Hasil untuk "Environmental Science"

Andrea Ferrari, Carlo Polidori

Mating and feeding behavioural differences have been observed between male and female wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata). It is hypothesised that these behavioural differences are supported by morphological dimorphisms in their sensory systems. Here, this hypothesis was tested in the parasitoid aculeate wasp <i>Scolia hirta</i> (Scoliidae), which attacks beetle larvae located in the soil. We have found evidence of a link between the main stimuli used by the sexes to access their target resources and the morphology of the sensory system. Males have a more developed visual system with enlarged eyes, ocelli and a higher number of ommatidia, sinc they have to visually locate and chase females immediately after they emerge. Males possess nine types of sensilla (primarily hygrothermo- and mechanoreceptors), and females possess seven types of sensilla, primarily olfactory. In females, the sensilla placoidea occur in greater numbers and are larger in size, in line with their underground host-seeking behaviour. Furthermore, the females had a blunt tip on their distal flagellomere and wider fore tibiae, which suggests that they may use vibrational sounding to detect concealed hosts, similarly to what has been described for some non-aculeate parasitoid wasps.

Abdulrahman Mirzakhani, Sayyad Darvishi

<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Abstract:</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Increasing organizational productivity by focusing on effectiveness along with the satisfaction of service recipients of service organizations is an inevitable necessity. The present study is an attempt to investigate the impact of knowledge management dimensions on organizational effectiveness in the field of police crime prevention, considering the mediating role of employees' spiritual intelligence. This study is quantitative in terms of data, applied in terms of objective, and correlational in nature. The statistical population of this research consisted of level one and two managers of Strategic Studies Center, Police Science Research Institute, Amin University and Prevention Police in 2022. Based on stratified and simple random sampling, the sample size included 103 participants. The collected data were analyzed by structural equation method using SPSS and Lisrel software. The findings of the research show that knowledge management dimensions have a direct effect of 67% and indirect effect of 48% through the spiritual intelligence of employees on organizational effectiveness. The direct effect of employees' spiritual intelligence on organizational effectiveness is 56%. Also, the dimensions of knowledge management predict 73% of changes in employees' spiritual intelligence. As a result, strengthening the variables of creation, distribution and application of knowledge in the direction of organizational effectiveness should be given serious attention. In addition, the spiritual intelligence of employees as a mediating variable should be strengthened since by strengthening the indicators of spiritual intelligence, the indirect effect of knowledge management dimensions on the organizational effectiveness of the police in the field of crime prevention can be increased.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Key Words:</strong> organizational effectiveness, organizational knowledge, police organization, spiritual intelligence</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>1.Introduction</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">Understanding the implications of the dimensions and indicators of knowledge management and spiritual intelligence on organizational effectiveness can be valuable for officials and managers who seek to improve and strengthen performance. However, the necessity of investigating the knowledge management, spiritual intelligence and organizational effectiveness of the police, especially in the field of crime prevention, can be seen as a response to the current environmental conditions and the needs of managers and commanders. On the other hand, increasing the effectiveness of the organization in order to improve the performance of the employees requires nobility and understanding of the direct and indirect effect of the knowledge management and spiritual intelligence components and indicators on the effectiveness of the organization. In fact, by improving the knowledge management and spiritual intelligence indicators, the organizational effectiveness of the police can be improved. In order to achieve organizational goals, including crime prevention, the present research tries to determine the dimensions of the direct and indirect effect of knowledge management through spiritual intelligence as a mediator on the organizational effectiveness of the police in crime prevention.</p> <ol style="text-align: left;" start="2"> <li><strong>Literature Review</strong></li> </ol> <p style="text-align: left;">The present research, which is conducted with the aim of knowing the impact of knowledge management dimensions on organizational effectiveness in&nbsp; the police crime prevention with the mediating role of employees' spiritual intelligence, is based on the dimensions of knowledge management, defined by Bhatt (2001) who considers knowledge management as the process of creating, presenting, distributing and applying&nbsp; knowledge, and spiritual intelligence of Wellman who emphasizes the seven dimensions of spiritual intelligence, including mastery, mindfulness, extrasensory perception, unity, intelligence, trauma, and childhood spirituality, as well as the effectiveness of Robbins (2008) including quality, education development, motivation and flexibility.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>3.Methodology</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">This study is quantitative in terms of data, applied in terms of objective, and correlational in nature. The statistical population of this research consisted of level one and two managers of the Strategic Studies Center, Research Institute of Police Sciences and Social Order, Amin University of Police Sciences and Prevention Police in 2022, including 140 participants. The sampling method was based on stratified and simple random sampling method. According to the formula for determining the sample size, 103 participants constituted the sample of the study. Hypotheses testing was conducted using mean tests to analyze the data and calculate the population mean and standard deviation. Additionally, a structural equation model was employed in order to perform multivariate regression, factor analysis, path analysis, and to assess the causal relationship among variables. Also, to measure hidden variables measurable and obvious indicators were used. The data was analyzed using SPSS and Lisrel software.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>4.Result</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">The research data and the results obtained through path analysis show that the dimensions of knowledge management not only have a significant direct effect on organizational effectiveness, but also have a greater and stronger effect on spiritual intelligence and that investing through spiritual intelligence has a double effect of 88% directly and indirectly on organizational effectiveness. For this reason, the third and fourth hypotheses of the research were also confirmed.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><strong>5.Conclusion</strong></p> <p style="text-align: left;">The significant effect of knowledge management dimensions on organizational effectiveness has been confirmed in the conducted research. Also, in this research, the effect of knowledge management on organizational effectiveness in crime prevention, and more importantly, the significant large effect of organizational structure on spiritual intelligence have been confirmed. Furthermore, the indirect effect of knowledge management through spiritual intelligence on organizational effectiveness shows that the mediating variable, in addition to the direct effect on organizational effectiveness in the field of crime prevention, also indirectly affects the dimensions which in turn facilitates the management of organizational effectiveness knowledge. Therefore, it is possible to restore and develop the indicators of creation, presentation, distribution and use throughout the organization, especially within the executive layers of the police, and at the same time, consider the indicators of spiritual intelligence including mastery, concern, extrasensory perception and unity which is derived from the nature of humans, in order to increase the intensity of the direct and indirect effect of knowledge management on organizational effectiveness. It should be mentioned that, based on the the findings of the present research, organizational knowledge helps to strengthen spiritual intelligence.</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</p>

