A glass half full or half empty?: A comparison of diversity statements among Russell group UK vs US Research universities

The term diversity is ubiquitous in university mission statements, strategic plans, recruitment brochures, and university websites. This paper argues aims to compare university diversity statements from US Research Tier 1 universities with those from the elite UK Russell group universities In order to compare the language of diversity, we have used the techniques of corpus linguistics. A corpus is an electronic collection of sample texts which can then be processed by software, in this case the Oxford Wordsmith Tools (Scott 1996) package. This enables a corpus to be searched for frequent words, concordances (the linguistic environment of target words), and collocations (the company that those words keep). The resulting analysis suggests that there are differences between US and UK diversity statements, significant enough that they cannot be said to conform to the same 'genre'. There is overall similarity in terms ofvocabulary choice and of grammatical structures used (nominalizations, modalities etc), however, the UK Russell group diversity statements display a modality position of certainty, which resonates with the noun commitment. In contrast, US Research university diversity statements are formulated more as aspirations, and focus on benefit to the community, but claim a less certain outcome. Diversity is seen as 'a good thing' and signified by multiple linguistic markers of appreciation. The word frequency analysis of the diversity statements suggests that they are largely made up ofsemantically vague lexical items - Strategically Deployable Shifters - which contribute little to the overall meanings of the statements. These words, e.g. excellence, diversity, respect, even equality are multi-functional, polysemic abstractions which invoke fair play. Discursively embracing diversity commits institutions to recognizing little difference, and certainly not to institutional or structural change, rather diversity is seen as the property of individuals, and is congruent with the project of the neoliberal university

Comments on alternative calculations of the broadening of spectral lines of neutral sodium by H-atom collisions

With the exception of the sodium D-lines recent calculations of line broadening cross-sections for several multiplets of sodium by Leininger et al (2000) are in substantial disagreement with cross-sections interpolated from the tables of Anstee and O'Mara (1995) and Barklem and O'Mara (1997). The discrepancy is as large as a factor of three for the 3p-4d multiplet. The two theories are tested by using the results of each to synthesize lines in the solar spectrum. It is found that generally the data from the theory of Anstee, Barklem and O'Mara produce the best match to the observed solar spectrum. It is found, using a simple model for reflection of the optical electron by the potential barrier between the two atoms, that the reflection coefficient is too large for avoided crossings with the upper states of subordinate lines to contribute to line broadening, supporting the neglect of avoided ionic crossings by Anstee, Barklem and O'Mara for these lines. The large discrepancies between the two sets of calculations is a result of an approximate treatment of avoided ionic crossings for these lines by Leininger et al (2000).Comment: 18 pages, 5 ps figures included, to appear in J Phys B: At. Mol. Opt. Phy

The Human Behaviour-Change Project: Harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for evidence synthesis and interpretation

Background Behaviour change is key to addressing both the challenges facing human health and wellbeing and to promoting the uptake of research findings in health policy and practice. We need to make better use of the vast amount of accumulating evidence from behaviour change intervention (BCI) evaluations and promote the uptake of that evidence into a wide range of contexts. The scale and complexity of the task of synthesising and interpreting this evidence, and increasing evidence timeliness and accessibility, will require increased computer support. The Human Behaviour-Change Project (HBCP) will use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to (i) develop and evaluate a ‘Knowledge System’ that automatically extracts, synthesises and interprets findings from BCI evaluation reports to generate new insights about behaviour change and improve prediction of intervention effectiveness and (ii) allow users, such as practitioners, policy makers and researchers, to easily and efficiently query the system to get answers to variants of the question ‘What works, compared with what, how well, with what exposure, with what behaviours (for how long), for whom, in what settings and why?’. Methods The HBCP will: a) develop an ontology of BCI evaluations and their reports linking effect sizes for given target behaviours with intervention content and delivery and mechanisms of action, as moderated by exposure, populations and settings; b) develop and train an automated feature extraction system to annotate BCI evaluation reports using this ontology; c) develop and train machine learning and reasoning algorithms to use the annotated BCI evaluation reports to predict effect sizes for particular combinations of behaviours, interventions, populations and settings; d) build user and machine interfaces for interrogating and updating the knowledge base; and e) evaluate all the above in terms of performance and utility. Discussion The HBCP aims to revolutionise our ability to synthesise, interpret and deliver evidence on behaviour change interventions that is up-to-date and tailored to user need and context. This will enhance the usefulness, and support the implementation of, that evidence.The project is funded by a Wellcome Trust collaborative award [The Human Behaviour-Change Project: Building the science of behaviour change for complex intervention development’, 201,524/Z/16/Z]. During the preparation of the manuscript RW’s salary was funded by Cancer Research UK

