Aiming to improve the accuracy, recall, and F1 value of data classification, this paper proposes an applied university innovation and entrepreneurship data classification method based on the nearest neighbour criterion. Firstly, the decision tree algorithm is used to mine innovation and entrepreneurship data from applied universities. Then, dynamic weight is introduced to improve the similarity calculation method based on edit distance, and the improved method is used to realise data de-duplication to avoid data over fitting. Finally, the nearest neighbour criterion method is used to classify applied university innovation and entrepreneurship data, and cosine similarity is used to calculate the similarity between the samples to be classified and each sample in the training data, achieving data classification. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a maximum accuracy of 96.5% and an average F1 score of 0.91. These findings indicate a high level of accuracy, recall, and F1 value for data classification using the proposed method.

This study examines diverse information media in order to identify those formats that are most suitable for consumption via handheld mobile devices, namely, smartphones and tablets. The preferences of the users are measured objectively by analyzing actual data of their relative use of handheld mobile devices and personal computing (PC) desktop devices, including laptops and notebooks, for consumption of information presented in various formats. Our findings are based on Google Analytics pageview data of five course Websites during a period of three semesters, by 11,557 undergraduate students. M-learning contexts were chosen, since in a learning environment the interests of information providers (i.e., the instructors) are in accord with those of the information consumers (i.e., the students), whereas in commercial settings there may be conflicts of interests. Our findings demonstrate that although about 90% of the pageviews were via PC devices, the rate of smartphone use for consuming learning content in diverse information media is gradually increasing as time goes by, whereas the rate of tablet use for these purposes is stagnant. The most promising direction for smartphone development, emanating from the findings, is online video content.

Aim/Purpose: Bring your own device (BYOD) provides opportunities for both the organization and employees, but the adoption of BYOD also introduces risks. This case study of an organization’s BYOD program identifies key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Background: The consumerization of IT introduced the BYOD phenomenon into the enterprise environment. As mobile and Internet technologies improve employees are opting to use their personal devices to access organizational systems to perform their work tasks. Such devices include smartphones, tablets and laptop computers. Methodology: This research uses a case study approach to investigate how business priorities drive the adoption of BYOD and how resulting benefits and risks are realized and managed by the organization. Primary empirical data was collected using semi-structured interviews with 15 senior employees from a large South African financial services organization. Policy documents from the organization were analyzed as secondary data. Contribution: Thematic analysis of the data revealed six major themes: improving employee mobility; improving client service and experience; creating a competitive industry advantage; improving business processes; information security risks; and management best practices. Findings: The themes were analyzed using the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, showing the key positive and negative influences on the adoption decision. Recommendations for Practitioners: Organizations need to clearly understand the reasons they want to introduce BYOD in their organizations. The conceptual framework can be applied by practitioners in their organizations to achieve their BYOD business objectives. Recommendations for Researchers: BYOD remains an important innovation for organizations with several aspects worthy of further study. The TOE framework presents a suitable lens for analysis, but other models should also be considered. Impact on Society: The findings show that organizations can use BYOD to improve client service, gain competitive advantage, and improve their processes using their digital devices and backend systems. The BYOD trend is thus not likely to go away anytime soon. Future Research: The applicability of findings should be validated across additional contexts. Additional models should also be used.

Self-efficacy is essential to learning but what happens when learning is done as a result of a collective process? What is the role of individual self-efficacy in collective problem solving? This research examines the manifestation of self-efficacy in prediction markets that are configured as collective problem-solving platforms and whether self-efficacy of traders affects the collective outcome. Prediction markets are collective-intelligence platforms that use a financial markets mechanism to combine knowledge and opinions of a group of people. Traders express their opinions or knowledge by buying and selling “stocks” related to questions or events. The collective outcome is derived from the final price of the stocks. Self-efficacy, one’s belief in his or her ability to act in a manner that leads to success, is known to affect personal performance in many domains. To date, its manifestation in computer-mediated collaborative environments and its effect on the collective outcome has not been studied. In a controlled experiment, 632 participants in 47 markets traded a solution to a complex problem, a naïve framing of the knapsack problem. Contrary to earlier research, we find that technical and functional self-efficacy perceptions are indistinguishable, probably due to a focus on outcomes rather than on resources. Further, results demonstrate that prediction markets are an effective collective problem-solving platform that correctly aggregates individual knowledge and is resilient to traders’ self-efficacy.

