A bibliometric analysis of research papers published on photosynthesis: 1992–2009

We present here a bibliometric analysis of publications on photosynthesis research from 1992 to 2009 in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-Expanded) Web of Science. This has allowed us to examine the growing trends and the key topics on this subject. We have assessed the document type, language of the publications, publication output, subject category, journal distribution, countries and territories of these publications, institutions involved, hot topics and highly cited papers. The top 30 countries/territories were ranked according to their total number of articles (TA), single country articles (SCA), internationally collaborative articles (ICA), first author articles (FAA) and corresponding author articles (CAA). Research directions on the subject of photosynthesis were also investigated and evaluated by statistically analyzing the distribution of author keywords in the database. Our analysis indicates that “water”, “stress”, “carbon dioxide”, “nitrogen” and “climate change” are hot topics of research on photosynthesis during this period.     

Biobanking and deceased persons

Early biomedical research focused primarily on the study of specific diseases or sets of diseases within small groups of living research participants. Accordingly, the first ethical frameworks governing biomedical research addressed short-term, limited-scope research involving living research participants. Due to recent interest in longitudinal population studies and biobanking, research is increasingly long term. This shift raises several ethical and legal issues concerning the impact of a participant’s death on research. This paper offers an overview of these issues in the context of longitudinal biobanking genetic research. Our first part outlines the legal and ethical frameworks that govern the effect of the participants’ death on consent. This will be followed by an analysis of the legal and ethical frameworks that govern the secondary use of deceased participants’ data and samples and the return of deceased participants’ individual research results to biological family members. In our second part, we will review the current literature and discuss the above mentioned issues using the bioethics “principlism” theory before concluding.     

Assessing the Sensitivity of Seabed Species and Biotopes – The Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN)

Science-based approaches to support the conservation of marine biodiversity have been developed in recent years. They include measures of ‘rarity’, ‘diversity’, ‘importance’, biological indicators of water ‘quality’ and measures of ‘sensitivity’. Identifying the sensitivity of species and biotopes, the main topic of this contribution, relies on accessing and interpreting available scientific data in a structured way and then making use of information technology to disseminate suitably presented information to decision makers. The Marine Life Information Network (MarLIN) has achieved that research for a range of environmentally critical species and biotopes over the past four years and has published the reviews on the MarLIN Web site (www.marlin.ac.uk). Now, by linking the sensitivity database and databases of survey information, sensitivity mapping approaches using GIS are being developed. The methods used to assess sensitivity are described and the approach is advocated for wider application in Europe.     

On Building Parallel &; Grid Applications: Component Technology and Distributed Services

Software Component Frameworks are well known in the commercial business application world and now this technology is being explored with great interest as a way to build large-scale scientific applications on parallel computers. In the case of Grid systems, the current architectural model is based on the emerging web services framework. In this paper we describe progress that has been made on the Common Component Architecture model (CCA) and discuss its success and limitations when applied to problems in Grid computing. Our primary conclusion is that a component model fits very well with a services-oriented Grid, but the model of composition must allow for a very dynamic (both in space and in time) control of composition. We note that this adds a new dimension to conventional service workflow and it extends the “Inversion of Control” aspects of most component systems. Dennis Gannon is a professor of Computer Science at Indiana University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois in 1980 and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California in 1974. From 1980 to 1985, he was on the faculty at Purdue University. His research interests include software tools for high performance distributed systems and problem solving environments for scientific computation. Sriram Krishnan received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Indiana University in 2004. He is currently in the Grid Development Group at the San Diego Supercomputer Center where he is working on designing a Web services based architecture for biomedical applications that is secure and scalable, and is conducive to the creation of complex workflows. He received my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Mumbai, India. Liang Fang is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at Indiana University. His research interests include Grid computing, Web services, portals, their security and scalability issues. He is a Research Assistant in Computer Science at Indiana University, currently responsible for investigating authorization and other security solutions to the project of Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD). Gopi Kandaswamy is a Ph.D. student in the Computer Science Department at Indiana University where he is current a Research Assistant. His research interests include Web services and workflow systems for the Grid. Yogesh Simmhan received his B.E. degree in Computer Science from Madras University, India in 2000, and is a doctoral candidate in Computer Science at Indiana University. He is currently working as a Research Assistant at Indiana University, investigating data management issues in the LEAD project. His interests lie in data provenance for workflow systems and its use in data quality estimation. Aleksander Slominski is a Ph.D. student in the Computer Science at Indiana University. His research interests include Grid and Web Services, streaming XML Pull Parsing and performance, Grid security, asynchronous messaging, events, and notifications brokers, component technologies, and workflow composition. He is currently working as a Research Assistant investigating creation and execution of dynamic workflows using Grid Process Execution Language (GPEL) based on WS-BPEL.     

