RCN: A Research Coordinaton Network for X-ray Motion Analysis

新开发的X射线技术现在可以揭示各种动物在跑步、游泳、飞行、呼吸和进食活动中骨骼的快速、三维(3D)运动。X射线运动分析(XMA)和X射线运动形态重建(XROMM)将改变生物学家研究肌肉和骨骼如何相互作用以产生动物快速而复杂的运动的方式。该项目的目标是建立一个由从事这些新技术的科学家和学生组成的研究协调网络。该RCN-XMA将：(1)提供技术培训，以减少科学家和学生使用XMA/XROMM的障碍，包括那些来自研究资源有限的学院和大学的学生；(2)通过就数据格式达成社区共识，使共享数据和共同工作成为可能；(3)为XMA/XROMM研究创建一个集中的计算机存储系统和数据库。RCN-XMA以布朗大学和拉斯维加斯内华达大学的X射线设施为培训和合作研究中心，致力于将XMA/XROMM技术推广到全国和全球的动物学家和生物机械学家社区。RCN-XMA将通过将普罗维登斯公立学校系统的高中科学教师(PPS学生的人口统计数据：81%来自科学界代表性不足的群体，80%是免费或降价午餐)引入这个高度协作和跨学科的研究项目，为扩大代表不足群体的参与做出贡献。教师将获得第一手研究经验，并开发将生物学与数学/物理科学相结合的学习模块，这是罗德岛州“物理优先”教育计划的目标之一。该项目有可能通过以下方式改变比较生物力学领域的研究：(1)引入一套新的和强大的X射线测量技术；以及(2)开发新的数据管理标准，使所有现有和新的比较生物力学数据的价值大大增加，而不仅仅是XMA/XROMM数据，使它们可以在数据库中用于数据挖掘和协作研究。

Newly developed x-ray technologies can now reveal the rapid, three-dimensional (3D) movements of bones during running, swimming, flying, breathing, and feeding activities of diverse animals. X-ray Motion Analysis (XMA) and X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM) are poised to transform the way biologists investigate how muscles and bones interact to produce rapid and complex movements in animals. The goal of this project is to develop a Research Coordination Network of scientists and students working with these new technologies. This RCN-XMA will: (1) offer technical training to reduce barriers to XMA/XROMM use for scientists and students, including those from colleges and universities with limited resources for research; (2) make it possible to share data and work together by developing community consensus on data formats; (3) create a centralized computer storage system and database for XMA/XROMM research. With the x-ray facilities at Brown University and University of Nevada at Las Vegas as training and collaborative research centers, the RCN-XMA seeks to advance and extend XMA/XROMM technology to a national and global community of zoologists and biomechanists. The RCN-XMA will contribute to broadening the participation of underrepresented groups by bringing high-school science teachers from Providence Public School system (demographics of PPS students: 81% from groups underrepresented in the sciences, 80% free or reduced-price lunch) into this highly collaborative and interdisciplinary research enterprise. Teachers will gain first-hand research experience and develop learning modules that integrate biology with math/physical sciences, one of the goals of the Rhode Island's "Physics First" educational initiative. This project has the potential to transform research in the field of comparative biomechanics by: (1) introducing a new and powerful set of x-ray measurement technologies; and (2) by developing new data management standards that could vastly increase the value of all existing and new comparative biomechanics data, not just XMA/XROMM data, by making them available in databases for data mining and collaborative research.