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The study examines the knowledge gap hypothesis during the Covid-19 pandemic in a country experiencing severe social, political, and economic turmoil and inequality. The research design assesses Covid-19 knowledge through 13 variables and incorporates income, education, gender, and media literacy among the socioeconomic status variables. It also includes television exposure, social media exposure, and social media posting as media use measures. A cross-sectional survey of adults living in Lebanon was implemented between March 27 and April 23, 2020. The study aimed for a nationally representative probability sample of 1,536 participants (95% CI, ±2.5%) and received 792 valid responses (51.6% response rate). The results show a positive relationship between Covid-19 knowledge and education, media literacy, and social media exposure, but no relationship between Covid-19 knowledge and income, gender, television exposure, and social media posting behavior. The evidence shows a widening of the knowledge gap for those more likely to post on social media and a narrowing of the knowledge gap for those more exposed to social media news, but the observed narrowing of the knowledge gap for television exposure was not statistically generalizable. Finally, the evidence shows that media literacy maintains the knowledge gap by almost identically increasing the knowledge level for both low and high socioeconomic groups, although the limitations in measuring media literacy merit further exploration.

Scholars across all disciplines have long been interested in how knowledge moves within and beyond their community of peers. Rapid environmental changes and calls for sustainable management practices mean the best knowledge possible is needed to inform decisions, policies, and practices to protect biodiversity and sustainably manage vulnerable natural resources. Although the conservation literature on knowledge exchange (KE) and knowledge mobilization (KM) has grown in recent years, much of it is based on context-specific case studies. This presents a challenge for learning cumulative lessons from KE and KM research and thus effectively using knowledge in conservation and natural resources management. Although continued research on the gap between knowledge and action is valuable, overarching conceptual frameworks are now needed to enable summaries and comparisons across diverse KE-KM research. We propose a knowledge-action framework that provides a conceptual roadmap for future research and practice in KE/KM with the aim of synthesizing lessons learned from contextual case studies and guiding the development and testing of hypotheses in this domain. Our knowledge-action framework has 3 elements that occur at multiple levels and scales: knowledge production (e.g., academia and government), knowledge mediation (e.g., knowledge networks, actors, relational dimension, and contextual dimension), and knowledge-based action (e.g., instrumental, symbolic, and conceptual). The framework integrates concepts from the sociology of science in particular, and serves as a guide to further comprehensive understanding of knowledge exchange and mobilization in conservation and sustainable natural resource management. Durante mucho tiempo, los investigadores de todas las disciplinas se han interesado en cómo se mueve el conocimiento dentro y más allá de sus comunidades depares. Los cambios ambientales rápidos y el llamado por prácticas sustentables de manejo significan que el mejor conocimiento posible es necesario para informarlas decisiones, políticas y prácticas para proteger a la biodiversidad y para manejar sustentablemente los recursos naturales vulnerables. Aunque la literatura de conservación sobre el intercambio de conocimiento (IC) y la movilización del conocimiento (MC) ha aumentado en años recientes, la mayor parte está basada en estudios de caso específicos para un contexto. Esto presenta un reto para aprender lecciones acumulativas a partir de la investigación del IC y la MC y así utilizar efectivamente el conocimiento en la conservación y el manejo de recursos naturales. Aunque la investigación continua acerca del vacío entre el conocimiento y la acción es valiosa, ahora se requieren marcos de trabajo conceptuales globales para permitir resúmenes y comparaciones entre diversas investigaciones de IC-MC. Proponemos un marco de trabajo de conocimiento-acción que proporcione un mapa conceptual para las próximas investigaciones y prácticas de IC/MC con miras a sintetizar las lecciones aprendidas de los estudios de caso contextuales y a guiar el desarrollo y la prueba de hipótesis en este dominio. Nuestro marco de trabajo conocimiento-acción tiene tres elementos que suceden en niveles y escalas múltiples: producción de conocimiento (p. ej.: academia, gobierno), mediación del conocimiento (p. ej.: redes de conocimiento, actores, dimensión relacional, dimensión contextual) y acción basada en el conocimiento (p. ej.: instrumental, simbólica y conceptual). El marco de trabajo integra conceptos de la sociología de la ciencia en particular, y sirve como guía para aumentar el entendimiento comprehensivo del intercambio y la movilización del conocimiento en la conservación y el manejo sustentable de los recursos naturales.

The emergence of smart cities has illuminated positive expectations, such as the solving of urban problems through information and communications technology (ICT). Behind the spotlight of the smart city, not everybody is enjoying the smart infrastructure owing to knowledge gaps such as the digital divide. Living labs provide a new platform for smart cities that can prevent the failure of urban development. They give citizens a better understanding of how to adapt to life in a smart city, enabling the development of smart cities that are more likely to succeed through a participatory approach. In this way, the competencies of participants may affect the success of a living lab. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on improving participants’ knowledge through living labs. This study aims to examine how participation in an urban living lab influences the knowledge level of photovoltaic power generation and to identify the influencing factors. Our empirical study shows that the knowledge level of solar power technology improved through participation in a living lab. Additionally, the results indicate that the types of activity programs in the living lab were not associated with knowledge acquisition.

