Knowledge Co-production in Contested Spaces: An Evaluation of the North Slope Borough – Shell Baseline Studies Program

Supporting the development of trusted and usable science remains a key challenge in contested spaces. This paper evaluates a collaborative research agreement between the North Slope Borough of Alaska and Shell Exploration and Production Company—an agreement that was designed to improve collection of information and management of issues associated with the potential impacts of oil and gas development in the Arctic. The evaluation is based on six categories of knowledge co-production indicators: external factors, inputs, processes, outputs, outcomes, and impacts. Two sources of data were used to assess the indicators: interviews with steering committee members and external science managers (n = 16) and a review of steering committee minutes. Interpretation of the output and outcome indicators suggests that the Baseline Studies Program supported a broad range of research, though there were differences in how groups perceived the relevance and legitimacy of project outcomes. Several input, process, and external variables enabled the co-production of trusted science in an emergent boundary organization and contested space; these variables included governance arrangements, leveraged capacities, and the inclusion of traditional knowledge. Challenges to knowledge co-production on the North Slope include logistics, differences in cultures and decision contexts, and balancing trade-offs among perceived credibility, legitimacy, and relevance. Reinforced lessons learned included providing time to foster trust, developing adaptive governance approaches, and building capacity among scientists to translate community concerns into research questions.La nécessité d’appuyer la production de données scientifiques fiables et utilisables demeure un défi important dans les espaces contestés. Le présent article évalue une entente de collaboration de recherche entre la municipalité de North Slope, en Alaska, et la Shell Exploration and Production Company, entente destinée à améliorer la collecte de renseignements et la gestion des enjeux liés aux incidences éventuelles de l’exploitation pétrolière et gazière dans l’Arctique. L’évaluation est fondée sur six catégories d’indicateurs de coproduction des connaissances : facteurs externes, intrants, processus, extrants, résultats et incidences. Deux sources de données ont été employées pour évaluer les indicateurs : des entrevues avec les membres du comité directeur et des gestionnaires scientifiques externes (n = 16), et l’examen des procès-verbaux du comité directeur. L’interprétation des indicateurs d’extrants et de résultats suggère que le programme d’études de base a appuyé un large éventail de recherches, mais qu’il y avait des différences dans la façon dont les groupes percevaient la pertinence et la légitimité des résultats du projet. Plusieurs variables d’intrants, de processus et de facteurs externes ont permis la coproduction de données scientifiques fiables dans une organisation frontalière émergente et un espace contesté. Ces variables comprenaient les mécanismes de gouvernance, les capacités utilisées et l’inclusion des connaissances traditionnelles. Parmi les défis propres à la coproduction de connaissances à North Slope, notons des défis de logistique, de différences sur les plans de la culture et des contextes décisionnels, ainsi que l’équilibre des compromis entre les perceptions en matière de crédibilité, de légitimité et de pertinence. Quant aux leçons apprises, notons la nécessité d’accorder du temps pour favoriser la confiance, d’élaborer des méthodes de gouvernance adaptatives et de renforcer les capacités chez les scientifiques pour traduire les préoccupations communautaires en questions de recherche

B-meson decay constants: a more complete picture from full lattice QCD

We extend the picture of $B$-meson decay constants obtained in lattice QCD beyond those of the $B$, $B_s$ and $B_c$ to give the first full lattice QCD results for the $B^*$, $B^*_s$ and $B^*_c$. We use improved NonRelativistic QCD for the valence $b$ quark and the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action for the lighter quarks on gluon field configurations that include the effect of $u/d$, $s$ and $c$ quarks in the sea with $u/d$ quark masses going down to physical values. For the ratio of vector to pseudoscalar decay constants, we find $f_{B^*}/f_B$ = 0.941(26), $f_{B^*_s}/f_{B_s}$ = 0.953(23) (both $2\sigma$ less than 1.0) and $f_{B^*_c}/f_{B_c}$ = 0.988(27). Taking correlated uncertainties into account we see clear indications that the ratio increases as the mass of the lighter quark increases. We compare our results to those using the HISQ formalism for all quarks and find good agreement both on decay constant values when the heaviest quark is a $b$ and on the dependence on the mass of the heaviest quark in the region of the $b$. Finally, we give an overview plot of decay constants for gold-plated mesons, the most complete picture of these hadronic parameters to date.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures. Minor updates to the discussion in several places and some additional reference

