From bedside to bench: Comroe and dripps revisited

Twenty-five years ago a paper published in Science by Julius Comroe and Robert Dripps purported to demonstrate that 41 per cent of all articles judged to be essential for later clinical advances were not clinically oriented at the time of the study and 62 per cent of key articles were the result of basic research. Since that analysis, support for basic research has increased in the G7 countries. In the UK, Research Council expenditure on basic research has increased from a low of £444 million (or 42 per cent of total civil R&D) in 1991/92 to £769 million (or 61 per cent of total civil R&D) in 1998/99. Although it would be difficult to argue that Comroe and Dripps were directly responsible for a strategic shift (or drift) in the type of science supported by research funders, their arguments are often cited (albeit at times implicitly) in support of the increased funding for basic biomedical research. In 1987 Richard Smith wrote a critical paper reassessing Comroe and Dripps. His main argument was that the original study was in itself ‘unscientific’ and that it should be “followed by bigger and better studies”. This study is, in part, an answer to that challenge. Given the increased support for basic research, and the apparent importance based on the work of Comroe and Dripps, we felt it was important to investigate Smith’s comments by replicating Comroe and Dripps’s study and at the same time try to improve upon the methodology. The current project had two objectives: 1. To see if the original Comroe and Dripps’s methodology was ‘replicable’. 2. To validate the key findings of Comroe and Dripps. By looking at neonatal intensive care (NIC), we concluded that Comroe and Dripps’ study – as reported – is not repeatable, reliable or valid, and thus is an insufficient evidence base for increased expenditure on basic biomedical research. We did, however, develop an alternative methodology which used bibliographic databases and bibliometric techniques to describe the research underpinning five of the most important clinical advances in NIC, as identified through a Delphi survey. Using the revised bibliometric protocol, we demonstrated that after a time-lag of about 17 years, between 2 and 21 per cent of research underpinning the clinical advances could be described as basic. This observation is at odds with Comroe and Dripps’s finding that 62 per cent of key research articles judged to be essential for latter clinical advance were the result of basic research. In reaching this conclusion we are acutely aware of the significant limitations to the revised methodology and, therefore, we caution against the over-interpretation of our results. However, we would argue that there needs to be a greater understanding of how basic research supports healthcare and hope this report will inform part of this wider debate.R&D Directorate of the NHS Executive London; Wellcome Trus

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Annual Report July 1, 1976 - June 30, 1977 and Quarterly Report no. 16 April 1, 1977 - June 30, 1977

More stations were surveyed during this report period than during any previous period. A total of 818 mandays was spent surveying 18 permanent and 67 random subtidal stations, 19 permanent and 50 random intertidal stations, and 64 sportfish catch-per-unit-of-effort stations, as well as conducting corollary laboratory work. In the subtidal areas, Laminaria dentigera and Pterygophora californica, both important subsurface kelp species, increased in their combined total numbers from the 1976 survey. However, Nereocystis luetkeana, the bull kelp, declined substantially in all study areas. Population trends of many of the dominant subtidal macro-invertebrates have varied depending on the species and on the type of method utilized. Regression analyses have been performed on selected species for numbers versus depth. Red algal abundance and diversity appear to have increased in both subtidal study areas. Of the three observation areas, sea otters were observed least frequently in Diablo Cove. However, there continues to be fresh evidence of otter foraging within Diablo Cove. Several seasons' data for intertidal algae and invertebrates have been summarized for one study area. While the algae biomass shows a fairly clear seasonality of abundance, the trends in numbers of the six invertebrate species considered are not as well defined. Because of high variability in the data, the sportfish catch-per-unit-of-effort and hook-and-line study was cancelled in December. Populations of intertidal red and black abalones, Haliotis rufescens and H. cracherodii, respectively, appear to have remained fairly stable during the 1976-77 period. Two other ancillary studies were also terminated during this period: interviews of commercial abalone and urchin fishermen, and observations of foam in Diablo Cove. (107pp.

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Quarterly Report no. 20: April 1 - June 30, 1978

Although we continue to monitor permanent stations on a regular basis, we have suspended our 30-m2 random subtidal and 1/4-m2 random intertidal studies during this interim year. The 1/4-m2 random subtidal study is being continued and we have added a new subtidal method of determining fish abundance. Giant red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, numbers continue to decline at their last "stronghold" in our subtidal study area, permanent station 15. The recruitment of juvenile blue rockfish, Sebastes mystinus, appears to be either late or low this year in our study areas. The most abundant fish, so far, from the new method of assessment, are adult blue rockfish, kelp greenling, Hexagrammos decagrammus, and gopher rockfish, Sebastes carnatus. Various trends of abalone abundance at the permanent intertidal stations, increasing at some, decreasing at others, were observed during this quarter. Sea otters, Enhydra lutris, seem to have reached their annual springtime peak in abundance during April and May. Several otters were seen rafting and foraging around and near the intake cove breakwaters, apparently becoming emboldened to human presence. (18pp.

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Quarterly Report no. 22: October 1 - December 31, 1978

Field work for this quarter consisted of completion of random 1/4-m2 subtidal stations from the summer sampling season. In addition, one permanent subtidal station was surveyed. No intertidal stations were surveyed. Sea otters, Enhydra lutris, remained scarce in the vicinity of the power plant. Lab work was comprised of processing subtidal algae samples and sorting and identifying invertebrates from intertidal samples. Analysis of preoperational data for final report proceeded apace. (7pp.

