Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research Research Articles

Future Finland – A nationwide Finnish multidisciplinary birth cohort initiative

Abstract Increasing evidence suggests that early-life conditions may have substantial consequences on individual health and wellbeing throughout the lifecycle. Development of complex social and health issues may be best understood through longitudinal studies that combine the perspectives of social and health sciences. Future Finland aims to collect a nationwide lifelong data resource that through collaborative multidisciplinary research will strengthen future population welfare. Future Finland will be based on index children born in Finland (43.000/year) during a specific time period. National registers and other administrative data sources will provide data for the age cohort (children), their parents and siblings, with special effort on data from more rarely used sources (e.g., electronic health records, school records). Subsets of cohort members will be recruited in early pregnancy (consent) to undergo deeper data collection through questionnaires, biological and environmental samples and measurements, and digital monitoring data (e.g., physical activity, citizens digital footprint). The Future Finland preparatory phase started in 2023 at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). The Future Finland design and focus areas are currently being planned based on identified information gaps and with consultations of experts from other birth cohort studies. Data collection is planned to start in 2025 by piloting and foreseen to expand to full-scale in 2027-2028. The Future Finland data resource will be made available for the entire research community as openly as possible, at the same time maintaining the highest possible data security standards to protect privacy now and in the future. Future Finland enables novel interdisciplinary research and intervention setups, which will strengthen the knowledge base for societal decision-making and promote the future population welfare. Future Finland is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. Key messages • Future Finland initiative will collect a nationwide lifelong data resource enabling novel cross-disciplinary research designs to produce groundbreaking and impactful scientific results. • A larger-scale use of data enables novel interdisciplinary research and intervention setups strengthening the knowledge base for societal decision-making and promoting the future population welfare.

Prioritising animals for Yirralka Ranger management and research collaborations in the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, northern Australia

Context Amidst growing international calls for inclusive conservation and a backdrop of declining species and cultural diversity, Indigenous-led approaches that offer opportunities for biocultural benefits are of growing interest. Species prioritisation is one area that can be decolonised, shifting from quantitative, large-scale threatened species metrics to pluralistic, place-based approaches that include culturally significant species. Aim This study aimed to establish a list of priority animals of concern to Ŋaḻapaḻmi (senior knowledge holders) in the Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, north-eastern Arnhem Land, Australia. This list could focus the research and management efforts of the Yirralka Rangers and collaborators. Methods Adhering to local governance structures, through six group-elicitation sessions, Ŋaḻapaḻmi were asked to identify animals of concern and describe reasons for concern. Existing occurrence records and threat status of these species were compiled to assess baseline data and guide next steps. Results The Ŋaḻapaḻmi-defined Laynhapuy Priority Animal List contained 30 animals (species/groups), with the highest-ranked animals including Marrtjinyami wäyin (walking animals), Rupu (possums), and Djanda (goannas), all mammals and varanid lizards. The list of 30 animals included 43 species from a Western-science perspective, of which 12 were also listed as threatened through Western conservation frameworks. Some animals were considered high priority locally, such as the waṉ’kurra (northern brown bandicoot, Isoodon macrourus), although not a concern from a Western-science perspective, demonstrating mismatch between local and larger-scale approaches. To help disentangle whether this mismatch is due to cultural significance and/or localised decline not captured at larger-scale assessments, we provide the animal’s publicly known Yolŋu clan connections and reasons for concern alongside existing baseline occurrence data. Recent collaborative surveys have substantially increased data for Laynhapuy Priority Animals, demonstrating the benefits of community engaged wildlife research. Conclusions Multidisciplinary research collaborations can produce Indigenous-led ‘working’ lists of priority animals to guide culturally attuned on-ground action. Approaches that draw on different cultural knowledge systems require interrogation of how knowledge is created and conveyed to ensure mutual comprehension and practical use. Implications Indigenous-led approaches offer possibilities for enhanced management of species by local groups, with anticipated co-benefits to species and cultural knowledge.

