advice. (c) The final...

40 CFR 63.90 - Program overview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... calibration gases or test cells; (4) Use of an analytical technology that differs from that specified by a... “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as equivalent or better) that is... enforceable test method involving “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as...

40 CFR 63.90 - Program overview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... calibration gases or test cells; (4) Use of an analytical technology that differs from that specified by a... “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as equivalent or better) that is... enforceable test method involving “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as...

40 CFR 63.90 - Program overview.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... calibration gases or test cells; (4) Use of an analytical technology that differs from that specified by a... “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as equivalent or better) that is... enforceable test method involving “proven technology” (generally accepted by the scientific community as...

Viral Determinants and Vector Competence of Zika Virus Transmission.

PubMed

Tham, Hong-Wai; Balasubramaniam, Vinod; Ooi, Man K; Chew, Miaw-Fang

2018-01-01

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a new global health threat. Since its first discovery in Zika forest in Uganda, this virus has been isolated from several mosquito species, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus . The geographical distribution of these mosquito species across tropical and subtropical regions has led to several outbreaks, including the recent pandemic in Brazil, followed by the Pacific islands and other areas of North and South America. This has gained attention of the scientific community to elucidate the epidemiology and transmission of ZIKV. Despite its strong attention on clinical aspects for healthcare professionals, the relationships between ZIKV and its principal vectors, A. aegypti and A. albopictus , have not gained substantial interest in the scientific research community. As such, this review aims to summarize the current knowledge on ZIKV tropism and some important mechanisms which may be employed by the virus for effective strategies on viral survival in mosquitoes. In addition, this review identifies the areas of research that should be placed attention to, for which to be exploited for novel mosquito control strategies.

Using Science to Take a Stand: Action-Oriented Learning in an Afterschool Science Club

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagenah, Sara

This dissertation study investigates what happens when students participate in an afterschool science club designed around action-oriented science instruction, a set of curriculum design principles based on social justice pedagogy. Comprised of three manuscripts written for journal publication, the dissertation includes 1) Negotiating community-based action-oriented science teaching and learning: Articulating curriculum design principles, 2) Middle school girls' socio-scientific participation pathways in an afterschool science club, and 3) Laughing and learning together: Productive science learning spaces for middle school girls. By investigating how action-oriented science design principles get negotiated, female identity development in and with science, and the role of everyday social interactions as students do productive science, this research fills gaps in the understanding of how social justice pedagogy gets enacted and negotiated among multiple stakeholders including students, teachers, and community members along what identity development looks like across social and scientific activity. This study will be of interest to educators thinking about how to enact social justice pedagogy in science learning spaces and those interested in identity development in science.

Viral Determinants and Vector Competence of Zika Virus Transmission

PubMed Central

Tham, Hong-Wai; Balasubramaniam, Vinod; Ooi, Man K.; Chew, Miaw-Fang

2018-01-01

Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a new global health threat. Since its first discovery in Zika forest in Uganda, this virus has been isolated from several mosquito species, including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The geographical distribution of these mosquito species across tropical and subtropical regions has led to several outbreaks, including the recent pandemic in Brazil, followed by the Pacific islands and other areas of North and South America. This has gained attention of the scientific community to elucidate the epidemiology and transmission of ZIKV. Despite its strong attention on clinical aspects for healthcare professionals, the relationships between ZIKV and its principal vectors, A. aegypti and A. albopictus, have not gained substantial interest in the scientific research community. As such, this review aims to summarize the current knowledge on ZIKV tropism and some important mechanisms which may be employed by the virus for effective strategies on viral survival in mosquitoes. In addition, this review identifies the areas of research that should be placed attention to, for which to be exploited for novel mosquito control strategies. PMID:29875751

The electronic Rothamsted Archive (e-RA), an online resource for data from the Rothamsted long-term experiments.

PubMed

Perryman, Sarah A M; Castells-Brooke, Nathalie I D; Glendining, Margaret J; Goulding, Keith W T; Hawkesford, Malcolm J; Macdonald, Andy J; Ostler, Richard J; Poulton, Paul R; Rawlings, Christopher J; Scott, Tony; Verrier, Paul J

2018-05-15

The electronic Rothamsted Archive, e-RA (www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk) provides a permanent managed database to both securely store and disseminate data from Rothamsted Research's long-term field experiments (since 1843) and meteorological stations (since 1853). Both historical and contemporary data are made available via this online database which provides the scientific community with access to a unique continuous record of agricultural experiments and weather measured since the mid-19 th century. Qualitative information, such as treatment and management practices, plans and soil information, accompanies the data and are made available on the e-RA website. e-RA was released externally to the wider scientific community in 2013 and this paper describes its development, content, curation and the access process for data users. Case studies illustrate the diverse applications of the data, including its original intended purposes and recent unforeseen applications. Usage monitoring demonstrates the data are of increasing interest. Future developments, including adopting FAIR data principles, are proposed as the resource is increasingly recognised as a unique archive of data relevant to sustainable agriculture, agroecology and the environment.

Involving Research Stakeholders in Developing Policy on Sharing Public Health Research Data in Kenya: Views on Fair Process for Informed Consent, Access Oversight, and Community Engagement.

PubMed

Jao, Irene; Kombe, Francis; Mwalukore, Salim; Bull, Susan; Parker, Michael; Kamuya, Dorcas; Molyneux, Sassy; Marsh, Vicki

2015-07-01

Increased global sharing of public health research data has potential to advance scientific progress but may present challenges to the interests of research stakeholders, particularly in low-to-middle income countries. Policies for data sharing should be responsive to public views, but there is little evidence of the systematic study of these from low-income countries. This qualitative study explored views on fair data-sharing processes among 60 stakeholders in Kenya with varying research experience, using a deliberative approach. Stakeholders' attitudes were informed by perceptions of benefit and concerns for research data sharing, including risks of stigmatization, loss of privacy, and undermining scientific careers and validity, reported in detail elsewhere. In this article, we discuss institutional trust-building processes seen as central to perceptions of fairness in sharing research data in this setting, including forms of community involvement, individual prior awareness and agreement to data sharing, independence and accountability of governance mechanisms, and operating under a national framework. © The Author(s) 2015.

Working with and promoting early career scientists within a larger community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratt, K.

2017-12-01

For many scientific communities, engaging early career researchers is critical for success. These young scientists (graduate students, postdocs, and newly appointed professors) are actively forming collaborations and instigating new research programs. They also stand to benefit hugely from being part of a scientific community, gaining access to career development activities, becoming part of strong collaborator networks, and achieving recognition in their field of study — all of which will help their professional development. There are many ways community leaders can work proactively to support and engage early career scientists, and it it is often a community manager's job to work with leadership to implement such activities. In this presentation, I will outline ways of engaging early career scientists at events and tailored workshops, of promoting development of their leadership skills, and of creating opportunities for recognizing early career scientists within larger scientific communities. In this talk, I will draw from my experience working with the Deep Carbon Observatory Early Career Scientist Network, supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Moral Stress, Moral Practice, and Ethical Climate in Community-Based Drug-Use Research: Views From the Front Line

PubMed Central

Fisher, Celia B.; True, Gala; Alexander, Leslie; Fried, Adam L.

2016-01-01

Background The role of front-line researchers, those whose responsibilities include face-to-face contact with participants, is critical to ensuring the responsible conduct of community-based drug use research. To date, there has been little empirical examination of how front-line researchers perceive the effectiveness of ethical procedures in their real-world application and the moral stress they may experience when adherence to scientific procedures appears to conflict with participant protections. Methods This study represents a first step in applying psychological science to examine the work-related attitudes, ethics climate, and moral dilemmas experienced by a national sample of 275 front-line staff members whose responsibilities include face-to-face interaction with participants in community-based drug-use research. Using an anonymous Web-based survey we psychometrically evaluated and examined relationships among six new scales tapping moral stress (frustration in response to perceived barriers to conducting research in a morally appropriate manner); organizational ethics climate; staff support; moral practice dilemmas (perceived conflicts between scientific integrity and participant welfare); research commitment; and research mistrust. Results As predicted, front-line researchers who evidence a strong commitment to their role in the research process and who perceive their organizations as committed to research ethics and staff support experienced lower levels of moral stress. Front-line researchers who were distrustful of the research enterprise and frequently grappled with moral practice dilemmas reported higher levels of moral stress. Conclusion Applying psychometrically reliable scales to empirically examine research ethics challenges can illuminate specific threats to scientific integrity and human subjects protections encountered by front-line staff and suggest organizational strategies for reducing moral stress and enhancing the responsible conduct of research. PMID:27795869

Moral Stress, Moral Practice, and Ethical Climate in Community-Based Drug-Use Research: Views From the Front Line.

PubMed

Fisher, Celia B; True, Gala; Alexander, Leslie; Fried, Adam L

2013-01-01

The role of front-line researchers, those whose responsibilities include face-to-face contact with participants, is critical to ensuring the responsible conduct of community-based drug use research. To date, there has been little empirical examination of how front-line researchers perceive the effectiveness of ethical procedures in their real-world application and the moral stress they may experience when adherence to scientific procedures appears to conflict with participant protections. This study represents a first step in applying psychological science to examine the work-related attitudes, ethics climate, and moral dilemmas experienced by a national sample of 275 front-line staff members whose responsibilities include face-to-face interaction with participants in community-based drug-use research. Using an anonymous Web-based survey we psychometrically evaluated and examined relationships among six new scales tapping moral stress (frustration in response to perceived barriers to conducting research in a morally appropriate manner); organizational ethics climate; staff support; moral practice dilemmas (perceived conflicts between scientific integrity and participant welfare); research commitment; and research mistrust. As predicted, front-line researchers who evidence a strong commitment to their role in the research process and who perceive their organizations as committed to research ethics and staff support experienced lower levels of moral stress. Front-line researchers who were distrustful of the research enterprise and frequently grappled with moral practice dilemmas reported higher levels of moral stress. Applying psychometrically reliable scales to empirically examine research ethics challenges can illuminate specific threats to scientific integrity and human subjects protections encountered by front-line staff and suggest organizational strategies for reducing moral stress and enhancing the responsible conduct of research.

GEIA's Vision for Improved Emissions Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frost, G. J.; Granier, C.; Tarrason, L.; Middleton, P.

2014-12-01

Accurate, timely, and accessible emissions information is critical for understanding and making predictions about the atmosphere. We will present recent progress of the Global Emissions InitiAtive (GEIA, http://www.geiacenter.org/), a community-driven joint activity of IGAC, iLEAPS, and AIMES within the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. Since 1990, GEIA has served as a forum for the exchange of expertise and information on anthropogenic and natural emissions of trace gases and aerosols. GEIA supports a worldwide network of emissions data developers and users, providing a solid scientific foundation for atmospheric chemistry research. By the year 2020, GEIA envisions being a bridge between the environmental science, regulatory, assessment, policy, and operational communities. GEIA's core activities include 1) facilitating analysis that improves the scientific basis for emissions data, 2) enhancing access to emissions information, and 3) strengthening linkages within the international emissions community. We will highlight GEIA's current work distributing emissions data, organizing the development of new emissions datasets, facilitating regional emissions studies, and initiating analyses aimed at improving emissions information. GEIA welcomes new partnerships that advance emissions knowledge for the future.

Networking Skills as a Career Development Practice: Lessons from the Earth Science Women's Network (ESWN)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastings, M. G.; Kontak, R.; Holloway, T.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Steiner, A. L.; Wiedinmyer, C.; Adams, A. S.; de Boer, A. M.; Staudt, A. C.; Fiore, A. M.

2010-12-01

Professional networking is often cited as an important component of scientific career development, yet there are few resources for early career scientists to develop and build networks. Personal networks can provide opportunities to learn about organizational culture and procedures, expectations, advancement opportunities, and best practices. They provide access to mentors and job placement opportunities, new scientific collaborations, speaker and conference invitations, increased scientific visibility, reduced isolation, and a stronger feeling of community. There is evidence in the literature that a sense of community positively affects the engagement and retention of underrepresented groups, including women, in science. Thus women scientists may particularly benefit from becoming part of a network. The Earth Science Women’s Network (ESWN) began in 2002 as an informal peer-to-peer mentoring initiative among a few recent Ph.D.s. The network has grown exponentially to include over 1000 women scientists across the globe. Surveys of our membership about ESWN report positive impacts on the careers of women in Earth sciences, particularly those in early career stages. Through ESWN, women share both professional and personal advice, establish research collaborations, communicate strategies on work/life balance, connect with women at various stages of their careers, and provide perspectives from cultures across the globe. We present lessons learned through the formal and informal activities promoted by ESWN in support of the career development of women Earth scientists.

Human spaceflight and an asteroid redirect mission: Why?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burchell, M. J.

2014-08-01

The planning of human spaceflight programmes is an exercise in careful rationing of a scarce and expensive resource. Current NASA plans are to develop the new capability for human-rated launch into space to replace the Space Transportation System (STS), more commonly known as the Space Shuttle, combined with a heavy lift capability, and followed by an eventual Mars mission. As an intermediate step towards Mars, NASA proposes to venture beyond Low Earth Orbit to cis-lunar space to visit a small asteroid which will be captured and moved to lunar orbit by a separate robotic mission. The rationale for this and how to garner support from the scientific community for such an asteroid mission are discussed. Key points that emerge are that a programme usually has greater legitimacy when it emerges from public debate, mostly via a Presidential Commission, a report by the National Research Council or a Decadal Review of science goals etc. Also, human spaceflight missions need to have support from a wide range of interested communities. Accordingly, an outline scientific case for a human visit to an asteroid is made. Further, it is argued here that the scientific interest in an asteroid mission needs to be included early in the planning stages, so that the appropriate capabilities (here the need for drilling cores and carrying equipment to, and returning samples from, the asteroid) can be included.

Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of Research in the Chemical Community: The Unique Role and Challenges of the News Media

PubMed Central

Schulz, William G.

2015-01-01

Journalists who cover scientific research, including chemistry research, have an obligation to report on alleged cases of research misconduct when knowledge of these surface. New Government definitions of research misconduct, beginning in the late 1990s with the Clinton Administration, have helped scientists, policymakers, as well as journalists sort out and make sense of alleged research misconduct. Journalistic reporting on research misconduct includes many challenges: gathering information from sources who are intimidated or afraid to speak, strict adherence to journalist ethics that take on a new dimension when careers, reputations, and research funding are at stake; efforts by government and institutional bureaucrats to dampen or thwart legitimate news coverage. The Internet, blogging, and social media have added still more complexity and ethical quandaries to this blend. The author, News Editor of Chemical & Engineering News published by the American Chemical Society, provides examples from his own career and that of colleagues. He suggests that an enhanced spirit of understanding and cooperation between journalists and members of the scientific community can lead to avenues of open discussion of research misconduct—discussions that might prevent and mitigate the very real damage caused by bad actors in science who betray themselves, their peers, and the body of modern day scientific knowledge when they make the decision to march into the darkness of dishonesty, plagiarism, or falsification. PMID:26155732

Ethics and the Responsible Conduct of Research in the Chemical Community: The Unique Role and Challenges of the News Media.

PubMed

Schulz, William G

2015-01-01

Journalists who cover scientific research, including chemistry research, have an obligation to report on alleged cases of research misconduct when knowledge of these surface. New Government definitions of research misconduct, beginning in the late 1990s with the Clinton Administration, have helped scientists, policymakers, as well as journalists sort out and make sense of alleged research misconduct. Journalistic reporting on research misconduct includes many challenges: gathering information from sources who are intimidated or afraid to speak, strict adherence to journalist ethics that take on a new dimension when careers, reputations, and research funding are at stake; efforts by government and institutional bureaucrats to dampen or thwart legitimate news coverage. The Internet, blogging, and social media have added still more complexity and ethical quandaries to this blend. The author, News Editor of Chemical & Engineering News published by the American Chemical Society, provides examples from his own career and that of colleagues. He suggests that an enhanced spirit of understanding and cooperation between journalists and members of the scientific community can lead to avenues of open discussion of research misconduct--discussions that might prevent and mitigate the very real damage caused by bad actors in science who betray themselves, their peers, and the body of modern day scientific knowledge when they make the decision to march into the darkness of dishonesty, plagiarism, or falsification.

The X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study: Forging the Path to NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey Prioritization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gaskin, Jessica; Ozel, Feryal; Vikhlinin, Alexey

2016-01-01

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept is unique among those being studied for prioritization in the NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey. The X-Ray Surveyor mission will explore the high-energy Universe; providing essential and complimentary observations to the Astronomy Community. The NASA Astrophysics Roadmap (Enduring Quests, Daring Visions) describes the need for an X-Ray Observatory that is capable of addressing topics such as the origin and growth of the first supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and growth of the cosmic structure, and the origin and evolution of the stars that make up our Universe. To address these scientifically compelling topics and more, an Observatory that exhibits leaps in capability over that of previous X-Ray Observatories in needed. This paper describes the current status of the X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study and the path forward, which includes scientific investigations, technology development, and community participation.

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept study: forging the path to NASA astrophysics 2020 decadal survey prioritization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaskin, Jessica; Özel, Feryal; Vikhlinin, Alexey

2016-07-01

The X-Ray Surveyor mission concept is unique among those being studied for prioritization in the NASA Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey. The X-Ray Surveyor mission will explore the high-energy Universe; providing essential and complimentary observations to the Astronomy Community. The NASA Astrophysics Roadmap (Enduring Quests, Daring Visions) describes the need for an X-Ray Observatory that is capable of addressing topics such as the origin and growth of the first supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and growth of the cosmic structure, and the origin and evolution of the stars that make up our Universe. To address these scientifically compelling topics and more, an Observatory that exhibits leaps in capability over that of previous X-Ray Observatories in needed. This paper describes the current status of the X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study and the path forward, which includes scientific investigations, technology development, and community participation.

Communicating the Urgency of Climate Change to Local Government Policy Makers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Young, A.

2004-12-01

What are the challenges and obstacles in conveying scientific research and uncertainties about climate change to local government policy makers? What information do scientists need from local government practitioners to guide research efforts into producing more relevant information for the local government audience? What works and what doesn't in terms of communicating climate change science to non-technical audiences? Based on over a decade of experience working with local governments around the world on greenhouse gas mitigation, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability has developed a unique perspective and valuable insight into effective communication on climate science that motivates policy action. In the United States practical actions necessary to mitigate global climate change occur largely at the local level. As the level of government closest to individual energy consumers, local governments play a large role in determining the energy intensity of communities. How can local governments be persuaded to make greenhouse gas mitigation a policy priority over the long-term? Access to relevant information is critical to achieving that commitment. Information that will persuade local officials to pursue climate protection commitments includes specific impacts of global warming to communities, the costs of adaptation versus mitigation, and the potential benefits of implementing greenhouse gas-reducing initiatives. The manner in which information is conveyed is also critically important. The scientific community is loath to advocate for specific policies, or to make determinate statements on topics for which research is ongoing. These communication hurdles can be overcome if the needs of local policy practitioners can be understood by the scientific community, and research goals can be cooperatively defined.

Building the Scientific Modeling Assistant: An interactive environment for specialized software design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Keller, Richard M.

1991-01-01

The construction of scientific software models is an integral part of doing science, both within NASA and within the scientific community at large. Typically, model-building is a time-intensive and painstaking process, involving the design of very large, complex computer programs. Despite the considerable expenditure of resources involved, completed scientific models cannot easily be distributed and shared with the larger scientific community due to the low-level, idiosyncratic nature of the implemented code. To address this problem, we have initiated a research project aimed at constructing a software tool called the Scientific Modeling Assistant. This tool provides automated assistance to the scientist in developing, using, and sharing software models. We describe the Scientific Modeling Assistant, and also touch on some human-machine interaction issues relevant to building a successful tool of this type.

Ecology of Legionella: From Data to Knowledge with a Little Wisdom

PubMed

Fliermans

1996-07-01

The respiratory diseases produced by the Legionella genus of bacteria are collectively called Legionellosis. Presently more than 34 species of Legionella have been identified, 20 of which have been isolated from both environmental and clinical sources. The diseases produced by Legionella include the pneumonic form, Legionnaires' disease, and the flu-like form, Pontiac fever. Because the vast majority of Legionellosis is caused by the L. pneumophila species, this bacterium is the thrust of the discussion.Legionella is a global bacterium. The relationship of the bacterium to its environment has told us many things about infectious diseases. Not until Legionellosis and the discovery of its etiologic agent, Legionella, has such a successful modern-day marriage been consummated between the agent and its environment. Nearly two decades have passed since the term Legionellosis found its way into the vocabulary of the scientific journals, the popular press, and courtroom proceedings. Too often the scientific development, engineering implementation, and societal acceptance are disconnected. The focus of scientific research sometimes does not reflect engineering or societal needs and thus contributes little to the solution of immediate and important problems. At other times, scientific knowledge that could contribute to solutions is overlooked because of poor communication between the problem holders, the scientific community, regulatory agencies, the problem makers, and the public. The scope of this paper provides insights on the ecological niche of Legionella, describes the organism's ecological relationships in the natural world, and provides wisdom for effective control of the bacterium for the industrial and user communities.

The European perspective for LSST

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gangler, Emmanuel

2017-06-01

LSST is a next generation telescope that will produce an unprecedented data flow. The project goal is to deliver data products such as images and catalogs thus enabling scientific analysis for a wide community of users. As a large scale survey, LSST data will be complementary with other facilities in a wide range of scientific domains, including data from ESA or ESO. European countries have invested in LSST since 2007, in the construction of the camera as well as in the computing effort. This latter will be instrumental in designing the next step: how to distribute LSST data to Europe. Astroinformatics challenges for LSST indeed includes not only the analysis of LSST big data, but also the practical efficiency of the data access.

Should intellectual property be disseminated by "forwarding" rejected letters without permission?

PubMed

Gupta, V K

1996-08-01

Substantive scientific letter writing is a cost-effective mode of complementing observational and experimental research. The value of such philosophically uncommitted and unsponsored well-balanced scientific activity has been relegated. Critical letter writing entails the abilities to: maintain rational scepticism; refuse to conform in order to explain data; persist in keeping common sense centre-stage; exercise logic to evaluate the biological significance of mathematical figures, including statistics, and the ability to sustain the will to share insights regarding disease mechanisms on an ostensibly lower research platform. During peer review, innovative letter writing may share the occasionally unfortunate fate of innovative research. Rejected scientific letters do not automatically lose copyright. Periodicals with high letter loads will see some valuable contributions wasted, but that is the price for maintaining autonomy in scientific publication. The scientific community is an integrated whole that must respect the rights of authors at all levels. Unauthorised forwarding of rejected letters sets the dangerous precedent of justifying unjust means.

Stewardship of Integrity in Scientific Communication.

PubMed

Albertine, Kurt H

2018-06-14

Integrity in the pursuit of discovery through application of the scientific method and reporting the results is an obligation for each of us as scientists. We cannot let the value of science be diminished because discovering knowledge is vital to understand ourselves and our impacts on the earth. We support the value of science by our stewardship of integrity in the conduct, training, reporting, and proposing of scientific investigation. The players who have these responsibilities are authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Each role has to be played with vigilance for ethical behavior, including compliance with regulations for protections of study subjects, use of select agents and biohazards, regulations of use of stem cells, resource sharing, posting datasets to public repositories, etc. The positive take-home message is that the scientific community is taking steps in behavior to protect the integrity of science. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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 Mpemba effect: When can hot water freeze faster than cold?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeng, Monwhea

2006-06-01

We review the Mpemba effect, where initially hot water freezes faster than initially cold water. Although the effect might appear impossible, it has been observed in numerous experiments and was discussed by Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Roger Bacon, and Descartes. It has a rich and fascinating history, including the story of the secondary school student, Erasto Mpemba, who reintroduced the effect to the twentieth century scientific community. The phenomenon is simple to describe and illustrates numerous important issues about the scientific method: the role of skepticism in scientific inquiry, the influence of theory on experiment and observation, the need for precision in the statement of a scientific hypothesis, and the nature of falsifiability. Proposed theoretical mechanisms for the Mpemba effect and the results of contemporary experiments on the phenomenon are surveyed. The observation that hot water pipes are more likely to burst than cold water pipes is also discussed.

What makes computational open source software libraries successful?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bangerth, Wolfgang; Heister, Timo

2013-01-01

Software is the backbone of scientific computing. Yet, while we regularly publish detailed accounts about the results of scientific software, and while there is a general sense of which numerical methods work well, our community is largely unaware of best practices in writing the large-scale, open source scientific software upon which our discipline rests. This is particularly apparent in the commonly held view that writing successful software packages is largely the result of simply ‘being a good programmer’ when in fact there are many other factors involved, for example the social skill of community building. In this paper, we consider what we have found to be the necessary ingredients for successful scientific software projects and, in particular, for software libraries upon which the vast majority of scientific codes are built today. In particular, we discuss the roles of code, documentation, communities, project management and licenses. We also briefly comment on the impact on academic careers of engaging in software projects.

EUDAT and EPOS moving towards the efficient management of scientific data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiameni, Giuseppe; Bailo, Daniele; Cacciari, Claudio

2016-04-01

This abstract presents the collaboration between the European Collaborative Data Infrastructure (EUDAT) and the pan-European infrastructure for solid Earth science (EPOS) which draws on the management of scientific data sets through a reciprocal support agreement. EUDAT is a Consortium of European Data Centers and Scientific Communities whose focus is the development and realisation of the Collaborative Data Infrastructure (CDI), a common model for managing data spanning all European research data centres and data repositories and providing an interoperable layer of common data services. The EUDAT Service Suite is a set of a) implementations of the CDI model and b) standards, developed and offered by members of the EUDAT Consortium. These EUDAT Services include a baseline of CDI-compliant interface and API services - a "CDI Gateway" - plus a number of web-based GUIs and command-line client tools. On the other hand,the EPOS initiative aims at creating a pan-European infrastructure for the solid Earth science to support a safe and sustainable society. In accordance with this scientific vision, the mission of EPOS is to integrate the diverse and advanced European Research Infrastructures for solid Earth Science relying on new e-science opportunities to monitor and unravel the dynamic and complex Earth System. EPOS will enable innovative multidisciplinary research for a better understanding of the Earth's physical and chemical processes that control earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ground instability and tsunami as well as the processes driving tectonics and Earth's surface dynamics. Through the integration of data, models and facilities EPOS will allow the Earth Science community to make a step change in developing new concepts and tools for key answers to scientific and socio-economic questions concerning geo-hazards and geo-resources as well as Earth sciences applications to the environment and to human welfare. To achieve this integration challenge and the interoperability among all involved communities, EPOS has designed an architecture capable to organize and manage distributed discipline-oriented centers (called Thematic Core Services - TCS). Such design envisage the creation of an integrating e-Infrastructure called Integrated Core Service (ICS), whose aim is to collect and integrate Data, Data Products, Software and Services, and provide homogeneous access to them to the end user, hiding all the complexity of the underlying network of TCS and National data centers. Therefore, EPOS can take advantage of EUDAT CDI at different levels: at the TCS level, providing technologies, knowledge and B2* services to discipline-oriented communities, and at the ICS level, by facilitating the integration and interoperability of different communities with different level of maturity in terms of technology expertise. EUDAT services are particularly suitable to facilitate this process as they can be deployed across the community centers to complement or augment existing services of more mature communities as well as be used by less mature communities as a gateway towards the EPOS integration. To this purpose, a pilot is being carried on in the context of the EPOS Seismological community to foster the uptake of EUDAT services among centers and thus ensure the efficient and sustainable management of scientific data sets. Data sets, e.g. seismic waveforms, collected through the Italian Seismic Network and the ORFEUS organization, are currently replicated onto EUDAT resources to ensure their long-term preservation and accessibility. The pilot will be extend to cover other use cases such as the management of meta-data and the fine-grained control of access.

Soft Biological and Composite Nanomaterials

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

Firestone, Millicent

2016-04-01

The goal of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is to plays a leadership role in integration of nanostructured materials to enable novel capabilities and applications through its function as a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) national user facility. By coupling open access to unique and world-class capabilities and scientific expertise to an active user community, CINT supports high-impact research that no other single institution could achieve – the whole of CINT including its user community is greater than the sum of its parts.

Nanophotonics and Optical Nanomaterials

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

Doorn, Stephen

The goal of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies (CINT) is to plays a leadership role in integration of nanostructured materials to enable novel capabilities and applications through its function as a Department of Energy/Office of Science Nanoscale Science Research Center (NSRC) national user facility. By coupling open access to unique and world-class capabilities and scientific expertise to an active user community, CINT supports high-impact research that no other single institution could achieve – the whole of CINT including its user community is greater than the sum of its parts.

Uncertainty Assessment: What Good Does it Do? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oreskes, N.; Lewandowsky, S.

