iSchool Proposal for Themed Wildcard Session on New Information Systems Methods

???New Information Systems??? is an emerging field composed of social studies of science (STS), information sciences (IS), workplace studies and technological design, and new media forms such as cyberinfrastructure or eResearch. Within this area we are exploring the connections and inter-relationships between empirical studies of information at knowledge creation and use, and methods from more traditional IS, social networks, grounded theory and ethnomethodology. The collective creation of a theoretically driven cluster at this juncture would tie us together in a convergence that would link our scholarship and enable students to access this strong and existing - yet invisible - college. We propose a ???wildcard??? session here that makes a space for people to speak about their methods, assess their viability for helping to build our emerging community, and hopefully to explore the ???behind the scenes??? actions associated with practicing any methods. Such an event is most timely. At the recent meetings of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S), an entire day was devoted to the emerging intersections of STS and IS. In addition it should be noted that the same book, Memory Practices in the Sciences (G. Bowker, MIT Press, 2007), won the best book award at both ASIST and 4S. This might be seen as a harbinger for the deeply theoretical and methodological work that is to take place, if the intersection is to be a robust one. Our research directions will be focused on studies of infrastructure, ethical actions that are inscribed into IS, and theoretical studies of questions such as ???what is useful information???? We need to unpack the contextual nature of knowledge creation and use. As well, we need to understand the ways in which it is entangled with obligations from different domains and communities of practice such as privacy, consent, anonymity, confidentiality, ownership and a whole host of organizational and professional matters. New media studies point to an intense overlapping and interrelationship of fields and disciplines. Methods should come from a combination of (1) sensitivity to the historical moment (e.g., multiculturalism, extreme changes in the meaning of ???global???); (2) an assemblage of tools that are ready to hand, theoretically driven, are pleasant and effective to use; and (3) embody an ethical commitment to the values and meanings of those who are being studied (emic), within a way to explore the conventions, standards and infrastructures that both constrain and enable their experiences (etic). The papers here aim to show a range of approaches from the current STS, IS and Workplace Studies emergence that speak to the criteria detailed above. Each participant in the experiemntal forum will bring an example of their research, and as honestly as possible, assess its methodological strengths and weaknesses. The assessment will be relative to strengthening the development of the iSchool community, to the intersections noted above, and to the welfare of respondents

Working towards being ready: a theory of how practising midwives maintain their ongoing competence to practise their profession

Every year in New Zealand midwives must declare that they have maintained their ongoing competence to practise their profession. There are a number of mandated activities undertaken which are aimed at maintaining public safety. Midwives work in a range of different roles in areas with varying access to resources that support development. There is no current documented research that explains what it is that midwives must do in order that they meet these mandatory requirements and self-identified areas of development. Grounded theory was the methodology used in an attempt to understand the process that midwives engage, in order that they maintain their competence to practise. Twenty six midwives from around New Zealand, with varying degrees of experience, practice type, current role and qualifications were interviewed. The finding of this study has led to the development of the theory “working towards being ready”. This is a continuous process in which midwives engage. The component parts are professional positioning, identifying needs, strategizing solutions and reflecting on practice. The process is contextual, diverse and is impacted on by practice setting. It is also dependent on salient conditions of resourcing, availability and opportunity for engagement in activities. The consequence of this process is that midwives maintain their ability to continue to practise and also maintain their self-assessed competence. However midwives manage a plethora of obstacles some imposed by themselves, others by their practice environment in order to do this. What we see is that midwives start to place boundaries around the practice in which they will engage. Not only that but they develop expertise in certain areas and discard skills that have no relevance for their current clinical context. Ultimately across the profession of midwifery we have midwives working in different areas in different ways all working above the minimum requirement for safe practice and all under the umbrella of midwifery practice. Midwifery practice it seems is far more than just clinical practice and through the process of working towards being ready we see that there is depth to practise but at the consequence of breadth. This study makes the recommendation that an evaluation occur of current mandated processes for midwives to ascertain if they are effective. Midwives it appears self-manage their practice in order to keep themselves and women that they care for safe and in order to be ready for the moment, whatever the moment may be

Exercise dependence and quality of life: sense-making among individuals with eating disorders

Background: Excessive exercise is identified in the DSM-V as a common symptom of both anorexia and bulimia, with up to 85% of eating disordered patients engaging in compulsive physical activity. Excessive exercise can further compromise both physical and psychological health, and individuals often risk social isolation. It has also been demonstrated that individuals with eating disorders who engage in compulsive exercise have worse outcomes and require longer hospitalisation making it an important factor in the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Although research has started to define compulsive exercise including the factors that contribute to its maintenance, there is currently very limited research surrounding how compulsive exercise affects quality of life. This data is essential to add to the understanding of compulsive exercise. Method: The study being completed is utilising Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore how female inpatients with eating disorders make sense of their own exercise dependency, and make attributions regarding its impacts on their overall quality of life. This study is completed in part fulfilment for the researchers MSc in Exercise and health. Outcomes: 1. To explore the physical and psychological impact that compulsive exercise can cause to understand the rationale of the study. 2. To outline current research to highlight why further research in this area is required, including why a qualitative paradigm was chosen. 3. To analyse any preliminary findings that have been collected

Harmonizing the agricultural biotechnology debate for the benefit of African farmers

