How Relations are Built within a SNS World: Social Network Analysis on Mixi

Our purpose here is to (1) investigate the structure of the personal networks developed on mixi, a Japanese social networking service (SNS), and (2) to consider the governing mechanism which guides participants of a SNS to form an aggregate network. Our findings are as follows:the clustering coefficient of the network is as high as 0.33 while the characteristic path lenght is as low as 5.5. A network among central users (over 300 edges) consist of two cliques, which seems to be very fragile. Community-affiliation network suggests there are several easy-entry communities which later lead users to more high-entry, unique-theme communities. The analysis on connectedness within a community reveals the importance of real-world interaction. Lastly, we depict a probable image of the entire ecology on mixi among users and communities, which contributes broadly to social systems on the Web

Predesign study for a modern 4-bladed rotor for the NASA rotor systems research aircraft

Trade-off study results and the rationale for the final selection of an existing modern four-bladed rotor system that can be adapted for installation on the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA) are reported. The results of the detailed integration studies, parameter change studies, and instrumentation studies and the recommended plan for development and qualification of the rotor system is also given. Its parameter variants, integration on the RSRA, and support of ground and flight test programs are also discussed

Learning as an outcome of involvement in research : what are the implications for practice, reporting and evaluation?

Abstract Public involvement in research has evolved over the last two decades in a culture dominated by the principles of evidence-based medicine. It is therefore unsurprising that some researchers have applied the same thinking to involvement, particularly to involvement in research projects. This may explain why they tend to conceptualise involvement as an intervention, seek to evaluate its impact in the same way that treatments are tested, highlight the need for an evidence-base for involvement, and use the language of research to describe its practice and report its outcomes. In this article we explore why this thinking may be unhelpful. We suggest an alternative approach that conceptualises involvement as ‘conversations that support two-way learning’. With this framing, there is no ‘method’ for involvement, but a wide range of approaches that need to be tailored to the context and the needs of the individuals involved. The quality of the interaction between researchers and the public becomes more important than the process. All parties need to be better prepared to offer and receive constructive criticism and to engage in constructive conflict that leads to the best ideas and decisions. The immediate outcomes of involvement in terms of what researchers learn are subjective (specific to the researcher) and unpredictable (because researchers don’t know what they don’t know at the start). This makes it challenging to quantify such outcomes, and to carry out comparisons of different approaches. On this basis, we believe obtaining ‘robust evidence’ of the outcomes of involvement in ways that are consistent with the values of evidence-based medicine, may not be possible or appropriate. We argue that researchers’ subjective accounts of what they learnt through involvement represent an equally valid way of knowing whether involvement has made a difference. Different approaches to evaluating and reporting involvement need to be adopted, which describe the details of what was said and learnt by whom (short term outcomes), what changes were made as a result (medium term outcomes), and the long-term, wider impacts on the research culture and agenda. Sharing researchers’ personal accounts may support wider learning about how involvement works, for whom and when

Stability Analysis of Asynchronous States in Neuronal Networks with Conductance-Based Inhibition

Oscillations in networks of inhibitory interneurons have been reported at various sites of the brain and are thought to play a fundamental role in neuronal processing. This Letter provides a self-contained analytical framework that allows numerically efficient calculations of the population activity of a network of conductance-based integrate-and-fire neurons that are coupled through inhibitory synapses. Based on a normalization equation this Letter introduces a novel stability criterion for a network state of asynchronous activity and discusses its perturbations. The analysis shows that, although often neglected, the reversal potential of synaptic inhibition has a strong influence on the stability as well as the frequency of network oscillations

Meet the researchers: an alternative method of engaging patients with research in mesothelioma.

There are new ways to engage people with science and research but many patient support groups and charitable organisations still hold traditional meetings to provide updates on their activities and to report new developments in their field of interest. These meetings often feature presentations given by medical doctors or, in the case of research-focussed organisations, by research scientists.Receiving feedback from people who are confused and sometimes upset by some types of information, and the way it is presented at meetings, made us think about better ways for researchers to discuss their ideas for new research, or share the findings from completed projects, with patients and members of the public.This article describes a method of public engagement called "Meet the Researchers" that enables people to hear about current trends in research face to face with the researchers planning or conducting it. "Meet the Researchers" is designed to promote discussion and allow questions to be asked in a relaxed and informal way, in small groups, which is less daunting than asking questions in front of a conference audience. The aim is to break down the barriers between researchers and patients, and enable conversations that will lead to meaningful engagement and a better understanding of research. Additionally we aim to improve understanding of how results are passed on to doctors and nurses and translated into improvements in patient care.The method was tested with patients and was rated very highly by them in the feedback they gave. Abstract:Background Innovative approaches to engaging people with science exist but are often framed around interactive events or social media technologies. Notwithstanding the availability of novel approaches, many patient support groups and charitable organisations continue to hold traditional meetings and seminars to provide information and updates on their activities, and report on developments in their field of interest. In the case of research-focussed organisations, these meetings often take the form of presentations delivered by clinical experts or research scientists.Observation of mesothelioma patients, their relatives, friends and carers attending scientific or clinical-themed meetings has shown that they can be confused, and sometimes distressed, by presentations. This can be due to didactic presentations that are not properly targeted to this audience and a lack of a general overview or summary at the end of meetings that would provide some simple take home messages. This experience motivated the development of a less formal method of sharing complex information and ideas in a simplified manner. "Meet the Researchers" aims to make researchers accessible to patients in order to raise awareness and understanding of research and to explain how research translates into, and informs practice. This approach encourages the use of plain English, removes the tendency to rely on PowerPoint slides to convey the message and moreover, provides an opportunity for researchers to hear patients' views. Methods Small groups of participants met face to face with the researchers planning or conducting research into their condition, and discussed the topics in a relaxed and informal way. The researchers spent a minimum of 20-min with each group before moving on to the next. Info-graphics on a portable device or printed hand-outs in plain English were allowed but no formal presentations were made. Results Our method has been evaluated using feedback data from three annual events held from 2016 to 2018: 100% of participants indicated that they liked the format "very much"(76.0%) or "quite a lot"(24.0%); 80.4% found the topics "very interesting" and 75.9% found it "very easy" to ask questions. Free text comments revealed themes of 'hope' and 'altruism'. Researchers also reported benefits from participation such as learning about patient' priorities and networking. Conclusion "Meet the Researchers" provides a unique opportunity for mesothelioma researchers and patients, relatives and carers to interact on a more equal footing. It stimulates discussion, promotes understanding and provides a more informal setting for non-professional participants to ask questions. It is a format that could easily be adapted for use in other conditions

