Richtags: Cross Repository Browsing

richtags allows you to search across multiple repositories from numerous institutions covering hundreds of disciplines for research that is of interest to you

Integrating musicology's heterogeneous data sources for better exploration

Musicologists have to consult an extraordinarily heterogeneous body of primary and secondary sources during all stages of their research. Many of these sources are now available online, but the historical dispersal of material across libraries and archives has now been replaced by segregation of data and metadata into a plethora of online repositories. This segregation hinders the intelligent manipulation of metadata, and means that extracting large tranches of basic factual information or running multi-part search queries is still enormously and needlessly time consuming. To counter this barrier to research, the “musicSpace” project is experimenting with integrating access to many of musicology’s leading data sources via a modern faceted browsing interface that utilises Semantic Web and Web2.0 technologies such as RDF and AJAX. This will make previously intractable search queries tractable, enable musicologists to use their time more efficiently, and aid the discovery of potentially significant information that users did not think to look for. This paper outlines our work to date

Orchestrating musical (meta)data to better address the real-world search queries of musicologists

The dispersal of musicology’s diverse array of primary and secondary sources across countless libraries and archives was once an enormous obstacle to conducting research, but this has largely been overcome by the digitisation and online publication of resources in recent years. Yet, while the research process has undoubtedly been revolutionised, the current situation is far from perfect, as the digitisation of resources has often been accompanied by their segregation—according to media type, date of publication, subject, language, copyright holder, etc.—into a myriad of discrete online repositories, often with little thought having been given to interoperability. Given that musicological research typically cuts across such artificial divisions, this segregation of data means that accessing basic factual information or running multi-part search queries remains endlessly complicated, needlessly time consuming, and sometimes impossible. This barrier to tractability is only exacerbated by the limited capabilities of currently deployed search interfaces. There is one seemingly obvious solution to this query dilemma: enable integrated real-time querying over all the available metadata from as many sources as possible, and allow users to use that metadata to guide their queries. This solution implies that all data that could feasibly be construed as useful, but which is buried in the records, is extracted in some way, and that there is an interaction approach that enables metadata to be explored effectively and allows for the formulation of rich compound queries. The musicSpace project has taken a dual approach towards realising this solution. At the back-end we are developing services to integrate and, where necessary, surface (meta)data from many of musicology’s most important online resources, including the British Library Music Collections catalogue, the British Library Sound Archive catalogue, Cecilia, Copac, Grove Music Online, Naxos Music Library, Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale (RILM), and Répertoire International des Sources Musicale (RISM) UK and Ireland. While at the front-end, in order to optimise the exploration of this integrated dataset, we are developing a modern web-based faceted browsing interface that utilises Semantic Web and Web2.0 technologies such as RDF and AJAX, and which is based on the existing ‘mSpace’ codebase. Our poster outlines the approach we have taken to importing, enriching and integrating the metadata provided by our data partners, and gives examples of the real-world musicological research questions that musicSpace has enabled

Introducing musicSpace

Musicologists consult a wide variety of data sources in their research, many of which are now available online. However, the segregation of data into numerous discrete repositories, inadequate metadata, insufficient data/search granularity, and poor search UIs are all barriers to the intelligent manipulation of metadata. This means that research questions requiring advanced cross-source filtering on metadata fields or the running of complex multipart search queries have to date been effectively intractable. The experimental ‘musicSpace’ project seeks to enable such questions by integrating access to leading musicological data sources via a faceted browser and by enriching the metadata of our data providers

Insights Into Aboriginal Australian Mortuary Practices: Perspectives From Ancient DNA

