4,591 research outputs found
Where is the evidence: realising the value of grey literature for public policy and practice
No full textThis paper discusses the ways in which the internet has profoundly changed how we produce, use and collect research and information for public policy and practice, particularly focusing on the benefits and challenges presented by grey literature. The authors argue that grey literature (i.e. material produced and published by organisations without recourse to the commercial or scholarly publishing industry) is a key part of the evidence produced and used for public policy and practice. Through surveys of users, producing organisations and collecting services a detailed picture is provided of the role, importance and economic value of grey literature. However, finding and accessing policy information is a time-consuming task made harder by poor production and management of resources and a lack of large-scale collection services able to host and make available relevant, high-quality resources quickly and efficiently. The paper makes recommendations for changes that would maximise the benefits of grey literature in the public interest and seeks feedback from readers to inform the final report of the research project.
Public policy work increasingly relies on a wide range of resources — some are traditional scholarly publications, but the majority are ‘grey literature’. Reports, discussion papers, briefings, reviews and data sets produced by government, academic centres, NGOs, think tanks and companies are heavily used and highly valued in policy and practice work, forming a key part of the evidence base.
The huge amount of information and research published online provides unprecedented access to knowledge, from a wide range of sources, enabling a much greater level of understanding and participation in public interest issues. It also brings a number of challenges: searching, sifting, evaluating and accessing information and research are time-consuming and often frustrating tasks occupying a large portion of the work hours of those engaged in policy work.
Online publishing also creates a new paradigm for those whose task it is to support policy and practice work through effective resource provision and information management. As a result, digital curation of policy resources, particularly grey literature, is dispersed and fragmented, creating a digital black hole of resources that are lost from online access over time.
The aim of the Grey Literature Strategies research project is to investigate grey literature’s role and importance in policy work and find ways to enhance its value. A key method used was online surveys of producers, users, and collectors of information and research for policy and practice, conducted during 2013
Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) in the Dutch North sea: population ecology and effects of wind farms
No full textThis study was setup to gain an understanding of the possible effects of large-scale development of wind farms in Dutch waters on grey seals (Halichoerus grypus). This should be considered a first step in doing so as up until now relatively little was known about the species in Dutch waters. The study was carried out in the framework of WE@SEA a foundation aimed at acquiring knowledge in the field of offshore wind energy
Control control control : a reassessment and comparison of GenBank and chromatogram mtDNA sequence variation in Baltic grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)
No full textThis study was funded by an ‘EU bonus’ award given to MTP Gilbert by the University of Copenhagen.Genetic data can provide a powerful tool for those interested in the biology, management and conservation of wildlife, but also lead to erroneous conclusions if appropriate controls are not taken at all steps of the analytical process. This particularly applies to data deposited in public repositories such as GenBank, whose utility relies heavily on the assumption of high data quality. Here we report on an in-depth reassessment and comparison of GenBank and chromatogram mtDNA sequence data generated in a previous study of Baltic grey seals. By re-editing the original chromatogram data we found that approximately 40% of the grey seal mtDNA haplotype sequences posted in GenBank contained errors. The re-analysis of the edited chromatogram data yielded overall similar results and conclusions as the original study. However, a significantly different outcome was observed when using the uncorrected dataset based on the GenBank haplotypes. We therefore suggest disregarding the existing GenBank data and instead using the correct haplotypes reported here. Our study serves as an illustrative example reiterating the importance of quality control through every step of a research project, from data generation to interpretation and submission to an online repository. Errors conducted in any step may lead to biased results and conclusions, and could impact management decisions.Peer reviewe
Lack of on-going adaptations in the soleus muscle activity during walking in patients affected by large-fiber neuropathy.
