Core Research Project Research Articles

Bibliographic coupling networks reveal the advantage of diversification in scientific projects

• We use data from the acknowledgements of papers to study research projects. • Both articles per project and projects per article follow power-law distributions. • There is sublinear relationship between projects core research fields and project scale. • Dispersion of research fields in a project can lead to more impactful and original papers. Scientific research project serves as a fundamental part of supporting research progress, the data of which can reflect the research behavior of scientists. We use data from the acknowledgements of papers published by the American Physical Society (APS) and focus on the patterns of the successfully established scientific research projects. We find that the number of articles published by each project and the number of projects acknowledged by each article both obey the power-law distribution. After constructing each project’s bibliographic coupling network, it can be found that there is sublinear relationship between project’s core research fields and project scale. We explore factors affecting projects’ outcome and find the advantage of diversification in scientific projects, i.e., the dispersion of research fields can lead to higher ratio of papers in top journals and higher originality of papers. Meanwhile, evolution of research fields indicates that a typical project tend to study the core topics first, and then explore other possible research directions.

The Human Brain Project: Responsible Brain Research for the Benefit of Society

Recognizing that its research may raise various ethical, social, and philosophical issues, the HBP has made the identification, examination, and management of those issues a top priority. The Ethics and Society subproject is part of the core research project.

Cost Analysis of Prevention Research Centers: Instrument Development.

The 2014-2019 Prevention Research Centers (PRC) Program Funding Opportunity Announcement stated that "all applicants will be expected to collaborate with CDC to collect data to be able to perform cost analysis." For the first time in the 30-year history of the PRC Program, a cost indicator was included in the PRC Program Evaluation and a cost analysis (CA) instrument developed. The PRC-CA instrument systematically collects data on the cost of the PRC core research project to eventually answer the CDC PRC Program Evaluation question: "To what extent do investments in PRCs support the scalability, sustainability, and effectiveness of the outcomes resulting from community-engaged efforts to improve public health?" The objective of this article is to briefly describe the development of the PRC-CA instrument. Data obtained from the PRC-CA instrument can be used to generate cost summaries to inform decision making within the PRC Program and each individual PRC.

Regional initiatives for interlinking global coastal scientific research projects

LOICZ (Land Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) (see http://www.loicz.org/) is a core research project of International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP) (and previously also the International Human Dimensions Program (IHDP) involving scientists from across the globe investigating biogeochemical as well as social, economic and governance related coastal zone research. Since 2003, its focus on human dimensions allows better informing the scientific community, policymakers, managers and other stakeholders on the relevance of global environmental change in the coastal zone. LOICZ has six existing regional nodes: in South Asia (Chennai, India), Southeast Asia (Singapore), East Asia (Yantai, China), Latin America (Rio de Janeiro) and North America (Louisiana, USA). The four upcoming nodes include Arctic (Canada), West Africa (Nigeria), Caribbean (Trinidad & Tobago) and China (Taiwan). Each regional node coordinates and promotes global change research at the regional and local level as well as facilitates links and exchanges between international, national and local science and policy.

Harmful Algae in Benthic Systems: A GEOHAB Core Research Program

Harmful events caused by benthic microalgae have recently garnered a high level of attention in temperate areas, upon reports of Ostreopsis species causing fauna damage, food intoxication and respiratory illness. A resurgence of interest has also occurred in ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), a syndrome associated with the consumption of reef fish contaminated by ciguatoxins produced by the dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus in tropical and subtropical areas. To foster research on events caused by benthic microalgae, the SCOR-IOC Global Ecology and Oceanography on Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) program started a Core Research Project on Benthic Harmful Algal Blooms (BHABs). During an Open Science Meeting (OSM) in 2010, scientists studying benthic and planktonic microalgae identified the main gaps of knowledge and the research, technology and infrastructure needs in the field of the ecology and oceanography of BHABs. The issues addressed during the OSM covered the state of taxonomy, sampling methods, biogeography, genetic diversity, ecology and ecophysiology of BHABs, along with the identification of research priorities and approaches to be taken in order to improve understanding and prediction of BHABs.