2013-12-01

The scientific community has devoted considerable time and energy to understanding, quantifying and articulating the uncertainties related to anthropogenic climate change. However, informed decision-making and good public policy arguably rely far more on a central core of understanding of matters that are scientifically well established than on detailed understanding and articulation of all relevant uncertainties. Advocates of vaccination, for example, stress its overall efficacy in preventing morbidity and mortality--not the uncertainties over how long the protective effects last. Advocates for colonoscopy for cancer screening stress its capacity to detect polyps before they become cancerous, with relatively little attention paid to the fact that many, if not most, polyps, would not become cancerous even if left unremoved. So why has the climate science community spent so much time focused on uncertainty? One reason, of course, is that articulation of uncertainty is a normal and appropriate part of scientific work. However, we argue that there is another reason that involves the pressure that the scientific community has experienced from individuals and groups promoting doubt about anthropogenic climate change. Specifically, doubt-mongering groups focus public attention on scientific uncertainty as a means to undermine scientific claims, equating uncertainty with untruth. Scientists inadvertently validate these arguments by agreeing that much of the science is uncertain, and thus seemingly implying that our knowledge is insecure. The problem goes further, as the scientific community attempts to articulate more clearly, and reduce, those uncertainties, thus, seemingly further agreeing that the knowledge base is insufficient to warrant public and governmental action. We refer to this effect as 'seepage,' as the effects of doubt-mongering seep into the scientific community and the scientific agenda, despite the fact that addressing these concerns does little to alter the public debate or advance public policy. We argue that attempts to address public doubts by improving uncertainty assessment are bound to fail, insofar as the motives for doubt-mongering are independent of scientific uncertainty, and therefore remain unaffected even as those uncertainties are diminished. We illustrate this claim by consideration of the evolution of the debate over the past ten years over the relationship between hurricanes and anthropogenic climate change. We suggest that scientists should pursue uncertainty assessment if such assessment improves scientific understanding, but not as a means to reduce public doubts or advance public policy in relation to anthropogenic climate change.

Web Based Semi-automatic Scientific Validation of Models of the Corona and Inner Heliosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacNeice, P. J.; Chulaki, A.; Taktakishvili, A.; Kuznetsova, M. M.

2013-12-01

Validation is a critical step in preparing models of the corona and inner heliosphere for future roles supporting either or both the scientific research community and the operational space weather forecasting community. Validation of forecasting quality tends to focus on a short list of key features in the model solutions, with an unchanging order of priority. Scientific validation exposes a much larger range of physical processes and features, and as the models evolve to better represent features of interest, the research community tends to shift its focus to other areas which are less well understood and modeled. Given the more comprehensive and dynamic nature of scientific validation, and the limited resources available to the community to pursue this, it is imperative that the community establish a semi-automated process which engages the model developers directly into an ongoing and evolving validation process. In this presentation we describe the ongoing design and develpment of a web based facility to enable this type of validation of models of the corona and inner heliosphere, on the growing list of model results being generated, and on strategies we have been developing to account for model results that incorporate adaptively refined numerical grids.

How Do We Ensure Research and Scientific Integrity? A Diverse Panel Discusses the Critical Components and Challenges of Crafting and Implementing Effective Scientific Integrity Policies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werkheiser, W. H.

2016-12-01

10 Years of Scientific Integrity Policy at the U.S. Geological Survey The U.S. Geological Survey implemented its first scientific integrity policy in January 2007. Following the 2009 and 2010 executive memoranda aimed at creating scientific integrity policies throughout the federal government, USGS' policy served as a template to inform the U.S. Department of Interior's policy set forth in January 2011. Scientific integrity policy at the USGS and DOI continues to evolve as best practices come to the fore and the broader Federal scientific integrity community evolves in its understanding of a vital and expanding endeavor. We find that scientific integrity is best served by: formal and informal mechanisms through which to resolve scientific integrity issues; a well-communicated and enforceable code of scientific conduct that is accessible to multiple audiences; an unfailing commitment to the code on the part of all parties; awareness through mandatory training; robust protection to encourage whistleblowers to come forward; and outreach with the scientific integrity community to foster consistency and share experiences.

How Do We Ensure Research and Scientific Integrity? A Diverse Panel Discusses the Critical Components and Challenges of Crafting and Implementing Effective Scientific Integrity Policies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Werkheiser, W. H.

2017-12-01

10 Years of Scientific Integrity Policy at the U.S. Geological Survey The U.S. Geological Survey implemented its first scientific integrity policy in January 2007. Following the 2009 and 2010 executive memoranda aimed at creating scientific integrity policies throughout the federal government, USGS' policy served as a template to inform the U.S. Department of Interior's policy set forth in January 2011. Scientific integrity policy at the USGS and DOI continues to evolve as best practices come to the fore and the broader Federal scientific integrity community evolves in its understanding of a vital and expanding endeavor. We find that scientific integrity is best served by: formal and informal mechanisms through which to resolve scientific integrity issues; a well-communicated and enforceable code of scientific conduct that is accessible to multiple audiences; an unfailing commitment to the code on the part of all parties; awareness through mandatory training; robust protection to encourage whistleblowers to come forward; and outreach with the scientific integrity community to foster consistency and share experiences.

Building Bridges through Scientific Conferences.

PubMed

Zierath, Juleen R

2016-11-17

Getting together to exchange ideas, forge collaborations, and disseminate knowledge is a long-standing tradition of scientific communities. How conferences are serving the community, what their current challenges are, and what is in store for the future of conferences are the topics covered in this Commentary. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Report 10: Summary report to phase 3 academic library respondents including frequency distributions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pinelli, Thomas E.; Kennedy, John M.; White, Terry F.

1991-01-01

Phase 3 of a 4 part study was undertaken to study the use of scientific and technical information (STI) in the academic aerospace community. Phase 3 of this project used three questionnaires that were sent to three groups (i.e., faculty, librarians, and students) in the academic aerospace community. Specific attention was paid to the types of STI used and the methods in which academic users acquire STI. The responses of the academic libraries are focussed on herein. Demographic information on academic aerospace libraries is provided. Data regarding NASA interaction with academic aerospace libraries is also included, as is the survey instrument.

Community Science: creating equitable partnerships for the advancement of scientific knowledge for action.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lewis, E. S.; Gehrke, G. E.

2017-12-01

In a historical moment where the legitimacy of science is being questioned, it is essential to make science more accessible to the public. Active participation increases the legitimacy of projects within communities (Sidaway 2009). Creating collaborations in research strengthens not only the work by adding new dimensions, but also the social capital of communities through increased knowledge, connections, and decision making power. In this talk, Lewis will discuss how engagement at different stages of the scientific process is possible, and how researchers can actively develop opportunities that are open and inviting. Genuine co-production in research pushes scientists to work in new ways, and with people from different backgrounds, expertise, and lived experiences. This approach requires a flexible and dynamic balance of learning, sharing, and creating for all parties involved to ensure more meaningful and equitable participation. For example, in community science such as that by Public Lab, the community is at the center of scientific exploration. The research is place-based and is grounded in the desired outcomes of community members. Researchers are able to see themselves as active participants in this work alongside community members. Participating in active listening, developing plans together, and using a shared language built through learning can be helpful tools in all co-production processes. Generating knowledge is powerful. Through genuine collaboration and co-creation, science becomes more relevant. When community members are equitable stakeholders in the scientific process, they are better able to engage and advocate for the changes they want to see in their communities. Through this talk, session attendees will learn about practices that promote equitable participation in science, and hear examples of how the community science process engages people in both the knowledge production, and in the application of science.

Story of Stone Soup: A Recipe to Improve Health Disparities

PubMed Central

Chung, Bowen; Jones, Loretta; Terry, Chrystene; Jones, Andrea; Forge, Nell; Norris, Keith C.

2013-01-01

Just as scientific articles are used as a way of sharing knowledge in scientific communities, stories are used as a way of transferring knowledge within African American communities. This article uses the story and metaphor of Stone Soup to illustrate the Healthy African American Families' (HAAF) Community Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) method of engaging diverse partners to address health issues, such as preterm birth, depression, diabetes, and kidney disease, and to create community-wide change through education, capacity building, resource sharing, and intervention development. PMID:20629241

Advancing the Science of Community-Level Interventions

PubMed Central

Beehler, Sarah; Deutsch, Charles; Green, Lawrence W.; Hawe, Penelope; McLeroy, Kenneth; Miller, Robin Lin; Rapkin, Bruce D.; Schensul, Jean J.; Schulz, Amy J.; Trimble, Joseph E.

2011-01-01

Community interventions are complex social processes that need to move beyond single interventions and outcomes at individual levels of short-term change. A scientific paradigm is emerging that supports collaborative, multilevel, culturally situated community interventions aimed at creating sustainable community-level impact. This paradigm is rooted in a deep history of ecological and collaborative thinking across public health, psychology, anthropology, and other fields of social science. The new paradigm makes a number of primary assertions that affect conceptualization of health issues, intervention design, and intervention evaluation. To elaborate the paradigm and advance the science of community intervention, we offer suggestions for promoting a scientific agenda, developing collaborations among professionals and communities, and examining the culture of science. PMID:21680923

Outposts of science; the knowledge trade and the expansion of scientific community in post-Civil War America.

PubMed

Goldstein, Daniel

2008-09-01

By the second half of the nineteenth century, local and regional voluntary societies were among the most widespread, accessible, and familiar public scientific institutions in America. Collectively, they made up an institutional network that converted individuals' private interest in science into a public activity. They played an essential role in the dissemination of scientific information, the growth of a scientifically literate population, and the extension of public support for science in the decades after the Civil War. This essay delineates and maps the spread of these societies throughout the country, as well as the flow of scientific information both among societies and between a society and its regional hinterland. Using the Davenport [Iowa] Academy of Natural Sciences as an example, it demonstrates how local societies were embedded in a national scientific community and mediated between it and local scientific enthusiasts, to the benefit of both.

Broadening Participation: Mentoring Community College Students in a Geoscience REU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, M.; Osborn, J.

2015-12-01

Increasingly, REUs are recruiting from community colleges as a means of broadening participation of underrepresented minorities, women, and low-income students in STEM. As inclusion of community college students becomes normalized, defining the role of science faculty and preparing them to serve as mentors to community college students is a key component of well-designed programs. This session will present empirical research regarding faculty mentoring in the first two years of an NSF-REU grant to support community college students in a university's earth and environmental science labs. Given the documented benefits of undergraduate research on students' integration into the scientific community and their career trajectory in STEM, the focus of the investigation has been on the processes and impact of mentoring community college STEM researchers at a university serving a more traditionally privileged population; the degree to which the mentoring relationships have addressed community college students needs including their emotional, cultural and resource needs; and gaps in mentor training and the mentoring relationship identified by mentors and students.

Ensuring Sustainable Data Interoperability Across the Natural and Social Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downs, R. R.; Chen, R. S.

2015-12-01

Both the natural and social science data communities are attempting to address the long-term sustainability of their data infrastructures in rapidly changing research, technological, and policy environments. Many parts of these communities are also considering how to improve the interoperability and integration of their data and systems across natural, social, health, and other domains. However, these efforts have generally been undertaken in parallel, with little thought about how different sustainability approaches may impact long-term interoperability from scientific, legal, or economic perspectives, or vice versa, i.e., how improved interoperability could enhance—or threaten—infrastructure sustainability. Scientific progress depends substantially on the ability to learn from the legacy of previous work available for current and future scientists to study, often by integrating disparate data not previously assembled. Digital data are less likely than scientific publications to be usable in the future unless they are managed by science-oriented repositories that can support long-term data access with the documentation and services needed for future interoperability. We summarize recent discussions in the social and natural science communities on emerging approaches to sustainability and relevant interoperability activities, including efforts by the Belmont Forum E-Infrastructures project to address global change data infrastructure needs; the Group on Earth Observations to further implement data sharing and improve data management across diverse societal benefit areas; and the Research Data Alliance to develop legal interoperability principles and guidelines and to address challenges faced by domain repositories. We also examine emerging needs for data interoperability in the context of the post-2015 development agenda and the expected set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which set ambitious targets for sustainable development, poverty reduction, and environmental stewardship by 2030. These efforts suggest the need for a holistic approach towards improving and implementing strategies, policies, and practices that will ensure long-term sustainability and interoperability of scientific data repositories and networks across multiple scientific domains.

An ethnopharmacological survey of the traditional medicine utilized in the community of Porvenir, Bajo Paraguá Indian Reservation, Bolivia.

PubMed

Hajdu, Zsanett; Hohmann, Judit

2012-02-15

Porvenir is a semi-isolated Indian community in the Bajo Paraguá Indian Reservation in Bolivian Amazon, one of the two communities of people from the Guarasug'we indigenous nation now close to extinction. The aim of our study was the collection of data on the traditional medicine utilized in the community, and to identify new subjects for further investigation by comparison of the folk-medicinal use with the available scientific literature data. Field work was conducted for 5 months, which included participant observation, semi-structured interviews with 16 individuals, and the collection of voucher specimens for botanical identification. The knowledge of the inhabitants relating to medicinal plants was analysed by means of the modified method of Gentry and Phillips (1993a,b), which assesses the frequency and the variety of use of plants. Scientific data were gathered on selected species, and the correlations of the traditional uses of the herbs with scientific evidence were assessed. The lifestyle and beliefs in Porvenir, botanical data on the plants used, the frequency and variety of medicinal use, diseases that occur and their possible treatment, and methods of plant application are discussed in detail. 145 plant species were registered with 451 recorded uses. The majority of the plants were utilized to treat gastrointestinal complaints (60 species), followed by diseases of the central nervous system, pain and fever (37 species), diseases of the genitourinary tract (35 species), dermatological disorders (34 species) and diseases of the respiratory system (32 species). One fifth of the species are also applied in traditional medicine in other areas of Bolivia or in other countries. The majority of the 145 species used in the community have not been extensively investigated from phytochemical and pharmacological aspects. There are no data in the scientific literature on one fifth of the species. The medicine applied in Porvenir and the contemporary knowledge of the people interviewed concerning plants reflect the local traditions and their changes very well, clearly demonstrating the influence exerted by conventional medicine, and how the ancestral knowledge is progressively being forgotten. The present ethnopharmacological survey indicates that 24 species that are frequently and consistently used in the community of Porvenir are perspective for further research, as their chemistry and pharmacology have not been published to date. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Coastal erosion management in Accra: Combining local knowledge and empirical research

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Coastal erosion along the Accra coast has become a chronic phenomenon that threatens both life and property. The issue has assumed a centre stage of national debate in recent times because of its impact on the coastal communities. Lack of reliable geospatial data hinders effective scientific investigations into the changing trends in the shoreline position. However, knowledge about coastal erosion, by the local people, and how far the shoreline has migrated inland over time is high in the coastal communities in Accra. This opens a new chapter in coastal erosion research to include local knowledge of the local settlers in developing sustainable coastal management. This article adopted a scientific approach to estimate rate of erosion and tested the results against perceived erosion trend by the local settlers. The study used a 1974 digital topographic map and 1996 aerial photographs. The end point rate statistical method in DSAS was used to compute the rates of change. The short-term rate of change for the 22-year period under study was estimated as -0.91 m/annum ± 0.49 m/annum. It was revealed that about 79% of the shoreline is eroding, while the remaining 21% is either stabilised or accreting. It emerged, from semi-structured interviews with inhabitants in the Accra coastal communities, that an average of about 30 m of coastal lands are perceived to have been lost to erosion for a period of about 20 years. This translates to a historic rate of change of about 1.5 m/year, which corroborates the results of the scientific study. Again this study has established that the local knowledge of the inhabitants, about coastal erosion, can serve as reliable information under scarcity of scientific data for coastal erosion analyses in developing countries.

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.

EPOS Multi-Scale Laboratory platform: a long-term reference tool for experimental Earth Sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trippanera, Daniele; Tesei, Telemaco; Funiciello, Francesca; Sagnotti, Leonardo; Scarlato, Piergiorgio; Rosenau, Matthias; Elger, Kirsten; Ulbricht, Damian; Lange, Otto; Calignano, Elisa; Spiers, Chris; Drury, Martin; Willingshofer, Ernst; Winkler, Aldo

2017-04-01

With continuous progress on scientific research, a large amount of datasets has been and will be produced. The data access and sharing along with their storage and homogenization within a unique and coherent framework is a new challenge for the whole scientific community. This is particularly emphasized for geo-scientific laboratories, encompassing the most diverse Earth Science disciplines and typology of data. To this aim the "Multiscale Laboratories" Work Package (WP16), operating in the framework of the European Plate Observing System (EPOS), is developing a virtual platform of geo-scientific data and services for the worldwide community of laboratories. This long-term project aims at merging the top class multidisciplinary laboratories in Geoscience into a coherent and collaborative network, facilitating the standardization of virtual access to data, data products and software. This will help our community to evolve beyond the stage in which most of data produced by the different laboratories are available only within the related scholarly publications (often as print-version only) or they remain unpublished and inaccessible on local devices. The EPOS multi-scale laboratory platform will provide the possibility to easily share and discover data by means of open access, DOI-referenced, online data publication including long-term storage, managing and curation services and to set up a cohesive community of laboratories. The WP16 is starting with three pilot cases laboratories: (1) rock physics, (2) palaeomagnetic, and (3) analogue modelling. As a proof of concept, first analogue modelling datasets have been published via GFZ Data Services (http://doidb.wdc-terra.org/search/public/ui?&sort=updated+desc&q=epos). The datasets include rock analogue material properties (e.g. friction data, rheology data, SEM imagery), as well as supplementary figures, images and movies from experiments on tectonic processes. A metadata catalogue tailored to the specific communities will link the growing number of datasets to a centralized EPOS hub. Acknowledging the fact that we are dealing with a variety in levels of maturity regarding available data infrastructures within the different labs, we have set up an architecture that provides different scenarios for participation. Thus, research groups which do not have access to localized repositories and catalogues for sustainable storage of data and metadata can rely on shared services within the Multi-scale Laboratories community. As an example of the usage of data retrieved through the community, an experimentalist willing to decide which material is suitable for his experimental setup can get "virtual lab access" to retrieve information about material parameters with a minimum effort and then may decide to move in a specific laboratory equipped with the instruments needed. The currently participating and collaborating laboratories (Utrecht University, GFZ, Roma Tre University, INGV, NERC, CSIC-ICTJA, CNRS, LMU, UBI, ETH, CNR) warmly welcome everyone who is interested in participating at the development of this project.

Charles F. Richter; an interview

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spall, H.

1980-01-01

Charles F. Richter, renowned seismologist, is a professor emeritus at the California Institue of techonology (Caltech). He is best known to the public for the Richter magnitude scale; but he is equally recognized in the scientific community for many other contributions to seismology including his books Elementary Seismology (1958) and Seismicity of the Earth (coauthored in 1954 with Beno Gutenberg). 

STEM VQ Method, Using Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM) for Accurate Virus Quantification

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-02

Corresponding Author Abstract Accurate virus quantification is sought, but a perfect method still eludes the scientific community. Electron...unlimited. UNCLASSIFIED 2 provides morphology data and counts all viral particles, including partial or noninfectious particles; however, EM methods ...consistent, reproducible virus quantification method called Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy – Virus Quantification (STEM-VQ) which simplifies

Concluding remarks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohannan, Bruce

2001-01-01

This workshop brought proposed directions in instrumentation for the Isaac Newton Group together with scientific and technical needs of the ING astronomical community. A personal summary of the critical issues, questions, and approaches raised at this workshop includes the mission of the ING, the role of <4-m aperture telescopes today, the importance of continuous renewal, the power of AO, and the data glut.

Environmental Public Health Policy for Asbestos in Schools: Unintended Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corn, Jacqueline Karnell

This book explores the history of asbestos in schools and buildings and how this issue shaped the development of public health policy. It provides insight into past policy including how and why action was taken and who caused it to be taken; it also offers guidance for the scientific and regulatory communities in the future. While explaining…

Science Curiosity in Learning Environments: Developing an Attitudinal Scale for Research in Schools, Homes, Museums, and the Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weible, Jennifer L.; Zimmerman, Heather Toomey

2016-01-01

Although curiosity is considered an integral aspect of science learning, researchers have debated how to define, measure, and support its development in individuals. Prior measures of curiosity include questionnaire type scales (primarily for adults) and behavioral measures. To address the need to measure scientific curiosity, the Science…

Scientific Skill Building: Linking High School, College and Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryken, Amy E.

This case study focused on a biotechnology education and training program that includes 2 years of science coursework at the high school level, a year of science coursework at the community college level, paid summer laboratory internships for the high school students, and a year-round co-op job for the college students. The study was conducted in…

Improved Student Learning through a Faculty Learning Community: How Faculty Collaboration Transformed a Large-Enrollment Course from Lecture to Student Centered

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott, Emily R.; Reason, Robert D.; Coffman, Clark R.; Gangloff, Eric J.; Raker, Jeffrey R.; Powell-Coffman, Jo Anne; Ogilvie, Craig A.

2016-01-01

Undergraduate introductory biology courses are changing based on our growing understanding of how students learn and rapid scientific advancement in the biological sciences. At Iowa State University, faculty instructors are transforming a second-semester large-enrollment introductory biology course to include active learning within the lecture…

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…

The Health Consequences of Smoking for Women. A Report of the Surgeon General 1979.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pinney, John M., Ed.; And Others

This report focuses on the evidence about the health consequences of smoking for women, and is intended to serve the public health and medical communities as a unified source of existing scientific research. The major issues about tobacco use and women's health are examined, including trends in consumption, biomedical evidence, and determinants of…

Seniors and Portrayals of Intra-Generational and Inter-Generational Inequality in the "Globe and Mail"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rozanova, Julia; Northcott, Herbert C.; McDaniel, Susan A.

2006-01-01

In this article, we examine how seniors are portrayed in the "Globe and Mail." Thirty articles published in 2004 were selected and thematically analysed. Seniors were discussed in six different contexts, including family, work/retirement, community networks, scientific studies of population, social and health care policy, and social attitudes to…

Nationalism and Internationalism in the Philosophy of Music Education: The German Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vogt, Jurgen

2007-01-01

The philosophy of music education has grown remarkably during the last decades, and now has all the characteristics of an academic discipline, including a growing scientific community and several forums for public discussions--the MayDay-Group and its e-journal "Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education" are one proof of that,…

[Earth and Space Sciences Project Services for NASA HPCC

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merkey, Phillip

2002-01-01

This grant supported the effort to characterize the problem domain of the Earth Science Technology Office's Computational Technologies Project, to engage the Beowulf Cluster Computing Community as well as the High Performance Computing Research Community so that we can predict the applicability of said technologies to the scientific community represented by the CT project and formulate long term strategies to provide the computational resources necessary to attain the anticipated scientific objectives of the CT project. Specifically, the goal of the evaluation effort is to use the information gathered over the course of the Round-3 investigations to quantify the trends in scientific expectations, the algorithmic requirements and capabilities of high-performance computers to satisfy this anticipated need.

[Earth Science Technology Office's Computational Technologies Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fischer, James (Technical Monitor); Merkey, Phillip

2005-01-01

This grant supported the effort to characterize the problem domain of the Earth Science Technology Office's Computational Technologies Project, to engage the Beowulf Cluster Computing Community as well as the High Performance Computing Research Community so that we can predict the applicability of said technologies to the scientific community represented by the CT project and formulate long term strategies to provide the computational resources necessary to attain the anticipated scientific objectives of the CT project. Specifically, the goal of the evaluation effort is to use the information gathered over the course of the Round-3 investigations to quantify the trends in scientific expectations, the algorithmic requirements and capabilities of high-performance computers to satisfy this anticipated need.

The Principles for Successful Scientific Data Management Revisited

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, R. J.; King, T. A.; Joy, S. P.

2005-12-01

It has been 23 years since the National Research Council's Committee on Data Management and Computation (CODMAC) published its famous list of principles for successful scientific data management that have provided the framework for modern space science data management. CODMAC outlined seven principles: 1. Scientific Involvement in all aspects of space science missions. 2. Scientific Oversight of all scientific data-management activities. 3. Data Availability - Validated data should be made available to the scientific community in a timely manner. They should include appropriate ancillary data, and complete documentation. 4. Facilities - A proper balance between cost and scientific productivity should be maintained. 5. Software - Transportable well documented software should be available to process and analyze the data. 6. Scientific Data Storage - The data should be preserved in retrievable form. 7. Data System Funding - Adequate data funding should be made available at the outset of missions and protected from overruns. In this paper we will review the lessons learned in trying to apply these principles to space derived data. The Planetary Data System created the concept of data curation to carry out the CODMAC principles. Data curators are scientists and technologists who work directly with the mission scientists to create data products. The efficient application of the CODMAC principles requires that data curators and the mission team start early in a mission to plan for data access and archiving. To build the data products the planetary discipline adopted data access and documentation standards and has adhered to them. The data curators and mission team work together to produce data products and make them available. However even with early planning and agreement on standards the needs of the science community frequently far exceed the available resources. This is especially true for smaller principal investigator run missions. We will argue that one way to make data systems for small missions more effective is for the data curators to provide software tools to help develop the mission data system.

Identifying geoscience knowledge likely to affect foreign policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelmelis, J. A.

2006-12-01

The earth sciences play an important role in foreign policy and have done so throughout history. Whether it is access to resources, knowledge of weather or other earth system conditions, planning for or responding to disasters, protecting the environment, facilitating transportation and communication, or any of a number of other important topics, the geosciences continue to inform our decision making. The importance of science, technology, and health (STH) is being increasingly recognized in the foreign policy community. The National Research Council (NRC) recommended that the Department of State (State) expand its scientific base to address the importance of STH issues. In part, this consists of increasing the number of scientists within State. Another important aspect is not only identifying the STH issues that are of current concern, but also the issues that will be of importance in the future. A number of studies funded by the U.S. Government have identified some important STH areas of concern at a high level. These provide a basis for more in-depth investigations. However, there are additional phenomena, beyond those identified in the studies, which have foreign policy implications. The scientific findings may be well known to scientists but their foreign policy importance is not always obvious. The scientific and foreign policy communities could improve their dialog to better develop strategies for foreign policy and future scientific research. One way to help facilitate that is to ease identification of scientific issues with potential significance to foreign policy and to clarify uncertainties around those issues. A qualitative method relating the likelihood that the scientific finding has foreign policy importance to the potential level of foreign policy importance has been used to clarify the significance of a variety of scientific findings including Arctic warming, methane hydrates, atmospheric dust, disease, and natural hazards. From a foreign policy perspective, the significance of some scientific findings can cascade through emerging international issues and manifest themselves in ways that have both strategic and tactical concern.

Ethical implication of providing scientific data and services to diverse stakeholders: the case of the EPOS research infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freda, Carmela; Atakan, Kuvvet; Cocco, Massimo

2017-04-01

EPOS, the European Plate Observing System, is an ESFRI infrastructure serving the needs of the solid Earth science community as a whole. EPOS promotes the use of multidisciplinary solid Earth data to improve the understanding of physical and chemical processes controlling earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis as well as those driving tectonics and surface dynamics. The EPOS mission is to create a single, sustainable, and distributed infrastructure that integrates the diverse European research infrastructures for solid Earth science under a common framework with the final goal of delivering a suite of domain-specific and multidisciplinary data, products, and services in one single and integrated platform. Addressing ethics issues is a relevant challenge for any initiative, program or project dealing with scientific data and products provision, access to services for scientific purposes and communication with different stakeholders, including industry and society at large. In examining the role of EPOS on openly and freely delivering scientific data and products to diverse stakeholders including but not limited to scientists, we are looking at ethical issues associated with the use and re-use of these data and products possibly leading to a malevolent use and/or misuse of the data with implications on, for example, national security, environmental protection and risk communication. Moreover, EPOS is aware that the research promoted by the use of data delivered through its platform can have a profound influence on the environment, human health and wellbeing, economic development, and other facets of societies. We know there is nothing intrinsically bad about openly and freely delivering scientific data, as it serves as a tool for leveraging researches leading to solutions for a responsible management of Earth's resources and mitigation of natural hazards. However, we must evaluate the effects of such a data provision and feel the obligation to adopt a responsible conduct, complying with regulations, both within the scientific community and in the broader society, exploring the implications of open provisioning of data and services, up to imposing justified constraints. This requires that contributing to the scientific data and services provision cannot be simply limited to activities fostering the access to scientific products, but must promote innovation in the form of creation of capabilities (i.e., conscious use of data) and the functioning (i.e., activities constitutive of a scientist's being) to access and use scientific products in an ethically consistent way. For all these reasons, EPOS has established a specific Working Group on ethics issues that will help to define the landscape and the strategies for managing Ethics issues associated with EPOS goals including data and services provision to diverse stakeholders.

