Prize Recipient Research Articles

MRS Bulletin selects inaugural Postdoctoral Publication Prize recipient

MRS Bulletin selects inaugural Postdoctoral Publication Prize recipient

Frontiers of Knowledge: An Interview with 2017 Edward Novitski Prize Recipient Jonathan Hodgkin.

The Genetics Society of America's Edward Novitski Prize recognizes a single experimental accomplishment or a body of work in which an exceptional level of creativity and intellectual ingenuity has been used to design and execute scientific experiments to solve a difficult problem in genetics. The 2017 winner, Jonathan Hodgkin, used elegant genetic studies to unravel the sex determination pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans He inferred the order of genes in the pathway and their modes of regulation using epistasis analyses-a powerful tool that was quickly adopted by other researchers. He expanded the number and use of informational suppressor mutants in C. elegans that are able to act on many genes. He also introduced the use of collections of wild C. elegans to study naturally occurring genetic variation, paving the way for SNP mapping and QTL analysis, as well as studies of hybrid incompatibilities between worm species. His current work focuses on nematode-bacterial interactions and innate immunity.

Helping Working Children through Consumocratic LawA Global South Perspective

AbstractOn the basis of an in-depth case study of a transnational governance scheme driven by consumers and designed to fight child labour in Southern Asia – RugMark (now GoodWeave), co-founded by Peace Nobel Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi – we identify and describe a number of characteristics peculiar to the consumocratic system of regulation, before examining the impact of information transparency within it. A number of theoretical scenarios emerge from the identification of four critical factors in the regulation of the societal information shared with consumocrats: (1) the degree of subjective veracity and comprehensiveness of available information; (2) the more or less comforting nature of this information; (3) the culminating outcomes to which it refers; and (4) its degree of objective veracity. All societal information is not theoretically bound to convey comforting messages to consumers inclined to consider the well-being of others. This message, while accurately reflecting the results achieved by local consumocratic organisations, may as well reflect the more or less controversial choices made in the pursuit of desirable goals, such as improving the fate of working children. It could also shed light on the flaws (e. g., ethical, technical, managerial) of this system of regulation by exposing its own limits to a better informed public. By opting for the transmission of messages subject to public controversy or worth a mea-culpa, the local regulators of this information would inevitably confront some risks (e. g., judicial, economic, socio-organisational). Under which conditions could these risks be reasonably taken? Quid of their likely impact on altruistic dispositions? From a pragmatic and Global South perspective, a non-paternalist analysis of transparency as a regulatory tool, it is shown, leads to recognising the utility of repositioning consumocratic activity on original, constitutional foundations, before envisaging the development of increasingly transparent and efficient tools in this regard.

2017 AGU Union Medal, Award, and Prize Recipients Announced

The world’s largest organization of Earth and space scientists honors 29 exceptional scientists and journalists.

Thomas Mann’s depiction of neurosyphilis and other diseases

ABSTRACTThomas Mann (1875–1955), a Nobel Prize recipient rightly considered one of the great novelists of the twentieth century, was one of the most medically perceptive writers of recent times. His novels take place against the background of the different plagues (tuberculosis, cholera) that characterized the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One of Mann’s later novels, Doctor Faustus, is set against a background of syphilis. In the 500-page book, which is subtitled The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkühn as told by a Friend, we see the theologian turned composer make a pact with the devil. He “voluntarily” contracts syphilis and, as a result of the pact and despite (or because of) the disease, Leverkühn starts a brilliant 24-year career, becoming the greatest German composer of his time. While it is widely thought that Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) is the model for Leverkühn, we will show that other composers of the time also inspired the fictitious musician’s life and works. We will also illustrate the parallel between Leverkühn’s disease progression and political events in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s and their similarity with current political events.

Shining Additional Light on Effective Teaching Best Practices in Accounting: Self-Reflective Insights from Cook Prize Winners

ABSTRACT The AAA/J. Michael and Mary Anne Cook/Deloitte Foundation Prize is an award designed to recognize up to three currently active faculty members annually for teaching excellence in accounting. This paper has a three-fold objective: (1) provide an additional mechanism for promoting the Cook Prize as a formal means of rewarding and—in the words of the Pathways Commission (2012)—“shining a light” on teaching excellence in accounting; (2) share with other accounting faculty the self-reflective insights on effective and ineffective teaching practices from the first six recipients of the Cook Prize; and (3) compare Cook Prize recipient responses to those of other accounting educator exemplars reported previously in the literature. With regard to categorical identification of effective and ineffective teaching practices, we find general agreement between Cook Prize recipients and accounting educator exemplars, as reported by Stout and Wygal (2010) and Wygal and Stout (2015). Further analysis identifies purposeful planning perspectives common to Cook Prize respondents that inform their teaching strategies. Collectively, these insights from accounting exemplars should be of interest to accounting faculty members who wish to improve their teaching effectiveness, to individuals considering a teaching career in accounting, and to those seeking to inform their professional/teaching development.

