Climate Change Harm Perception Among U.S. Adults in the NCI Health Information National Trends Survey, 2022.

PURPOSE: To examine associations between 1) sociodemographics and 2) trust in health information sources with climate change harm perception. METHODS: Weighted adjusted logistic regression models examined correlates of climate change harm perception (harm vs no harm/don't know) among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (2022, n = 5585). RESULTS: Sixty-four percent of U.S. adults believed climate change will harm their health. College education (vs high school or less) (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.3, 2.2) and having greater trust in doctors (AOR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.7), scientists (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.6, 2.0), and government health agencies (AOR 1.7, 95% CI 1.5, 1.9) for health information were associated with believing climate change harms health. Conversely, greater trust in religious organizations was associated with 16% lower odds of believing climate change harms health (95% CI .74, .94). CONCLUSIONS: Climate change harm perception varied by sociodemographics and trust in health information source. Health communication delivered via alternative and diverse channels could expand the reach of climate and health messaging and ultimately increase public awareness and support for measures to mitigate the health impacts of climate change.

Conceptual models for implementing solution-oriented team science in large research consortia.

Large translational research initiatives can strengthen efficiencies and support science with enhanced impact when practical conceptual models guide their design, implementation, and evaluation. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program brings together data from 72 ongoing maternal-child cohort studies - involving more than 50,000 children and over 1200 investigators - to conduct transdisciplinary solution-oriented research that addresses how early environmental exposures influence child health. ECHO uses a multi-team system approach to consortium-wide data collection and analysis to generate original research that informs programs, policies, and practices to enhance children's health. Here, we share two conceptual models informed by ECHO's experiences and the Science of Team Science. The first conceptual model illuminates a system of teams and associated tasks that support collaboration toward shared scientific goals. The second conceptual model provides a framework for designing evaluations for continuous quality improvement of manuscript writing teams. Together, the two conceptual models offer guidance for the design, implementation, and evaluation of translational and transdisciplinary multi-team research initiatives.

The ecology of multilevel intervention research.

Behavior change research to promote health and prevent disease increasingly relies on a complex set of interacting characteristics across levels of influence such as biological, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and environmental. How to best develop health-related interventions that incorporate the individual, the macro-environment, and their interactions remains a challenge. This article considers a set of key dimensions that constitute what we refer to as the ecology of research across a broad context of multilevel research (MLR), spanning fundamental multilevel research (FMLR), multilevel intervention research (MLIR), and multilevel implementation science (MIS). With the goal of promoting improvements in MLIR, we describe the inherent interdependencies among aspects of research and consider how the growth and development of evidence and resources influence the cross-talk among researchers from different perspectives (e.g., disciplines and domains). We propose a framework that highlights opportunities to reduce barriers and address gaps in areas critical to generating an evidence base through MLR, MLIR, and MIS. Overall, we aim to support strategic decisions that can accelerate our understanding of ML health outcomes and interactions among factors within and across levels, with the goal of strengthening the effectiveness of ML interventions across health-related outcomes.

The science of team science: A review of the empirical evidence and research gaps on collaboration in science.

Collaborations among researchers and across disciplinary, organizational, and cultural boundaries are vital to address increasingly complex challenges and opportunities in science and society. In addition, unprecedented technological advances create new opportunities to capitalize on a broader range of expertise and information in scientific collaborations. Yet rapid increases in the demand for scientific collaborations have outpaced changes in the factors needed to support teams in science, such as institutional structures and policies, scientific culture, and funding opportunities. The Science of Team Science (SciTS) field arose with the goal of empirically addressing questions from funding agencies, administrators, and scientists regarding the value of team science (TS) and strategies for successfully leading, engaging in, facilitating, and supporting science teams. Closely related fields have rich histories studying teams, groups, organizations, and management and have built a body of evidence for effective teaming in contexts such as industry and the military. Yet few studies had focused on science teams. Unique contextual factors within the scientific enterprise create an imperative to study these teams in context, and provide opportunities to advance understanding of other complex forms of collaboration. This review summarizes the empirical findings from the SciTS literature, which center around five key themes: the value of TS, team composition and its influence on TS performance, formation of science teams, team processes central to effective team functioning, and institutional influences on TS. Cross-cutting issues are discussed in the context of new research opportunities to further advance SciTS evidence and better inform policies and practices for effective TS. (PsycINFO Database Record

Integrating knowledge across domains to advance the science of health behavior: overcoming challenges and facilitating success.