Aim/Purpose: Our research focuses on a unique group a students, who study CS: ultra-orthodox Jewish men. Their previous education is based mostly on studying Talmud and hence they lacked a conventional high-school education. Our research goal was to examine whether their prior education is merely a barrier to their CS studies or whether it can be recruited to leverage academic learning. Background: This work is in line with the growing interest in extending the diversity of students studying computer science (CS). Methodology: We employed a mixed-methods approach. We compared the scores in CS courses of two groups of students who started their studies in the same college in 2015: 58 ultraorthodox men and 139 men with a conventional background of Israeli K-12 schooling. We also traced the solution processes of ultraorthodox men in tasks involving Logic, in which their group scored significantly better than the other group. Contribution: The main contribution of this work lies in challenging the idea that the knowledge of unique cultures is merely a barrier and in illustrating the importance of further mapping such knowledge. Findings: The ultraorthodox group’s grades in the courses never fell below the grades of the other group for the duration of the five semesters. Due to their intensive Talmud studies (which embeds Logic), we hypothesized they would have leverage in subjects relating to Logic; however this hypothesis was refuted. Nevertheless, we found that the ultraorthodox students tended to recruit conceptual knowledge rather than merely recalling a procedure to solve the task, as novices often do. Recommendations for Practitioners: We concluded that these students’ unique knowledge should not be viewed merely as a barrier. Rather, it can and should be considered in terms of what and how it can anchor and leverage learning; this could facilitate the education of this unique population. Impact on Society: This conclusion has an important implication, given the growing interest in diversifying higher education and CS in particular, to include representatives of groups in society that come from different, unique cultures. Future Research: Students’ unique previous knowledge can and should be mapped, not only to foresee weaknesses that are an outcome of “fragile knowledge” , but also in terms of possible strengths, knowledge, values, and practices that can be used to anchor and expand the new knowledge.

Aim/Purpose: As traditional Knowledge Management (KM) struggles to support the personal needs of knowledge workers in a new era of accelerating information abundance, we examine the shortcomings and put forward alternative scenarios and architectures for developing a novel Personal KM System (PKMS). Background: While prior publications focused on the complementing features compared to conventional dynamic KM models, our emphasis shifts to instantiating a flourishing PKMS community supported by a Digital Platform Ecosystem. Methodology: Design science research focusing on conceptual analysis and prototyping. Contribution: The PKMS concept advances the understanding of how digital platform communities may serve members with highly diverse skills and ambitions better to gainfully utilize the platform’s resources and generative potential in their personal and local settings. Findings: We demonstrate how the needs to tackle attention-consuming rising entropy and to benefit from generative innovation potentials can be addressed. Future Research: As this article has iteratively co-evolved with the preparing of a PKMS implementation, business, and roll-out plan, the prototype’s testing, completion, and subsequent migration to a viable system is of primary concern.

Social exchange theory is a broad theory that has been used to explain trust as an outcome of various exchange relationships, and research commonly presumes trust exists between exchange partners that have prior relationships. In this paper, we contribute to social exchange theory by isolating the trust outcomes of interorganizational exchanges from other outcomes emphasized by learning and knowledge-based perspectives, and by specifying important boundary conditions for the emergence of trust in interorganizational exchanges. We make such a theoretical contribution within the domain of strategic alliances by investigating the effects of previous alliance agreements, or prior ties, between the partnering firms. We find that prior ties generally lead to learning about a partner's anticipated behavioral patterns, which helps a firm predict when self-interested behavior may occur and know how to interact with the partner during the coordination and execution of the alliance tasks. By contrast, it is evident that the kind of trust emphasized in social exchange theory is not generally rooted in prior ties and only emerges from prior relationships under certain conditions. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on social exchange theory and for delineating the theory's domain of applicability.

Despite the proliferation of strategy process and practice research, we lack understanding of the historical embeddedness of strategic processes and practices. In this paper, we present three historical approaches with the potential to remedy this deficiency. First, realist history can contribute to a better understanding of the historical embeddedness of strategic processes; in particular, comparative historical analysis can explicate the historical conditions, mechanisms, and causality in strategic processes. Second, interpretative history can add to our knowledge of the historical embeddedness of strategic practices, and microhistory can specifically help to understand the construction and enactment of these practices in historical contexts. Third, poststructuralist history can elucidate the historical embeddedness of strategic discourses, and genealogy can in particular increase our understanding of the evolution and transformation of strategic discourses and their power effects. Thus, this paper demonstrates how in their specific ways historical approaches and methods can add to our understanding of different forms and variations of strategic processes and practices, the historical construction of organizational strategies, and historically constituted strategic agency.