Jinpeng Zhang, Michal Tomczak, Andrzej Witkowski et al.

Marine transgressions-regressions have profoundly shaped marginal seas following global sea-level fluctuations driven by climate change. This study on a sedimentary core profile SO219/31-4 from the Beibu Gulf, northwestern South China Sea (SCS), reveals information about paleoenvironment, paleoceanography and paleoclimate changes through fossil diatom assemblages and grain size distributions during the last ca. 12900 cal. yr. BP. Eight local diatom assemblage zones were distinguished and assigned to paleoenvironmental fluctuations recording sea-level and depositional environment changes in eight stages, ca. 12900–11700 (stage 1), ca. 11700–9500 (stage 2), ca. 9500–7200 (stage 3), ca. 7200–5800 (stage 4), ca. 5800–3800 (stage 5), ca. 3800–2400 (stage 6), ca. 2400–800 (stage 7) and ca. 800–0 (stage 8), cal. yr. BP. After the low sea level of stage 1 within the last deglaciation, rapid increases in sea level in stages 2 and 3 were recorded as meltwater events pulse-1B and pulse-1C resulting in marine transgression rates of ca. 16 m/kyr and 8 m/kyr, respectively. The high sea level, above the present level, in stages 4 and 5, in the Middle Holocene Climatic Optimum period, was clearly documented by more significant open sea/tropical diatom species and coastal planktonic species percentages, respectively. The late Holocene regression of sea levels was marked by a pronounced reversion of diatom taphocoenosis, responding to neoglacial climate. Fossil diatom assemblages outlined responded to paleoclimate of global warming in the deglacial and early Holocene. This study provides additional insights into the late Pleistocene and Post-glacial history of a tropical-subtropical shallow water gulf, in the NW-SCS.

Yu Miao, Alexandre Yokochi, Goran Jovanovic et al.

