Collaborative Research Environment Research Articles

Construction and application of collaborative environment for oil and gas reservoir research based on E&P Dream Cloud

Construction and application of collaborative environment for oil and gas reservoir research based on E&P Dream Cloud

Functional foods,,naturalhealth products and nutrigenomics research in Canada

The relationship between food consumption and health outcomes has become a priority research focus in Canada. This has driven an emerging interest in functional foods, natural health products and nutrigenomics. Capitalizing on its abundant natural resources, world class research expertise, renown facilities and collaborative research environment, Canadian researchers are developing innovative approaches to reduce the incidence of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes type II and cardiovascular disease. Canada boasts approximately 15 government research centres, 16 universities and colleges, 4 technology centres and 2 institutes actively carrying out research in the area of functional foods, natural health products and nutrigenomics. These include three organizations, The Institute of Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, The Richardson Centre for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, and The Canadian Centre for Agri-food Research in Health and Medicine, that are solely dedicated to food and health research. Many of the researchers at these organizations have benefited from investments from the Government of Canada through both the Advanced Foods and Material Network and the Canada Research Chairs Program, that have made significant investments in cutting edge functional food, natural health product and nutrigenomics research in Canada.

4014 Results of a Formative Evaluation of the Cardiopulmonary Vascular Biology (CPVB) Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE)

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Results of a formative evaluation of the CardioPulmonary Vascular Biology (CPVB) COBRE will be presented. Of interest were the quality of the overall program, satisfaction with training, mentoring, and services offered, mechanisms for communication, and effectiveness of the collaboration between junior investigators and their mentors. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Integral to this evaluation was the creation of questionnaire for junior investigators to complete that addressed four domains: 1) relationship with their mentor, 2) research self-efficacy, 3) administrative and specialty cores value, and 4) satisfaction with events and operations of the COBRE. The two co-principal investigators, program manager, and evaluator developed the 34 items comprising this instrument. The questionnaire was administered online and all eight of the current junior investigators completed the questionnaire. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Participants were mostly satisfied with the mentoring they were receiving and the operational services of the Administrative and Lab Cores. In terms of training preparedness, these participants felt they were not as prepared as they would like for making adequate progress as an academician and did not feel prepared for managing a lab. Interestingly, these participants felt they were most prepared to develop collaborations with scholars and professionals from other disciplines, but stated they felt they were not as prepared in their abilities to build scientific collaborations. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Because a primary foci of COBRE grant mechanisms is the development of junior level investigators, evaluating their skills, mentoring experiences, and the usefulness of services is paramount to the sustainability and collaborative research environments of COBREs. This evaluation serves as a model for other COBREs as a tool for measuring this goal.

Pushing on the Paywalls: Extending Licensed Resource Access to External Partners to Enhance Collaborative Research

ABSTRACT Definitions of authorized users in license agreements not only dictate who is allowed to access licensed resources, but also define who can be considered part of an institution’s user community. Researchers engage in collaborative research, sometimes holding multiple affiliations that, at times, may extend beyond a definition of authorized user. This paper examines how libraries play a role in supporting or inhibiting collaborative research by exploring a strategic partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to further collaboration related to atmospheric research and climate studies. While the goals of the partnership sought to enhance research and collaboration through access to licensed resources, the authors found that the paywalled model of access through license agreements, authentication, and access and discovery methods has complicated the effectiveness of creating a collaborative research environment.

Carrying out streamlined routine data analyses with reports for observational studies: introduction to a series of generic SAS ® macros.

For a typical medical research project based on observational data, sequential routine analyses are often essential to comprehend the data on hand and to draw valid conclusions. However, generating reports in SAS ® for routine analyses can be a time-consuming and tedious process, especially when dealing with large databases with a massive number of variables in an iterative and collaborative research environment. In this work, we present a general workflow of research based on an observational database and a series of SAS ® macros that fits this framework, which covers a streamlined data analyses and produces journal-quality summary tables. The system is generic enough to fit a variety of research projects and enables researchers to build a highly organized and concise coding for quick updates as research evolves. The result reports promote communication in collaborations and will escort the research with ease and efficiency.