MSL: Facilitating automatic and physical analysis of published scientific literature in PDF format

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Zeeshan; Dandekar, Thomas

2018-01-01

Published scientific literature contains millions of figures, including information about the results obtained from different scientific experiments e.g. PCR-ELISA data, microarray analysis, gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry data, DNA/RNA sequencing, diagnostic imaging (CT/MRI and ultrasound scans), and medicinal imaging like electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), echocardiography  (ECG), positron-emission tomography (PET) images. The importance of biomedical figures has been widely recognized in scientific and medicine communities, as they play a vital role in providing major original data, experimental and computational results in concise form. One major challenge for implementing a system for scientific literature analysis is extracting and analyzing text and figures from published PDF files by physical and logical document analysis. Here we present a product line architecture based bioinformatics tool ‘Mining Scientific Literature (MSL)’, which supports the extraction of text and images by interpreting all kinds of published PDF files using advanced data mining and image processing techniques. It provides modules for the marginalization of extracted text based on different coordinates and keywords, visualization of extracted figures and extraction of embedded text from all kinds of biological and biomedical figures using applied Optimal Character Recognition (OCR). Moreover, for further analysis and usage, it generates the system’s output in different formats including text, PDF, XML and images files. Hence, MSL is an easy to install and use analysis tool to interpret published scientific literature in PDF format. PMID:29721305

Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network.

PubMed

Wong, Michelle; Bejarano, Esther; Carvlin, Graeme; Fellows, Katie; King, Galatea; Lugo, Humberto; Jerrett, Michael; Meltzer, Dan; Northcross, Amanda; Olmedo, Luis; Seto, Edmund; Wilkie, Alexa; English, Paul

2018-03-15

Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach.

Combining Community Engagement and Scientific Approaches in Next-Generation Monitor Siting: The Case of the Imperial County Community Air Network

PubMed Central

Wong, Michelle; Bejarano, Esther; Carvlin, Graeme; King, Galatea; Lugo, Humberto; Jerrett, Michael; Northcross, Amanda; Olmedo, Luis; Seto, Edmund; Wilkie, Alexa; English, Paul

2018-01-01

Air pollution continues to be a global public health threat, and the expanding availability of small, low-cost air sensors has led to increased interest in both personal and crowd-sourced air monitoring. However, to date, few low-cost air monitoring networks have been developed with the scientific rigor or continuity needed to conduct public health surveillance and inform policy. In Imperial County, California, near the U.S./Mexico border, we used a collaborative, community-engaged process to develop a community air monitoring network that attains the scientific rigor required for research, while also achieving community priorities. By engaging community residents in the project design, monitor siting processes, data dissemination, and other key activities, the resulting air monitoring network data are relevant, trusted, understandable, and used by community residents. Integration of spatial analysis and air monitoring best practices into the network development process ensures that the data are reliable and appropriate for use in research activities. This combined approach results in a community air monitoring network that is better able to inform community residents, support research activities, guide public policy, and improve public health. Here we detail the monitor siting process and outline the advantages and challenges of this approach. PMID:29543726

Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC): Using innovative tools and services to support worldwide space weather scientific communities and networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendoza, A. M.; Bakshi, S.; Berrios, D.; Chulaki, A.; Evans, R. M.; Kuznetsova, M. M.; Lee, H.; MacNeice, P. J.; Maddox, M. M.; Mays, M. L.; Mullinix, R. E.; Ngwira, C. M.; Patel, K.; Pulkkinen, A.; Rastaetter, L.; Shim, J.; Taktakishvili, A.; Zheng, Y.

2012-12-01

Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) was established to enhance basic solar terrestrial research and to aid in the development of models for specifying and forecasting conditions in the space environment. In achieving this goal, CCMC has developed and provides a set of innovative tools varying from: Integrated Space Weather Analysis (iSWA) web -based dissemination system for space weather information, Runs-On-Request System providing access to unique collection of state-of-the-art solar and space physics models (unmatched anywhere in the world), Advanced Online Visualization and Analysis tools for more accurate interpretation of model results, Standard Data formats for Simulation Data downloads, and recently Mobile apps (iPhone/Android) to view space weather data anywhere to the scientific community. The number of runs requested and the number of resulting scientific publications and presentations from the research community has not only been an indication of the broad scientific usage of the CCMC and effective participation by space scientists and researchers, but also guarantees active collaboration and coordination amongst the space weather research community. Arising from the course of CCMC activities, CCMC also supports community-wide model validation challenges and research focus group projects for a broad range of programs such as the multi-agency National Space Weather Program, NSF's CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions), GEM (Geospace Environment Modeling) and Shine (Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment) programs. In addition to performing research and model development, CCMC also supports space science education by hosting summer students through local universities; through the provision of simulations in support of classroom programs such as Heliophysics Summer School (with student research contest) and CCMC Workshops; training next generation of junior scientists in space weather forecasting; and educating the general public about the importance and impacts of space weather effects. Although CCMC is organizationally comprised of United States federal agencies, CCMC services are open to members of the international science community and encourages interagency and international collaboration. In this poster, we provide an overview of using Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) tools and services to support worldwide space weather scientific communities and networks.;

"Balkan journal of medical genetics"--facts, editorial policies, practices and challenges.

PubMed

Plaseska Karanfilska, Dijana; Sukarova Stefanovska, Emilija

2014-01-01

The Balkan Journal of Medical Genetics (BJMG) is an international, open access journal that publishes scientific papers covering different aspects of medical genetics. It is published by the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts twice a year in both printed and electronic versions. BJMG is covered by many abstracting and indexing databases, including PubMed Central and Thomson Reuters. Although there are many journals in the field of medical genetics, only a few come from regions outside Western Europe and North America. Being one of these few journals, BJMG aims to promote genetics and research on this topic in the Balkan countries and beyond. BJMG's ultimate goal is to raise the scientific quality and metrics of the journal and provide a better place for BJMG in the community of scientific journals.

Report on active and planned spacecraft and experiments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schofield, N. J., Jr.; Littlefield, R. G.; Elsen, M. F.

1985-01-01

This report provides the professional community with information on current and planned spacecraft activity (including both free-flying spacecraft and Shuttle-attached payloads) for a broad range of scientific disciplines. By providing a brief description of each spacecraft and experiment as well as its current status, it is hoped that this document will be useful to many people interested in the scientific, applied, and operational uses of the data collected. Furthermore, for those investigators who are planning or coordinating future observational programs employing a number of different techniques such as rockets, balloons, aircraft, ships, and buoys, this document can provide some insight into the contributions that may be provided by orbiting instruments. The document includes information concerning active and planned spacecraft and experiments. The information covers a wide range of scientific disciplines: astronomy, earth sciences, meteorology, planetary sciences, aeronomy, particles and fields, solar physics, life sciences, and material sciences. These spacecraft projects represent the efforts and funding of individual countries, as well as cooperative arrangements among different countries.

Science, Society, and Social Networking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, K. S.; Lohwater, T.

2009-12-01

The increased use of social networking is changing the way that scientific societies interact with their members and others. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) uses a variety of online networks to engage its members and the broader scientific community. AAAS members and non-members can interact with AAAS staff and each other on AAAS sites on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, as well as blogs and forums on the AAAS website (www.aaas.org). These tools allow scientists to more readily become engaged in policy by providing information on current science policy topics as well as methods of involvement. For example, members and the public can comment on policy-relevant stories from Science magazine’s ScienceInsider blog, download a weekly policy podcast, receive a weekly email update of policy issues affecting the scientific community, or watch a congressional hearing from their computer. AAAS resource websites and outreach programs, including Communicating Science (www.aaas.org/communicatingscience), Working with Congress (www.aaas.org/spp/cstc/) and Science Careers (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org) also provide tools for scientists to become more personally engaged in communicating their findings and involved in the policy process.

Learning to write like a scientist: Coauthoring as an enculturation task

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Florence, Marilyn K.; Yore, Larry D.

2004-08-01

This multiple case study examined the coauthorship process in research laboratories of different university departments. The study focused on two cases comprising five writing teams, one in biochemistry and microbiology and four in earth and ocean sciences. The role of the research supervisor, the role of the student (graduate and postgraduate), the interaction of the supervisor and the student, the activities and processes inherent in the coauthorship process, and the student's beliefs, expertise, scientific writing, and entry into an academic discourse community were documented utilizing multiple sources of data and methods. Several activities and processes were found to be common across all coauthorship teams, including aspects of planning, drafting, and revising. Elements of scientific and writing expertise, facets of enculturation into scientific research and discourse communities, academic civility, and the dynamics of collaborative groups also were apparent. There was healthy tension and mutual respect in the research groups as they attempted to make sense of science, report their results clearly and persuasively, and share the responsibilities of expertise. The novice scientists came to appreciate that the writing, editing, and revising process influenced the quality of the science as well as the writing.

Gene regulation knowledge commons: community action takes care of DNA binding transcription factors

PubMed Central

Tripathi, Sushil; Vercruysse, Steven; Chawla, Konika; Christie, Karen R.; Blake, Judith A.; Huntley, Rachael P.; Orchard, Sandra; Hermjakob, Henning; Thommesen, Liv; Lægreid, Astrid; Kuiper, Martin

2016-01-01

A large gap remains between the amount of knowledge in scientific literature and the fraction that gets curated into standardized databases, despite many curation initiatives. Yet the availability of comprehensive knowledge in databases is crucial for exploiting existing background knowledge, both for designing follow-up experiments and for interpreting new experimental data. Structured resources also underpin the computational integration and modeling of regulatory pathways, which further aids our understanding of regulatory dynamics. We argue how cooperation between the scientific community and professional curators can increase the capacity of capturing precise knowledge from literature. We demonstrate this with a project in which we mobilize biological domain experts who curate large amounts of DNA binding transcription factors, and show that they, although new to the field of curation, can make valuable contributions by harvesting reported knowledge from scientific papers. Such community curation can enhance the scientific epistemic process. Database URL: http://www.tfcheckpoint.org PMID:27270715

Learning the wrong lessons? Science and fisheries management in the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery.

PubMed

Beem, Betsi

2012-05-01

This paper argues that information produced and then taken up for policy decision making is a function of a complex interplay within the scientific community and between scientists and the broader policy network who are all grappling with issues in a complex environment with a high degree of scientific uncertainty. The dynamics of forming and re-forming the scientific community are shaped by political processes, as are the directions and questions scientists attend to in their roles as policy advisors. Three factors: 1) social construction of scientific communities, 2) the indeterminacy of science, and 3) demands by policy makers to have concrete information for decision making; are intertwined in the production and dissemination of information that may serve as the basis for policy learning. Through this process, however, what gets learned may not be what is needed to mitigate the problem, be complete in terms of addressing multiple causations, or be correct.

The Census of Marine Life on Seamounts: results from a global science program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stocks, K.; Clark, M.; Rowden, A.; Consalvey, M.

2010-12-01

CenSeam (a Global Census of Marine Life on Seamounts) is a network of more than 500 scientists, policy makers and conservationists around the world. These participants are collaborating to increase our understanding of the factors driving seamount community composition and diversity, such that we can better understand and manage the effects of human activities. The major scientific outcomes of the CenSeam community include the findings that 1) Seamount community composition is often similar to surrounding habitats; however, community structure can be different. 2) Contrary to conventional wisdom, few seamounts follow island biogeography predictions. 3) Seamounts can support a higher benthic biomass than surrounding habitats. 4) Seamounts can support species and communities new to science, and represent range extensions for known species, which are being described from CenSeam voyages. 5) For the first time, the extent of the vulnerability and risk to seamount benthic communities from fishing has been quantified. 6) Whilst long assumed, CenSeam researchers have demonstrated that seamount communities are disturbed by fishing and are slow to recover. And 7) Seamounts might act as repositories of biodiversity during future periods of extreme environmental change, as they have likely done in the past. The major products of Censeam include 1) a book synthesizing seamount knowledge: Seamounts: Ecology, Fisheries and Conservation (from Blackwell Publishing); 2) a recent review of the structure and function of seamount benthic communities, human impacts, and seamount management and conservation (Ann Rev Mar Sci); 3) hundreds of scientific publications, including Special Issues in Marine Ecology and Oceanography (in collaboration with the Seamount Biogeogsciences Network), and a Special Collection in PLoSONE; 4) guidance documents and formal advising for seamount management communities, including the United Nations Environment Program, International Seabed Authority, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Regional Fisheries Management Organizations; 5) protocols manuals and guides to facilitate standardization of methodology, including a Wiley Blackwell book, Biological Sampling in the Deep-Sea, due to be published 2011; and 6) SeamountsOnline, a central database of global seamount data (5500 taxa from 258 seamounts) to support research and management (seamounts.sdsc.edu). CenSeam has also had Societal impacts. It has fostered collaborative research to expand global seamount sampling to previously understudied regions. It has increased public awareness of seamounts and the wider deep-sea, for example through expedition web logs to share the experiences of researchers at sea. And CenSeam has provided quality science to inform the management of commercial fisheries and mining, such as a practical seamount classification scheme for protected area planning, and maps of predicted coral habitat suitability.

EDP Sciences and A&A: partnering to providing services to support the scientific community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henri, Agnes

2015-08-01

Scholarly publishing is no longer about simply producing and packaging articles and sending out to subscribers. To be successful, as well as being global and digital, Publishers and their journals need to be fully engaged with their stakeholders (authors, readers, funders, libraries etc), and constantly developing new products and services to support their needs in the ever-changing environment that we work in.Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) is a high quality, major international Journal that belongs to the astronomical communities of a consortium of European and South American countries supported by ESO who sponsor the journal. EDP Sciences is a non-profit publisher belonging to several learned societies and is appointed by ESO to publish the journal.Over the last decade, as well as publishing the results of worldwide astronomical and astrophysical research, A&A and EDP Sciences have worked in partnership to develop a wide range of services for the authors and readers of A&A:- A specialist language editing service: to provide a clear and excellent level of English ensuring full understanding of the high-quality science.- A flexible and progressive Open Access Policy including Gold and Green options and strong links with arXiv.- Enriched articles: authors are able to enhance their articles using a wide range of rich media such as 3D models, videos and animations.Multiple publishing formats: allowing readers to browse articles on multiple devices including eReaders and Kindles.- “Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers”: In 2008 EDP Sciences and A&A set up the Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers (SWYA) School with the objective to teach early PhD Students how write correct and efficient scientific papers for different mediums (journals, proceedings, thesis manuscripts, etc.).

Pioneers on the Astrosociological Frontier: Introduction to the First Symposium on Astrosociology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pass, Jim

2009-03-01

Astrosociology is a relatively new multidisciplinary field that scientifically investigates astrosocial phenomena (i.e., social, cultural, and behavioral patterns related to space exploration and related issues). The "astrosociological frontier" represents an analogous framework to that of space as the "final frontier," as both territories are quite empty of human activity and ripe for exploration. This focus on the astrosociological frontier provides insights about the need for a social-scientific field to place the human dimension in its proper place alongside familiar space community concerns such as engineering. The astrosociological frontier refers to the lack of development of astrosociology as a scientific field—or anything like it earlier during the space age. It includes both the 1) unoccupied "landscape" in academia characterized by the lack of astrosociology in its curricula and 2) dearth of space research focused on social-scientific (i.e., astrosociological) topics both inside and outside of traditional academia in collaboration with traditional space community members and the new space entrepreneurs. Within academia, the "frontier" is characterized by a lack of courses, programs, and departments dedicated to astrosociology. In the future, proponents of this new field expect the astrosociological frontier to become characterized by a growing number of "settlements" in curricula across the country and world. As things stand, however, the early "astrosociological pioneers" include those who seek to explore these underappreciated issues within academic and professional climates that discourage them from pursuing their interests. Thus, the "1st Symposium on Astrosociology" at the 2009 SPESIF conference represents an important expedition consisting of pioneering participants willing to venture into a little-explored territory with the goal of developing astrosociology.

Strengthening and Fostering Science and Technology Programs in Latinamerica and the Caribbean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fucugauchi, J. U.

2013-05-01

An overview and discussion of the status of research and education in Latinamerica and the Caribbean is used for developing a proposal for a research foundation or agency in the region and establishing initiatives for capacity building and promoting and strengthening scientific programs and cooperation. Scientific research increasingly requires global multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches and infrastructure. Developing countries face challenges resulting from small academic communities, limited economic resources, and pressing social and political issues. Science and education are not major priorities as compared with more pressing issues related to poverty, diseases, conflicts, drugs and famine. However, solving major problems require improved educational and research programs. International research collaboration, north-south and south-south, has an immense potential, but basic infrastructure and internal organization at national and regional levels are required. For the analysis we concentrate on current situation, size and characteristics of research community, education programs, facilities, economic support, and bilateral and multinational collaborations. Analysis also includes the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and the Yucatan Science and Technology System (SIIDETEY). FAPESP is a highly successful public foundation started more than 50 years ago, dedicated to foster scientific and technological development in the State of São Paulo and which has had a major impact in Brazil. SIIDETEY is a more recent effort of the Yucatan Government, also dedicated to support research and technology innovation within the state. We then move to discussion on perspectives for future development and capacity building in regional and international contexts, including international collaboration programs. We propose to establish a Science Foundation for the Latinamerica and Caribbean and develop an agenda for strengthening scientific programs in the region.

Mapping the Evolution of Scientific Fields

PubMed Central

Herrera, Mark; Roberts, David C.; Gulbahce, Natali

2010-01-01

Despite the apparent cross-disciplinary interactions among scientific fields, a formal description of their evolution is lacking. Here we describe a novel approach to study the dynamics and evolution of scientific fields using a network-based analysis. We build an idea network consisting of American Physical Society Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) numbers as nodes representing scientific concepts. Two PACS numbers are linked if there exist publications that reference them simultaneously. We locate scientific fields using a community finding algorithm, and describe the time evolution of these fields over the course of 1985–2006. The communities we identify map to known scientific fields, and their age depends on their size and activity. We expect our approach to quantifying the evolution of ideas to be relevant for making predictions about the future of science and thus help to guide its development. PMID:20463949

Mapping the evolution of scientific fields.

PubMed

Herrera, Mark; Roberts, David C; Gulbahce, Natali

2010-05-04

Despite the apparent cross-disciplinary interactions among scientific fields, a formal description of their evolution is lacking. Here we describe a novel approach to study the dynamics and evolution of scientific fields using a network-based analysis. We build an idea network consisting of American Physical Society Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) numbers as nodes representing scientific concepts. Two PACS numbers are linked if there exist publications that reference them simultaneously. We locate scientific fields using a community finding algorithm, and describe the time evolution of these fields over the course of 1985-2006. The communities we identify map to known scientific fields, and their age depends on their size and activity. We expect our approach to quantifying the evolution of ideas to be relevant for making predictions about the future of science and thus help to guide its development.

Life on thin ice: Insights from Uummannaq, Greenland for connecting climate science with Arctic communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baztan, Juan; Cordier, Mateo; Huctin, Jean-Michel; Zhu, Zhiwei; Vanderlinden, Jean-Paul

2017-09-01

What are the links between mainstream climate science and local community knowledge? This study takes the example of Greenland, considered one of the regions most impacted by climate change, and Inuit people, characterized as being highly adaptive to environmental change, to explore this question. The study is based on 10 years of anthropological participatory research in Uummannaq, Northwest Greenland, along with two fieldwork periods in October 2014 and April 2015, and a quantitative bibliometric analysis of the international literature on sea ice - a central subject of concern identified by Uummannaq community members during the fieldwork periods. Community members' perceptions of currently available scientific climate knowledge were also collected during the fieldwork. This was done to determine if community members consider available scientific knowledge salient and if it covers issues they consider relevant. The bibliometric analysis of the sea ice literature provided additional insight into the degree to which scientific knowledge about climate change provides information relevant for the community. Our results contribute to the ongoing debate on the missing connections between community worldviews, cultural values, livelihood needs, interests and climate science. Our results show that more scientific research efforts should consider local-level needs in order to produce local-scale knowledge that is more salient, credible and legitimate for communities experiencing climate change. In Uummannaq, as in many Inuit communities with similar conditions, more research should be done on sea ice thickness in winter and in areas through which local populations travel. This paper supports the growing evidence that whenever possible, climate change research should focus on environmental features that matter to communities, at temporal and spatial scales relevant to them, in order to foster community adaptations to change. We recommend such research be connected to and co-constructed with local communities to ensure their needs and values are integrated into the research process and outputs.

The dilemma of the golden age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Press, Frank

These are confused and troubling times for science and the scientific community. Limits on resources have made visible serious differences within our community, differences that may weaken the nation's scientific enterprise if they are not resolved without acrimony.We face the dilemma of living in both the best and worst of times. In all fields of science, the journals and professional meetings are filled with exciting and challenging reports of new discoveries, new ideas, new applications. At the same time, President Reagan's proposed budget for 1989 is the strongest budget in support of science and technology in recent history. Yet that budget is in difficulty with an essentially proscience Congress, and it has divided the scientific community. The United States supports more scientific research than Western Europe and Japan combined, and our system of universities and national and industrial laboratories is the envy of the world. Why then is our community in an unprecedented state of stress and internal dissension? That is the issue I want to confront. That is the issue that we as an academy must confront.

An International Coastline Collaboratory to Broaden Scientific Impacts of a Subduction Zone Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bodin, P.

2015-12-01

A global Subduction Zone Observatory (SZO) presents an exciting opportunity to broaden involvement in scientific research and to ensure multidisciplinary impact. Most subduction zones feature dynamic interactions of the seafloor, the coastline, and the onshore environments also being perturbed by global climate change. Tectonic deformation, physical environment changes (temperature and chemistry), and resulting ecological shifts (intertidal population redistribution, etc.) are all basic observables for important scientific investigation. Yet even simple baseline studies like repeated transects of intertidal biological communities are rare. A coordinated program of such studies would document the local variability across time and spatial scales, permit comparisons with other subducting coastlines, and extend the reach and importance of other SZO studies. One goal is to document the patterns, and separate the component causes of, coastal uplift and subsidence and ecological response to a subduction zone earthquake using a database of pre-event biological and surveying observations. Observations would be directed by local scientists using students and trained volunteers as observers, under the auspices of local educational entities and using standardized sampling and reporting methods. The observations would be added to the global, Internet-accessible, database for use by the entire scientific community. Data acquisition and analysis supports the educational missions of local schools and universities, forming the basis for educational programs. All local programs would be coordinated by an international panel convened by the SZO. The facility would include a web-hosted lecture series and an annual web conference to aid organization and collaboration. Small grants could support more needy areas. This SZO collaboratory advances not only scientific literacy, but also multinational collaboration and scholarship, and (most importantly) produces important scientific results.

NOAA's Scientific Data Stewardship Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bates, J. J.

2004-12-01

The NOAA mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment and conserve and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation's economic, social and environmental needs. NOAA has responsibility for long-term archiving of the United States environmental data and has recently integrated several data management functions into a concept called Scientific Data Stewardship. Scientific Data Stewardship a new paradigm in data management consisting of an integrated suite of functions to preserve and exploit the full scientific value of NOAA's, and the world's, environmental data These functions include careful monitoring of observing system performance for long-term applications, the generation of authoritative long-term climate records from multiple observing platforms, and the proper archival of and timely access to data and metadata. NOAA has developed a conceptual framework to implement the functions of scientific data stewardship. This framework has five objectives: 1) develop real-time monitoring of all satellite observing systems for climate applications, 2) process large volumes of satellite data extending up to decades in length to account for systematic errors and to eliminate artifacts in the raw data (referred to as fundamental climate data records, FCDRs), 3) generate retrieved geophysical parameters from the FCDRs (referred to as thematic climate data records TCDRs) including combining observations from all sources, 4) conduct monitoring and research by analyzing data sets to uncover climate trends and to provide evaluation and feedback for steps 2) and 3), and 5) provide archives of metadata, FCDRs, and TCDRs, and facilitate distribution of these data to the user community. The term `climate data record' and related terms, such as climate data set, have been used for some time, but the climate community has yet to settle on a concensus definition. A recent United States National Academy of Sciences report recommends using the following definition: a climate data record (CDR) is a time series of measurements of sufficient length, consistency, and continuity to determine climate variability and change.

Electronic Communities: a Forum for Supporting Women Professionals and Students in Technical and Scientific Fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Single, Peg Boyle; Muller, Carol B.; Cunningham, Christine M.; Single, Richard M.

In this article, we report on electronic discussion lists (e-lists) sponsored by MentorNet, the National Electronic Industrial Mentoring Network for Women in Engineering and Science. Using the Internet, the MentorNet program connects students in engineering and science with mentors working in industry. These e-lists are a feature of MentorNet's larger electronic mentoring program and were sponsored to foster the establishment of community among women engineering and science students and men and women professionals in those fields. This research supports the hypothesis that electronic communications can be used to develop community among engineering and science students and professionals and identifies factors influencing the emergence of electronic communities (e-communities). The e-lists that emerged into self-sustaining e-communities were focused on topic-based themes, such as balancing personal and work life, issues pertaining to women in engineering and science, and job searching. These e-communities were perceived to be safe places, embraced a diversity of opinions and experiences, and sanctioned personal and meaningful postings on the part of the participants. The e-communities maintained three to four simultaneous threaded discussions and were sustained by professionals who served as facilitators by seeding the e-lists with discussion topics. The e-lists were sponsored to provide women students participating in MentorNet with access to groups of technical and scientific professionals. In addition to providing benefits to the students, the e-lists also provided the professionals with opportunities to engage in peer mentoring with other, mostly female, technical and scientific professionals. We discuss the implications of our findings for developing e-communities and for serving the needs of women in technical and scientific fields.

Research Experiences in Community College Science Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beauregard, A.

2011-12-01

The benefits of student access to scientific research opportunities and the use of data in curriculum and student inquiry-driven approaches to teaching as effective tools in science instruction are compelling (i.e., Ledley, et al., 2008; Gawel & Greengrove, 2005; Macdonald, et al., 2005; Harnik & Ross. 2003). Unfortunately, these experiences are traditionally limited at community colleges due to heavy faculty teaching loads, a focus on teaching over research, and scarce departmental funds. Without such hands-on learning activities, instructors may find it difficult to stimulate excitement about science in their students, who are typically non-major and nontraditional. I present two different approaches for effectively incorporating research into the community college setting that each rely on partnerships with other institutions. The first of these is a more traditional approach for providing research experiences to undergraduate students, though such experiences are limited at community colleges, and involves student interns working on a research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Specifically, students participate in a water quality assessment study of two local bayous. Students work on different aspects of the project, including water sample collection, bio-assay incubation experiments, water quality sample analysis, and collection and identification of phytoplankton. Over the past four years, nine community college students, as well as two undergraduate students and four graduate students from the local four-year university have participated in this research project. Aligning student and faculty research provides community college students with the unique opportunity to participate in the process of active science and contribute to "real" scientific research. Because students are working in a local watershed, these field experiences provide a valuable "place-based" educational opportunity. The second approach links cutting-edge oceanographic research with my community college students by partnering with a research oceanographer. Through this partnership, students have had access to an active oceanographic researcher through classroom visits, use of data in curriculum, and research/cruise progress updates. With very little research activity currently going on at the community college, this "window" into scientific research is invaluable. Another important aspect of this project is the development of a summer internship program that has allowed four community college students to work directly with an oceanographer in her lab for ten weeks. This connection of community college students with world-class scientists in the field promotes better understanding of research and potentially may encourage more students to major in the sciences. In either approach, the interaction with scientists at different stages of their careers, from undergraduate and graduate students at universities to post docs and research scientists, also provides community college students with the opportunity to gain insight into possible career pathways. For both majors and non-majors, a key outcome of such experiences will be gaining experience in using inquiry and reasoning through the scientific method and becoming comfortable with data and technology.

Toward a Model of Social Influence that Explains Minority Student Integration into the Scientific Community

PubMed Central

Estrada, Mica; Woodcock, Anna; Hernandez, Paul R.; Schultz, P. Wesley

2010-01-01

Students from several ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in the sciences, such that minority students more frequently drop out of the scientific career path than non-minority students. Viewed from a perspective of social influence, this pattern suggests that minority students do not integrate into the scientific community at the same rate as non-minority students. Kelman (1958, 2006) describes a tripartite integration model of social influence (TIMSI) by which a person orients to a social system. To test if this model predicts integration into the scientific community, we conducted analyses of data from a national panel of minority science students. A structural equation model framework showed that self-efficacy (operationalized consistent with Kelman’s ‘rule-orientation’) predicted student intentions to pursue a scientific career. However, when identification as a scientist and internalization of values are added to the model, self-efficacy becomes a poorer predictor of intention. Additional mediation analyses support the conclusion that while having scientific self-efficacy is important, identifying with and endorsing the values of the social system reflect a deeper integration and more durable motivation to persist as a scientist. PMID:21552374

ITK: enabling reproducible research and open science

PubMed Central

McCormick, Matthew; Liu, Xiaoxiao; Jomier, Julien; Marion, Charles; Ibanez, Luis

2014-01-01

Reproducibility verification is essential to the practice of the scientific method. Researchers report their findings, which are strengthened as other independent groups in the scientific community share similar outcomes. In the many scientific fields where software has become a fundamental tool for capturing and analyzing data, this requirement of reproducibility implies that reliable and comprehensive software platforms and tools should be made available to the scientific community. The tools will empower them and the public to verify, through practice, the reproducibility of observations that are reported in the scientific literature. Medical image analysis is one of the fields in which the use of computational resources, both software and hardware, are an essential platform for performing experimental work. In this arena, the introduction of the Insight Toolkit (ITK) in 1999 has transformed the field and facilitates its progress by accelerating the rate at which algorithmic implementations are developed, tested, disseminated and improved. By building on the efficiency and quality of open source methodologies, ITK has provided the medical image community with an effective platform on which to build a daily workflow that incorporates the true scientific practices of reproducibility verification. This article describes the multiple tools, methodologies, and practices that the ITK community has adopted, refined, and followed during the past decade, in order to become one of the research communities with the most modern reproducibility verification infrastructure. For example, 207 contributors have created over 2400 unit tests that provide over 84% code line test coverage. The Insight Journal, an open publication journal associated with the toolkit, has seen over 360,000 publication downloads. The median normalized closeness centrality, a measure of knowledge flow, resulting from the distributed peer code review system was high, 0.46. PMID:24600387

ITK: enabling reproducible research and open science.

