Data Resources (data + resource)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


pyGlobus: a Python interface to the Globus ToolkitÔ

CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13-15 2002
Keith R. Jackson
Developing high-performance, problem-solving environments/applications that allow scientists to easily harness the power of the emerging national-scale ,Grid' infrastructure is currently a difficult task. Although many of the necessary low-level services, e.g. security, resource discovery, remote access to computation/data resource, etc., are available, it can be a challenge to rapidly integrate them into a new application. To address this difficulty we have begun the development of a Python-based high-level interface to the Grid services provided by the Globus Toolkit. In this paper we will explain why rapid application development using Grid services is important, look briefly at a motivating example, and finally look at the design and implementation of the pyGlobus package. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Review article: Use of renal registry data for research, health-care planning and quality improvement: What can we learn from registry data in the Asia,Pacific region?

NEPHROLOGY, Issue 8 2008
TECK-ONN LIM
SUMMARY: We review renal registry data from the Asia,Pacific region with an emphasis on their uses in health care and in dialysis care in particular. The review aims to demonstrate the information value of registry data. While renal registry provides a useful data resource for epidemiological research, there are severe methodological limitations in its application for analytical or therapeutic research. However, it is the use of renal registry data for public health and health-care management purposes that registry really comes into its own, and it is primarily for these that governments have invested in national patient and disease registries. We apply data from several renal registries in the Asia,Pacific region to illustrate its wide application for planning dialysis services, for evaluating dialysis practices and health outcomes, with a view to improving the quality of dialysis care. In the course of preparing the review, we have found that the quality and accessibility of renal registry data were highly variable across the region. Given the value of renal registry, every country in the Asia,Pacific region should establish one or should ensure that their current registries are better resourced and developed. Greater data sharing and collaboration among registries in the region could help advance the nephrology to serve our patients better. [source]


A data resource for analysing dynamics in Australian ecohydrological conditions

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2010
RANDALL J. DONOHUE
No abstract is available for this article. [source]


Application of the distributed hydrology soil vegetation model to Redfish Creek, British Columbia: model evaluation using internal catchment data

HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 2 2003
Andrew Whitaker
Abstract The Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model is applied to the Redfish Creek catchment to investigate the suitability of this model for simulation of forested mountainous watersheds in interior British Columbia and other high-latitude and high-altitude areas. On-site meteorological data and GIS information on terrain parameters, forest cover, and soil cover are used to specify model input. A stepwise approach is taken in calibrating the model, in which snow accumulation and melt parameters for clear-cut and forested areas were optimized independent of runoff production parameters. The calibrated model performs well in reproducing year-to-year variability in the outflow hydrograph, including peak flows. In the subsequent model performance evaluation for simulation of catchment processes, emphasis is put on elevation and temporal differences in snow accumulation and melt, spatial patterns of snowline retreat, water table depth, and internal runoff generation, using internal catchment data as much as possible. Although the overall model performance based on these criteria is found to be good, some issues regarding the simulation of internal catchment processes remain. These issues are related to the distribution of meteorological variables over the catchment and a lack of information on spatial variability in soil properties and soil saturation patterns. Present data limitations for testing internal model accuracy serve to guide future data collection at Redfish Creek. This study also illustrates the challenges that need to be overcome before distributed physically based hydrologic models can be used for simulating catchments with fewer data resources. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Expanding our understandings of urban science education by expanding the roles of students as researchers

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 7 2005
Rowhea Elmesky
In this article, we explore the roles of student researchers as they have emerged over 5 years of studies on the teaching and learning of science in urban high schools. These studies incorporate sociocultural theory in an approach to research that explores the capital that urban students bring to school and situates student researchers as active participants who exercise agency by accessing and appropriating a variety of resources. We provide examples of students engaged as productive, central members of a research team and describe the roles in which they have participated, from teacher educators and science learners to curriculum developers and ethnographers. We show how the involvement of students as researchers, within these roles, allows them to produce and select artifacts and data resources for interpretation that offer unique insider perspectives on how to improve the teaching and learning of science for urban high school students. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 807,828, 2005 [source]


Access to linked administrative healthcare utilization data for pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics research in Canada: anti-viral drugs as an example,

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 11 2009
Nigel S. B. Rawson PhD
Abstract Purpose Administrative healthcare utilization data from Canadian provinces have been used for pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics research, but limited transparency exists about opportunities for data access, who can access them, and processes to obtain data. An attempt was made to obtain data from all 10 provinces to evaluate access and its complexity. Methods An initial enquiry about the process and requirements to obtain data on individual, anonymized patients dispensed any of four anti-viral drugs in the ambulatory setting, linked with data from hospital and physician service claims, was sent to each province. Where a response was encouraging, a technical description of the data of interest was submitted. Results Data were unavailable from the provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, and inaccessible from British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario due to policies that prohibit collaborative work with pharmaceutical industry researchers. In Nova Scotia, patient-level data were available but only on site. Data were accessible in Alberta, Quebec and Saskatchewan, although variation exists in the currency of the data, time to obtain data, approval requirements and insurance coverage eligibility. Conclusions As Canada moves towards a life-cycle management approach to drug regulation, more post-marketing studies will be required, potentially using administrative data. Linked patient-level drug and healthcare data are presently accessible to pharmaceutical industry researchers in four provinces, although only logistically realistic in three and limited to seniors and low-income individuals in two. Collaborative endeavours to improve access to provincial data and to create other data resources should be encouraged. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]