The intense debate over agricultural biotechnology is at once fascinating, confusing and disappointing. It is complicated by issues of ethical, moral, socio-economic, political, philosophical and scientific import. Its vocal champions exaggerate their claims of biotechnology as saviour of the poor and hungry, while, equally loudly, its opponents declare it as the doomsday devil of agriculture. Sandwiched between these two camps is the rest of the public, either absorbed or indifferent. Biotechnology issues specific to the African public must include crop and animal productivity, food security, alleviation of poverty and gender equity, and must exclude political considerations. Food and its availability are basic human rights issues—for people without food, everything else is insignificant. Although we should discuss and challenge new technologies and their products, bringing the agricultural biotechnology debate into food aid for Africa where millions are faced with life-or-death situations is irresponsible. Agricultural biotechnology promises the impoverished African a means to improve food security and reduce pressures on the environment, provided the perceived risks associated with the technology are addressed. This paper attempts to harmonize the debate, and to examine the potential benefits and risks that agricultural biotechnology brings to African farmers. Key words: Agriculture, biotechnology, biotechnology debate, biotechnology and Africa, biotechnology issues, food security, poverty alleviation. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.2(11) 2003: 394-41

Tales of Emergence - Synthetic Biology as a Scientific Community in the Making

International audienceThis article locates the beginnings of a synthetic biology network and thereby probes the formation of a potential disciplinary community. We consider the ways that ideas of community are mobilized, both by scientists and policy-makers in building an agenda for new forms of knowledge work, and by social scientists as an analytical device to understand new formations for knowledge production. As participants in, and analysts of, a network in synthetic biology, we describe our current understanding of synthetic biology by telling four tales of community making. The first tale tells of the mobilization of synthetic biology within a European context. The second tale describes the approach to synthetic biology community formation in the UK. The third narrates the creation of an institutionally based, funded 'network in synthetic biology'. The final tale de-localizes community-making efforts by focussing on 'devices' that make communities. In tying together these tales, our analysis suggests that the potential community can be understood in terms of 'movements'--the (re)orientation and enrolment of people, stories, disciplines and policies; and of 'stickiness'--the objects and glues that begin to bind together the various constitutive elements of community

Lentiviral gene transfer of RPE65 rescues survival and function of cones in a mouse model of Leber congenital amaurosis.

BACKGROUND: RPE65 is specifically expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium and is essential for the recycling of 11-cis-retinal, the chromophore of rod and cone opsins. In humans, mutations in RPE65 lead to Leber congenital amaurosis or early-onset retinal dystrophy, a severe form of retinitis pigmentosa. The proof of feasibility of gene therapy for RPE65 deficiency has already been established in a dog model of Leber congenital amaurosis, but rescue of the cone function, although crucial for human high-acuity vision, has never been strictly proven. In Rpe65 knockout mice, photoreceptors show a drastically reduced light sensitivity and are subject to degeneration, the cone photoreceptors being lost at early stages of the disease. In the present study, we address the question of whether application of a lentiviral vector expressing the Rpe65 mouse cDNA prevents cone degeneration and restores cone function in Rpe65 knockout mice. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Subretinal injection of the vector in Rpe65-deficient mice led to sustained expression of Rpe65 in the retinal pigment epithelium. Electroretinogram recordings showed that Rpe65 gene transfer restored retinal function to a near-normal pattern. We performed histological analyses using cone-specific markers and demonstrated that Rpe65 gene transfer completely prevented cone degeneration until at least four months, an age at which almost all cones have degenerated in the untreated Rpe65-deficient mouse. We established an algorithm that allows prediction of the cone-rescue area as a function of transgene expression, which should be a useful tool for future clinical trials. Finally, in mice deficient for both RPE65 and rod transducin, Rpe65 gene transfer restored cone function when applied at an early stage of the disease. CONCLUSIONS: By demonstrating that lentivirus-mediated Rpe65 gene transfer protects and restores the function of cones in the Rpe65(-/-) mouse, this study reinforces the therapeutic value of gene therapy for RPE65 deficiencies, suggests a cone-preserving treatment for the retina, and evaluates a potentially effective viral vector for this purpose

Informing the development of Australia's national eating disorders research and translation strategy : a rapid review methodology

Background Eating disorders (EDs) are highly complex mental illnesses associated with significant medical complications. There are currently knowledge gaps in research relating to the epidemiology, aetiology, treatment, burden, and outcomes of eating disorders. To clearly identify and begin addressing the major deficits in the scientific, medical, and clinical understanding of these mental illnesses, the Australian Government Department of Health in 2019 funded the InsideOut Institute (IOI) to develop the Australian Eating Disorder Research and Translation Strategy, the primary aim of which was to identify priorities and targets for building research capacity and outputs. A series of rapid reviews (RR) were conducted to map the current state of knowledge, identify evidence gaps, and inform development of the national research strategy. Published peer-reviewed literature on DSM-5 listed EDs, across eight knowledge domains was reviewed: (1) population, prevalence, disease burden, Quality of Life in Western developed countries; (2) risk factors; (3) co-occurring conditions and medical complications; (4) screening and diagnosis; (5) prevention and early intervention; (6) psychotherapies and relapse prevention; (7) models of care; (8) pharmacotherapies, alternative and adjunctive therapies; and (9) outcomes (including mortality). While RRs are systematic in nature, they are distinct from systematic reviews in their aim to gather evidence in a timely manner to support decision-making on urgent or high-priority health concerns at the national level. Results Three medical science databases were searched as the primary source of literature for the RRs: Science Direct, PubMed and OVID (Medline). The search was completed on 31st May 2021 (spanning January 2009-May 2021). At writing, a total of 1,320 articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the final review. Conclusions For each RR, the evidence has been organised to review the knowledge area and identify gaps for further research and investment. The series of RRs (published separately within the current series) are designed to support the development of research and translation practice in the field of EDs. They highlight areas for investment and investigation, and provide researchers, service planners and providers, and research funders rapid access to quality current evidence, which has been synthesised and organised to assist decision-making