Simon Beech and another man were jailed in 2011 for trying to blow up a mosque in Stoke-on-Trent.

THE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) acknowledges the efforts of the government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in presenting Budget 2025.

The initiatives aimed at equitable economic growth, fiscal responsibility and governance reforms are commendable.

While the budget reflects positive steps in Malaysia’s fiscal policy and development, it falls short in addressing critical human rights concerns, especially in areas affecting marginalised and vulnerable groups.

Suhakam welcomes the government’s focus on children, including incentives for special needs children and tax breaks for parents of children with autism.

Efforts to tackle child malnutrition in public housing and the increased allocation to agencies dealing with online safety, child pornography and cyberbullying are positive.

The strengthening of relevant laws to address scams and cybercrimes targeting children as well as the introduction of new legal frameworks represent a proactive step towards protecting children in the digital age.

Despite these improvements, Suhakam stresses that the budget lacks clear plans to safeguard the rights of migrant workers, refugees and stateless individuals. These communities continue to face exploitation, with limited access to healthcare, education and legal protection.

Stronger frameworks are needed to prevent human trafficking and exploitation, ensuring these groups can access justice and basic services, in line with Malaysia’s international obligations.

The budget mentions infrastructure projects for rural and indigenous communities but fails to address the protection of indigenous peoples’ land rights.

Their participation in decision-making on development projects remains limited, often resulting in displacement and loss of traditional lands.

Suhakam emphasises the importance of the principle of free, prior and informed consent in all development activities to preserve their rights and cultural heritage.

On gender equality, Budget 2025’s focus on gender-based violence remains inadequate.

The absence of specific allocations for strengthening legal frameworks and support services for victims is alarming.

Suhakam urges the government to prioritise protection for women, particularly in addressing domestic violence, sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.

Malaysia’s ageing population continues to grow, yet their specific needs remain largely unaddressed. Access to healthcare, social protection and protection from abuse are essential human rights that cannot be overlooked. Suhakam calls for a comprehensive national ageing policy that guarantees the dignity and rights of elderly citizens.

In addition, while poverty alleviation is a government focus, the budget lacks a human rights-based approach to economic and social rights.

Marginalised communities continue to struggle with inadequate housing, food security and fair wages. Suhakam stresses the need for legal protections that ensure equitable access to resources, affordable housing and decent work for all, especially low-income families.

Mental health services, especially post-pandemic, remain critically underfunded.

While economic recovery is emphasised, there is limited attention to community-based mental healthcare.

Additionally, the budget does not sufficiently address the rights and needs of persons with disabilities (PwD). The lack of focus on accessibility, inclusive education and employment opportunities is concerning.

Suhakam urges the government to align its policies with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ensuring equal access to public services and economic opportunities for all PwD.

While institutional reforms are mentioned, Budget 2025 falls short in addressing access to justice for vulnerable groups.

Suhakam advocates for comprehensive legal reforms to ensure marginalised communities can access justice and hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable.

On a positive note, Suhakam recognises the increased budget for the judiciary, the boost to the National Cyber Security Agency in tackling online safety issues, including for children, and the anticipated Online Safety Bill.

The increase in cash aid under Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah and the allocations for combatting child malnutrition in public housing areas are steps in the right direction.

Despite these initiatives, the minimum wage still does not reflect the actual cost of living, as evidenced by reports from Employees Provident Fund, Bank Negara Malaysia and Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency.

Additionally, the Baitul Mahabbah programme continues with no expansion to cover all children below 18 years, nor an indication of family or community placement.

Suhakam acknowledges the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and governance reforms.

However, we urge the government to ensure that its economic growth strategies are inclusive.

A budget must address not only fiscal concerns but also the protection of fundamental rights for all.

Suhakam

Jared Bahay hit timely shots down the stretch to help the Ateneo Blue Eagles deal the free-falling University of the East Red Warriors their fourth straight loss in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, 71-67, Wednesday at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila.

In its recently released mobile device best practices guide, the National Security Agency (NSA) goes old-school geek and advises people to turn their phones off and on again....

