Biophotonics: a marriage of sciences

Biophotonics denotes a combination of biology and photonics, with photonics being the science and technology of generation, manipulation, and detection of photons, quantum units of light. Photonics is related to electronics in that it is believed that photons will play a similar central role in future information technology as electrons do today. Biophotonics has therefore become the established general term for all techniques that deal with the interaction between biological items and photons. This refers to emission, detection, absorption, reflection, modification, and creation of radiation from biomolecular, cells, tissues, organisms and biomaterials. Areas of application are life science, medicine, agriculture, and environmental science

Risk, precaution and science: towards a more constructive policy debate. Talking point on the precautionary principle

Few issues in contemporary risk policy are as momentous or contentious as the precautionary principle. Since it first emerged in German environmental policy, it has been championed by environmentalists and consumer protection groups, and resisted by the industries they oppose (Raffensperger & Tickner, 1999). Various versions of the principle now proliferate across different national and international jurisdictions and policy areas (Fisher, 2002). From a guiding theme in European Commission (EC) environmental policy, it has become a general principle of EC law (CEC, 2000; Vos & Wendler, 2006). Its influence has extended from the regulation of environmental, technological and health risks to the wider governance of science, innovation and trade (O'Riordan & Cameron, 1994)

Representing disease courses: An application of the Neurological Disease Ontology to Multiple Sclerosis Typology

The Neurological Disease Ontology (ND) is being developed to provide a comprehensive framework for the representation of neurological diseases (Diehl et al., 2013). ND utilizes the model established by the Ontology for General Medical Science (OGMS) for the representation of entities in medicine and disease (Scheuermann et al., 2009). The goal of ND is to include information for each disease concerning its molecular, genetic, and environmental origins, the processes involved in its etiology and realization, as well as its clinical presentation including signs and symptoms

The Value of Information: A Background Paper on Measuring the Contribution of Space-Derived Earth Science Data to National Resource Management

This study, prepared at the request of the Office of Earth Science at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), describes a general framework for conceptualizing the value of information and illustrates how the framework might be used to value information from earth science data collected from space. The framework serves two purposes. One purpose is provision of a common basis by which to conduct and evaluate studies of the value of earth science information that serves a variety of uses, from improving environmental quality to protecting public health and safety. The second purpose is to better inform decisionmakers about the value of data and information. Decisionmakers comprise three communities: consumers and producers of information, public officials whose job is to fund productive investment in data acquisition and information development (including sensors and other hardware, algorithm design and software tools, and a trained labor force), and the public at large.Value of information, earth science, natural resource economics

First Steps Toward Change in Teacher Preparation for Elementary Science

Unless introductory undergraduate science classes for prospective elementary teachers actively incorporate the philosophy of inquiry-based learning called for in K-l2 science education refom little will change in elementary science education. Thus, at James Madison University, we have developed a new integrated science core curriculum called Understanding our World [1]. This course sequence was not only designed to fulfill general education science requirements. but also to focus on content areas our students will need to know as teachers. The objectives of these courses are based on the National Science Education Standards and Virginia’s Science Standards of Learning, including earth and space science, chemistry, physics, life sciences, and environmental science [2,3]. As an integrated package, this course sequence addresses basic science content, calculation skills, the philosophy and history of science, the process of how science is done, the role of science in society, and applications of computers and technology in science. Keeping in mind that students tend to teach in the same way they were taught, Understanding our World core classes embrace the concepts associated with reform in elementary math and science