Carrying out streamlined routine data analyses with reports for observational studies: introduction to a series of generic SAS ® macros

For a typical medical research project based on observational data, sequential routine analyses are often essential to comprehend the data on hand and to draw valid conclusions. However, generating reports in SAS ® for routine analyses can be a time-consuming and tedious process, especially when dealing with large databases with a massive number of variables in an iterative and collaborative research environment. In this work, we present a general workflow of research based on an observational database and a series of SAS ® macros that fits this framework, which covers a streamlined data analyses and produces journal-quality summary tables. The system is generic enough to fit a variety of research projects and enables researchers to build a highly organized and concise coding for quick updates as research evolves. The result reports promote communication in collaborations and will escort the research with ease and efficiency.

Understanding the mental health and recovery needs of Canadian youth with mental health disorders: a Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) collaboration protocol

BackgroundWhile considerable progress is being made to understand the health and self-management needs of youth with mental health disorders, little attention has focused on the mental health and recovery needs that the youth themselves identify—this despite a national priority to incorporate patient-oriented research into the development and assessment of mental health services. To address this gap, estimates of the extent to which existing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)—originally developed for use amongst adult populations—are clinically meaningful and psychometrically fit for use among youth are needed. In tandem, a recovery profile for youth can be constructed incorporating the youth perspective of the services provided within a community mental health setting.Methods/designThis study will utilize a mixed methods design incorporating qualitative focus group interviews and cross-sectional survey. Our process will begin with the hiring of a youth peer research partner who will provide lived experience expertise through all phases of the study. We will advertise, recruit, and conduct four focus groups with youth who receive services from the Foundry Vancouver Granville located in British Columbia, Canada. In the first two focus groups, we will recruit youth aged 15–18 years (n = 10). In the second two focus groups, we will recruit young adults aged 19–24 years (n = 10). In parallel, we will conduct a cross-sectional survey of the recovery and mental health needs of youth, informed by ten widely used and validated PROM. Thematic analysis techniques will guide the identification of predominant thematic trends in the qualitative focus group data. We will use Classical and Rasch measurement methods to test and analyze the reliability and validity of selected PROM measures for youth populations.DiscussionThe proposed study has the potential to produce a preliminary conceptual and measurement model for understanding the mental health and recovery needs of youth with mental health disorders. This evidence will inform how youth mental health services can grow, support, and sustain the capacity for a collaborative, interdisciplinary and innovative patient-oriented research environment. Findings will also contribute much needed evidence to improve the standard of care for youth who experience mental health disorders in Canada and beyond.

Carrying out streamlined routine data analyses with reports for observational studies: introduction to a series of generic SAS® macros

For a typical medical research project based on observational data, sequential routine analyses are often essential to comprehend the data on hand and to draw valid conclusions. However, generating reports in SAS® for routine analyses can be a time-consuming and tedious process, especially when dealing with large databases with a massive number of variables in an iterative and collaborative research environment. In this work, we present a general workflow of research based on an observational database and a series of SAS® macros that fits this framework, which covers a streamlined data analyses and produces journal-quality summary tables. The system is generic enough to fit a variety of research projects and enables researchers to build a highly organized and concise coding for quick updates as research evolves. The result reports promote communication in collaborations and will escort the research with ease and efficiency.

The ‘Societal Turn’. Historicising Future Society

Even more than has been the case during the last decades, social-economic historians need to construe the concepts of the economy and the social in a broad sense, to include economies of status and affection, material cultures, social power relations and political ecology. Since the turning of the century, a so-called 'societal turn' is imminent. Demands for re-newed interactions with the social sciences are coming back to the surface. In the last decade, social-economic historians have been incorporating ingredients from new political and cultural history, while analysing sociohistorical processes and related practices both as structure, agency and perception. During the next ten years, the challenge for young researchers exists in bringing this societal turn to a decisive phase, making use of our collaborative research en-vironments and our engagement with societal movements both on a local, regional and global scale.

