Democratizing Knowledge: Using Wikipedia for Inclusive Teaching and Research in Four Undergraduate Classes

In preparation for the spring 2018 semester, the three of us came together to develop a Wikipedia-based project using feminist pedagogies in their teaching practice. With different assignments, students in the four courses collaborated in this effort to improve the diversity, breadth, and quality of information in the free encyclopedia in English. Moreover, the assignments challenged students\u27 research and information literacy skills via an authentic learning experience, specifically editing Wikipedia on art- and diversity-related topics while engaging with the Wikipedia community and teaching other students how to edit Wikipedia on underrepresented topics--the “social responsibility of a collective struggle” for inclusion in knowledge production. The course Creating Wikipedia for the Arts prepared students to host an Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon during which they taught participants about Wikipedia and how to edit it. Leading up to the event, students enrolled in Nineteenth-Century Art, Arts of Africa, and Foundations in Art Education researched notable9 individuals relevant to the topic of their course who did not have an article in Wikipedia or only had a short stub article in need of expansion and improvement. Using this research, they came to the edit-a-thon to create and improve articles, thus making their research freely available to anyone with Internet access

Metallo therapeutics for COVID-19. Exploiting metal-based compounds for the discovery of new antiviral drugs

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic poses an unprecedented challenge for the rapid discovery of drugs against this life-threatening disease. Owing to the peculiar features of the metal centers that are currently used in medicinal chemistry, metallodrugs might offer an excellent opportunity to achieve this goal. Areas covered: Two main strategies for developing metal-based drugs against the SARS-CoV-2 are herein illustrated. Firstly, a few clinically approved metallodrugs could be evaluated in patients according to a ‘drug repurposing’ approach. To this respect, the gold drug auranofin seems a promising candidate, but some other clinically established metal compounds are worthy of a careful evaluation as well. On the other hand, libraries of inorganic compounds, featuring a large chemical diversity, should be screened to identify the most effective molecules. This second strategy might be assisted by a pathway-driven discovery approach arising from a preliminary knowledge of the mode of action, exploitable to inhibit the functional activities of the key viral proteins. Also, attention must be paid to selectivity and toxicity issues. Expert opinion: The medicinal inorganic chemistry community may offer a valuable contribution against COVID-19. The screening of metallodrugs’ libraries can expand the explored ‘chemical space’ and increase the chance of finding effective anti-COVID agents

Reactions of medicinal gold(III) compounds with proteins and peptides explored by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and complementary biophysical methods

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI MS) is a powerful investigative tool to analyze the reactions of metallodrugs with proteins and peptides and characterize the resulting adducts. Here, we have applied this type of approach to four experimental anticancer gold(III) compounds for which extensive biological and mechanistic data had previously been gathered, namely, Auoxo6, Au2phen, AuL12, and Aubipyc. These gold(III) compounds were reacted with two representative proteins, i.e., human serum albumin (HSA) and human carbonic anhydrase I (hCA I), and with the C-terminal dodecapeptide of thioredoxin reductase. ESI MS analysis allowed us to elucidate the nature of the resulting metal–protein adducts from which the main features of the occurring metallodrug–protein reactions can be inferred. In selected cases, MS data were integrated and supported by independent 1HNMR and UV–Vis absorption measurements to gain an overall description of the occurring processes. From data analysis, it emerges that most of the investigated gold(III) complexes, endowed with an appreciable oxidizing character, undergo quite facile reduction to gold(I); the resulting gold(I) species tightly associate with the above proteins/peptides with a remarkable selectivity for free cysteine residues. In contrast, in the case of the less-oxidizing Aubipyc complex, the gold(III) oxidation state is conserved, and a gold(III) fragment still containing the original ligand is found to be associated with the target proteins. It is notable that the C-terminal dodecapeptide of thioredoxin reductase containing the characteristic –Gly–Cys–Sec–Gly metal-binding motif is able in all cases to trigger gold(III)-to-gold(I) reduction. Our investigation allowed us to identify in detail the nature of the gold fragments that ultimately bind the protein targets and determine the exact binding stoichiometry; some insight on the reaction kinetics was also gained. Notably, a few clear correlations could be established between the structure of the metal complexes and the nature of the resulting protein adducts. The mechanistic implications of these findings are analyzed and thoroughly discussed. Overall, the present results set the stage to better understand the real target biomolecules of these gold compounds and elucidate at the atomic level their interaction modes with proteins and peptides

