Annual Research Conference Research Articles

XIII International Research and Practical Conference «Digital Age of Culture»

The article is devoted to the annual research and practical conference "Digital Age of Culture". Held for the thirteenth time, the event is traditionally one of the most important for librarians, specialists in the sphere of information technologies, representatives of science and culture. The Forum participants discussed the modern ways of preserving the cultural heritage of Russia, the development of a unified concept of development of informatization in libraries, museums, archives and universities. Special attention was paid to the problems of quality of digital content, to the recent developments of algorithms of information search and to the discussion of acute problems of copyright law.

The McNair Scholars Program at Virginia Tech: A Unique Model of Librarian Mentoring

<p class="bigFirst"><span class="i"> L</span>ibrarians are involved in many aspects of the McNair Scholars Summer Research Experience at Virginia Tech — a unique component of the federal program that allows low-income, first-generation college students and those from underrepresented ethnic groups to prepare for future doctoral study through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. McNair Scholars who are accepted into the summer research program attend seminars, network with colleagues during special-focus luncheons, participate in an annual research conference, prepare for the GRE, conduct research and prepare presentations, and receive significant library instruction and individualized research assistance from the university’s librarians.

The Scholarly Conference: Do We Want Democracy and Markets or Authority and Tradition?

The main attributes of the American Political Science Annual (APSA) Research Conference, and other similar regional conferences, have not changed in decades. These structures and incentives are governed more by authority and tradition than by careful consideration of how best to create stimulating and engaging environments for teaching and learning. As a result, conventional conferences are neither as effective at promoting teaching and learning nor as enjoyable to the participants, as they might be. This article proposes an alternative, the Customized Conference, that uses democratic and market principles to create scholarly conferences that meet the preferences and needs of individuals while building stronger academic communities.

Support for the Survey Sponsor and Nonresponse Bias

Abstract in an experiment designed to examine nonresponse bias, either the March of Dimes or the university of Michigan was identified as the sponsor of a survey mailed to individuals whose level of sup-port for the March of Dimes was known. The response rate was higher to the university survey, but support for the March of Dimes increased survey participation to the same extent in both conditions. As a result of the overrepresentation of supporters of the organization, both sur-veys showed nonresponse bias for variables linked to support. The bias was greater, however, when the sponsor was identified as the March of Dimes. Thus, the university sponsor brought in not only more of the Robert M. Groves is Director of the Census Bureau, Washington, DC, uSA. Stanley presser is professor in the Sociology Department and the Joint program in Survey Methodology at the university of Maryland, College park, MD, uSA. Roger Tourangeau is vice president at Westat, Rockville, MD, uSA. Brady T. West is Research Assistant professor at the institute for Social Research, university of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi, uSA. Mick p. Couper is Research professor at the institute for Social Research, university of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi, uSA. eleanor Singer is Research professor emerita at the institute for Social Research, university of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mi, uSA. Christopher Toppe is Senior Social Scientist at the Department of State, Washington, DC, uSA. This article is a revision of a paper presented at the 2008 Workshop on household Survey Nonresponse, ljubljana, Slovenia, and the 2009 American Association for public Opinion Research Annual Conference, hollywood, Fl, uSA. The authors are indebted to the uS National Science Foundation for grant support [SeS-0207435 to R.M.G., M.C., e.S., and S.p.]; to the March of Dimes for access to its database; to John lafrance, Courtney kennedy, emilia peytcheva, and haley Gu for assistance on various aspects of the project; and to the anony-mous referees for helpful comments. The views expressed in this article are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations with which they are affiliated. *Address correspondence to Stanley presser, university of Maryland, Sociology Department, 2112 Arts-Sociology Building, College park, MD, 20742-1315, uSA; e-mail: spresser@survey.umd.edu.

Opportunities and Challenges for Nutritional Proteomics in Cancer Prevention ,

Knowledge gaps persist about the efficacy of cancer prevention strategies based on dietary food components. Adaptations to nutrient supply are executed through tuning of multiple protein networks that include transcription factors, histones, modifying enzymes, translation factors, membrane and nuclear receptors, and secreted proteins. However, the simultaneous quantitative and qualitative measurement of all proteins that regulate cancer processes is not practical using traditional protein methodologies. Proteomics offers an attractive opportunity to fill this knowledge gap and unravel the effects of dietary components on protein networks that impinge on cancer. The articles presented in this supplement are from talks proffered in the “Nutrition Proteomics and Cancer Prevention” session at the American Institute for Cancer Research Annual Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and Cancer held in Washington, DC on October 21 and 22, 2010. Recent advances in MS technologies suggest that studies in nutrition and cancer prevention may benefit from the adoption of proteomic tools to elucidate the impact on biological processes that govern the transition from normal to malignant phenotype; to identify protein changes that determine both positive and negative responses to food components; to assess how protein networks mediate dose-, time-, and tissue-dependent responses to food components; and, finally, for predicting responders and nonresponders. However, both the limited accessibility to proteomic technologies and research funding appear to be hampering the routine adoption of proteomic tools in nutrition and cancer prevention research.

