Emerging Areas of Science: Recommendations for Nursing Science Education from the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science Idea Festival

The Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science aims to “facilitate and recognize life-long nursing science career development” as an important part of its mission. In light of fast-paced advances in science and technology that are inspiring new questions and methods of investigation in the health sciences, the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science convened the Idea Festival for Nursing Science Education and appointed the Idea Festival Advisory Committee (IFAC) to stimulate dialogue about linking PhD education with a renewed vision for preparation of the next generation of nursing scientists. Building on the 2005 National Research Council report Advancing The Nation\u27s Health Needs and the 2010 American Association of Colleges of Nursing Position Statement on the Research-Focused Doctorate Pathways to Excellence, the IFAC specifically addressed the capacity of PhD programs to prepare nursing scientists to conduct cutting-edge research in the following key emerging and priority areas of health sciences research: omics and the microbiome; health behavior, behavior change, and biobehavioral science; patient-reported outcomes; big data, e-science, and informatics; quantitative sciences; translation science; and health economics. The purpose of this article is to (a) describe IFAC activities, (b) summarize 2014 discussions hosted as part of the Idea Festival, and (c) present IFAC recommendations for incorporating these emerging areas of science and technology into research-focused doctoral programs committed to preparing graduates for lifelong, competitive careers in nursing science. The recommendations address clearer articulation of program focus areas; inclusion of foundational knowledge in emerging areas of science in core courses on nursing science and research methods; faculty composition; prerequisite student knowledge and skills; and in-depth, interdisciplinary training in supporting area of science content and methods

Algunas reflexiones acerca de las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones

The present work allows to reflect about the technologies of the computer science and the communications (TIC) in the society, through the emergence of different knowledge of border such as. The biotechnology, engineering, genetics and the communications; between the different sciences, which will allow to open new interest fields with the most novel of the science and tecniques linked for the information sciences, therefore the revolutionary government plans new strategies to improve its society and to provide a better well-being and quality of life for the society.El presente trabajo permite reflexionar acerca de las tecnologías de la informática y las comunicaciones (TIC) en la sociedad, a través del surgimiento de los conocimientos de frontera tales como. La biotecnología, ingeniería, genética y las comunicaciones; entre las diferentes ciencias, lo cual permitirá abrir nuevos campos de interés con lo más novedoso de la ciencia y la técnica vinculados a las ciencias de la información, por lo que el gobierno revolucionario traza nuevas estrategias para perfeccionar su sociedad y proporcionar un mejor bienestar y calidad de vida para la sociedad.

Development and Validation of the Perception of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (PIRC) Scale

Interdisciplinary research collaboration is crucial for addressing complex global challenges, and measuring researchers' perceptions of it is vital. The Perception of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (PIRC) Scale was meticulously developed and validated in this study to enable researchers to assess these perceptions comprehensively. The scale was developed in line with the team science theory. This cross-sectional study involved concept analysis, face and content validity, item pretesting, and pilot testing. A panel of eight specialists from relevant fields meticulously reviewed the items in the instrument, and their inputs and suggestions were followed to refine the instrument, resulting in a 64-item questionnaire. A sample of 1,932 academic staff members with interdisciplinary research experience were selected from six universities in South-South Nigeria for a pilot study. A simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting these participants. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six underlying dimensions within the PIRC Scale, such as: "challenges of Interdisciplinary Disciplinary Research (IDR) collaboration," "IDR collaborative experiences," "motivations for IDR collaboration," "benefits of IDR collaboration," "career impact of IDR collaboration," and "IDR team dynamics." Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure and revealed the bifactor model as the best-fitting model over the unidimensional, oblique and higher-order models. Utilising the Fornell-Larcker approach, strong convergent and discriminant validity was established across all dimensions, with Average Variance Extracted (AVE) above .50 and the square root of the AVE for all factors being greater than the correlation coefficients of each factor with other factors. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega values exceeded the acceptable threshold of 0.70, with item-total correlation analyses further supporting the reliability of each sub-scale and the overall instrument. In conclusion, the PIRC scale can be valuable for researchers, institutions, and policymakers to assess and enhance interdisciplinary research collaboration. It can empower stakeholders to obtain useful information about researchers' perceptions of interdisciplinary research, promote effective collaboration, allocate resources efficiently, and foster innovation