Research Progress in the Prevention and Control of Hospital-acquired Infections in Neonatal Units

Neonatal hospital-acquired infections are an important problem affecting the health and life safety of newborns. This paper reviews the research progress on the prevention and control of hospital-acquired infections in neonatology, discusses the risk factors of hospital-acquired infections in neonatology, summarizes the effective preventive and control measures such as strengthening the training and education on hospital-acquired infections, reducing invasive diagnostic and therapeutic operations, implementing disinfecting and isolating measures, rationally using antibiotics, and improving immunity for newborns, etc., and introduces common monitoring and detection techniques such as bacterial culture and drug susceptibility testing, molecular biology testing techniques, and biomarker detection and application. marker detection and application, and other commonly used surveillance and detection techniques. Future research should focus on strengthening the monitoring and study of pathogen resistance, optimizing the diagnosis and treatment process, strengthening the infection prevention and control training for healthcare workers, improving the infection prevention and control system in neonatal hospitals, and carrying out multidisciplinary collaborative research, so as to effectively reduce the incidence of infections and safeguard the health and safety of neonates.

Treatment strategies for borderline resectable pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors: a narrative review.

Well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) are a group of rare, heterogeneous tumors that originate in the endocrine tissue of the pancreas and account for 1-2% of all pancreatic neoplasms. The majority of pNETs are non-functional and typically follow a more indolent course. Especially at early stages, the primary management of pNETs is surgical resection which is associated with relatively low rates of recurrence and excellent long-term prognosis. On the other hand, some patients will present with locally advanced primary tumors or low volume metastatic disease in which complete surgical resection may be more difficult to achieve and recurrence rates are significant. Unlike treatment of borderline resectable (BR) pancreatic adenocarcinoma, in which neoadjuvant treatment strategies are becoming standardized, borderline resectability is not a currently established terminology for pNETs and the optimal multidisciplinary treatment approach is poorly understood. We performed a literature search on PubMed, Google Scholar, and ClinicalTrials.gov using keywords, including 'pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor' and 'borderline resectable'. All studies and review articles in English with full text were considered. Each publication was independently reviewed. We introduce the concept of BR-pNETs, focusing on important criteria that should be included in their definition by balancing the feasibility of resection and the clinical utility of surgery. We suggest that extended resection, involving vascular reconstruction, adjacent organ resection, and/or liver metastasis, should be considered at experienced, high volume centers. Furthermore, we outline multidisciplinary treatment strategies, including systemic and locoregional treatment options, for optimizing outcomes for this growing patient population. Formalizing the definition of resectability in pNETs through multidisciplinary collaborative research will be important for standardizing the indications for multimodality treatment and aggressive surgical approaches for patients.

New EAU/ASCO guideline recommendations on sentinel node biopsy for penile cancer and remaining challenges from a nuclear medicine perspective.

The European Association of Urology (EAU) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently issued updated guidelines on penile cancer, emphasising dynamic sentinel node biopsy (DSNB) as the preferred method for surgical staging among patients with invasive penile tumours and no palpable inguinal lymphadenopathy. This paper outlines the rationale behind this new recommendation and describes remaining challenges, as well as strategies for promoting DSNB worldwide. DSNB offers high diagnostic accuracy with the lowest postoperative complications compared to open or minimally invasive inguinal lymph node dissection (ILND), prompting its preference in the new guidelines. Nevertheless, despite its advantages, there are challenges hampering the widespread adoption of DSNB. This includes the false-negative rate associated with DSNB and the potential negative impact on patient outcome. To address this issue, improvements should be made in several areas, including refining the timing and interpretation of the lymphoscintigraphy and the single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography images. In addition, the quantity of tracer employed and choice of the injection site for the radiopharmaceutical should be optimised. Finally, limiting the removal of nodes without tracer activity during surgery may help minimise complication rates. Over the years, DSNB has evolved significantly, related to the dedicated efforts and innovations in nuclear medicine and subsequent clinical studies validating its efficacy. It is now strongly recommended for surgical staging among selected penile cancer patients. To optimise DSNB further, multidisciplinary collaborative research is required to improve SN identification for better diagnostic accuracy and fewer complications.

The Application of Nature-Based Solutions for Urban Heat Island Mitigation in Asia: Progress, Challenges, and Recommendations.