PubMed

McCormick, Matthew; Liu, Xiaoxiao; Jomier, Julien; Marion, Charles; Ibanez, Luis

2014-01-01

Reproducibility verification is essential to the practice of the scientific method. Researchers report their findings, which are strengthened as other independent groups in the scientific community share similar outcomes. In the many scientific fields where software has become a fundamental tool for capturing and analyzing data, this requirement of reproducibility implies that reliable and comprehensive software platforms and tools should be made available to the scientific community. The tools will empower them and the public to verify, through practice, the reproducibility of observations that are reported in the scientific literature. Medical image analysis is one of the fields in which the use of computational resources, both software and hardware, are an essential platform for performing experimental work. In this arena, the introduction of the Insight Toolkit (ITK) in 1999 has transformed the field and facilitates its progress by accelerating the rate at which algorithmic implementations are developed, tested, disseminated and improved. By building on the efficiency and quality of open source methodologies, ITK has provided the medical image community with an effective platform on which to build a daily workflow that incorporates the true scientific practices of reproducibility verification. This article describes the multiple tools, methodologies, and practices that the ITK community has adopted, refined, and followed during the past decade, in order to become one of the research communities with the most modern reproducibility verification infrastructure. For example, 207 contributors have created over 2400 unit tests that provide over 84% code line test coverage. The Insight Journal, an open publication journal associated with the toolkit, has seen over 360,000 publication downloads. The median normalized closeness centrality, a measure of knowledge flow, resulting from the distributed peer code review system was high, 0.46.

LAN MAP: An Innovative Airborne Light at Night Mapping Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Craine, Eric R.; Craine, B. L.; Craine, E. M.; Craine, P. R.

2013-01-01

Widespread installation of inefficient and misdirected artificial light at night (LAN) has led to increasing concerns about light pollution and its impact, not only on astronomical facilities but larger communities as well. Light pollution impacts scientific research, environmental ecosystems, human health, and quality of life. In recent years, the public policy response to light pollution has included formulation of government codes to regulate lighting design and installation. Various environmental groups now include light pollution among their rallying themes to protest both specific and general developments. The latter efforts are often conducted in the absence of any quantitative data and are frequently charged by emotion rather than reason. To bring some scientific objectivity, and quantitative data, to these discussions, we have developed a suite of tools for simultaneous photometric measurements and temporal monitoring of both local communities and the sky overhead. We have also developed novel protocols for the use of these tools, including a triad of airborne, ground mobile, and ground static photometric surveys. We present a summary of these tools and protocols, with special emphasis on the airborne systems, and discuss baseline and follow-up measurements of LAN environments in the vicinity of numerous observatories in Arizona, the home of the initial LAN MAP surveys.

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts - Are we Meeting the Requirements of our User Communities?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klump, J.

2007-12-01

The 20th century brought about an "information revolution" that has forever altered the way we work, communicate, and live. The way science has been conducted for the past 200 years has been challenged by new media of communication and for the dissemination of data. We now have the tools at hand, commonly called cyberinfrastructure, that enable new forms of global collaboration. But are we fully realising the potential of cyberinfrastructure? Has it become an integral part of our scientific culture? Tools developed in Earth and Space Science Informatics projects suffer the same effects like informatics developments in other fields. Many of the projects fail to meet user requirements, and they do so for a number of reasons. Besides a certain reluctance on the side of scientists to adopt new tools for conducting their research, many cyberinfrastructure projects suffer from "marketing myopia" (Levitt, 1960) in the way they try to "sell" their applications. According to Levitt, the difference between selling and marketing is that the former fulfils the needs of the seller and the latter the needs of the buyer. Cyberinfrastructure projects must stop trying to sell their achievements to the scientific community, and instead market them by considering the scientists" needs right at the beginning of their endeavours. Admittedly, the requirements of scientific user communities are "moving targets", because scientific workflows are often subject to ad-hoc changes, depending on the outcome of the preceding step. Another important risk factor, faced by many cyberinfrastructure projects, is that the designated user community is not aware of the availability of this new resource. This is where training and outreach are essential, especially to draw in early adopters of new technology and multipliers among researchers. Only cyberinfrastructure tools that truly serve their designated user community will eventually become part of the scientific infrastructure. This presentation looks at the factors and strategies that affect adoption of cyberinfrastructrures by the scientific community.

To ontologise or not to ontologise: An information model for a geospatial knowledge infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stock, Kristin; Stojanovic, Tim; Reitsma, Femke; Ou, Yang; Bishr, Mohamed; Ortmann, Jens; Robertson, Anne

2012-08-01

A geospatial knowledge infrastructure consists of a set of interoperable components, including software, information, hardware, procedures and standards, that work together to support advanced discovery and creation of geoscientific resources, including publications, data sets and web services. The focus of the work presented is the development of such an infrastructure for resource discovery. Advanced resource discovery is intended to support scientists in finding resources that meet their needs, and focuses on representing the semantic details of the scientific resources, including the detailed aspects of the science that led to the resource being created. This paper describes an information model for a geospatial knowledge infrastructure that uses ontologies to represent these semantic details, including knowledge about domain concepts, the scientific elements of the resource (analysis methods, theories and scientific processes) and web services. This semantic information can be used to enable more intelligent search over scientific resources, and to support new ways to infer and visualise scientific knowledge. The work describes the requirements for semantic support of a knowledge infrastructure, and analyses the different options for information storage based on the twin goals of semantic richness and syntactic interoperability to allow communication between different infrastructures. Such interoperability is achieved by the use of open standards, and the architecture of the knowledge infrastructure adopts such standards, particularly from the geospatial community. The paper then describes an information model that uses a range of different types of ontologies, explaining those ontologies and their content. The information model was successfully implemented in a working geospatial knowledge infrastructure, but the evaluation identified some issues in creating the ontologies.

Sustaining Scientist-Community Partnerships that are Just, Equitable, and Trustworthy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheats, N.

2016-12-01

Communities of color, indigenous people, and low income communities throughout the United States are on the front lines of environmental and health impacts from polluting sources, and yet don't fully benefit from public policies that are intended to reduce or prevent those impacts. Many of the challenges faced by environmental justice communities can and should be addressed, in part, through science-based public policies. Community-relevant scientific information and equal access to this information is needed to protect people from public health and environmental hazards. Too often, however, the scientific community has failed to work collaboratively with environmental justice communities. This session will explore the challenges and opportunities faced by environmental justice advocates and scientists in working with one another. This talk will share findings from a recently-held forum, specifically discussing a formal set of principles and best practices for community-scientist partnerships to guide future collaborations between scientists and communities. When community members and scientists collaborate, they bring together unique strengths and types of knowledge that can help address our most pressing challenges, inform decision making, and develop solutions that benefit all people. The speaker will address institutional and historic barriers that hinder such collaboration, potential pitfalls to avoid, and share how institutional systems of scientific research can incorporate equity analyses into their work to ensure solutions that are truly effective.

76 FR 59706 - Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Healthy Communities Study: How Communities Shape Children's...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-27

... quantitative and qualitative information obtained from community-based initiatives; community characteristics... published in scientific journals and will be used for the development of future research initiatives...

Establishing a Framework for Community Modeling in Hydrologic Science: Recommendations from the CUAHSI CHyMP Initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrigo, J. S.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Murdoch, L. C.; Lakshmi, V.; Hooper, R. P.

2012-12-01

The Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) continues a major effort towards supporting Community Hydrologic Modeling. From 2009 - 2011, the Community Hydrologic Modeling Platform (CHyMP) initiative held three workshops, the ultimate goal of which was to produce recommendations and an implementation plan to establish a community modeling program that enables comprehensive simulation of water anywhere on the North American continent. Such an effort would include connections to and advances in global climate models, biogeochemistry, and efforts of other disciplines that require an understanding of water patterns and processes in the environment. To achieve such a vision will require substantial investment in human and cyber-infrastructure and significant advances in the science of hydrologic modeling and spatial scaling. CHyMP concluded with a final workshop, held March 2011, and produced several recommendations. CUAHSI and the university community continue to advance community modeling and implement these recommendations through several related and follow on efforts. Key results from the final 2011 workshop included agreement among participants that the community is ready to move forward with implementation. It is recognized that initial implementation of this larger effort can begin with simulation capabilities that currently exist, or that can be easily developed. CHyMP identified four key activities in support of community modeling: benchmarking, dataset evaluation and development, platform evaluation, and developing a national water model framework. Key findings included: 1) The community supported the idea of a National Water Model framework; a community effort is needed to explore what the ultimate implementation of a National Water Model is. A true community modeling effort would support the modeling of "water anywhere" and would include all relevant scales and processes. 2) Implementation of a community modeling program could initially focus on continental scale modeling of water quantity (rather than quality). The goal of this initial model is the comprehensive description of water stores and fluxes in such a way to permit linkage to GCM's, biogeochemical, ecological, and geomorphic models. This continental scale focus allows systematic evaluation of our current state of knowledge and data, leverages existing efforts done by large scale modelers, contributes to scientific discovery that informs globally and societal relevant questions, and provides an initial framework to evaluate hydrologic information relevant to other disciplines and a structure into which to incorporate other classes of hydrologic models. 3) Dataset development will be a key aspect of any successful national water model implementation. Our current knowledge of the subsurface is limiting our ability to truly integrate soil and groundwater into large scale models, and to answering critical science questions with societal relevance (i.e. groundwater's influence on climate). 4) The CHyMP workshops and efforts to date have achieved collaboration between university scientists, government agencies and the private sector that must be maintained. Follow on efforts in community modeling should aim at leveraging and maintaining this collaboration for maximum scientific and societal benefit.

C3: A Collaborative Web Framework for NASA Earth Exchange

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foughty, E.; Fattarsi, C.; Hardoyo, C.; Kluck, D.; Wang, L.; Matthews, B.; Das, K.; Srivastava, A.; Votava, P.; Nemani, R. R.

2010-12-01

The NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a new collaboration platform for the Earth science community that provides a mechanism for scientific collaboration and knowledge sharing. NEX combines NASA advanced supercomputing resources, Earth system modeling, workflow management, NASA remote sensing data archives, and a collaborative communication platform to deliver a complete work environment in which users can explore and analyze large datasets, run modeling codes, collaborate on new or existing projects, and quickly share results among the Earth science communities. NEX is designed primarily for use by the NASA Earth science community to address scientific grand challenges. The NEX web portal component provides an on-line collaborative environment for sharing of Eearth science models, data, analysis tools and scientific results by researchers. In addition, the NEX portal also serves as a knowledge network that allows researchers to connect and collaborate based on the research they are involved in, specific geographic area of interest, field of study, etc. Features of the NEX web portal include: Member profiles, resource sharing (data sets, algorithms, models, publications), communication tools (commenting, messaging, social tagging), project tools (wikis, blogs) and more. The NEX web portal is built on the proven technologies and policies of DASHlink.arc.nasa.gov, (one of NASA's first science social media websites). The core component of the web portal is a C3 framework, which was built using Django and which is being deployed as a common framework for a number of collaborative sites throughout NASA.

A self-consistent global emissions inventory spanning 1850 ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

While emissions inventory development has advanced significantly in recent years, the scientific community still lacks a global inventory utilizing consistent estimation approaches spanning multiple centuries. In this analysis, we investigate the strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to effectively address inventory development over not just a global spatial scale but also a timescale spanning two centuries – from early industrialization into the near future. We discuss the need within the scientific community for a dataset such as this and the landscape of questions it would allow the scientific community to address. In particular, we focus on questions that the scientific community cannot adequately address using the currently available techniques and information.We primarily focus on the difficulties and potential obstacles associated with developing an inventory of this scope and magnitude. We discuss many of the hurdles that the field has already overcome and also highlight the challenges that researchers in the field still face. We detail the complexities related to the extent of spatial and temporal scales required for an undertaking of this magnitude. In addition, we point to areas where the community currently lacks the necessary data to move forward. Our analysis focuses on one direction in which the development of global emissions inventories is heading rather than an in-depth analysis of the path of emissions inventory development

Scientific Process Flowchart Assessment (SPFA): A Method for Evaluating Changes in Understanding and Visualization of the Scientific Process in a Multidisciplinary Student Population

PubMed Central

Wilson, Kristy J.; Rigakos, Bessie

2016-01-01

The scientific process is nonlinear, unpredictable, and ongoing. Assessing the nature of science is difficult with methods that rely on Likert-scale or multiple-choice questions. This study evaluated conceptions about the scientific process using student-created visual representations that we term “flowcharts.” The methodology, Scientific Process Flowchart Assessment (SPFA), consisted of a prompt and rubric that was designed to assess students’ understanding of the scientific process. Forty flowcharts representing a multidisciplinary group without intervention and 26 flowcharts representing pre- and postinstruction were evaluated over five dimensions: connections, experimental design, reasons for doing science, nature of science, and interconnectivity. Pre to post flowcharts showed a statistically significant improvement in the number of items and ratings for the dimensions. Comparison of the terms used and connections between terms on student flowcharts revealed an enhanced and more nuanced understanding of the scientific process, especially in the areas of application to society and communication within the scientific community. We propose that SPFA can be used in a variety of circumstances, including in the determination of what curricula or interventions would be useful in a course or program, in the assessment of curriculum, or in the evaluation of students performing research projects. PMID:27856551

A new scientific drilling infrastructure in Sweden

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosberg, J.-E.; Lorenz, H.

2012-04-01

A new scientific drilling infrastructure is currently under commissioning at Lund University in southern Sweden and is intended primarily for Swedish scientific drilling projects. However, it will be available to the scientific community and even industry when not occupied. The drill rig, a crawler mounted Atlas Copco CT20, was funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) after an application by the Swedish scientific drilling community under the lead of Prof. Leif Bjelm, Lund University. As a national resource it is, together with support of the Swedish Deep Drilling Program (SDDP) and the Swedish membership in ICDP, part of VR's commitment to scientific drilling. The Atlas Copco CT20 is a top modern, versatile diamond wireline core-drilling rig which can handle P, H and N sizes. It can operate on very small drill sites (500-800 m2) and, thus, leaves a minimal environmental footprint. The crawler makes the rig ideal for operations in remote locations. A total of only 3-4 truckloads is necessary for mobilization of the basic drilling equipment. Main technical specifications are: Depth capacity coring, based on vertical water filled hole: P-size to around 1050 m, hole size 123 mm and core size 85 mm. H-size to around 1600 m, hole size 96 mm and core size 63 mm. N-size to around 2500 m, hole size 76 mm and core size 48 mm. Weight: Complete rig including crawler, wet - 23500 kg Dimensions in (length, width, height) transport position: 11560 x 2500 x 3750 mm. Available in-hole equipment: Complete core retrieval system for PQ, HQ and NQ-sizes, including PHD, HRQ (V-Wall) and NRQ (V-Wall) drill rods covering the maximum drilling depth for each size (see rig depth capacity above). Both dual and triple tube for HQ and NQ-sizes. Casing advancers (PW, HW, NW and BW). Casing PWT, HWT, NW and BW. Bits and reamers. Additional equipment: Mud cleaning and mixing system. MWD-system (Measurements While Drilling). Cementing equipment. Fishing tools (Bowen Spear). Blow Out Preventer (BOP). Deviation tools. Wireline packers. And more.

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.

Values and Objectivity in Science: Value-Ladenness, Pluralism and the Epistemic Attitude

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrier, Martin

2013-10-01

My intention is to cast light on the characteristics of epistemic or fundamental research (in contrast to application-oriented research). I contrast a Baconian notion of objectivity, expressing a correspondence of the views of scientists to the facts, with a pluralist notion, involving a critical debate between conflicting approaches. These conflicts include substantive hypotheses or theories but extend to values as well. I claim that a plurality of epistemic values serves to accomplish a non-Baconian form of objectivity that is apt to preserve most of the intuitions tied to the objectivity of science. For instance, pluralism is the only way to cope with the challenge of preference bias. Furthermore, the plurality of epistemic values cannot be substantially reduced by exploring the empirical success of scientific theories distinguished in light of particular such values. However, in addition to pluralism at the level of theories and value-commitments alike, scientific research is also characterized by a joint striving for consensus which I trace back to a shared epistemic attitude. This attitude manifests itself, e.g., in the willingness of scientists to subject their claims to empirical scrutiny and to respect rational argument. This shared epistemic attitude is embodied in rules adopted by the scientific community concerning general principles of dealing with knowledge claims. My contention is that pluralism and consensus formation can be brought into harmony by placing them at different levels of consideration: at the level of scientific reasoning and at the level of social conventions regarding how to deal with claims put forward within the scientific community.

Cookies as agents for community membership

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez, Idaykis; Goertzen, Renee Michelle; Brewe, Eric; Kramer, Laird

2013-01-01

When becoming a member of a community of practice, a novice must adopt certain community norms to participate, and these include the social norms of the group. Using the analytical perspective of Legitimate Peripheral Participation in a Community of Practice, this paper explores the social role of cookies as agents for community participation and membership in a physics research group. We analyze data from an ethnographic case study of a physics research group weekly research meeting. The mentors bring cookies to each meeting and view the cookies as a token of appreciation for the graduate students' work. These cookies take on a subtler role of initiating guests and students into scientific conversations and participation. Via the cookies, members also share personal histories and stories that help members strengthen their membership. The study of social norms in this research group is part of a larger study of physics expert identity development.

International Soil Carbon Network (ISCN) Database v3-1

DOE Data Explorer

Nave, Luke [University of Michigan] (ORCID:0000000182588335); Johnson, Kris [USDA-Forest Service; van Ingen, Catharine [Microsoft Research; Agarwal, Deborah [Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000150452396); Humphrey, Marty [University of Virginia; Beekwilder, Norman [University of Virginia

2016-01-01

The ISCN is an international scientific community devoted to the advancement of soil carbon research. The ISCN manages an open-access, community-driven soil carbon database. This is version 3-1 of the ISCN Database, released in December 2015. It gathers 38 separate dataset contributions, totalling 67,112 sites with data from 71,198 soil profiles and 431,324 soil layers. For more information about the ISCN, its scientific community and resources, data policies and partner networks visit: http://iscn.fluxdata.org/.

The Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP): A Project to Enhance Scientific Literacy through the Creation of Science Classroom Discourse Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Dale R.; Lewis, Elizabeth B.; Purzer, Senay; Watts, Nievita Bueno; Perkins, Gita; Uysal, Sibel; Wong, Sissy; Beard, Rachelle; Lang, Michael

2009-01-01

This study reports on the context and impact of the Communication in Science Inquiry Project (CISIP) professional development to promote teachers' and students' scientific literacy through the creation of science classroom discourse communities. The theoretical underpinnings of the professional development model are presented and key professional…

Rating Health and Social Indicators for Use with Indigenous Communities: A Tool for Balancing Cultural and Scientific Utility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Mark; Cargo, Margaret; Marks, Elisabeth; Paquet, Catherine; Simmons, David; Williams, Margaret; Rowley, Kevin; O'Dea, Kerin

2009-01-01

This study reports on the development and evaluation of a rating tool to assess the scientific utility and cultural appropriateness of community-level indicators for application with Indigenous populations. Indicator criteria proposed by the U.S. Institute of Medicine were culturally adapted through reviewing the literature and consultations with…

Science Teaching Reform through Professional Development: Teachers' Use of a Scientific Classroom Discourse Community Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Elizabeth B.; Baker, Dale R.; Helding, Brandon A.

2015-01-01

This report outlines a 2-year investigation into how secondary science teachers used professional development (PD) to build scientific classroom discourse communities (SCDCs). Observation data, teacher, student, and school demographic information were used to build a hierarchical linear model. The length of time that teachers received PD was the…

"To Learn about Science": Real Life Scientific Literacy across Multicultural Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Briseño-Garzón, Adriana; Perry, Kristen H.; Purcell-Gates, Victoria

2014-01-01

Much of the current research on scientific literacy focuses on particular text genres read by students within the classroom context. We offer a cross-case analysis of literacy as social practice in multicultural communities around the world, through which we reveal that individuals with no formal education, as well as people with varied levels of…

Introducing Pre-University Students to Primary Scientific Literature through Argumentation Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koeneman, Marcel; Goedhart, Martin; Ossevoort, Miriam

2013-01-01

Primary scientific literature is one of the most important means of communication in science, written for peers in the scientific community. Primary literature provides an authentic context for showing students how scientists support their claims. Several teaching strategies have been proposed using (adapted) scientific publications, some for…

Build infrastructure in publishing scientific journals to benefit medical scientists

PubMed Central

Dai, Ni; Xu, Dingyao; Zhong, Xiyao; Li, Li; Ling, Qibo

2014-01-01

There is urgent need for medical journals to optimize their publishing processes and strategies to satisfy the huge need for medical scientists to publish their articles, and then obtain better prestige and impact in scientific and research community. These strategies include optimizing the process of peer-review, utilizing open-access publishing models actively, finding ways of saving costs and getting revenue, smartly dealing with research fraud or misconduct, maintaining sound relationship with pharmaceutical companies, and managing to provide relevant and useful information for clinical practitioners and researchers. Scientists, publishers, societies and organizations need to work together to publish internationally renowned medical journals. PMID:24653634

A Capstone Experience in Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ba, Jean-Claude; Lott, Trina

1997-04-01

This is an intergrated science course required for all AS/AA degree seeking students. It includes; ethical issues in science, the scientific method and interpretation of scientific results. This paper will present the work done by the only student enrolled in the course Autumn Quarter 1996. This course is in its 2 nd year at Columbus State Community College and may open the door to the development of more programs/courses that will introduce students from two-year Colleges to the different steps of a research project of a research project. In the future such projects could be completed in a local company as part of an internship.

Lunar Processing Cabinet 2.0: Retrofitting Gloveboxes into the 21st Century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calaway, M. J.

2015-01-01

In 2014, the Apollo 16 Lunar Processing Glovebox (cabinet 38) in the Lunar Curation Laboratory at NASA JSC received an upgrade including new technology interfaces. A Jacobs - Technology Innovation Project provided the primary resources to retrofit this glovebox into the 21st century. NASA Astromaterials Acquisition & Curation Office continues the over 40 year heritage of preserving lunar materials for future scientific studies in state-of-the-art facilities. This enhancement has not only modernized the contamination controls, but provides new innovative tools for processing and characterizing lunar samples as well as supports real-time exchange of sample images and information with the scientific community throughout the world.

Build infrastructure in publishing scientific journals to benefit medical scientists.

PubMed

Dai, Ni; Xu, Dingyao; Zhong, Xiyao; Li, Li; Ling, Qibo; Bu, Zhaode

2014-02-01

There is urgent need for medical journals to optimize their publishing processes and strategies to satisfy the huge need for medical scientists to publish their articles, and then obtain better prestige and impact in scientific and research community. These strategies include optimizing the process of peer-review, utilizing open-access publishing models actively, finding ways of saving costs and getting revenue, smartly dealing with research fraud or misconduct, maintaining sound relationship with pharmaceutical companies, and managing to provide relevant and useful information for clinical practitioners and researchers. Scientists, publishers, societies and organizations need to work together to publish internationally renowned medical journals.

Grids: The Top Ten Questions

DOE PAGES

Schopf, Jennifer M.; Nitzberg, Bill

2002-01-01

The design and implementation of a national computing system and data grid has become a reachable goal from both the computer science and computational science point of view. A distributed infrastructure capable of sophisticated computational functions can bring many benefits to scientific work, but poses many challenges, both technical and socio-political. Technical challenges include having basic software tools, higher-level services, functioning and pervasive security, and standards, while socio-political issues include building a user community, adding incentives for sites to be part of a user-centric environment, and educating funding sources about the needs of this community. This paper details the areasmore » relating to Grid research that we feel still need to be addressed to fully leverage the advantages of the Grid.« less

Developing a Community of Critically Literate Consumers . . . One Close Label-Reading at a Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reissman, Rose Cherie

2012-01-01

This article focuses on middle school students analyzing product labels. The labels were analyzed in terms of which facts they purported to impart and to what extent these so-called facts tallied with actual data and scientific/health analyses of the products. Students then reworded the labels to include only documented facts. They also shared the…

Environmental Assessment for Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan Activities at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-28

and coordination services by planning for and adapting to a rapidly changing military mission. 2. Restore the longleaf pine ecosystem and recover...success by supporting the Eglin AFB NRS adaptive management efforts through statistically sound, scientifically based monitoring of community...conservation targets, including sandhills, flatwoods, steepheads, seepage slopes, and stream habitats. Ecological monitoring supports adaptive

Talk to the people.

PubMed

Matfield, Mark

2002-03-01

Recent opinion surveys suggest that the majority of the public is willing to accept the use of animals in research if high standards of welfare and effective regulation are in place. The public appears unaware that such standards have existed for some time. The scientific community should now re-focus its communication efforts to include the ethics and animal welfare aspects of this issue.

The electronic Rothamsted Archive (e-RA), an online resource for data from the Rothamsted long-term experiments

PubMed Central

Perryman, Sarah A. M.; Castells-Brooke, Nathalie I. D.; Glendining, Margaret J.; Goulding, Keith W. T.; Hawkesford, Malcolm J.; Macdonald, Andy J.; Ostler, Richard J.; Poulton, Paul R.; Rawlings, Christopher J.; Scott, Tony; Verrier, Paul J.

2018-01-01

The electronic Rothamsted Archive, e-RA (www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk) provides a permanent managed database to both securely store and disseminate data from Rothamsted Research’s long-term field experiments (since 1843) and meteorological stations (since 1853). Both historical and contemporary data are made available via this online database which provides the scientific community with access to a unique continuous record of agricultural experiments and weather measured since the mid-19th century. Qualitative information, such as treatment and management practices, plans and soil information, accompanies the data and are made available on the e-RA website. e-RA was released externally to the wider scientific community in 2013 and this paper describes its development, content, curation and the access process for data users. Case studies illustrate the diverse applications of the data, including its original intended purposes and recent unforeseen applications. Usage monitoring demonstrates the data are of increasing interest. Future developments, including adopting FAIR data principles, are proposed as the resource is increasingly recognised as a unique archive of data relevant to sustainable agriculture, agroecology and the environment. PMID:29762552

Ethical issues in perinatal mental health research.

PubMed

Brandon, Anna R; Shivakumar, Geetha; Lee, Simon Craddock; Inrig, Stephen J; Sadler, John Z

2009-11-01

To review the background of current ethical standards for the conduct of perinatal mental health research and describe the ethical challenges in this research domain. Current literature reflects a growing sentiment in the scientific community that having no information regarding the impact of psychiatric treatment on the mother and developing fetus/infant poses dangers that may exceed the risks involved in research. However, without sufficient consensus across the scientific community, both regulatory bodies and perinatal researchers find themselves without a framework for decision making that satisfactorily limits the risks and facilitates the benefits of participation of pregnant and lactating women in clinical research. Psychiatric research in perinatal mental health is critically important as it enables clinicians and patients to participate in informed decision-making concerning treatment for psychiatric disorders. Specific areas of concern include fetal safety, maternal risk, the therapeutic misconception, commercial interests, forensic/legal issues, the informed consent process, and study design. Developing guidelines that address ethical challenges and include the views and concerns of multiple stakeholders could improve the access of perinatal women to the benefits of participation in mental health research in addition to providing evidence-based mental healthcare for this subpopulation.

Harvard Observing Project (HOP): Involving Undergraduates in Research Projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bieryla, Allyson

2017-01-01

The Harvard Observing Project (HOP) is designed to get students excited about observational astronomy while collecting data valuable to the scientific community. The primary goal is to give undergraduates a chance to try out observing with “no strings attached”. Observations are led by experienced observers, mostly graduate students. This not only gives graduate students extra opportunities to interact and teach undergraduates, but also a chance for them to get more observing experience. Each semester, we choose an interesting target and monitor it each week over the course of the semester using Harvard University’s 16-inch DFM Clay Telescope. These observing projects often produce large amounts of data. This provides an excellent dataset for a young undergraduate to analyze. Some successful semester-long observing projects have included variable stars, supernova and binary systems. Short-term projects have included exoplanet candidate followup, asteroid and comet followup and collaborating with the Pro-Am White Dwarf Monitoring (PAWM) project in attempts to detect a transiting Earth-sized planet orbiting a white dwarf. Each dataset is an opportunity for an undergraduate to be introduced to scientific research and present the results to the community.