Non-thermal plasma as a tool in chemical reaction engineering has been studied for many years. The temperature of electrons in non-thermal plasma far exceeds other particles, which leads to its high efficiency. Besides the well-studied destruction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the reaction environment generated by non-thermal plasma is also suitable for the activation of many significant gas-phase chemical reactions, e.g., as methane coupling, reduction of carbon dioxide, ammonia synthesis, nitrogen fixation, as well as some liquid phase chemical reactions such as the treatment of contaminated water. Material synthesis is another target field of non-thermal plasma. Plasma in micro scale with several enhanced properties makes it an even more promising tool for plasma-chemical processing. This work summarizes different types of non-thermal plasmas and their performance in commonly studied chemical reactions. The advantages gained by generating non-thermal plasma in micro scale with constricted spaces, reduced timescales, and micro-/nano-structured electrodes are also discussed.

Moritz Müller, Andrew J. Spiers, Angelica Tan et al.

Abstract Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) has been a major problem for shrimp aquaculture in Southeast Asia due to its epizootic prevalence within the region since the first reported case in 2009. This study explores the application of halophilic marine bacilli isolated from coral mucus and their quorum-quenching abilities as potential biocontrol agents in aquaculture systems to combat the causative agent of EMS, Vibrio parahaemolyticus. N-acylhomoserine lactone (AHL)-degrading (AiiA) activity was first screened by PCR then confirmed by bio-reporter assay, and a combination of 16S rDNA sequence analysis and quantitative phenotype assays including biofilm-formation and temperature-growth responses were used to demonstrate diversity amongst these quorum-quenching isolates. Three phenotypically distinct strains showing notable potential were chosen to undergo co-cultivation as a method for strain improvement via long term exposure to the pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus. The novel approach taken led to significant improvements in antagonism and quorum quenching activities as compared to the ancestral wild-type strains and offers a potential solution as well as pathway to improve existing beneficial microbes for one of the most pressing issues in shrimp aquacultures worldwide.

Bohao Li, Kai Liu, Ming Wang et al.

Abstract The increase in record‐breaking extreme events caused by climate change poses a threat to human health and well‐being. Understanding the future impacts of such events on global populations can provide decision‐making support for policies aiming to mitigate climate change. Here, we investigated the population exposure to eight climate extreme indices and drivers of exposure trajectories based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 and population projection data under four shared socioeconomic pathway scenarios at a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25°. The results show that by the mid‐twenty‐first century, most regions worldwide, especially Africa and South America, will continue to experience record‐breaking temperatures and compound drought and heatwaves (CDHWs). Regarding population exposure, under SSP3‐7.0 in the late twenty‐first century, the mean value of the multimodel median expected annual exposure (EAE) of all extreme temperature indices and CDHW reaches 8.12 billion persons per year. Population exposure hotspots will be concentrated in Central Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, mostly in developing countries, where 55.01%–87.42% of the EAE is found. The drivers of exposure trajectories are spatially heterogeneous. The increase in record‐breaking probability contributes more than population growth to EAE growth in most regions of the world except Central Asia, the Middle East, and most of Africa. These findings reveal the future trajectories of record‐breaking probabilities and population exposures for climate extremes, which can inform understanding of the intersections between climate change and population change and future risk management.

Leonor Guariguata, Gordon M Hickey, Madhuvanti M Murphy et al.

Globalized food systems are a major driver of climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in society. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are particularly sensitive to the negative effects of rapid environmental change, with many also exhibiting a heavy reliance on food imports and high burdens of nutrition-related disease, resulting in calls to (re)localize their food systems. Such a transition represents a complex challenge, with adaptation interventions in one part of the food system contingent on the success of interventions in other parts. To help address this challenge, we used group model-building techniques from the science of system dynamics to engage food system stakeholders in Caribbean and Pacific SIDS. Our aim was to understand the drivers of unhealthy and unsustainable food systems in SIDS, and the potential role that increased local food production could play in transformative adaptation. We present two causal loop diagrams (CLDs) considered helpful in designing resilience-enhancing interventions in local food systems. These CLDs represent 'dynamic hypotheses' and provide starting points that can be adapted to local contexts for identifying food system factors, understanding the interactions between them, and co-creating and implementing adaptation interventions, particularly in SIDS. The results can help guide understanding of complexity, assist in the co-creation of interventions, and reduce the risk of maladaptive consequences.