A critical cluster analysis of 44 indicators of author-level performance

This paper explores the relationship between author-level bibliometric indicators and the researchers the "measure", exemplified across five academic seniorities and four disciplines. Using cluster methodology, the disciplinary and seniority appropriateness of author-level indicators is examined. Publication and citation data for 741 researchers across Astronomy, Environmental Science, Philosophy and Public Health was collected in Web of Science (WoS). Forty-four indicators of individual performance were computed using the data. A two-step cluster analysis using IBM SPSS version 22 was performed, followed by a risk analysis and ordinal logistic regression to explore cluster membership. Indicator scores were contextualized using the individual researcher's curriculum vitae. Four different clusters based on indicator scores ranked researchers as low, middle, high and extremely high performers. The results show that different indicators were appropriate in demarcating ranked performance in different disciplines. In Astronomy the h2 indicator, sum pp top prop in Environmental Science, Q2 in Philosophy and e-index in Public Health. The regression and odds analysis showed individual level indicator scores were primarily dependent on the number of years since the researcher's first publication registered in WoS, number of publications and number of citations. Seniority classification was secondary therefore no seniority appropriate indicators were confidently identified. Cluster methodology proved useful in identifying disciplinary appropriate indicators providing the preliminary data preparation was thorough but needed to be supplemented by other analyses to validate the results. A general disconnection between the performance of the researcher on their curriculum vitae and the performance of the researcher based on bibliometric indicators was observed.Comment: 28 pages, 7 tables, 2 figures, 2 appendice

ADME/Tox WEB in silico predictions of longer chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid pKa values are more accurate than other computational methods

Perfluoroalkyl carboxylates are contaminants whose environmental fate and toxicological effects are of broad interest within the academic, industrial, and governmental science and regulatory communities. In addition, coupled perfluoroalkyl and carboxylate moieties are often used in medicinal chemistry as part of the drug design process. However, to date there has been a notable absence of reliable acidity constant estimation programs for these compounds. Here we report that the ADME/Tox WEB method for in silico pKa value predictions is more accurate than the PM6, SPARC, and COSMOtherm methods for the longer chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids, suggesting this may be a good general acidity constant estimation approach for these compounds

Florida Geological Survey

The Florida Geological Survey (FGS) homepage provides data, research materials and interpretations on aquifer systems, geologic frameworks, landforms, energy and non-energy mineral resources, and geologic hazards which which can be used to address issues of conservation and protection, sustainable development, human health protection, and implementation of successful environmental regulatory programs. Educational materials for earth science and the pre-historic development of the state are also provided. These include topics such as sinkholes, data and maps, rock and mineral identification, minerals, hydrogeology, and fossils. Educational levels: General public

Crossing the death valley to transfer environmental decision support systems to the water market

Environmental decision support systems (EDSSs) are attractive tools to cope with the complexity of environmental global challenges. Several thoughtful reviews have analyzed EDSSs to identify the key challenges and best practices for their development. One of the major criticisms is that a wide and generalized use of deployed EDSSs has not been observed. The paper briefly describes and compares four case studies of EDSSs applied to the water domain, where the key aspects involved in the initial conception and the use and transfer evolution that determine the final success or failure of these tools (i.e., market uptake) are identified. Those aspects that contribute to bridging the gap between the EDSS science and the EDSS market are highlighted in the manuscript. Experience suggests that the construction of a successful EDSS should focus significant efforts on crossing the death-valley toward a general use implementation by society (the market) rather than on development.The authors would like to thank the Catalan Water Agency (Agència Catalana de l’Aigua), Besòs River Basin Regional Administration (Consorci per la Defensa de la Conca del Riu Besòs), SISLtech, and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for providing funding (CTM2012-38314-C02-01 and CTM2015-66892-R). LEQUIA, KEMLG, and ICRA were recognized as consolidated research groups by the Catalan Government under the codes 2014-SGR-1168, 2013-SGR-1304 and 2014-SGR-291.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Environmental health discipline science plan

The purpose of this plan is to provide a conceptual strategy for NASA's Life Sciences Division research and development activities in environmental health. It covers the significant research areas critical to NASA's programmatic requirements for the Extended Duration Orbiter, Space Station Freedom, and exploration mission science activities. These science activities include ground-based and flight; basic, applied, and operational; animal and human subjects; and research and development. This document summarizes the history and current status of the program elements, outlines available knowledge, establishes goals and objectives, identifies scientific priorities, and defines critical questions in the three disciplines: (1) Barophysiology, (2) Toxicology, and (3) Microbiology. This document contains a general plan that will be used by both NASA Headquarters Program Officers and the field centers to review and plan basic, applied, and operational research and development activities, both intramural and extramural, in this area. The document is divided into sections addressing these three disciplines