Chain Reactions: Archives and the Value Chain in Chemistry\u27s Scientific Communications

We have heard a great deal about problems of expensive scientific journals; in this last session we are focusing on some solutions to those problems. In order to see our way out of the present cost crisis, we need to broaden our view beyond the value chain associated with scientific journals: journals are part of a much larger value chain of scientific communication. This communication occurs before, during, inside, outside, and after the journal article is published. This suggests that we ought to reframe the question posed in this workshop, and ask ourselves not about the “needs” of chemical and chemical engineering journals, but rather examine the communication needs of chemists and chemical engineers. Is the publishing segment of the cycle serving the ends of the cycle as a whole? Could that segment serve the whole better than it does today? This analysis suggests that there are three critical solutions to pursue: creative commons; open access; and library-based archiving. Of these three solutions, open access to the literature of chemistry is a key to your ability to redistribute, reuse, add value to, mine, explore, and archive the record of your system of science, without the constraints of paper-based media, commercial ownership, institutional wealth, or fragmentation by publisher

Roles of replication fork-interacting and Chk1-activating domains from claspin in a DNA replication checkpoint response

Claspin is essential for the ATR-dependent activation of Chk1 in Xenopus egg extracts containing incompletely replicated DNA. Claspin associates with replication forks upon origin unwinding. We show that Claspin contains a replication fork-interacting domain (RFID, residues 265–605) that associates with Cdc45, DNA polymerase ε, replication protein A, and two replication factor C complexes on chromatin. The RFID contains two basic patches (BP1 and BP2) at amino acids 265–331 and 470–600, respectively. Deletion of either BP1 or BP2 compromises optimal binding of Claspin to chromatin. Absence of BP1 has no effect on the ability of Claspin to mediate activation of Chk1. By contrast, removal of BP2 causes a large reduction in the Chk1-activating potency of Claspin. We also find that Claspin contains a small Chk1-activating domain (residues 776–905) that does not bind stably to chromatin, but it is fully effective at high concentrations for mediating activation of Chk1. These results indicate that stable retention of Claspin on chromatin is not necessary for activation of Chk1. Instead, our findings suggest that only transient interaction of Claspin with replication forks potentiates its Chk1-activating function. Another implication of this work is that stable binding of Claspin to chromatin may play a role in other functions besides the activation of Chk1

Learning by volunteer computing, thinking and gaming: What and how are volunteers learning by participating in Virtual Citizen Science?

Citizen Science (CS) refers to a form of research collaboration that engages volunteers without formal scientific training in contributing to empirical scientific projects. Virtual Citizen Science (VCS) projects engage participants in online tasks. VCS has demonstrated its usefulness for research, however little is known about its learning potential for volunteers. This paper reports on research exploring the learning outcomes and processes in VCS. In order to identify different kinds of learning, 32 exploratory interviews of volunteers were conducted in three different VCS projects. We found six main learning outcomes related to different participants' activities in the project. Volunteers learn on four dimensions that are directly related to the scope of the VCS project: they learn at the task/game level, acquire pattern recognition skills, on-topic content knowledge, and improve their scientific literacy. Thanks to indirect opportunities of VCS projects, volunteers learn on two additional dimensions: off topic knowledge and skills, and personal development. Activities through which volunteers learn can be categorized in two levels: at a micro (task/game) level that is direct participation to the task, and at a macro level, i.e. use of project documentation, personal research on the Internet, and practicing specific roles in project communities. Both types are influenced by interactions with others in chat or forums. Most learning happens to be informal, unstructured and social. Volunteers do not only learn from others by interacting with scientists and their peers, but also by working for others: they gain knowledge, new status and skills by acting as active participants, moderators, editors, translators, community managers, etc. in a project community. This research highlights these informal and social aspects in adult learning and science education and also stresses the importance for learning through the indirect opportunities provided by the project: the main one being the opportunity to participate and progress in a project community, according to one's tastes and skills

Trust in Placebos

Trying to explain the placebo effect has forced researchers to consider human beings as a whole and not as the sum of their organs. Just as polluted particles in the air can make us cough, our own beliefs can make our symptoms disappear. Placebo effects operate through the socio-cultural beliefs that an injection, or a pill, is a healing agent in itself, independently of its actual constitution. These beliefs are naturally tightly linked to the meaningfulness of our environment. The white coat of the doctor, the hospital room, or words pronounced by an authority figure all have the power to create a physiological effect. The literature on placebos has not paid sufficient attention, however, to the meaning the patient assigns to her relationship to the doctor. It is plausible that there is a psychological difference between a doctor who is perceived to be both competent as well as acting with the patient’s well-being in mind as against the doctor who is perceived to be merely competent. That is to say, there is a distinction between trusting a doctor because we believe she cares for us and has our best interests at heart, as against trusting a doctor because we believe her to be merely reliable. Could this distinction make a difference in the context of placebos? In this paper, we develop the hypothesis that it could. We provide evidence from the literature supporting this hypothesis and suggest ways to test it. If correct, the hypothesis has implications not only for the theory of placebos but for healing more generally

FLOW: Co-constructing Low Barrier Repository Infrastructure in Support of Heterogeneous Knowledge Collection(s)

Institutional repositories are being constructed today to address the needs of scholarly communication in a digital environment. The success of such institutional infrastructures as knowledge collections depends in part on offering low barriers for participation and on supporting heterogeneous knowledge inputs and outputs. The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) in partnership with CERN (European Center for Nuclear Research), the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Science & Engineering Library, has modified CERN’s CDSware software to initiate the process of creating a local low barrier repository