Development and Validation of the Perception of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (PIRC) Scale

Interdisciplinary research collaboration is crucial for addressing complex global challenges, and measuring researchers' perceptions of it is vital. The Perception of Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (PIRC) Scale was meticulously developed and validated in this study to enable researchers to assess these perceptions comprehensively. The scale was developed in line with the team science theory. This cross-sectional study involved concept analysis, face and content validity, item pretesting, and pilot testing. A panel of eight specialists from relevant fields meticulously reviewed the items in the instrument, and their inputs and suggestions were followed to refine the instrument, resulting in a 64-item questionnaire. A sample of 1,932 academic staff members with interdisciplinary research experience were selected from six universities in South-South Nigeria for a pilot study. A simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting these participants. Exploratory factor analysis yielded six underlying dimensions within the PIRC Scale, such as: "challenges of Interdisciplinary Disciplinary Research (IDR) collaboration," "IDR collaborative experiences," "motivations for IDR collaboration," "benefits of IDR collaboration," "career impact of IDR collaboration," and "IDR team dynamics." Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed this structure and revealed the bifactor model as the best-fitting model over the unidimensional, oblique and higher-order models. Utilising the Fornell-Larcker approach, strong convergent and discriminant validity was established across all dimensions, with Average Variance Extracted (AVE) above .50 and the square root of the AVE for all factors being greater than the correlation coefficients of each factor with other factors. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega values exceeded the acceptable threshold of 0.70, with item-total correlation analyses further supporting the reliability of each sub-scale and the overall instrument. In conclusion, the PIRC scale can be valuable for researchers, institutions, and policymakers to assess and enhance interdisciplinary research collaboration. It can empower stakeholders to obtain useful information about researchers' perceptions of interdisciplinary research, promote effective collaboration, allocate resources efficiently, and foster innovation

COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING FOR THE STUDY OF CONGENITAL HEART DISEASES

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide causing in only Europe 3.9 million deaths corresponding the 45% of total deaths. In particular, among CVD, the congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most serious heart defect with an incidence of 8 per 1,000 live births. Purpose: In recent years, the role of imaging techniques in the diagnosis and follow-up of these patients has become increasingly important due to their progressive technological advancement. This doctoral thesis shows the results that we achieved in the use of cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) examination in patients with CHD. Section I \u2013 Cardiac computed tomography in CHD patients: In this chapter, we propose a study showing the possibility to obtain an impressively low ionizing dose reduction in pediatric CHD patients. Indeed, because the CCT can give valuable anatomic information on CHD in children but implies radiation exposure in subjects who are more radiosensitive than adult patients and that have a longer lifetime to develop stochastic effects from radiation, is very important to perform high-quality but low-dose examinations in this kind of patients. Thus, we evaluated a total of 100 pediatric CCT performed using 80, 100, or 120 kVp, showing that a high-quality pediatric CT can be performed using a 64-slice scanner, with a radiation effective dose close to 2\u2009mSv in about 50% of the cases. Section II \u2013 Heart and great vessels CMR evaluation: In this section, are shown four studies focused on the use of CMR as a non-invasive imaging tool for the morpho-functional evaluation of heart and great vessels in patients with CHD. Concerning the study of heart dysfunction we published one paper on patients with non-obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and another one on patients with functional univentricular heart (FUH); while regarding the study of great vessels we focused on the evaluation of the aortic strain and flow measurement in patients with different CVD, including CHD. The 2% HCM patients have a left ventricle wall thickness that reaches 13-15 mm, overlapped with those measured in mild forms of HCM. This overlap makes clinically relevant to differentiate athlete\u2019s heart from mild forms of non-obstructive HCM. Thus, we decide to assess the left ventricle wall thickness and the myocardial metabolism of HCM patients compared to competitive athletes (CAs) using the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). We demonstrated that at the 1H-MRS there is a significant increase in myocardial lipids in HCM patients compared to competitive athletes, leading to the fact that it may be used as an additional final phase of a CMR protocol including standard morphologic and functional imaging in the differential diagnosis between HCM and athlete\u2019s heart. Starting from the results of an our previous study showing that the inclusion of the hypoplastic chamber during the segmentation of cine images of FC patients may result in a less accurate measurement of the ejection fraction, we decided to validated a blood-threshold (BT) segmentation method for CMR cine images in FUH patients. Thus, we successfully validated in a pool of 44 FUH patients the use of a BT technique for the segmentation of cine images observing that a high intra- and inter-reader reproducibility for the assessment of ventricular stroke volume (SV) and an excellent agreement with aortic flow values used as a benchmark. Arterial stiffness is one of the earliest manifestations of adverse structural and functional changes within the vessel wall. When the aorta is considered, stiffness is a main determinant of age-related systolic and pulse pressure increase, a major predictor of stroke and myocardial infarction, and has been associated with heart failure. Previous authors showed that ascending aortic strain (AAS) measured at CMR is markedly decreased before the fifth decade of life and that can be considered as an early manifestation of vascular aging. Our aim was to evaluate the AAS in 1,027 consecutive patients with different types of CVD who underwent CMR , showing that differences in age, gender, and cardiovascular disease independently affect ascending aorta strain; in particular the lower ascending aorta strain observed in tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) fosters its assessment during follow-up in adulthood. Blood flow measurements are based on the segmentation of a vessel contour that may be performed manually or, more typically, semi-automatically, with the use of computer software likely impacting on measurement reproducibility. Reader experience may play a role as well. Thus, we aimed to estimate the intra- and inter-reader reproducibility of blood flow CMR measurements through the ascending aorta and main pulmonary artery in 50 patients affected with CHD or with aortic and/or pulmonary valve disease; also investigating the impact on reproducibility of the reader\u2019s experience with CMR. Our results showed a good-to-excellent reproducibility for all variables except the backward flow of the ascending aorta, with a limited impact of operator\u2019s training. Section III \u2013 To share or not to share our trial data?: In clinical research, spontaneous data sharing is not yet as common as it is in other fields such as genetics, astronomy or physics. However, the concept of data sharing has been suggested for many reasons, including the patient-centred nature of medical research and healthcare and the expectation that knowledge from existing data should be maximized to benefit all stakeholders. Although a transition to data sharing is a process that will take time and planning, those who adopt the principles and practices of open science will likely benefit from it. In addition, the emergence of data sharing as a potential requirement by some agencies and journals warrants attention by the imaging community. Indeed, from July 1st, 2018 the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) will require a data sharing statement as a condition of consideration for publication of clinical trials. Thus, considering the amount of results that we collected in these three years of my PhD program, we asked ourselves about the potential advantages and disadvantages in sharing our source data with the scientific world. Our conclusions, enclosed in a paper published this year on European Radiology, have been discussed in this section. Conclusions: Both imaging modalities have limitations and advantages. CMR can evaluate heart function and vessel flow but require a long acquisition time and in same patients a long sedation time. CCT has a very high spatial resolution and short acquisition time but implies ionizing radiation exposure. This PhD thesis confirms the crucial role of CMR in functional analysis and the relevant possibilities of x-ray dose reduction in CCT, leading the foundations for future studies on the application of imaging techniques in the diagnosis and prognosis of CVD

The Chinese Knowledge Diaspora and Diaspora Knowledge Network: Australia and Canada compared