The UK Gestalt psychotherapy CORE research project: the findings

The UK Gestalt psychotherapy CORE research project: the findings

Any added value? Co‐constructing life stories of and with people with intellectual disabilities

Accessible summary People with intellectual disability have often been involved in research, but not in the analysis of data. One reason might be that not many people with intellectual disability have received training in research. This paper describes a project in Austria. In this project, we have looked at the experiences of people with intellectual disability during transition from school to work and in working life. We have collected their life stories over a period of 2 years. To assist with the analysis, we have formed a reference group. In this group, twelve people with intellectual disability look and make sense of the life stories together with the non‐disabled researchers. We think that this helps the project to become more aware of things that are important to people with intellectual disabilities. This is because researchers with disabilities have the insider perspective. They know how it is to live with an intellectual disability In this paper, I show the life story of a woman who tries to hide her intellectual disability. I show how the reference group has worked with the life story and what they found out. SummaryDespite considerable achievement in inclusive research, people with intellectual disabilities have been largely excluded from the critical area of data analysis and theory development. Next to the undoubted complexity of these tasks, this can partly be attributed to higher demands of representativeness that are used to judge the validity of disability research as well as missing training opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities. The paper presents data from the first core research project in German‐speaking countries that was carried out within an inclusive framework. Within the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) financed project ‘Experiences of participation in the (vocational) biography of people with intellectual disability’ at the Department of Education at the University of Vienna, the research team aimed at involving people with intellectual disability in an accompanying reference group in the process of co‐construction of theory through the shared analysis of the collected qualitative data: life stories and narratives of people with intellectual disability. This paper seeks out to show the added value of this approach both methodologically and practically.

The role of nutrients in regulation and promotion of harmful algal blooms in upwelling systems

The Core Research Project on HABs in upwelling systems, as a component project of the international scientific programme on the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB), promotes a comparative approach within and across systems to understand and predict the ecology, frequency and occurrence of HABs in eastern boundary current upwelling systems. Unlike other systems, upwelling circulation tends to override nutrient limitation caused by stratification, but is less affected by anthropogenic impacts due to the magnitude of the upwelling nutrient signal. At the same time, upwelling systems are unique in that they undergo seasonal succession as well as short-term spatial and temporal oscillations driven by the time-scale of upwelling wind events. An understanding of nutrient dynamics in upwelling systems is thus critical to any attempt to understand or predict HAB events in these environments. We review the state of knowledge regarding nutrient ecophysiology of a subset of HAB organisms identified in upwelling systems. The upwelling HABs exhibit a number of adaptations previously identified in HAB organisms, such as mixotrophy, osmotrophy and vertical migration. We suggest that, unlike most other HABs, these organisms do not necessarily follow a low nutrient-affinity strategy, and do not fit well with classic allometric scaling relationships. Despite these anomalies, progress has been made in predicting HAB events in upwelling systems, by linking HAB events to the unique environmental conditions associated with these systems. We conclude that this subset of HAB organisms is still poorly described in terms of nutrient ecophysiology, and will benefit from a comparative approach across systems, particularly because the subset of upwelling HABs does not necessarily fit the generic patterns identified for HABs generally.

Using the molecular toolbox to compare harmful algal blooms in upwelling systems

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are now generally recognized as occurring over a wide range of habitats from oligotrophic to hypernutrified, and appear to be expanding globally. Unlike many other ecosystems impacted by HABs, upwelling systems worldwide share a common set of physical parameters and are likely to respond similarly, regardless of locale. The Core Research Project on HABs in Upwelling Systems, a component of the scientific programme on the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB), promotes a comparative approach to identify the similarities and differences in the manifestation of HAB events in these systems. As applied to the goals of this programme, molecular techniques are a powerful suite of tools for HAB species identification, for determining genetic similarity within morphologically indistinguishable species, and ultimately, for assessing spatial and temporal patterns in ecophysiological responses in these upwelling systems. Knowledge of HAB organisms will be enhanced by comparing and contrasting the responses of these organisms in similar upwelling regions. Here, we provide an update on the availability of molecular and genetic tools for comparative HAB programmes in upwelling systems, focusing on four broad applications: cell enumeration and identification, molecular phylogenetics, functional/comparative genomics, and applications of high throughput sequencing methods. We highlight the rapid evolution, the promise, and the potential pitfalls, of the molecular toolbox, focusing on specific examples of how scientists and resource managers currently apply these methods. Specific examples are developed using relevant case studies from the California, Benguela and Iberian systems. We summarise by providing a synthesis of future research directions and goals that would be particularly relevant to advancing the comparative method for HAB genetics with an emphasis on upwelling systems.

Cost-effective Monitoring Systems for UHI for the Developing Countries: The Case Study of Shanghai, China

As economic development, urbanization and population growth continue in the developing countries, the urban heat island (UHI) has been attributed to causing such problems as energy shortages, air pollution, and living condition deterioration in those countries. UHI is just now beginning to be researched in large cities in those countries. This paper illustrates an integrated approach. It utilizes both GPS mobile observation techniques and automatic ground monitoring stations as the most direct, easy-to-implement and cost-effective way to monitor and measure UHI in developing countries. As a part of the Core Research Project for Environmental Science Technology, funded by JSTC, we have been experimenting with our proposed monitoring systems since 1997, analyzing data collected from Shanghai, the largest commercial and industrial city in China.Results indicate the proposed monitoring systems are valuable for making climatic observations and collecting data. They also shed light on an application of advanced observation techniques on UM research in developing countries.