Dong-ru Kang, Si-lan Dai, Zi-cheng Wang

Dynamic changes in DNA methylation regulate the expression of genes and play important roles especially in the flowering processes of higher plants. Methyl-CpG-binding domain protein could specifically recognize hypermethylated regions in the genome, thus MBD sequencing technology and CpG islands analysis of the sequences were used to identify candidate genes that were regulated by DNA methylation, in particular the flowering induction stage of Chrysanthemum lavandulifolium. MBD-seq identified 89 candidate genes which included 49 genes exhibiting changes in DNA methylation status during floral induction. Based on CpG islands analysis of the sequences, 27 candidate genes were selected that may be regulated by DNA methylation. The expression levels of 30 candidate genes and nine key genes were determined by RT-PCR and qRT-PCR during floral induction (7D), four genes (ClFT, ClMET, DFL and ClWRKY21) were similarly up-regulated. Methylation-specific PCR analysis also indicated that there were changes in the DNA methylation status in the DFL and ClWRKY21. The changes in the DNA methylation status during the induction phase of flowering may lead to changes in gene expression. In this study, a set of genes were identified that are proposed to be involved in floral induction and two key genes were identified (DFL, ClWRKY21) that were regulated by DNA methylation during the flowering process of C. lavandulifolium.

Carina Nina Vorisek, Moritz Lehne, Sophie Anne Ines Klopfenstein et al.

BackgroundThe standard Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is widely used in health information technology. However, its use as a standard for health research is still less prevalent. To use existing data sources more efficiently for health research, data interoperability becomes increasingly important. FHIR provides solutions by offering resource domains such as “Public Health & Research” and “Evidence-Based Medicine” while using already established web technologies. Therefore, FHIR could help standardize data across different data sources and improve interoperability in health research. ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to provide a systematic review of existing literature and determine the current state of FHIR implementations in health research and possible future directions. MethodsWe searched the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and Cochrane Library databases for studies published from 2011 to 2022. Studies investigating the use of FHIR in health research were included. Articles published before 2011, abstracts, reviews, editorials, and expert opinions were excluded. We followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and registered this study with PROSPERO (CRD42021235393). Data synthesis was done in tables and figures. ResultsWe identified a total of 998 studies, of which 49 studies were eligible for inclusion. Of the 49 studies, most (73%, n=36) covered the domain of clinical research, whereas the remaining studies focused on public health or epidemiology (6%, n=3) or did not specify their research domain (20%, n=10). Studies used FHIR for data capture (29%, n=14), standardization of data (41%, n=20), analysis (12%, n=6), recruitment (14%, n=7), and consent management (4%, n=2). Most (55%, 27/49) of the studies had a generic approach, and 55% (12/22) of the studies focusing on specific medical specialties (infectious disease, genomics, oncology, environmental health, imaging, and pulmonary hypertension) reported their solutions to be conferrable to other use cases. Most (63%, 31/49) of the studies reported using additional data models or terminologies: Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (29%, n=14), Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (37%, n=18), International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (18%, n=9), Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership common data model (12%, n=6), and others (43%, n=21). Only 4 (8%) studies used a FHIR resource from the domain “Public Health & Research.” Limitations using FHIR included the possible change in the content of FHIR resources, safety, legal matters, and the need for a FHIR server. ConclusionsOur review found that FHIR can be implemented in health research, and the areas of application are broad and generalizable in most use cases. The implementation of international terminologies was common, and other standards such as the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership common data model could be used as a complement to FHIR. Limitations such as the change of FHIR content, lack of FHIR implementation, safety, and legal matters need to be addressed in future releases to expand the use of FHIR and, therefore, interoperability in health research.

Tami C Bond, Christian L’Orange, Paul R Medwell et al.

Phoebe Parker‐Shames, Christopher Choi, Van Butsic et al.

