Conceptual, Traditional And New Media Training Needs: A Study of County Extension Agent Perceptions

This study examines the extent to which county Extension agents perceive their need lor training in three broad areas-traditional media, new media, and conceptual areas. While the impact of the new communication technologies on Extension\u27s internal information delivery system has been dramatic, Extension\u27s publics also are reacting to changes in other delivery systems such as cable\u27television, computers, and VCRs. The changing information environment in which agents currently operate suggests that our traditional communication training efforts may need to be modified. This study found that agents appear to be aware of these changing needs, and rank the need for traditional media training considerably lower than their perceived need for communication training in either new media such as desktop publishing, or conceptual areas such as communication planning and strategies

On the role of a social identity analysis in articulating structure and collective action: the 2011 riots in Tottenham and Hackney

Theoretical perspectives that give primacy to ideological or structural determinism have dominated criminological analysis of the 2011 English ‘riots’. This paper provides an alternative social psychological perspective through detailed empirical analysis of two of these riots. We utilise novel forms of data to build triangulated accounts of the nature of the events and explore the perspectives of participants. We assert these riots cannot be adequately understood merely in terms pre-existing social understandings and political realities and that identity based interactional crowd dynamics were critically important. The paper demonstrates the value of the social identity approach in providing criminological theory with a richer and deeper perspective on these complex social phenomena

The marketisation of charities in England and Wales

Much has been written about the reasons for and impact of marketisation on charities, their clients, and wider civil society. A central component of the marketisation thesis is that charities are substituting grants and donations with commercial revenue. However, there is no consensus in the existing literature as to whether the two sources of revenue are substitutes or complementary. This paper shows that between 2003 and 2007 there was a significant increase in the proportion of overall revenue attracted from commercial sources by charities in England and Wales. Using our preferred generalised method of moments estimation model we show that the annual persistence of commercial revenue overtime was 44% . In particular, a +10% change in grants and donations was associated with a -3.1% change in commercial revenue

The forgotten '45 : Donald Dubh's rebellion in an archipelagic context

The final rebellion of Donald Dubh, heir to the forfeited MacDonald lordship of the Isles, is usually examined within the context of Highland rebellions that occurred in the half century after forfeiture. However, the factors that motivated the Islesmen to rise in rebellion in 1545 are multi-faceted and can only be fully understood by placing the rising in a wider context, which considers national and archipelagic events. The discussion that follows explores the reasons why the Islesmen, almost unanimously, entered into agreement with Henry VIII to attack Scotland from the west and why this endeavour failed. At the same time, the article highlights Henry’s recognition of the strategic importance of the west which led him into alliance with Donald Dubh and his supporters

OMIC-06. Molecular subgrouping of medulloblastoma via low-depth Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing.

Introduction International consensus recognises four molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma, each with distinct molecular features and clinical outcomes. The current gold-standard for subgroup assignment is DNA methylation microarray. There is an unmet need to develop platform-independent subgrouping assays which are both non-proprietary and compatible with rapidly-expanding WGS capacity in healthcare. Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS) enables the assessment of genome-wide methylation status at single-base resolution. Previously, WGBS adoption has been limited by cost and sample quality/quantity requirements. Its application for routine detection of medulloblastoma subgroups has not previously been reported. Methodology Two datasets were utilised; 36 newly-sequenced low-depth (10x coverage) and 34 publicly-available high-depth (30x) WGBS medulloblastomas, all with matched DNA methylation microarray data. We compared platform concordance and identified molecular subgroups. Machine-learning WGBS-based subgroup classifiers were optimised and compared between platforms. Aneuploidy and mutation detection using WGBS was optimised and compared to microarray-derived estimates where possible. Finally, comprehensive subgroup-specific DNA methylation signatures were identified. Results We optimised a pipeline for processing, quality control and analysis of low-depth WGBS data, suitable for routine molecular subgrouping and aneuploidy assessment. We demonstrated the suitability of fresh-frozen and FFPE DNA for WGBS, and, using downsampling, showed that subgroup calling is robust at coverages as low as 2x. We identified differentially methylated regions that, due to poor representation, could not be detected using methylation microarrays. Molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma assigned using WGBS were concordant with array-based definitions, and WGBS-derived classifier performance measures exceeded microarray-derived classifiers. Conclusion We describe a platform-independent assay for molecular subgrouping of medulloblastoma using WGBS. It performs equivalently to current array-based methods at comparable cost ($405 vs$596) and provides a proof-of-concept for its routine clinical adoption using standard WGS technology. Finally, the full methylome enabled elucidation of additional biological heterogeneity that has hitherto been inaccessible

Effect of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the mental health of carers of people with intellectual disabilities

Introduction: The measures implemented to manage the COVID‐19 pandemic have been shown to impair mental health. This problem is likely to be exacerbated for carers. Method: Informal carers (mainly parents) of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, and a comparison group of parents of children without disabilities, completed an online questionnaire. Almost all the data were collected while strict lockdown conditions were in place. Results: Relative to carers of children without intellectual disability, carers of both children and adults with intellectual disability had significantly greater levels of a wish fulfilment coping style, defeat/entrapment, anxiety, and depression. Differences were 2–3 times greater than reported in earlier pre‐pandemic studies. Positive correlations were found between objective stress scores and all mental health outcomes. Despite their greater mental health needs, carers of those with intellectual disability received less social support from a variety of sources. Conclusions: The greater mental health needs of carers in the context of lesser social support raises serious concerns. We consider the policy implications of these findings

The NCI Imaging Data Commons as a platform for reproducible research in computational pathology

Background and Objectives: Reproducibility is a major challenge in developing machine learning (ML)-based solutions in computational pathology (CompPath). The NCI Imaging Data Commons (IDC) provides >120 cancer image collections according to the FAIR principles and is designed to be used with cloud ML services. Here, we explore its potential to facilitate reproducibility in CompPath research. Methods: Using the IDC, we implemented two experiments in which a representative ML-based method for classifying lung tumor tissue was trained and/or evaluated on different datasets. To assess reproducibility, the experiments were run multiple times with separate but identically configured instances of common ML services. Results: The AUC values of different runs of the same experiment were generally consistent. However, we observed small variations in AUC values of up to 0.045, indicating a practical limit to reproducibility. Conclusions: We conclude that the IDC facilitates approaching the reproducibility limit of CompPath research (i) by enabling researchers to reuse exactly the same datasets and (ii) by integrating with cloud ML services so that experiments can be run in identically configured computing environments.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; improved manuscript, new experiments with P100 GP