Customizing a rangefinder for community-based wildlife conservation initiatives

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ransom, Jason I.

2011-01-01

Population size of many threatened and endangered species is relatively unknown because estimating animal abundance in remote parts of the world, without access to aircraft for surveying vast areas, is a scientific challenge with few proposed solutions. One option is to enlist local community members and train them in data collection for large line transect or point count surveys, but financial and sometimes technological constraints prevent access to the necessary equipment and training for accurately quantifying distance measurements. Such measurements are paramount for generating reliable estimates of animal density. This problem was overcome in a survey of Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) in the Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area, Mongolia, by converting an inexpensive optical sporting rangefinder into a species-specific rangefinder with visual-based categorical labels. Accuracy trials concluded 96.86% of 350 distance measures matched those from a laser rangefinder. This simple customized optic subsequently allowed for a large group of minimally-trained observers to simultaneously record quantitative measures of distance, despite language, education, and skill differences among the diverse group. The large community-based effort actively engaged local residents in species conservation by including them as the foundation for collecting scientific data.

Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Resource: Genetic, Genomic, and Biological Knowledgebase for the Laboratory Mouse.

PubMed

Eppig, Janan T

2017-07-01

The Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Resource supports basic, translational, and computational research by providing high-quality, integrated data on the genetics, genomics, and biology of the laboratory mouse. MGI serves a strategic role for the scientific community in facilitating biomedical, experimental, and computational studies investigating the genetics and processes of diseases and enabling the development and testing of new disease models and therapeutic interventions. This review describes the nexus of the body of growing genetic and biological data and the advances in computer technology in the late 1980s, including the World Wide Web, that together launched the beginnings of MGI. MGI develops and maintains a gold-standard resource that reflects the current state of knowledge, provides semantic and contextual data integration that fosters hypothesis testing, continually develops new and improved tools for searching and analysis, and partners with the scientific community to assure research data needs are met. Here we describe one slice of MGI relating to the development of community-wide large-scale mutagenesis and phenotyping projects and introduce ways to access and use these MGI data. References and links to additional MGI aspects are provided. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Resource: Genetic, Genomic, and Biological Knowledgebase for the Laboratory Mouse

PubMed Central

Eppig, Janan T.

2017-01-01

Abstract The Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Resource supports basic, translational, and computational research by providing high-quality, integrated data on the genetics, genomics, and biology of the laboratory mouse. MGI serves a strategic role for the scientific community in facilitating biomedical, experimental, and computational studies investigating the genetics and processes of diseases and enabling the development and testing of new disease models and therapeutic interventions. This review describes the nexus of the body of growing genetic and biological data and the advances in computer technology in the late 1980s, including the World Wide Web, that together launched the beginnings of MGI. MGI develops and maintains a gold-standard resource that reflects the current state of knowledge, provides semantic and contextual data integration that fosters hypothesis testing, continually develops new and improved tools for searching and analysis, and partners with the scientific community to assure research data needs are met. Here we describe one slice of MGI relating to the development of community-wide large-scale mutagenesis and phenotyping projects and introduce ways to access and use these MGI data. References and links to additional MGI aspects are provided. PMID:28838066

The Role of Communication in Post-disaster Research Coordination: Communicating the research moratorium after the 22 February 2011 Mw 6 Christchurch Earthquake in New Zealand.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beaven, S.

2015-12-01

Disasters stimulate research activity by creating comparatively rare post-disaster data, while also increasing the urgency of agency demand for scientific evidence. In the wake of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake disaster, New Zealand, post-disaster research activity was coordinated by a national Natural Hazards Research Platform, in collaboration with response agencies. The focus was on research support for responding agencies, with an emphasis on creating high quality scientific outcomes. This coordinated research effort did not include independent research activity, which escalated steeply in the weeks after the event. The risks this increased research pressure posed to response operations and impacted populations informed the declaration of a moratorium on research not deemed relevant to the needs of response agencies. This presentation summarizes communication issues that made it difficult to disseminate the moratorium, and to establish the relevance of this decision where it might have been most effective in diminishing these risks: within national and international natural hazard and disaster research communities, other national research communities, across responding agencies and organisations, and among impacted organizations and communities.

SBOL Visual: A Graphical Language for Genetic Designs.

PubMed

Quinn, Jacqueline Y; Cox, Robert Sidney; Adler, Aaron; Beal, Jacob; Bhatia, Swapnil; Cai, Yizhi; Chen, Joanna; Clancy, Kevin; Galdzicki, Michal; Hillson, Nathan J; Le Novère, Nicolas; Maheshwari, Akshay J; McLaughlin, James Alastair; Myers, Chris J; P, Umesh; Pocock, Matthew; Rodriguez, Cesar; Soldatova, Larisa; Stan, Guy-Bart V; Swainston, Neil; Wipat, Anil; Sauro, Herbert M

2015-12-01

Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL) Visual is a graphical standard for genetic engineering. It consists of symbols representing DNA subsequences, including regulatory elements and DNA assembly features. These symbols can be used to draw illustrations for communication and instruction, and as image assets for computer-aided design. SBOL Visual is a community standard, freely available for personal, academic, and commercial use (Creative Commons CC0 license). We provide prototypical symbol images that have been used in scientific publications and software tools. We encourage users to use and modify them freely, and to join the SBOL Visual community: http://www.sbolstandard.org/visual.

The Petascale Data Storage Institute

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

Gibson, Garth; Long, Darrell; Honeyman, Peter

2013-07-01

Petascale computing infrastructures for scientific discovery make petascale demands on information storage capacity, performance, concurrency, reliability, availability, and manageability.The Petascale Data Storage Institute focuses on the data storage problems found in petascale scientific computing environments, with special attention to community issues such as interoperability, community buy-in, and shared tools.The Petascale Data Storage Institute is a collaboration between researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of Michigan, and the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Exploiting the Use of Social Networking to Facilitate Collaboration in the Scientific Community

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

Coppock, Edrick G.

The goal of this project was to exploit social networking to facilitate scientific collaboration. The project objective was to research and identify scientific collaboration styles that are best served by social networking applications and to model the most effective social networking applications to substantiate how social networking can support scientific collaboration. To achieve this goal and objective, the project was to develop an understanding of the types of collaborations conducted by scientific researchers, through classification, data analysis and identification of unique collaboration requirements. Another technical objective in support of this goal was to understand the current state of technology inmore » collaboration tools. In order to test hypotheses about which social networking applications effectively support scientific collaboration the project was to create a prototype scientific collaboration system. The ultimate goal for testing the hypotheses and research of the project was to refine the prototype into a functional application that could effectively facilitate and grow collaboration within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research community.« less

Curating Big Data Made Simple: Perspectives from Scientific Communities.

PubMed

Sowe, Sulayman K; Zettsu, Koji

2014-03-01

The digital universe is exponentially producing an unprecedented volume of data that has brought benefits as well as fundamental challenges for enterprises and scientific communities alike. This trend is inherently exciting for the development and deployment of cloud platforms to support scientific communities curating big data. The excitement stems from the fact that scientists can now access and extract value from the big data corpus, establish relationships between bits and pieces of information from many types of data, and collaborate with a diverse community of researchers from various domains. However, despite these perceived benefits, to date, little attention is focused on the people or communities who are both beneficiaries and, at the same time, producers of big data. The technical challenges posed by big data are as big as understanding the dynamics of communities working with big data, whether scientific or otherwise. Furthermore, the big data era also means that big data platforms for data-intensive research must be designed in such a way that research scientists can easily search and find data for their research, upload and download datasets for onsite/offsite use, perform computations and analysis, share their findings and research experience, and seamlessly collaborate with their colleagues. In this article, we present the architecture and design of a cloud platform that meets some of these requirements, and a big data curation model that describes how a community of earth and environmental scientists is using the platform to curate data. Motivation for developing the platform, lessons learnt in overcoming some challenges associated with supporting scientists to curate big data, and future research directions are also presented.

Towards a Scalable and Adaptive Application Support Platform for Large-Scale Distributed E-Sciences in High-Performance Network Environments

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

Wu, Chase Qishi; Zhu, Michelle Mengxia

The advent of large-scale collaborative scientific applications has demonstrated the potential for broad scientific communities to pool globally distributed resources to produce unprecedented data acquisition, movement, and analysis. System resources including supercomputers, data repositories, computing facilities, network infrastructures, storage systems, and display devices have been increasingly deployed at national laboratories and academic institutes. These resources are typically shared by large communities of users over Internet or dedicated networks and hence exhibit an inherent dynamic nature in their availability, accessibility, capacity, and stability. Scientific applications using either experimental facilities or computation-based simulations with various physical, chemical, climatic, and biological models featuremore » diverse scientific workflows as simple as linear pipelines or as complex as a directed acyclic graphs, which must be executed and supported over wide-area networks with massively distributed resources. Application users oftentimes need to manually configure their computing tasks over networks in an ad hoc manner, hence significantly limiting the productivity of scientists and constraining the utilization of resources. The success of these large-scale distributed applications requires a highly adaptive and massively scalable workflow platform that provides automated and optimized computing and networking services. This project is to design and develop a generic Scientific Workflow Automation and Management Platform (SWAMP), which contains a web-based user interface specially tailored for a target application, a set of user libraries, and several easy-to-use computing and networking toolkits for application scientists to conveniently assemble, execute, monitor, and control complex computing workflows in heterogeneous high-performance network environments. SWAMP will enable the automation and management of the entire process of scientific workflows with the convenience of a few mouse clicks while hiding the implementation and technical details from end users. Particularly, we will consider two types of applications with distinct performance requirements: data-centric and service-centric applications. For data-centric applications, the main workflow task involves large-volume data generation, catalog, storage, and movement typically from supercomputers or experimental facilities to a team of geographically distributed users; while for service-centric applications, the main focus of workflow is on data archiving, preprocessing, filtering, synthesis, visualization, and other application-specific analysis. We will conduct a comprehensive comparison of existing workflow systems and choose the best suited one with open-source code, a flexible system structure, and a large user base as the starting point for our development. Based on the chosen system, we will develop and integrate new components including a black box design of computing modules, performance monitoring and prediction, and workflow optimization and reconfiguration, which are missing from existing workflow systems. A modular design for separating specification, execution, and monitoring aspects will be adopted to establish a common generic infrastructure suited for a wide spectrum of science applications. We will further design and develop efficient workflow mapping and scheduling algorithms to optimize the workflow performance in terms of minimum end-to-end delay, maximum frame rate, and highest reliability. We will develop and demonstrate the SWAMP system in a local environment, the grid network, and the 100Gpbs Advanced Network Initiative (ANI) testbed. The demonstration will target scientific applications in climate modeling and high energy physics and the functions to be demonstrated include workflow deployment, execution, steering, and reconfiguration. Throughout the project period, we will work closely with the science communities in the fields of climate modeling and high energy physics including Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) projects to mature the system for production use.« less

Partnerships that Bridge the Gap Between Research and Impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandya, R. E.; Udu-gama, N.

2015-12-01

Losses from natural hazards continue to grow, despite growing scientific understanding. Similarly, increasing scientific evidence of our vulnerability to human-induced environmental change has little impact on human behavior. From the perspective of community leaders and policy makers, useful research is hard to locate and difficult to translate from academic publications. Making local decisions is complicated by multiple scientific approaches and predictions and a scientific emphasis on the abstract and global over the concrete and local. Collaborative and respectful locally-focused partnerships, in which community leaders and decision makers co-design local solutions with Earth and space scientists, can overcome this research-to-impact gap. These partnerships work best when they use available scientific and community knowledge to make an immediate local impact while also designing research that addresses broadly relevent and emerging priorities. Framed this way, successful partnerships rest on reciprocal volunteerism: for scientists, making an immediate impact with current knowledge is pro-bono work, while the longer term research better aligns with their career advancement. For community leaders this is flipped: immediate actions tie to their professional responsibilities, and participating in research is often extracurricular. The Thriving Earth Exchange has launched several of these local partnerships and is assembling a set of tools and resources that scientists and community leaders can use to advance their work together. We will introduce the institutional partners who help us identify communities willing to enter these partnerships, and describe how we recruit and select willing and able scientists, many from AGU. We will highlight the human-centered skills and values that are important predictors of successful partnerships and show how we nurture them. We will also describe the progress of several existing efforts and the strategies they use to advance their co-design process. We will explore ideas for sharing co-designed solutions between communities, and explore how partnerships can make the inevitable local customization of borrowed solutions more efficient. Finally, we will share some of the solutions these partnerships have developed and describe their impact.

Non-European traditional herbal medicines in Europe: a community herbal monograph perspective.

PubMed

Qu, Liping; Zou, Wenjun; Zhou, Zhenxiang; Zhang, Tingmo; Greef, JanVander; Wang, Mei

2014-10-28

The European Directive 2004/24/EC introducing a simplified registration procedure for traditional herbal medicinal products, plays an important role in harmonising the current legislation framework for all herbal medicinal products in the European Union (EU). Although substantial achievements have been made under the new scheme, only a limited number of herbal medicinal products from non-European traditions commonly used in Europe have been registered. Therefore, identification of the obstacles, and determination of appropriate means to overcome the major challenges in the registration of non-European traditional herbal medicinal products are of critical importance for the EU herbal medicinal product market. The primary aims of this study were to understand the key issues and obstacles to registration of non-European traditional herbal medicinal products within the EU. The findings may identify the need for more attention on the Community herbal monographs elaborated by the Herbal Medicinal Products Committee (HMPC), as well as further evidence based scientific research on non-European herbal substances/preparations by the scientific community. A systematic evaluation of the herbal substances and preparations included in Community herbal monographs and public statements has been carried out. The focus was herbal substances and preparations derived from non-European traditions. Of the 109 adopted Community herbal monographs, 10 are herbal substances used in Chinese traditional medicine. Where the HMPC issued a public statement because it was unable to elaborate a monograph more than half-involved herbal substances/preparations from non-European traditions. The main reasons herbal substances/preparations from non-European traditions were not accepted for inclusion in the Community herbal monographs have been identified as due to unfulfilled requirements of Directive 2004/24/EC. The most common reasons were the lack of evidence to demonstrate a 15-year minimum medicinal use period in the EU and evidence of absence of health risk as required by Article 16a (1) (d), and Article 16a (1) (e). Under the current EU legislation, the requirement to demonstrate 15-year minimum medicinal use in the EU is a major obstacle to the registration of non-European traditional herbal medicinal products. Access to scientific data to support the product safety profile may be a possible solution to overcome the hurdle presented by the 15-year minimum medicinal use period. Furthermore, the Community herbal monographs play an important role in the registration process. Therefore, making full use of existing Community herbal monographs, and promoting scientific research and subsequent development of additional monographs for herbal substances and preparations, and combinations thereof from non-European traditions would be of benefit to herbal medicinal product registration from non-European traditions. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Science Partnerships Enabling Rapid Response: Designing a Strategy for Improving Scientific Collaboration during Crisis Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mease, L.; Gibbs, T.; Adiseshan, T.

2014-12-01

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster required unprecedented engagement and collaboration with scientists from multiple disciplines across government, academia, and industry. Although this spurred the rapid advancement of valuable new scientific knowledge and tools, it also exposed weaknesses in the system of information dissemination and exchange among the scientists from those three sectors. Limited government communication with the broader scientific community complicated the rapid mobilization of the scientific community to assist with spill response, evaluation of impact, and public perceptions of the crisis. The lessons and new laws produced from prior spills such as Exxon Valdez were helpful, but ultimately did not lead to the actions necessary to prepare a suitable infrastructure that would support collaboration with non-governmental scientists. As oil demand pushes drilling into increasingly extreme environments, addressing the challenge of effective, science-based disaster response is an imperative. Our study employs a user-centered design process to 1) understand the obstacles to and opportunity spaces for effective scientific collaboration during environmental crises such as large oil spills, 2) identify possible tools and strategies to enable rapid information exchange between government responders and non-governmental scientists from multiple relevant disciplines, and 3) build a network of key influencers to secure sufficient buy-in for scaled implementation of appropriate tools and strategies. Our methods include user ethnography, complex system mapping, individual and system behavioral analysis, and large-scale system design to identify and prototype a solution to this crisis collaboration challenge. In this talk, we will present out insights gleaned from existing analogs of successful scientific collaboration during crises and our initial findings from the 60 targeted interviews we conducted that highlight key collaboration challenges that government agencies, academic research institutions, and industry scientists face during oil spill crises. We will also present a synthesis of leverage points in the system that may amplify the impact of an improved collaboration strategy among scientific stakeholders.

Engaging Communities to Understand and Adapt to Environmental Changes with The GLOBE Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wegner, K.; Malmberg, J. S.; Murphy, T.; Mauriello, H.

2015-12-01

During the past twenty years, The GLOBE Program (www.globe.gov) has connected scientists, K-12 students, teachers, and other stakeholders to "co-create" scientific understanding of their local, regional, and global environment in more than 110 countries. Through the support and collaboration of federal agencies- NASA, NSF, and NOAA- the community-driven GLOBE database has more than 130 million Earth science measurements (atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and pedosphere) that align with the USGCRP's indicators of climate change, such as air and surface temperature (Indicator: Global Surface Temperature), land cover (Indicators: 1) Forest Cover; 2) Grassland, Shrubland, and Pasture Cover), and plant phenology (Indicator: Start of Spring). GLOBE contributes to climate literacy while encouraging community members of all ages to enrich their scientific understanding, define issues of local relevance, and engage in broader action, such as regional and global science campaigns. In this session, we will present case studies of how GLOBE data has been used to inspire "homegrown" research campaigns such as the GLOBE Surface Temperature Campaign and European Aerosols Campaign, as well as solution-based action in response to environmental changes, including the development of a mosquito protocol in Thailand and across Africa and a toad service project in the Czech Republic. We will also discuss some of the initiatives we have led as a program in order to promote and share local and regional community-led efforts with our worldwide GLOBE community, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities presented by supporting climate research.

Community pharmacy-based research in Spain (1995-2005): A bibliometric study

PubMed Central

Andrés Iglesias, José Carlos; Andrés Rodríguez, N. Floro; Fornos Pérez, José Antonio

Only one study evaluated the scientific activity in community pharmacies in Spain, and it was restricted to articles published in just two journals. Objective To assess the scientific activity in community pharmacies in Spain through a bibliometric analysis of the original papers published during the years 1995-2005. Methods IPA, MEDLINE, CSIC database and the journals Seguimiento Farmacoterapéutico y Pharmaceutical Care España were used as data sources. Production indicators, consumption indicators and the impact factor (IF) as a repercussion index were analyzed. Results 122 articles were included in the review. The articles were published in 12 journals, 78.7% of them in Pharmaceutical Care España and Seguimiento Farmacoterapéutico. The mean number of authors per article was 4.2 (SD=2.1). The transitivity index was 71.3%. The total number of references cited in the articles was 2110. The mean number of references per article was 17.3 SD=9.3. The value of the insularity index was 57.6%. Self citation was 6.8% and the Price index was 66.5%. No impact factor was available for 6 journals. Conclusions Publication of articles on community pharmacy-based research in Spain has undergone an important increase in the last 5 years. The existence of authors who publish very few studies, the high insularity index and the lack of randomized, controlled trials may be considered as negative indicators in community pharmacy-based research in Spain. PMID:25214914

Women front and center: the opportunities of involving women in participatory health research worldwide.

PubMed

Decker, Martha; Hemmerling, Anke; Lankoande, Fatimata

2010-11-01

Participatory research involving communities, especially women, is increasingly recognized as a valuable and scientifically sound approach to improve the relevance of a study, the accuracy of data collection and interpretation, the adherence to study procedures, and the likelihood of adopting any resulting intervention. This approach has interdisciplinary roots dating back more than half a century. Although widely used in community-based conservation and development projects worldwide, international public health research has yet to fully embrace this inclusive approach, which requires the sharing of power with research participants and a more involved relationship building process with communities. In return, the gap between publication and public action can be narrowed because ownership of the research process by an empowered community can lay the foundation for an accelerated implementation of interventions tailored to community needs and based on research results. This article draws on the professional experiences of the authors as well as published examples of international participatory health research with women. Factors critical for the success of participatory research are discussed, including attention to initial planning, early community involvement, conceptual clarity, defined community benefits, and joint interpretation of results, as well as translation to action. It includes common challenges and strategies to overcome them, such as conflict resolution and data ownership.

Finding the key - cell biology and science education.

PubMed

Miller, Kenneth R

2010-12-01

No international research community, cell biology included, can exist without an educational community to renew and replenish it. Unfortunately, cell biology researchers frequently regard their work as independent of the process of education and see little reason to reach out to science teachers. For cell biology to continue to prosper, I argue that researchers must support education in at least three ways. First, we must view education and research as part of a single scientific community. Second, we should take advantage of new technologies to connect the research laboratory to the classroom. Finally, we must take the initiative in defending the integrity of science teaching, particularly when education is under attack for political or religious reasons. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The quality of Australian Indigenous primary health care research focusing on social and emotional wellbeing: a systematic review.

PubMed

Farnbach, Sara; Eades, Anne-Maree; Fernando, Jamie K; Gwynn, Josephine D; Glozier, Nick; Hackett, Maree L

2017-10-11

Objectives and importance of the study: Primary health care research focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) people is needed to ensure that key frontline services provide evidence based and culturally appropriate care. We systematically reviewed the published primary health care literature to identify research designs, processes and outcomes, and assess the scientific quality of research focused on social and emotional wellbeing. This will inform future research to improve evidence based, culturally appropriate primary health care. Systematic review in accordance with PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines. Four databases and one Indigenous-specific project website were searched for qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method published research. Studies that were conducted in primary health care services and focused on the social and emotional wellbeing of Indigenous people were included. Scientific quality was assessed using risk-of-bias assessment tools that were modified to meet our aims. We assessed community acceptance by identifying the involvement of community governance structures and representation during research development, conduct and reporting. Data were extracted using standard forms developed for this review. We included 32 articles, which reported on 25 studies. Qualitative and mixed methods were used in 18 studies. Twelve articles were judged as high or unclear risk of bias, four as moderate and five as low risk of bias. Another four studies were not able to be assessed as they did not align with the risk-of-bias tools. Of the five articles judged as low risk of bias, two also had high community acceptance and both of these were qualitative. One used a phenomenological approach and the other combined participatory action research with a social-ecological perspective and incorporated 'two-way learning' principles. Of the 16 studies where a primary outcome was identified, eight aimed to identify perceptions or experiences. The remaining studies assessed resources, or evaluated services, interventions, programs or policies. We were unable to identify primary outcomes in eight studies. Conducting Indigenous-focused primary health care research that is scientifically robust, culturally appropriate and produces community-level outcomes is challenging. We suggest that research teams use participatory, culturally sensitive approaches and collaborate closely to plan and implement high-quality research that incorporates local perspectives. Research should result in beneficial outcomes for the communities involved.

An assessment of scientific and technical aspects of closed investigations of canine forensics DNA – case series from the University of California, Davis, USA

PubMed Central

Scharnhorst, Günther; Kanthaswamy, Sree

2011-01-01

Aim To describe and assess the scientific and technical aspects of animal forensic testing at the University of California, Davis. The findings and recommendations contained in this report are designed to assess the past, evaluate the present, and recommend reforms that will assist the animal forensic science community in providing the best possible services that comply with court standards and bear judicial scrutiny. Methods A batch of 32 closed files of domestic dog DNA cases processed at the University of California, Davis, between August 2003 and July 2005 were reviewed in this study. The case files comprised copies of all original paperwork, copies of the cover letter or final report, laboratory notes, notes on analyses, submission forms, internal chains of custody, printed images and photocopies of evidence, as well as the administrative and technical reviews of those cases. Results While the fundamental aspects of animal DNA testing may be reliable and acceptable, the scientific basis for forensic testing animal DNA needs to be improved substantially. In addition to a lack of standardized and validated genetic testing protocols, improvements are needed in a wide range of topics including quality assurance and quality control measures, sample handling, evidence testing, statistical analysis, and reporting. Conclusion This review implies that although a standardized panel of short tandem repeat and mitochondrial DNA markers and publicly accessible genetic databases for canine forensic DNA analysis are already available, the persistent lack of supporting resources, including standardized quality assurance and quality control programs, still plagues the animal forensic community. This report focuses on closed cases from the period 2003-2005, but extends its scope more widely to include other animal DNA forensic testing services. PMID:21674824

An assessment of scientific and technical aspects of closed investigations of canine forensics DNA--case series from the University of California, Davis, USA.

PubMed

Scharnhorst, Günther; Kanthaswamy, Sree

2011-06-01

To describe and assess the scientific and technical aspects of animal forensic testing at the University of California, Davis. The findings and recommendations contained in this report are designed to assess the past, evaluate the present, and recommend reforms that will assist the animal forensic science community in providing the best possible services that comply with court standards and bear judicial scrutiny. A batch of 32 closed files of domestic dog DNA cases processed at the University of California, Davis, between August 2003 and July 2005 were reviewed in this study. The case files comprised copies of all original paperwork, copies of the cover letter or final report, laboratory notes, notes on analyses, submission forms, internal chains of custody, printed images and photocopies of evidence, as well as the administrative and technical reviews of those cases. While the fundamental aspects of animal DNA testing may be reliable and acceptable, the scientific basis for forensic testing animal DNA needs to be improved substantially. In addition to a lack of standardized and validated genetic testing protocols, improvements are needed in a wide range of topics including quality assurance and quality control measures, sample handling, evidence testing, statistical analysis, and reporting. This review implies that although a standardized panel of short tandem repeat and mitochondrial DNA markers and publicly accessible genetic databases for canine forensic DNA analysis are already available, the persistent lack of supporting resources, including standardized quality assurance and quality control programs, still plagues the animal forensic community. This report focuses on closed cases from the period 2003-2005, but extends its scope more widely to include other animal DNA forensic testing services.

Measuring the success of community science: the northern California Household Exposure Study.

PubMed

Brown, Phil; Brody, Julia Green; Morello-Frosch, Rachel; Tovar, Jessica; Zota, Ami R; Rudel, Ruthann A

2012-03-01

Environmental health research involving community participation has increased substantially since the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) environmental justice and community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships began in the mid-1990s. The goals of these partnerships are to inform and empower better decisions about exposures, foster trust, and generate scientific knowledge to reduce environmental health disparities in low-income, minority communities. Peer-reviewed publication and clinical health outcomes alone are inadequate criteria to judge the success of projects in meeting these goals; therefore, new strategies for evaluating success are needed. We reviewed the methods used to evaluate our project, "Linking Breast Cancer Advocacy and Environmental Justice," to help identify successful CBPR methods and to assist other teams in documenting effectiveness. Although our project precedes the development of the NIEHS Evaluation Metrics Manual, a schema to evaluate the success of projects funded through the Partnerships in Environmental Public Health (PEPH), our work reported here illustrates the record keeping and self-reflection anticipated in NIEHS's PEPH. Evaluation strategies should assess how CBPR partnerships meet the goals of all partners. Our partnership, which included two strong community-based organizations, produced a team that helped all partners gain organizational capacity. Environmental sampling in homes and reporting the results of that effort had community education and constituency-building benefits. Scientific results contributed to a court decision that required cumulative impact assessment for an oil refinery and to new policies for chemicals used in consumer products. All partners leveraged additional funding to extend their work. An appropriate evaluation strategy can demonstrate how CBPR projects can advance science, support community empowerment, increase environmental health literacy, and generate individual and policy action to protect health.

Participatory methods of incorporating scientific with traditional knowledge for volcanic hazard management on Ambae Island, Vanuatu

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cronin, Shane J.; Gaylord, David R.; Charley, Douglas; Alloway, Brent V.; Wallez, Sandrine; Esau, Job W.

2004-10-01

Ambae Island is the largest of Vanuatu’s active volcanoes. It is also one of the nation’s potentially most dangerous, with 60 million m3 of lake-water perched at over 1340 m in the summit caldera and over the active vent. In 1995, small phreatic explosions, earthquake swarms and heightened gas release led to calls for evacuation preparation and community volcanic hazard awareness programs for the ~9500 inhabitants. Differences in perspective or world-view between the island dwellers adhering to traditional beliefs (Kastom) and external scientists and emergency managers led to a climate of distrust following this crisis. In an attempt to address these issues, rebuild dialogue and respect between communities, outside scientists and administrators, and move forward in volcanic hazard education and planning for Ambae, we adapted and applied Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approaches. Initial gender-segregated PRA exercises from two representative communities provided a mechanism for cataloguing local traditional viewpoints and hazard perceptions. Ultimately, by combining elements of these viewpoints and perceptions with science-based management structures, we derived volcanic hazard management guidelines, supported by an alert system and map that were more readily accepted by the test communities than the earlier “top-down” plans imposed by outside governmental and scientific agencies. The strength of PRA approaches is that they permit scientists to understand important local perspective issues, including visualisations of volcanic hazards, weaknesses in internal and external communication systems, and gender and hierarchy conflicts, all of which can hinder community emergency management. The approach we describe has much to offer both developing and industrialised communities that wish to improve their awareness programs and mitigative planning. This approach should also enhance communication and understanding between volcanologists and the communities they serve.

