Influential Article Review - Twitter as A Communication Channel for Scientists

This paper examines innovation. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper: There have been strong calls for scientists to share their discoveries with society. Some scientists have heeded these calls through social media platforms such as Twitter. Here, we ask whether Twitter allows scientists to promote their findings primarily to other scientists (“inreach”), or whether it can help them reach broader, non-scientific audiences (“outreach”). We analyzed the Twitter followers of more than 100 faculty members in ecology and evolutionary biology and found that their followers are, on average, predominantly (∼55%) other scientists. However, beyond a threshold of ∼1000 followers, the range of follower types became more diverse and included research and educational organizations, media, members of the public with no stated association with science, and a small number of decision-makers. This varied audience was, in turn, followed by more people, resulting in an exponential increase in the social media reach of tweeting academic scientists. Tweeting, therefore, has the potential to disseminate scientific information widely after initial efforts to gain followers. These results should encourage scientists to invest in building a social media presence for scientific outreach. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

Running to Stand Still: Challenges Economists Face with Imperfect Data

Some suggest that land application of phosphorus rich poultry litter has negatively affected area waters' recreational value. However, key data are unavailable to conduct thorough economic analysis to aid in policy development. This paper examines the challenges associated with using limited economic analyses to construct policy to address this situation.Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

I. Studies with red clover seed as related to color. II. Studies with the impurities found in red clover and alfalfa seed

TypescriptM.S. University of Missouri 1908Part I: The question of color in red clover seed is a matter to which practical farmers have come to attach some importance as an indication of the relative value of different samples. However, all do not hold the same opinion in regard to this. Many farmers believe that a sample of clover seed which has a great deal of purple color is better than a sample which contains more yellow. On the other hand, there are men equally observing and thoughtful, who maintain that the sample with the highest percent of yellow seed is the most viable and valuable. So far as we are aware, no accurate and conclusive work has ever been carried out in an attempt to determine the comparative value of clover seed of different colors. Believing that some definite knowledge on this subject might be of value this work is undertaken in an attempt to determine if possible whether there is any real basis for one or the other of these varying opinions, and if so, what some of the causes for these differences may be. Part II: Altogether too little attention is paid by the majority of farmers to the purity of the seed which they sow on their lands. This is particularly true, no doubt, with clover, alfalfa and grass seeds, as they carry on average a greater number of particularly obnoxious weed seeds than most of our other crops. New and troublesome weeds are often first observed in clover meadows, and it has often been noted that clover fields contain a great number of different weedy plants. It is a well-known fact that a very large number of our most obnoxious and troublesome weeds are those which have been introduced into this country through the agency of economic farm seeds purchased from European and other foreign markets. In order to secure some data in regard to the number and character of the weeds disbursed in this way in Missouri, samples of clover seed were secured from farmers throughout the State and from retail and wholesale seed merchants who supply more or less foreign seed to Missouri farmers

Co-operative variety tests of corn : Variety tests of corn at Columbia

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A multi-approach and multi-scale study on water quantity and quality changes in the Tapajós River basin, Amazon

We analyzed changes in water quantity and quality at different spatial scales within the Tapajós River basin (Amazon) based on experimental fieldwork, hydrological modelling, and statistical time-trend analysis. At a small scale, we compared the river discharge (Q) and suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) of two adjacent micro-catchments ( < 1 km2) with similar characteristics but contrasting land uses (forest vs. pasture) using empirical data from field measurements. At an intermediary scale, we simulated the hydrological responses of a sub-basin of the Tapajós (Jamanxim River basin, 37 400 km2), using a hydrological model (SWAT) and land-use change scenario in order to quantify the changes in the water balance components due to deforestation. At the Tapajós’ River basin scale, we investigated trends in Q, sediments, hydrochemistry, and geochemistry in the river using available data from the HYBAM Observation Service. The results in the micro-catchments showed a higher runoff coefficient in the pasture (0.67) than in the forest catchment (0.28). At this scale, the SSC were also significantly greater during stormflows in the pasture than in the forest catchment. At the Jamanxim watershed scale, the hydrological modelling results showed a 2 % increase in Q and a 5 % reduction of baseflow contribution to total Q after a conversion of 22 % of forest to pasture. In the Tapajós River, however, trend analysis did not show any significant trend in discharge and sediment concentration. However, we found upward trends in dissolved organic carbon and NO− 3 over the last 20 years. Although the magnitude of anthropogenic impact has shown be scale-dependent, we were able to find changes in the Tapajós River basin in streamflow, sediment concentration, and water quality across all studied scales