No full textThe aim of this study
was to investigate the contribution of feedback from large-diameter
sensory fibers to the adaptation of soleus muscle activity after small
ankle trajectory modifications during human walking. Small-amplitude
and slow-velocity ankle dorsiflexion enhancements and reductions
were applied during the stance phase of the gait cycle to mimic
the normal variability of the ankle trajectory during walking. Patients
with demyelination of large sensory fibers (Charcot-Marie-Tooth type
1A and antibodies to myelin-associated glycoprotein neuropathy) and
age-matched controls participated in this study. The patients had
absent light-touch sense in the toes and feet and absent quadriceps and
Achilles tendon reflexes, indicating functional loss of large sensory
fibers. Moreover, their soleus stretch reflex response consisted of a
single electromyographic (EMG) burst with delayed onset and longer
duration (P 0.01) than the short- and medium-latency reflex
responses observed in healthy subjects. In healthy subjects, the soleus
EMG gradually increased or decreased when the ankle dorsiflexion
was, respectively, enhanced or reduced. In the patients, the soleus
EMG increased during the dorsiflexion enhancements; however, the
velocity sensitivity of this response was decreased compared with the
healthy volunteers. When the dorsiflexion was reduced, the soleus
EMG was unchanged. These results indicate that the enhancement of
the soleus EMG is mainly sensitive to feedback from primary and
secondary muscle spindle afferents and that the reduction may be
mediated by feedback from the group Ib pathways. This study provides
evidence for the role of sensory feedback in the continuous
adaptation of the soleus activity during the stance phase of human
walking
Hydroclimate proxies for eastern Australia using stable isotopes in grey mangroves (Avicennia marina)
No full textThe development of high-resolution terrestrial palaeoclimate records in Australia is hindered by the scarcity of tree species suitable for conventional dendrochronology. However, novel analytical techniques have made it possible to obtain climate information from tree species that do not reliably form annual growth rings. In this paper we assess the potential of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in the xylem wood of grey mangroves (Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh.) as hydroclimate proxies for eastern Australia. Bomb-pulse radiocarbon dating and simple age models were used to estimate the age of the growth layers in radial sequence in stems from four grey mangrove trees in two adjacent estuaries in New South Wales, Australia. Stable isotope data measured from the xylem wood of the four stems were composited to yield mean δ18O and δ13C series for the 1962–2016 period. Significant negative Spearman correlations were found between δ18O and rainfall, sea level, instrumental Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI) and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), while δ13C was positively correlated with temperature, vapour pressure and evapotranspiration. The results demonstrate that stable oxygen isotopes in grey mangroves have the potential to yield valuable information about pre-instrumental hydroclimate. Grey mangroves can survive with intact centres for an estimate of >250 years based on observed growth rates, are widespread along northern Australian and tropical coastlines and could provide important information regarding pre-instrumental climate in regions currently lacking high-resolution (i.e., near annual) centennial scale climate proxy records.No Full Tex
'Leaves and Eats Shoots': Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need
No full textPMCID: PMC3411828This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Investigating differences in vigilance tactic use within and between the sexes in eastern grey kangaroos
No full textPeer reviewe
Grey Matter Volume in the Cerebellum is Related to the Processing of Grammatical Rules in a Second Language: A Structural Voxel-based Morphometry Study
No full textThe experience of learning and using a second
language (L2) has been shown to affect the grey matter
(GM) structure of the brain. Importantly, GM density in
several cortical and subcortical areas has been shown to be
related to performance in L2 tasks. Here, we show that bilingualism
can lead to increasedGMvolume in the cerebellum, a
structure that has been related to the processing of grammatical
rules. Additionally, the cerebellar GM volume of highly
proficient L2 speakers is correlated to their performance in a
task tapping on grammatical processing in an L2, demonstrating
the importance of the cerebellum for the establishment and
use of grammatical rules in an L2
Population-Level Metrics of Trophic Structure Based on Stable Isotopes and Their Application to Invasion Ecology
No full textPMCID: PMC3283663This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Self-compression of 4.9 µm pulses to sub-40 fs with 2 mJ energy in Zinc Sulfide
No full textNonlinear self-compression of few-cycle multi-mJ pulses at 4.9 µm in ZnS is presented. 80 fs input pulses are compressed to 37 fs with 2.1 mJ energy at a 1 kHz repetition rate. © 2024 The Author(s
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