Community Infrastructure (community + infrastructure)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Scientific workflow management and the Kepler system

CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 10 2006
Bertram Ludäscher
Abstract Many scientific disciplines are now data and information driven, and new scientific knowledge is often gained by scientists putting together data analysis and knowledge discovery ,pipelines'. A related trend is that more and more scientific communities realize the benefits of sharing their data and computational services, and are thus contributing to a distributed data and computational community infrastructure (a.k.a. ,the Grid'). However, this infrastructure is only a means to an end and ideally scientists should not be too concerned with its existence. The goal is for scientists to focus on development and use of what we call scientific workflows. These are networks of analytical steps that may involve, e.g., database access and querying steps, data analysis and mining steps, and many other steps including computationally intensive jobs on high-performance cluster computers. In this paper we describe characteristics of and requirements for scientific workflows as identified in a number of our application projects. We then elaborate on Kepler, a particular scientific workflow system, currently under development across a number of scientific data management projects. We describe some key features of Kepler and its underlying Ptolemy II system, planned extensions, and areas of future research. Kepler is a community-driven, open source project, and we always welcome related projects and new contributors to join. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Risk and control of waterborne cryptosporidiosis

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 2 2002
Joan B. Rose
Abstract Cryptosporidium remains at the forefront of studies on waterborne disease transmission and abatement. The impact of environmental land use patterns which contribute animal and human waste, climatic precipitation leading to a strong association with outbreaks, and community infrastructure and water treatment are now recognized as contributing factors in the potential for waterborne spread of the protozoan. Advances in detection methodologies, including the ability to genotype various strains of this organism, have shown that human wastes are often the source of the contamination and cell culture techniques have allowed insight into the viability of the oocyst populations. Currently water treatment has focused on UV and ozone disinfection as most promising for the inactivation of this protozoan pathogen. [source]


Substance Abuse by Youth and Young Adults in Rural America

THE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2008
David Lambert PhD
ABSTRACT:,Purpose:Addressing substance abuse in rural America requires extending our understanding beyond urban-rural comparisons to how substance abuse varies across rural communities of different sizes. We address this gap by examining substance abuse prevalence across 4 geographic levels, focusing on youth (age 12-17 years) and young adults (age 18-25 years). Methods: The analysis is based on 3 years (2002-2004) of pooled data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. We measure rurality using a four-tier consolidation of the 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes: urban, rural-adjacent, rural-large, and rural-small and medium. Findings: Rural youth have higher alcohol use and methamphetamine use than urban youth and the more rural the area, the higher the use. Rural young adults living in rural-large areas have higher rates of substance abuse than their urban peers; those living in the most rural areas have nearly twice the rate of methamphetamine use as urban young adults. Rural youth are more likely than urban youth to have engaged in the high-risk behavior of driving under the influence of alcohol or other illicit drugs. Conclusions: Higher prevalence rates, coupled with high-risk behavior, place rural youth and young adults at risk of continued substance use and problems associated with this use. Rural community infrastructure should be enhanced to support substance abuse prevention and intervention for these populations. [source]


Drought, drying and climate change: Emerging health issues for ageing Australians in rural areas

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL ON AGEING, Issue 1 2010
Graeme Horton
Older Australians living in rural areas have long faced significant challenges in maintaining health. Their circumstances are shaped by the occupations, lifestyles, environments and remoteness which characterise the diversity of rural communities. Many rural regions face threats to future sustainability and greater proportions of the aged reside in these areas. The emerging changes in Australia's climate over the past decade may be considered indicative of future trends, and herald amplification of these familiar challenges for rural communities. Such climate changes are likely to exacerbate existing health risks and compromise community infrastructure in some instances. This paper discusses climate change-related health risks facing older people in rural areas, with an emphasis on the impact of heat, drought and drying on rural and remote regions. Adaptive health sector responses are identified to promote mitigation of this substantial emerging need as individuals and their communities experience the projected impact of climate change. [source]


The Deep South Network for cancer control

CANCER, Issue S8 2006
Building a community infrastructure to reduce cancer health disparities
Abstract Given the recent advances in cancer treatment, cancer disparity between whites and African-Americans continues as an unacceptable health problem. African-Americans face a considerable disparity with regard to cancer incidence, survival, and mortality when compared with the majority white population. On the basis of prior research findings, the Deep South Network (DSN) chose to address cancer disparities by using the Community Health Advisor (CHA) model, the Empowerment Theory developed by Paulo Freire, and the Community Development Theory to build a community and coalition infrastructure. The CHA model and empowerment theory were used to develop a motivated volunteer, grassroots community infrastructure of Community Health Advisors as Research Partners (CHARPs), while the coalition-building model was used to build partnerships within communities and at a statewide level. With 883 volunteers trained as CHARPs spreading cancer awareness messages, both African-Americans and whites showed an increase in breast and cervical cancer screening utilization in Mississippi and Alabama. In Mississippi, taking into account the increase for the state as a whole, the proportion that might be attributable to the CHARP intervention was 23% of the increase in pap smears and 117% of the increase in mammograms. The DSN has been effective in raising cancer awareness, improving both education and outreach to its target populations, and increasing the use of cancer screening services. The National Cancer Institute has funded the Network for an additional 5 years. The goal of eliminating cancer health disparities will be pursued in the targeted rural and urban counties in Mississippi and Alabama using Community-Based Participatory Research. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society. [source]