Introduction to the Special Issue Honoring the 2014 David E. Rumelhart Prize Recipient, Ray Jackendoff.

Introduction to the Special Issue Honoring the 2014 David E. Rumelhart Prize Recipient, Ray Jackendoff.

Commentary: Physicists without borders

Commentary: Physicists without borders

Biofortification pioneers recognized

Four scientists received the World Food Prize in October 2016 for work in biofortification. The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) applauds the prize committee for selecting scientists working in this area. The prize, in its 30th year, is awarded annually at a ceremony in Des Moines, IA. This year's recipients are all distinguished scientists working in biofortification: Maria Andrade, Howarth Bouis, Jan Low, and Robert Mwanga. And one of the World Food Prize recipients, Bouis, is also recipient of this year's CSSA Presidential Award. Biofortified crops have higher amounts of specific nutrients, like zinc or iron, upon harvest—with the plants doing the work. Bouis is one of the pioneers of biofortification and the founder of HarvestPlus. Mike Grusak, CSSA president, nominated Bouis for the 2016 award, even before learning of the World Food Prize nomination. “Howdy was instrumental in getting the HarvestPlus biofortification project started, with the principal goal of using agriculture to address human micronutrient deficiencies,” Grusak says. “His leadership in building interdisciplinary teams and his vision to focus on ‘Better Crops for Better Nutrition’ has helped show how agriculture can impact the health and food security of people throughout the world. Howdy truly deserves the CSSA Presidential Award and the recognition as a co-recipient of this year's World Food Prize!” Many foods are fortified during processing in developed countries, such as milk with vitamin D and commercial cereals with added iron. Populations with a limited diet and no access to fortified foods often suffer the health consequences of poor nutrition. But biofortification increases (or varies) nutrients in the crops themselves, making these nutrients more available worldwide. Jason Gillman, a crop scientist with the USDA-ARS, speaks to the importance of biofortification. “Many crop plants, while high yielding, are deficient in one or more essential nutrients. Biofortification is a process by which nutritional potential is improved through genetics, plant breeding, biotechnology, or agronomic practices.” Gillman is also the chairperson for CSSA's Biomedical, Health Beneficial, and Nutritionally Enhanced Plants Division. Ross Welch, Robin Graham, and Howdy Bouis visiting Turkey in 2016. Photo courtesy HarvestPlus. Howdy Bouis with Ellen Bergfeld, CEO of ACSESS, at the World Food Prize celebration. Photo by M. Pings. Another biofortification pioneer, Ross M. Welch, emeritus professor from Cornell University, remembers the first conversation he had with Bouis about the potential for biofortified crops. Bouis asked many researchers whether biofortification was possible. More often than not, the answer was yield would decrease at the expense of increased nutrients. Welch believed biofortifying crops could not only benefit human health, but also increase yields for some crops. Bouis and Welch, along with Robin Graham, University of Adelaide, Australia, began researching biofortification. According to Bouis, “Ross and Robin had published research to show that wheat seeds with higher zinc content were more vigorous and viable. Seedlings got a better start. Yields were higher.” From Bouis’ perspective, having the plants do some of the fortification work would save time and money. “Billions of dollars are spent annually in developing countries on supplementation and commercial fortification to address the problem of micronutrient malnutrition. Benefit-cost ratios are among the highest of any intervention that can be made. However, the same recurrent expenditures are incurred year after year.” Biofortification could avoid some of those recurring expenses. Over a decade of grant-writing and meetings ensued. The persistence paid off when the team secured funding “to set up the HarvestPlus organization that continues to breed, release, and distribute biofortified crops to farmers of the poorest of the poor in the developing world,” Welch says. “I am very proud of our accomplishments over the past 23 years. The award of the World Food Prize to Howdy now makes all our hard work worthwhile, and I hope that HarvestPlus continues to grow and spread nutritious staple food crops to the world.” Bouis adds, “I was honored to accept the World Food Prize on behalf of HarvestPlus staff and collaborating scientists, implementers, and their respective organizations. After many years, our collective effort has positioned us to aspire to reach a billion people by 2030. The prize gives us the visibility we need for scaling up and mainstreaming biofortified crops.” One type of crop Bouis has worked to biofortify is pulse crops. Pulses, such as dried beans and peas, are an important staple crop in many parts of the world. This year, CSSA has been celebrating the UN-declared International Year of Pulses. For more information about the CSSA's activities during this year, visit www.crops.org/iyp. To find out more about the World Food Prize, visit www.worldfoodprize.org.

