Integration and implementation sciences: building a new specialization

Developing a new specialization—Integration and Implementation Sciences—may be an effective way to draw together and significantly strengthen the theory and methods necessary to tackle complex societal issues and problems. This paper presents an argument for such a specialization, beginning with a brief review of calls for new research approaches that combine disciplines and interact more closely with policy and practice. It posits that the core elements of Integration and Implementation Sciences already exist, but that the field is currently characterized by fragmentation and marginalization. The paper then outlines three sets of characteristics that will delineate Integration and Implementation Sciences. First is that the specialization will aim to find better ways to deal with the defining elements of many current societal issues and problems: namely complexity, uncertainty, change, and imperfection. Second is that there will be three theoretical and methodological pillars for doing this: 1) systems thinking and complexity science, 2) participatory methods, and 3) knowledge management, exchange, and implementation. Third, operationally, Integration and Implementation Sciences will be grounded in practical application, and generally involve large-scale collaboration. The paper concludes by examining where Integration and Implementation Sciences would sit in universities, and outlines a program for further development of the field. An appendix provides examples of Integration and Implementation Sciences in action

Measuring the Global Research Environment: Information Science Challenges for the 21st Century

“What does the global research environment look like?” This paper presents a summary look at the results of efforts to address this question using available indicators on global research production. It was surprising how little information is available, how difficult some of it is to access and how flawed the data are. The three most useful data sources were UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Research and Development data (1996-2002), the Institute of Scientific Information publications listings for January 1998 through March 2003, and the World of Learning 2002 reference volume. The data showed that it is difficult to easily get a good overview of the global research situation from existing sources. Furthermore, inequalities between countries in research capacity are marked and challenging. Information science offers strategies for responding to both of these challenges. In both cases improvements are likely if access to information can be facilitated and the process of integrating information from different sources can be simplified, allowing transformation into effective action. The global research environment thus serves as a case study for the focus of this paper – the exploration of information science responses to challenges in the management, exchange and implementation of knowledge globally

Gabor frames and deep scattering networks in audio processing

This paper introduces Gabor scattering, a feature extractor based on Gabor frames and Mallat's scattering transform. By using a simple signal model for audio signals specific properties of Gabor scattering are studied. It is shown that for each layer, specific invariances to certain signal characteristics occur. Furthermore, deformation stability of the coefficient vector generated by the feature extractor is derived by using a decoupling technique which exploits the contractivity of general scattering networks. Deformations are introduced as changes in spectral shape and frequency modulation. The theoretical results are illustrated by numerical examples and experiments. Numerical evidence is given by evaluation on a synthetic and a "real" data set, that the invariances encoded by the Gabor scattering transform lead to higher performance in comparison with just using Gabor transform, especially when few training samples are available.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Repository for reproducibility: https://gitlab.com/hararticles/gs-gt . Keywords: machine learning; scattering transform; Gabor transform; deep learning; time-frequency analysis; CNN. Accepted and published after peer revisio

Basic Filters for Convolutional Neural Networks Applied to Music: Training or Design?

When convolutional neural networks are used to tackle learning problems based on music or, more generally, time series data, raw one-dimensional data are commonly pre-processed to obtain spectrogram or mel-spectrogram coefficients, which are then used as input to the actual neural network. In this contribution, we investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the influence of this pre-processing step on the network's performance and pose the question, whether replacing it by applying adaptive or learned filters directly to the raw data, can improve learning success. The theoretical results show that approximately reproducing mel-spectrogram coefficients by applying adaptive filters and subsequent time-averaging is in principle possible. We also conducted extensive experimental work on the task of singing voice detection in music. The results of these experiments show that for classification based on Convolutional Neural Networks the features obtained from adaptive filter banks followed by time-averaging perform better than the canonical Fourier-transform-based mel-spectrogram coefficients. Alternative adaptive approaches with center frequencies or time-averaging lengths learned from training data perform equally well.Comment: Completely revised version; 21 pages, 4 figure

Moving interdisciplinary research forward: Top down organising force needed to help classify diverse practices

What does “interdisciplinarity” actually mean? Gabriele Bammer argues lumping interdisciplinary work together may be prohibiting an effective evaluation of how this kind of research is faring. A much more intuitive approach is needed to distinguishing between aspects of diverse research practices. Furthermore, developing effective professional organisations is also a key task for moving interdisciplinary research forward

Why are interdisciplinary research proposals less likely to be funded? Lack of adequate peer review may be a factor.

Recent findings suggest interdisciplinary research is less likely to be funded than discipline-based research proposals. Gabriele Bammer looks at how interdisciplinary research is currently peer reviewed and argues different review processes may well be required to do justice to these different kinds of interdisciplinarity. Discipline-based researchers may be ill-equipped to evaluate the integrative processes that an interdisciplinary proposal plans to use

Feasibility Research into the Controlled Availability of Opioids (Stage 1)

Illegal drug use is a problem worldwide. Prisons are overcrowded with people whose criminal activity is related to illegal drug use and/or distribution. Yet illegal drug use apparently goes unchecked. Addiction to opioids is no recent phenomenon. The opium trade is centuries old. The question is increasingly being asked whether the costs of current social and legal policies concerning opioid use outweigh their benefits. Urgency has been given to the issue by the advent of the human immunodeficiency virus and its wildfire spread through shared use of injecting equipment in some drug using communities. Opioid use has become synonymous with criminal activity, 'chaotic lifestyles' and living dangerously.The present report covers stage 1 (feasibility). It has been prepared at NCEPH by Dr Gabriele Bammer who has co-ordinated a multi-disciplinary team drawn both from within and outside the Centre. Our collaboration with the Australian Institute of Criminology on this exercise has been particularly important, and the process has been monitored and modified by an advisory committee and informed by a large reference group of experts, both in Australia and overseas. Responsibility for the report and its recommendations rests with me and the authors. We have carefully considered the advice of all members of the advisory committee and the suggestions of the reference group. Not all of the recommendations in the report are necessarily endorsed by all individuals in either group. The two volume report is being submitted to Mr Moore’s committee and being widely disseminated in the ACT community and beyond, to inform and provoke discussion about whether or not to proceed to Stage 2. The report offers our advice that an ACT trial of controlled availability of opioids is feasible. It argues that such a trial would need to be very carefully structured as a randomised control trial which can provide answers to specific questions. These answers do not exist anywhere in the world at this time. We recognise that there are many uncertainties associated with undertaking such a trial, but conclude that there is a sound basis for proceeding to a Stage 2 feasibility study

Report and Recommendations of Stage 2 Feasibility Research into the Controlled Availability of Opioids

This report is the culmination of four years of research into the question: Should a carefully controlled and rigorously evaluated trial be conducted to determine whether or not the prescription of pharmaceutical heroin (diacetylmorphine) is a useful addition to current maintenance treatment for dependent heroin users? It recommends that two carefully controlled pilot studies should be conducted in Canberra. However, the addition of diacetylmorphine to maintenance treatment must not be linked with permissive attitudes to illicit drug use and must be coupled with continuing law enforcement and prevention activity against illicit drug use

Key issues in co-creation with stakeholders when research problems are complex

The extensive literature on research co-creation is mostly based on problems being treated as clearly defined and solvable. What is the impact on co-creation when problems are complex, with the following characteristics: difficult to delimit, contested definitions, multiple uncertainties and unresolvable unknowns, constraints on what can be done, and no perfect solution?Through the Theme ‘Building Resources for Complex, Action-Oriented Team Science’ and the ‘Co-Creative Capacity’ pursuit, this work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) under funding received from the National Science Foundation DBI-1052875