Challenges of Macro-ethics: Bioethics and the Transformation of Knowledge Production

One interesting aspect of the Hwang-case has been the way in which this affair was assessed by academic journals such as Nature. Initially, Hwang’s success was regarded as evidence for the detrimental effects of research ethics, slowing down the pace of research in Western countries. Eventually, however, Hwang’s debacle was seen as evidence for the importance of ethics in the life sciences. Ironically, it was concluded that the West maintains its prominence in science (as a global endeavour) precisely because it has its ethics in place. Bioethics was now seen as an indispensable part of quality control. In this article, I will claim that the Hwang case rather reveals that there is no reason for complacency and that there are substantial challenges awaiting us. They have to do with major transformations in the way knowledge is produced and research in the life sciences is conducted (such as the increase in pace and scale, globalisation and the growing importance of ICT and bioinformation). These transformations call for a different kind of bioethics. The focus must shift from duties of autonomous researchers concerning visible research subjects (“micro-ethics”) to responsibilities of institutionalised research networks in managing and processing large amounts of bioinformation (“macro-ethics”). Concepts such as transparency, reliability and benefit-sharing will become more important than concepts such as informed consent. Basically, it is a resurgence of the tension between the Kantian and the Hegelian view of ethics. The contours of macro-ethics will be elaborated notably as it is emerging in bioethical debates over biobanking and genetic databanks.

Cancer and the web

The applications of functional genomics, proteomics and informatics to cancer research have yielded a tremendous amount of information, which is growing all the time. Much of this information is available publicly on the Internet and ranges from general information about different cancers from a patient or clinical viewpoint, through to databases suitable for cancer researchers of all backgrounds, to very specific sites dedicated to individual genes or molecules. A simple search for 'cancer' from a typical Web browser search engine yields more than half a million hits; an even more specific search for 'leukaemia' (>40 000 hits) or 'p53' (>5700 hits) yields far too many hits to allow one to identify particular sites of interest. This review aims to provide a brief guide to some of the resources and databases that can be used as springboards to home in rapidly on information relevant to many fields of cancer research. As such, this article will not focus on a single website but hopes to illustrate some of the ways that postgenomic biology is revolutionizing cancer research. It will cover genomics and proteomics approaches that have been applied to studying global expression patterns in cancers, in addition to providing links ranging from general information about cancer to specific cancer gene mutation databases.     

Social values and scientific evidence: the case of the HPV vaccines

Several have argued that the aims of scientific research are not always independent of social and ethical values. Yet this is often assumed only to have implications for decisions about what is studied, or which research projects are funded, and not for methodological decisions or standards of evidence. Using the case of the recently developed HPV vaccines, we argue that the social aims of research can also play important roles in justifying decisions about (1) how research problems are defined in drug development, (2) evidentiary standards used in testing drug “success”, and (3) clinical trial methodology. As a result, attending to the social aims at stake in particular research contexts will produce more rational methodological decisions as well as more socially relevant science.     

