Guidelines for Improving the Effectiveness of Boards of Directors of Nonprofit Organizations

The purpose of this book is to help boards of directors of nonprofit organizations improve their performance after completing the Board Check-Up, online board performance self-assessment tool found at www.boardcheckup.com. This book is also valuable as a stand-alone resource for any board seeking to assess its performance in that it contains the diagnostic questions on which the online self-assessment tool is based. It goes further by providing a framework for boards to use in discussing needed changes in board performance. It also forms an integral part of a University at Albany, SUNY online course titled, The Governance of Nonprofit Organizations. This massive open online course (MOOC) can be taken for free or academic credit through Coursera’s online teaching and learning platform.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/oer-ost/1014/thumbnail.jp

Open Source Information’s Blind Spot

Digital open source information has been heralded for its democratizing potential, insofar as it allows access to a much broader range of sources and voices than would normally be consulted through traditional methods of information gathering for international criminal investigations. It also helps to overcome some of the physical access barriers that are commonplace in international criminal investigations. At a time when the use of digital open source information is becoming more widespread, this article warns of the cognitive and technical biases that can impact upon two key stages of an investigation: finding relevant information and analysing that information. At the information-gathering stage, there are particular crimes, regions, and groups of people whose experiences are more likely to be overlooked or hidden in digital open source investigations. When it comes to analysing digital open source information, there is a danger that cognitive and technical biases may influence which information is deemed most relevant and useful to an international criminal investigation, and how that information is interpreted. This article proposes some steps that can be taken to mitigate these risks

Magnetic Ratcheting Cytometry Towards Manafacturing Scale Separations Of “Best In Class” Cart-T Cells

Adoptive cell therapies taking advantage of engineered Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CAR) or T-Cell Receptors (TCR) have shown incredible potential as “living drugs” that achieve personalized immunotherapies for cancer patients. However, variations in T cell transduction efficiency during genetic modification can lead to widely varied levels of expression[1] (~2-orders of magnitude) which can possibly dilute therapeutic effectiveness and potentially contribute to off-tumor toxicity[2]. While research has shown that isolation of cell sub-populations with tightly controlled expression could lead to improved therapies[3], limitations of current cell separation technologies prevent implementation at manufacturing scale workflows. Quantitative separation techniques (e.g. fluorescence assisted cell separation-FACS) do not scale for production of therapeutic doses, and magnetic assisted cell separation (MACS) techniques do not allow precise selection of cell sub-populations based on surface expression. Because of these limitations, enrichment of “best in class” CAR-T/TCR sub-populations at manufacturing scale throughputs remains impractical and non-economical. [1] Chang ZL, Silver PA, Chen YY. Identification and selective expansion of functionally superior T cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors. J Transl Med. 2015;13:161. doi:10.1186/s12967-015-0519-8. [2] Carels N, Spinassé LB, Tilli TM, Tuszynski JA. Toward precision medicine of breast cancer. Theor Biol Med Model. 2016;13:7. doi:10.1186/s12976-016-0035-4. [3] Berger C, Jensen MC, Lansdorp PM, Gough M, Elliott C, Riddell SR. Adoptive transfer of effector CD8+ T cells derived from central memory cells establishes persistent T cell memory in primates. J Clin Investig 2008;118: 294–305. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Harnessing the power of open-source software for research-integrated learning and assessment

Authentic tasks in undergraduate subjects, such as field data collection and analysis, allow students to explore key concepts in the context of real-world problems. In a third-year environmental sciences subject, students learn to interpret highly dynamic systems that underpin ecosystem and food security in our rapidly changing world. Students conduct a survey of pollination networks, analyse and interpret their data as an ecologist would. A challenge to implementing this task was access to specialist software to create the data visualisations (bipartite graphs) for the network analyses. Typically, scientists use R software; however, limited class time means we cannot teach students the programming language required. Third party graphing software is available but requires yearly setup and costs, which are unsustainable as student numbers grow. Our solution was to harness the power of open-source software and develop the Bipartite Network Analysis app using Shiny and Bipartite package for R (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1219306). This web-based app removes the barrier of the need for coding experience while introducing students to industry-standard software. Students create journal-quality bipartite graphs using their own data and complete in-depth investigations of plant-animal network properties. Our authentic task and app facilitate students’ learning of the disciplinary skills required by environmental scientists

Barrett’s esophagus registries

The following on Barrett's esophagus registries contains commentaries on the data sets to be included, organizational issues, and the demographic, lifestyle, and diagnostic differences between the United States and Europe. The importance of collaborative studies is also discussed

Mapping the Use of Open Source Research in UN Human Rights Investigations

Open source information, particularly digital open source information that is publicly available on the internet, plays an increasingly central role in the landscape of human rights investigations. This article provides a thorough analysis of how open source information is used in practice by UN human rights fact-finding missions, commissions of inquiry and other official human rights investigations. Combining data from semi-structured interviews carried out with investigators with specific experience in open source human rights investigations with a review of reports and other primary and secondary sources, it examines the utility of open source information to UN human rights investigative bodies. It posits that open source research can offer tremendous benefits in planning investigations, supplying lead evidence, and providing direct evidence of violations, thereby overcoming some of the access barriers that investigators face, and potentially giving voice to a wider range of perspectives. On the other hand, this article argues that open source investigations should be approached with a clear eye to their challenges and possible pitfalls. These include the gaps of open source information and the potential to silence already-marginalized communities through open source investigations, as well as the resource-intensive nature of these investigations, the danger that open source information can affect witnesses’ perceptions, and the risks posed by online disinformation. As open source research is likely to comprise an important component of the human rights investigator’s toolbox in the future, this article argues in favour of the institutional buy-in, resourcing, and methodological rigour that it deserves

Signal sequence analysis of expressed sequence tags from the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and the evolution of secreted proteins in parasites

BACKGROUND: Parasitism is a highly successful mode of life and one that requires suites of gene adaptations to permit survival within a potentially hostile host. Among such adaptations is the secretion of proteins capable of modifying or manipulating the host environment. Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is a well-studied model nematode parasite of rodents, which secretes products known to modulate host immunity. RESULTS: Taking a genomic approach to characterize potential secreted products, we analyzed expressed sequence tag (EST) sequences for putative amino-terminal secretory signals. We sequenced ESTs from a cDNA library constructed by oligo-capping to select full-length cDNAs, as well as from conventional cDNA libraries. SignalP analysis was applied to predicted open reading frames, to identify potential signal peptides and anchors. Among 1,234 ESTs, 197 (~16%) contain predicted 5' signal sequences, with 176 classified as conventional signal peptides and 21 as signal anchors. ESTs cluster into 742 distinct genes, of which 135 (18%) bear predicted signal-sequence coding regions. Comparisons of clusters with homologs from Caenorhabditis elegans and more distantly related organisms reveal that the majority (65% at P < e(-10)) of signal peptide-bearing sequences from N. brasiliensis show no similarity to previously reported genes, and less than 10% align to conserved genes recorded outside the phylum Nematoda. Of all novel sequences identified, 32% contained predicted signal peptides, whereas this was the case for only 3.4% of conserved genes with sequence homologies beyond the Nematoda. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that secreted proteins may be undergoing accelerated evolution, either because of relaxed functional constraints, or in response to stronger selective pressure from host immunity