Paleogenetics is a relatively new and promising field that has the potential to provide new information about past Indigenous social systems, including insights into the complexity of burial practices. We present results of the first ancient DNA (aDNA) investigation into traditional mortuary practices among Australian Aboriginal people with a focus on North-East Australia. We recovered mitochondrial and Y chromosome sequences from five ancestral Aboriginal Australian remains that were excavated from the Flinders Island group in Cape York, Queensland. Two of these individuals were sampled from disturbed beach burials, while the other three were from bundle burials located in rock shelters. Genomic analyses showed that individuals from all three rock shelter burials and one of the two beach burials had a close genealogical relationship to contemporary individuals from communities from Cape York. In contrast the remaining male individual, found buried on the beach, had a mitochondrial DNA sequence that suggested that he was not from this location but that he was closely related to people from central Queensland or New South Wales. In addition, this individual was associated with a distinctive burial practice to the other four people. It has been suggested that traditionally non-locals or lower status individuals were buried on beaches. Our findings suggest that theories put forward about beach burials being non-local, or less esteemed members of the community, can potentially be resolved through analyses of uniparental genomic data. Generally, these results support the suggestion often derived from ethnohistoric accounts that inequality in Indigenous Australian mortuary practices might be based on the status, sex, and/or age of individuals and may instead relate to place of geographic origin. There is, however, some departure from the traditional ethnohistoric account in that complex mortuary internments were also offered to female individuals of the community, with genomic analyses helping to confirm that the gender of one of the rockshelter internments was that of a young female

Exploring patient characteristics and barriers to Hepatitis C treatment in patients on opioid substitution treatment (OST) attending a community based fibro-scanning clinic.

Background and Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health issue. There is substandard uptake in HCV assessment and treatment among people who inject drugs (PWID). Community fibroscanning is used to assess disease severity and target treatment. Methods: A survey was administered to a cohort of chronically HCV infected patients attending a community fibroscanning clinic. Questions targeted diagnosis of HCV, suitability, willingness and barriers to engagement in treatment. Descriptive and regression analysis, with thematic analysis of open-ended data was conducted. Results: There was high acceptance of community fibroscanning among this cohort with over 90% (68) attending. High levels of unemployment (90%) and homelessness (40%) were identified. Most patients were on methadone treatment and had been HCV infected for greater than 10 years with length of time since HCV diagnosis being significantly longer in patients with fibroscan scores > 8.5 kPa (P = 0.016). With each unit increase in methadone dose, the odds of the >8.5 fibroscan group increased by 5.2%. Patient identified barriers to engagement were alcohol and drug use, fear of HCV treatment and liver biopsy, imprisonment, distance to hospital and early morning appointments. Conclusion: The study highlights the usefulness of community fibroscanning. Identifying barriers to treatment in this cohort affords an opportunity to increase the treatment uptake. The availability of afternoon clinics and enhanced prison linkage are warranted

Competing priorities and second chances - A qualitative exploration of prisoners’ journeys through the Hepatitis C continuum of care.

High levels of undiagnosed and untreated HCV infection exist in prison populations globally. Prisons are a key location to identify, treat and prevent HCV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). Understanding prisoners’ lived experiences of the HCV continuum of care informs how HCV care can be effectively delivered to this marginalised and high-risk population. This study aimed to explore Irish prisoners’ experience of prison and community-based HCV care. We conducted one-to-one interviews with 25 male prisoners with chronic HCV infection. Data collection and analysis was informed by grounded theory. The mean age of participants and first incarceration was 39.5 and 18.3 years respectively. The mean number of incarcerations was eight. The following themes were identified: medical and social factors influencing engagement (fear of treatment and lack of knowledge, HCV relevance and competing priorities), adverse impact of HCV on health and wellness, positive experience of prison life and health care and the transformative clinical and non-clinical changes associated with HCV treatment and cure. Findings suggest that prison release was associated with multiple stressors including homelessness and drug dependence which quickly eroded the health benefits gained during incarceration. The study generated a substantive theory of the need to increase the importance of HCV care among the routine competing priorities associated with the lives of PWID. HCV infected prisoners often lead complex lives and understanding their journeys through the HCV continuum can inform the development of meaningful HCV care pathways. Many challenges exist to optimising HCV treatment uptake in this group and incarceration is an opportunity to successfully engage HCV infected prisoners who underutilise and are underserved by community-based medical services. Support and linkage to care on release is essential to optimising HCV management