How Willing Are You to Accept Sexual Requests from Slightly Unattractive to Exceptionally Attractive Imagined Requestors?

In their classic study of differences in mating strategies, Clark and Hatfield (1989, Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2, 39–54) found that men and women demonstrated a striking difference in interest in casual sex. The current study examined the role of an imagined requestor’s physical attractiveness (slightly unattractive, moderately attractive, and exceptionally attractive) on men’s and women’s willingness to accept three different requests (go out, come to apartment, go to bed) as reflected in answers to a questionnaire. We tested two hypotheses with a sample of 427 men and 443 women from three countries. Hypothesis 1 states that men, relative to women, will demonstrate a greater willingness to accept the “come to apartment” and “go to bed” requests but not the “go out” request for all three levels of requestor attractiveness. This hypothesis reflects Clark and Hatfield’s main findings. Hypothesis 2 states that the physical attractiveness of a potential partner will have a greater effect on women’s than on men’s willingness to accept all three requests, and particularly for the explicit request for casual sex. The results partially supported Hypothesis 1 and fully supported Hypothesis 2. The discussion highlights limitations of the current research and presents directions for future research.     

Construction of a molecular linkage map and development of a molecular breeding technique

Conclusion  Although this research program is in the state of beginning, it seems like that the progress will be made more rapidly than expected. The reason is because new techniques and facilities derived from human genome research and other advanced genome program will overcome the current limitations and difficulties. Genome research cannot be accomplished by one or two research groups. That is why the program should be well organized and planned by scientists in various fields with common interest. Considering the tremendous amounts of time, money, and efforts required for performing genome research, the genome research programs should aim at concrete goals, such as getting new solutions that cannot be obtained by conventional approach, rather than remain as research for research is sake. This paper was presented at the 11th Symposium on Plant Biotechnology entitled “Plant Genes and Genetic Resources” organized by Gynheung An, held July 4–5, 1997, by the Botanical Society of Korea     

Photosynthesis online

Online access to the Internet and the World Wide Web have become important for public awareness and for educating the world’s population, including its political leaders, students, researchers, teachers, and ordinary citizens seeking information. Relevant information on photosynthesis-related Web sites and other online locations is grouped into several categories: (1) group sites, (2) sites by subject, (3) individual researcher’s sites, (4) sites for educators and students, and (5) other useful sites.     

Abnormal births and other “ill omens”

We summarize the ethnographic literature illustrating that “abnormal birth” circumstances and “ill omens” operate as cues to terminate parental investment. A review of the medical literature provides evidence to support our assertion that ill omens serve as markers of biological conditions that will threaten the survival of infants. Daly and Wilson (1984) tested the prediction that children of demonstrably poor phenotypic quality will be common victims of infanticide. We take this hypothesis one stage further and argue that some children will be poor vehicles for parental investment yet are not of demonstrably poor quality at birth. We conclude that when people dispose of infants due to “superstitious beliefs” they are pursuing an adaptive strategy in eliminating infants who are poor vehicles for parental investment. Catherine Hill lectures in biological anthropology/human sciences at Durham University’s University College, Stockton. She trained in biological anthropology at University College, London. Her current research interests include human and nonhuman primate socioecology and human resource ecology and development issues. Helen Ball lectures in biological anthropology/human sciences at Durham University’s University College, Stockton. She trained in biological anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Her current research interests include nonhuman primate behavior and socioecology, reproductive biology, and evolutionary issues.     

