Search

Abstract Cancer health disparities that exist in the Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino/x communities are scientific challenges, yet there are limited team science approaches to mitigate these challenges. This article's purpose is to evaluate the team science collaborations of the National Institutes of Health‐funded Florida‐California Cancer Research, Education & Engagement (CaRE2) Center partnership underscoring the inclusion of multidisciplinary team members and future under‐represented minority (URM) cancer researchers. To understand our collaborative efforts, we conducted a social network analysis (SNA) of the CaRE2 Center partnership among University of Florida, Florida A&M University, and University of Southern California with data collected via the dimensions.ai application programming interface. We downloaded metadata for all publications associated with dimensions.ai IDs. The CaRE2 collaboration network increased over time as evidenced by accruing more external collaborators and more publishing of collaborative works. Degree centrality of key personnel was stable in each wave of the networks. CaRE2 key personnel averaged a total of 60.8 collaborators in 2018–2019 (SD = 57.4, minimum = 3, maximum = 221), and 65.8 collaborators in 2020–2021 (SD = 56.06, minimum = 4, maximum = 222). Betweenness was largely stable across all groups and waves. We observed a steady decline in transitivity, the probability that a pair of CaRE2 co‐authors shared a third co‐author, from 0.74 in 2018 to 0.47 in 2022. The SNA findings suggest that the CaRE2 Center partnership's publications show growth in team science collaborations with the inclusion of multidisciplinary team members from the three partner institutions and future URM cancer researchers who were mentored as trainees and early‐stage investigators.

Using previously collected data from a multi-site, mixed methods longitudinal study, we operationalize a conceptual frame of invisibility to describe and understand the phenomenon of erasure that some Boys of Color experienced by teachers in science learning environments where most others were hyper-visible (and subsequently hyper-criminalized). Recentering these "invisible Boys of Color" revealed three descriptive categories: (a) introversion, (b) newcomers, and (c) frequently absent. In detailing these categories and their associated narratives and labels, we complexify our understandings of the lived experiences of Boys of Color in science education and offer frameworks for ways in which teacher education can equip pre-service and in-service science teachers to disrupt these insidious and sophisticated forms of systemic racism.

Abstract The United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are heterogeneous and interdependent, comprising 169 targets and 231 indicators of sustainable development in such diverse areas as health, the environment, and human rights. Existing efforts to map relationships among SDGs are either theoretical investigations of sustainability concepts, or empirical analyses of development indicators and policy simulations. We present an alternative approach, which describes and quantifies the complex network of SDG interdependencies by applying computational methods to policy and scientific documents. Methods of Natural Language Processing are used to measure overlaps in international policy discourse around SDGs, as represented by the corpus of all existing UN progress reports about each goal (N = 85 reports). We then examine if SDG interdependencies emerging from UN discourse are reflected in patterns of integration and collaboration in SDG-related science, by analyzing data on all scientific articles addressing relevant SDGs in the past two decades (N = 779,901 articles). Results identify a strong discursive divide between environmental goals and all other SDGs, and unexpected interdependencies between SDGs in different areas. While UN discourse partially aligns with integration patterns in SDG-related science, important differences are also observed between priorities emerging in UN and global scientific discourse. We discuss implications and insights for scientific research and policy on sustainable development after COVID-19.

COVID-19 related health disparities are prevalent among higher risk populations like the Hispanic community. Vaccination is one readily available public health tool, yet vaccine uptake is lower among minority populations and hesitations and concerns are high. In the present study, interpersonal and media sources of information about COVID-19 were discussed in a series of six focus groups with Spanish-language dominant and bilingual English-Spanish respondents in a large metropolitan area in Texas. Participants reported using legacy media as a main source of information about COVID-19 vaccines and encountered conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media. Using the Health Belief Model as the theoretical lens, we found individuals' and family members' perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 played a part in participants wanting to find and get the vaccine. Provider recommendations may have served as cues to action. Ease of receiving the vaccines at church and pharmacies may have served to boost participants self-efficacy. Perceived barriers include vaccine specific reasons such as the fast pace of initial authorization, side effects, and long-term effects along with conspiracy theories. Prevailing information gaps regarding the COVID-19 vaccines and the resulting uncertainty are discussed. Understanding information sources and the trust Hispanic communities place in these sources is important in designing effective health messages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research exploring the educational experiences of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) students and staff members has traditionally been characterised by homophobia, hostility, victimisation and marginalisation. Recent research has evidenced a shift in the experiences of LGB young people, to somewhat more accepting and positive narratives, including within post-compulsory schooling. Yet, there is limited research exploring the lived experiences of LGB staff members in the Further Education context. Utilising inclusive masculinity as a sociological paradigm, this research explores the qualitative data from the narratives of 26 LGB staff and students at one Further Education college in the south of England. The results find a distinct lack of homophobia within this college, a nuanced understanding of homosexually themed language, and an organisational culture of inclusivity and widespread symbolic visibility of the LGB community. Overall, our research aligns with broader social patterns that the experiences for LGB persons is improving.

