Modern slavery disclosures in mining: a comparison of large UK and Australian companies

With growing interest in eradication of modern slavery in operations and supply chains the purpose of the paper is to explore disclosures of the top ten listed mining companies in the UK and Australia. Institutional theory provides the foundation for a first examination of comparative modern slavery disclosures in these two countries, at the time one with and one without disclosure legislation. Based on qualitative thematic analysis, major results indicate the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 to be a catalyst for disclosures made by the sample of UK mining companies, whereas in Australia where no modern slavery legislation was in place, normative and mimetic institutional pressure is not viewed as important and the companies seemed underprepared for impending legislative changes. The paper concludes that transparency based legislation on modern slavery can provide a powerful coercive influence for change, strengthening other forms of normative and mimetic pressure

Reported skin cancer screening of US adult workers

Early detection of skin cancer by skin examination may reduce its associated morbidity and mortality, in particular for workers routinely exposed to sun

Identification of unique neoantigen qualities in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a lethal cancer with fewer than 7% of patients surviving past 5 years. T-cell immunity has been linked to the exceptional outcome of the few long-term survivors1,2, yet the relevant antigens remain unknown. Here we use genetic, immunohistochemical and transcriptional immunoprofiling, computational biophysics, and functional assays to identify T-cell antigens in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer. Using whole-exome sequencing and in silico neoantigen prediction, we found that tumours with both the highest neoantigen number and the most abundant CD8+ T-cell infiltrates, but neither alone, stratified patients with the longest survival. Investigating the specific neoantigen qualities promoting T-cell activation in long-term survivors, we discovered that these individuals were enriched in neoantigen qualities defined by a fitness model, and neoantigens in the tumour antigen MUC16 (also known as CA125). A neoantigen quality fitness model conferring greater immunogenicity to neoantigens with differential presentation and homology to infectious disease-derived peptides identified long-term survivors in two independent datasets, whereas a neoantigen quantity model ascribing greater immunogenicity to increasing neoantigen number alone did not. We detected intratumoural and lasting circulating T-cell reactivity to both high-quality and MUC16 neoantigens in long-term survivors of pancreatic cancer, including clones with specificity to both high-quality neoantigens and predicted cross-reactive microbial epitopes, consistent with neoantigen molecular mimicry. Notably, we observed selective loss of high-quality and MUC16 neoantigenic clones on metastatic progression, suggesting neoantigen immunoediting. Our results identify neoantigens with unique qualities as T-cell targets in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. More broadly, we identify neoantigen quality as a biomarker for immunogenic tumours that may guide the application of immunotherapies

Many Labs 5:Testing pre-data collection peer review as an intervention to increase replicability

Replication studies in psychological science sometimes fail to reproduce prior findings. If these studies use methods that are unfaithful to the original study or ineffective in eliciting the phenomenon of interest, then a failure to replicate may be a failure of the protocol rather than a challenge to the original finding. Formal pre-data-collection peer review by experts may address shortcomings and increase replicability rates. We selected 10 replication studies from the Reproducibility Project: Psychology (RP:P; Open Science Collaboration, 2015) for which the original authors had expressed concerns about the replication designs before data collection; only one of these studies had yielded a statistically significant effect (p < .05). Commenters suggested that lack of adherence to expert review and low-powered tests were the reasons that most of these RP:P studies failed to replicate the original effects. We revised the replication protocols and received formal peer review prior to conducting new replication studies. We administered the RP:P and revised protocols in multiple laboratories (median number of laboratories per original study = 6.5, range = 3?9; median total sample = 1,279.5, range = 276?3,512) for high-powered tests of each original finding with both protocols. Overall, following the preregistered analysis plan, we found that the revised protocols produced effect sizes similar to those of the RP:P protocols (?r = .002 or .014, depending on analytic approach). The median effect size for the revised protocols (r = .05) was similar to that of the RP:P protocols (r = .04) and the original RP:P replications (r = .11), and smaller than that of the original studies (r = .37). Analysis of the cumulative evidence across the original studies and the corresponding three replication attempts provided very precise estimates of the 10 tested effects and indicated that their effect sizes (median r = .07, range = .00?.15) were 78% smaller, on average, than the original effect sizes (median r = .37, range = .19?.50)