基于文献计量的牡蛎礁研究现状与热点分析

牡蛎礁作为重要的海岸带生态系统,具备水质净化、提供栖息地等多种生态系统服务功能。为了解国内外牡蛎礁研究的现状与热点,分别以Web of Science 核心合集数据库和中国期刊全文数据库为数据源,通过国内外发文趋势分析、高频关键词分析、关键词共现和聚类分析及主题时间演变分析等,分析牡蛎礁研究热点与趋势。研究结果表明：（1）国际与国内牡蛎礁研究发文量总体呈现上升趋势,但国内研究增长速率低于国际研究;（2）牡蛎礁生态恢复研究是国内外研究的共同关注点,但国内相关研究起步较晚;（3）以外,国际上对牡蛎礁的研究更加关注生态系统服务功能、气候变化等,而国内主要倾向于从地质学角度进行研究;（4）近年来,气候变化成为国际牡蛎礁研究新的热点,但国内对此关注较少。本研究将为了解当前国内外牡蛎礁研究现状及发展态势提供借鉴,并为我国牡蛎礁保护与修复方面的政策制定、科学研究等工作的开展提供情报参考。     

Towards microbial data integration

There are currently 100–200 microbiology-related databases in existence, although it is impossible to find answers to queries that span even a few of these. The Center for Microbial Ecology (CME) at Michigan State University seeks to change this situation by coordinating the creation of an Integrated Microbial Database (IMD), accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW). Such a system will contain up-to-date phylogeny and taxonomy, gene sequences (including genomes), biochemical data, metabolic models, ecological and phenotypic data. Current main obstacles to creation of an IMD are the lack of a single freely available organismal nomenclature with synonyms and the availability of much critical data. An IMD will have major impacts on microbial biology: currently intractable fundamental questions might be answered, experiments could be refocused, and new commercial possibilities created. An IMD should remain freely available and be created under an open development model. Received 20 June 1996/ Accepted in revised form 02 November 1996     

Flicker image comparison of 2-D gel images for putative protein identification using the 2DWG meta-database

With the availability of two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis databases that have many characterized proteins, it may be possible to compare a researcher’s gel images with those in relevant databases. This may lead to the putative identification of unknown protein spots in a researcher’s gel with those characterized in a given database, saving the researcher time and money by suggesting monoclonal antibodies to try in confirming these identifications. We have developed two tools to help with this comparison: (1) Flicker, http://www.lecb.ncifcrf.gov/flicker/, a Java applet program running in the researcher’s Web browser, to visually compare their gels against gels on the Internet; and (2) the 2DWG meta-database, http://www.lecb.ncifcrf.gov/2dwgDB/, a searchable database of locations of 2-D electrophoretic gel images found on the Internet. Recent additions to Flicker allow users to click on a protein spot in a gel that is linked to a federated 2D gel database, such as SWISS-2DPAGE, and have it retrieve a report from that Web database for that protein.     

Knowledge networks in the age of the Semantic Web

The Web has become the major medium for various communities to share their knowledge. To this end, it provides an optimal environment for knowledge networks. The web offers global connectivity that is virtually instantaneous, and whose resources and documents can easily be indexed for easy searching. In the coupled realms of biomedical research and healthcare, this has become especially important where today many thousands of communities already exist that connect across academia, hospitals and industry. These communities also rely on several forms of knowledge assets, including publications, experimental data, domain-specific vocabularies and policies. Web-based communities will be one of the earlier beneficiaries of the emerging Semantic Web. With the new standards and technologies of the Semantic Web, effective utilization of knowledge networks will expand profoundly, fostering new levels of innovation and knowledge.     

Gender Victims and Cultural Borders: The Globalization of Prostitution in Italy

In this article I will try to analyse the transformation regarding the italian regulation of prostitution on the grounds of another issue, that is the building up of cultural borders for the definition of “national” and “european” gender identities. The creation of cultural borders allows to outline the differentiation traits between social groups, while escaping plurality and internal contradictions which on the other hand could only show continuity and vicinity traits. In my point of view, the italian current debate on prostitution is a discoursive process that produces a “western” pattern of relation between men and women, while referring internal tensions and contradictions to other cultures. The following analysis will use data and information coming from national official statistics on immigration, estimates on prostitutions and findings from national researchers on prostitution carried out by the research group called “Migration & Prostitutions” based at the Department of Sociology of the Padua University.