Monetary and Macroprudential Policies

This paper provides an overview of a special issue of the IMF Economic Review on Monetary and Macroprudential Policies that brings some of the key academic articles behind the presentations at the 12th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference of the IMF, which took place at the IMF headquarters in Washington DC on November 10–11, 2011.

“Rumyantsev Readings - 2012”: Annual Research Conference

On the history and development of the All-Russian Scientific Conference, established in 1981 by V.I. Lenin State Library of the USSR. There is the review on Rumyantsev Readings - 2012 dedicated to 150 anniversary of Moscow Public and Rumyantsev Museums opening.

Identification of Current Priorities for Research in Humanitarian Action: Proceedings of the First Annual UN OCHA Policy and Research Conference

On December 12-13, 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) hosted a humanitarian policy and research conference on the theme of "Risk, Adaptation and Innovation in Humanitarian Action." The four sessions of the conference covered humanitarian action in a changing world, adaptation and innovation in humanitarian action, humanitarian action in protracted and violent conflict, and effective humanitarian action. This special report contains summaries of presentations in each session and the conclusions resulting from the discussions throughout. Through a process of open discussion, debate, and a closing survey, the conference participants identified four top priorities in humanitarian research for the coming years: evidence-driven humanitarian decision-making; accountability and transparency; risk and agility; and partnership. In addition to plans for a 2nd Annual Research and Policy conference in December of 2012, specific outcomes of the conference include a series of regional workshops in 2012 and 2013, launching with Asia, Africa and the Middle East; creation of Policy Working Groups (PWG) for each research priority identified; and a new flagship OCHA publication, to be launched in late 2012 or early 2013, which will share the progress made on the research priorities identified.

Highlights of the 2011 Mayo Clinic Systems Engineering and Operations Research conference

In this report, we share highlights of the fourth annual Mayo Clinic Systems Engineering and Operations Research conference. The conference provided a forum for system engineers, operations researchers, clinicians, managers and administrators to share experiences, learning and success stories from their work in applying analytical and modeling tools to a range of problems. This report represents a snapshot of the challenges faced in acute health care, the techniques being deployed and the progress being made by engineers and operations researchers in helping to improve the quality and value of services.

Introduction to the IJELLO Special Series of Chais Conference 2012 Best Papers

Introduction Innovative instructional and learning technologies are among the major forces that can improve knowledge dissemination, education, life-long learning, on-the job training, and subsequently welfare in the information era. The Open University of Israel (OUI) is based on distance and blended learning and thus is committed to the ongoing examination and improvement of its teaching quality through the integration of innovative learning and instructional technologies. The Research Center for Innovation in Technologies functions as the research arm of the Open University for exploring emerging technologies and developing models and strategies for their integration in teaching and learning. The main objective of the Center is to promote research related to the enhancement of instruction, using innovative learning technologies. The Center consists of a consortium of about forty faculty members from the various OUI departments. The Center conducts a wide range of ongoing academic activities such as symposia, workshops, conferences, and research seminars. The following are some of the fields of research in which the Research Center for Innovation in Technologies is engaged: * The theoretical foundations of learning, instructional technology and distance education. * Integration of innovative information and communication technologies into educational systems. * Defining and characterizing the variables necessary for developing flexible and adaptive technology-enhanced instructional strategies that accommodate students' individual needs. * Studying the pedagogical and cognitive contributions of emerging technologies to teaching and learning. Learning in the Technological Era is a series of annual national research conferences on learning technologies initiated in 2006 by the Chais Research Center in collaboration with EDEN, The European Distance and E-Learning Network. The Research Center for Innovation in Technologies is committed to continuing this important research activity, under the name of Chais conference, which commemorates the contribution of the late Stanley Chais, who funded the establishment of the Chais Center. The Chais conference contributes to the formation of a community of Israeli researchers in the field of instructional technologies and to the positioning of the Open University of Israel as a leading organization in the study and implementation of learning technologies. About 500 researchers from most universities and academic colleges in Israel and from many organizations and Information Technology (IT) companies participate in the conference each year. The purpose of this IJELLO special series of Chais conference best papers is to enhance the international impact of the Chais conference by distributing high quality papers from the National conference to a worldwide audience. The Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a natural partner for this mission because it draws together researchers and practitioners of information technologies, who seek effective ways to inform clients about sharing their knowledge with others (http://www.informingscience.org/). The informing science transdiscipline studies the informing process, defined as providing a specific clientele with information in a form, format, and schedule that maximizes its effectiveness (Cohen, 1999, 2009; Gill & Cohen, 2009). Instructional technologies are a certain type of information technologies, which aim at providing students and other learners with information and tools to enhance their learning. Within the ISI journals, the Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Objects publishes high quality articles on theory, practice, innovation, and research that cover all aspects of E-learning and Objects (http://www.ijello.org). The first selection in this series was published three years ago and included 13 papers, which dealt with various aspects of technology integration in teaching and learning, collaborative learning environments, quality of mobile learning, motivation for technology use, and more (Eshet-Alkalai, Caspi, Eden, Geri, & Yair, 2009). …