Methods and Technologies for Research- and Metadata Management in Collaborative Experimental Research

Newly developed technologies and methods for the purpose of controlling uncertainty in technical systems must be proven and validated against reliable experimental studies. The availability of descriptive metadata is mandatory to enable long term usability and sharing of such experimental research data. This article introduces a concept for a software independent solution for managing data in collaborative research environments. The proposed approach leverages the advantages of capturing metadata in a uniform, modular data structure and providing software independent access to a centralized data repository as well as its contents by means of a web-application. The article presents a prototype implementation of the proposed approach and discusses its application on the demonstrator test rig of a collaborative research centre in the field of mechanical engineering.

Academic Literacies: Appraisal and social sanction about authorship and scientific integrity

ABSTRACT Research integrity has been under scrutiny, especially in regard to the legitimacy of academic authorship and co-authorship. We aim to bring a critical perspective to the debate, firstly by presenting how past and recent publications discuss (co-)authorship, and next by developing an appraisal analysis of discourse elements that make types of social sanction regarding the topic available. We conclude by pointing out certain criteria that validate (co-) authorship and kinds of evaluation produced in the reviewed literature. Our results indicate that (co-)authoship credit is affected by power relations and personal interest and that multiauthored publication is gaining significance in collaborative network research environments.

High-cadence Imaging and Imaging Spectroscopy at the GREGOR Solar Telescope—A Collaborative Research Environment for High-resolution Solar Physics

Abstract In high-resolution solar physics, the volume and complexity of photometric, spectroscopic, and polarimetric ground-based data significantly increased in the last decade, reaching data acquisition rates of terabytes per hour. This is driven by the desire to capture fast processes on the Sun and the necessity for short exposure times “freezing” the atmospheric seeing, thus enabling ex post facto image restoration. Consequently, large-format and high-cadence detectors are nowadays used in solar observations to facilitate image restoration. Based on our experience during the “early science” phase with the 1.5 m GREGOR solar telescope (2014–2015) and the subsequent transition to routine observations in 2016, we describe data collection and data management tailored toward image restoration and imaging spectroscopy. We outline our approaches regarding data processing, analysis, and archiving for two of GREGOR’s post-focus instruments (see http://gregor.aip.de), i.e., the GREGOR Fabry–Pérot Interferometer (GFPI) and the newly installed High-Resolution Fast Imager (HiFI). The heterogeneous and complex nature of multidimensional data arising from high-resolution solar observations provides an intriguing but also a challenging example for “big data” in astronomy. The big data challenge has two aspects: (1) establishing a workflow for publishing the data for the whole community and beyond and (2) creating a collaborative research environment (CRE), where computationally intense data and postprocessing tools are colocated and collaborative work is enabled for scientists of multiple institutes. This requires either collaboration with a data center or frameworks and databases capable of dealing with huge data sets based on virtual observatory (VO) and other community standards and procedures.

Demonstrators to support research in Industrial safety – A Methodology

Activities to support manufacturing research are carried out with the intention to gain knowledge of industrial problems and provide solutions that addresses these issues. In order for solution to be viable to the industry, research activities are carried out in close collaboration with participants from the industry, academia and research institutions. Interactive research approach motivates participants with multi-disciplinary perspective to collaborate and emphasizes joint learning in the change process. This article, presents a methodology, where participants with different expertise can collaborate to develop safety solutions. The concept of a demonstrator, which represents cumulative result of a series of research activities, is presented as a tool to showcase functioning and design intent in a collaborative research environment. The results of a pilot study, where manufacturing professionals evaluated design decisions that resulted in a demonstrator, will be presented.

On the development of an open and collaborative bioinformatics research environment

This paper reports on the development of a self-sustaining and community-responsive platform that streamlines the wealth of available open Bioinformatics resources to accelerate multi-disciplinary collaboration and boost innovation in post-genomics biomedical research. Our approach adopts the principles of reproducible, reusable and remixable computer-aided research, and builds on top of state-of-the-art concepts and converging technologies for simple, fast and scalable specification and execution of scientific workflows. The proposed platform enables innovative networking and community building among researchers, facilitates knowledge sharing and co-creation, assures better-informed collaboration, and expedites gaining of insights. Paying particular attention to the issues of data and research provenance and attribution, the platform integrates a set of innovative services for the management of research resources and competences. The overall approach ensures the interoperability of the abovementioned resources and services from a technical, conceptual and user interface point of view.