Unprecedented urbanization in Asia affects the net radiation and energy flux of urban areas in the form of urban heat islands (UHI). The application of nature-based solutions (NbS) via urban green and blue infrastructures is a promising approach to mitigate UHI via urban boundary condition modifications, which affect the energy balance. This narrative review discusses the application of green and blue infrastructures in the Asian context by highlighting its progress, challenges, and recommendations. This review is descriptive in nature and includes perspectives on the discussed topics. Studies on the application of green and blue infrastructures in UHI mitigation are still scant in Asia. Their cooling performance is greatly influenced by their types, size, geometry, surface roughness, spread (threshold distance), temporal scales, topography, pollution levels, prevailing climate, and assessment techniques. Distinct urban characteristics, climatic conditions, environmental risks, lack of awareness and expertise, lack of policy and government incentives, and limited scientific studies are the major challenges in their implementation of UHI mitigation in Asia. Although green and blue infrastructures are associated with urban cooling, more in-depth experimental work and multidisciplinary research collaboration are paramount to exploring its implementation potential in Asia and other countries that share similar urban and environmental characteristics.

Synthetic 18F labeled biomolecules that are selective and promising for PET imaging: major advances and applications.

The concept of positron emission tomography (PET) based imaging was developed more than 40 years ago. It has been a widely adopted technique for detecting and staging numerous diseases in clinical settings, particularly cancer, neuro- and cardio-diseases. Here, we reviewed the evolution of PET and its advantages over other imaging modalities in clinical settings. Primarily, this review discusses recent advances in the synthesis of 18F radiolabeled biomolecules in light of the widely accepted performance for effective PET. The discussion particularly emphasizes the 18F-labeling chemistry of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, oligonucleotides, peptides, and protein molecules, which have shown promise for PET imaging in recent decades. In addition, we have deliberated on how 18F-labeled biomolecules enable the detection of metabolic changes at the cellular level and the selective imaging of gross anatomical localization via PET imaging. In the end, the review discusses the future perspective of PET imaging to control disease in clinical settings. We firmly believe that collaborative multidisciplinary research will further widen the comprehensive applications of PET approaches in the clinical management of cancer and other pathological outcomes.

Exploring the Potential Link between Aluminum-Containing Deodorants/Antiperspirants and Breast Cancer: A Comprehensive Review.

The potential association between aluminum-containing deodorants/antiperspirants and breast cancer has been investigated and debated. This paper comprehensively analyzes existing literature to examine the evidence and provide insights into this relationship. This comprehensive review discusses aspects related to the absorption and distribution of aluminum compounds, its effects on the induction of oxidative stress, the estrogenic activity of aluminum, and potential disruption of hormonal pathways, and the potential role in breast cancer induction. Currently, available research, consisting of epidemiological studies as well as clinical trials, together with meta-analyses and previously published reviews conducted on identifying the relationship between aluminum-containing deodorants/antiperspirants and the risk of breast cancer were also analyzed and discussed. Societal factors, personal hygiene considerations, and lifestyle changes contribute to the increased usage of antiperspirants, but they do not establish a direct causal connection with breast cancer. Further research employing larger-scale studies and rigorous methodologies must validate the existing findings and explore the underlying mechanisms involved. Continued multidisciplinary research efforts and collaboration between researchers, regulatory bodies, and public health authorities are vital to developing a more definitive understanding of this complex topic.

Cost-effectiveness analysis design for interventions to prevent children's oral disease.