Health behaviors often co-occur and have common determinants at multiple levels (e.g., individual, relational, environmental). Nevertheless, research programs often examine single health behaviors without a systematic attempt to integrate knowledge across behaviors. This paper highlights the significant potential of cross-cutting behavioral research to advance our understanding of the mechanisms and causal factors that shape health behaviors. It also offers suggestions for how researchers could develop more effective interventions. We highlight barriers to such an integrative science along with potential steps that can be taken to address these barriers. With a more nuanced understanding of health behavior, redundancies in research can be minimized, and a stronger evidence base for the development of health behavior interventions can be realized.

Transdisciplinary translational behavioral (TDTB) research: opportunities, barriers, and innovations.

The translation of basic behavioral science discoveries into practical strategies represents a promising approach to developing more effective preventive interventions to improve health. Since translational research inevitably involves making use of diverse perspectives from multiple disciplines, it is best conducted as a transdisciplinary enterprise. In this paper, we discuss current strategies used by NIH to support transdisciplinary translational behavioral (TDTB) research, summarize successful efforts, and highlight challenges encountered in conducting such work (ranging from conceptual to organizational to methodological). Using examples from NIH-funded projects we illustrate the potential benefits of, and barriers to, pursuing this type of research and discuss next steps and potential future directions for NIH-supported TDTB research.

Haptic control of a pneumatic muscle actuator to provide resistance for simulated isokinetic exercise; part II: control development and testing.

Pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) have a high power to weight ratio and possess unique characteristics which make them ideal actuators for applications involving human interaction. PMAs are difficult to control due to nonlinear dynamics, presenting challenges in system implementation. Despite these challenges, PMAs have great potential as a source of resistance for strength training and rehabilitation. The objective of this work was to control a PMA for use in isokinetic exercise, potentially benefiting anyone in need of optimal strength training through a joint's range of motion. The controller, based on an inverse three-element phenomenological model and adaptive nonlinear control, allows the system to operate as a type of haptic device. A human quadriceps dynamic simulator was developed (as described in Part I of this work) so that control effectiveness and accommodation could be tested prior to human implementation. Tracking error results indicate that the control system is effective at producing PMA displacement and resistance necessary for a scaled, simulated neuromuscular actuator to maintain low-velocity isokinetic movement during simulated concentric and eccentric knee extension.

Haptic control of a pneumatic muscle actuator to provide resistance for simulated isokinetic exercise: Part I--dynamic test station and human quadriceps dynamic simulator.

Pneumatic muscle actuators (PMAs) have a high power to weight ratio and possess unique characteristics which make them ideal actuators for applications involving human interaction. PMAs are difficult to control due to nonlinear dynamics, presenting challenges in system implementation. Despite these challenges, PMAs have great potential as a source of resistance for strength training and rehabilitation. The objective of this work was to control a PMA for use in isokinetic exercise, potentially benefiting anyone in need of optimal strength training through a joint's range of motion. A human quadriceps dynamic simulator (HQDS) was developed so that control effectiveness and accommodation could be tested prior to human implementation. The experimental set-up and HQDS are discussed in Part I of this work. The development of a PMA haptic controller and its interaction with the HQDS are discussed in Part II.

Pioneering the Transdisciplinary Team Science Approach: Lessons Learned from National Cancer Institute Grantees.

The National Cancer Institute has been a leader in supporting transdisciplinary (TD) team science. From 2005-2010, the NCI supported Transdisciplinary Research on Energetic and Cancer I (TREC I), a center initiative fostering the TD integration of social, behavioral, and biological sciences to examine the relationships among obesity, nutrition, physical activity and cancer. In the final year of TREC I, we conducted qualitative in-depth-interviews with 31 participating investigators and trainees to learn more about their experiences with TD team science, including challenges, facilitating factors, strategies for success, and impacts. Five main challenges emerged: (1) limited published guidance for how to engage in TD team science, when TREC I was implemented; (2) conceptual and scientific challenges inherent to efforts to achieve TD integration; (3) discipline-based differences in values, terminology, methods, and work styles; (4) project management challenges involved in TD team science; and (5) traditional incentive and reward systems that do not recognize or reward TD team science. Four main facilitating factors and strategies for success emerged: (1) beneficial attitudes and beliefs about TD research and team science; (2) effective team processes; (3) brokering and bridge-building activities by individuals holding particular roles in a research center; and (4) funding initiative characteristics that support TD team science. Broad impacts of participating in TD team science in the context of TREC I included: (1) new positive attitudes about TD research and team science; (2) new boundary-crossing collaborations; (3) scientific advances related to research approaches, findings, and dissemination; (4) institutional culture change and resource creation in support of TD team science; and (5) career advancement. Funding agencies, academic institutions, and scholarly journals can help to foster TD team science through funding opportunities, institutional policies on extra-departmental and cross-school collaboration, promotion and tenure policies, and publishing opportunities for TD research.

Pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) task-specific resistance for potential use in microgravity exercise.

INTRODUCTION: A pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) is a device that mimics the behavior of skeletal muscle by contracting and generating force when activated. This type of actuator has a high power to weight ratio and unique characteristics which make it ideal for human interaction. PMAs, however, are difficult to control due to nonlinear dynamics. Our objective was to control a PMA as a source of task-specific resistance in simulated isokinetic strength training. Task-specific resistance will benefit those in need of strength training through a joint's range of motion, including astronauts who need to counteract muscle atrophy during prolonged spaceflight. The lightweight, clean, and compact PMA driven by pressurized air is able to produce resistance in microgravity. METHODS: An open-loop control method based on a three-element phenomenological inverse model was developed to control the PMA. A motor was simultaneously controlled to act as simulated human quadriceps working against the PMA-produced resistance. RESULTS: For ankle weight replacement resistance profiles, the PMA control method produced resistance and PMA displacement tracking errors (RMSE) of 0.36-1.61 Nm and 0.55-1.59 mm, respectively. Motor position (simulated joint angle) tracking errors ranged from 0.47 to 2.82 degrees. DISCUSSION: Results indicate that the inverse model based control system produces task-specific PMA resistance and displacement. Closed-loop motor control was able to simulate isokinetic movement successfully. More complicated resistance profiles reveal the need for closed-loop control. Future work focuses on advancing both the PMA control strategies and the capabilities of the human simulator so that actual human operator applications can be realized.

Assessing the value of team science: a study comparing center- and investigator-initiated grants.

BACKGROUND: Large cross-disciplinary scientific teams are becoming increasingly prominent in the conduct of research. PURPOSE: This paper reports on a quasi-experimental longitudinal study conducted to compare bibliometric indicators of scientific collaboration, productivity, and impact of center-based transdisciplinary team science initiatives and traditional investigator-initiated grants in the same field. METHODS: All grants began between 1994 and 2004 and up to 10 years of publication data were collected for each grant. Publication information was compiled and analyzed during the spring and summer of 2010. RESULTS: Following an initial lag period, the transdisciplinary research center grants had higher overall publication rates than the investigator-initiated R01 (NIH Research Project Grant Program) grants. There were relatively uniform publication rates across the research center grants compared to dramatically dispersed publication rates among the R01 grants. On average, publications produced by the research center grants had greater numbers of coauthors but similar journal impact factors compared with publications produced by the R01 grants. CONCLUSIONS: The lag in productivity among the transdisciplinary center grants was offset by their overall higher publication rates and average number of coauthors per publication, relative to investigator-initiated grants, over the 10-year comparison period. The findings suggest that transdisciplinary center grants create benefits for both scientific productivity and collaboration.

A Four-Phase Model of Transdisciplinary Team-Based Research: Goals, Team Processes, and Strategies.

The complexity of social and public health challenges has led to burgeoning interest and investments in cross-disciplinary team-based research, and particularly in transdisciplinary (TD) team-based research. TD research aims to integrate and ultimately extend beyond discipline-specific concepts, approaches, and methods to accelerate innovations and progress toward solving complex real-world problems. While TD research offers the promise of novel, wide-reaching and important discoveries, it also introduces unique challenges. In particular, today's investigators are generally trained in unidisciplinary approaches, and may have little training in, or exposure to, the scientific skills and team processes necessary to collaborate successfully in teams of colleagues from widely disparate disciplines and fields. Yet these skills are essential to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of TD team-based research. In the current article we propose a model of TD team-based research that includes four relatively distinct phases: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation. Drawing on the science of team science (SciTS) field, as well as the findings from previous research on group dynamics and organizational behavior, we identify key scientific goals and team processes that occur in each phase and across multiple phases. We then provide real-world exemplars for each phase that highlight strategies for successfully meeting the goals and engaging in the team processes that are hallmarks of that phase. We conclude by discussing the relevance of the model for TD team-based research initiatives, funding to support these initiatives, and future empirical research that aims to better understand the processes and outcomes of TD team-based research.