Description: Volunteer geographical information (VGI), either in the context of citizen science or the mining of social media, has proven to be useful in various domains including natural hazards, health status, disease epidemics, and biological monitoring. Nonetheless, the variable or unknown data quality due to crowdsourcing settings are still an obstacle for fully integrating these data sources in environmental studies and potentially in policy making. The data curation process, in which a quality assurance (QA) is needed, is often driven by the direct usability of the data collected within a data conflation process or data fusion (DCDF), combining the crowdsourced data into one view, using potentially other data sources as well. Looking at current practices in VGI data quality and using two examples, namely land cover validation and inundation extent estimation, this paper discusses the close links between QA and DCDF. It aims to help in deciding whether a disentanglement can be possible, whether beneficial or not, in understanding the data curation process with respect to its methodology for future usage of crowdsourced data. Analysing situations throughout the data curation process where and when entanglement between QA and DCDF occur, the paper explores the various facets of VGI data capture, as well as data quality assessment and purposes. Far from rejecting the usability ISO quality criterion, the paper advocates for a decoupling of the QA process and the DCDF step as much as possible while still integrating them within an approach analogous to a Bayesian paradigm.

Description: Background: Very preterm birth (

Description: Background: Herbivore coexistence on the Late Cretaceous island continent of Laramidia has been a topic of great interest, stemming from the paradoxically high diversity and biomass of these animals in relation to the relatively small landmass available to them. Various hypotheses have been advanced to account for these facts, of which niche partitioning is among the most frequently invoked. However, despite its wide acceptance, this hypothesis has not been rigorously tested. This study uses the fossil assemblage from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta as a model to investigate whether niche partitioning facilitated herbivorous dinosaur coexistence on Laramidia. Specifically, the question of feeding height stratification is examined in light of the role it plays in facilitating modern ungulate coexistence. Results: Most herbivorous dinosaur species from the Dinosaur Park Formation were restricted to feeding no higher than approximately 1 m above the ground. There is minimal evidence for feeding height partitioning at this level, with ceratopsids capable of feeding slightly higher than ankylosaurs, but the ecological significance of this is ambiguous. Hadrosaurids were uniquely capable of feeding up to 2 m quadrupedally, or up to 5 m bipedally. There is no evidence for either feeding height stratification within any of these clades, or for change in these ecological relationships through the approximately 1.5 Ma record of the Dinosaur Park Formation. Conclusions: Although we cannot reject the possibility, we find no good evidence that feeding height stratification, as revealed by reconstructed maximum feeding heights, played an important role in facilitating niche partitioning among the herbivorous dinosaurs of Laramdia. Most browsing pressure was concentrated in the herb layer, although hadrosaurids were capable of reaching shrubs and low-growing trees that were out of reach from ceratopsids, ankylosaurs, and other small herbivores, effectively dividing the herbivores in terms of relative abundance. Sympatric hadrosaurids may have avoided competing with one another by feeding differentially using bipedal and quadrupedal postures. These ecological relationships evidently proved to be evolutionarily stable because they characterize the herbivore assemblage of the Dinosaur Park Formation through time. If niche partitioning served to facilitate the rich diversity of these animals, it may have been achieved by other means in addition to feeding height stratification. Consideration of other feeding height proxies, including dental microwear and skull morphology, may help to alleviate problems of underdetermination identified here.

Description: Author(s): Srujan Meesala, Young-Ik Sohn, Benjamin Pingault, Linbo Shao, Haig A. Atikian, Jeffrey Holzgrafe, Mustafa Gündoğan, Camille Stavrakas, Alp Sipahigil, Cleaven Chia, Ruffin Evans, Michael J. Burek, Mian Zhang, Lue Wu, Jose L. Pacheco, John Abraham, Edward Bielejec, Mikhail D. Lukin, Mete Atatüre, and Marko Lončar Here, the authors tune the color of light emitted by single-atom imperfections (silicon vacancy color centers) inside a diamond. Such tunable imperfections can be networked together to build a quantum internet, where information can be securely exchanged using the laws of quantum physics. One problem is that all the centers need to emit at precisely the same color or wavelength. The authors overcome this challenge by placing color centers inside a diamond nanostring. By adjusting the tension in the string, atoms are stretched inside the crystal and tune the center to emit photons of a desired wavelength. The tuning method involves bending the string with a force controlled handily with an electrical voltage. A symphony of such tunable diamond strings could serve as the backbone of a future quantum internet. [Phys. Rev. B 97, 205444] Published Tue May 29, 2018

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 11: Evaluation of Behavior Change Communication Campaigns to Promote Modern Cookstove Purchase and Use in Lower Middle Income Countries International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15010011 Authors: William Evans Michael Johnson Kirstie Jagoe Dana Charron Bonnie Young A. Rahman Daniel Omolloh Julie Ipe Nearly three billion people worldwide burn solid fuels and kerosene in open fires and inefficient stoves to cook, light, and heat their homes. Cleaner-burning stoves reduce emissions and can have positive health, climate, and women’s empowerment benefits. This article reports on the protocol and baseline data from the evaluation of four behavior change communication (BCC) campaigns carried out in lower to middle income countries aimed at promoting the sale and use of cleaner-burning stoves. Interventions implemented in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria are using a range of BCC methods including mass media, digital media, outdoor advertising, and inter-personal communication. The mixed methods evaluation comprises three large-scale surveys: one pre-BCC and two follow-ups, along with smaller scale assessments of stove uptake and patterns of use. Baseline results revealed varying levels of awareness of previous promotions and positive attitudes and beliefs about modern (i.e., relatively clean-burning) cookstoves. Differences in cookstove preferences and behaviors by gender, socio-demographics, media use, and country/region were observed that may affect outcomes. Across all three countries, cost (lack of funds) a key perceived barrier to buying a cleaner-burning stove. Future multivariate analyses will examine potential dose-response effects of BCC on cookstove uptake and patterns of use. BCC campaigns have the potential to promote modern cookstoves at scale. More research on campaign effectiveness is needed, and on how to optimize messages and channels. This evaluation builds on a limited evidence base in the field.