In 2015, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) launched the Multidisciplinary Collaborative Research Consortium to Reduce Oral Health Disparities in Children, supporting four randomized trials testing strategies to improve preventive care. A Coordinating Center provides scientific expertise, data acquisition and quality assurance services, safety monitoring, and final analysis-ready datasets. This paper describes the trials' economic analysis strategies, placing these strategies within the broader context of contemporary economic analysis methods. The Coordinating Center established a Cost Collaborative Working Group to share information from the four trials about the components of their economic analyses. Study teams indicated data sources for their economic analysis using a set of structured tables. The Group meets regularly to share progress, discuss challenges, and coordinate analytic approaches. All four trials will calculate incremental cost-effectiveness ratios; two will also conduct cost-utility analyses using proxy diseases to estimate health state utilities. Each trial will consider at least two perspectives. Key process measures include dental services provided to child participants. The non-preference-weighted Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) will measure oral health-related quality of life. All trials are measuring training, implementation, personnel and supervision, service, supplies, and equipment costs. Consistent with best practices, all four trials have integrated economic analysis during their planning stages. This effort is critical since poor quality or absence of essential data can limit retrospective analysis. Integrating economic analysis into oral health preventive intervention research can provide guidance to clinicians and practices, payers, and policymakers.

Design research for menopause: a scoping review

More than half the global population experience menopause, of which a significant number are in part-time or full-time employment. Research on labour force participation reports that employment is often interrupted during the menopausal transition due to difficulties accessing timely medical support and social discrimination. These interruptions result in the loss of professional expertise for employers and financial security for employees. To identify the characteristics of and gaps in design research for menopause we conducted a scoping review of the literature. We sourced and analysed 24 articles, mapping them according to their alignment with three conceptual framings of menopause from the sociology of medicine; a medicalized condition requiring pharmacological treatment, a natural life stage that is managed with complementary therapies, and a demedicalized issue where illness and health are framed as always socially situated. We found that the articles on menopause were relatively evenly distributed across the medicalized and demedicalized framings, with fewer developed within a natural framing. Our findings offer design researchers an overview of frameworks that are commonly used in health research and that we see as productive for further multidisciplinary research collaborations for menopause, and for research concerning the intersections of gender, sexualities, ageing and health more broadly.

Pandemic Preparedness

Pandemics will continue to threaten public health and even mankind; what we have learned from past events has been published manyfold, e.g., by WHO. Pathogens with pandemic potential have been identified and, as the “post-pandemic period is the pre-pandemic period”, organizations and structures with the appropriate financial and human resources to prepare for pandemics are needed within a framework of global collaboration. Past successes in pandemic preparedness came from decades of multidisciplinary research collaboration and support for basic sciences; thus, to translate innovation into usable products, long-term investments in basic research are essential. The “One Health Approach” acknowledges that humans, animals and the environment form an interconnected framework for emerging “new” pathogens that may in the future cross the species barrier. The 2010 Nagoya protocol (UNTC) should be fully implemented. Once all of the above points have been considered and implemented, “ad hoc” vaccine production capacities and the logistics for distribution and vaccination need to be readily available. Sufficient funding is crucial not only before, but also early on during a pandemic to guarantee that sufficient amounts of life-saving products are available for all populations. Regulatory responses allowing rapid evaluation of new vaccines without compromising product safety form another cornerstone for successfully fighting pandemics. Pre-pandemic preparedness efforts must be sustained, even if other urgent public health matters need to be addressed today.

Solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from a nine-country interview study in Europe

Calls for solidarity have been an ubiquitous feature in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we know little about how people have thought of and practised solidarity in their...

Sociological Imaginations for Anti-Racist Futures: An Interview with Dr Prudence Carter

In this interview, Dr Prudence Carter, 2021–2022 President-Elect of the American Sociological Association, discusses how sociology can contribute to anti-racist futures across national contexts. Her insights point to the need for greater self-awareness in sociology regarding race and racism, for clarification of our aims and for better articulation and translation of popularized theoretical concepts, such as structural racism, to the general public. To achieve radical inclusion in the future, she highlights the importance of engaging in public and policy sociology, by explaining and substantiating policies and practices derived from our research. She also underscores the significance and value of comparative cross-national and multidisciplinary collaborative research. Most importantly, she brings to the fore the necessity of imagining new epistemological and methodological approaches to study the conditions that will enable our societies to attain equitable and anti-racist futures. Fundamentally, this involves extending our sociological imaginations.