A conversation about implicit bias

Explicit bias reflects our perceptions at a conscious level. In contrast, implicit bias is unintentional and operates at a level below our conscious awareness. Implicit stereotypes shaping implicit biases are widely studied in criminal justice, medicine, CEO selection at Fortune 500 companies, etc. However, the problem of unconscious bias remains. E.g., while women constitute an increasing proportion of all STEM undergraduates, they still make up only a small proportion of faculty members at research universities, and they are substantially under-represented in organizational leadership and as recipients of professional awards and prizes. Can we afford to have unintentional perceptions continue to hinder the success and advancement of women and other underrepresented groups? Can we afford to continue to underuse human capital in science? This session at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) aimed to illuminate what statisticians need to know and do to break the glass ceiling of implicit bias.

2016 AGU Union Medal, Award, and Prize Recipients Announced

The world's largest organization of Earth and space scientists honors 32 exceptional scientists and journalists.

Rational Choice Theory: Toward a Psychological, Social, and Material Contextualization of Human Choice Behavior

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the rational choice approach, followed by an identification of several of the major criticisms of RCT and its conceptual and empirical limitations. It goes on to present a few key initiatives to develop alternative, more realistic approaches which transcend some of the limitations of Rational Choice Theory (RCT). Finally, the article presents a few concluding reflections and a table comparing similarities and differences between the mainstream RCT and some of the initial components of an emerging choice theory. Our method has been to conduct a brief selective review of rational choice theoretical formulations and applications as well as a review of diverse critical literature in the social sciences where rational choice has been systematically criticized. We have focused on a number of leading contributors (among others, several Nobel Prize Recipients in economics, who have addressed rational choice issues). So this article makes no claim for completeness. The review maps a few key concepts and assumptions underpinning the conceptual model and empirical applications of RCT. It reviews also a range of critical arguments and evidence of limitations. It identifies selected emerging concepts and theoretical revisions and adaptations to choice theory and what they entail. The results obtained, based on our literature reviews and analyses, are the identification of several major limitations of RCT as well as selected modifications and adaptations of choice theory which overcome or promise to overcome some of the RCT limitations. Thus, the article with Table 1 in hand provides a point of departure for follow-up systematic reviews and more precise questions for future theory development. The criticisms and adaptations of RCT have contributed to greater realism, empirical relevance, and increased moral considerations. The developments entail, among other things: the now well-known cognitive limitations (“bounded rationality”) and, for instance, the role of satisficing rather than maximizing in decision-making to deal with cognitive complexity and the uncertainties of multiple values; choice situations are re-contextualized with psychology, sociology, economic, and material conditions and factors which are taken into account explicitly and insightfully in empirical and theoretical work. Part of the contextualization concerns the place of multiple values, role and norm contradictions, and moral dilemmas in much choice behavior. In conclusion, the article suggests that the adaptations and modifications made in choice theory have led to substantial fragmentation of choice theory and as of yet no integrated approach has appeared to simply displace RCT.

2015 AGU Union Medal, Award, and Prize Recipients Announced

The world's largest organization of Earth and space scientists honors 25 exceptional scientists and journalists.

How GI practice can benefit from social media.

Social media has broadly affected medicine, perhaps most publicly by enabling increased communication with and among patients and colleagues. One of the most popular social media tool is Twitter, a microblogging website, where communication is posted via short messages and links composed of 140 characters or less - known as ‘‘tweets.’’ Twitter has grown rapidly in popularity since its founding in 2006, with over 175 million users worldwide producing 65 million tweets daily. Professional Twitter chat sessions have recently emerged in different fields, whether pure educational or even only blogging during big conferences. Twitter discussion @ UEG Week 2014 was a new initiative by the UEG Young Talent Group for young UEG Week delegates as well as the young GI Network. The idea was to give young gastroenterologists the possibility to discuss scientific topics with senior experts by a novel virtual way. Two sessions were conducted covering “How GI practice can benefit from social media use” and was moderated by myself and a scientific discussion on Hot topics in GI Cancer by the UEG Research Prize recipient Rebecca Fitzgerald and co-moderated by Tomer Adar. The target group was young gastroenterologists and basic scientists, regardless if they attend UEG Week or not. I've participated in a lot of different Twitter chat sessions, but this was probably one of the most engaged and dynamic ones I've ever been a part of! It was quite an experience soaking in all the knowledge and information about how to use social media as a gastroenterologist. All of the conversations during this one-hour chat session really brought forth an interesting question - how do we manage our e-doctor life? During the next UEG Week 2015, we are planning for more twitter sessions with even more variety of subjects: Don't miss @my_ueg #WeekChat, Barcelona October 24–28, 2015 or in the meantime @twitter.com/my_ueg Mostafa IBRAHIM Member of UEG Young Talent Group Dept. of Gastroenterology and Hepatopancreatology Erasme Hospital Université Libre de Bruxelles Brussels, Belgium

