Configuring Devices for Phenomena in-the-Making

STS scholars are engaging in collaborative research in order to study extended socio-technical phenomena. This article participates in discussions on methodography and inventive methods by reflecting on visualizations used both internally by a team of researchers and together with study participants. We describe how these devices for generating and transforming data were brought to our ethnographic inquiry into the formation of research infrastructures which we found to involve unwieldy and evolving phenomena. The visualizations are partial renderings of the object of inquiry, crafted and informed by 'configuration' as a method of assemblage that supports ethnographic study of contemporary socio-technical phenomena. We scrutinize our interdisciplinary bringing together of visualizing devices - timelines, collages, and sketches - and position them in the STS methods toolbox for inquiry and invention. These devices are key to investigating and engaging with the dynamics of configuring infrastructures intended to support scientific knowledge production. We conclude by observing how our three kinds of visualizing devices provide flexibility, comprehension and in(ter)ventive opportunities for study of and engagement with complex phenomena in-the-making.Peer reviewe

Digital Data Practices and the Long Term Ecological Research Program Growing Global

This paper explores data practices in a Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) setting. It describes a number of salient data characteristics that are specific to the LTER program and outlines some central features of the curation approach cultivated within the US LTER network. It goes on to identify recent developments within the international LTER program relating to data issues: increasing heterogeneities due to networking, integration of data from additional disciplines, and new technologies in a changing digital landscape. Information management experience within LTER provides one example of the recurrent balancing inherent to the work of data curation. It highlights (1) taking into account the extended temporal horizon of data care, (2) aligning support for data, science and information infrastructure, and (3) integrating site and network-level responsibilities. LTER contributes to the inquiry into how to manage the continuity of digital data and to our understanding of how to design a sustainable information infrastructure

Dentate Gyrus Integrity is Necessary for Behavioral Pattern Separation but not Statistical Learning

Pattern separation, the creation of distinct representations of similar inputs, and statistical learning, the rapid extraction of regularities across multiple inputs, have both been linked to hippocampal processing. It has been proposed that there may be functional differentiation within the hippocampus, such that the trisynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex \u3e dentate gyrus \u3e CA3 \u3e CA1) supports pattern separation, whereas the monosynaptic pathway (entorhinal cortex \u3e CA1) supports statistical learning. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the behavioral expression of these two processes in BL, an individual with highly selective bilateral lesions in the dentate gyrus that presumably disrupts the trisynaptic pathway. We tested pattern separation with two novel auditory versions of the continuous Mnemonic Similarity Task, requiring the discrimination of similar environmental sounds and trisyllabic words. For statistical learning, participants were exposed to a continuous speech stream made up of repeating trisyllabic words. They were then tested implicitly through a reaction time-based task and explicitly through a rating task and a forced-choice recognition task. BL showed significant deficits in pattern separation on the Mnemonic Similarity Tasks and on the explicit rating measure of statistical learning. In contrast, BL showed intact statistical learning on the implicit measure and the familiarity-based forced-choice recognition measure. Together, these results suggest that dentate gyrus integrity is critical for high-precision discrimination of similar inputs, but not the implicit expression of statistical regularities in behaviour. Our findings offer unique new support for the view that pattern separation and statistical learning rely on distinct neural mechanisms

Designing an infrastructure for heterogeneity in ecosystem data, collaborators, and organizations

Abstract To develop robust datasets for long-term re-use, new approaches are needed that incorporate relevant facets of organizational culture in their description. Early ethnographic research points to the importance of holding narrative accounts of data use alongside formal metadata structures. We describe our proposal to identify models for the design of information protocols and procedures within the Long-Term Ecological Research community that take account of the working practices of all the participants involved in the varied aspects of information processing. * Introduction Biodiversity and ecosystems data are currently being gathered in a large range of formats by a constellation of loosely connected private, government and not-for-profit agencies. The normal response to this double heterogeneity has been the development and enforcement of metadata (data about data) standards; in this response one tries to abstract data away from its organizational context in order to render it universally accessible. This project takes the opposite tack, and seeks new ways of grounding environmental data in its organizational context in such a way that it can both be used more flexibly today and so it can retain value longer. The hypothesis, based on the last 25 years of work in the field of Science Studies, is that * NSF Grants EIA-01-31958, DBI-01-11544 and OPP-96-32763 support this work. formal data descriptions must be 'wrapped' in informal descriptions in order to be useful. The goal of this project is to open up the database inquiry of the biodiversity and ecosystems communities generated by their need for very long lasting and highly distributed data. We focus on communications in ecosystem informatics through the use of structural (e.g. standardized classifications; metadata) and alternative (e.g. narrative) methods. Our approach is actionoriented research that integrates ethnographic fieldwork and participatory design Research Approach The issues involved in biodiversity and ecoinformatics are complex and large-scale. A recent call for setting priorities for new interdisciplinary environmental research programs points out the need for action outside the status quo of disciplinary scienc

Little Data, Big Data, No Data? Data Management in the Era of Research Infrastructures

A workshop was organized to provide members and other stakeholders of Finland’s INAR RI Ecosystems consortium with an introduction to data management in the ecological and related sciences. The notion of local data management was used as a starting point to discuss data management activities taking place at or close to the origins of data, and to envision how data was coordinated within and across boundaries of a variety of related contexts.The Academy of Finland grant ‘Multi-scoped infrastructuring: Forming knowledge infrastructure for the ILTER Network’ at the University of Oulu (#285903)Ope