Police register case, launch investigation to determine exact nature of explosion in Sopore

He urges voters to try JI this time in order to put the country on the path to prosperity

Pictorial representation of an interview.— Unsplash

On Reddit, a man shares his amusing yet unfortunate rejection story. During a Zoom interview in which all hiring members were sitting, the man received an email informing him that he had been rejected for the role while he...

Leonardo DiCaprio treats himself with Mexican getaway on 50th birthday

Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend, Vittoria Ceretti, recently jetted off to Mexico to celebrate his milestone 50th birthday.

The Oscar-winning actor was spotted boarding a private jet in Los Angeles with...

Between 2003 and 2005 the BMX scene in Stuttgart experienced continuous growth. Our inventory of BMX parts was constantly expanded and at the same time we launched our online shop, which enabled our customers to conveniently place orders online. We were also represented at various events, including the BMX Masters in Cologne and smaller BMX flatland jams, where we had our own stand. During this time, unforgettable parties, jams and competitions took place. Even internationally known BMX riders such as Nathan Penonzcek, Michael Sommer, Jesse Puente and Hiro Morisaki visited Stuttgart. Our Japanese BMX friend Daiske spent nine months in Stuttgart, where he lived in Seppl's shared apartment on Hackstrasse.

At this time we also launched our first kunstform product, the "kunstform Ohh-Rings". These made it possible to adjust the handle length according to individual preferences. Furthermore, our first kunstform commercial was broadcast on the most common European BMX VHS cassettes.

The first kunstform commercial

"Outlander" is returning with the concluding episodes of its seventh season this month, but its stars have already wrapped official production on the show's eighth and final season.

Free college tuition. New cars. Complimentary passes to government gyms. And cold, hard cash. Militaries all over the world are at war right now. And they're getting creative with pay and benefits to lure in potential recruits and to keep battle-hardened veterans in their uniforms for another round.

A senior police officer warned Tuesday of calls for more rioting in Amsterdam, after dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set a tram on fire Monday night as the city faces tensions following violence last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club.

Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio will part ways with the University of Wisconsin's football team after he was arrested last week on a drunk driving charge.

The Orioles declined a $16.5 million option Saturday on outfielder/designated hitter Eloy Jimenez, who becomes a free agent.

Stephen Curry scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half in his return from an ankle injury and the Golden State Warriors won their fourth straight game, 125-112 over the Washington Wizards on Monday night.

High-quality biodiversity data is essential for answering key questions on biodiversity in Europe, for example regarding the state and trends of species or for evaluating ecosystem services and functions on various scales. A new EU BON report "Gap analysis and priorities for filling identified gaps in data coverage and quality" evaluates the state of available biodiversity information and points out gaps of available biodiversity information sources.

The report aims to assess relevant data sources on biodiversity on a European and global scale. The assessment particularly evaluates the gaps of available biodiversity information sources and, after outlining the most important ones, identifies priorities for improving the data availability and gives recommendations of how they can be closed.

The report is divided into three main sections, starting first with an overall overview of gaps and limitations of biodiversity datasets. After outlining some general limitations of biodiversity data in Europe, the key findings from the specific analyses are summarized along with recommendations of how existing gaps can be closed. The last part presents a chapter containing the specific gap analysis for a selection of several main global and European datasets. The datasets represent some main sources for biodiversity data, either for specific realms (terrestrial, marine, freshwater), taxonomic groups, thematic fields (taxonomy, genetic databases) or networks of European test sites.

Post-doctoral scientist position is open for the project "Towards an integrated prediction of Land & Sea Responses to global change in the Mediterranean Basin" (LaSeR-Med), which focusses on integrated socio-ecological modelling. The duration of the contract is initially one year, with a possible extension for a second year, depending on the initial results. The post-doc will be based within the Mediterranean Institute of marine and terrestrial Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE) in Aix-en-Provence, France. The project is part of the Labex OT-Med (http://www.otmed.fr/).

Applicants should hold a doctoral degree in physics, chemistry, microbiology, geosciences, environmental sciences or a related field of science. They should be familiar with modelling biogeochemical interactions between ecosystems and capable to further develop existing numerical ecosystem models. Programming skills (C) and modelling experience are therefore mandatory. Knowledge of R and of Unix/Linux environment will be an advantage. The candidate should have good written and oral communication skills. For work, good skills in the English language will be essential.