Integrated genomic characterization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

We performed integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic profiling of 150 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) specimens, including samples with characteristic low neoplastic cellularity. Deep whole-exome sequencing revealed recurrent somatic mutations in KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, SMAD4, RNF43, ARID1A, TGFβR2, GNAS, RREB1, and PBRM1. KRAS wild-type tumors harbored alterations in other oncogenic drivers, including GNAS, BRAF, CTNNB1, and additional RAS pathway genes. A subset of tumors harbored multiple KRAS mutations, with some showing evidence of biallelic mutations. Protein profiling identified a favorable prognosis subset with low epithelial-mesenchymal transition and high MTOR pathway scores. Associations of non-coding RNAs with tumor-specific mRNA subtypes were also identified. Our integrated multi-platform analysis reveals a complex molecular landscape of PDAC and provides a roadmap for precision medicine

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

What Constitutes Contemporary Corporate Water Accounting? A Review from a Management Perspective

With growing recognition that management and measurement of water risks and opportunities are of ongoing concern to business, corporate water accounting has emerged as an innovation for corporate strategy and action. However, there is little prior research available for those looking for guidance in water accounting. The paper addresses this situation through a literature review, which identifies and discusses five key elements from the dispersed water accounting literature: level of analysis, type of data, timeframe, categorization and evaluation of water risks, and transdisciplinarity. Through these elements a framework for effective corporate water accounting is revealed, important internal and external relationships highlighted and guidance about the elements of this innovation provided for academics, practitioners and policy-makers such that water threat can be converted to water opportunity

ISO 14051: una nueva era para la aplicación e investigación sobre MFCA

Material flow cost accounting (MFCA) is a tool designed to encourage eco-efficiency in organizations by focusing on a reduction in use of materials and related improvements in economic performance of corporations. It provides a way to identify win–win situations where monetary and environmental performance can both be improved. But take-up by business is slow, which seems to go against the notion of strong competition driving economic performance. A recent standard, ISO 14051, has been produced by the International Organization for Standardization, and could bring substantial change to MFCA implementation and research. Drawing on Rogers (2003) theory of diffusion of innovation, and with a focus on the first two stages of the innovation-decision process, knowledge and persuasion, this study sought to analyze MFCA and predict how the 2011 release of ISO 14051 might be expected to influence take-up of MFCA by business, and what this might mean for future research. The analysis revealed that, when combined with ISO involvement, MFCA is well placed in terms of Rogers’ theory, with the future likely to see increased diffusion of MFCA and, as adoption rates increase, more opportunities for research in this area. Specific areas identified as a result of the analysis include: the introduction of new research methods, the need for theoretically informed research, and the potential to address new research questions previously considered impractical.La contabilidad de costes del flujo de materiales (MFCA) es una herramienta diseñada para fomentar la eficiencia ecológica en organismos al centrarse en una reducción del uso de materiales y en las mejoras relacionadas con el rendimiento económico de las empresas. Permite identificar las situaciones benefi- ciosas para ambas partes en las que puedan mejorar tanto el rendimiento monetario como el ambiental. La Organización Internacional de Normalización ha creado recientemente el estándar ISO 14051, que podría suponer un cambio sustancial en la puesta en marcha de la MFCA y la investigación. Basándose en la teoría de difusión de la innovación de Rogers (2003) y centrando la atención en las primeras 2 fases del proceso de innovación-decisión, conocimiento y persuasión, el presente estudio pretende analizar la MFCA y predecir cómo se espera que el lanzamiento del ISO 14051 influya en la implantación de la MFCA por las empresas, y lo que esto significaría para las futuras actividades de investigación. El análisis reveló que, en combinación con el ISO, la MFCA está bien posicionada respecto a la teoría de Rogers, con una tendencia en el futuro de ver una mayor difusión de la MFCA y que, a medida que las tasas de puesta en marcha sean mayores, surgirán más oportunidades de investigación en este campo. Entre las áreas específicas identificadas como resultado del análisis se incluyen: la introducción de nuevos métodos de investigación, la necesidad de una investigación teóricamente informada y el potencial de enfrentarse a nuevas cuestiones de investigación anteriormente consideradas inviables