Abstract The rapid expansion of cannabis agriculture in the Western United States provides a rare opportunity to study how an abrupt change in land‐use policy affects local biodiversity. There is broad speculation that cannabis production on private land is expanding and having negative effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, yet there exist little empirical data to evaluate this concern. In this study, we mapped and characterized outdoor cannabis production during the first season of legal recreational production (2016) in a large legacy cannabis‐producing region of Southern Oregon, Josephine County. We descriptively compared cannabis farms to all available private parcels based on proximity to rivers/streams and undeveloped land and their overlap with carnivore richness. Using publicly available satellite imagery, we found approximately 1.34 km2 (331 acres) of cannabis cultivation within Josephine County during the first season of legal recreational production. Most cannabis production areas were small (median size 414 m2), spatially clustered at all observed scales, and recently established (67% were not visible in 2013–2014 pre‐legalization). When compared with all available private parcels, cannabis was preferentially located in forested areas, undeveloped land and slightly closer to rivers. Within riparian areas, farms were slightly closer to rivers with predicted occurrence of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). While projected carnivore richness was similar between cannabis and all private parcels, projected fisher (Pekania pennanti) occupancy was more than five times higher on cannabis farms, with a median occupancy of 0.69 (interquartile range: 0.24–0.87). Our results establish a baseline for cannabis land cover at the time of early recreational legalization and rapid expansion and can be used to predict future patterns or ecological consequences of cannabis development in other production areas. Understanding the potential ecological impact of cannabis is increasingly important as legalization expands and may also offer insights into other rural land‐use change frontiers.

Samuel G. Evans, Tim G. Holland, Jonathan W. Long et al.

Across the United States, wildfire severity and frequency are increasing, placing many properties at risk of harm or destruction. We quantify and compare how different forest management strategies designed to increase forest resilience and health reduce the number of properties at risk from wildfire, focusing on the Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada. We combine landscape change simulations (including climate change, wildfire, and management effects) with scenarios of current and plausible fuel treatment activities and parcel-scale fire risk analysis. Results suggest that more aggressive fuel treatment activities that treat more area on the landscape, whether through mechanical and hand thinning or prescribed fire, dramatically lower the fire probability in the region and lead to a corresponding lower risk of property loss. We estimate that relative to recent practices of focusing management in the wildland–urban interface, more active forest management can reduce property loss risk by 45%–76%, or approximately 2600–4900 properties. The majority of this risk reduction is for single family residences, which constitute most structures in the region. Further, we find that the highest risk reduction is obtained through strategies that treat a substantially greater area than is currently treated in the region and allows for selective wildfires to burn for resource objectives outside of the wildland–urban interface. These results highlight the importance of more active forest management as an effective tool in reducing the wildfire risk to capital assets in the region.

Gilberto Ramos Vieira Vieira, Lívia Maria de Lima Leôncio, Clécia Gabriela Bezerra et al.

Objective: Hydration can favor cognitive functions during childhood and adolescence, helping with daily and school activities. This study aimed to identify possible interactions between hydration and memory in children and adolescents. Methods: This is a systematic review with meta-analysis. The bibliographic search was conducted in the MEDLINE/PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases, through a combination of the descriptors: “hydration” AND “memory”; “hydration” AND “memory” AND “child”; “hydration” AND “memory” AND “children”; “organism hydration status” AND “memory”; “organism hydration status” AND “memory” AND “child”. Results: The search resulted in 816 articles, of which ten were selected for qualitative synthesis and two for the meta-analysis. The results indicated that hydration could not enhance working, visual and visuomotor memories, or visual attention (Line Tracing Task, MD 0.67, 95% CI -0.87 to 2.22; Indirect Image Difference, MD 0.32, 95% CI -0.75 to 1.40; Letter Cancellation, MD 1.68, 95% CI -0.81 to 4.17). Conclusion: From the obtained results, hydration per se does not reinforce working, visual and visuomotor memories, or visual attention. However, there are still gaps regarding other types of memory and cognitive, motor, nutritional and environmental integration.