Pilot implementation of ICoPE: An innovative model to support patients with glioma and their carers across key care transitions

The current study aims to conduct a pilot implementation and evaluation of an innovative model designed to support patients and their carers through transitions of care. The model involves the provision of Information, Coordination, Preparation and Emotional support (I-CoPE) over 3 key identified care transitions, for people newly diagnosed with primary malignant glioma (PMG) and their carers. I-CoPE is based on prior research conducted by our team which identified gaps in the early disease stages associated around times of care transition, when support was inadaquete. From these gaps in care, I-CoPE was defined which specifically aims to: 1) Provide remote monitoring and management for PMG patients who are likely to resort to acute hospital services for ongoing support; 2) Effectively institute a key care worker who can appropriately support the transition of the patient through acute hospital, ambulatory care and primary care settings; and 3) Focus and tailor support, information and education for patients’ carers to ensure they are able to engage in the primary health care process, enabling patients to remain in the community. The study will collect key patient/carer outcome and health service utilisation data to assess the effectiveness of this innovative model which targets care transitions. If successful, the model has important implications for broader implementation into other patient groups with end stage diseases who also have complex care needs. Indeed general practitioners in primary care settings face the difficult challenge of supporting complex care needs of palliative care patients and their families, often with minimal support and sometimes nil prior exposure to rare disease trajectories such as in the case of PMG. Having strategic and focused communication with a care transition manager throughout the patients' care process, including individualised patient screening results which identify unmet care needs, is likely to enhance primary care management.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development Strategy

Audit committee strength and auditors' risk assessments:The moderating role of CEO narcissism

This paper examines the impact of two elements of the client's control environment on auditor's assessment of the risk of material misstatement: audit committee strength and CEO narcissism, the latter of which is a component of management philosophy, operating style, and tone at the top. We predict and find that auditors' risk assessments are adequately responsive to both elements; however, importantly, a strong audit committee decreases perceived risk assessments only when the client has a CEO with less narcissistic characteristics. In other words, our findings suggest that the presence of narcissistic CEOs' attitudes weakens the perceived audit committee effectiveness, leading auditors to rely less on a strong audit committee. Our findings contribute to the auditing literature by exploring auditors' responses to the complex dynamics between management boards and those charged with governance. From a practical perspective, our results suggest that auditing standards and practice guidance should consider making such complexities and the role of management attitudes and styles even more explicit

The Effect of Audit Standards on Fraud Consultation and Auditor Judgment

We investigate how the strictness of a requirement to consult on potential client fraud affects auditor assessments of fraud risk and the propensity to consult with firm experts. We test two specific forms of guidance about fraud consultations: (1) relatively strict (i.e., mandatory and binding) and (2) relatively lenient (i.e., advisory and non-binding). We predict that a strict consultation requirement will lead to greater propensity to consult and higher fraud risk assessments. We further investigate potentially amplifying effects of a client attribute (underlying fraud risk) and an engagement attribute (deadline pressure). Results from two experiments with 208 Dutch audit managers and partners demonstrate that fraud risk and the consultation propensity are both assessed higher under a strict consultation requirement. For near-partners and partners, this effect is compounded when a client exhibits significant red flags; for managers, it is compounded when deadline pressure is tight. This study demonstrates that the formulation of a standard, such as the consultation requirement, may create adverse incentives that bias risk assessment, which should be considered by regulators and audit firms when developing, formulating and implementing such procedures

The Impact of Client Expertise, Client Gender and Auditor Gender on Auditors' Judgments

The purpose of the current study is to assess the extent to which auditors’ judgments are affected by client expertise, client gender and auditor gender. Prior audit research suggests that auditors place more weight on evidence received from clients who possess higher, relative to lower, expertise (Anderson et al. 1994b; Bamber 1983; Hirst 1994; Margheim 1986; Rebele et al. 1988). We extend this line of research by suggesting that client expertise interacts with client gender during the auditor-client inquiry process, and examining the degree to which male and female auditors respond differently to these two source attributes. A total of 158 experienced auditors participated in a between-participants experiment with two manipulated variables (client expertise - low or high; client gender - male or female) and one measured variable (auditor gender - male or female). In a client-inquiry scenario, the auditors exhibited greater belief revision when the client possessed relatively higher expertise and when the client was male. A significant three-way interaction suggests that when client expertise was high, relative to low, the male favorability bias was reduced for male auditors; however, surprisingly, the bias was increased for female auditors. Post-experiment debriefing items indicate that male (female) auditors believe that male managers inherently possess a higher (similar) level of managerial ability. Comparing the managerial ability findings to the behavioral responses suggests a potential disconnect between the female auditors’ beliefs and actions. Since one of the hallmarks of the audit profession lies in the concept of objectivity, the results of this study indicate that audit researchers and practitioners need to better understand the implications of negative gender stereotypes toward women managers

Building FLOW: Federating Libraries on the Web

Individuals, teams, organizations, and networks can be thought of as tiers or classes within the complex grid of technology and practice in which research documentation is both consumed and generated. The panoply of possible classes share with the others a common need for document management tools and practices. The distinctive document management tools and practices used within each represent boundaries across which information could flow openly if technology and metadata standards were to provide an accessible digital framework. The CERN Document Server (CDS), implemented by a research partnership at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), establishes a prototype tiered repository system for such a panoply. Research suggests modifications to enable cross-domain information flow and is represented as a metadata grid