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Quarterly Report no. 19: January 1 - March 31, 1978

Field work was limited to monitoring permanent intertidal and subtidal stations. Only a few stations were surveyed due to a long series of winter storms which produced large seas. Office and laboratory work was devoted to completing computer data sheets for keypunching, completing the 1976/77 annual report and several quarterly reports, and processing the remaining algae samples collected at subtidal and intertidal stations in 1977. Sea otter activity increased in South Cove and Diablo Cove where sea otters were observed on five out of 20 observation days. (11pp.

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Quarterly Report no. 18; October 1 - December 31, 1977

Large storm-generated swells prevented us from completing the random stations in the North Control. The project has shifted to a low level of field work to allow for analysis of all data and preparation of the final report. Field work during the next year will be confined to monitoring permanent stations. Four permanent subtidal stations were surveyed during the quarter, including a new station located at the entrance of Diablo Cove. Nine random 30m2 stations and 32 - 1/4m2 quadrats were also completed. It appears, from this year's subtidal studies, that there has been a decline in the abundance of lingcod, Ophiodon elongatus, and kelp greenling, Hexagrammos decagrammus, in the Diablo Canyon area since our studies began in 1974. A few sea otters continue to raft and forage in Lion Rock Cove. (12pp.

Diablo Canyon power plant site ecological study Quarterly Report No. 21: July 1 - September 30, 1978

Rough seas and the hiring freeze further delayed completion of our field and laboratory work. All random 1/4-m2 stations were completed in Diablo Cove but ten stations remain in the North Control. Nine random fish species counts were conducted in Diablo Cove. Very few sea otters, Enhydra lutris, were observed during this quarter, none in Diablo Cove. (10pp.

Biodiversity climate change impacts report card technical paper:10. Implications of climate change for coastal and inter-tidal habitats in the UK

Executive summary - Coastal habitats are complex, dynamic and interdependent. They are important in providing sea defences, areas for recreation, biodiversity and a range of other ecosystem services. - Increased air- and sea-surface temperatures have resulted in changes in the distribution of marine and coastal species. Both warmer- and colder-water species are shifting northwards. However, warmer-water species are shifting northwards faster than colder-water species are retreating, resulting in changes in community composition. Changes in the abundance of keystone taxa can cause a cascade of responses, further altering community composition. - Changes in the phenology of coastal species have been observed, with the rates of change in marine species being considerably greater than those in terrestrial and freshwater systems. Recent advances in the phenology of species have not all occurred at the same rate, in some cases resulting in mismatches of timing of annual cycles of animals and their food organisms. - Changes in precipitation are likely to affect coastal habitats, but the projected increase in winter rainfall and decrease in summer rainfall will tend to have opposing effects; the net result of these is not known. High winter rainfall and milder winter temperatures may extend the growing season and lead to faster succession and dominance by taller competitive plant species. This will be exacerbated by anthropogenic nutrient enrichment. However, increasing frequency and severity of summer droughts may counteract the effects of nutrient enrichment and winter precipitation. Increased drought will have impacts on habitats that are highly dependent on the maintenance of hydrological regimes, such as machair lochs and dune slacks. - Rising sea levels have been associated with the loss of coastal habitats. Predicted future rises will have significant impacts on coastal and intertidal habitats, including changing geomorphological processes, further habitat loss and increasing the vulnerability of infrastructure. However, coastal systems are dynamic and have the potential to adapt to rising sea levels, but only if there is an adequate supply of sediment to allow accretion and if there is landward space for the coast to roll-back into. Sea defences and other coastal management interrupt the movement of sediment between systems and prevent natural coastal realignment. - Managed coastal realignment is beneficial because it offers the potential to create habitat and provide flood defence benefits. Inevitably, there will be conflict between the need to maintain intertidal and other coastal habitats (e.g. saltmarsh, mud flat and sand dune) by realignment, and the need to protect valuable inland coastal habitats, such as grazing marsh and saline lagoons. - Future changes in coastal habitats are hard to predict because it is difficult to separate the impacts of rising sea levels from those of coastal management, including sea defences. Coastal zone management and adaptation, and the interactions with other climate drivers, nutrient deposition and habitat management, will have significant influence on the quantity, quality and location of future coastal habitats

A quantitative ecological study of selected nearshore marine plants and animals at the Diablo Canyon power plant site: a pre-operational baseline, 1973-1978

Biologists of the California Department of Fish and Game, under contract with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, conducted surveys or intertidal and subtidal plants and animals 1n the vicinity of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant for the summer of 1973 through 1978. Abundances of the dominant plants and animals were obtained at random as well as permanent stations in Diablo Cove as well as nearby control areas. A total of 643 permanent and random stations were surveyed, 262 in the intertidal and 381 in the subtidal. Natural as well as man-caused occurrences have resulted in several significant changes in plant and animal abundance in the study areas; these include the arrival of the southern front or the sea otter population in Diablo Cove in 1974; a strong red tide bloom in the fall of 1974; and the release of copper ions from the power plant condenser tubes into Diablo Cove during the summer of 1974. Our intertidal and subtidal random station data have shown a strong decline in giant red sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus franciscanus, densities and the surface canopy kelp, Nereocystis/leutkeana, and a corresponding increase in the subcanopy kelps, Pterygophora and Laminaria. Seasonal patterns of abundance of foliose red algae at random intertidal stations occurred at all study areas. Several species intertidal and subtidal invertebrates showed increasing or decreasing trends in levels of abundance during the five year study period covered by the report. Some of these changes in abundance may be related to the natural man-caused impacts mentioned above. (Document has 728 pages