Can virtual seminars be used cost‐effectively to enhance student learning?

This paper describes a virtual seminar initiative designed to investigate the extent to which computer‐mediated communication (CMC) can cost‐effectively strengthen staff‐student interaction and enhance student group discussion, and thereby improve collaborative learning. After setting the scene by means of a brief review of the discursive potential of CMC, the establishment of an asynchronous bulletin board system on three modules in the Department of Sociology at the University of Manchester using industry standard software is described. Detailed time diaries kept by all staff involved revealed that organizing and running the virtual seminars were very much less time‐consuming than running face‐to‐face seminars. However, analysis of the students’ access to and mage of the virtual seminars indicates that some of them were disadvantaged by CMC and that they favoured face‐to‐face contact with lecturers over virtual seminars. The latter should therefore be part of a portfolio of teaching techniques rather than the sole form of collaborative learning. The conclusion is that a significant obstacle to benefiting from CMC is the further demand on staff time that results from adding virtual seminars as a supplement to existing teaching practices. Even though these extra demands may be modest, effectively deploying the discursive potential of CMC to enhance student learning increases staff effort rather than reducing it, as many have hoped or promised it would

NCeSS Project : Data mining for social scientists

We will discuss the work being undertaken on the NCeSS data mining project, a one year project at the University of Manchester which began at the start of 2007, to develop data mining tools of value to the social science community. Our primary goal is to produce a suite of data mining codes, supported by a web interface, to allow social scientists to mine their datasets in a straightforward way and hence, gain new insights into their data. In order to fully define the requirements, we are looking at a range of typical datasets to find out what forms they take and the applications and algorithms that will be required. In this paper, we will describe a number of these datasets and will discuss how easily data mining techniques can be used to extract information from the data that would either not be possible or would be too time consuming by more standard methods

Towards a generic research data management infrastructure

Until recent years, a focused and centralized strategy for the annotation, storage and curation of research data is something that has not been widely considered within academic communities. The majority of research data sits, fragmented, on a variety of disk structures (Desktops, network & external hard drives) and is usually managed locally, with little interest paid to policies governing how it is backed up, disseminated and organized for short or long term reuse. Recognition of how current practices and infrastructure present a barrier to research, has resulted in several recent academic programmes which have focused on developing comprehensive frameworks for the management and curation of research data1-3. Many of these frameworks (such as the Archer suite of e- Research tools1), however, are large and complex, and have an overreliance on new and novel technologies making them unwieldy and difficult to support. The paper discusses the development of a simpler framework for the management of research data through its full lifecycle, allowing users to annotate and structure their research in a secure and backed up environment. The infrastructure is being developed as a pilot system and is expected to work with data from approximately a dozen researchers and manage several Terabytes of data. The technical work is a strand of the MaDAM (Manchester Data Management) project at The University of Manchester which is funded by the JISC Managing Research Data Programme.

Scoping e-infrastructure usage : interim report

eIUS is an applied research project funded under the JISC e-Infrastructure programme with a remit to create a detailed picture of e-Infrastructure usage across UK academic research and, through actively publicising successful and inspiring use, facilitate an overall increase in take-up. This report positions and scopes the eIUS project in relation to existing initiatives and outlines a fieldwork methodology now intended to be rolled out across the UK

Paths to wider adoption of e-infrastructure services

This paper presents work conducted as part of the e-Uptake project, which aims to widen the uptake of e-Infrastructure services for research. We will discuss our fieldwork conducted so far, give examples of the barriers and enablers identified and discuss how using the accumulated knowledge can lead to paving the way for wider adoption of e Infrastructure Services

Adoption of e Infrastructure Services: inhibitors, enablers and opportunities

Based on more than 100 interviews with respondents from academic and IT services provider sides, we present findings from our study of inhibitors and enablers of adoption of e-Infrastructure services for research. We discuss issues raised and potential ways of addressing them

Adults with RRM2B-related mitochondrial disease have distinct clinical and molecular characteristics.

Mutations in the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial maintenance gene RRM2B are an important cause of familial mitochondrial disease in both adults and children and represent the third most common cause of multiple mitochondrial DNA deletions in adults, following POLG [polymerase (DNA directed), gamma] and PEO1 (now called C10ORF2, encoding the Twinkle helicase) mutations. However, the clinico-pathological and molecular features of adults with RRM2B-related disease have not been clearly defined. In this multicentre study of 26 adult patients from 22 independent families, including five additional cases published in the literature, we show that extra-ocular neurological complications are common in adults with genetically confirmed RRM2B mutations. We also demonstrate a clear correlation between the clinical phenotype and the underlying genetic defect. Myopathy was a prominent manifestation, followed by bulbar dysfunction and fatigue. Sensorineural hearing loss and gastrointestinal disturbance were also important findings. Severe multisystem neurological disease was associated with recessively inherited compound heterozygous mutations with a mean age of disease onset at 7 years. Dominantly inherited heterozygous mutations were associated with a milder predominantly myopathic phenotype with a later mean age of disease onset at 46 years. Skeletal muscle biopsies revealed subsarcolemmal accumulation of mitochondria and/or cytochrome c oxidase-deficient fibres. Multiple mitochondrial DNA deletions were universally present in patients who underwent a muscle biopsy. We identified 18 different heterozygous RRM2B mutations within our cohort of patients, including five novel mutations that have not previously been reported. Despite marked clinical overlap between the mitochondrial maintenance genes, key clinical features such as bulbar dysfunction, hearing loss and gastrointestinal disturbance should help prioritize genetic testing towards RRM2B analysis, and sequencing of the gene may preclude performance of a muscle biopsy

Comparison of cisplatin sensitivity and the 18F fluoro-2-deoxy 2 glucose uptake with proliferation parameters and gene expression in squamous cell carcinoma cell lines of the head and neck

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The survival of patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer is still poor, with 5-year survival rates of 24–35%. The identification of prognostic and predictive markers at the molecular and cellular level could make it possible to find new therapeutic targets and provide "taylor made" treatments. Established cell lines of human squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are valuable models for identifying such markers.</p> <p>The aim of this study was to establish and characterize a series of cell lines and to compare the cisplatin sensitivity and 18F fluoro-2 deoxy 2 glucose (18F-FDG) uptake of these cell lines with other cellular characteristics, such as proliferation parameters and TP53 and CCND1 status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Explant cultures of fresh tumour tissue were cultivated, and six new permanent cell lines were established from 18 HNSCC cases. Successfully grown cell lines were analysed regarding clinical parameters, histological grade, karyotype, DNA ploidy, and index and S-phase fraction (Spf). The cell lines were further characterized with regard to their uptake of 18F-FDG, their sensitivity to cisplatin, as measured by a viability test (crystal violet), and their TP53 and CCND1 status, by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) with DNA sequencing and, for cyclin D1, by immunohistochemistry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients with tumours that could be cultured in vitro had shorter disease-free periods and overall survival time than those whose tumours did not grow in vitro, when analysed with the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Their tumours also showed more complex karyotypes than tumours from which cell lines could not be established. No correlation was found between TP53 or CCND1 status and 18F-FDG uptake or cisplatin sensitivity. However, there was an inverse correlation between tumour cell doubling time and 18F-FDG uptake.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In vitro growth of HNSCC cells seem to be an independent prognostic factor, with cell lines being more readily established from aggressive tumours, a phenomenon more dependent on the molecular genetic characteristics of the tumour cells than on tumour location or TNM status.</p