Action Research as a Strategy for Teaching an Undergraduate Research Course

Action research is rarely, if ever, referred to in the textbooks used in undergraduate nursing programs. While redesigning a 2009-2010 research course for junior-level baccalaureate nursing students, the action research strategy was used to conduct a semester-long research project. After identifying a list of 15 health risks on campus, students prioritized and came to consensus on the health problem to be targeted. Each week, students followed the steps of the research process as the related topic was covered in class. At the end of the semester, students presented their findings at the annual on-campus Student Research Conference. Students have since completed a total of three campus-wide research projects. The results of these projects have been incorporated as a required assignment in the senior-level Community Health Nursing course and are now being used to create health promotion materials for the campus e-magazine.

The New York Stem Cell Foundation: Fifth Annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference

The New York Stem Cell Foundation's "Fifth Annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference" convened on October 12-13, 2010 at the Rockefeller University in New York City. The conference attracted over 400 scientists, patient advocates, and stem cell research supporters from 16 countries. In addition to poster and platform presentations, the conference featured panels entitled "Road to the Clinic" and "Regulatory Roadblocks."

The Transactional Relationship between Occupation and Place: Indigenous Cultures in the American Southwest

The transactional metaphysics of philosopher John Dewey (1859–1952) is applied in this article to the study of cultures and occupations among the Pueblo, Navajo, and Ohlone peoples. The data on these peoples’ occupations come from presentations by New Mexico-based scholars Dr Theodore S. (Ted) Jojola, Dr Kathleen Whitaker, and Dr Les W. Field, at the 6th Annual Research Conference of the Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO:USA) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2007. This article makes use of Dewey's concept of ‘situation’ to emphasize responses to problems that break into the continuous, emergent nature of human experience in specific regions or locales over time. The author proposes viewing occupations as the sites within Deweyan situations where cultures undergo transformation through the actual doing of things. Further, this article takes a transdisciplinary perspective, drawing on resources in occupational science, geography, anthropology, and postcolonialist perspectives to explore the relevance of Deweyan concepts to occupational science as an emerging and evolving discipline.

Media Representations of Allergy and Asthma Issues, Policy and Research: Views from the AllerGen Research Community

RATIONALE: Concerns have been raised by the academic community regarding the accuracy and quality of media representations and their potential to impact funding priorities, policy development, research direction and public perceptions. Through the administration of a survey, our team examined such issues through the lens of allergy and asthma research.METHODS: Conference delegates that attended the Fifth Annual Research Conference of the Canadian NCE AllerGen were invited to take part in survey exploring their respective views regarding media representations of allergy and asthma issues, policy and research and the impact such representations have on policy development, funding decisions and public opinion.RESULTS: Respondents expressed strong to moderate concern regarding the accuracy and quality of evidence used in media representations of allergy and asthma issues, policy and research. They also perceived that such representations impacted policy development, funding decisions, and shaped public understanding and public opinion. In addition, the majority of participants indicated that media representations had either made them think about their work in a different way, or had been considered when making decisions about what project(s) to pursue.CONCLUSIONS: These findings fit well within the current literature and provide the basis for additional work within this and other discrete scientific communities. Specifically, given the debate that exists regarding the accuracy of media reports, a more comprehensive analysis exploring perceived sources of inaccuracy and quality of media representations would be instructive. RATIONALE: Concerns have been raised by the academic community regarding the accuracy and quality of media representations and their potential to impact funding priorities, policy development, research direction and public perceptions. Through the administration of a survey, our team examined such issues through the lens of allergy and asthma research. METHODS: Conference delegates that attended the Fifth Annual Research Conference of the Canadian NCE AllerGen were invited to take part in survey exploring their respective views regarding media representations of allergy and asthma issues, policy and research and the impact such representations have on policy development, funding decisions and public opinion. RESULTS: Respondents expressed strong to moderate concern regarding the accuracy and quality of evidence used in media representations of allergy and asthma issues, policy and research. They also perceived that such representations impacted policy development, funding decisions, and shaped public understanding and public opinion. In addition, the majority of participants indicated that media representations had either made them think about their work in a different way, or had been considered when making decisions about what project(s) to pursue. CONCLUSIONS: These findings fit well within the current literature and provide the basis for additional work within this and other discrete scientific communities. Specifically, given the debate that exists regarding the accuracy of media reports, a more comprehensive analysis exploring perceived sources of inaccuracy and quality of media representations would be instructive.

