Interdisciplinarity in practice: reflections from early-career researchers developing a risk-informed decision support environment for Tomorrow's cities

The concept of disaster risk is cross-disciplinary by nature and reducing disaster risk has become of interest for various disciplines. Yet, moving from a collection of multiple disciplinary perspectives to integrated interdisciplinary disaster risk approaches remains a fundamental challenge. This paper reflects on the experience of a group of early-career researchers spanning physical scientists, engineers and social scientists from different organisations across the global North and global South who came together to lead the refinement, operationalisation and testing of a risk-informed decision support environment for Tomorrow's Cities (TCDSE). Drawing on the notions of subjects and boundary objects, members of the group reflect on their individual and collective journey of transgressing disciplinary boundaries across three case studies between June–December 2021: operationalisation process of the TCDSE; development of a virtual urban testbed as a demonstration case for the implementation of the TCDSE; and consolidation of frequently asked questions about the TCDSE for communication purposes. The paper argues that (1) the production of boundary objects in interdisciplinary research nurtures relations of reciprocal recognition and the emergence of interdisciplinary subjects; (2) the intrinsic characteristics of boundary objects define the norms of engagement between disciplinary subjects and constrain the expression of interdisciplinary contradictions; and (3) affects and operations of power explain the contingent settlement of interdisciplinary disagreements and the emergence of new knowledge. Activating the interdisciplinary capacities of early-career researchers across disciplines and geographies is a fundamental step towards transforming siloed research practices to reduce disaster risk

PROBE A meta-heuristic for combinatorial optimisation problems

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN047342 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

A PROBE-Based Heuristic for Graph Partitioning

A new heuristic algorithm, PROBE_BA, which is based on the recently introduced metaheuristic paradigm population- reinforced optimization-based exploration (PROBE), is proposed for solving the Graph Partitioning Problem. The "exploration" part of PROBE_BA is implemented by using the differential-greedy algorithm of Battiti and Bertossi and a modification of the Kernighan-Lin algorithm at the heart of Bui and Moon's genetic algorithm BFS _GBA. Experiments are used to investigate properties of PROBE and show that PROBE_BA compares favorably with other solution methods based on genetic algorithms, randomized reactive tabu search, or more specialized multilevel partitioning techniques. In addition, PROBE_BA finds new best cut values for 10 of the 34 instances in Walshaw's graph partitioning archive

JOIN2^2 empowering a bibliographic infrastructure to support scientists

Most scientific organizations have established bibliographic databases to collect and present the scholarly output generated by their researchers and research projects. In many cases, an institutional repository is included to enable and promote open access. Besides publications lists on the Web, the data is even more valuable to support internal procedures such as reuse in citation management software for new publications or grant applications and in particular to alleviate the burden of administrative reporting according to complex sorting or filtering criteria.In 2010 the libraries and documentation departments of DESY (Hamburg), GSI (Darmstadt), Forschungszentrum Jülich (Jülich), Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) (Garching) and RWTH Aachen University (Aachen) founded join² to establish such an infrastructure based on Invenio. Main focuses were a solution, which is easy to use and accepted by scientists, to incorporate specific and precise data sources of an organization on for example, people and projects, as well as (inter-)nationally accepted authority records -e.g. on journals- and sources for data import. By merging bibliographic database and repository the addition of full texts is encouraged, furthering OpenAccess. Local protected working areas for publication exchange serve as an additional value to the scientists. The project addresses that each organizations has its specifics and thus the infrastructure must be suitable configured and tailored while still profiting from the shared development resources.As a result six independent repositories are currently in operation. As an open project, we recently also welcomed Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (Heidelberg) as a new partner.join² repositories today serve more than 20.000 staff members and more than 5.000 local visitors annually on campus. They provide more than 300.000 records as well as nearly 90.000 high quality authority records freely accessible on the Internet. This makes join² one of the larger Invenio users world wide.We present the flexible structure of our project based on shared content, its various use cases and give an overview of its internal work flows

The identification and management of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis: evidence-based European consensus statements

Background Systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) carries a high mortality risk; expert guidance is required to aid early recognition and treatment. We aimed to develop the first expert consensus and define an algorithm for the identification and management of the condition through application of well established methods. Methods Evidence-based consensus statements for systemic sclerosis-associated ILD management were established for six domains (ie, risk factors, screening, diagnosis and severity assessment, treatment initiation and options, disease progression, and treatment escalation) using a modified Delphi process based on a systematic literature analysis. A panel of 27 Europe-based pulmonologists, rheumatologists, and internists with expertise in systemic sclerosis-associated ILD participated in three rounds of online surveys, a face-to-face discussion, and a WebEx meeting, followed by two supplemental Delphi rounds, to establish consensus and define a management algorithm. Consensus was considered achieved if at least 80% of panellists indicated agreement or disagreement. Findings Between July 1, 2018, and Aug 27, 2019, consensus agreement was reached for 52 primary statements and six supplemental statements across six domains of management, and an algorithm was defined for clinical practice use. The agreed statements most important for clinical use included: all patients with systemic sclerosis should be screened for systemic sclerosis-associated ILD using high-resolution CT; high-resolution CT is the primary tool for diagnosing ILD in systemic sclerosis; pulmonary function tests support screening and diagnosis; systemic sclerosis-associated ILD severity should be measured with more than one indicator; it is appropriate to treat all severe cases; no pharmacological treatment is an option for some patients; follow-up assessments enable identification of disease progression; progression pace, alongside disease severity, drives decisions to escalate treatment. Interpretation Through a robust modified Delphi process developed by a diverse panel of experts, the first evidence-based consensus statements were established on guidance for the identification and medical management of systemic sclerosis-associated ILD

The Kuwait-Scotland eHealth Innovation Network (KSeHIN):a sustainable approach to quality improvement in healthcare

Background: The rising prevalence of obesity and diabetes in Kuwait represents a significant challenge for the country's healthcare system. Diabetes care in Scotland has improved by adopting a system of managed clinical networks supported by a national informatics platform. In 2010, a Kuwait–Dundee collaboration was established with a view to transforming diabetes care in Kuwait. This paper describes the significant progress that has been made to date.Methods: The Kuwait–Scotland eHealth Innovation Network (KSeHIN) is a partnership among health, education, industry and government. KSeHIN aims to deliver a package of clinical service development, education (including a formal postgraduate programme and continuing professional development) and research underpinned by a comprehensive informatics system.Results: The informatics system includes a disease registry for children and adults with diabetes. At the patient level, the system provides an overview of clinical and operational data. At the population level, users view key performance indicators based on national standards of diabetes care established by KSeHIN. The national childhood registry (CODeR) accumulates approximately 300 children a year. The adult registry (KHN), implemented in four primary healthcare centres in 2013, has approximately 4000 registered patients, most of whom are not yet meeting national clinical targets.A credit-bearing postgraduate educational programme provides module-based teaching and workplace-based projects. In addition, a new clinical skills centre provides simulator-based training. Over 150 masters students from throughout Kuwait are enrolled and over 400 work-based projects have been completed to date.Conclusion: KSeHIN represents a successful collaboration between multiple stakeholders working across traditional boundaries. It is targeting patient outcomes, system performance and professional development to provide a sustainable transformation in the quality of diabetes healthcare for the growing population of Kuwaitis with diabetes in Kuwait