Metadata Portal Project: Using DDI to Enhance Data Access and Dissemination

Presentation at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), NORC at the University of Chicago, and the American National Election Studies program in the Center for Political Studies at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research are currently engaged in a new collaborative effort to create a common metadata portal for two of the most important data collections in the U.S. – the American National Election Studies (ANES) and the General Social Survey (GSS). Technical support is provided by Metadata Technology and Integrated Data Management Services. This pilot project, funded by the National Science Foundation, will produce a combined library of machine-actionable DDI metadata for these collections, and demonstrate DDI-based tools for advanced searching, dynamic metadata presentation, and other functions intended to facilitate discovery and analysis of these data. The project will also lay a foundation for developing new metadata-driven workflows for both ANES and GSS. This presentation describes the major phases and deliverables of the project and presents a plan of action, with an emphasis on how the project will benefit the wider community.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc

ICPSR and the Data Seal of Approval: Accreditation Experiences and Opportunities

This presentation, given at the International Forum on 'Polar Data Activities in Global Data Systems' on October 16, 2013 in Tokyo, Japan, discussed ICPSR's experiences applying for and acquiring the Data Seal of Approval (DSA) in 2010. The Data Seal of Approval provided an inexpensive, relatively quick, and straightforward accreditation process. The results of the DSA process helped ICPSR to continue to refine processes and procedures. The DSA provides a low barrier of entry for repositories to certify that they are trustworthy, while helping them to improve their own systems. The Seal carries meaning that is easily recognized, especially as more repositories complete the assessment and as more producers and consumers recognize the value added.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145468/1/ICPSR_polar_forum_20131016 (1).pptxhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145468/3/S5_01_Lyle.pdfDescription of ICPSR_polar_forum_20131016 (1).pptx : PresentationDescription of S5_01_Lyle.pdf : Repor

DDI - A Metadata Standard for the Community

Presentation at the North American Data Documentation Conference (NADDI) 2013This presentation gives an overview of the primary benefits of DDI like rich content, metadata reuse across the life cycle, and machine-actionability in a global network. Examples of successful adoption are described, along with barriers and challenges to using DDI. The presentation concludes with a summary of future directions for the standard.Institute for Policy & Social Research, University of Kansas; University of Kansas Libraries; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Data Documentation Initiative Allianc

ICPSR Meets OAIS: Applying the OAIS Reference Model to the Social Science Archive Context

This paper reviews the archival process at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), a repository of digital social science data, and maps ICPSR’s Ingest and Access operations to the Open Archival Information System (OAIS)Reference Model. The paper also assesses ICPSR’s conformance with the archival responsibilities of ‘‘trusted’’ OAIS repositories, with the proviso that audit criteria for archival certification are still under development. The ICPSR to OAIS mapping exercise has benefits for the larger social science archiving community because it provides an interpretation of the reference model in the quantitative social science environment and points to preservation-related issues that may be salient for other social science archives. Building on the archives’ long tradition of shared norms and cooperation, we may ultimately be able to design a federated system of trusted social science repositories that provides access to the global heritage.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/60440/1/Vardigan.Whiteman.Applying OAIS.pd

Core trustworthy data repositories requirements

The Core Trustworthy Data Repository Requirements were developed by the DSA–WDS Partnership Working Group on Repository Audit and Certification, a Working Group (WG) of the Research Data Alliance . The goal of the effort was to create a set of harmonized common requirements for certification of repositories at the core level, drawing from criteria already put in place by the Data Seal of Approval (DSA: www.datasealofapproval.org) and the ICSU World Data System (ICSU-WDS: https://www.icsu-wds.org/services/certification). An additional goal of the project was to develop common procedures to be implemented by both DSA and ICSU-WDS. Ultimately, the DSA and ICSU-WDS plan to collaborate on a global framework for repository certification that moves from the core to the extended (nestor-Seal DIN 31644), to the formal (ISO 16363) level

Data Documentation Initiative: Toward a Standard for the Social Sciences

The Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) is an emerging metadata standard for the social sciences. The DDI is in active use by many data specialists and archivists, but researchers themselves have been slow to recognize the benefits of the standards approach to metadata. This paper outlines how the DDI has evolved since its inception in 1995 and discusses ways to broaden its impact in the social science research community

Development of an in-vivo active reversible butyrylcholinesterase inhibitor

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by severe basal forebrain cholinergic deficit, which results in progressive and chronic deterioration of memory and cognitive functions. Similar to acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) contributes to the termination of cholinergic neurotransmission. Its enzymatic activity increases with the disease progression, thus classifying BChE as a viable therapeutic target in advanced AD. Potent, selective and reversible human BChE inhibitors were developed. The solved crystal structure of human BChE in complex with the most potent inhibitor reveals its binding mode and provides the molecular basis of its low nanomolar potency. Additionally, this compound is noncytotoxic and has neuroprotective properties. Furthermore, this inhibitor moderately crosses the blood-brain barrier and improves memory, cognitive functions and learning abilities of mice in a model of the cholinergic deficit that characterizes AD, without producing acute cholinergic adverse effects. Our study provides an advanced lead compound for developing drugs for alleviating symptoms caused by cholinergic hypofunction in advanced AD

Pharmacological validation of a novel nonhuman primate measure of thermal responsivity with utility for predicting analgesic effects

Joshua D Vardigan, Andrea K Houghton, Henry S Lange, Emily D Adarayan, Parul S Pall, Jeanine E Ballard, Darrell A Henze, Jason M Uslaner Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, PA, USA Introduction: The development of novel analgesics to treat acute or chronic pain has been a challenge due to a lack of translatable measurements. Preclinical end points with improved translatability are necessary to more accurately inform clinical testing paradigms, which may help guide selection of viable drug candidates. Methods: In this study, a nonhuman primate biomarker which is sensitive to standard analgesics at clinically relevant plasma concentrations, can differentiate analgesia from sedation and utilizes a protocol very similar to that which can be employed in human clinical studies is described. Specifically, acute heat stimuli were delivered to the volar forearm using a contact heat thermode in the same manner as the clinical setting. Results: Clinically efficacious exposures of morphine, fentanyl, and tramadol produced robust analgesic effects, whereas doses of diazepam that produce sedation had no effect. Conclusion: We propose that this assay has predictive utility that can help improve the probability of success for developing novel analgesics. Keywords: pain, opioid, translatable, monkey, thermode, noxious hea