Dataset Information

Mapping of Sample Collection Data: GIS Tools for the Natural Product Researcher.

ABSTRACT: Scientists engaged in the research of natural products often either conduct field collections themselves or collaborate with partners who do, such as botanists, mycologists, or SCUBA divers. The information gleaned from such collecting trips (e.g. longitude/latitude coordinates, geography, elevation, and a multitude of other field observations) have provided valuable data to the scientific community (e.g., biodiversity), even if it is tangential to the direct aims of the natural products research, which are often focused on drug discovery and/or chemical ecology. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used to display, manage, and analyze geographic data, including collection sites for natural products. However, to the uninitiated, these tools are often beyond the financial and/or computational means of the natural product scientist. With new, free, and easy-to-use geospatial visualization tools, such as Google Earth, mapping and geographic imaging of sampling data are now within the reach of natural products scientists. The goals of the present study were to develop simple tools that are tailored for the natural products setting, thereby presenting a means to map such information, particularly via open source software like Google Earth.

SUBMITTER: Oberlies NH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2774915 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mapping of Sample Collection Data: GIS Tools for the Natural Product Researcher.

Oberlies Nicholas H NH Rineer James I JI Alali Feras Q FQ Tawaha Khaled K Falkinham Joseph O JO Wheaton William D WD

Phytochemistry letters 20090201 1

Scientists engaged in the research of natural products often either conduct field collections themselves or collaborate with partners who do, such as botanists, mycologists, or SCUBA divers. The information gleaned from such collecting trips (e.g. longitude/latitude coordinates, geography, elevation, and a multitude of other field observations) have provided valuable data to the scientific community (e.g., biodiversity), even if it is tangential to the direct aims of the natural products researc ...[more]

PMID: 20161345

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Project description:IntroductionEvaluations of multiple tobacco product use and temporal changes in patterns of use are complicated by a large number of combinations and transitions. Visualization tools could easily identify most common patterns and transitions.MethodsSet intersection bar plots describe ever use of five tobacco products among 12-17 years old youth in wave 1 of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study (N = 11 497). Heat maps visualize unweighted frequencies of transitions from ever use at wave 1 (2013-2014) to past 12-month use at wave 2 (2014-2015). Weighted calibrated heat maps assess differences in relative frequencies of transitions by pattern at wave 1 and identify differences in transitions by sex.ResultsThe most common tobacco product ever use patterns in wave 1 were of cigarettes only, e-cigarettes only or hookah only, followed by ever use of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Initiation of use between waves was uncommon. The most frequent transition among those who reported use at wave 2 but not at wave 1 (N = 971) was to e-cigarette use (N = 301). However, among e-cigarette-only ever users at wave 1 (N = 260), about half did not report any product use at wave 2. Use of three or more products remained stable. Adolescent girls compared to boys appeared more likely to report hookah use at both waves.ConclusionSet intersection bar plots and heat maps are useful for visualizing tobacco product use patterns and transitions, especially for multiple products. Both techniques could identify common problematic tobacco use patterns across and within populations.ImplicationsGiven the growing complexity of the youth tobacco use landscape, approaches to efficiently communicate patterns of multiple tobacco product use should be used more often. This study introduces set intersection bar plots and modified versions of heat maps to the tobacco product literature and illustrates their use in the PATH youth sample. These techniques are useful for visualizing absolute and relative frequencies of multiple possible patterns and transitions. They also suggest targets for subsequent statistical inference such as sex differences in hookah use. The methods can be applied more generally for data visualization wherever large number of combinations occurs.

Dataset Information

Mapping of Sample Collection Data: GIS Tools for the Natural Product Researcher.

Publications

Mapping of Sample Collection Data: GIS Tools for the Natural Product Researcher.

Similar Datasets

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