Batch Metadata Editing - Dspace 1.6: a workshop/tutorial to inform and build skills

A new feature of the DSpace 1.6 Software is "Batch Metadata Editing". It gives Repository staff the ability to export metadata and change it easily for re-upload into the system. Once you try this "Data Entry" will never be the same

Batch Metadata Editing - Dspace 1.6: a workshop/tutorial to inform and build skills

A new feature of the DSpace 1.6 Software is "Batch Metadata Editing". It gives Repository staff the ability to export metadata and change it easily for re-upload into the system. Once you try this "Data Entry" will never be the same

African-specific molecular taxonomy of prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is characterized by considerable geo-ethnic disparity. African ancestry is a signifcant risk factor, with mortality rates across sub-Saharan Africa of 2.7-fold higher than global averages1 . The contributing genetic and non-genetic factors, and associated mutational processes, are unknown2,3 . Here, through whole-genome sequencing of treatment-naive prostate cancer samples from 183 ancestrally (African versus European) and globally distinct patients, we generate a large cancer genomics resource for sub-Saharan Africa, identifying around 2 million somatic variants. Signifcant African-ancestry-specifc fndings include an elevated tumour mutational burden, increased percentage of genome alteration, a greater number of predicted damaging mutations and a higher total of mutational signatures, and the driver genes NCOA2, STK19, DDX11L1, PCAT1 and SETBP1. Examining all somatic mutational types, we describe a molecular taxonomy for prostate cancer diferentiated by ancestry and defned as global mutational subtypes (GMS). By further including Chinese Asian data, we confrm that GMS-B (copy-number gain) and GMS-D (mutationally noisy) are specifc to African populations, GMS-A (mutationally quiet) is universal (all ethnicities) and the African–European-restricted subtype GMS-C (copy-number losses) predicts poor clinical outcomes. In addition to the clinical beneft of including individuals of African ancestry, our GMS subtypes reveal diferent evolutionary trajectories and mutational processes suggesting that both common genetic and environmental factors contribute to the disparity between ethnicities. Analogous to gene–environment interaction—defned here as a diferent efect of an environmental surrounding in people with diferent ancestries or vice versa—we anticipate that GMS subtypes act as a proxy for intrinsic and extrinsic mutational processes in cancers, promoting global inclusion in landmark studies

Inter-Organizational Collaboration, Information Flows, and the Use of Social Media During Disasters: A Focus on Vulnerable Communities

This study contributes to ongoing attempts by scholars to understand the many ways that social media is being used by disaster and crisis response actors. We present a case study consisting of emergency response organizations, government agencies, local government, non-government organizations, community groups and platform-based actors, and focus specifically on how social media is used in this context to support the information needs of vulnerable groups. We examine how tension between the presence of top-down, generic information and the need for contextualized and specific information is resolved, and the translation processes that occur between the range of actors. We also offer recommendations for future research to address the disproportionate impacts of disasters and crises on vulnerable groups

Talking Across the Table: A Dialogue on Women, Welfare, and Adult Education

Introduction: Welfare reform is a current societal issue of tremendous significance in the United States. The popular discourses surrounding welfare reform are extremely complex and lead to frequently volatile discussions, for welfare reform itself is not a single issue, but relates to multiple underlying issues concerning the origins and solutions of poverty and unemployment, the subordination of women and women=s roles in society, competing discourses of work and family, the intersections of racism and poverty, and the role of adult education in social change. Welfare reform as a societal issue affects us all as citizens and participants in the U.S. economic and political system. But more specifically, as adult educators, we have a potentially vital role to play as these issues are debated and translated into policy and practice. New policies are having a tremendous impact on the nature of adult education programs for the economically disenfranchised. Further, welfare reform has stimulated nonformal learning and popular education in connection with the work of social action groups, such as the Welfare Warriors, organizing in reaction to reform initiatives. Perhaps most importantly, welfare reform puts forward in a compelling manner the question of adult educators= responsibility to take a proactive role in social change efforts (Cunningham, 1989)

“An iron hand in a velvet glove’’: the embodiment of the platform logic in the emergency sector

Despite increasing attention on organizational responses to digital platforms the Information Systems research has overlooked the influence of platforms on the public sector. In this paper we draw on the concept of institutional logics to examine the impact of platforms on the emergency sector. A qualitative case study of the emergency sector is undertaken, comprised of interviews with organizations—including emergency response organizations, government agencies, firms, non-government organizations and community and volunteer groups. The findings reveal the interplay between the prevailing ‘command and control’ and ‘community’ logics and the ‘platform’ logic and how the tensions and synergies between them are shaping the information landscape in the sector. We demonstrate how organizations embody and resist aspects of the platform logic

Structure based inhibitor design targeting glycogen phosphorylase b. Virtual screening, synthesis, biochemical and biological assessment of novel N-acyl-β-d-glucopyranosylamines

Glycogen phosphorylase (GP) is a validated target for the development of new type 2 diabetes treatments. Exploiting the Zinc docking database, we report the in silico screening of 1888 β- D-glucopyranose-NH-CO-R putative GP inhibitors differing only in their R groups. CombiGlide and GOLD docking programs with different scoring functions were employed with the best performing methods combined in a “consensus scoring” approach to ranking of ligand binding affinities for the active site. Six selected candidates from the screening were then synthesized and their inhibitory potency was assessed both in vitro and ex vivo. Their inhibition constants’ values, in vitro, ranged from 5 to 377 µM while two of them were effective at causing inactivation of GP in rat hepatocytes at low µM concentrations. The crystal structures of GP in complex with the inhibitors were defined and provided the structural basis for their inhibitory potency and data for further structure based design of more potent inhibitors

Addressing the contribution of previously described genetic and epidemiological risk factors associated with increased prostate cancer risk and aggressive disease within men from South Africa

BACKGROUND: Although African ancestry represents a significant risk factor for prostate cancer, few studies have investigated the significance of prostate cancer and relevance of previously defined genetic and epidemiological prostate cancer risk factors within Africa. We recently established the Southern African Prostate Cancer Study (SAPCS), a resource for epidemiological and genetic analysis of prostate cancer risk and outcomes in Black men from South Africa. Biased towards highly aggressive prostate cancer disease, this is the first reported data analysis. METHODS: The SAPCS is an ongoing population-based study of Black men with or without prostate cancer. Pilot analysis was performed for the first 837 participants, 522 cases and 315 controls. We investigate 46 pre-defined prostate cancer risk alleles and up to 24 epidemiological measures including demographic, lifestyle and environmental factors, for power to predict disease status and to drive on-going SAPCS recruitment, sampling procedures and research direction. RESULTS: Preliminary results suggest that no previously defined risk alleles significantly predict prostate cancer occurrence within the SAPCS. Furthermore, genetic risk profiles did not enhance the predictive power of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing. Our study supports several lifestyle/environmental factors contributing to prostate cancer risk including a family history of cancer, diabetes, current sexual activity and erectile dysfunction, balding pattern, frequent aspirin usage and high PSA levels. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a clear increased prostate cancer risk associated with an African ancestry, experimental data is lacking within Africa. This pilot study is therefore a significant contribution to the field. While genetic risk factors (largely European-defined) show no evidence for disease prediction in the SAPCS, several epidemiological factors were associated with prostate cancer status. We call for improved study power by building on the SAPCS resource, further validation of associated factors in independent African-based resources, and genome-wide approaches to define African-specific risk alleles