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Individual Researchers (individual + researcher)
Selected AbstractsETHICAL PROBLEMS IN CONDUCTING RESEARCH IN ACUTE EPIDEMICS: THE PFIZER MENINGITIS STUDY IN NIGERIA AS AN ILLUSTRATIONDEVELOPING WORLD BIOETHICS, Issue 1 2010EMMANUEL R. EZEOME ABSTRACT The ethics of conducting research in epidemic situations have yet to account fully for differences in the proportion and acuteness of epidemics, among other factors. While epidemics most often arise from infectious diseases, not all infectious diseases are of epidemic proportions, and not all epidemics occur acutely. These and other variations constrain the generalization of ethical decision-making and impose ethical demands on the individual researcher in a way not previously highlighted. This paper discusses a number of such constraints and impositions. It applies the ethical principles enunciated by Emmanuel et al.1 to the controversial Pfizer study in Nigeria in order to highlight the particular ethical concerns of acute epidemic research, and suggest ways of meeting such challenges. The paper recommends that research during epidemics should be partly evaluated on its own merits in order to determine its ethical appropriateness to the specific situation. Snap decisions to conduct research during acute epidemics should be resisted. Community engagement, public notification and good information management are needed to promote the ethics of conducting research during acute epidemics. Individual consent is most at risk of being compromised, and every effort should be made to ensure that it is maintained and valid. Use of data safety management boards should be routine. Acute epidemics also present opportunities to enhance the social value of research and maximize its benefits to communities. Ethical research is possible in acute epidemics, if the potential challenges are thought of ahead of time and appropriate precautions taken. [source] Collaborative Research: Policy and the Management of Knowledge Creation in UK UniversitiesHIGHER EDUCATION QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2001David Smith Collaboration in research activity is now the rule not the exception. It is encouraged by government, funding bodies and research councils. However, the concept of collaboration is difficult to define. It occurs at many different levels, driven by a complex research system-policy dynamic. Three different models of collaboration , inter-personal, team and corporate , are identified, each with their own rationale, structure, benefits and costs. The paper examines the institutional implications of these models. It argues that institutions and individual researchers conceptualise and operationalise research collaboration in different ways. Although vital to institutional mission, collaborative research is rarely mapped by senior managers with any precision. In general, institutional approaches to the management of collaborative research lag behind the policy rhetoric. The paper concludes with an overview of the key dilemmas for institutional strategists and policy makers posed by the shift towards more collaborative approaches to research. [source] Annotated chromosome maps for renal disease,HUMAN MUTATION, Issue 3 2009Amy Jayne McKnight Abstract A combination of linkage analyses and association studies are currently employed to promote the identification of genetic factors contributing to inherited renal disease. We have standardized and merged complex genetic data from disparate sources, creating unique chromosomal maps to enhance genetic epidemiological investigations. This database and novel renal maps effectively summarize genomic regions of suggested linkage, association, or chromosomal abnormalities implicated in renal disease. Chromosomal regions associated with potential intermediate clinical phenotypes have been integrated, adding support for particular genomic intervals. More than 500 reports from medical databases, published scientific literature, and the World Wide Web were interrogated for relevant renal-related information. Chromosomal regions highlighted for prioritized investigation of renal complications include 3q13,26, 6q22,27, 10p11,15, 16p11,13, and 18q22. Combined genetic and physical maps are effective tools to organize genetic data for complex diseases. These renal chromosome maps provide insights into renal phenotype-genotype relationships and act as a template for future genetic investigations into complex renal diseases. New data from individual researchers and/or future publications can be readily incorporated to this resource via a user-friendly web-form accessed from the website: www.qub.ac.uk/neph-res/CORGI/index.php. Hum Mutat 0, 1,8, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Erosion models: quality of spatial predictionsHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 5 2003Victor Jetten Abstract An Erratum has been published for this article in Hydrological Processes 18(3) 2004, 595. An overview is given on the predictive quality of spatially distributed runoff and erosion models. A summary is given of the results of model comparison workshops organized by the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems Focus 3 programme, as well as other results obtained by individual researchers. The results concur with the generally held viewpoint in the literature that the predictive quality of distributed models is moderately good for total discharge at the outlet, and not very good for net soil loss. This is only true if extensive calibration is done: uncalibrated results are generally bad. The more simple lumped models seem to perform equally well as the more complex distributed models, although the latter produce more detailed spatially distributed results that can aid the researcher. All these results are outlet based: models are tested on lumped discharge and soil loss or on hydrographs and sedigraphs. Surprisingly few tests have been done on the comparison of simulated and modelled erosion patterns, although this may arguably be just as important in the sense of designing anti-erosion measures and determining source and sink areas. Two studies are shown in which the spatial performance of the erosion model LISEM (Limburg soil erosion model) is analysed. It seems that: (i) the model is very sensitive to the resolution (grid cell size); (ii) the spatial pattern prediction is not very good; (iii) the performance becomes better when the results are resampled to a lower resolution and (iv) the results are improved when certain processes in the model (in this case gully incision) are restricted to so called ,critical areas', selected from the digital elevation model with simple rules. The difficulties associated with calibrating and validating spatially distributed soil erosion models are, to a large extent, due to the large spatial and temporal variability of soil erosion phenomena and the uncertainty associated with the input parameter values used in models to predict these processes. They will, therefore, not be solved by constructing even more complete, and therefore more complex, models. However, the situation may be improved by using more spatial information for model calibration and validation rather than output data only and by using ,optimal' models, describing only the dominant processes operating in a given landscape. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Working to Make Interdisciplinarity Work: Investing in Communication and Interpersonal RelationshipsJOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2006Mariella Marzano Abstract In this paper, we apply qualitative methodologies to explore the practice of interdisciplinary research. The UK's Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) Programme aims to advance understanding of the challenges faced by rural areas through funding interdisciplinary research to inform future policy and practice on management choices for the countryside and rural economies. Addressing the challenges faced by rural areas often requires a combination of different perspectives, involving research to address subjects that may lie beyond the skills of individual researchers. An interdisciplinary approach requires the integration of both data/information and the experiences and perspectives of different people (natural/social scientists, local people and policy-makers). We focus here on the processes involved in making interdisciplinarity work, documenting the experiences, perceptions, ideas and concerns of researchers working in interdisciplinary projects (specifically two EU-funded projects but also the first wave of RELU projects). A key finding from this research is that interdisciplinarity requires conscious effort, time and resources for the development of interpersonal relationships to enhance effective communication and thus successful collaboration. [source] Citation counting, citation ranking, and h -index of human-computer interaction researchers: A comparison of Scopus and Web of ScienceJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 11 2008Lokman I. Meho This study examines the differences between Scopus and Web of Science in the citation counting, citation ranking, and h -index of 22 top human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers from EQUATOR,a large British Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration project. Results indicate that Scopus provides significantly more coverage of HCI literature than Web of Science, primarily due to coverage of relevant ACM and IEEE peer-reviewed conference proceedings. No significant differences exist between the two databases if citations in journals only are compared. Although broader coverage of the literature does not significantly alter the relative citation ranking of individual researchers, Scopus helps distinguish between the researchers in a more nuanced fashion than Web of Science in both citation counting and h -index. Scopus also generates significantly different maps of citation networks of individual scholars than those generated by Web of Science. The study also presents a comparison of h -index scores based on Google Scholar with those based on the union of Scopus and Web of Science. The study concludes that Scopus can be used as a sole data source for citation-based research and evaluation in HCI, especially when citations in conference proceedings are sought, and that researchers should manually calculate h scores instead of relying on system calculations. [source] Naturwissenschafts-, Technik- und Medizingeschichte in Deutschland, 1997,2004.BERICHTE ZUR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE, Issue 1 2005Literaturbericht über die Forschung an den Institutionen. Diese Bibliographie der naturwissenschafts-, technik- und medizingeschichtlichen Forschungsliteratur für die Erscheinungsjahre 1997 bis 2004 setzt die vorangegangenen Übersichten fort. Sie beinhaltet die seit 1997 erschienene Literatur und beruht wiederum auf der Nennung durch die Institutionen selbst, allerdings auf Wunsch des Deutschen Nationalkomitees der IUHPS/DHS beschränkt auf zehn Angaben pro Wissenschaftler(in). Einige Einrichtungen haben zudem auf ihre jeweilige Homepage verwiesen. Auch die persönlichen Homepages der einzelnen Forscher(innen) sind für weitere Literatur-Angaben heranzuziehen. Die Reihenfolge der Autor(inn)en ist am Alphabet der Namen orientiert und nicht mehr an dem der Institutionen. Die Kodierung hinter dem Namen ordnet die Institution zu. Ein systematischer Überblick findet sich im Anschluß an diesen Hinweis. Länger als vorgesehen dauert der Aufbau einer elektronischen Datenbank für die hier angesprochenen Wissenschaftsfelder. Hierin liegt auch der Grund für die rückwärtige Aufnahme bis zum Jahr 1997, da es zu dem bis dahin vorgesehenen Start der Datenbank schon nicht gekommen war. Die zukünftigen Datenbanken sollen in Dresden (für die Technikgeschichte), in München (für die Naturwissenschaftsgeschichte) und in Leipzig (für die Medizingeschichte) entstehen, doch haben sich trotz der abermals dankbar entgegengenommenen Hilfe der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) für diesen hier vorgestellten Überblick die sich für zuständig haltenden Bundesländer bislang ihren Verpflichtungen zu einem solchen Basisprojekt der Literaturrecherche weitgehend entzogen. Die , in mehrfacher Hinsicht betroffenen , Wissenschaftler(innen) hoffen auf größere Einsicht. Diese Übersicht wäre ohne den unermüdlichen Einsatz von Frau Verena Witte M. A., Bochum, nicht möglich gewesen. Daher gilt ihr unser besonderer Dank. This compilation of German research in history of science, technology, and medicine for the years 1997 to 2004 will continue the previous ones. Researchers of the institutions have given us these information, however, only up to ten indications were requested by the national committee of the IUHPS/DHS. More research results may be found on the homepages of the larger institutes and of most of the individual researchers. The list adheres to the alphabet of the authors names, no longer to that of the institutions. After this note you will find the survey of them. A new national data base is proceeding very slowly and completion might still last some time in a country where this kind of research is considered to be of regional importance only ,! This compilation was again supported by the national German science foundation (DFG), which we appreciated very much. The compilation work was mainly done thanks to the efforts of Verena Witte MA, Bochum. [source] A survey of bioengineering research in Canada-2007BIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 4 2008Andrew J. Daugulis Abstract Research activity in bioengineering at Canadian universities has been surveyed. Details were provided by chemical engineering departments in response to a common request for information on activities by individual researchers and for key publications. The information provided has been grouped by topics within the broad theme of "Bioengineering," and contributions from individual departments have been summarized within these topics. Although many aspects of bioengineering research are being pursued in Canada, it would appear as though environmental biotechnology, biomaterials, and tissue/cell culture are the most active areas under investigation. 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