From Cases to Capacity? A Critical Reflection on the Role of ‘Ethical Dilemmas’ in the Development of Dual-Use Governance

PubMed Central

Edwards, Brett; Revill, James; Bezuidenhout, Louise

2016-01-01

The dual-use issue is often framed as a series of paralyzing ‘dilemmas’ facing the scientific community as well as institutions which support innovation. While this conceptualization of the dual-use issue can be useful in certain contexts (such as in awareness-raising and as part of educational activities directed at the scientific community) its usefulness is more limited when reflecting on the governance and politics of the dual-use issue. Within this paper, key shortcomings of the dilemma framing are outlined. It is argued that many of the issues raised in the most recent debates about ‘dual-use’ bird flu research remain unresolved. This includes questions about the trajectories of certain lines of research, as well as broader trends in the practice and governance of science. This leads to difficult questions about current approaches to the dual-use issue within the US, as well as internationally. PMID:23703451

Streptococcus suis: a new emerging or an old neglected zoonotic pathogen?

PubMed

Gottschalk, Marcelo; Xu, Jianguo; Calzas, Cynthia; Segura, Mariela

2010-03-01

Infections caused by Streptococcus suis are considered a global and an economical problem in the swine industry. Moreover, S. suis is an agent of zoonosis that afflicts people in close contact with infected pigs or pork-derived products. Although sporadic cases of S. suis infections in humans (mainly meningitis) have been reported during the last 40 years, a large outbreak due to this pathogen emerged in the summer of 2005 in China. The severity of the infection in humans during the outbreak, such as a shorter incubation time, more rapid disease progression and higher rate of mortality, attracted a lot of attention from the scientific community and the general press. In fact, the number of publications on S. suis (including the number of reported human cases) has significantly increased during recent years. In this article we critically review the present knowledge on S. suis infection in humans, we discuss the hypotheses that may explain the 2005 outbreak and the repercussion of such an episode on the scientific community.

Bareback sex and gay men: an HIV prevention failure.

PubMed

Goodroad, B K; Kirksey, K M; Butensky, E

2000-01-01

Bareback sex, or actively seeking unprotected anal intercourse is occurring in the gay male community. This represents a new phenomenon, different from previously identified "relapse" unsafe sexual behavior and poses an important HIV prevention problem. This article reviews the extant literature regarding bareback sex. The lay press and scientific literature are reviewed. Although discussion of issues surrounding bareback sex is abundant in the gay press, scientific literature regarding this phenomenon is nonexistent. The evidence-based literature addresses relapse to unsafe sexual behavior. Although this literature provides further understanding of safer sexual behaviors in gay men, barebacking is a unique issue that requires additional exploration. In this article, factors underlying bareback sexual behavior are explored, including previous HIV prevention efforts and their relationship to this phenomenon. Finally, bareback sex in the gay male community and its implications for nursing practice, research, and education are explored. The harm reduction model is offered as a useful guide for nursing assessment and intervention.

Building translational ecology communities of practice: insights from the field

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lawson, Dawn M.; Hall, Kimberly R.; Yung, Laurie; Enquist, Carolyn A. F.

2017-01-01

Translational ecology (TE) prioritizes the understanding of social systems and decision contexts in order to address complex natural resource management issues. Although many practitioners in applied fields employ translational tactics, the body of literature addressing such approaches is limited. We present several case studies illustrating the principles of TE and the diversity of its applications. We anticipate that these examples will help others develop scientific products that decision makers can use “off the shelf” when solving critical ecological and social challenges. Our collective experience suggests that research of such immediate utility is rare. Long‐term commitment to working directly with partners to develop and reach shared goals is central to successful translation. The examples discussed here highlight the benefits of translational processes, including actionable scientific results, more informed policy making, increased investment in science‐driven solutions, and inspiration for partnerships. We aim to facilitate future TE‐based projects and build momentum for growing this community of practice.

Recent Challenges Facing US Government Climate Science Access and Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goldman, G. T.; Carter, J. M.; Licker, R.

2017-12-01

Climate scientists have long faced politicization of their work, especially those working within the US federal government. However, political interference in federal government climate change science has escalated in the current political era with efforts by political actors to undermine and disrupt infrastructure supporting climate science. This has included funding changes, decreased access to climate science information on federal agency websites, restrictions on media access to scientific experts within the government, and rolling back of science-based policies designed to incorporate and respond to climate science findings. What are the impacts of such changes for both the climate science community and the broader public? What can be done to ensure that access to and application of climate change-related research to policy decisions continues? We will summarize and analyze the state of climate change research and application in the US government. The impacts of political interference in climate change science as well as opportunities the scientific community has to support climate science in the US government, will be discussed.

AMF3 ARM's Research Facility at Oliktok Point Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helsel, F.; Lucero, D. A.; Ivey, M.; Dexheimer, D.; Hardesty, J.; Roesler, E. L.

2015-12-01

Scientific Infrastructure To Support Atmospheric Science And Aerosol Science For The Department Of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Programs Mobile Facility 3 Located At Oliktok Point, Alaska.The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Mobile Facility 3 (AMF3) located at Oliktok Point, Alaska is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site. The site provides a scientific infrastructure and data archives for the international Arctic research community. The infrastructure at Oliktok is designed to be mobile and it may be relocated in the future to support other ARM science missions. AMF-3 instruments include: scanning precipitation Radar-cloud radar, Raman Lidar, Eddy correlation flux systems, Ceilometer, Balloon sounding system, Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI), Micro-pulse Lidar (MPL), Millimeter cloud radar along with all the standard metrological measurements. Data from these instruments is placed in the ARM data archives and are available to the international research community. This poster will discuss what instruments are at AMF3 and the challenges of powering an Arctic site without the use of grid power.

Science education in an Amish Mennonite community and school: An examination of perception and application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crockett, Denise King

The purpose of the study is to show how science is defined and technology is selected in an Amish Mennonite (fundamentalist Christian) community and its school. Additionally, by examining this community, information is collected on how a fundamentalist school's treatment of and experience with science and technology compare to what has occurred over time in public schools in the United States. An ethnographic approach was used to recreate the shared beliefs, practices, artifacts, folk knowledge, and behaviors of this community. The ethnographic methodology allowed analytical descriptions and reconstructions of whole cultural scenes and groups of the community. Analysis of data followed an analytic induction method. The data collected included participant observation, documentation, photographs, formal interviews, informal interviews, audiotaping, journal entries, and artifacts. Findings indicate that science is wholly subsumed by Amish Mennonite religion. Using the transmission model, the Amish Mennonites teach science as a list of facts from the King James version of the Holy Bible. This method of teaching promotes community values and beliefs. The encouragement stands in sharp contrast to the Amish Mennonite school. Technology is seen as a tool for making the community prosper. For this community to sustain itself, economic stability must be maintained. Their economic stability is dependent on the outside community purchasing their goods and services; producing these goods and services requires use of appropriate technologies. In the United States public schools, science is encouraged to be taught a way of knowing that implies a critical view about how the world works. In addition, public schools promote new and innovative technologies. Thus, they become fertile soil for developing new concepts about implementing scientific ideas and using technology. For the Amish Mennonites, rigorous standards, such as the scientific method, as addressed in the public school do not exist. In contrast, critical analysis of any new technology is always used in this community.

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…

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…

The MedCLIVAR program and the climate of the Mediterranean region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lionello, P.; Gacic, M.; Gomis, G.; Garcia-Herrera, R.; Giorgi, F.; Planton, S.; Trigo, R.; Theocharis, A.; Tsimplis, M. N.; Ulbrich, U.; Xoplaki, E.

2012-04-01

MedCLIVAR has become an independent platform for scientific discussion, the exchange of information and the coordination of activities across scientific groups around the Mediterranean. The scientific objects of the programme include past climate variability, connections between the Mediterranean and global climate, the Mediterranean Sea circulation and sea level, feedbacks on the global climate system, and the regional responses to greenhouse gas, air pollution, and aerosols. A strength of the MedCLIVAR programme is the development of a multidisciplinary vision of the evolution of Mediterranean climate, which includes atmospheric, marine and terrestrial components at multiple time scales, covering the range from paleo-reconstructions to future climate scenarios. MedCLIVAR has promoted scientific dissemination with many publication and by producing two books, which review the climate-related knowledge of the Mediterranean basin, one published at the beginning of the project and the second just recently finalized. Over these years, MedCLIVAR (www.medclivar.eu) has held 6 workshops and 2 schools, assigned 31 young scientist exchange grants and 7 senior scientist short visits, sponsored or co-sponsored 11 scientific meetings and organized annual sessions during the European Geophysical Union general assembly. A systematic archive of observations and model data simulations on the Mediterranean Climate, in order to both share data across the scientific community and ensure the data availability for 10 years, is presently being organized at the WDCC (http://cera-www.dkrz.de/CERA/MedCLIVAR.html)

Building sustainable neuroscience capacity in Africa: the role of non-profit organisations.

PubMed

Karikari, Thomas K; Cobham, Ansa E; Ndams, Iliya S

2016-02-01

While advances in neuroscience are helping to improve many aspects of human life, inequalities exist in this field between Africa and more scientifically-advanced continents. Many African countries lack the infrastructure and appropriately-trained scientists for neuroscience education and research. Addressing these challenges would require the development of innovative approaches to help improve scientific competence for neuroscience across the continent. In recent years, science-based non-profit organisations (NPOs) have been supporting the African neuroscience community to build state-of-the-art scientific capacity for sustainable education and research. Some of these contributions have included: the establishment of training courses and workshops to introduce African scientists to powerful-yet-cost-effective experimental model systems; research infrastructural support and assistance to establish research institutes. Other contributions have come in the form of the promotion of scientific networking, public engagement and advocacy for improved neuroscience funding. Here, we discuss the contributions of NPOs to the development of neuroscience in Africa.

[The contribution of indigenous community health workers to special healthcare for Brazilian indigenous peoples].

PubMed

Diehl, Eliana Elisabeth; Langdon, Esther Jean; Dias-Scopel, Raquel Paiva

2012-05-01

Indigenous community health workers are part of a strategy developed by Brazil in the last two decades to promote a special healthcare model for indigenous peoples. Their role is designed to deal with various aspects of the special health policy, including the link between the heath team and the community and mediation between scientific and indigenous medical knowledge. Despite a significant increase in the number of indigenous community health workers in recent years, an evaluation of their responsibilities and contributions to the success of special care had not been conducted previously. This article, based on a literature review and original research by the authors, analyzes the role of the indigenous community health workers vis-à-vis their training and participation in health teams in different contexts in Brazil. Considering the importance assigned to the role of indigenous community health workers, this analysis reveals various ambiguities and contradictions that hinder both their performance and their potential contribution to the special health services.

Is Twitter a forum for disseminating research to health policy makers?

PubMed

Kapp, Julie M; Hensel, Brian; Schnoring, Kyle T

2015-12-01

Findings from scientific research largely remain inside the scientific community. Research scientists are being encouraged to use social media, and especially Twitter, for dissemination of evidence. The potential for Twitter to narrow the gap on evidence translated into policy presents new opportunities. We explored the innovative question of the feasibility of Twitter as a tool for the scientific community to disseminate to and engage with health policy makers for research impact. We created a list of federal "health policy makers." In December 2014, we identified members using several data sources, then collected and summarized their Twitter usage data. Nearly all health policy makers had Twitter accounts. Their communication volume varied broadly. Policy makers are more likely to push information via Twitter than engage with constituents, although usage varied broadly. Twitter has the potential to aid the scientific community in dissemination of health-related research to health policy makers, after understanding how to effectively (and selectively) use Twitter. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Literature-Based Scientific Learning: A Collaboration Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elrod, Susan L.; Somerville, Mary M.

2007-01-01

Amidst exponential growth of knowledge, student insights into the knowledge creation practices of the scientific community can be furthered by science faculty collaborations with university librarians. The Literature-Based Scientific Learning model advances undergraduates' disciplinary mastery and information literacy through experience with…

History of the Animal Care Program at Johnson Space Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Khan-Mayberry, Noreen; Bassett, Stephanie

2010-01-01

NASA has a rich history of scientific research that has been conducted throughout our numerous manned spaceflight programs. This scientific research has included animal test subjects participating in various spaceflight missions, including most recently, Space Shuttle mission STS-131. The Animal Care Program at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas is multi-faceted and unique in scope compared to other centers within the agency. The animal care program at JSC has evolved from strictly research to include a Longhorn facility and the Houston Zoo's Attwater Prairie Chicken refuge, which is used to help repopulate this endangered species. JSC is home to more than 300 species of animals including home of hundreds of white-tailed deer that roam freely throughout the center which pose unique issues in regards to population control and safety of NASA workers, visitors and tourists. We will give a broad overview of our day to day operations, animal research, community outreach and protection of animals at NASA Johnson Space Center.

CrossFit Overview: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Claudino, João Gustavo; Gabbett, Tim J; Bourgeois, Frank; Souza, Helton de Sá; Miranda, Rafael Chagas; Mezêncio, Bruno; Soncin, Rafael; Cardoso Filho, Carlos Alberto; Bottaro, Martim; Hernandez, Arnaldo Jose; Amadio, Alberto Carlos; Serrão, Julio Cerca

2018-02-26

CrossFit is recognized as one of the fastest growing high-intensity functional training modes in the world. However, scientific data regarding the practice of CrossFit is sparse. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the findings of scientific literature related to CrossFit via systematic review and meta-analysis. Systematic searches of the PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Bireme/MedLine, and SciELO online databases were conducted for articles reporting the effects of CrossFit training. The systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines. The Oxford Levels of Evidence was used for all included articles, and only studies that investigated the effects of CrossFit as a training program were included in the meta-analysis. For the meta-analysis, effect sizes (ESs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated and heterogeneity was assessed using a random-effects model. Thirty-one articles were included in the systematic review and four were included in the meta-analysis. However, only two studies had a high level of evidence at low risk of bias. Scientific literature related to CrossFit has reported on body composition, psycho-physiological parameters, musculoskeletal injury risk, life and health aspects, and psycho-social behavior. In the meta-analysis, significant results were not found for any variables. The current scientific literature related to CrossFit has few studies with high level of evidence at low risk of bias. However, preliminary data has suggested that CrossFit practice is associated with higher levels of sense of community, satisfaction, and motivation.

Science in the community: An ethnographic account of social material transformation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Stuart Henry

This dissertation is about the learning and use of science at the level of local community. It is an ethnographic account, and its theoretical approach draws on actor-network theory as well as neo-Marxist practice theory and the related notion of situated cognition. This theoretical basis supports a work that focuses on the many heterogeneous transformations that materials and people undergo as science is used to help bring about social and political change in a quasi-rural community. The activities that science becomes involved in, and the hybrid formations as it encounters local issues are stressed. Learning and knowing as outcomes of community action are theorized. The dissertation links four major themes throughout its narrative: scientific literacy, representations, relationships and participatory democracy. These four themes are not treated in isolation. Different facets of their relation to each other are stressed in different chapters, each of which analyze different particular case studies. This dissertation argues for the conception of a local scientific praxis, one that is markedly different than the usual notion of science, yet is necessary for the uptake of scientific information into a community.

Defining the value of community benefits. Analyzing the kinds of goods society produces clarifies hospitals' charity care contribution.

PubMed

Sanders, S M

1992-01-01

Community benefits occur when a hospital bears all or part of the relatively unquantifiable costs of promoting, sponsoring, or engaging in religious, educational, scientific, or health-related activities designed to improve community health. By the very nature of their health-related activities, not-for-profit hospitals make extensive and varied contributions to community benefit. When a hospital free clinic inoculates a child for measles, the community as a whole benefits because the inoculation reduces the chance that measles will spread. Not-for-profit hospitals also provide many goods that are "undersupplied" by the for-profit private sector or the public sector, such as research, trauma centers used disproportionately by self-pay patients, and advocacy to rid the community of health hazards. Moreover, a number of factors impose a legal and normative obligation on not-for-profit hospitals to engage in activities that benefit the community. These include Internal Revenue Service rules governing tax exemption, hospitals' fiduciary responsibilities to philanthropic donors, their obligations as "institutional actors" in their communities, and their mission to reach out to the poor and underserved.

How Can the Science Community Support Reality Based Policies to Reducing the Escalating Toll of Natural Hazards?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, E. A.

2012-12-01

Worldwide, the toll of disaster damage caused by foreseeable natural hazards is growing, despite the fact that science is increasingly able to quantify the risk and foresee the likely location of natural events (NCDC 2012; NHC 2010). Those events can cause disastrous consequences if human built infrastructure is not properly designed for both the current state and future events (IBHS, 2012). Our existing approaches are not working at reducing the mounting toll of disasters which follow foreseeable natural events. Rather, even if the climate were not changing, current land use decisions coupled with development, engineering, design, and construction practices are significantly contributing to further increasing an unsustainable toll from disasters (Pielke, Gratz et al. 2007). Safe and proper construction practices developed to reduce flood losses (e.g. Design for Flooding, Watson, Adams et al., 2010) are all too often thought of as a zero sum situation where the community wins and the developer loses. In reality, the United States and the rest of the world often can find win-win solutions based on sound economics, law, ethics, and environmental sustainability that will benefit communities, developers, and natural hazard risk mitigation practitioners. While such solutions are being implemented in a fragmentary manner throughout the United States, communities implementing these solutions are increasingly working together in peer networks, such as the Natural Hazard Mitigation Association (NHMA)'s Resilient Neighbors Network. Examples include the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District that covers the metropolitan Denver area and recent work in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This presentation will set forth the scientific, ethical, and legal basis of higher development standards which, when combined with good negotiations techniques, can significantly decrease the terrible misery from wildfires, tornadoes, floods, and other natural disasters. Communities clearly have the legal right to implement safe design standards (Thomas, Riley Medlock 2008); yet all too often do not (NOAA, 2010). The required negotiations techniques must include outreach even to those who believe the topics of climate change and sustainability are some sort of plot against property rights and the free enterprise system. The presentation will also challenge the scientific community to support reasoned efforts to better prepare society for the even greater challenges posed by climate variability, uncertainty, and change: to work with practitioners who seek to build a safe and sustainable future to identify gaps in scientific knowledge and help develop workable solutions at the local level. Edward A. Thomas Esq. President Natural Hazard Mitigation Association

The Landscape Evolution Observatory: a large-scale controllable infrastructure to study coupled Earth-surface processes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pangle, Luke A.; DeLong, Stephen B.; Abramson, Nate; Adams, John; Barron-Gafford, Greg A.; Breshears, David D.; Brooks, Paul D.; Chorover, Jon; Dietrich, William E.; Dontsova, Katerina; Durcik, Matej; Espeleta, Javier; Ferré, T.P.A.; Ferriere, Regis; Henderson, Whitney; Hunt, Edward A.; Huxman, Travis E.; Millar, David; Murphy, Brendan; Niu, Guo-Yue; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitch; Pelletier, Jon D.; Rasmussen, Craig; Ruiz, Joaquin; Saleska, Scott; Schaap, Marcel; Sibayan, Michael; Troch, Peter A.; Tuller, Markus; van Haren, Joost; Zeng, Xubin

2015-01-01

Zero-order drainage basins, and their constituent hillslopes, are the fundamental geomorphic unit comprising much of Earth's uplands. The convergent topography of these landscapes generates spatially variable substrate and moisture content, facilitating biological diversity and influencing how the landscape filters precipitation and sequesters atmospheric carbon dioxide. In light of these significant ecosystem services, refining our understanding of how these functions are affected by landscape evolution, weather variability, and long-term climate change is imperative. In this paper we introduce the Landscape Evolution Observatory (LEO): a large-scale controllable infrastructure consisting of three replicated artificial landscapes (each 330 m2 surface area) within the climate-controlled Biosphere 2 facility in Arizona, USA. At LEO, experimental manipulation of rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed are possible at unprecedented scale. The Landscape Evolution Observatory was designed as a community resource to advance understanding of how topography, physical and chemical properties of soil, and biological communities coevolve, and how this coevolution affects water, carbon, and energy cycles at multiple spatial scales. With well-defined boundary conditions and an extensive network of sensors and samplers, LEO enables an iterative scientific approach that includes numerical model development and virtual experimentation, physical experimentation, data analysis, and model refinement. We plan to engage the broader scientific community through public dissemination of data from LEO, collaborative experimental design, and community-based model development.

Turning scientific approaches into practical conservation actions: the case of Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico.

PubMed

Velázquez, A; Bocco, G; Torres, A

2001-05-01

Optimum natural resource management and biodiversity conservation are desirable goals. These, however, often exclude each other, since maximum economic benefits have promoted drastic reductions in biodiversity throughout the world. This dilemma confronts local stakeholders, who usually go for maximizing economic inputs, whereas other social (e.g., academic) sectors are favor conservation practices. In this paper we describe the way two scientific approaches--landscape and participatory research--were used to develop sound and durable land use scenarios. These two approaches included expert knowledge of both social and environmental conditions in indigenous communities. Our major emphasis was given to detect spatially explicit land use scenarios and capacity building in order to construct a decision support system operated by stakeholders of the Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro in Mexico. The system for decision-making was fed with data from inventories of both abiotic and biotic biodiversity components. All research, implementation, and monitoring activities were conducted in close collaboration with members of the indigenous community. As a major result we obtained a number of forest alternative uses that favor emerging markets and make this indigenous community less dependent on a single market. Furthermore, skilled members of the community are now running the automated system for decision-making. In conclusion, our results were better expressed as products with direct benefits in local livelihoods rather than pure academic outputs.

ESA's Planetary Science Archive: Preserve and present reliable scientific data sets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besse, S.; Vallat, C.; Barthelemy, M.; Coia, D.; Costa, M.; De Marchi, G.; Fraga, D.; Grotheer, E.; Heather, D.; Lim, T.; Martinez, S.; Arviset, C.; Barbarisi, I.; Docasal, R.; Macfarlane, A.; Rios, C.; Saiz, J.; Vallejo, F.

2018-01-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Science Archive (PSA) is undergoing a significant refactoring of all its components to improve the services provided to the scientific community and the public. The PSA supports ESA's missions exploring the Solar System by archiving scientific peer-reviewed observations as well as engineering data sets. This includes the Giotto, SMART-1, Huygens, Venus Express, Mars Express, Rosetta, Exomars 2016, Exomars RSP, BepiColombo, and JUICE missions. The PSA is offering a newly designed graphical user interface which is simultaneously meant to maximize the interaction with scientific observations and also minimise the efforts needed to download these scientific observations. The PSA still offers the same services as before (i.e., FTP, documentation, helpdesk, etc.). In addition, it will support the two formats of the Planetary Data System (i.e., PDS3 and PDS4), as well as providing new ways for searching the data products with specific metadata and geometrical parameters. As well as enhanced services, the PSA will also provide new services to improve the visualisation of data products and scientific content (e.g., spectra, etc.). Together with improved access to the spacecraft engineering data sets, the PSA will provide easier access to scientific data products that will help to maximize the science return of ESA's space missions.

The NKI-Rockland Sample: A Model for Accelerating the Pace of Discovery Science in Psychiatry

PubMed Central

Nooner, Kate Brody; Colcombe, Stanley J.; Tobe, Russell H.; Mennes, Maarten; Benedict, Melissa M.; Moreno, Alexis L.; Panek, Laura J.; Brown, Shaquanna; Zavitz, Stephen T.; Li, Qingyang; Sikka, Sharad; Gutman, David; Bangaru, Saroja; Schlachter, Rochelle Tziona; Kamiel, Stephanie M.; Anwar, Ayesha R.; Hinz, Caitlin M.; Kaplan, Michelle S.; Rachlin, Anna B.; Adelsberg, Samantha; Cheung, Brian; Khanuja, Ranjit; Yan, Chaogan; Craddock, Cameron C.; Calhoun, Vincent; Courtney, William; King, Margaret; Wood, Dylan; Cox, Christine L.; Kelly, A. M. Clare; Di Martino, Adriana; Petkova, Eva; Reiss, Philip T.; Duan, Nancy; Thomsen, Dawn; Biswal, Bharat; Coffey, Barbara; Hoptman, Matthew J.; Javitt, Daniel C.; Pomara, Nunzio; Sidtis, John J.; Koplewicz, Harold S.; Castellanos, Francisco Xavier; Leventhal, Bennett L.; Milham, Michael P.

2012-01-01

The National Institute of Mental Health strategic plan for advancing psychiatric neuroscience calls for an acceleration of discovery and the delineation of developmental trajectories for risk and resilience across the lifespan. To attain these objectives, sufficiently powered datasets with broad and deep phenotypic characterization, state-of-the-art neuroimaging, and genetic samples must be generated and made openly available to the scientific community. The enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-RS) is a response to this need. NKI-RS is an ongoing, institutionally centered endeavor aimed at creating a large-scale (N > 1000), deeply phenotyped, community-ascertained, lifespan sample (ages 6–85 years old) with advanced neuroimaging and genetics. These data will be publically shared, openly, and prospectively (i.e., on a weekly basis). Herein, we describe the conceptual basis of the NKI-RS, including study design, sampling considerations, and steps to synchronize phenotypic and neuroimaging assessment. Additionally, we describe our process for sharing the data with the scientific community while protecting participant confidentiality, maintaining an adequate database, and certifying data integrity. The pilot phase of the NKI-RS, including challenges in recruiting, characterizing, imaging, and sharing data, is discussed while also explaining how this experience informed the final design of the enhanced NKI-RS. It is our hope that familiarity with the conceptual underpinnings of the enhanced NKI-RS will facilitate harmonization with future data collection efforts aimed at advancing psychiatric neuroscience and nosology. PMID:23087608

Common Infrastructure for Neo Scientific and Planetary Defense Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, Robert; Wilks, Rodney

2009-01-01

While defending the Earth against collisions with asteroids and comets has garnered increasing attention over the past few decades, our knowledge of the threats and methods of mitigation remain inadequate. There exists a considerable gap in knowledge regarding the size, composition, location, internal structure and formation of near earth asteroids and comets. Although estimates have been made, critical experiments have not yet been conducted on the effectiveness of various proposed mitigation techniques. Closing this knowledge gap is of interest to both the planetary defense and planetary science communities. Increased scientific knowledge of asteroid and comet composition and structure can confirm or advance current theories about the formation of the solar system. This proposal suggests a joint effort between these two communities to provide an economical architecture that supports multiple launches of characterization and mitigation payloads with minimal response time. The science community can use this architecture for characterization missions of opportunity when multiple scientific targets or targets of uncommon scientific value present themselves, while the planetary defense community would be able to fire characterization or mitigation payloads at targets that present a threat to the Earth. Both communities would benefit from testing potential mitigation techniques, which would reveal information on the internal structure of asteroids and comets. In return, the Earth would have the beginnings of a viable response system should an impact threat prove real in the near future.

Strengthening International Collaboration: Geosciences Research and Education in Developing Countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fucugauchi, J. U.

2009-05-01

Geophysical research increasingly requires global multidisciplinary approaches and global integration. Global warming, increasing CO2 levels and increased needs of mineral and energy resources emphasize impact of human activities. The planetary view of our Earth as a deeply complex interconnected system also emphasizes the need of international scientific cooperation. International collaboration presents an immense potential and is urgently needed for further development of geosciences research and education. In analyzing international collaboration a relevant aspect is the role of scientific societies. Societies organize meetings, publish journals and books and promote cooperation through academic exchange activities and can further assist communities in developing countries providing and facilitating access to scientific literature, attendance to international meetings, short and long-term stays and student and young researcher mobility. Developing countries present additional challenges resulting from limited economic resources and social and political problems. Most countries urgently require improved educational and research programs. Needed are in-depth analyses of infrastructure and human resources and identification of major problems and needs. Questions may include what are the major limitations and needs in research and postgraduate education in developing countries? what and how should international collaboration do? and what are the roles of individuals, academic institutions, funding agencies, scientific societies? Here we attempt to examine some of these questions with reference to case examples and AGU role. We focus on current situation, size and characteristics of research community, education programs, facilities, economic support, and then move to perspectives for potential development in an international context.

Communication Strategy of Transboundary Air Pollution Findings in a US-Mexico Border XXI Program Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukerjee, Shaibal

2002-01-01

From 1996 to 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) conducted an air quality study known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Transboundary Air Pollution Project (TAPP). The study was a US-Mexico Border XXI program project and was developed in response to local community requests on a need for more air quality measurements and concerns about the health impact of local air pollutants; this included concerns about emissions from border-dependent industries in Mexico, known as maquiladoras. The TAPP was a follow-up study to environmental monitoring done by EPA in this area in 1993 and incorporated scientific and community participation in development, review of results, and public presentation of findings. In spite of this, critical remarks were leveled by community activists against the study's preliminary "good news" findings regarding local air quality and the influence of transboundary air pollution. To resolve these criticisms and to refine the findings to address these concerns, analyses included comparisons of daily and near real-time measurements to TNRCC effects screening levels and data from other studies along with wind sector analyses. Reassessment of the data suggested that although regional source emissions occurred and outliers of elevated pollutant levels were found, movement of air pollution across the border did not appear to cause noticeable deterioration of air quality. In spite of limitations stated to the community, the TAPP was presented as establishing a benchmark to assess current and future transboundary air quality in the Valley. The study has application in Border XXI Program or other air quality studies where transboundary transport is a concern since it involved interagency coordination, public involvement, and communication of scientifically sound results for local environmental protection efforts.