Learning and Teaching in the Technological Era: Introduction to the IJELLO Special Series of Chais Conference 2011 Best Papers

Introduction Innovative instructional and learning technologies are among the major forces that can improve knowledge dissemination, education, life-long learning, on-the job training, and subsequently welfare in the information era. The Open University of Israel (OUI) is based on distance and blended learning and, thus, is committed to the ongoing examination and improvement of its teaching quality through the integration of innovative learning and teaching technologies. The Research Center for Innovation in Technologies functions as the infrastructure and mechanism research arm of the Open University for exploring emerging technologies and developing models and strategies for their integration in learning. The main objective of the Center is to promote research related to the enhancement of instruction, using innovative learning technologies. The Center consists of a consortium of about 40 faculty members from the various OUI departments. The Center conducts a large variety of ongoing academic activities such as symposia, workshops, conferences and research seminars. The following are some of the fields of research in which the Research Center for Innovation in Technologies engages in: * The theoretical foundations of learning, instructional technology and distance education. * Integration of innovative information and communication technologies into educational systems. * Defining and characterizing the variables needed for developing flexible and adaptive technology-enhanced instructional strategies that respond to students' individual needs. * Studying the pedagogical and cognitive contributions of emerging technologies to teaching and learning. Learning in the Technological Era is a series of annual national research conferences on learning technologies initiated in 2006 by the Chais Research Center in collaboration with EDEN, The European Distance and E-Learning Network. The Research Center for Innovation in Technologies is committed to continue this important research activity, under the name of Chais conference, which commemorates the contribution of the late Stanley Chais, who funded the establishment of the Chais Center. The Chais conference contributes to the formation of a community of Israeli researchers in the field of instructional technologies and to the positioning of the Open University of Israel as a leading organization in the study and implementation of learning technologies. About 500 researchers from most universities and academic colleges in Israel and from many organizations and Information Technology (IT) companies participate in the conference each year. The purpose of this IJELLO special series of Chais conference best papers is to enhance the international impact of the Chais conference by distributing high quality papers from the local conference to worldwide audience. The Informing Science Institute (ISI) is a natural partner for this mission because it draws together researchers and practitioners of information technologies, who seek effective ways to inform clients about sharing their knowledge with others (http://www.informingscience.org/). The informing science transdiscipline studies the informing process, defined as providing a specific clientele with information in a form, format, and schedule that maximizes its effectiveness (Cohen, 1999, 2009; Gill & Cohen, 2009). Instructional technologies are a certain type of information technologies that aim at providing students and other learners with information and tools to enhance their learning. Within the ISI journals, the Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Objects publishes high quality articles on theory, practice, innovation, and research that cover all aspects of E-learning and Objects (http://www.iiello.org). The first issue of this series was published two years ago and included 13 selected papers, which dealt with various aspects of technology integration in teaching and learning, collaborative learning environments, quality of mobile learning, motivation for technology use, and more (Eshet-Alkalai, Caspi, Eden, Geri, & Yair, 2009). …

National Survey of Student Engagement's (NSSE) benchmarks – one size fits all?