The project:

Terrestrial and marine ecosystems are connected through groundwater, river discharge and nutrient outflows (especially N and P). River catchments in the Mediterranean are N-intensive regions, mostly due to intensive agriculture in the North and to crop N2 fixation or food & feed import in the South. The fraction of nutrient reaching the sea constitutes significant anthropogenic forcing of many marine biological processes. For simulating the dynamics of the first levels of the marine food web (from nutrients to jellyfishes), the ocean biogeochemical model, Eco3M-MED, used and developed by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) within OT-Med, currently uses N and P measurements at river mouths, e.g. for the Rhône.

In order to estimate the impacts of global change on the functioning of marine ecosystems, the project aims at modeling the dependency of N and P outflows to the Mediterreanean sea toward land management. Land management is modelled as part of the agro-ecosystem model LPJmL (Bondeau et al., 2007), that has been especially adapted to the Mediterranean cropping systems (Fader et al., 2015). Among others, LPJmL simulates the daily carbon and water cycles, and the river discharges to the sea. Following existing approaches in the scientific literature, the post-doc will implement the nutrient N and P transfer in LPJmL, covering the net nutrient inputs to the river catchments by accounting for the processes occurring at the agro-ecosystem level (N2 biological fixation, fertilization, atmospheric deposition) and the net food and feed imports. Since only a minor fraction of the net nutrient inputs from Mediterranean basins reaches the sea, the retention along the nutrient cascade will have to be added to the LPJmL river routing scheme, similarly to the method used by the Riverstrahler model. Once the nutrient transfers have been introduced into LPJmL, simulations will be validated using current climate and land use forcing for comparisons with the existing observations from river outlets. Finally, future conditions will be assessed by using the model with scenarios of changing regional climate and land use / land management.

Your application:

Applications should contain a suitable motivation letter describing your anticipated role in the project, a CV, a list of scientific publications and the names of at least two scientists that can be contacted for references. They must be sent to Ms. Gabriela Boéri (gabriela.boeri@imbe.fr). Please prepare your application as a single file in pdf-format.

Questions about the project or the position can be directed to Dr. Alberte Bondeau (alberte.bondeau@imbe.fr). The position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate has been found – work should start soon after that date. The salary and contract conditions will be determined according to standards set by Aix-Marseille University – questions in this regard can be directed to Sophie Pekar (pekar@otmed.fr).

Creating and maintaining a biodiversity data collection has been a much-needed worldwide exercise for years, yet there is no single standard on how to do this. This has led to a myriad of datasets often incompatible with each other. To make the most out of biodiversity data and to ensure that its use for environmental monitoring and conservation is both easy and legal, EU BON published recommendations that provide consistent Europe-wide Data Publishing Guidelines and Recommendations in the EU BON Biodiversity Portal.

The report "Data Policy Recommendations for Biodiversity Data. EU BON Project Report" featured in the Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) journal, is the first contribution in a pioneering comprehensive project outputs compilation taking advantage of RIO's unique option to publish collections of project results.

Lyubomir Penev presenting the EU BON collection in RIO at the project's biodiversity data sharing and data publishing workshop in Sofia; Credit: Pensoft

Biodiversity data and information provide important knowledge for many biological, geological, and environmental research disciplines. Additionally, they are crucial for the development of strong environmental policies and the management of natural resources. Information management systems can bring together a wealth of information and a legacy of over 260 years of biological observations which are now dispersed in a myriad of different documents, institutions, and locations.

EU BON aims to build a comprehensive "European Biodiversity Portal" that will incorporate currently scattered Europe-wide biodiversity data, while at the same time helping to realize a substantial part of the worldwide Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). To achieve this ambitious plan, EU BON identifies the strong need for a coherent and consistent data policy in Europe to increase interoperability of data and make its re-use both easy and legal.

"Biodiversity data and information should not be treated as commercial goods, but as a common resource for the whole human society. The EU BON data sharing agreement is an important step in this direction," comments the lead author of the report Dr. Willi Egloff from Plazi, Switzerland.

In its report, the EU BON project analysis available single recommendations and guidelines on different topics. On this basis, the report provides structured guidelines for legislators, researchers, data aggregators, funding agencies and publishers to be taken into consideration towards providing standardized, easy-to-find, re-shareable and re-usable biodiversity data.

"We are extremely happy that EU BON is among the first to take advantage of our project outputs collections option in RIO. The first report they are publishing with us deals with issues of opening up data, and digitizing and collecting scientific knowledge, all close to RIO's mission to open up the research process and promote open science," says Prof. Lyubomir Penev, Founder and Publisher of RIO.

