The patent landscape for developing scientometric library services (as exemplified by the discipline of Microbiology)

The author discusses the modern research tools in various domains of science and industry based on integrated assessment of scientometric indicators and patent analysis. Excerpts of microbiological research papers published in Russia and worldwide are included. The data on researchers’ inventive work and publication activities are cited. The possibility for using patent landscapes in assessing research and industrial domains is examined. The author argues that building patent landscapes is a quality tool to identify the most promising vectors of development. He demonstrates that the most research and development activities are concentrated in the countries with the largest numbers of patent applications. In Russia, the government-funded organizations make the key driving force in the scientific studies and technologies in the national microbiology. In analyzing vast data volumes, patent landscapes enable to improve the quality of analysis visualization and get reliable data on the subject of research owing to multidimensional analytical representations. The author insists that building patent landscape services might become one of science libraries’ key functions.

AgMIP Regional Integrated Assessment of Agricultural Systems in Nioro, Senegal

The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) developed protocol-based methods for Regional Integrated Assessment (RIA) of agricultural systems. These methods have been applied by teams of scientists working with regional and national stakeholders across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This paper describes the data sets that were used to implement the AgMIP RIA methods for the Nioro region of Senegal. The goal of the RIA is to assess the potential impacts of climate change on the principal agricultural system in the Senegal peanut basin comprised of peanut, millet, maize and other minor crops and livestock, and to assess adaptations of that system to climate change, under current as well as future climate and socio-economic conditions. The data sets include: the Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) developed for Nioro from 2000-2050; climate data used to implement crop yield simulations; the data used to parameterize the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) and the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) crop models, which include historical climate data and future climate scenarios; and the data used to parameterize the Tradeoff Analysis Model for Multi-dimensional Impact Assessment (TOA-MD) economic simulation model. The analysis is structured around four AgMIP “core questions'' of climate impact assessment.

Vulnerability of Human Populations to Climate Change

Moroccan ecosystems are considered endangered due to climate change that affects directly or indirectly different key features (biodiversity, snow cover, run-off processes, and water availability). The chapter describes the strategy for achieving collaboration between natural and social scientists, stakeholders, decision makers, and other societal groups in order to carry out an integrated assessment of climate change in the 12 Moroccan regions, with an emphasis on vulnerability and adaptation, and evaluate the vulnerability of human population to climate change applying the socioeconomic vulnerability index (SeVI) that measures socioeconomic vulnerability by regions. Result suggest that three southern and one north region are relatively more vulnerable, which are the most exposed to natural hazard. Furthermore, significant adaptive capacity scores are recorded in in the remaining regions, and average sensitivity for all. Therefore, societies and economies at all levels and on every region have to prepare for and adapt to impacts of climate change.