Minimising the use of physical restraint in acute mental health services: The outcome of a restraint reduction programme (‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF)

Background Physical restraint is a coercive intervention used to prevent individuals from harming themselves or others. However, serious adverse effects have been reported. Minimising the use of restraint requires a multimodal approach to target both organisational and individual factors. The ‘Six Core Strategies’ developed in America, underpinned by prevention and trauma informed principles, is one such approach. Objective An adapted version of the Six Core Strategies was developed and its impact upon physical restraint usage in mental health Trusts in the United Kingdom evaluated. This became known as ‘REsTRAIN YOURSELF. The hypothesis was that restraint would be reduced by 40% on the implementation wards over a six-month period. Design A non-randomised controlled trial design was employed. Setting Fourteen, adult, mental health wards from seven mental health hospitals in the North West of England took part in the study. Two acute care wards were targeted from all eligible acute wards within each site in negotiation with each Trust. The intervention wards (total n = 144 beds, mean = 20.1 beds per ward) and control wards (total n = 147 beds, mean = 21.0 beds per ward) were primarily mixed gender but included single sex wards also (2 female-only and 1 male-only in each group). All wards offered pharmacological and psychosocial interventions over short admission durations (circa 15 days) for patients with a mixture of enduring mental health problems. Method As part of a pre and post-test method, physical restraint figures were collected using prospective, routine hospital records before and 6 months after the intervention. Restraint rates on seven wards receiving the REsTRAIN YOURSELF intervention were compared with those on seven control wards over three study phases (baseline, implementation and adoption). Results In total, 1680 restraint incidents were logged over the study period. The restraint rate was significantly lower on the intervention wards in the adoption phase (6.62 events/1000 bed-days, 95% CI 5.53-7.72) compared to the baseline phase (9.38, 95% CI 8.19-10.55). Across all implementation wards there was an average reduction of restraint by 22%, with some wards showing a reduction of 60% and others less so (8%). The association between ward type and study phase was statistically significant. Conclusion In conclusion, it is possible that reductions in the use of physical restraint are achievable using a model such as the Six Core Strategies. This approach can be adapted for global settings and changes can be sustained over time with continued support

Development of fear and guilt in young children: Stability over time and relations with psychopathology

Extremes in fearful temperament have long been associated with later psychopathology and risk pathways. Whereas fearful children are inhibited and anxious and avoid novel events, fearless individuals are disinhibited and more likely to engage in aggressive behavior. However, very few studies have examined fear in infants from a multimethod and prospective longitudinal perspective. This study had the following objectives: to examine behavioral, maternal reported, and physiological indices of fearful temperament in infancy, together with their relations and stability over time; and to establish whether early indices of fear predict fear later in toddlerhood. We also examined the association between behavioral and physiological measures of fear and guilt and whether fear in infancy predicts guilt in toddlers. Finally, we investigated infant risk factors for later psychopathology. We recorded skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate (HR) and observed children's responses during a Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery fear paradigm across the first 3 years of life and during a guilt induction procedure at age 3 (N = 70). The results indicate that different measures of infant fear were associated across time. Observed fearlessness in infancy predicted observed fearlessness and low levels of SCL arousal to fear and guilt in toddlers. Low levels of HR and SCL to fear in infancy predicted low levels of physiological arousal to the same situation and to guilt 2 years later. Fear and guilt were significantly associated across measures. Finally, toddlers with clinically significant internalizing problems at age 3 were already notably more fearful in Year 1 as reflected by their significantly higher HR levels. The results indicated that assessments of children in infancy are predictive of how these children react 2 years later and therefore lend support to the idea that the emotional thermostat is set in the first 3 years of life. They also showed, for the first time, that infant fear is a predictor of guilt, which is an emotion that develops later. The implications of these findings for our understanding of developmental psychopathology are discussed

Incidence and risk factors for preeclampsia in a cohort of healthy nulliparous pregnant women : a nested case-control study

The objective of this study is to determine the incidence, socio-demographic and clinical risk factors for preeclampsia and associated maternal and perinatal adverse outcomes. This is a nested case-control derived from the multicentre cohort study Preterm SAMBA, in fve diferent centres in Brazil, with nulliparous healthy pregnant women. Clinical data were prospectively collected, and risk factors were assessed comparatively between PE cases and controls using risk ratio (RR) (95% CI) plus multivariate analysis. Complete data were available for 1,165 participants. The incidence of preeclampsia was 7.5%. Body mass index determined at the frst medical visit and diastolic blood pressure over 75mmHg at 20 weeks of gestation were independently associated with the occurrence of preeclampsia. Women with preeclampsia sustained a higher incidence of adverse maternal outcomes, including C-section (3.5 fold), preterm birth below 34 weeks of gestation (3.9 fold) and hospital stay longer than 5 days (5.8 fold) than controls. They also had worse perinatal outcomes, including lower birthweight (a mean 379g lower), small for gestational age babies (RR 2.45 [1.52–3.95]), 5-minute Apgar score less than 7 (RR 2.11 [1.03–4.29]), NICU admission (RR 3.34 [1.61–6.9]) and Neonatal Near Miss (3.65 [1.78–7.49]). Weight gain rate per week, obesity and diastolic blood pressure equal to or higher than 75mmHg at 20 weeks of gestation were shown to be associated with preeclampsia. Preeclampsia also led to a higher number of C-sections and prolonged hospital admission, in addition to worse neonatal outcomes