Molecular orbital calculations of two-electron states for P donor solid-state spin qubits

We theoretically study the Hilbert space structure of two neighbouring P donor electrons in silicon-based quantum computer architectures. To use electron spins as qubits, a crucial condition is the isolation of the electron spins from their environment, including the electronic orbital degrees of freedom. We provide detailed electronic structure calculations of both the single donor electron wave function and the two-electron pair wave function. We adopted a molecular orbital method for the two-electron problem, forming a basis with the calculated single donor electron orbitals. Our two-electron basis contains many singlet and triplet orbital excited states, in addition to the two simple ground state singlet and triplet orbitals usually used in the Heitler-London approximation to describe the two-electron donor pair wave function. We determined the excitation spectrum of the two-donor system, and study its dependence on strain, lattice position and inter donor separation. This allows us to determine how isolated the ground state singlet and triplet orbitals are from the rest of the excited state Hilbert space. In addition to calculating the energy spectrum, we are also able to evaluate the exchange coupling between the two donor electrons, and the double occupancy probability that both electrons will reside on the same P donor. These two quantities are very important for logical operations in solid-state quantum computing devices, as a large exchange coupling achieves faster gating times, whilst the magnitude of the double occupancy probability can affect the error rate.Comment: 15 pages (2-column

A statistical model for sea surface diurnal warming driven by numercial weather predictions fluxes and winds

A statistical model is derived relating the diurnal variation of sea surface temperature (SST) to the net surface heat flux and surface wind speed from a numerical weather prediction (NWP) model. The model is derived using fluxes and winds from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) NWP model and SSTs from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). In the model, diurnal warming has a linear dependence on the net surface heat flux integrated since (approximately) dawn and an inverse quadratic dependence on the maximum of the surface wind speed in the same period. The model coefficients are found by matching, for a given integrated heat flux, the frequency distributions of the maximum wind speed and the observed warming. Diurnal cooling, where it occurs, is modelled as proportional to the integrated heat flux divided by the heat capacity of the seasonal mixed layer. The model reproduces the statistics (mean, standard deviation, and 95-percentile) of the diurnal variation of SST seen by SEVIRI and reproduces the geographical pattern of mean warming seen by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E). We use the functional dependencies in the statistical model to test the behaviour of two physical model of diurnal warming that display contrasting systematic errors

Report on R. V. Akademik Vernadsky cruise 39, stage IV, June 17 - July 17, 1989

Participation by U. S. personnel on Cruise 39, Leg IV (June 17 - July 17, 1989) of the Marine Hydrophysical Institute's research vessel Akademik Vernadsky provided valuable information, documented in the present report for planning future cooperative projects with Soviet oceanographers. Detailed descriptions are given of the ship, its scientific laboratories, computers and onboard instrumentation. Planning and operating procedures are described and examples are given of daily work plans, seminars, menus and social activities. Personal accounts by the U. S. participants are also included. Many of the shipboard activities were recorded on VHS video cassettes. The oceanographic data collected in the Gulf Stream survey region during Leg IV are documented in the report. Copies of data sets were provided to the U. S. participants in exchange for U. S. data from the region during the survey period.Funding was provided by Vetelsen, the Education Office of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and a Dr. Willam B. Richardson Summer Fellowship provided by Alden Products Company

Conceptualizing the Science-Practice Interface: Lessons from a Collaborative Network on the Front-Line of Climate Change

The gap between science and practice is widely recognized as a major concern in the production and application of decision-relevant science. This research analyzed the roles and network connections of scientists, service providers, and decision makers engaged in climate science and adaptation practice in Alaska, where rapid climate change is already apparent. Our findings identify key actors as well as significant differences in the level of bonding ties between network members who perceive similarity in their social identities, bridging ties between network members across different social groups, and control of information across roles—all of which inform recommendations for adaptive capacity and the co-production of usable knowledge. We also find that some individuals engage in multiple roles in the network suggesting that conceptualizing science policy interactions with the traditional categories of science producers and consumers oversimplifies how experts engage with climate science, services, and decision making. Our research reinforces the notion that the development and application of knowledge is a networked phenomenon and highlights the importance of centralized individuals capable of playing multiple roles in their networks for effective translation of knowledge into action

Are patterns of fine-scale spatial genetic structure consistent between sites within tropical tree species?

JRS was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) (http://www.snf.ch/en/Pages/default.aspx) grant number PDFMP3_132479 / 1 awarded to JG. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD