Evaluation of multi- and inter-disciplinary research--the no-peer problem

The advent of peer review is relatively recent, yet it strongly influences the way we perform and evaluate research. The absence of the perfect peer for multi- and inter-disciplinary research makes evaluation more challenging. By recognizing and addressing the no-peer problem multi- and interdisciplinary research can be effectively communicated and evaluated.     

Is conservation research money being spent wisely? Changing trends in conservation research priorities

Conservation biology is often defined as a “mission driven crisis discipline”, and as such research priorities should ideally parallel the relative importance of different conservation threats. Conservation research has increased exponentially over the last 22 years, rising from <150 articles in 1990 to >4000 articles in 2012. However, this growth has not and may not necessarily reflect changes in research needs. Consequently, it remains uncertain if growth and prioritization have been consistent between research themes, or subdisciplines. In other words, it is unknown if conservation priorities change in relation to research needs, or if instead to shifts in funding, which may or may not correspond to true research needs. Future conservation research priorities should ideally be based on conservation needs alone and must account for threats at both the immediate and long-term scales.     

Microbial molecular diversity: Past and present Thom Award lecture

Journal of Industrial Microbiology &; Biotechnology -     

Balancing population size and genetic information in parentage analysis studies

In parentage analysis studies, the parameters of interest typically are not the parent assignments themselves, but population parameters such as variance in fertility, self-pollination rate, or average dispersal distances. The precision of parameter estimates is affected by two factors: the number of offspring under consideration, and the precision with which the offspring can be assigned to parents. When assignment of parents is based on genetic information, the confidence in assignments is affected by the number and polymorphism of the loci considered, and by the number of potential parents in the population. Studying larger populations may yield higher numbers of offspring, but since larger populations contain more potential parents, more (or more highly polymorphic) loci are necessary to attain a given level of confidence in the parent assignments. This article addresses how to relate the size of the population and the number of loci when designing a study. It is shown that the number of loci needed to assign all offspring unambiguously is proportional to the logarithm of the population size. In some cases, the constant of proportionality can be determined, eliminating the need for simulation-based projections. Population-wide measures of uncertainty in parent assignments are also introduced, and it is shown that holding uncertainty "steady" as the population size increases also requires increasing the number of loci proportional to the logarithm of the population size. Data from a study of self-pollination are used to illustrate the techniques suggested.     

台湾海峡鱼类物种多样性研究回顾

台湾海峡位于中国福建和台湾岛之间, 其特殊的海洋环境使得其鱼类物种多样性水平较高并独具特色。本文综述了台湾海峡鱼类物种多样性研究的历程和成果。20世纪以来, 台湾海峡鱼类物种多样性的研究可以划分为早期研究时期、研究起步时期、系统调查时期和综合研究时期4个阶段, 从最初以新种描述为主的零星报道, 到大规模系统性的综合调查和研究; 目前为止, 大陆文献共记录台湾海峡鱼类1390种, 台湾地区文献共记录鱼类1525种, 总计台湾海峡鱼类1697种。这些种类多数为暖水性广布种, 鱼类区系以印度-西太平洋暖水区的印度-马来亚区和中-日亚区过渡海区种为主; 今后台湾海峡鱼类物种多样性的研究应加强两岸合作, 并充分发挥数据库应用的优势地位。     

癌症基因组测序方案制定的研究进展

癌症的基因组测序对于癌症的预防、诊断、预后、治疗以及基础生物学研究都有巨大的潜在的应用价值,正是由于其方向广泛,所以基因组测序的方案制定对于实现特定的研究目标,就显得尤为重要。同时,了解了基因组测序方案制定的规则,也有助于评估如今快速增长的发表文献的正确性和重要性。主要论述高通量测序技术在癌症基因组测序中的实际应用,并讨论癌症基因组测序在方案设计和方法学上如何调整,才能更好地实现特定的研究目的。