Virtual Research Environment for digital 3D reconstructions – Standards, thresholds and prospects

Since the 1990s the application of the digital 3D reconstruction and computer-based visualisation of culturalheritage increased. The virtual reconstruction and 3D visualisation revealed a new “glittering” research space forobject-oriented disciplines such as archaeology, art history and architecture. Nevertheless the academicsconcerned with the uprising technology recognised early the lack of documentation standards in the 3Dprojects leading to the loss of information, findings and the fusion of knowledge behind the digital 3Drepresentation. Based on the methodological fundamentals of the digital 3D reconstruction the potentials andchallenges in the light of emerging Semantic Web and Web3D technologies will be introduced. The presentationsubscribes a scientific methodology and a collaborative web-based research environment followed by crucialfeatures for this kind of projects. As the groundwork a human- and machine-readable “language of objects” andthe implementation of this semantic patterns for spatial research purposes on destroyed and/or never realisedtangible cultural heritage will be discussed. Using examples from the practice the presentation explains therequirements of the Semantic Web (Linked Data), the role of controlled vocabularies, the architecture of the VREand the impact of a customised integration of interactive 3D models within the WebGL technology. Thepresentation intends to showcase the state-of-the-art on the way to a digital research infrastructure. The focuslies on the introduction of scholarly approved and sustainable digital 3D reconstruction, complaint withrecognised documentation standards and following the Linked Data requirements.

ARIANNA: A research environment for neuroimaging studies in autism spectrum disorders

The complexity and heterogeneity of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) require the implementation of dedicated analysis techniques to obtain the maximum from the interrelationship among many variables that describe affected individuals, spanning from clinical phenotypic characterization and genetic profile to structural and functional brain images. The ARIANNA project has developed a collaborative interdisciplinary research environment that is easily accessible to the community of researchers working on ASD (https://arianna.pi.infn.it). The main goals of the project are: to analyze neuroimaging data acquired in multiple sites with multivariate approaches based on machine learning; to detect structural and functional brain characteristics that allow the distinguishing of individuals with ASD from control subjects; to identify neuroimaging-based criteria to stratify the population with ASD to support the future development of personalized treatments. Secure data handling and storage are guaranteed within the project, as well as the access to fast grid/cloud-based computational resources. This paper outlines the web-based architecture, the computing infrastructure and the collaborative analysis workflows at the basis of the ARIANNA interdisciplinary working environment. It also demonstrates the full functionality of the research platform. The availability of this innovative working environment for analyzing clinical and neuroimaging information of individuals with ASD is expected to support researchers in disentangling complex data thus facilitating their interpretation.

Supporting Multidisciplinary Analytic Skills: An Innovative Training Platform for Capacity Building

ABSTRACTObjectivesTo serve the emerging multidisciplinary skills and capacity building needs of Population Health Researchers within a rapidly diversifying field.
 Population Health Research is inherently interdisciplinary, multifaceted and firmly rooted in the evolving connections between place, time and related socioeconomic processes. To excel in this rapidly diversifying field, individuals require a broad range of multidisciplinary skills. Supporting the development of these skills through innovative training platforms is one key way to build capacity for emerging 21 Century researchers and health professionals.
 ApproachEstablishment of an innovative research training platform that supports skill development in a timely, collaborative and practiced based environment.
 The growing importance of data analytics and spatial thinking as it pertains to the worlds growing health concerns, be they social, physical or environmental – demands approaches that serve real time and remotely accessed, exploratory and highly collaborative research environments. A case example will be provided concerning a tri-party training platform that is serving the multidisciplinary skill requirements of new and mid-career population health professionals. Designed in collaboration with a tri-university research platform, the innovative, practice-based training environment both mirrors and supports many of the day to day skill development needs of health and social science researchers.
 ResultsThe multidisciplinary focus of this specialized training platform is successfully addressing the skill development needs of a diverse cross section of health research professionals.
 Trainees are bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to share with their online colleagues, supporting a rich, practice based education and skills development environment. Those enrolled in the program possess backgrounds ranging from Population and Public Health, Epidemiology, Statistics and Sociology to Medicine to Psychology, Geography, Biostatistics and International Health.
 ConclusionProviding timely, practical, hands-on analytic skills training is critical to building the capacity of new and mid-career researchers and health professionals.
 Direct application of these new skills is an essential outcome and best measure of success. We are listening to our trainees and learning as we grow.Read what trainees are saying about our certificate courses.https://www.popdata.bc.ca/etu/testimonials/PHDA