Hepatitis c treatment and prevention in people who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners: A narrative review of the extant literature

Background. Hepatitis C is a curable and preventable disease. People who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners are at-risk groups for acquisition of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), yet treatment rates remain low. Agonist Opioid Treatment (AOT) and needle syringe programs (NSP) reduce HCV transmission, yet coverage, particularly in prisons, is inadequate. ‘Treatment as prevention’ is a key public health strategy to help achieve the World Health Organisation (WHO) goal of HCV elimination by 2030. Aim: To review the recent literature on HCV treatment and prevention in PWID and prisoners. Methods: Electronic data base (Medline, PubMed, Cochrane library and Embase) and key website search using search terms related to the topic. Results: HCV related disease burden in PWID and prisoners is greater than the general population, yet treatment rates remain low. Direct acting anti-virals, mobile elastography, integration of treatment into community and prison settings and less restrictive treatment guidelines have removed many treatment barriers. Treatment adherence and outcomes, among PWID (even current injectors) and prisoners are equivalent to the general population. HCV treatment in both groups is cost-effective but is dependent on up scaling treatment levels, continuing treatment on prison release and preventing re-infection. The public health strategies of treatment as prevention and micro-elimination along with adequate coverage of AOT and NSP has the potential to achieve the WHO goal of HCV elimination by 2030. Conclusion: Upscaling HCV treatment levels and increasing AOT and NSP coverage among PWID and prisoners remains a challenge but is an essential public health strategy to reduce the increasing HCV burden

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) screening in people who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners - a narrative review of extant literature

Background: Injecting drug use (IDU) is the major driver of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection in European and other developed countries. People who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners, both marginalised and underserved populations are recognised as key groups to target for HCV screening and treatment. Aim: To review the most up to date published literature on HCV screening in PWID and prisoners Methods: Electronic data base (Medline, PubMed, Cochrane library and Embase) and relevant website search using key search terms related to the topic. Results: Data on HCV screening in these two groups is incomplete. Over half of PWID and a quarter of prisoners globally have been exposed to HCV. Multiple personal and institutional barriers, including; lack of knowledge, fear, stigma , complex testing procedures and competing priorities , have been identified to the upscaling of screening in these two groups. Focussed screening at targeted locations, increasing screening methods including the use of dried blood spot testing (DBS), peer-worker involvement and opt-out screening in prisons has the potential to enable uptake. Reflex-RNA testing streamlines identification of active infection and improves linkage to care. Supporting community linkage on prison release is critical to optimise HCV management. Active case finding in PWID and prisoners, provided within an ethical and human rights framework, increases diagnosis, assessment, and treatment, reduces transmission and is cost-effective. Conclusion: Optimising HCV screening in PWID and prisoners underpins any public and prison health strategy aimed at HCV elimination but requires political will and targeted resources to be successfully implemented

Phase transformation of PbSe/CdSe nanocrystals from core-shell to Janus structure studied by photoemission spectroscopy

Photoelectron spectroscopic measurements have been performed, with synchrotron radiation on PbSe/CdSe heteronanocrystals that initially consist of core-shell structures. The study of the chemical states of the main elements in the nanocrystals shows a reproducible and progressive change in the valence-band and core-level spectra under photon irradiation, whatever the core and shell sizes are. Such chemical modifications are explained in light of transmission electron microscopy observations and reveal a phase transformation of the nanocrystals: The core-shell nanocrystals undergo a morphological change toward a Janus structure with the formation of semidetached PbSe and CdSe clusters. Photoelectron spectroscopy gives new insight into the reorganization of the ligands anchored at the surface of the nanocrystals and the modification of the electronic structure of these heteronanocrystals