scholarly journals Database thinking and deep description: designing a digital archive of the National Synchrotron Light Source

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. i46-i57
Author(s):  
Robert Crease ◽  
Elyse Graham ◽  
Jamie Folsom

Abstract Over the past few years, research carried out at large-scale materials science facilities in the USA and elsewhere has undergone a phase transition that affected its character and culture. Research cultures at these facilities now resemble ecosystems, comprising of complex and evolving interactions between individuals, institutions, and the overall research environment. The outcome of this phase transition, which has been gradual and building since the 1980s, is known as the New (or Ecologic) Big Science [Crease, R. and Westfall, C. (2016). The new big science. Physics Today, 69: 30–6]. In this article, we describe this phase transition, review the practical challenges that it poses for historians, review some potential digital tools that might respond to these challenges, and then assess the theoretical implications posed by “database history’.

2002 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
J.A. Wils

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, with approximately 300,000 new cases and 200,000 related deaths in Europe and the USA each year. Adjuvant treatment of colorectal cancer is now widely accepted and can reduce mortality with approximately 10%. This can be considered as one of the major achievements in oncology from the past decade. Current results will be discussed and strategies for the future will be outlined, including on-going or planned large-scale trials with new drugs and approaches.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 2709-2720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Myhre ◽  
Wenche Aas ◽  
Ribu Cherian ◽  
William Collins ◽  
Greg Faluvegi ◽  
...  

Abstract. Over the past few decades, the geographical distribution of emissions of substances that alter the atmospheric energy balance has changed due to economic growth and air pollution regulations. Here, we show the resulting changes to aerosol and ozone abundances and their radiative forcing using recently updated emission data for the period 1990–2015, as simulated by seven global atmospheric composition models. The models broadly reproduce large-scale changes in surface aerosol and ozone based on observations (e.g. −1 to −3 % yr−1 in aerosols over the USA and Europe). The global mean radiative forcing due to ozone and aerosol changes over the 1990–2015 period increased by +0.17 ± 0.08 W m−2, with approximately one-third due to ozone. This increase is more strongly positive than that reported in IPCC AR5. The main reasons for the increased positive radiative forcing of aerosols over this period are the substantial reduction of global mean SO2 emissions, which is stronger in the new emission inventory compared to that used in the IPCC analysis, and higher black carbon emissions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
Cheryl A. Logan

Rodents as standardized test animals were developed for commercial distribution in the USA between 1910 and the 1930s. The selective breeding of rats (Rattus norvegicus) and pure-bred mice (Mus musculus) at the Wistar Institute and the Jackson Memorial Laboratories eventually led to a decline in the diversity of species used in American medical and life sciences. The early driving figures, science administrator Milton Greenman and the scientists Henry Donaldson and Clarence Little, sought to standardize animals to render science and its application to humanity more precise. But their efforts were exaggerated in the USA through an expanding industrial and engineering ideal, culminating in a preference for Big Science. I explore the nineteenth century origins of this ideal in Emil Du Bois-Reymond’s neurophysiology. This foundation later merged with increasing standardization, American commercialism, and the success of Big Science to transform animal laboratory “standards” into “model animals.” Recent accounts of research with commercially bred mice reveal how findings can be co-constructed using human clinical data, as animal research is applied to humans. The neglect of evolutionary perspectives and the dominance of “models” may even have begun with the government’s post-war emphasis on funding greater species access for large-scale biomedical research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Lindgaard Hoeyer

<span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: x-small;"><p>During the past ten years the complex ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) typically surrounding large-scale genetic biobank research initiatives have been intensely debated in academic circles. In many ways genetic epidemiology has undergone a set of changes resembling what in physics has been called a transition into Big Science. This article outlines consequences of this transition and suggests that the change in scale implies challenges to the roles of scientists and public alike. An overview of key issues is presented, and it is argued that biobanks represent not just scientific endeavors with purely epistemic objectives, but also political projects with social implications. As such, they demand clever maneuvering among social interests to succeed.</p></span></span>


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
H. S. Heera ◽  
◽  
S. S. H. Najar ◽  