Original Source:

Egloff W, Agosti D, Patterson D, Hoffmann A, Mietchen D, Kishor P, Penev L (2016) Data Policy Recommendations for Biodiversity Data. EU BON Project Report. Research Ideas and Outcomes2: e8458. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e8458

Due to the exponential growth of biodiversity information in recent years, the questions of how to mobilize such vast amounts of data has become more tangible than ever. Best practices for data sharing, data publishing, and involvement of scientific and citizen communities in data generation are the main topic of a recent report by the EU FP7 project Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON), published in the innovative Research Ideas & Outcomes (RIO) journal.

The report "Data sharing tools for Biodiversity Observation Networks" provides conceptual and practical advice for implementation of the available data sharing and data publishing tools. A detailed description of tools, their pros and cons, is followed by recommendations on their deployment and enhancement to guide biodiversity data managers in their choices.

"We believe publishing this report in RIO makes a lot of sense given the journal's innovative concept of publishing unconventional research outcomes such as project reports. This feature provides projects like EU BON with the chance to showcase their results effectively and timely. The report provides a useful practical guide for biodiversity data managers and RIO gives the project an opportunity to share findings with anyone who will make use of such information", explains Prof. Lyubomir Penev, Managing Director of Pensoft and partner in EU BON.

The new report is the second EU BON contribution featured in a dedicated project outcomes collection in RIO. Together with the data policy recommendations it provides a comprehensive set of resources for the use of biodiversity data managers and users.

"We did our biodiversity data sharing tools comparison from the perspective of the needs of the biodiversity observation community with an eye on the development of a unified user interface to this data - the European Biodiversity Portal (EBP)", add the authors.

The scientists have identified two main challenges standing in front of the biodiversity data community. On the one hand, there is a variety of tools but none can as stand alone, satisfy all the requirements of the wide variety of data providers. On the other hand, gaps in data coverage and quality demand more effort in data mobilization.

"For the time being a combination of tools combined in a new work-flow, makes the most sense for EU BON to mobilize biodiversity data," comment the report authors on their findings. "There is more research to be done and tools to be developed, but for the future there is one firm conclusion and it is that the choice of tools should be defined by the needs of those observing biodiversity - the end user community in the broadest sense - from volunteer scientists to decision makers."

Original Source:

Smirnova L, Mergen P, Groom Q, De Wever A, Penev L, Stoev P, Pe'er I, Runnel V, Camacho A, Vincent T, Agosti D, Arvanitidis C, Bonet F, Saarenmaa H (2016) Data sharing tools adopted by the European Biodiversity Observation Network Project. Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e9390. doi: 10.3897/rio.2.e9390

A new opinion piece published in the journal Global Change Biology looks at the development of biodiversity scenarios and their inclusion of  future land-use changes.

Abstract: 

A new report has been added to the dedicated EU BON Outputs Collection in the innovative RIO journal. The paper reviews biodiversity related citizen science in Europe, specifically the data mobilization aspect and gives an overview of citizen science related activities in the project EU BON.

In addition, recommendations for a Pan-European citizen science gateway and data mobilization efforts will be given, with the aim of filling in existing biodiversity data gaps. Also the EU BON citizen science gateway is described, which is a part of the European Biodiversity Portal (http://biodiversity.eubon.eu) with citizen science related products. 

Citizen science is a vital element for EU BON with regards to biodiversity information sources that provide data for research and policy-making. CS data are used by many research institutes, public organisations and local data portals. CS data offer volumes of field data, which would otherwise not be possible to collect with the limited resources of research institutes and agencies. Thus one of the main targets for EU BON is to make CS data available through various efforts, for example through networking and by using new technologies for data mobilisation. Overall, one of the main goals of a common EU citizen science Gateway is to integrate CS data for European biodiversity research. EU BON also seeks to develop a strategy for achieving this goal and encourages educational aspects of citizen science through networking and the development of tools.

Original Source:

Runnel V, Wetzel F, Groom Q, Koch W, Pe’er I, Valland N, Panteri E, Kõljalg U (2016) Summary report and strategy recommendations for EU citizen science gateway for biodiversity data. Research Ideas and Outcomes 2: e11563. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.2.e11563

While development and implementation of data publishing and sharing practices and tools have long been among the core activities of the academic publisher Pensoft, it is well-understood that as part of scholarly publishing, open data practices are also currently in transition, and hence, require a lot of collaborative and consistent efforts to establish.