High precision optical cavity length and width measurements using double modulation

We use doubly phase modulated light to measure both the length and the linewidth of an optical resonator with high precision. The first modulation is at RF frequencies and is set near a multiple of the free spectral range, whereas the second modulation is at audio frequencies to eliminate offset errors at DC. The light in transmission or in reflection of the optical resonator is demodulated while sweeping the RF frequency over the optical resonance. We derive expressions for the demodulated power in transmission, and show that the zero crossings of the demodulated signal in transmission serve as a precise measure of the cavity linewidth at half maximum intensity. We demonstrate the technique on two resonant cavities, with lengths 16 m and a 4 km, and achieve an absolute length accuracy as low as 70 ppb. The cavity width for the 16 m cavity was determined with an accuracy of approximately 6000 ppm. Through an analysis of the systematic errors we show that this result could be substantially improved with the reduction of technical sources of uncertainty

Embedding patient and public involvement: managing tacit and explicit expectations

Background: Evidencing well-planned and implemented patient and public involvement (PPI) in a research project is increasingly required in funding bids and dissemination activities. There is a tacit expectation that involving people with experience of the condition under study will improve the integrity and quality of the research. This expectation remains largely unproblematised and unchallenged. Objective: To critically evaluate the implementation of PPI activity, including co-research in a programme of research exploring ways to enhance the independence of people with dementia. Design: Using critical cases we make visible and explicate theoretical and moral challenges of PPI. Results: Case 1 explores the challenges of undertaking multiple PPI roles in the same study making explicit different responsibilities of being a co-applicant, PPI advisory member and a co-researcher. Case 2 explores tensions which arose when working with carer co-researchers during data collection; here the co-researcher’s wish to offer support and advice to research participants, a moral imperative, was in conflict with assumptions about the role of the objective interviewer. Case 3 defines and examines co-research data coding and interpretation activities undertaken with people with dementia; reporting the theoretical outputs of the activity and questioning whether this was co-researcher analysis or PPI validation. Conclusion: PPI activity can empower individual PPI volunteers and improve relevance and quality of research but it is a complex activity which is socially constructed in flexible ways with variable outcomes. It cannot be assumed to be simple or universal panacea for increasing the relevance and accessibility of research to the public

Lithography-Free Fabrication of Graphene Devices

We have developed a lithography-free, all-dry process for fabricating graphene devices using an ultrathin quartz filament as a shadow mask to avoid possible contamination of graphene during lithographic process. This technique was used to prepare devices for electrical transport as well as planar tunnel junction studies of n-layer graphene (nLG), with n = 1, 2, 3 and higher. We observed localization behavior and an apparent reduction of density of states (DOS) near the Fermi energy in nLG

Traumatic alterations in GABA signaling disrupt hippocampal network activity in the developing brain

Severe head trauma causes widespread neuronal shear injuries and acute seizures. Shearing of neural processes might contribute to seizures by disrupting the transmembrane ion gradients that sub serve normal synaptic signaling. To test this possibility, we investigated changes in intracellular chloride concentration ([Cl -]i) associated with the widespread neural shear injury induced during preparation of acute brain slices. In hippo campal slices and intact hippo campal preparations from immature CLM-1 mice, increases in [Cl -]i correlated with disruption of neural processes and biomarkers of cell injury. Traumatized neurons with higher [Cl -]i demonstrated excitatory GABA signaling, remained synaptically active, and facilitated network activity as assayed by the frequency of extracellular action potentials and spontaneous network-driven oscillations. These data support a more inhibitory role for GABA in the unperturbed immature brain, demonstrate the utility of the acute brain slice preparation for the study of the consequences of trauma, and provide potential mechanisms for both GABA-mediated excitatory network events in the slice preparation and early post-traumatic seizures. © 2012 the authors

Keeping it credible in cohort multiple Randomised Controlled Trials: the Community Ageing Research 75+ (CARE 75+) study model of patient and public involvement and engagement

Background There is increasing guidance on how to make the most of the rich seam of data provided by large cohort studies, and growing recognition of the benefits of cohort multiple Randomised Controlled Trials (cmRCT) in health research. In contrast, there is a lack of discussion about patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) in these large and complex research infrastructures. Methods Our aim was to create a structure to enable meaningful, sustainable public involvement within the cmRCT framework. We have established a core reference group of four key individuals with extensive links to other relevant local community structures and individuals. Results Using the CARE 75+ model we have engaged with a wide variety of patients and the public in a relatively short space of time. Activities have included scrutiny of protocols and assessment tools, and process evaluations; resulting in system efficiencies, increased recruitment and a more focused research agenda. Conclusions There is a need for strong public oversight and flexible models of PPIE in cmRCTs. The model of PPIE developed in the Community Ageing Research 75+ study presents one potential way to foster expertise and enable diversity