Critical research

The field of these very important chemicals covers a very broad scope. An organized consideration of all phases of the problem is needed in developing a research program. From this the most critical research needs should be selected and emphasized. The following outline presents one type of an organized picture of the breadth and scope of the problem, and the variety of research and educational needs. Chemistry plays a major role in this work. 

Critical research needs include definition of thresholds for adverse health effects and how these thresholds vary with exposure concentration and duration. Such data would be valuable for affirming AEGL values. Additionally, the mode of dimethylhydrazine toxicity is not fully understood and, therefore, research providing insight into the underlying mechanism(s) of dimethylhydrazine toxicity would reduce current uncertainties in quantitative health risk issues. 

Another question is whether an endpoint reflecting the status of CMI should be included in any DIT protocol.1719 For the measurement of CMI, roundtable participants suggested that a validated DTH or T-cell responses to anti-CD3 be evaluated.38 The DTH assay is considered by the NTP as part of the Tier II test panel.3 Although reports indicate that the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response can be assessed in weanling rats.41 roundtable participants agreed that data are lacking as to whether cell-mediated immune (CMI) assessments in younger animals are feasible.38 Ultimately, the characterization of a validated endpoint which measures CMI, and the determination of whether such an endpoint should be an essential part of a DIT framework remain critical research needs. 

Several things can go wrong in this matching. Matches of calculated and experimental Z-(0 plots are seldom exact. Personal judgment becomes involved. One researcher may consider Z-(0 plots using a certain circuit satisfactory, but a more critical researcher may not accept that there is a fit and point to the use of parameters (perhaps values of the surface state C s and A s) that are too far away from those known by independent methods to be likely for the system concerned. 

W (3600 psig super-critical) Research-Cottrel1 Precipitator 98.5% Design Efficiency (2% sulfur, 6% ash)... 

Identify Reactions to and Effective Messages About Uncertainty. Some relevant topics (such as trust) will continue to be the subject of considerable research outside the biomonitoring field and might in turn be applicable to biomonitoring efforts without much adaptation or supplementation. That is unlikely to be true of the perception of and communication about uncertainty, which despite its centrality to environmental-health issues generally has attracted little researcher attention in the last few decades. Furthermore, only some aspects of biomonitoring-relevant uncertainty are shared with other health or environmental topics. If biomonitoring sponsors do not fund this critical research, it is unlikely to be sponsored by others. 

Historically, attention on soil organic matter (SOM) has focused on the central role that it plays in ecosystem fertility and soil properties, but in the past two decades the role of soil organic carbon in moderating atmospheric C02 concentrations has emerged as a critical research area.This chapter will focus on the storage and turnover of natural organic matter in soil (SOM), in the context of the global carbon cycle. 

There is no scientific area in which those who hold dissident opinions are persecuted more mercilessly by the ruling order than that of revisionism. That is probably why most people don t want to touch it, and most avoid it by convincing themselves that the subject is not relevant to current problems. But for me, this draconian persecution is the best proof there is that this is a crucial subject, because the powers that be regard it as most important that nobody touches this taboo. Comprehensive and critical research in this area is therefore very important for scientific, political and social reasons.543... 

Ernst Klee, Willi DreBen and V. RieB41 have culled the testimony of three witnesses - Hofer, Kurt Wemer and Anton Heidbom - from the files held at the Central Office in Ludwigsburg these files are not, however, made available to critical researchers. 

Why are critical researchers not allowed access to documents, and not only in Ludwigsburg Why does not even public prosecutor Willi DreBen take exception to the contradictions, to say nothing of the physical impossibilities alleged Why do the authors make no mention of the 300,000 Jews postulated for Kyiv in Event Report 106, and mention only the 150,000 from Event Report 97 of September 28, 1941 43... 

Anions are of key importance across many fields of scientific life making their selective binding and sensing a critical research target, as the following illustrative examples indicate ... 