In the context of globalization and the knowledge economy, brains, increasingly mobile, have assumed unprecedented importance, and even more so in the coming decades when the academic profession is ageing. Developed nations like Australia and Canada compete to attract and retain the best and brightest. A related development, advancement in information and communications technology, enables the establishment of powerful cross-boundary research networks. The study builds on previous research in order to understand the Chinese knowledge diaspora in Australian and Canadian universities, and trace their transnational intellectual networks to colleagues in mainland, and other parts of the Chinese intellectual diaspora. A qualitative, grounded theory approach was used for the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted for data collection. The data gathering techniques yielded a rich volume of detailed descriptions that were categorized and thematically analyzed. The study investigates the role of the Chinese knowledge diaspora, and the dynamics of the diaspora network with special reference to the factors that both sustain and limit such transnational knowledge networks. The strong sense of cultural/ethnic identity and motivation for closer academic ties were reiterated, as were commonly-expressed sentiments that doing science in the West was a primary source of satisfaction. Substantial accounts of scientific communication and transnational collaboration were highly illustrative. While some had one or two kinds of interaction, most had multiple types of collaboration with China. The influencing factors at personal, institutional, and system level were well documented and categorized. Among the most prominent were the differences of research culture across the two systems. Limitations of this study include small sample size and distribution. Recommendations for future study include increasing the sample size, recruiting indigenous scholars and administrative staff, examining the Chinese knowledge diaspora from both research-intensive and less research-intensive universities in the United States, and investigating further how gender affects both academic being and knowledge networks with the mainland academia of China

Intensely distributed nanoscience: co-ordinating scientific work in a large multi-sited cross-disciplinary nanomedical project

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis thesis is concerned with the study of biomedical scientific research work that is intensely distributed, i.e. socially distributed across multiple institutions, sites, and disciplines. Specifically, this PhD probes the ways in which scientists co-operating on multi-sited crossdisciplinary projects, design, use and maintain information-based resources to conduct and coordinate their experimental activities. The research focuses on the roles of information artefacts, i.e. the tools, media and devices used to store, track, display, and retrieve information in paper or electronic format, in helping the scientists integrate their activities to achieve concerted action. To examine how scientists in globally distributed settings organise and co-ordinate their scientific work using information artefacts, a multi-method multi-sited study informed by different ethnographic perspectives was conducted focused on a large European crossdisciplinary translational research project in nanodiagnostics. Situated interviews with project scientists, participant observations and participatory learning exercises were designed and deployed. From the data analysis, several abstractions were developed to represent how the joined utilisations of key information artefacts support the co-ordination of experimental activities. Subsequently, a framework was developed to highlight key interactional strategies that need to be managed by experimenters when using artefacts to organise their work cooperatively. This framework was then used as a guiding device to identify innovative ways to design future digital interactive systems to support the co-ordination of intensely distributed scientific work. From this study, several key findings came to light. We identify the role of the experimental protocol acts as a co-ordinative map that is co-designed dynamically to disseminate various instantiations of experimental executions across sites. We have also shed light on the ways the protocol, the lab book and the material log are used jointly to support the articulation of scientific work. The protocol and the lab book are used both locally and across co-operating sites to support four repeatability and reproducibility levels that are key to experimental validation. The use of the local protocol / lab book dyads at each site is further integrated with that of a centralised material log artefact to enable a system of exchange of scientific content (e.g. experimental processes, intermediate results and observations) and experimental materials (both physical materials and key information). We have found that this integration into a co-ordinative cluster supports awareness and the articulation of experimental activities both locally and across remote labs. From this understanding, we have derived several sensitising tensions to frame the strategies that scientific practitioners need to manage when designing their multi-sited experimental work and technologists should consider when designing systems to support them: (1) formalisation / flexibility; (2) articulability / local appropriateness; (3) scrutiny / tinkering; (4) accountability / applicability; (5) traceability / improvisation and (6) lastingness / immediacy. Lastly, based on these tensions, we have suggested a number of implications for the design of interactive information artefacts that can help manage both local and multi-sited co-ordination in intensely distributed scientific projects