A synthesis of recent global change research on pasture and rangeland production: reduced uncertainties and their management implications

There is significant uncertainty about the effects of global change on the vegetation and animal productivity of pasture and rangeland ecosystems. This paper presents a synthesis of progress made between 1994 and 1999 in the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) Pastures and Rangelands Core Research Project 1 (CRP1) network, a world-wide network of 83 full-time equivalent researchers established in different pasture and rangelands systems to reduce these uncertainties. The network focuses on key processes controlling forage and animal production at a paddock/landscape scale, in order to improve the ability to model animal production. To date, the network has resulted in a considerable reduction in the uncertainties about the effects of elevated CO 2 on growth, and to a lesser extent composition and forage quality, of intensive pastures in cool, wet climatic zones. However, knowledge of other grazed ecosystems and processes is more limited. The greatest confidence is in predicting implications for vegetation production, with lesser confidence in implications for vegetation composition, animal production and adaptation options. Overall, the stimulatory effect of double ambient CO 2 on grassland production averages about +17% in ecosystem-based experiments. This is less than previous estimates. Individual system responses to elevated CO 2 can vary widely and are predicted to be higher in moisture-limited and warm-season grassland systems. Species composition change is likely to be an important mechanism altering grassland production and its value for grazing livestock, especially in drier rangelands with woody shrub invasion. On average, the legume content of productive grass–legume swards is increased by +10% due to CO 2 enrichment. Leaf nitrogen reductions due to elevated CO 2 are often observed but are generally modest compared with effects of other management factors. New data collection efforts should be focused in areas of the world which are most sensitive to food security issues and most subject to global change, in particular humid semi-arid margins and subtropical grasslands. There remains no good basis for extrapolating findings between different pasture and rangeland systems. This synthesis indicates that greater focus is required on the linkages between the biophysical, social and economic factors that will influence future changes in pasture and rangeland ecosystems and their implications for food security.

THE GCTE SOIL EROSION NETWORK AND MODEL EVALUATION STUDIES

ABSTRACT A Core Research Project within the Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE) programme is the Soil Erosion Network. The objective of the Network is to identify the most suitable experimental and monitoring databases, and the most robust models for global change studies. Meetings at Oxford (1995) and Utrecht (1997) attempted to evaluate erosion models at both field and watershed scale using common data sets. While the results of the performance of the different models varied, useful conclusions of the model strengths and shortfalls were defined.

ORBITAL FORCING AND ENDOGENOUS NONLINEARITY IN THE PLEISTOCENE: THE GREENLAND ICE CORE

The succession of ice ages and interglacials during the Pleistocene is understood to have been caused primarily by shifts in the earth's orbit. At the same time, there is evidence of high variability in climate at suborbital frequencies. This paper conducts a statistical analysis of Pleistocene climate using the Greenland Ice Core Research Project (GRIP) data. Factoring temperature into the component explained by orbital forcing and a residual demonstrates that variations at suborbital frequencies are nonlinear and aperiodic. There is evidence of a regular cycle at 7.9 kyr, evidently a subharmonic of the orbital frequencies. Apart from this, however, the proximate memory of both the actual data and the residual decays slowly over a period of 15 kyr. Residual variations in temperature show two prominent features, alternating periods of high and low volatility, and states of distance from and proximity to the path implied by orbital forcing. A parametric model incorporating both of these properties is fit to the data, and is found to significantly improve the forecastability of climate. Transitions between states of proximity and distance from the orbital path can be partially predicted using the statistical model.

Exploring Macromolecular Interactions at High Resolution Using Electron Cryomicroscopy at NCMI

The National Center for Macromolecular Imaging (NCMI) is a resource supported by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of NIH. Its mission is to advance electron imaging of macromolecular assemblies to near atomic resolution. We have focused on biological assemblies which are too large or too complex to be studied by conventional x-ray crystallography or NMR spectroscopy techniques. As is the case with all the NCRR-supported facilities, we also conduct methodology development, collaboration, service, technology dissemination and training.The objectives of this Research Resource are to develop the technology of high resolution electron cryomicroscopy of biological macromolecules, assemblies and crystals in an integrated approach that includes specimen preparation, hardware and software development. A current methodology development includes the characterization of the 1k x 1k slow-scan CCD camera for both electron diffraction and imaging of ice-embedded specimens. These studies have defined the advantages and limitations of the CCD camera for electron crystallographic analysis. Another core research project deals with the problems of specimen movement due to the electron beam and/or charging and seeks to minimize these phenomena. Our efforts have resulted in a better understanding of the physics of charging. We have modified a Gatan ion-beam coater so that we can apply a thin layer of carbon onto ice-embedded specimens.