Communication strategy of transboundary air pollution findings in a US-Mexico Border XXI program project.

PubMed

Mukerjee, Shaibal

2002-01-01

From 1996 to 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) conducted an air quality study known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley Transboundary Air Pollution Project (TAPP). The study was a US-Mexico Border XXI program project and was developed in response to local community requests on a need for more air quality measurements and concerns about the health impact of local air pollutants; this included concerns about emissions from border-dependent industries in Mexico, known as maquiladoras. The TAPP was a follow-up study to environmental monitoring done by EPA in this area in 1993 and incorporated scientific and community participation in development, review of results, and public presentation of findings. In spite of this, critical remarks were leveled by community activists against the study's preliminary "good news" findings regarding local air quality and the influence of transboundary air pollution. To resolve these criticisms and to refine the findings to address these concerns, analyses included comparisons of daily and near real-time measurements to TNRCC effects screening levels and data from other studies along with wind sector analyses. Reassessment of the data suggested that although regional source emissions occurred and outliers of elevated pollutant levels were found, movement of air pollution across the border did not appear to cause noticeable deterioration of air quality. In spite of limitations stated to the community, the TAPP was presented as establishing a benchmark to assess current and future transboundary air quality in the Valley. The study has application in Border XXI Program or other air quality studies where transboundary transport is a concern since it involved interagency coordination, public involvement, and communication of scientifically sound results for local environmental protection efforts.

The Future of the Plate Boundary Observatory in the GAGE Facility and beyond 2018

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mattioli, G. S.; Bendick, R. O.; Foster, J. H.; Freymueller, J. T.; La Femina, P. C.; Miller, M. M.; Rowan, L.

2014-12-01

The Geodesy Advancing Geosciences and Earthscope (GAGE) Facility, which operates the Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), builds on UNAVCO's strong record of facilitating research and education in the geosciences and geodesy-related engineering fields. Precise positions and velocities for the PBO's ~1100 continuous GPS stations and other PBO data products are used to address a wide range of scientific and technical issues across North America. A large US and international community of scientists, surveyors, and civil engineers access PBO data streams, software, and other on-line resources daily. In a global society that is increasingly technology-dependent, consistently risk-averse, and often natural resource-limited, communities require geodetic research, education, and infrastructure to make informed decisions about living on a dynamic planet. The western U.S. and Alaska, where over 95% of the PBO sensor assets are located, have recorded significant geophysical events like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami. UNAVCO community science provides first-order constraints on geophysical processes to support hazards mapping and zoning, and form the basis for earthquake and tsunami early warning applications currently under development. The future of PBO was discussed at a NSF-sponsored three-day workshop held in September 2014 in Breckenridge, CO. Over 40 invited participants and community members, including representatives from interested stakeholder groups, UNAVCO staff, and members of the PBO Working Group and Geodetic Infrastructure Advisory Committee participated in workshop, which included retrospective and prospective plenary presentations and breakout sessions focusing on specific scientific themes. We will present some of the findings of that workshop in order to continue a dialogue about policies and resources for long-term earth observing networks. How PBO fits into the recently released U.S. National Plan for Civil Earth Observations will also be discussed.

A suite of exercises for verifying dynamic earthquake rupture codes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harris, Ruth A.; Barall, Michael; Aagaard, Brad T.; Ma, Shuo; Roten, Daniel; Olsen, Kim B.; Duan, Benchun; Liu, Dunyu; Luo, Bin; Bai, Kangchen; Ampuero, Jean-Paul; Kaneko, Yoshihiro; Gabriel, Alice-Agnes; Duru, Kenneth; Ulrich, Thomas; Wollherr, Stephanie; Shi, Zheqiang; Dunham, Eric; Bydlon, Sam; Zhang, Zhenguo; Chen, Xiaofei; Somala, Surendra N.; Pelties, Christian; Tago, Josue; Cruz-Atienza, Victor Manuel; Kozdon, Jeremy; Daub, Eric; Aslam, Khurram; Kase, Yuko; Withers, Kyle; Dalguer, Luis

2018-01-01

We describe a set of benchmark exercises that are designed to test if computer codes that simulate dynamic earthquake rupture are working as intended. These types of computer codes are often used to understand how earthquakes operate, and they produce simulation results that include earthquake size, amounts of fault slip, and the patterns of ground shaking and crustal deformation. The benchmark exercises examine a range of features that scientists incorporate in their dynamic earthquake rupture simulations. These include implementations of simple or complex fault geometry, off‐fault rock response to an earthquake, stress conditions, and a variety of formulations for fault friction. Many of the benchmarks were designed to investigate scientific problems at the forefronts of earthquake physics and strong ground motions research. The exercises are freely available on our website for use by the scientific community.

Data publication and sharing using the SciDrive service

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishin, Dmitry; Medvedev, D.; Szalay, A. S.; Plante, R. L.

2014-01-01

Despite the last years progress in scientific data storage, still remains the problem of public data storage and sharing system for relatively small scientific datasets. These are collections forming the “long tail” of power log datasets distribution. The aggregated size of the long tail data is comparable to the size of all data collections from large archives, and the value of data is significant. The SciDrive project's main goal is providing the scientific community with a place to reliably and freely store such data and provide access to it to broad scientific community. The primary target audience of the project is astoromy community, and it will be extended to other fields. We're aiming to create a simple way of publishing a dataset, which can be then shared with other people. Data owner controls the permissions to modify and access the data and can assign a group of users or open the access to everyone. The data contained in the dataset will be automaticaly recognized by a background process. Known data formats will be extracted according to the user's settings. Currently tabular data can be automatically extracted to the user's MyDB table where user can make SQL queries to the dataset and merge it with other public CasJobs resources. Other data formats can be processed using a set of plugins that upload the data or metadata to user-defined side services. The current implementation targets some of the data formats commonly used by the astronomy communities, including FITS, ASCII and Excel tables, TIFF images, and YT simulations data archives. Along with generic metadata, format-specific metadata is also processed. For example, basic information about celestial objects is extracted from FITS files and TIFF images, if present. A 100TB implementation has just been put into production at Johns Hopkins University. The system features public data storage REST service supporting VOSpace 2.0 and Dropbox protocols, HTML5 web portal, command-line client and Java standalone client to synchronize a local folder with the remote storage. We use VAO SSO (Single Sign On) service from NCSA for users authentication that provides free registration for everyone.

A review of best management practices and the mitigation of stream-breeding salamanders in the eastern deciduous forest

Treesearch

Thomas A. Maigret; John J. Cox

2014-01-01

Timber harvest has been implicated as a causative factor in the decline of amphibian populations and diversity in many areas of the world. The adoption of best management practices (BMPs) is intended to minimize the impacts of timber harvest on the biotic community, including amphibians and their habitat requirements. Herein, we synthesize the current scientific...

Successful Community-Based Conservation: The Story of Millbank and Pterourus (Papilio) homerus

PubMed Central

Garraway, Eric; Parnell, John; Lewis, Delano S.

2017-01-01

The literature on community-based environmental management is very extensive and the discussion of the pros and cons is continuing. Presented here is an example of a successful interaction between university-based entomologists and a local rural community, detailing the change in the attitude of the town of Millbank, Jamaica, from a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly collecting site to a model for community protection of a species and its environment. A review of some of the research work on community-based conservation efforts is included. These linkages take a considerable time to establish and the efforts spent by scientific personnel, governmental representatives and eco-tourists are itemized to emphasize how specific conservation activities have inspired confidence in the local community, thus engendering trust and mutual respect between the two groups. Reviews of the developed legislative support from both international and state entities also must be in place, and these are included in chronological detail as much as possible. Finally, a review of the long-term funding of educational and other local programs providing a level of stability to the conservation effort, until the local community can take over the protection of the species and/or habitat, is provided. Of utmost importance is a comprehensive educational campaign to not only sensitize the community, but the larger society, so that there can be buy-in from all stakeholders. PMID:28708090

Successful Community-Based Conservation: The Story of Millbank and Pterourus (Papilio) homerus.

PubMed

Garraway, Eric; Parnell, John; Lewis, Delano S

2017-07-14

The literature on community-based environmental management is very extensive and the discussion of the pros and cons is continuing. Presented here is an example of a successful interaction between university-based entomologists and a local rural community, detailing the change in the attitude of the town of Millbank, Jamaica, from a Giant Swallowtail Butterfly collecting site to a model for community protection of a species and its environment. A review of some of the research work on community-based conservation efforts is included. These linkages take a considerable time to establish and the efforts spent by scientific personnel, governmental representatives and eco-tourists are itemized to emphasize how specific conservation activities have inspired confidence in the local community, thus engendering trust and mutual respect between the two groups. Reviews of the developed legislative support from both international and state entities also must be in place, and these are included in chronological detail as much as possible. Finally, a review of the long-term funding of educational and other local programs providing a level of stability to the conservation effort, until the local community can take over the protection of the species and/or habitat, is provided. Of utmost importance is a comprehensive educational campaign to not only sensitize the community, but the larger society, so that there can be buy-in from all stakeholders.

SPHEREx: Science Opportunities for the Astronomical Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooray, Asantha; SPHEREx Science Team

2018-01-01

SPHEREx, a mission in NASA's Medium Explorer (MIDEX) program that was selected for Phase A study in August 2017, will perform an all-sky near-infrared spectral survey between 0.75 - 5.0 microns. The survey will reach 18.3 AB mag (5 sigma) in R=41 filters, with R=135 coverage between 4.2 - 5.0 microns. The key science topics of the SPHEREx team are: (a) primordial non-Gaussianity through 3-dimensional galaxy clustering; (b) extragalactic background light fluctuations; and (c) ices and biogenic molecules in the interstellar medium and towards protoplanetary environments.The large legacy dataset of SPHEREx will enable a large number of scientific studies and find interesting targets for follow-up observations with Hubble, JWST, ALMA, among other facilities. The SPHEREx catalog will include 1.4 billion galaxies, with redshifts secured for more than 10 and 120 million with fractional accuracies in error/(1+z) better than 0.3% and 3%, respectively. The spectral coverage and resolution provided by SPHEREx are adequate to determine redshifts for most WISE-detected sources with an accuracy better than 3%. The catalog will contain close to 1.5 million quasars including 300 bright QSOs at z > 7 during the epoch of reionization, based on observational extrapolations. The catalog will be adequate to obtain redshifts for all 25,000 galaxy clusters expected to be detected in X-rays with e-Rosita. SPHEREx produces all-sky maps of the Galactic emission lines, including hydrocarbon emission around 3 microns.In this poster, we will show example science studies the broader astronomical community will be able to lead using the SPHEREx database. We will also outline existing plans within the SPHEREx team to develop software tools to enable easy access to the data and to conduct catalog searches, and ways in which the community can provide input to the SPHEREx Science Team on scientific studies and data/software requirements for those studies. The team is eager to develop best software tools and facilitate easy access on a timely schedule to allow a large number of scientific applications and for target selection for JWST observations.

SPHEREx: Science Opportunities for the Astronomical Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooray, Asantha R.; SPHEREx Science Team

2016-01-01

SPHEREx, a mission in NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) program that was selected for Phase A study in July 2015, will perform an all-sky near-infrared spectral survey between 0.75 - 4.8 microns, reaching 19th mag (5sigma) in narrow R=40 filters. The key science topics of the SPHEREx team are: (a) primordial non-Gaussianity through 3-dimensional galaxy clustering; (b) extragalactic background light fluctuations; and (c) ices and biogenic molecules in the interstellar medium and towards protoplanetary environments.The large legacy dataset of SPHEREx will enable a large number of scientific studies and find interesting targets for follow-up observations with Hubble, JWST, ALMA, among other facilities. The SPHEREx catalog will include 1.5 billion galaxies with redshifts secured for more than 10 and 120 million with fractional accuracies in error/(1+z) better than 0.3% and 3%, respectively. The spectral coverage and resolution provided by SPHEREx are adequate to determine redshifts for all WISE-detected sources with an accuracy better than 3%. The catalog will contain close to 1.5 million quasars including several hundred bright QSOs seen during the epoch of reionization. The catalog will be adequate to obtain redshifts for all 25,000 galaxy clusters expected to be detected in X-rays with e-Rosita. SPHEREx could also produce all-sky maps of the Galactic emission lines, including hydrocarbon emission around 3 microns.In this poster, we will discuss the data release schedule and some example science studies the broader astronomical community will beable to lead using the SPHEREx database. We will also outline existing plans within the SPHEREx team to develop software tools to enable easy access to the data and to conduct catalog searches, and ways in which the community can provide input to the SPHEREx Science Team on scientific studies and data/software requirements for those studies. The team is eager to develop best software tools and facilitate easy access on a timely schedule to allow a large number of scientific applications and for target selection for JWST observations.

NCAR Earth Observing Laboratory - An End-to-End Observational Science Enterprise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rockwell, A.; Baeuerle, B.; Grubišić, V.; Hock, T. F.; Lee, W. C.; Ranson, J.; Stith, J. L.; Stossmeister, G.

2017-12-01

Researchers who want to understand and describe the Earth System require high-quality observations of the atmosphere, ocean, and biosphere. Making these observations not only requires capable research platforms and state-of-the-art instrumentation but also benefits from comprehensive in-field project management and data services. NCAR's Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) is an end-to-end observational science enterprise that provides leadership in observational research to scientists from universities, U.S. government agencies, and NCAR. Deployment: EOL manages the majority of the NSF Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities, which includes research aircraft, radars, lidars, profilers, and surface and sounding systems. This suite is designed to address a wide range of Earth system science - from microscale to climate process studies and from the planet's surface into the Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere. EOL offers scientific, technical, operational, and logistics support to small and large field campaigns across the globe. Development: By working closely with the scientific community, EOL's engineering and scientific staff actively develop the next generation of observing facilities, staying abreast of emerging trends, technologies, and applications in order to improve our measurement capabilities. Through our Design and Fabrication Services, we also offer high-level engineering and technical expertise, mechanical design, and fabrication to the atmospheric research community. Data Services: EOL's platforms and instruments collect unique datasets that must be validated, archived, and made available to the research community. EOL's Data Management and Services deliver high-quality datasets and metadata in ways that are transparent, secure, and easily accessible. We are committed to the highest standard of data stewardship from collection to validation to archival. Discovery: EOL promotes curiosity about Earth science, and fosters advanced understanding of the processes involved in observational research. Through EOL's Education and Outreach Program, we strive to inspire and develop the next generation of observational scientists and engineers by offering a range of educational, experiential, and outreach opportunities, including engineering internships.

International scientific collaboration in HIV and HPV: a network analysis.

PubMed

Vanni, Tazio; Mesa-Frias, Marco; Sanchez-Garcia, Ruben; Roesler, Rafael; Schwartsmann, Gilberto; Goldani, Marcelo Z; Foss, Anna M

2014-01-01

Research endeavours require the collaborative effort of an increasing number of individuals. International scientific collaborations are particularly important for HIV and HPV co-infection studies, since the burden of disease is rising in developing countries, but most experts and research funds are found in developed countries, where the prevalence of HIV is low. The objective of our study was to investigate patterns of international scientific collaboration in HIV and HPV research using social network analysis. Through a systematic review of the literature, we obtained epidemiological data, as well as data on countries and authors involved in co-infection studies. The collaboration network was analysed in respect to the following: centrality, density, modularity, connected components, distance, clustering and spectral clustering. We observed that for many low- and middle-income countries there were no epidemiological estimates of HPV infection of the cervix among HIV-infected individuals. Most studies found only involved researchers from the same country (64%). Studies derived from international collaborations including high-income countries and either low- or middle-income countries had on average three times larger sample sizes than those including only high-income countries or low-income countries. The high global clustering coefficient (0.9) coupled with a short average distance between researchers (4.34) suggests a "small-world phenomenon." Researchers from high-income countries seem to have higher degree centrality and tend to cluster together in densely connected communities. We found a large well-connected community, which encompasses 70% of researchers, and 49 other small isolated communities. Our findings suggest that in the field of HIV and HPV, there seems to be both room and incentives for researchers to engage in collaborations between countries of different income-level. Through international collaboration resources available to researchers in high-income countries can be efficiently used to enroll more participants in low- and middle-income countries.

Finding Meaningful Roles for Scientists in science Education Reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Brenda

Successful efforts to achieve reform in science education require the active and purposeful engagement of professional scientists. Working as partners with teachers, school administrators, science educators, parents, and other stakeholders, scientists can make important contributions to the improvement of science teaching and learning in pre-college classrooms. The world of a practicing university, corporate, or government scientist may seem far removed from that of students in an elementary classroom. However, the science knowledge and understanding of all future scientists and scientifically literate citizens begin with their introduction to scientific concepts and phenomena in childhood and the early grades. Science education is the responsibility of the entire scientific community and is not solely the responsibility of teachers and other professional educators. Scientists can serve many roles in science education reform including the following: (1) Science Content Resource, (2) Career Role Model, (3) Interpreter of Science (4) Validator for the Importance of Learning Science and Mathematics, (5) Champion of Real World Connections and Value of Science, (6) Experience and Access to Funding Sources, (7) Link for Community and Business Support, (8) Political Supporter. Special programs have been developed to assist scientists and engineers to be effective partners and advocates of science education reform. We will discuss the rationale, organization, and results of some of these partnership development programs.

Mapping the knowledge utilization field in nursing from 1945 to 2004: a bibliometric analysis.

PubMed

Scott, Shannon D; Profetto-McGrath, Joanne; Estabrooks, Carole A; Winther, Connie; Wallin, Lars; Lavis, John N

2010-12-01

The field of knowledge utilization has been hampered by several issues including: the synonymous use of multiple terms with little attempt at definition precision; an overexamination of knowledge utilization as product, rather than a process; and a lack of progress to cross disciplinary boundaries to advance knowledge development. In order to address the challenges and current knowledge gaps in the knowledge utilization field in nursing, a comprehensive picture of the current state of the field is required. Bibliometric analyses were used to map knowledge utilization literature in nursing as an international field of study, and to identify the structure of its scientific community. Analyses of bibliographic data for 433 articles from the period 1945-2004 demonstrated three trends: (1) there has been significant recent growth and interest in this field, (2) the structure of the scientific knowledge utilization community is evolving, and (3) the Web of Science does not index the majority of journals where this literature is published. In order to enhance the accessibility and profile of this literature, and nursing's scientific literature at large, we encourage the International Academy of Nursing Editors to work collaboratively to increase the number of journals indexed in the Web of Science. ©2010 Sigma Theta Tau International.

Public health, academic medicine, and the alcohol industry's corporate social responsibility activities.

PubMed

Babor, Thomas F; Robaina, Katherine

2013-02-01

We explored the emerging relationships among the alcohol industry, academic medicine, and the public health community in the context of public health theory dealing with corporate social responsibility. We reviewed sponsorship of scientific research, efforts to influence public perceptions of research, dissemination of scientific information, and industry-funded policy initiatives. To the extent that the scientific evidence supports the reduction of alcohol consumption through regulatory and legal measures, the academic community has come into increasing conflict with the views of the alcohol industry. We concluded that the alcohol industry has intensified its scientific and policy-related activities under the general framework of corporate social responsibility initiatives, most of which can be described as instrumental to the industry's economic interests.

Public Health, Academic Medicine, and the Alcohol Industry’s Corporate Social Responsibility Activities

PubMed Central

Robaina, Katherine

2013-01-01

We explored the emerging relationships among the alcohol industry, academic medicine, and the public health community in the context of public health theory dealing with corporate social responsibility. We reviewed sponsorship of scientific research, efforts to influence public perceptions of research, dissemination of scientific information, and industry-funded policy initiatives. To the extent that the scientific evidence supports the reduction of alcohol consumption through regulatory and legal measures, the academic community has come into increasing conflict with the views of the alcohol industry. We concluded that the alcohol industry has intensified its scientific and policy-related activities under the general framework of corporate social responsibility initiatives, most of which can be described as instrumental to the industry’s economic interests. PMID:23237151

Recruitment Campaigns as a Tool for Social and Cultural Reproduction of Scientific Communities: A Case Study on How Scientists Invite Young People to Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andrée, Maria; Hansson, Lena

2014-01-01

Young people's interest in pursuing science and science-intense educations has been expressed as a concern in relation to societal, economic and democratic development by various stakeholders (governments, industry and university). From the perspective of the scientific communities, the issues at stake do not necessarily correspond to the overall…

Exploring Students' Epistemological Knowledge of Models and Modelling in Science: Results from a Teaching/Learning Experience on Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tasquier, Giulia; Levrini, Olivia; Dillon, Justin

2016-01-01

The scientific community has been debating climate change for over two decades. In the light of certain arguments put forward by the aforesaid community, the EU has recommended a set of innovative reforms to science teaching such as incorporating environmental issues into the scientific curriculum, thereby helping to make schools a place of civic…

The ESA scientific exploitation element results and outlook

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desnos, Yves-louis; Regner, Peter; Delwart, Steven; Benveniste, Jerome; Engdahl, Marcus; Donlon, Craig; Mathieu, Pierre-Philippe; Fernandez, Diego; Gascon, Ferran; Zehner, Claus; Davidson, Malcolm; Goryl, Philippe; Koetz, Benjamin; Pinnock, Simon

2017-04-01

The Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM) element of ESA's fourth Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP4) prime objective is to federate, support and expand the international research community built up over the last 25 years exploiting ESA's EO missions. SEOM enables the science community to address new scientific research areas that are opened by the free and open access to data from operational EO missions. Based on community-wide recommendations, gathered through a series of international thematic workshops and scientific user consultation meetings, key research studies have been launched over the last years to further exploit data from the Sentinels (http://seom.esa.int/). During 2016 several Science users consultation workshops have been organized, new results from scientific studies have been published and open-source multi-mission scientific toolboxes have been distributed (SNAP 80000 users from 190 countries). In addition the first ESA Massive Open Online Courses on Climate from space have been deployed (20000 participants) and the second EO Open Science conference was organized at ESA in September 2016 bringing together young EO scientists and data scientists. The new EOEP5 Exploitation element approved in 2016 and starting in 2017 is taking stock of all precursor activities in EO Open Science and Innovation and in particular a workplan for ESA scientific exploitation activities has been presented to Member States taking full benefit of the latest information and communication technology. The results and highlights from current scientific exploitation activities will be presented and an outlook on the upcoming activities under the new EOEP5 exploitation element will be given.

A scoping review protocol on social participation of indigenous elders, intergenerational solidarity and their influence on individual and community wellness

PubMed Central

Viscogliosi, Chantal; Asselin, Hugo; Basile, Suzy; Couturier, Yves; Drolet, Marie-Josée; Gagnon, Dominique; Torrie, Jill; Levasseur, Mélanie

2017-01-01

Introduction Indigenous elders have traditionally played an important role in maintaining social cohesion within their communities. Today, part of this role has been taken over by government social and healthcare services, but they are having limited success in addressing social challenges. Increasing elders’ social participation and intergenerational solidarity might foster community development and benefit young people, families, communities and the elders themselves. However, knowledge of the contribution of elders’ social participation and intergenerational solidarity to wellness is scattered and needs to be synthesised. This protocol presents a scoping review on the social participation of indigenous elders, intergenerational solidarity and their influence on individual and community wellness. Methods and analysis This scoping review protocol is based on an innovative methodological framework designed to gather information from the scientific and grey literature and from indigenous sources. It was developed by an interdisciplinary team including indigenous scholars/researchers, knowledge users and key informants. In addition to searching information databases in fields such as public health and indigenous studies, an advisory committee will ensure that information is gathered from grey literature and indigenous sources. Ethics The protocol was approved by the Ethics Review Board of the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue and the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission. Discussion The comprehensive synthesis of the scientific and grey literature and indigenous sources proposed in this protocol will not only raise awareness within indigenous communities and among healthcare professionals and community organisations, but will also enable decision-makers to better meet the needs of indigenous people. Conclusion The innovative methodological framework proposed in this scoping review protocol will yield richer information on the contribution of elders to community wellness. This work is an essential preliminary step towards developing research involving indigenous communities, drawing on the social participation of elders and intergenerational solidarity. PMID:28501814

Ports Primer: 8.2 Citizen Science Projects

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Communities can demonstrate environmental concerns by providing scientific evidence of environmental impact. Communities may be able to access existing local data and conduct their own analyses or communities may turn to existing studies.

Scientific Research & Subsistence: Protocols to Ensure Co-Existence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nachman, C.; Holman, A.; DeMaster, D.

2017-12-01

Commercial, industrial, and research interests in the Arctic are expanding rapidly. Potentials are numerous and exciting, giving rise to the need for guidelines to ensure interactions among waterway users do not conflict. Of particular concern is the potential for adverse impacts to U.S. Arctic coastal communities that rely on living marine resources for nutritional and cultural health, through subsistence hunts from small craft, ice edges, and shore. Recent events raised concerns over research surveys potentially interfering with subsistence hunts in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. Incidents led to calls by Native Alaskan communities to restrict science activities with a mixed response from the scientific community (i.e., some sympathetic, some defensive). With a common goal of wanting to mitigate this potential interaction, Federal agencies made a commitment in the National Strategy for the Arctic Region to coordinate and consult with Alaska Natives and also to pursue responsible Arctic stewardship, with understanding through scientific research and traditional knowledge. The effort to create a "Standard of Care" for research surveys incorporates years of experience by subsistence hunters working to mitigate impacts of other anthropogenic activities in the region, as well as best practices by many in the research community. The protocols are designed to ensure potential conflicts between the scientific research community and subsistence hunters are avoided and to encourage mutual assistance and collaboration between researchers and hunters. The guidelines focus on enhancing communication between researchers and subsistence hunters before, during, and after research occurs. The best management practices outlined in the Standard of Care assist those overseeing and funding scientific research in making decisions about how best to accomplish the goals of the research while ensuring protection of the Alaska subsistence lifestyle. These protocols could also be used in a larger context to address concerns over increased vessel traffic from other activities. We will outline the importance of establishing the guidelines, describe the general process, and highlight examples of positive interactions with Alaska Native hunters during scientific research operations using this protocol.

NASA's SMD Cross-Forum Resources for Supporting Scientist Engagement in Education and Public Outreach Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Cobabe-Ammann, E. A.; Hsu, B. C.; Sharma, M.; Peticolas, L. M.; Schwerin, T. G.; Shipp, S. S.; Smith, D.

2012-12-01

Sharing the excitement of ongoing scientific discoveries is an important aspect of scientific activity for researchers. Directly engaging scientists in education and public outreach (E/PO) activities has the benefit of directly connecting the public to those who engage in scientific activities. A shortage of training in education methods, public speaking, and working with various public audiences increases barriers to engaging scientists in these types in E/PO activities. NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Education and Public forums (astrophysics, earth science, heliophysics, and planetary science) support scientists currently involved in E/PO and who are interested in becoming involved in E/PO through a variety of avenues. Over the past three years, the forums have developed a variety of resources to help engage scientists in education and public outreach. We will showcase the following resources developed through the SMD E/PO cross-forum efforts: Professional development resources for writing NASA SMD E/PO proposals (webinars and other online tools), ongoing professional development at scientific conferences to increase scientist engagement in E/PO activities, toolkits for scientists interested in best practices in E/PO (online guides for K-12 education and public outreach), toolkits to inform scientists of science education resources developed within each scientific thematic community, EarthSpace (a community web space where instructors can find and share about teaching space and earth sciences in the undergraduate classroom, including class materials news and funding opportunities, and the latest education research, http://www.lpi.usra.edu/earthspace/), thematic resources for teaching about SMD science topics, and an online database of scientists interested in connecting with education programs. Learn more about the Forum and find resources at http://smdepo.org/.

Concise Review: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Regenerative Medicine.

PubMed

Witten, Celia M; McFarland, Richard D; Simek, Stephanie L

2015-12-01

Regenerative medicine (RM) is a popular term for a field of scientific and medical research. There is not one universally accepted definition of RM, but it is generally taken to mean the translation of multidisciplinary biology and engineering science into therapeutic approaches to regenerate, replace, or repair tissues and organs. RM products have the potential to provide treatments for a number of unmet needs but have substantial scientific and regulatory challenges that need to be addressed for this potential to be fully realized. FDA has established formal regulatory definitions for biologics, medical devices, and combination products, as well as human cells and tissues. Regenerative medicine products regulated by FDA are classified on the basis of these definitions, and the classification forms the basis for determining the regulatory requirements to each specific product. FDA regulations are generally written to allow the agency flexibility to accommodate new scientific questions raised by novel and evolving technologies. FDA efforts to facilitate product development in this novel and promising area include working with individual sponsors, interacting with the scientific and industry communities, participating in standards development, and developing policy and guidance. Regenerative medicine is generally taken to mean the translation of multidisciplinary biology and engineering science into therapeutic approaches to regenerate, replace, or repair tissues and organs. This article provides an overview of the efforts of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to facilitate product development in the field commonly known was regenerative medicine. It provides an introduction to the processes by which FDA works with individual sponsors, interacts with the scientific and industry communities, participates in standards development, and develops formal FDA policy and guidance. ©AlphaMed Press.