The review provides generalized data on the verification of the effectiveness of the method of alternative bioenergetic medicine Reiki of non-traditional bioenergy medicine Reiki with the tools of modern evidence-based medicine over the past two decades. The general principles of the therapy, the history of the method emergence and its spread in Japan, the USA and European countries are described. The purpose of the study. The study was conducted in order to determine the possibility of using the Reiki method in physical therapy and rehabilitation of patients. The most large-scale studies of Reiki effectiveness in pain overcoming, restoring the anatomical integrity of tissues and organs, functional range of motion and sensitivity recovery have been identified. It was noted that in small studies of Reiki effectiveness for overcoming anxiety, pain, depression, in the complex rehabilitation of victims of violence, some positive effects of the method were found, which are almost never taken into account by the authors of systematic and meta-analyzes due to the incomprehensible design of primary studies, low level of evidence, small groups of examined patients. There was no evidence of the effectiveness of the Reiki method in physical therapy and rehabilitation in contact, non-contact and remote execution. Even the existence of a "biofield", the correction of which is carried out by Reiki masters, is considered by most medical scientists to be fiction. However, individual facts about the improvement of the psychological state of patients, changes in biochemical parameters, as well as interest in the method by researchers from different countries over the past decades, are the basis for continuing research on the effectiveness of the method. Conclusion. The subjective satisfaction of some of the patients for whom the Reiki method was applied in rehabilitation and physical therapy exceeds the clinical effects verified by the methods of a double placebo-controlled randomized trial. Therefore, the Reiki method cannot be recommended as the only therapeutic method, but can be included in the complex of physical therapy methods as an additional method and provided that its action is understood as a placebo. Further studies of the method can be considered appropriate due to the good acceptance by many patients in the described studies, which were analyzed in the review, the interest of researchers from different countries and the absence of harm to patients


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-609 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Westfall

In the early 1980s, David Shirley tried to launch a new synchrotron light source for materials science at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL). Building accelerators was LBL's stock-in-trade. Yet with the Advanced Light Source (ALS) nothing proceeded as in the past. Whereas nuclear and high energy physicists had been happy when funding was procured for new machines, materials scientists were irritated to learn that Shirley had brokered a deal with Presidential Science Advisor George Keyworth to fund the ALS. Materials scientists valued accelerators less because materials science had benefitted less from large-scale devices; such devices were therefore uncommon in their field. The project also faced competition and the criticism that LBL managers wanted it only to help their laboratory weather the threatening times that came with Ronald Reagan and his promise to cut the size of government (and in fact that was a part of the rationale). The ALS also suffered because Shirley's deal was ill-suited for Washington in the 1980s. Scientists were less influential than in previous decades and a more robust federal bureaucracy controlled funding. Other ALS advocates eventually crafted a convincing scientific justification, recruited potential users, and guided the proposal through materials science reviews and the proper Washington channels. Although one-on-one deal making àà la Ernest Lawrence was a relic of the past, Shirley did bargain collectively with other directors, paving the way for ALS funding and a retooling of the national laboratories and materials science: in the 1990s and 2000s the largest Department of Energy accelerators were devoted to materials science, not nuclear or high-energy physics.


Author(s):  
John L. Hutchison

Over the past five years or so the development of a new generation of high resolution electron microscopes operating routinely in the 300-400 kilovolt range has produced a dramatic increase in resolution, to around 1.6 Å for “structure resolution” and approaching 1.2 Å for information limits. With a large number of such instruments now in operation it is timely to assess their impact in the various areas of materials science where they are now being used. Are they falling short of the early expectations? Generally, the manufacturers’ claims regarding resolution are being met, but one unexpected factor which has emerged is the extreme sensitivity of these instruments to both floor-borne and acoustic vibrations. Successful measures to counteract these disturbances may require the use of special anti-vibration blocks, or even simple oil-filled dampers together with springs, with heavy curtaining around the microscope room to reduce noise levels. In assessing performance levels, optical diffraction analysis is becoming the accepted method, with rotational averaging useful for obtaining a good measure of information limits. It is worth noting here that microscope alignment becomes very critical for the highest resolution.In attempting an appraisal of the contributions of intermediate voltage HREMs to materials science we will outline a few of the areas where they are most widely used. These include semiconductors, oxides, and small metal particles, in addition to metals and minerals.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (50) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Marcelo Da Silva Leite ◽  
Celeste Gaia

Over the past decade due the expansion of globalization there has been an increasing emphasis on internationalization among faculty, administration and accrediting agencies in the Higher Education.  Although to promote internationalization in the Higher Education, costs are a big challenge, one way to have the international actions with low cost, it is seeking for grants from different governmental agencies and foundations.The Fulbright Scholar program provides a long-standing and externally-funded means for internationalizing college and university curriculum. This article is going to share the perspective   of a Brazilian Fulbright Scholar at an American college and the institution perspective of the Fulbright scholar participation at the College.


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