Gutting, G., Continental Philosophy of Science) in P. D. Asquith and H. E. Kyburg (eds). Current Research in Philosophy of Science Proceedings of the PSA Critical Research Problems Conference (East Lansing, MI Philosophy of Science Association, 1979), pp. 94-117. 

Such considerations are complicated by uncertainty about the mechanisms by which MeHg specifically exerts its neurodevelopmental toxicity. Such mechanisms might not be the same as those responsible for adult neurotoxicity. Nonetheless, the potential implications of additive toxicity from fish consumption and dental amalgams make elucidation of the mechanisms of MeHg toxicity in the brain a critical research priority. 

Research and development efforts in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries depend critically on patent protection for commercially valuable biological molecules. In this context, patent laws broadly require clear disclosure of molecular function. Deriving this essential functional information is far from trivial [101]. Basic sequence homology studies are already a first step in these critical research efforts. Pattern-based approaches focusing on fundamental structural and functional motifs can valuably focus expensive and lengthy laboratory efforts. The power of these approaches will invariably increase with expansion and improvement of data repositories and associated analysis tools. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office already welcomes these sorts of in silico studies as valuable adjunct evidence in support of a molecule s functional specification. 

Mixing these levels of terminology is difficult to avoid when the issue of smallest particles is introduced arising from the question of the division of a portion of matter is it possible to repeatedly and endlessly divide a piece of copper If the answer at the end of the discussion is that there are limits, then the result usually shows a smallest possible matter part. The ancient Greeks in Democritus circle spoke of atoms probably meaning the smallest indivisible part of matter. If one critically researches the earlier literature, one will probably also see many of our chemists and physicists transferring the well-known characteristics of matter to atoms or molecules. 

Figure 2. Critical research problems for production of somatic seeds.

Future research directions should focus on enhanced basic understanding of biogeochemical cycles and the roles of key players (biotic communities) at both fine and coarse spatial and temporal scales, and integration of information across scales. Some of the critical research areas may include... 

In spite of impressive experimental demonstrations of basic quantum information effects in a number of different mesoscopic solid state systems, such as quantum dots in semiconductor microcavities, cold ions in traps, nuclear spin systems, Josephson junctions, etc., their concrete implementation is still at the proof-of-principle stage [1]. The development of materials that may host quantum coherent states with long coherence lifetimes is a critical research problem for the nearest future. There is a need for the fabrication of quantum bits (qubits) with coherence lifetimes at least three-four orders of magnitude longer than it takes to perform a bit flip. This would involve entangling operations, followed by the nearest neighbor interaction over short distances and quantum information transfer over longer distances. 

As seen in the Pinto, Apple, and Westway cases, the ethically problematic pattern upstream acquiescence, downstream misconduct recurs in contemporary engineering practice. It is difficult for engineers to bring themselves upstream to oppose, resist, or reject compressed schedules that are imposed on them and that they know or suspect are unrealistic. This is so even when they realize that meeting those schedules is likely to result in serious downstream misconduct. In the case studies, upstream time compression resulted in downstream failure to do adequate safety testing on a product (Pinto), imposition of unhealthy psychosocial conditions on some family members (Apple Newton), and deception about the adequacy of truncated critical research studies (Westway). 

All projects benefit from scientific peer review when done well, and these reviews keep the skills of scientists and engineers sharp. Reviews also provide an important function in assuring that scientists within dedicated institutions stay in touch with the external community. Within DoD CBD laboratories, there was a noticeable lack of connectivity to research in other institutions and an independent review process, especially in the critical research phase. 

Blackhurst, J., C. W. Craighead, D. Elkins, and R. B. Handfield. 2005. An empirically derived agenda of critical research issues for managing supply chain disruptions. International Journal of Production Research. 43(19) 4067-4081. 

Criticality Research at Pacific Northwest Laboratory, S. R. Bierman, E. D. Clayton (BNW)... 

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