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Longitudinal qualitative research can provide rich understanding of the life circumstances of vulnerable groups who experience health inequities, of whether, how and why these circumstances change, and of how these circumstances and processes of change impact health. But, this rich understanding is not automatic and requires systematic and thoughtful approaches to data collection and analysis. The purpose of this paper is to describe two longitudinal qualitative studies embedded in mixed-methods studies of social determinants of HIV in the United States and the Dominican Republic. We compare these two studies to critically reflect on specific techniques that facilitate longitudinal and iterative data collection, management, and analysis, in particular the use of participant-specific matrices and analytic summaries across the distinct phases of the research. We conclude that combining cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis that engages with both themes and processes of change can contribute to improved contextualization and understanding of social determinants of HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the objectives of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in the Marcoule Centre is to accurately quantify the composition of nuclear spent fuel, i.e. to determine the concentration of each isotope with suitable measurement uncertainty. These analysis results are essential for the validation of calculation codes used for the simulation of fuel behaviour in nuclear reactors and for nuclear matter accountancy. The different experimental steps are first the reception of a piece of spent fuel rod at the laboratory of dissolution studies, and then dissolution in a hot cell of a sample of the spent fuel rod received. Several steps are necessary to obtain a complete dissolution. Taking into account these process steps, and not only those of analysis for the evaluation of measurement uncertainties, is new, and is described in this paper. The uncertainty estimation incorporating the process has been developed following the approach proposed by the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM). The mathematical model of measurement was established by examining the dissolution process step by step. The law of propagation of uncertainty was applied to this model. A point by point examination of each step of the process permitted the identification of all sources of uncertainties considered in this propagation for each input variable. The measurement process presented involves the process and the analysis. The contents of this document show the importance of taking the process into account in order to give a more reliable uncertainty assessment to the result of a concentration or isotope ratio of two isotopes in spent fuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists in the United States assumed major roles in developing the Mössbauer community during its early years. However, since the termination of the Mössbauer Effect Methodology meetings in 1976, there has been little in the way of regular Mössbauer meetings in the United States. Nevertheless, there is an active United States Mössbauer community, as noted by the number of annual publications – 156 in 2004. In recent decades, attendance of Mössbauer researchers from the United States at the International Conferences on the Applications of the Mössbauer Effect (ICAME) has been far below what would be expected from the number of contributions in the Mössbauer literature. Attempts have been made, unsuccessfully, to arrange for regular Mössbauer meetings. Models for possible future Mössbauer meetings of US scientists are discussed, including a regular biannual meeting, and another being a virtual Mössbauer conference. Also discussed are other models to maintaining an active Mössbauer community in the United States, making use of information technologies that are available to us along with other resources we can use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores sense-making about climate engineering among lay focus group participants in Japan, New Zealand, the USA and Sweden. In total, 23 qualitative focus group interviews of 136 participants were conducted. The analyses considered sense-making strategies and heuristics among the focus group participants and identified commonalities and variations in the data, exploring participants' initial and spontaneous reactions to climate engineering and to several recurrent arguments that feature in scientific and public debate (e.g. climate emergency). We found that, despite this study's wide geographical scope, heterogeneous focus group compositions, and the use of different moderators, common themes emerged. Participants made sense of climate engineering in similar ways, for example, through context-dependent analogies and metaphorical descriptions. With few exceptions, participants largely expressed negative views of large-scale deliberate intervention in climate systems as a means to address anthropogenic global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined baccalaureate colleges mission statements to better understand how these organizations represent themselves to potential students and other external constituent groups. We drew these documents from two sources, the colleges’ official web sites and an archive constructed and maintained by U.S. News and World Report. Most sampled colleges submitted revised or different mission statements to U.S. News than published officially on institutional websites. Our findings suggested that the communication patterns of baccalaureate colleges are both vague and idiosyncratic. Official mission statements often proved descriptive or appealed to normative concepts. The statements submitted to U.S. News, by contrast, often utilized “strategically deployed shifters.” These terms suggested legitimate content but eluded precise definition. Mission statements submitted to U.S. News thereby proved amenable to student recruitment efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]