This article focuses on the need to involve concepts from different disciplines that involve Theory of Practice (TP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) with different structural elements for an agricultural system in the productivity and quality of the cocoa bean. As well as the indisputable contribution of environmental sciences and philosophical concepts on the same system, where the method applied on this research, from the systematic review, gives rise to a summary of data related to the individual studies applied on each field of interest. Based on the results, on the individual studies, we extract the most relevant articles from the key concepts as a classification scheme to later make the systemic map. The use of this method leads to the description of the general objective, specific objectives, discovery of the knowledge gap and the scientific contribution of the research.

Managers of wildlife are faced with decisions and issues that are increasingly complex, spanning natural and human dimensions (i.e. values, preferences, attitudes). A strong evidence base that includes multiple forms and sources of knowledge is needed to support these complex decisions. However, a growing body of literature demonstrates that environmental managers are far more likely to draw on intuition, past experience or opinion to inform important decisions rather than empirical evidence. We set out to assess how decision‐makers and other potential knowledge users (a) perceive, evaluate and use western‐based scientific, Indigenous and local knowledge and (b) the extent to which social, political and economic considerations challenge the integration of different forms of evidence into decision‐making. In 2018, we interviewed members from natural resource management branches of Indigenous governments (n = 4) and parliamentary governments (n = 33), as well as representatives from nongovernmental stakeholder groups (n = 28) involved in wildlife management and conservation in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Contrary to studies that suggest evidence‐based conservation and management are rare, respondents described relying heavily on multiple forms of knowledge. Results revealed that western science is used near‐unanimously, procured from internal (i.e. institutional) sources slightly more than external ones (i.e. peer‐reviewed journals, management agencies in other jurisdictions). However, we found Indigenous and local knowledge use to be much less than western scientific knowledge (approximately half as much) despite being highly valued. Perceived challenges to applying Indigenous and local knowledge include a lack of trust, hesitancy to share knowledge (particularly from Indigenous communities), difficulties in assessing reliability and difficulties discerning knowledge from advocacy. Despite high (and relatively diverse) evidence use, more than 40% of respondents perceived a diminishing role for evidence in final decisions concerning wildlife management and conservation. They associated this with decreases in institutional resources and capacity and increases in socio‐economic and political interference. We encourage transformative change in wildlife management enabling decision‐makers to draw upon multiple forms of knowledge. This transformative change should include direct involvement of knowledge holders, co‐assessment of knowledge and transparency in how (multiple forms of) evidence contribute to decision‐making. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to propose a practical and operable method to identify and fill organisational knowledge gaps during new product development. Design/methodology/approach – From a microscopic view, this paper introduces the tree-shaped organisational knowledge structure to formalise the knowledge gaps and their internal hierarchical relationships. Based on the organisational knowledge structure, organisational knowledge gaps are identified through tree matching algorithm. The tree-edit-distance method is introduced to calculate the similarity between two organisational knowledge structures for filling knowledge gap. Findings – The proposed tree-shaped organisational knowledge structure can represent organisations' knowledge and their hierarchy relationships in a structured format, which is useful for identifying and filling organisational knowledge gaps. Originality/value – The proposed concept of organisational knowledge structure can quantify organisational knowledge. The approach is valuable for strategic decisions regarding new product development. The organisational knowledge gaps identified with this method can provide real-time and accurate guidance for the product development path. More importantly, this method can accelerate the organisational knowledge gap filling process and promote organisational innovation.

Systematic mapping was developed in social sciences in response to a lack of empirical data when answering questions using systematic review methods, and a need for a method to describe the literature across a broad subject of interest. Systematic mapping does not attempt to answer a specific question as do systematic reviews, but instead collates, describes and catalogues available evidence (e.g. primary, secondary, theoretical, economic) relating to a topic or question of interest. The included studies can be used to identify evidence for policy-relevant questions, knowledge gaps (to help direct future primary research) and knowledge clusters (sub-sets of evidence that may be suitable for secondary research, for example systematic review). Evidence synthesis in environmental sciences faces similar challenges to those found in social sciences. Here we describe the translation of systematic mapping methodology from social sciences for use in environmental sciences. We provide the first process-based methodology for systematic maps, describing the stages involved: establishing the review team and engaging stakeholders; setting the scope and question; setting inclusion criteria for studies; scoping stage; protocol development and publication; searching for evidence; screening evidence; coding; production of a systematic map database; critical appraisal (optional); describing and visualising the findings; report production and supporting information. We discuss the similarities and differences in methodology between systematic review and systematic mapping and provide guidance for those choosing which type of synthesis is most suitable for their requirements. Furthermore, we discuss the merits and uses of systematic mapping and make recommendations for improving this evolving methodology in environmental sciences.

