11 research outputs found
Being user-oriented: convergences, divergences, and the potentials for systematic dialogue between disciplines and between researchers, designers, and providers
The challenge this panel addresses is drawn from intersecting literature reviews and critical commentaries focusing on: 1) user studies in multiple fields; and 2) the difficulties of bringing different disciplines and perspectives to bear on userâoriented research, design, and practice. 1
The challenge is that while we have made some progress in collaborative work, we have some distance to go to become userâoriented in interâdisciplinary and interâperspective ways. The varieties of our approaches and solutions are, as some observers suggest, an increasing cacophony. One major difficulty is that most discussions are solutionâoriented, offering arguments of this sort ââ if only we addressed users in this way⊠Each solution becomes yet another addition to the cacophony.
This panel implements a central approach documented for its utility by communication researchers and long used by communication mediators and negotiators ââ that of focusing not on communication but rather on metaâcommunication: communicating about communication. The intent in the context of this panel is to help us refocus attention from too frequent polarizations between alternative solutions to the possibility of coming to understand what is behind the alternatives and where they point to experientiallyâbased convergences and divergences, both of which might potentially contribute to synergies.
The background project for this panel comes from a series of inâdepth interviews with expert researchers, designers, and providers in three field groupings ââ library and information science; human computer interaction/information technology; and communication and media studies. One set of interviews involved 5âhour focus groups with directors of academic and public libraries serving 44 colleges and universities in central Ohio; the second involved oneâonâone interviews averaging 50 minutes with 81 nationallyâinternationally known experts in the 3 fields, 25â27 interviews per field. Using Dervin\u27s SenseâMaking Methodological approach to interviewing, the expert interviews of both kinds asked each interviewee: what he/she considered to be the big unanswered questions about users and what explained why the questions have not been answered; and, what he/she saw as hindering versus helping in attempts to communicate about users across disciplinary and perspective gaps. 2 The panel consists of six teams, two from each field. Prior to the panel presentation at ASIST, each team will have read the set of interviews and completed impressionistic essays of what patterns and themes they saw as emerging. At this stage, team members will purposively not homogenize their differences and most will write soloâauthored essays that will be placed on a webâsite accessible to ASIST members prior to the November meeting. In addition, at least one systematic analysis will be completed and available online. 3
At the ASIST panel, each team\u27s leader will present a brief and intentionally provocative impressionist account of what his/her team came to understand about our struggles communicating across fields and perspectives about users. Again, each team will purposively not homogenize its own differences in viewpoints, but rather highlight them as fodder for discussion. A major purpose will be to invite audience members to join the panel in discussion. At least 20 minutes will be left open for this purpose
Livestock 2.0 â genome editing for fitter, healthier, and more productive farmed animals
Abstract The human population is growing, and as a result we need to produce more food whilst reducing the impact of farming on the environment. Selective breeding and genomic selection have had a transformational impact on livestock productivity, and now transgenic and genome-editing technologies offer exciting opportunities for the production of fitter, healthier and more-productive livestock. Here, we review recent progress in the application of genome editing to farmed animal species and discuss the potential impact on our ability to produce food
Hydrogeologic Processes Impacting Storage, Fate, and Transport of Chloride from Road Salt in Urban Riparian Aquifers
Detrimental
effects of road salt runoff on urban streams are compounded
by its facilitated routing via storm drains, ditches, and flood channels.
Elevated in-stream salinity may also result from seasonal storage
and discharge of chloride in groundwater, and previous work has hypothesized
that groundwater discharge to streams may have the effect of diluting
stream chloride concentrations in winter and enriching them in summer.
However, the hydrogeological processes controlling these patterns
have not been thoroughly investigated. Our research focuses on an
urban stream and floodplain system in Syracuse, NY, to understand
how groundwater and surface water exchange impacts chloride storage,
fate, and transport. We created a 3D groundwater flow and solute transport
model of the floodplain, calibrated to the distributions of floodplain
hydraulic heads and groundwater fluxes to the stream throughout the
reach. We used a sensitivity analysis to calibrate and evaluate the
influence of model parameters, and compared model outputs to field
observations. The main source mechanism of chloride to the floodplain
aquifer was high-concentration, overbank flood events in winter that
directly recharged groundwater. The modeled residence time and storage
capacity of the aquifer indicate that restoration projects designed
to promote floodplain reconnection and the frequency of overbank flooding
in winter have the potential to temporarily store chloride in groundwater,
buffer surface water concentrations, and reduce stream concentrations
following periods of road salting