Extracting and re-using research data from chemistry e-theses: the SPECTRa-T project

Scientific e-theses are data-rich resources, but much of the information they contain is not readily accessible. For chemistry, the SPECTRa-T project has addressed this problem by developing data-mining techniques to extract experimental data, creating RDF (Resource Description Framework) triples for exposure to sophisticated Semantic Web searches. We used OSCAR3, an Open Source chemistry text-mining tool, to parse and extract data from theses in PDF, and from theses in Office Open XML document format. Theses in PDF suffered data corruption and a loss of formatting that prevented the identification of chemical objects. Theses in .docx yielded semantically rich SciXML that enabled the additional extraction of associated data. Chemical objects were placed in a data repository, and RDF triples deposited in a triplestore. Data-mining from chemistry e-theses is both desirable and feasible; but the use of PDF, the de facto format standard for deposit in most repositories, prevents the optimal extraction of data for semantic querying. In order to facilitate this, we recommend that universities also require deposition of chemistry e-theses in an XML document format. Further work is required to clarify the complex IPR issues and ensure that they do not become an unwarranted barrier to data extraction and re-use

The impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of professional footballers

The Covid-19 pandemic has had huge ramifications on professional football. This commentary focuses on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of professional footballers. Specifically, footballers within the English Premier League, English Football League, FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship. This commentary considers a holistic approach to mental health, the environment of professional football, and the impact of career transitions and critical moments on mental health. The intention is to stimulate discussion and further research of mental health and wellbeing within professional football. This paper considers the impact of Covid-19 and makes recommendations for professional football clubs to develop a holistic mental health strategy. We recommend that professional clubs increase the level of emotional support for professional footballers, and that this should not be a temporary measure due to the pandemic. Clubs should develop a long-term strategy to encourage players to seek emotional support

Facilitating the deposit of experimental chemistry data in institutional repositories: Project SPECTRa

Institutional Open Access repositories are becoming established as an important part of the university library and information services infrastructure. While early efforts to populate them with content have concentrated on the deposit of peer-reviewed research papers, there is a growing awareness of their potential as repositories of data and other non-text materials, and consequently a need to develop strategies and procedures that can realise this potential. Chemistry as a discipline has been slower than the physical and biomedical sciences to adopt and exploit Open Access concepts in the handling of experimental data and research publications. Chemical information is essential to many sciences outside chemistry, and the reporting of the synthesis and properties of new chemical compounds is central to this. But most of the essential experimental data associated with peer-reviewed publications from chemistry departments are never communicated to the scientific community. These data are all available in high-quality electronic form in the laboratories but there is no effective method for archiving them or making them openly accessible. The SPECTRa (Submission, Preservation, and Exposure of Chemistry Teaching and Research Data) project addressed this problem. It was a JISC-funded 18-month collaboration, ending in March 2007, between the university libraries and chemistry departments of the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, in co-operation with the eBank-UK project. Its main objective was to develop a set of customized software tools that would enable chemists routinely to deposit experimental data in Open Access repositories, employing the DSpace repository platform used by the two libraries. The work was informed by surveys of research chemists in the two universities, exploring their use of information technology and assessing their interest in using repositories and Open Access principles for data management. This paper presents the project\u27s outcomes and discusses the implications for the development of library-managed institutional repositories