The era of big biodiversity data has led to rapid, exciting advances in the theoretical and applied biological, ecological and conservation sciences. While large genetic, geographic and trait databases are available, these are neither complete nor random samples of the globe. Gaps and biases in these databases reduce our inferential and predictive power, and this incompleteness is even more worrisome because we are ignorant of both its kind and magnitude. We performed a comprehensive examination of the taxonomic and spatial sampling in the most complete current databases for plant genes, locations and functional traits. To do this, we downloaded data from The Plant List (taxonomy), the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (locations), TRY (traits) and GenBank (genes). Only 17.7% of the world's described and accepted land plant species feature in all three databases, meaning that more than 82% of known plant biodiversity lacks representation in at least one database. Species coverage is highest for location data and lowest for genetic data. Bryophytes and orchids stand out taxonomically and the equatorial region stands out spatially as poorly represented in all databases. We have highlighted a number of clades and regions about which we know little functionally, spatially and genetically, on which we should set research targets. The scientific community should recognize and reward the significant value, both for biodiversity science and conservation, of filling in these gaps in our knowledge of the plant tree of life.

Abstract Background Hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) is the most common metabolic complication of malignancies, but its incidence may be declining due to potent chemotherapeutic agents. The high mortality associated with HCM has declined markedly due to the introduction of increasingly effective chemotherapeutic drugs. Despite the widespread availability of efficacious medications to treat HCM, evidence-based recommendations to manage this debilitating condition are lacking. Objective To develop guidelines for the treatment of adults with HCM. Methods A multidisciplinary panel of clinical experts, together with experts in systematic literature review, identified and prioritized 8 clinical questions related to the treatment of HCM in adult patients. The systematic reviews (SRs) queried electronic databases for studies relevant to the selected questions. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology was used to assess the certainty of evidence and make recommendations. An independent SR was conducted in parallel to assess patients' and physicians' values and preferences, costs, resources needed, acceptability, feasibility, equity, and other domains relevant to the Evidence-to-Decision framework as well as to enable judgements and recommendations. Results The panel recommends (strong recommendation) in adults with HCM treatment with denosumab (Dmab) or an intravenous (IV) bisphosphonate (BP). The following recommendations were based on low certainty of the evidence. The panel suggests (conditional recommendation) (1) in adults with HCM, the use of Dmab rather than an IV BP; (2) in adults with severe HCM, a combination of calcitonin and an IV BP or Dmab therapy as initial treatment; and (3) in adults with refractory/recurrent HCM despite treatment with BP, the use of Dmab. The panel suggests (conditional recommendation) the addition of an IV BP or Dmab in adult patients with hypercalcemia due to tumors associated with high calcitriol levels who are already receiving glucocorticoid therapy but continue to have severe or symptomatic HCM. The panel suggests (conditional recommendation) in adult patients with hypercalcemia due to parathyroid carcinoma, treatment with either a calcimimetic or an antiresorptive (IV BP or Dmab). The panel judges the treatments as probably accessible and feasible for most recommendations but noted variability in costs, resources required, and their impact on equity. Conclusions The panel's recommendations are based on currently available evidence considering the most important outcomes in HCM to patients and key stakeholders. Treatment of the primary malignancy is instrumental for controlling hypercalcemia and preventing its recurrence. The recommendations provide a framework for the medical management of adults with HCM and incorporate important decisional and contextual factors. The guidelines underscore current knowledge gaps that can be used to establish future research agendas.

Making decisions about natural resource conservation is often difficult because of a lack of longer‐term data, which are needed to provide a frame of reference for identifying and choosing appropriate responses to threats impacting species, ecosystems, and the benefits they provide to people. Despite the promise the field of conservation paleobiology holds for using geohistorical data and insights to provide this longer‐term perspective, examples of successful implementation are uncommon. Over the past decade, many conservation biology researchers and practitioners have turned to knowledge co‐production to overcome this same challenge. Co‐production prioritizes collaboration between academic and non‐academic partners to produce actionable knowledge that better aligns with conservation practitioners' needs and concerns. We argue that the conservation paleobiology community must similarly build collective competence to engage more effectively in shared “learning spaces” where actionable knowledge is co‐produced. We draw from our experiences with the Historical Oyster Body Size project and lessons learned from other fields to identify key attributes of actionable geohistorical knowledge and the meaningful co‐production processes that produced it. Familiarity with these concepts will benefit conservation paleobiologists and all researchers who aspire to help develop longer‐lasting, defensible and more equitable solutions to complex conservation problems presented by a changing world. We draw from our experiences with the Historical Oyster Body Size project and lessons learned from other fields to identify key attributes of actionable geohistorical knowledge and the meaningful co‐production processes that produced it. Familiarity with these concepts will benefit conservation paleobiologists and all researchers who aspire to help develop longer‐lasting and more equitable solutions to complex conservation problems presented by a changing world.