China’s rapid rate of economic growth in the last few decades has increased its appetite for energy resources far beyond its production capability. China is now the world’s second-largest consumer of oil. To satisfy this need, Beijing has pursued an aggressive ‘going out’ policy to secure oil resources in every market it can. The resulting webs of interdependence have influenced China’s foreign policy, as it now finds itself bound to political, economic and security situations around the globe. This paper looks at how China has developed its oil strategy and what impact the search for oil has had on its foreign policy. By focusing on three case studies—Sudan, Iran and Venezuela—the paper evaluates different formulations of Chinese oil strategy, and examines possible inferences about the future implications of this strategy.

Cancer health disparities that exist in the Black or African American and Hispanic or Latino/x communities are scientific challenges, yet there are limited team science approaches to mitigate these challenges. This article's purpose is to evaluate the team science collaborations of the National Institutes of Health‐funded Florida‐California Cancer Research, Education & Engagement (CaRE2) Center partnership underscoring the inclusion of multidisciplinary team members and future under‐represented minority (URM) cancer researchers. To understand our collaborative efforts, we conducted a social network analysis (SNA) of the CaRE2 Center partnership among University of Florida, Florida A&M University, and University of Southern California with data collected via the dimensions.ai application programming interface. We downloaded metadata for all publications associated with dimensions.ai IDs. The CaRE2 collaboration network increased over time as evidenced by accruing more external collaborators and more publishing of collaborative works. Degree centrality of key personnel was stable in each wave of the networks. CaRE2 key personnel averaged a total of 60.8 collaborators in 2018–2019 (SD = 57.4, minimum = 3, maximum = 221), and 65.8 collaborators in 2020–2021 (SD = 56.06, minimum = 4, maximum = 222). Betweenness was largely stable across all groups and waves. We observed a steady decline in transitivity, the probability that a pair of CaRE2 co‐authors shared a third co‐author, from 0.74 in 2018 to 0.47 in 2022. The SNA findings suggest that the CaRE2 Center partnership's publications show growth in team science collaborations with the inclusion of multidisciplinary team members from the three partner institutions and future URM cancer researchers who were mentored as trainees and early‐stage investigators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transient propagation of information across neuronal assembles is thought to underlie many cognitive processes. However, the nature of the neural code that is embedded within these transmissions remains uncertain. Much of our understanding of how information is transmitted among these assemblies has been derived from computational models. While these models have been instrumental in understanding these processes they often make simplifying assumptions about the biophysical properties of neurons that may influence the nature and properties expressed. To address this issue we created an in vitro analogue of a feed-forward network composed of two small populations (also referred to as assemblies or layers) of living dissociated rat cortical neurons. The populations were separated by, and communicated through, a MEMS device containing a strip of microscale tunnels. Delayed culturing of one population in the first layer followed by the second a few days later induced the unidirectional growth of axons through the microtunnels resulting in a primarily feed-forward communication between these two small neural populations. In this study we systematically manipulated the number of tunnels that connected each layer and hence, the number of axons providing communication between those populations. We then assess the effect of reducing the number of tunnels has upon the properties of between-layer communication capacity and fidelity of neural transmission among spike trains transmitted across and within layers. We show evidence based on Victor-Purpura’s and van Rossum’s spike train similarity metrics supporting the presence of both rate and temporal information embedded within these transmissions whose fidelity increased during communication both between and within layers when the number of tunnels are increased. We also provide evidence reinforcing the role of synchronized activity upon transmission fidelity during the spontaneous synchronized network burst events that propagated between layers and highlight the potential applications of these MEMs devices as a tool for further investigation of structure and functional dynamics among neural populations.