TECoSA – Trends, Drivers, and Strategic Directions for Trustworthy Edge Computing in Industrial Applications

ABSTRACTTECoSA – a university‐based research center in collaboration with industry – was established early in 2020, focusing on Trustworthy Edge Computing Systems and Applications. This article summarizes and assesses the current trends and drivers regarding edge computing. In our analysis, edge computing provided by mobile network operators will be the initial dominating form of this new computing paradigm for the coming decade. These insights form the basis for the research agenda of the TECoSA center, highlighting more advanced use cases, including AR/VR/Cognitive Assistance, cyber‐physical systems, and distributed machine learning. The article further elaborates on the identified strategic directions given these trends, emphasizing testbeds and collaborative multidisciplinary research.

Working through Boundaries

It is commonly assumed that multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research collaborations involve various values, knowledge, and practices, thereby existing between science and policy. This study argues, oppositely, that multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research collaborations are socially constructed and not to be taken for granted. To support its argument, this article uses the concept of boundary work to see how the interaction between science and policy is constructed. Taking as its case study the Ground Up consortium, a collaborative water management research programme involving the Netherlands and Indonesia, this study finds that boundary work generated and formed boundaries between science and policy through a joint call for proposal documents, research proposals, and three people operating at boundaries. Furthermore, this article shows that the collaborative research in the Ground Up consortium was a social process evidenced through three mediums: text, object, and person. This qualitative research thus uses a single-case study to explore boundary work in a consortium setting. Data were collected through a review of documents (meeting notes, research proposals, and calls for proposals) as well as in-depth interviews with three members of the Ground Up consortium.

The Impacts of Urbanisation and Climate Change on the Urban Thermal Environment in Africa

Rapid urbanisation is affecting people in different ways, with some becoming more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Africa’s cities are projected to be home to nearly 60% of the continent’s population by 2050. In conjunction with climate change, these cities are experiencing critical environmental challenges, including changes in the urban thermal environment. Urban areas generally exhibit significantly higher air and surface temperatures than their surrounding rural areas, resulting in urban heat islands. However, little has been done to synthesise existing knowledge and identify the key research gaps in this area, particularly in Africa. This paper focuses on the combined effects of urbanisation and climate change on the urban thermal environment in Africa, and provides a comprehensive review of results, major advances and the dominant direction of research. Our review of 40 publications from peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2021 revealed that South Africa, Ethiopia and Nigeria were most frequently studied, and satellite imagery-based data and analysis were used predominantly. Results from a few studies have shown the practical implications for urban land-use planning, informal settlement management, human wellbeing and productivity, energy use, air pollution and disease spread. Integrated approaches, strengthening planning institutions, and early warning systems are proposed to address climate change. Low-income groups are emphasised in efforts to help people cope with heat stress. Solutions based on land use and land cover dynamics and blue–green infrastructure are mentioned but are in need of further research. Cities with similar patterns of urbanisation, geographies and climate conditions could benefit from multi-disciplinary research collaboration to address the combined impacts of rapid urbanisation and climate change.

Is the ocean science data repository, JOISS able to be FAIR?

As the global open science movement has recently proven its effectiveness in responding to the corona pandemic, research on disciplinary or institutional data repositories and establishing service platforms for the open and sharing research data are also active in Korea. The purpose of the research data repository is not to manage data per se but to discover and innovate knowledge and to integrate and reuse subsequent data and knowledge. Therefore, recent repository-related studies emphasize implementing the FAIR principle in this collaborative process, from observation to data documentation, data combination, quality control, and data publication. In particular, high-level data interoperability through the FAIR implementation of the repository is essential for ocean observation that requires multidisciplinary collaborative research. In Korea, ocean observatory organizations have repositories, including the ocean science data repository, JOISS; however, no studies evaluate the establishment and operation of data repositories in the FAIR principle. Therefore, this study aims to examine the construction process and data management status of the JOISS repository and the main functions and services of the web platform in terms of the data lifecycle and evaluate The FAIR principle of Open Science works in such an operating system and its limitations. The study provides implications for the improvement direction of data management and services of domestic marine repositories, including the JOISS, in an environment where the diversity and volume of data are rapidly increasing along with the evolution of ocean observation.

