Citation and peer review of data: moving towards formal data publication

This paper discusses many of the issues associated with formally publishing data in academia, focusing primarily on the structures that need to be put in place for peer review and formal citation of datasets. Data publication is becoming increasingly important to the scientific community, as it will provide a mechanism for those who create data to receive academic credit for their work and will allow the conclusions arising from an analysis to be more readily verifiable, thus promoting transparency in the scientific process. Peer review of data will also provide a mechanism for ensuring the quality of datasets, and we provide suggestions on the types of activities one expects to see in the peer review of data. A simple taxonomy of data publication methodologies is presented and evaluated, and the paper concludes with a discussion of dataset granularity, transience and semantics, along with a recommended human-readable citation syntax

The research buyers' perspective of market research effectiveness

This study examines the views of research buyers about the efficacy of market research used within their firms. A sample of research buyers from Australia's top 1000 companies was asked to evaluate the research outcomes of their most recent market research project in terms of their overall business strategy. Specialist market research buyers (insights managers) believed their commissioned research was very effective. This was in contrast to research buyers in generalist roles who did not believe in the effectiveness of the research outcomes to the same extent. The overarchlng strategic direction adopted by the buyer's firm did not make a difference to the type of research conducted (,action orientated' vs. 'knowledge enhancing'). However, entrepreneurial firms were more likely to rate their research as effective and to have dedicated research buyers generating insights into their markets. The results of this study are inconsistent with earlier studies and indicate that the market research function within Australian firms stili plays an ambiguous role

Looming struggles over technology for border control

New technologies under development, capable of inflicting pain on masses of people, could be used for border control against asylum seekers. Implementation might be rationalized by the threat of mass migration due to climate change, nuclear disaster or exaggerated fears of refugees created by governments. We focus on taser anti-personnel mines, suggesting both technological countermeasures and ways of making the use of such technology politically counterproductive. We also outline several other types of ‘non-lethal’ technology that could be used for border control and raise human rights concerns: high-powered microwaves, armed robots, wireless tasers, acoustic devices/vortex rings, ionizing and pulsed energy lasers, chemical calmatives, convulsants, bioregulators and malodurants. Whether all these possible border technologies will be implemented is a matter for speculation, but their serious human rights implications warrant advance scrutiny

Estimation of bubble-mediated air–sea gas exchange from concurrent DMS and CO2 transfer velocities at intermediate–high wind speeds

Simultaneous air–sea fluxes and concentration differences of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were measured during a summertime North Atlantic cruise in 2011. This data set reveals significant differences between the gas transfer velocities of these two gases (Δkw) over a range of wind speeds up to 21 m s−1. These differences occur at and above the approximate wind speed threshold when waves begin breaking. Whitecap fraction (a proxy for bubbles) was also measured and has a positive relationship with Δkw, consistent with enhanced bubble-mediated transfer of the less soluble CO2 relative to that of the more soluble DMS. However, the correlation of Δkw with whitecap fraction is no stronger than with wind speed. Models used to estimate bubble-mediated transfer from in situ whitecap fraction underpredict the observations, particularly at intermediate wind speeds. Examining the differences between gas transfer velocities of gases with different solubilities is a useful way to detect the impact of bubble-mediated exchange. More simultaneous gas transfer measurements of different solubility gases across a wide range of oceanic conditions are needed to understand the factors controlling the magnitude and scaling of bubble-mediated gas exchange

Managing preconceived expectations: mental health service users experiences of going home from hospital: a grounded theory study

Introduction: Following a period of hospitalisation, the transition to home can result in increased vulnerability and a source of stress for mental health service users. Readmission rates have been suggested as one indicator of the success of the transition from hospital to community care. Despite knowledge of some of the factors that impact on service users following discharge, no coherent model or theoretical framework could be located in the literature which explains or aides an in-depth understanding of the transition from hospital to community for service users. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a grounded theory that explored service users’ experiences of going home from hospital. Method: This qualitative study used grounded theory and a total of thirty five interviews were conducted with thirty one service users. Results: The core category was ‘Managing Preconceived Expectations’, which had seven subcategories, describes how the participants were negatively perceived by themselves and others following their admission and discharge from hospital. This theory presents the strategies that the participants used to manage this new identity. Implications for Practice: This theory demonstrates that while there has been a move to adopt recovery orientated services, key indicators of recovery were often absent for service users being admitted and subsequently discharged