ADHD Genes Also Influence Social, Cognitive Behaviors

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessADHD Genes Also Influence Social, Cognitive BehaviorsNick ZagorskiNick ZagorskiSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:20 Nov 2014https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2014.11b24AbstractGenetic variants associated with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD correlate with lower attention, memory, and social language skills in children without the disorder.While clinicians have to make categorical decisions when diagnosing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the traits that are characteristic of this disorder—inattentiveness, restlessness, impulsivity—occur at varying levels in every person.The question has been whether ADHD represents just an extreme of this natural spectrum or an abnormal state of inattention or impulsivity. Ruane Prize recipient Anita Thapar, M.B.B.Ch., Ph.D., presents her research at the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation symposium on how genetic variants for ADHD risk influence other behavioral traits.Mike CinelliSome new genetic studies suggest the former scenario may be the case. A team led by Anita Thapar, M.B.B.Ch., Ph.D., a professor at the Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales, found that a cluster of risk genes often found in children with ADHD was also associated with behavioral and cognitive traits among the general population.The group used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), a large study that has been monitoring children and their parents since 1991. They obtained genetic data for more than 8,200 ALSPAC children and gave each one a polygenic risk score based on the number of ADHD-associated gene variants they possessed Thapar had previously found that higher risk scores—composed from a library of thousands of individual variations that individually have a negligible effect on risk—were higher in children with a clinical ADHD diagnosis than in healthy controls. The new analysis in the ALSPAC group showed that a higher risk score also correlated with more inattention and hyperactivity in children without ADHD, as well as with traits such as pragmatic language, working memory, and IQ.“What’s interesting is that these traits are not typical diagnostic features of ADHD,” Thapar told Psychiatric News. “So these ADHD risk genes make contributions to other neurocognitive behaviors.”So in addition to providing molecular evidence to support the idea of ADHD as just one end of a broad behavioral spectrum, the findings also highlight the overlap between ADHD and related childhood disorders like autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the new DSM-5 category of social communication disorder.Other behaviors found in patients with ASD, such as social cognition and facial emotion recognition, were not associated with these risk genes, however.Thapar, who was the recipient of this year’s Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Research for her contributions to ADHD genetics, hopes that continued analysis and refinement of these risk scores may help identify children with potential learning or attention difficulties, even if they do not manifest as clinical ADHD. However, as a child clinician herself, she stressed the importance of not extrapolating the results too far in regard to how ADHD is diagnosed and treated. “These findings are exciting, but as clinicians, we cannot prescribe treatments based on what may happen in the future; our decision making can be based only on what we see and what we know,” she said.These genetic studies were published as two related papers in Biological Psychiatry and the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. The work was funded by the United Kingdom Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. ■An abstract of “Genetic Risk for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Contributes to Neurodevelopmental Traits in the General Population” can be accessed here. An abstract of “Neurocognitive Abilities in the General Population and Composite Genetic Risk Scores for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” is available here. ISSUES NewArchived

Commentary: The Wright Ross Salk Award: Reflection on a strong foundation leading to the robust future of pediatric psychology.