Based on Pensoft's experience, and elaborated and updated during the Framework Program 7 EU BON project, a new paper published in the EU BON dedicated collection in the open science journal Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO), outlines policies and guidelines for scholarly publishing of biodiversity and biodiversity-related data. Newly accumulated knowledge from large-scale international efforts, such as FORCE11 (Future of Research Communication and e-Scholarship), CODATA (The Committee on Data for Science and Technology), RDA (Research Data Alliance) and others, is also included in the Guidelines.

The present paper discusses some general concepts, including a definition of datasets, incentives to publish data and licences for data publishing. Furthermore, it defines and compares several routes for data publishing, namely: providing supplementary files to research articles; uploading them on specialised open data repositories, where they are linked to the research article; publishing standalone data papers; or making use of integrated narrative and data publishing through online import/download of data into/from manuscripts, such as the workflow provided by the Biodiversity Data Journal. Among the guidelines, there are also comprehensive instructions on preparation and peer review of data intended for publication.

Although currently available for journals using the developed by Pensoft journal publishing platform ARPHA, these strategies and guidelines could be of use for anyone interested in biodiversity data publishing.

Apart from paving the way for a whole new approach in data publishing, the present paper is also a fine example of science done in the open, having been published along with its two pre-submission public peer reviews. The reviews by Drs. Robert Mesibov and Florian Wetzel are both citable via their own Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs).

###

Original source:

Penev L, Mietchen D, Chavan V, Hagedorn G, Smith V, Shotton D, Ó Tuama É, Senderov V, Georgiev T, Stoev P, Groom Q, Remsen D, Edmunds S (2017) Strategies and guidelines for scholarly publishing of biodiversity data. Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e12431. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.3.e12431

The conference covers scenarios and modelling applications in marine, freshwater and terrestrial systems, across all relevant disciplines of natural and social sciences. It is open to scientists and experts working in the field, policy makers and practioners. The conference focuses on: (i) Exploring recent advances in modelling human impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, (ii) Addressing the use of scenarios and models for decision support, (iii) Mobilising observations of biodiversity and ecosystem services for model development and testing, (iv) Capacity building for developing scenarios and models and for their use in decision making, (v) Horizon scanning and addressing gaps in knowledge.

More information available on the conference website.

The ConnectinGEO Workshop on Gap Analysis and Prioritization will will take place on 10 & 11 October 2106 in Asutia to address key issues associated with the societal benefits of Earth observations and the exploitation of Earth observation for societal policy and decision making.

The Gap Analysis workshop will discuss the outcomes of the gap analysis and prioritization performed in the ConnectinGEO project. This gap analysis was guided by the information and knowledge needs resulting from humanity's "Road to Dignity" detailed in the Agenda 2030 and specified in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed upon by the United Nations. Both the monitoring and implementation of actions to achieve these goals require extensive support from Earth observation and science communities. Several directives and crosscuting issues in Europe provided further guidance for the gap analysis.

The workshop will provide a forum to review the methodology for gap analysis and prioritization, discuss the relevant gaps and priorities in the European Earth observation networks and develop a strategy to address those gaps that have a high priority assigned.

The objectives of the gap analysis and prioritization workshop are to:

• Assess the ConnectinGEO methodology for gap analysis and prioritization;
• Review the list of gaps identified and the prioritization achieved;
• Produce a final list of gaps with high priority;
• Discuss a strategy to address these gaps and provide recommendations for the European Network of Earth Observation Networks (ENEON) and the European Commission concerning high-priority gaps.

More on the event's website.

"Obviously I don't care who you play for or what team you are, that's not a good formula right there."

The post Tom Brady and Bill Belichick shared their opinions on Jerod Mayo, Patriots’ struggles appeared first on Boston.com.

"They never really called out Russell on certain things, but Bill would call Tom out on everything," Bennett said, comparing the Seahawks and Patriots in the 2010s.

The post Michael Bennett recalled how Bill Belichick treated Tom Brady as harshly as other Patriots appeared first on Boston.com.

"I could never have reached this area of growth that I needed to."

The post Tom Brady credited this for helping him find success early on with the Patriots appeared first on Boston.com.

"We just weren't good enough. You guys can write what you guys think is the malaise on the team and what's going on."

The post Jim Montgomery doesn’t have an ‘answer’ for Bruins’ third-period struggles appeared first on Boston.com.