Research Ready Grant Program (RRGP) protocol: a model for collaborative multidisciplinary practice–research partnerships

BackgroundLittle attention has been given to the process of implementing or evaluating a structured academic–clinician (university–health service) research capacity-building (RCB) model within healthcare settings. We have developed a model for collaborative multidisciplinary practice–research partnerships called the Research Ready Grant Program (RRGP). The RRGP is informed by Cooke’s (BMC Fam Pract 6:44, 2005) RCB framework and principles. The aim of the study outlined in this protocol is to conduct a process and outcome evaluation of the programme. We will explore how the RRGP's structured mentor model contributes to RCB of clinician-led multidisciplinary research teams. We will identify key factors at the organization, team and individual levels that affect research capacity of health professionals working in one regional health service district. This protocol describes the RRGP design and outlines the methods we will employ to evaluate an RCB programme, the RRGP, delivered in a regional health service in Australia.MethodsThe study will adopt an exploratory concurrent mixed-methods approach designed to evaluate the process of implementing an RCB model across one regional hospital and health service. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods over a 12-month period will be implemented. Data triangulation will be applied to capture the complex issues associated with implementing collaborative multidisciplinary practice–research partnerships.DiscussionThe RRGP is an innovative RCB model for clinicians in their workplace. It is expected that the programme will facilitate a culture of collaborative multidisciplinary research and strengthen hospital–university partnerships.

A bibliometric analysis of highly cited insulin resistance publications in Science Citation Index Expanded

Bibliometrics methods are commonly used to analyse and compare scientific performance. At present there are no bibliometric analyses on insulin resistance (IR) publications. In this study, we analysed highly-cited IR publications. The analysis presented is based on Web of Science (WoS): Science Citation Index Expanded. Total citations (TC), citation in latest year, citation per publication, number of authors, and collaborations were analysed. Most productive institutes and authors were also identified. Our search identified 103,742 documents including 72,909 articles related to IR. A total of 167 highly-cited documents (0.016% of 103,742 documents) with TC 2019 of≥1,000 in IR research were identified inclusive of 124 highly-cited articles, which were all written in English. These highly-cited documents were mainly published in the journal Nature and for most of them, the WoS category was “multidisciplinary-sciences”. United States of America was the country which has published most number of the highly-cited publications. Harvard University held the highest rank with the most number of highly-cited papers. Collaborative multidisciplinary research were common in the field of IR. Majority of the publications were arising from developed countries and highly-ranked institutions. More research should be encouraged in developing countries where IR remains a significant issue. • Collaborative multidisciplinary research were common in the field of insulin resistance. • Common research fields of insulin resistance publications identified focused on identification and molecular mechanisms. • Publications on its role in the pathogenesis of a plethora of metabolic diseases were also common. • Majority of the publications were arising from developed countries and highly-ranked institutions.

Updates in Functional Movement Disorders: from Pathophysiology to Treatment Advances.

Purpose of ReviewThis review discusses advances in functional movement disorders (FMD) over the past 3 years, with a focus on risk factors, diagnosis, pathophysiology, neuroimaging studies, and treatment.Recent FindingsThe past decade has brought a revived interest in functional movement disorders, with a growing number of studies exploring pathophysiological mechanisms. Here, we review recent studies demonstrating changes in attention, emotional and sensorimotor function in FMD. Through international collaborative efforts, progress has been made in defining biomarkers and outcome measures, an important prerequisite towards standardization of diagnosis and reporting of outcomes in clinical trials. Of particular interest are neuroimaging studies demonstrating functional and structural changes in motor and emotional brain circuits, deepening our understanding of FMD as a neurocircuit disorder and potentially paving the way towards new treatments. Currently available treatment modalities have shown successful outcomes via outpatient, inpatient, and virtual delivery.SummaryThe last 3 years have seen tremendous efforts to better understand, diagnose, and treat FMD. The disease model has been broadened to include a biopsychosocial formulation, and insights on the pathophysiology on FMD are informing treatment efforts. Several international multidisciplinary research collaborations are underway to define biomarkers and best outcome measures, highlighting the path towards improved standardization of future treatment trials. Additionally, the rise of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced geographic barriers and paved the way for virtual therapy sessions and self-guided programs.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11910-022-01192-9.