The Global MRIO Lab – charting the world economy

ABSTRACTWe describe the creation of the Global Multi-Region Input–Output (MRIO) Lab, which is a cloud-computing platform offering a collaborative research environment through which participants can use each other’s resources to assemble their own individual MRIO versions. The Global MRIO Lab’s main purpose is to harness and focus previously disparate resources aimed at compiling large-scale MRIO databases that provide comprehensive representations of interregional trade, economic structure, industrial interdependence, as well as environmental and social impact. Based on the operational Australian Industrial Ecology Lab, a particularly important feature of this cloud environment is a highly detailed regional and sectoral taxonomy called the ‘root classification’. The purpose of this root is to serve as a feedstock from which researchers can choose any combination of regions and economic sectors to form a model of the economy that is suitable to address their particular research questions. Thus, the Global MRIO Lab concept enables enhanced flexibility in MRIO database construction whilst at the same time saving resources and avoiding duplication, by sharing time- and labour-intensive tasks amongst multiple research teams. We explain the concept, architecture, development and preliminary results of the Global MRIO Lab, and discuss its ability to continuously deliver some of the most prominent world MRIO databases.

Data as Monads: How Digital Data can be Understood as the Sum of the Components in the Process of Locating it

This article concerns epistemology of data, especially digital data or Big Data. It especially problematizes data understood as something fact-like. The empirical object is a case where researchers from an interdisciplinary collaborative research environment working with Big Data, experienced how banal questions about how to find data led to a journey around problems of competing mathematical models, ethical questions and human agency. Based on the empirical material the article unfolds how data itself can be regarded as inherently contextual, fragile and unstable. This is done analytically by shifting focus from the two most dominant understandings of data within social science: data as something ‘raw’ that can be picked up using the right tools and data as ‘shaped’ by the tools of collection. Instead the article proposes to regard data as monad-like that is as the unstable constellations of components in the process of locating the data.

Tomorrow's EdTech Today: Establishing a Learning Platform as a Collaborative Research Tool for Sound Science

Background/Context Large-scale randomized controlled experiments conducted in authentic learning environments are commonly high stakes, carrying extensive costs and requiring lengthy commitments for all-or-nothing results amidst many potential obstacles. Educational technologies harbor an untapped potential to provide researchers with access to extensive and diverse subject pools of students interacting with educational materials in authentic ways. These systems log extensive data on student performance that can be used to identify and leverage best practices in education and guide systemic policy change. Tomorrow's educational technologies should be built upon rigorous standards set forth by the research revolution budding today. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The present work serves as a call to the community to infuse popular learning platforms with the capacity to support collaborative research at scale. Research Design This article defines how educational technologies can be leveraged for use in collaborative research environments by highlighting the research revolution of ASSISTments ( www.ASSISTments.org ), a popular online learning platform with a focus on mathematics education. A framework described as the cycle of perpetual evolution is presented, and research exemplifying progression through this framework is discussed in support of the many benefits that stem from infusing EdTech with collaborative research. Through a recent NSF grant (SI2-SSE&SSI: 1440753), researchers from around the world can leverage ASSISTments’ content and user population by designing and implementing randomized controlled experiments within the ASSISTments TestBed ( www.ASSISTmentsTestBed.org ). Findings from these studies help to define best practices within technology-driven learning, while simultaneously allowing for augmentation of the system's content, delivery, and infrastructure. Conclusions/Recommendations Supplementing educational technologies with environments for sound, collaborative science can result in a broad range of benefits for students, researchers, platforms, and educational practice and policy. This article outlines the successful uptake of research efforts by ASSISTments in hopes of advocating a research revolution for other educational technologies.