Moving Words: Building Community through Service-Learning in the Arts

In this unique project, college students in a first-year Three-Dimensional Concepts art course are partnered with a local youth writing project to create short films based on participants’ writings. This experience was born out of a campus Service-Learning Institute (SLI) to train faculty on best practices. The mutual goals included giving voice to area youth and connecting college students to the community. All participants explored and reflected on the importance of community engagement and citizenship by acknowledging their similarities and differences through creative lenses. Participants from both groups generated ideas through shared journal exercises that the youth writers then used as inspiration for their written works. Art students at the University of Northern Iowa created short, stop-motion films based on the writers’ works using Rod Library’s Digital Media Hub. A faculty-coordinated hip-hop literacy group made up of area youth created the soundtrack for one film, providing another level of campus-community collaboration. The goal of the information literacy portion of the service-learning project was to ground the university students in facts and data about the community, public arts, citizenship, and the community partner. By confronting stereotypes or lack of information with evidence and empathy, the authors hoped students would have a clearer sense of who their community partners were and the value of collaborating to create works of art. This chapter will describe the project, its inception, and its exploration of social engagement as fine arts practice, learning objectives, lessons learned, and supplemental sources, including final projects. Student, youth participant, instructor, and librarian reflections will be highlighted, with emphasis on the areas of motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes, both formal and informal

Creating Information-Literate Musicians in the Academic Library

For musicians, the act of creation is multifaceted: musicians perform, analyze, write, speak, and teach in highly collaborative and diverse environments. Information-literate musicians require training to understand and engage with the myriad kinds of content and materials inherent to the contemplation, study, creation, and enjoyment of music. The various information needs of musicians requires creators to make many choices--from selecting a particular score edition or recording from many similar options, to employing a specific scholarly or pedagogical methodology to their work, musicians require the skills to critically evaluate information and determine its usefulness. Music’s ubiquity adds a further layer of intricacy, as music-related research happens in both the concert hall and the classroom, and is not limited to music programs. Disciplines from anthropology to psychology to literature to media studies employ music as a lens through which to examine art, culture, and social structures. As in other creative fields, the history of music scholarship has been heavily influenced by its focus on Western art music and has resulted in the prioritization of Euro-centric musical traditions in study and performance, making research on non-Western and popular music trickier for creators and researchers to conduct. Each of these elements contributes to a complex landscape for librarians planning information literacy instruction activities in support of music-related research and creation. Because of this complexity, students pursuing academic projects that involve music may need support for a range of creative endeavors, and information literacy instruction might seem like a complicated feat for the librarians who work with these creators. By defining what information literacy is for music students and exploring the ways that academic research and creation in music intersects with other disciplines, the authors provide a framework to help librarians contribute to the development of information-literate musicians

Carotid artery disease: Novel pathophysiological mechanisms identified by gene-expression profiling of peripheral blood

AbstractObjectThe pathogenesis of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) as well as the mechanisms underlying the different localisation of the atherosclerotic lesions remains poorly understood. We used microarray technology to identify novel systemic mediators that could contribute to CAS pathogenesis.Moreover, we compared gene-expression profile of CAS with that of patients affected by abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), previously published by our group.Methods and resultsBy global gene-expression profiling in a pool of 10 CAS patients and 10 matched controls, we found 82 genes differentially expressed. Validation study in pools used for profiling and replication study in larger numbers of CAS patients (n = 40) and controls (n = 40) of 14 genes by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed microarray results. Fourteen out of 82 genes were similarly expressed in AAA patients. Gene ontology analysis identified a statistically significant enrichment in CAS of differentially expressed transcripts involved in immune response and oxygen transport. Whereas alteration of oxygen transport is a common tract of the two localisations, alteration of immune response in CAS and of lipid metabolic process in AAA represents distinctive tracts of the two atherosclerotic diseases.ConclusionsWe describe the systemic gene-expression profile of CAS, which provides an extensive list of potential molecular markers

Native mass spectrometry of human carbonic anhydrase I and its inhibitor complexes

Abstract: Native mass spectrometry is a potent technique to study and characterize biomacromolecules in their native state. Here, we have applied this method to explore the solution chemistry of human carbonic anhydrase I (hCA I) and its interactions with four different inhibitors, namely three sulfonamide inhibitors (AAZ, MZA, SLC-0111) and the dithiocarbamate derivative of morpholine (DTC). Through high-resolution ESI-Q-TOF measurements, the native state of hCA I and the binding of the above inhibitors were characterized in the molecular detail. Native mass spectrometry was also exploited to assess the direct competition in solution among the various inhibitors in relation to their affinity constants. Additional studies were conducted on the interaction of hCA I with the metallodrug auranofin, under various solution and instrumental conditions. Auranofin is a selective reagent for solvent-accessible free cysteine residues, and its reactivity was analyzed also in the presence of CA inhibitors. Overall, our investigation reveals that native mass spectrometry represents an excellent tool to characterize the solution behavior of carbonic anhydrase. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]