I feel grateful and privileged to receive the 2014 Society of Pediatric Psychology Wright Ross Salk Distinguished Service Award, named for three legendary pediatric psychologists who had the foresight to create the Society for Pediatric Psychology (SPP). It is my intent here to honor their contributions and highlight the gifts I have received through my membership in and affiliation with colleagues, friends, students, and trainees of Division 54. Logan Wright, Dorothea Ross, and Lee Salk are luminaries in the field of pediatric psychology. In fact, Dr. Ross received the SPP Distinguished Contributions Award in 1979, before I was even aware of pediatric psychology and before I had begun graduate school. As noted at that time, ‘‘She was one of the three who founded the Society in 1968, putting her great and sustained energy into this task’’ (Award Announcement, News and Notes, 1979). Dr. Ross was not able to attend the award presentation, but her remarks were read to the members of the Society in attendance, and her acceptance speech was reprinted in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology (1979), in which she noted: ‘‘I feel that the great strides made by the Society in a little over a decade should be numbered among the advances in pediatrics cited in connection with the International Year of the Child.’’ She went on to describe the ‘‘air of vigor and resiliency about the fledgling Society that foretold success, productivity, and longevity’’ and ‘‘our jubilation when the membership roster reached 100’’ (now at 1,600 members). Logan Wright was a pioneering founder of SPP and served as the Society’s first President in 1969. These organizational contributions occurred while he was a faculty member in pediatric psychology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Dr. Wright wrote the first seminal article about pediatric psychology, published in the American Psychologist in 1967: ‘‘Pediatric Psychology: A Role Model.’’ His writing about training for pediatricians paved the way for the pediatric subspecialty of developmental and behavioral pediatrics, physicians who continue to be primary collaborators with pediatric psychologists across the country. Following the American Psychologist article, Wright chaired the Committee on Pediatric Psychology as a subgroup of Division 12’s Section of Clinical Child Psychology, with both Dorothea Ross and Lee Salk as members of that committee. It is noteworthy that the founder of pediatric psychology also served as the President of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1986. Dr. Lee Salk, brother ofNobel Prize recipient (for the polio vaccine), Jonas Salk, served as the Director of Pediatric Psychology at Cornell University Medical Center. In a 1974 interview with People Magazine, he was described as ‘‘. . .one of America’s most admired practitioners in the contentious field of child psychology.’’ He was one of the founders and President of the Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services (Division 37) and awarded the first Distinguished Contributions Award from SPP. Dr. Salk was well known for televisionand print media interviewsduring the1960’s, which provided publicity for pediatric psychology and facilitated funding resources. The first meeting of the Society was held at the1968SanFranciscoAPAConvention,with theorganization initially referred to as the Society FOR Pediatric Psychology, eventually becoming the Society OF Pediatric Psychology. Each of these individuals played a leadership role in the establishment, promotion, and growth of SPP, now a thriving independent division of APA. This legacy of ‘‘distinguished service’’ is exemplified through the spirit of the SPP’s Wright Ross Salk Award, with this history being carried forward by other pediatric psychologists who continue to serve the Society and its members. A review of dictionaries highlighted various definitions of ‘‘distinguished service’’ including ‘‘characterized by excellence or distinction; noble or dignified in conduct or

2014 AGU Union Medalists, Awardees, and Prize Recipient Announced

On behalf of the Honors and Recognition Committee and the Union award selection committees, we are very pleased to present the 2014 AGU Union medals, awards, and prize recipients. We honor these individuals, whose passion for scientific excellence and outstanding achievements in advancing and communicating science significantly contribute to a better future for us all. Their work truly embodies AGU's vision to “advance and communicate science and its power to ensure a sustainable future.”

International Symposium on Frontiers in Materials Science 2013 Chairmen’s Foreword

In April 2009, the Leibniz Prize recipient and vice president of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, the German Science Foundation) Prof. Dr. Konrad Samwer from Georg-August Universitat in Gottingen gave the first DFG “Leibniz Lecture” in Hanoi, Vietnam. During his visit to Vietnam National University, he proposed the idea about the organization of a bilateral German-Vietnamese seminar on Materials Sciences, which would bring the scientists from the two countries together for a closer collaboration in the development of modern science in South-East Asia. The first German-Vietnamese Workshop on Frontiers in Materials Sciences (Hanoi, October 20–22, 2010) and Second Joint German-Vietnamese Symposium on Frontiers in Materials Sciences (Frankfurt, October 6–9, 2011) were the next fruitful steps along this line. At that time, the organizers decided to extend the bilateral meetings to a larger scale of an International Symposium on Frontiers in Materials Sciences (IS FMS), which would certainly be more beneficial not only for the Vietnamese and German scientists, but also for the scientists from other countries.

Fridtjof Kavli

Fridtjof Kavli

Dynamic Difference‐Form Contests

AbstractThis study presents a multistage contest designed by an organizer who chooses the (indivisible) winner prize together with the ranking scheme. When the organizer's objective is to maximize efforts, the optimal ranking scheme that selects the prize recipient coincides with a version of the piecewise linear difference‐form success function postulated by Che and Gale (2000). Even if the organizer's objective is not necessarily to maximize agents' effort, a noisy ranking of the difference‐form remains optimal.