Ocean Acidification Scientific Data Stewardship: An approach for end-to-end data management and integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arzayus, K. M.; Garcia, H. E.; Jiang, L.; Michael, P.

2012-12-01

As the designated Federal permanent oceanographic data center in the United States, NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) has been providing scientific stewardship for national and international marine environmental and ecosystem data for over 50 years. NODC is supporting NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program and the science community by providing end-to-end scientific data management of ocean acidification (OA) data, dedicated online data discovery, and user-friendly access to a diverse range of historical and modern OA and other chemical, physical, and biological oceanographic data. This effort is being catalyzed by the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program, but the intended reach is for the broader scientific ocean acidification community. The first three years of the project will be focused on infrastructure building. A complete ocean acidification data content standard is being developed to ensure that a full spectrum of ocean acidification data and metadata can be stored and utilized for optimal data discovery and access in usable data formats. We plan to develop a data access interface capable of allowing users to constrain their search based on real-time and delayed mode measured variables, scientific data quality, their observation types, the temporal coverage, methods, instruments, standards, collecting institutions, and the spatial coverage. In addition, NODC seeks to utilize the existing suite of international standards (including ISO 19115-2 and CF-compliant netCDF) to help our data producers use those standards for their data, and help our data consumers make use of the well-standardized metadata-rich data sets. These tools will be available through our NODC Ocean Acidification Scientific Data Stewardship (OADS) web page at http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/oceanacidification. NODC also has a goal to provide each archived dataset with a unique ID, to ensure a means of providing credit to the data provider. Working with partner institutions, such as the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC), Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data management Office (BCO-DMO), and federal labs, NODC is exploring the challenges of coordinated data flow and quality control for diverse ocean acidification data sets. These data sets include data from coastal and ocean monitoring, laboratory and field experiments, model output, and remotely sensed data. NODC already has in place automated data extraction protocols for archiving oceanographic data from BCO-DMO and CDIAC. We present a vision for how these disparate data streams can be more fully utilized when brought together using data standards. Like the Multiple-Listing Service in the real estate market, the OADS project is dedicated to developing a repository of ocean acidification data from all sources, and to serving them to the ocean acidification community using a user-friendly interface in a timely manner. For further information please contact NODC.Ocean.Acidification@noaa.gov.

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.

The ecology of hydric hammocks: a community profile

USGS Publications Warehouse

Vince, Susan W.; Humphrey, Stephen R.; Simons, Robert W.

1989-01-01

This community profile is one in a series of Fish and Wildlife Service publications compiled to provide a state-of-knowledge synthesis of scientific information and literature on various coastal habitats. The subject of this profile is the hydric hammock, a distinctive type of forested wetland occurring at low elevations along the gulf coast of Florida from Aripeka to St. Marks and at various inland sites in Florida. Relatively little research has been conducted in hydric hammocks, and no thorough effort has been made previously to define this community. Consequently, no consensus has existed about the extent and nature of this community; some published works and active researchers have differed in their judgments about it; and the entity sometimes is ignored and often is lumped with other types of mixed hardwood forests. The purpose of this profile is to establish or clarify an identification and understanding of the hydric-hammock community. Information for the profile was gathered from published and unpublished literature, from persona 1 communication with many technical experts, and from our own fie 1 d experience. The profile includes some new data gathered in the field for the purpose of defining this community. It is hoped that the content and format of the profile will be useful to a broad spectrum of users, including other scientists, students, resource managers and planners, teachers, and interested citizens. The profile includes structural and functional aspects of the community: its physical setting, plant and animal composition and dynamics, interactions of its flora and fauna, and its relationships with other communities.

Finding Our Way through Phenotypes

PubMed Central

Deans, Andrew R.; Lewis, Suzanna E.; Huala, Eva; Anzaldo, Salvatore S.; Ashburner, Michael; Balhoff, James P.; Blackburn, David C.; Blake, Judith A.; Burleigh, J. Gordon; Chanet, Bruno; Cooper, Laurel D.; Courtot, Mélanie; Csösz, Sándor; Cui, Hong; Dahdul, Wasila; Das, Sandip; Dececchi, T. Alexander; Dettai, Agnes; Diogo, Rui; Druzinsky, Robert E.; Dumontier, Michel; Franz, Nico M.; Friedrich, Frank; Gkoutos, George V.; Haendel, Melissa; Harmon, Luke J.; Hayamizu, Terry F.; He, Yongqun; Hines, Heather M.; Ibrahim, Nizar; Jackson, Laura M.; Jaiswal, Pankaj; James-Zorn, Christina; Köhler, Sebastian; Lecointre, Guillaume; Lapp, Hilmar; Lawrence, Carolyn J.; Le Novère, Nicolas; Lundberg, John G.; Macklin, James; Mast, Austin R.; Midford, Peter E.; Mikó, István; Mungall, Christopher J.; Oellrich, Anika; Osumi-Sutherland, David; Parkinson, Helen; Ramírez, Martín J.; Richter, Stefan; Robinson, Peter N.; Ruttenberg, Alan; Schulz, Katja S.; Segerdell, Erik; Seltmann, Katja C.; Sharkey, Michael J.; Smith, Aaron D.; Smith, Barry; Specht, Chelsea D.; Squires, R. Burke; Thacker, Robert W.; Thessen, Anne; Fernandez-Triana, Jose; Vihinen, Mauno; Vize, Peter D.; Vogt, Lars; Wall, Christine E.; Walls, Ramona L.; Westerfeld, Monte; Wharton, Robert A.; Wirkner, Christian S.; Woolley, James B.; Yoder, Matthew J.; Zorn, Aaron M.; Mabee, Paula

2015-01-01

Despite a large and multifaceted effort to understand the vast landscape of phenotypic data, their current form inhibits productive data analysis. The lack of a community-wide, consensus-based, human- and machine-interpretable language for describing phenotypes and their genomic and environmental contexts is perhaps the most pressing scientific bottleneck to integration across many key fields in biology, including genomics, systems biology, development, medicine, evolution, ecology, and systematics. Here we survey the current phenomics landscape, including data resources and handling, and the progress that has been made to accurately capture relevant data descriptions for phenotypes. We present an example of the kind of integration across domains that computable phenotypes would enable, and we call upon the broader biology community, publishers, and relevant funding agencies to support efforts to surmount today's data barriers and facilitate analytical reproducibility. PMID:25562316

Finding our way through phenotypes.

PubMed

Deans, Andrew R; Lewis, Suzanna E; Huala, Eva; Anzaldo, Salvatore S; Ashburner, Michael; Balhoff, James P; Blackburn, David C; Blake, Judith A; Burleigh, J Gordon; Chanet, Bruno; Cooper, Laurel D; Courtot, Mélanie; Csösz, Sándor; Cui, Hong; Dahdul, Wasila; Das, Sandip; Dececchi, T Alexander; Dettai, Agnes; Diogo, Rui; Druzinsky, Robert E; Dumontier, Michel; Franz, Nico M; Friedrich, Frank; Gkoutos, George V; Haendel, Melissa; Harmon, Luke J; Hayamizu, Terry F; He, Yongqun; Hines, Heather M; Ibrahim, Nizar; Jackson, Laura M; Jaiswal, Pankaj; James-Zorn, Christina; Köhler, Sebastian; Lecointre, Guillaume; Lapp, Hilmar; Lawrence, Carolyn J; Le Novère, Nicolas; Lundberg, John G; Macklin, James; Mast, Austin R; Midford, Peter E; Mikó, István; Mungall, Christopher J; Oellrich, Anika; Osumi-Sutherland, David; Parkinson, Helen; Ramírez, Martín J; Richter, Stefan; Robinson, Peter N; Ruttenberg, Alan; Schulz, Katja S; Segerdell, Erik; Seltmann, Katja C; Sharkey, Michael J; Smith, Aaron D; Smith, Barry; Specht, Chelsea D; Squires, R Burke; Thacker, Robert W; Thessen, Anne; Fernandez-Triana, Jose; Vihinen, Mauno; Vize, Peter D; Vogt, Lars; Wall, Christine E; Walls, Ramona L; Westerfeld, Monte; Wharton, Robert A; Wirkner, Christian S; Woolley, James B; Yoder, Matthew J; Zorn, Aaron M; Mabee, Paula

2015-01-01

Despite a large and multifaceted effort to understand the vast landscape of phenotypic data, their current form inhibits productive data analysis. The lack of a community-wide, consensus-based, human- and machine-interpretable language for describing phenotypes and their genomic and environmental contexts is perhaps the most pressing scientific bottleneck to integration across many key fields in biology, including genomics, systems biology, development, medicine, evolution, ecology, and systematics. Here we survey the current phenomics landscape, including data resources and handling, and the progress that has been made to accurately capture relevant data descriptions for phenotypes. We present an example of the kind of integration across domains that computable phenotypes would enable, and we call upon the broader biology community, publishers, and relevant funding agencies to support efforts to surmount today's data barriers and facilitate analytical reproducibility.

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.

ForM@Ter: a solid Earth thematic pole

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ostanciaux, Emilie; Jamet, Olivier; Mandea, Mioara; Diament, Michel

2014-05-01

Over the last years, several notable initiatives have been developed to provide Solid Earth sciences with an efficient research e-infrastructure. The EPOS project (European Plate Observing System) was included in the EFSRI roadmap in 2008. The 7th European frame program funded an e-science environment such as the Virtual Earthquake and Seismology Research Community in Europe (VERCE). GEO supports the development of the Geohazard SuperSites and Natural Laboratories portal, while the ESA SSEP project (SuperSites exploitation plateform) is developing as an Helix Nebula usecase. Meanwhile, operational use of space data for emergency management is in constant progress, within the Copernicus services. This rich activity is still leaving some gaps between the data availability and its scientific use, either for technical reasons (big data issues) or due to the need for a better support in term of expert knowledge on the data, of software availability, or of data cost. French infrastructures for data distribution are organized around National Observatory Services (in situ data), scientific services participating to the International association of geodesy data centres and wider research infrastructures such as the Réseau Sismologique et géodésique Français (RESIF) that is contributing to EPOS. The need for thematic cooperative platforms has been underlined over tha last years. In 2009, after a scientific prospective of the French national space agency (CNES) it becomes clear the urgent need to create thematic centres designed to federate the scientific community of Earth observation. Four thematic data centres are currently developing in France in the field of ocean , atmosphere, critical zone and solid Earth sciences. For Solid Earth research, the project - named ForM@Ter - was initiated at the beginning of 2012 to design, with the scientific community, the perimeter, structure and functions of such a thematic centre. It was launched by the CNES and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), with the active participation of the National institute for geographical and forestry information (IGN). Currently, it relies on the contributions of scientists from more than 20 French Earth science laboratories. Preliminary analysis showed that a focus on the determination of the shape and movements of the Earth surface ForM@Ter : Formes et Mouvements de la Terre can federate a wide variety of scientific areas (earthquake cycle, tectonics, morphogenesis, volcanism, erosion dynamics, mantle rheology, geodesy) and offers many interfaces with other thematics, such as glaciology or snow evolution. This choice motivates the design of an ambitious data distribution scheme, including a wide variety of sources - optical imagery, SAR, GNSS, gravity, satellite altimetry data, in situ observations (inclinometers, seismometers, topometry, etc.) - as well as a wide variety of processing techniques. The challenge of the project, in the evolving context of the current and forthcoming national and international e-infrastructures, is to design a non redundant service based on interoperations with existing services, and to cope with highly complex data flows due to the granularity of the data and its associated knowledge.

[Quality criteria for scientific collections within medical associations: the collections of the German Urological Association fullfill high requirements].

PubMed

Moll, F H; Rathert, P; Fangerau, H

2013-12-01

Quality criteria are necessary for the evaluation and rating of scientific collections of medical associations and are necessary for their development in order to argue within the scientific community or with other relevant actors.

An investigation of the practice of scientific inquiry in secondary science and agriculture courses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grady, Julie R.

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate the practice of scientific inquiry in two secondary biology classes and one agriculture class from different schools in different communities. The focus was on teachers' interests and intentions for the students' participation in inquiry, the voices contributing to the inquiry, and students' opportunities to confront their conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). The Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP) served as the context by providing students with opportunities to design and conduct original experiments to help elucidate the function(s) of a disabled gene in Arabidopsis thaliana . Transcripts of teacher and student semi-structured interviews, field notes of classroom observations and classroom conversations, and documents (e.g., student work, teacher handouts, school websites, PREP materials) were analyzed for evidence of the practice of scientific inquiry. Teachers were interested in implementing inquiry because of potential student learning about scientific research and because PREP supports course content and is connected to a larger scientific project outside of the school. Teachers' intentions regarding the implementation of inquiry reflected the complexity of their courses and the students' previous experiences. All inquiries were student-directed. The biology students' participation more closely mirrored the practice of scientists, while the agriculture students were more involved with the procedural display of scientific inquiry. All experiences could have been enhanced from additional knowledge-centered activities regarding scientific reasoning. No activities brought explicit attention to NOS. Biology activities tended to implicitly support NOS while the agriculture class activities tended to implicitly contradict NOS. Scientists' interactions contributed to implied support of the NOS. There were missed opportunities for explicit attention to NOS in all classes. The major voices contributing to the inquiry in all classrooms included those of teachers, students, technology, scientists, textbooks, and mandated standards; however, they were more prevalent in the biology classrooms than the agriculture classroom. The powers influencing the voice frequency may be related to the teachers' own teaching and research experiences, as well as the alignment of the expectations and values of students' participation in scientific inquiry and those associated with the school-classroom communities and the students' identities.

Sustaining Open Source Communities through Hackathons - An Example from the ASPECT Community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heister, T.; Hwang, L.; Bangerth, W.; Kellogg, L. H.

2016-12-01

The ecosystem surrounding a successful scientific open source software package combines both social and technical aspects. Much thought has been given to the technology side of writing sustainable software for large infrastructure projects and software libraries, but less about building the human capacity to perpetuate scientific software used in computational modeling. One effective format for building capacity is regular multi-day hackathons. Scientific hackathons bring together a group of science domain users and scientific software contributors to make progress on a specific software package. Innovation comes through the chance to work with established and new collaborations. Especially in the domain sciences with small communities, hackathons give geographically distributed scientists an opportunity to connect face-to-face. They foster lively discussions amongst scientists with different expertise, promote new collaborations, and increase transparency in both the technical and scientific aspects of code development. ASPECT is an open source, parallel, extensible finite element code to simulate thermal convection, that began development in 2011 under the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics. ASPECT hackathons for the past 3 years have grown the number of authors to >50, training new code maintainers in the process. Hackathons begin with leaders establishing project-specific conventions for development, demonstrating the workflow for code contributions, and reviewing relevant technical skills. Each hackathon expands the developer community. Over 20 scientists add >6,000 lines of code during the >1 week event. Participants grow comfortable contributing to the repository and over half continue to contribute afterwards. A high return rate of participants ensures continuity and stability of the group as well as mentoring for novice members. We hope to build other software communities on this model, but anticipate each to bring their own unique challenges.

Promoting the Appropriate Use of Advanced Radiation Technologies in Oncology: Summary of a National Cancer Policy Forum Workshop.

PubMed

Smith, Grace L; Ganz, Patricia A; Bekelman, Justin E; Chmura, Steven J; Dignam, James J; Efstathiou, Jason A; Jagsi, Reshma; Johnstone, Peter A; Steinberg, Michael L; Williams, Stephen B; Yu, James B; Zietman, Anthony L; Weichselbaum, Ralph R; Tina Shih, Ya-Chen

2017-03-01

Leaders in the oncology community are sounding a clarion call to promote "value" in cancer care decisions. Value in cancer care considers the clinical effectiveness, along with the costs, when selecting a treatment. To discuss possible solutions to the current obstacles to achieving value in the use of advanced technologies in oncology, the National Cancer Policy Forum of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop, "Appropriate Use of Advanced Technologies for Radiation Therapy and Surgery in Oncology" in July 2015. The present report summarizes the discussions related to radiation oncology. The workshop convened stakeholders, including oncologists, researchers, payers, policymakers, and patients. Speakers presented on key themes, including the rationale for a value discussion on advanced technology use in radiation oncology, the generation of scientific evidence for value of advanced radiation technologies, the effect of both scientific evidence and "marketplace" (or economic) factors on the adoption of technologies, and newer approaches to improving value in the practice of radiation oncology. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion with dialogue among the stakeholders. Challenges to generating evidence for the value of advanced technologies include obtaining contemporary, prospective, randomized, and representative comparative effectiveness data. Proposed solutions include the use of prospective registry data; integrating radiation oncology treatment, outcomes, and quality benchmark data; and encouraging insurance coverage with evidence development. Challenges to improving value in practice include the slow adoption of higher value and the de-adoption of lower value treatments. The proposed solutions focused on engaging stakeholders in iterative, collaborative, and evidence-based efforts to define value and promote change in radiation oncology practice. Recent examples of ongoing or successful responses to the discussed challenges were provided. Discussions of "value" have increased as a priority in the radiation oncology community. Practitioners in the radiation oncology community can play a critical role in promoting a value-oriented framework to approach radiation oncology treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SIMBIOS Project

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fargion, Giulietta S.; McClain, Charles R.; Busalacchi, Antonio J. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The purpose of this technical report is to provide current documentation of the Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) Project activities, NASA Research Announcement (NRAI) research status, satellite data processing, data product validation, and field calibration. This documentation is necessary to ensure that critical information is related to the scientific community and NASA management. This critical information includes the technical difficulties and challenges of validating and combining ocean color data from an array of independent satellite systems to form consistent and accurate global bio-optical time series products. This technical report is not meant as a substitute for scientific literature. Instead, it will provide a ready and responsive vehicle for the multitude of technical reports issued by an operational project.

An Investigation of the Large Scale Evolution and Topology of Coronal Mass Ejections in the Solar Wind

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Riley, Peter

2000-01-01

This investigation is concerned with the large-scale evolution and topology of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the solar wind. During this reporting period we have focused on several aspects of CME properties, their identification and their evolution in the solar wind. The work included both analysis of Ulysses and ACE observations as well as fluid and magnetohydrodynamic simulations. In addition, we analyzed a series of "density holes" observed in the solar wind, that bear many similarities with CMEs. Finally, this work was communicated to the scientific community at three meetings and has led to three scientific papers that are in various stages of review.

The ARM Data System and Archive

DOE PAGES

McCord, Raymond A.; Voyles, Jimmy W.

2016-07-05

Every observationally based research program needs a way to collect data from instruments, convert the data from its raw format into a more usable format, apply quality control, process it into higher-order data products, store the data, and make the data available to its scientific community. This data flow is illustrated pictorially in Fig. 11-1. These are the basic requirements of any scientific data system, and ARM’s data system would have to address these requirements and more. This research provides one view of the development of the ARM data system, which includes the ARM Data Archive, and some of themore » notable decisions that were made along the way.« less

An interactive environment for the analysis of large Earth observation and model data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowman, Kenneth P.; Walsh, John E.; Wilhelmson, Robert B.

1993-01-01

We propose to develop an interactive environment for the analysis of large Earth science observation and model data sets. We will use a standard scientific data storage format and a large capacity (greater than 20 GB) optical disk system for data management; develop libraries for coordinate transformation and regridding of data sets; modify the NCSA X Image and X DataSlice software for typical Earth observation data sets by including map transformations and missing data handling; develop analysis tools for common mathematical and statistical operations; integrate the components described above into a system for the analysis and comparison of observations and model results; and distribute software and documentation to the scientific community.

An interactive environment for the analysis of large Earth observation and model data sets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bowman, Kenneth P.; Walsh, John E.; Wilhelmson, Robert B.

1992-01-01

We propose to develop an interactive environment for the analysis of large Earth science observation and model data sets. We will use a standard scientific data storage format and a large capacity (greater than 20 GB) optical disk system for data management; develop libraries for coordinate transformation and regridding of data sets; modify the NCSA X Image and X Data Slice software for typical Earth observation data sets by including map transformations and missing data handling; develop analysis tools for common mathematical and statistical operations; integrate the components described above into a system for the analysis and comparison of observations and model results; and distribute software and documentation to the scientific community.

Using blackmail, bribery, and guilt to address the tragedy of the virtual intellectual commons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffith, P. C.; Cook, R. B.; Wilson, B. E.; Gentry, M. J.; Horta, L. M.; McGroddy, M.; Morrell, A. L.; Wilcox, L. E.

2008-12-01

One goal of the NSF's vision for 21st Century Cyberinfrastructure is to create a virtual intellectual commons for the scientific community where advanced technologies perpetuate transformation of this community's productivity and capabilities. The metadata describing scientific observations, like the first paragraph of a news story, should answer the questions who? what? why? where? when? and how?, making them discoverable, comprehensible, contextualized, exchangeable, and machine-readable. Investigators who create good scientific metadata increase the scientific value of their observations within such a virtual intellectual commons. But the tragedy of this commons arises when investigators wish to receive without giving in return. The authors of this talk will describe how they have used combinations of blackmail, bribery, and guilt to motivate good behavior by investigators participating in two major scientific programs (NASA's component of the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia; and the US Climate Change Science Program's North American Carbon Program).

Multi-Stage Open Peer Review: Scientific Evaluation Integrating the Strengths of Traditional Peer Review with the Virtues of Transparency and Self-Regulation

PubMed Central

Pöschl, Ulrich

2012-01-01

The traditional forms of scientific publishing and peer review do not live up to all demands of efficient communication and quality assurance in today’s highly diverse and rapidly evolving world of science. They need to be advanced and complemented by interactive and transparent forms of review, publication, and discussion that are open to the scientific community and to the public. The advantages of open access, public peer review, and interactive discussion can be efficiently and flexibly combined with the strengths of traditional scientific peer review. Since 2001 the benefits and viability of this approach are clearly demonstrated by the highly successful interactive open access journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP, www.atmos-chem-phys.net) and a growing number of sister journals launched and operated by the European Geosciences Union (EGU, www.egu.eu) and the open access publisher Copernicus (www.copernicus.org). The interactive open access journals are practicing an integrative multi-stage process of publication and peer review combined with interactive public discussion, which effectively resolves the dilemma between rapid scientific exchange and thorough quality assurance. Key features and achievements of this approach are: top quality and impact, efficient self-regulation and low rejection rates, high attractivity and rapid growth, low costs, and financial sustainability. In fact, ACP and the EGU interactive open access sister journals are by most if not all standards more successful than comparable scientific journals with traditional or alternative forms of peer review (editorial statistics, publication statistics, citation statistics, economic costs, and sustainability). The high efficiency and predictive validity of multi-stage open peer review have been confirmed in a series of dedicated studies by evaluation experts from the social sciences, and the same or similar concepts have recently also been adopted in other disciplines, including the life sciences and economics. Multi-stage open peer review can be flexibly adjusted to the needs and peculiarities of different scientific communities. Due to the flexibility and compatibility with traditional structures of scientific publishing and peer review, the multi-stage open peer review concept enables efficient evolution in scientific communication and quality assurance. It has the potential for swift replacement of hidden peer review as the standard of scientific quality assurance, and it provides a basis for open evaluation in science. PMID:22783183

Science opportunities from the Topex/Poseidon mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stewart, R.; Fu, L. L.; Lefebvre, M.

1986-01-01

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) propose to conduct a Topex/Poseidon Mission for studying the global ocean circulation from space. The mission will use the techniques of satellite altimetry to make precise and accurate measurements of sea level for several years. The measurements will then be used by Principal Investigators (selected by NASA and CNES) and by the wider oceanographic community working closely with large international programs for observing the Earth, on studies leading to an improved understanding of global ocean dynamics and the interaction of the ocean with other processes influencing life on Earth. The major elements of the mission include a satellite carrrying an altimetric system for measuring the height of the satellite above the sea surface; a precision orbit determination system for referring the altimetric measurements to geodetic coordinates; a data analysis and distribution system for processing the satellite data, verifying their accuracy, and making them available to the scientific community; and a principal investigator program for scientific studies based on the satellite observations. This document describes the satellite, its sensors, its orbit, the data analysis system, and plans for verifying and distributing the data. It then discusses the expected accuracy of the satellite's measurements and their usefulness to oceanographic, geophysical, and other scientific studies. Finally, it outlines the relationship of the Topex/Poseidon mission to other large programs, including the World Climate Research Program, the U.S. Navy's Remote Ocean Sensing System satellite program and the European Space Agency's ERS-1 satellite program.

Research Opportunities Supporting the Vision for Space Exploration from the Transformation of the Former Microgravity Materials Science Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clinton, R. G., Jr.; Szofran, Frank; Bassler, Julie A.; Schlagheck, Ronald A.; Cook, Mary Beth

2005-01-01

The Microgravity Materials Science Program established a strong research capability through partnerships between NASA and the scientific research community. With the announcement of the vision for space exploration, additional emphasis in strategic materials science areas was necessary. The President's Commission recognized that achieving its exploration objectives would require significant technical innovation, research, and development in focal areas defined as "enabling technologies." Among the 17 enabling technologies identified for initial focus were: advanced structures, advanced power and propulsion; closed-loop life support and habitability; extravehicular activity systems; autonomous systems and robotics; scientific data collection and analysis, biomedical risk mitigation; and planetary in situ resource utilization. Mission success may depend upon use of local resources to fabricate a replacement part to repair a critical system. Future propulsion systems will require materials with a wide range of mechanical, thermophysical, and thermochemical properties, many of them well beyond capabilities of today's materials systems. Materials challenges have also been identified by experts working to develop advanced life support systems. In responding to the vision for space exploration, the Microgravity Materials Science Program aggressively transformed its research portfolio and focused materials science areas of emphasis to include space radiation shielding; in situ fabrication and repair for life support systems; in situ resource utilization for life support consumables; and advanced materials for exploration, including materials science for space propulsion systems and for life support systems. The purpose of this paper is to inform the scientific community of these new research directions and opportunities to utilize their materials science expertise and capabilities to support the vision for space exploration.

Exposing the Science in Citizen Science: Fitness to Purpose and Intentional Design.

PubMed

Parrish, Julia K; Burgess, Hillary; Weltzin, Jake F; Fortson, Lucy; Wiggins, Andrea; Simmons, Brooke

2018-05-21

Citizen science is a growing phenomenon. With millions of people involved and billions of in-kind dollars contributed annually, this broad extent, fine grain approach to data collection should be garnering enthusiastic support in the mainstream science and higher education communities. However, many academic researchers demonstrate distinct biases against the use of citizen science as a source of rigorous information. To engage the public in scientific research, and the research community in the practice of citizen science, a mutual understanding is needed of accepted quality standards in science, and the corresponding specifics of project design and implementation when working with a broad public base. We define a science-based typology focused on the degree to which projects deliver the type(s) and quality of data/work needed to produce valid scientific outcomes directly useful in science and natural resource management. Where project intent includes direct contribution to science and the public is actively involved either virtually or hands-on, we examine the measures of quality assurance (methods to increase data quality during the design and implementation phases of a project) and quality control (post hoc methods to increase the quality of scientific outcomes). We suggest that high quality science can be produced with massive, largely one-off, participation if data collection is simple and quality control includes algorithm voting, statistical pruning and/or computational modeling. Small to mid-scale projects engaging participants in repeated, often complex, sampling can advance quality through expert-led training and well-designed materials, and through independent verification. Both approaches - simplification at scale and complexity with care - generate more robust science outcomes.

Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array Science and Data Products

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gary, Dale E.; Hurford, G. J.; Nita, G. M.; Fleishman, G. D.; McTiernan, J. M.

2010-05-01

The Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) has been funded for major expansion, to create a university-based facility serving a broad scientific community, to keep the U.S. competitive in the field of solar radio physics. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation through the MRI-Recovery and Reinvestment program, will result in a world-class facility for scientific research at microwave radio frequencies (1-18 GHz) in solar and space weather physics. The project also includes an exciting program of targeted astronomical science. The solar science to be addressed focuses on the magnetic structure of the solar corona, on transient phenomena resulting from magnetic interactions, including the sudden release of energy and subsequent particle acceleration and heating, and on space weather phenomena. The project will support the scientific community by providing open data access and software tools for analysis of the data, to exploit synergies with on-going solar research in other wavelength bands. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will upgrade OVSA from its current complement of 7 antennas to a total of 15 by adding 8 new antennas, and will reinvest in the existing infrastructure by replacing the existing control systems, signal transmission, and signal processing with modern, far more capable and reliable systems based on new technology developed for the Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR). The project will be completed in time to provide solar-dedicated observations during the upcoming solar maximum in 2013 and beyond. We will detail the new science addressed by the expanded array, and provide an overview of the expected data products.