Oleksiy Mazurenko, Inna Tiutiunyk

This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the generalization of the main vectors of the tax competitiveness theory’s development. The main purpose of the article is to analyze and systematize the research of scientists on the formation of tax competitiveness of the country, to identify the relationship of tax competitiveness with other economic categories, to determine the most promising areas of research on this issue. The results of trend analysis of scientific publications on tax competitiveness, indexed by Scopus and Web of Science scientometric databases, show a gradual increase in the relevance of these issues. The average growth rate of the number of publications on tax competitiveness in the Scopus database exceeds 12%, and in the Web of Science database – 45%. The methodological tools of the bibliometric analysis are VOSViewer v.1.6.10 and Scopus and Web of Science database analysis tools. The object of analysis is 4,598 publications indexed in the Web of Science database and 4,898 publications indexed in the Scopus database. The issues of international tax competitiveness became most relevant in 2003-2005, which coincided with the period of aggravation of the global economic crisis, which was accompanied by a significant reduction in tax revenues to budgets. The article identifies the top 10 Journals, most of which are indexed simultaneously by two databases and are part of the first quarter, in which the issue of tax competitiveness was considered most often. The study empirically confirms and theoretically proves the intersectoral nature of the study of the problem of the country’s tax competitiveness. According to the Web of Science database, issues of tax competitiveness were most often considered within the subject areas of Economics (39% of publications); Business Finance (6%); Environmental Studies (6%); Political Science (5%); Law (4%); Urban Studies (3%); Business (3%); Management (3%); Environmental Sciences (2%); Public Administration (2%); Regional Urban Planning (2%); International Relations (2%); Operations Research Management Science 2%) and others (21%), while according to the Scopus database – Economics, Econometrics and Finance (published 28% of all papers); Social Sciences (21%); Business, Management and Accounting (13%); Engineering (7%); Environmental Science (7%); Medicine (5%); Energy (4%); Computer Science (2%); Arts and Humanities (2%); Decision Sciences (2%); Earth and Planetary Sciences (1%); Materials Science (1%); Agricultural and Biological Sciences (1%); Others (6%). The paper clusters international research networks on tax competitiveness by geographical area and identifies 5 clusters of cooperation of scientists in the preparation of publications indexed in the Web of Science database and 4 clusters – in the preparation of publications indexed in the Scopus database. According to the results of the analysis of metadata of publications devoted to the tax competitiveness, 14672 keywords, the frequency of use of which exceeds 5, were identified and grouped into 5 patterns. Most often, the concept of tax competitiveness is associated with the concepts of tax, economics, competition, costs, taxation.

Taru Sandén, Anna Wawra, Helene Berthold et al.

Litter decomposition plays a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle, but is difficult to measure on a global scale, especially by citizen scientists. Here, citizen scientists, i.e., school students with their teachers, used the globally applied and standardized Tea Bag Index (TBI) method to collect data on litter decomposition in urban areas in Austria. They also sampled soils to investigate the linkages between litter decomposition and soil attributes. For this study, 54 sites were selected from the school experiments and assembled into a TBI dataset comprising litter decomposition rates (k), stabilization factors (S), as well as soil and environmental attributes. An extensive pre-processing procedure was applied to the dataset, including attribute selection and discretization of the decomposition rates and stabilization factors into three categories each. Data mining analyses of the TBI data helped reveal trends in litter decomposition. We generated predictive models (classification trees) that identified the soil attributes governing litter decomposition. Classification trees were developed for both of the litter decomposition parameters: decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S). The main governing factor for both decomposition rate (k) and stabilization factor (S) was the sand content of the soils. The data mining models achieved an accuracy of 54.0 and 66.7% for decomposition rates and stabilization factors, respectively. The data mining results enhance our knowledge about the driving forces of litter decomposition in urban soils, which are underrepresented in soil monitoring schemes. The models are very informative for understanding and describing litter decomposition in urban settings in general. This approach may also further encourage participatory researcher-teacher-student interactions and thus help create an enabling environment for cooperation for further citizen science research in urban school settings.

Jeremy D. DeBarry, Jessica C. Kissinger, Mustafa V. Nural et al.

Projects in the life sciences continue to increase in complexity as they scale to answer deeper and more diverse questions. They employ technologies that generate increasingly large ‘omic’ datasets and research teams regularly include experts ranging from animal care technicians, veterinarians, human health clinicians, geneticists, immunologists, and biochemists to computer scientists, mathematical modelers, and data scientists, often located at different institutions. Providing the cyberinfrastructure support framework (IT, data management, communication, documentation, and aspects of project management related to these areas) for these projects requires a diverse set of technical tools and soft skills. These skills must be able to meet both the broad needs of data generators and consumers within the project and the needs of the larger scientific community. Here we describe recommendations for cyberinfrastructure support teams responsible for systems biology research programs. Recommendations are based on lessons learned while establishing and leading a complex, transdisciplinary, host-pathogen malaria systems biology consortium involving many institutions, a variety of disciplines, animal infectious disease models, and clinical studies. While some technical suggestions are included, the primary foci are situational and sociological challenges and tips for handling them.

Maya A. Trotz