Knowledge exchange at the interface of marine science and policy: A review of progress and research needs

The management of oceans and coasts needs to be informed by the best available knowledge. One way to support that is through interactive knowledge exchange (KE). Over the last decade, KE strategies have been shared with the marine research community, however, it is unclear whether this has led to recent (i.e., since 2015) progress. Through a systematic review of 60 recent academic articles applying or evaluating marine science-policy KE we synthesize trends in strategies, reasons for using a specific strategy, enablers, achievements, and evaluation. Most articles located were from North America, routinely included local actors or organizations, and spanned different governance levels. In addition to knowledge co-production and boundary organizations as well-established strategies, research networks and engaged funders coordinating and supporting science-policy KE played an increasing role. However, studies rarely provided reasons for why they adopted a specific KE approach within their given context. Achievements of KE are becoming more broadly understood and, among others, included the generation of new knowledge and impact on management or individuals. Factors that enable such achievements are a key area of progress in the literature. Individual case studies referred to the process level (e.g., practical collaboration, inclusive participation and equity, clear goals, continuity), interpersonal level (e.g., trust building, relationships, regular face-to-face contact), and individual level (e.g., skillsets, understanding, champions, facilitators). The measures to evaluate the effectiveness of KE were predominately qualitative (e.g., relevance of knowledge, use of knowledge in management, individual conceptual impacts, and level of engagement). It is increasingly understood what diversity of impacts to look for and unfold ways for more purposeful evaluation. In conclusion, much progress has been made in recent years, and we identify ten further research needs around the inclusivity, institutionalization, strategy selection, and efficiency of KE approaches to support evidence-informed ocean and coastal management

Mid-latitude tropospheric ozone columns from the MOZAIC program: climatology and interannual variability

Several thousands of ozone vertical profiles collected in the course of the MOZAIC programme (Measurements of Ozone, Water Vapour, Carbon Monoxide and Nitrogen Oxides by In-Service Airbus Aircraft) from August 1994 to February 2002 are investigated to bring out climatological and interannual variability aspects. The study is centred on the most frequently visited MOZAIC airports, i.e. Frankfurt (Germany), Paris (France), New York (USA) and the cluster of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka (Japan). The analysis focuses on the vertical integration of ozone from the ground to the dynamical tropopause and the vertical integration of stratospheric-origin ozone throughout the troposphere. The characteristics of the MOZAIC profiles: frequency of flights, accuracy, precision, and depth of the troposphere observed, are presented. The climatological analysis shows that the Tropospheric Ozone Column (<I>TOC</I>) seasonal cycle ranges from a wintertime minimum at all four stations to a spring-summer maximum in Frankfurt, Paris, and New York. Over Japan, the maximum occurs in spring presumably because of the earlier springtime sun. The incursion of monsoon air masses into the boundary layer and into the mid troposphere then steeply diminishes the summertime value. Boundary layer contributions to the <I>TOC</I> are 10% higher in New York than in Frankfurt and Paris during spring and summer, and are 10% higher in Japan than in New York, Frankfurt and Paris during autumn and early spring. Local and remote anthropogenic emissions, and biomass burning over upstream regions of Asia may be responsible for the larger low- and mid-tropospheric contributions to the tropospheric ozone column over Japan throughout the year except during the summer-monsoon season. A simple Lagrangian analysis has shown that a minimum of 10% of the <I>TOC</I> is of stratospheric-origin throughout the year. Investigation of the short-term trends of the <I>TOC</I> over the period 1995&ndash;2001 shows a linear increase 0.7%/year in Frankfurt, 0.8%/year in Japan, 1.1%/year in New York and 1.6%/year in Paris for the reduced 1995&ndash;1999 period. Dominant ingredients of these positive short-term trends are the continuous increase of wintertime tropospheric ozone columns from 1996 to 1999 and the positive contributions of the mid troposphere whatever the season

A new synthetic biology approach allows transfer of an entire metabolic pathway from a medicinal plant to a biomass crop.

Artemisinin-based therapies are the only effective treatment for malaria, the most devastating disease in human history. To meet the growing demand for artemisinin and make it accessible to the poorest, an inexpensive and rapidly scalable production platform is urgently needed. Here we have developed a new synthetic biology approach, combinatorial supertransformation of transplastomic recipient lines (COSTREL), and applied it to introduce the complete pathway for artemisinic acid, the precursor of artemisinin, into the high-biomass crop tobacco. We first introduced the core pathway of artemisinic acid biosynthesis into the chloroplast genome. The transplastomic plants were then combinatorially supertransformed with cassettes for all additional enzymes known to affect flux through the artemisinin pathway. By screening large populations of COSTREL lines, we isolated plants that produce more than 120 milligram artemisinic acid per kilogram biomass. Our work provides an efficient strategy for engineering complex biochemical pathways into plants and optimizing the metabolic output. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13664.00

Reassessing accounting faculty scholarly expectations: Journal classification by author affiliation

An extensive literature exists that determines accounting journal rankings and top research producers both individually and by program. While this research stream provides valuable insights to the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) accredited programs and to programs working to achieve such accreditation, it frequently is based on quality perceptions or considers top-rated programs only. This study extends previous research by reviewing authorship by faculty at a wider range of institutions. The results of this study suggest that lists based on the “top” journals may be unrealistic for many institutions. The information provided in this manuscript should assist programs, program leaders, and faculty members address AACSB accreditation issues, promotion and tenure decisions, and annual faculty evaluations

Considerations for Research Funders and Managers to Facilitate the Translation of Scientific Knowledge into Practice

Research funders and managers can play a critical role in supporting the translation of knowledge into action by facilitating the brokering of knowledge and partnerships. We use semi-structured interviews with a research funding agency, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), to explore (i) ways that funders can facilitate knowledge brokering, the (ii) barriers to, and (iii) enablers for, facilitating knowledge brokering, and (iv) the individual skills and attributes for research program funders and managers to be effective brokers. Based on these findings, we generate three considerations for research funders elsewhere, in particular R4D funders, seeking to build capacity for knowledge brokering: (i) formalise the process and practice, (ii) develop shared language and understanding, and (iii) build individual competencies and capabilities. Our findings complement the existing literature with a context specific analysis of how research funders can facilitate knowledge brokering, and by identifying the barriers and enablers in doing so

Probing Exfoliated Graphene Layers and Their Lithiation with Microfocused X-rays

X-ray diffraction is measured on individual bilayer and multilayer graphene single-crystals and combined with electrochemically induced lithium intercalation. In-plane Bragg peaks are observed by grazing incidence diffraction. Focusing the incident beam down to an area of about 10 μm × 10 μm, individual flakes are probed by specular X-ray reflectivity. By deploying a recursive Parratt algorithm to model the experimental data, we gain access to characteristic crystallographic parameters of the samples. Notably, it is possible to directly extract the bi/multilayer graphene c-axis lattice parameter. The latter is found to increase upon lithiation, which we control using an on-chip peripheral electrochemical cell layout. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of in situ X-ray diffraction on individual, micron-sized single crystallites of few- and bilayer two-dimensional materials