PurposeAdministrators of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) argue that the results from the five benchmarks, constructed from the survey's items, “produce a set of national benchmarks of good educational practice that participating schools are using to estimate the efficacy of their improvement efforts”. The objective of this paper is to show that any assessment of educational quality cannot be separated from students' expectations and goals.Design/methodology/approachData are drawn from two sources: five years of NSSE data and Adelphi data. A quantitative approach was used to analyze the data.FindingsWhile NSSE items are important indicators of experiences that certain types of students might be seeking and expect from their college, the benchmarks are supposed to provide an overall picture of colleges' educational practices.Originality/valueThis is an original work which was previously presented at the 2005 Northeast Association of Institutional Research annual conference.

Breaking ground on translational stem cell research

Sponsored by the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), the "Fourth Annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference: Breaking Ground" convened October 13-14, 2009 at The Rockefeller University in New York City to discuss translational stem cell research. Attracting over 400 scientists, patient advocates, and stem cell research supporters from fifteen countries, the two-day conference featured an afternoon of panel discussions, intended for a broad audience, followed by a second day of scientific talks and poster presentations. This report summarizes both days of this exciting conference.

Guest Editorial: Special Section on Detection

In March, 2008, The Fire Protection Research Foundation convened its annual Suppression and Detection Research and Applications Conference (SUPDET) in Orlando, Florida to advance the current state of suppression and detection through presentations by leaders in the fields. Nineteen papers on suppression and eighteen papers on detection were presented and discussed among the audience. The entire program of the conference including all of the submitted papers is available at the Foundation’s website (www.nfpa.org/Foundation). The following four papers constitute some of the most interesting detection presentations from the SUPDET 2008 conference. The papers were invited for inclusion in this special issue. The papers were expanded and peer-reviewed to meet the requirements of this journal. They cover a wide range of topics and demonstrate the breadth of ongoing research in the field of detection. Also of interest is the international flavor of these papers which include works of research from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. The first addresses experimental work from the United States on smoke detection for ceilings containing deep beams, and has findings applicable to code development as well as computer modeling of smoke flows and smoke deposition on surfaces. The second discusses a considerable project on the detection of fires in tunnels which examined existing detection equipment for tunnels and included both computer modeling as well as experiments in both the United States and Canada. The third discusses the ability of installed fire protection detection and sensing devices in a building to aid firefighting efforts and includes experimental and modeling results of the Dalmarnock testing in the United Kingdom. The final paper was the keynote address from the detection section of the conference and outlines much of the cutting edge research in the last ten years at Victoria University in Australia on the very pertinent topic of awakening sleeping occupants. These papers demonstrate that the international fire detection community is actively researching, through both computer modeling and experimentation, many diverse aspects of fire detection including notification and awakening, sensor-aided firefighting, and detector siting in unique geometries. Hopefully, the fire detection research community will continue to pursue and develop these topics as well as other fire detection-related topics that have practical application and result in better fire safety for the public.

2010 Annual Fall Conference and Scientific Session of the American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure Research in Association With the Council on the Kidney in Cardiovascular Disease

The American Heart Association (AHA) High Blood Pressure Research Conference is considered to be among the most important and prestigious medical meetings on hypertension in the world, designed as a scientific program that focuses on disseminating information about recent advances in hypertension research. This program provides an opportunity and platform for learning, interacting, and networking among scientists, clinicians, and allied health care workers. The 2009 meeting was an enormous success, with a record number of 749 registrants from more than 20 countries. The program committee and council chairs, Clinton Webb (high blood pressure research) and Jeff Sands (kidney in cardiovascular disease), are to be applauded. The council meeting was preceded by a 1-day workshop titled, “Systems Medicine Strategies in Hypertension: From Molecules to Patients,” and focused on state-of-the-art technologies and approaches to better understand molecular and physiological mechanisms of hypertension in experimental and clinical settings. The workshop, organized by Ernesto L. Schiffrin (McGill University), Thomas M. Coffman (Duke University), and Anna F. Dominiczak (University of Glasgow), attracted more than 250 registrants and was the largest ever at a Council for High Blood Pressure Research (CHBPR) meeting. World-renowned investigators led the workshop with presentations and discussions. The workshop concluded with a presentation given by Daniel Levy (Framingham, MA), who linked all of the topics of the workshop through his talk titled, “Genes, Molecules, Systems Biology, and Epidemiology: Bringing It Together Through Framingham.” This was a perfect foundation to start the official council meeting. The scientific program of the conference was abstract based and included more than 400 reviewed abstracts presented in oral and poster sessions. In addition, numerous named award lectures were given by the most outstanding investigators in the hypertension community. The objectives of the meeting were certainly met, and by the end of the 1.0-day workshop and 2.5-day conference, …

63rd Annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference 2009

63rd Annual High Blood Pressure Research Conference 2009