Molecular basis for the interaction of the mammalian amino acid transporters B0AT1 and B0AT3 with their ancillary protein collectrin

Many solute carrier 6 (SLC6) family transporters require ancillary subunits to modify their expression and activity. The main apical membrane neutral amino acid transporters in mouse intestine and kidney, B(0)AT1 and B(0)AT3, require the ancillary protein collectrin or ACE2 for plasma membrane expression. Expression and activity of SLC6 neurotransmitter transporters are modulated by interaction with syntaxin 1A. Utilizing monocarboxylate-B(0)AT1/3 fusion constructs, we discovered that collectrin is also necessary for B(0)AT1 and B(0)AT3 catalytic function. Syntaxin 1A and syntaxin 3 inhibit the membrane expression of B(0)AT1 by competing with collectrin for access. A mutagenesis screening approach identified residues on trans-membrane domains 1 alpha, 5, and 7 on one face of B(0)AT3 as a key region involved in interaction with collectrin. Mutant analysis established residues that were involved in collectrin-dependent functions as follows: plasma membrane expression of B(0)AT3, catalytic activation, or both. These results identify a potential binding site for collectrin and other SLC6 ancillary proteins

Structural arrangement of the transmission interface in the antigen ABC transport complex TAP

The transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) represents a focal point in the immune recognition of virally or malignantly transformed cells by translocating proteasomal degradation products into the endoplasmic reticulum–lumen for loading of MHC class I molecules. Based on a number of experimental data and the homology to the bacterial ABC exporter Sav1866, we constructed a 3D structural model of the core TAP complex and used it to examine the interface between the transmembrane and nucleotide-binding domains (NBD) by cysteine-scanning and cross-linking approaches. Herein, we demonstrate the functional importance of the newly identified X-loop in the NBD in coupling substrate binding to downstream events in the transport cycle. We further verified domain swapping in a heterodimeric ABC half-transporter complex by cysteine cross-linking. Strikingly, either substrate binding or translocation can be blocked by cross-linking the X-loop to coupling helix 2 or 1, respectively. These results resolve the structural arrangement of the transmission interface and point to different functions of the cytosolic loops and coupling helices in substrate binding, signaling, and transport

A Kallikrein 15 (KLK15) single nucleotide polymorphism located close to a novel exon shows evidence of association with poor ovarian cancer survival.

BACKGROUND: KLK15 over-expression is reported to be a significant predictor of reduced progression-free survival and overall survival in ovarian cancer. Our aim was to analyse the KLK15 gene for putative functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and assess the association of these and KLK15 HapMap tag SNPs with ovarian cancer survival. RESULTS: In silico analysis was performed to identify KLK15 regulatory elements and to classify potentially functional SNPs in these regions. After SNP validation and identification by DNA sequencing of ovarian cancer cell lines and aggressive ovarian cancer patients, 9 SNPs were shortlisted and genotyped using the Sequenom iPLEX Mass Array platform in a cohort of Australian ovarian cancer patients (N = 319). In the Australian dataset we observed significantly worse survival for the KLK15 rs266851 SNP in a dominant model (Hazard Ratio (HR) 1.42, 95% CI 1.02-1.96). This association was observed in the same direction in two independent datasets, with a combined HR for the three studies of 1.16 (1.00-1.34). This SNP lies 15 bp downstream of a novel exon and is predicted to be involved in mRNA splicing. The mutant allele is also predicted to abrogate an HSF-2 binding site. CONCLUSIONS: We provide evidence of association for the SNP rs266851 with ovarian cancer survival. Our results provide the impetus for downstream functional assays and additional independent validation studies to assess the role of KLK15 regulatory SNPs and KLK15 isoforms with alternative intracellular functional roles in ovarian cancer survival.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

How stakeholder participation can contribute to systematic reviews of complex interventions

Although patient and public involvement in research is a requirement for research funding in many countries, the knowledge base for how to effectively involve people—and evidence of the effectiveness of involvement—is weak. This article describes how methods used in participatory health research were used to involve patients, clients, providers and community health workers across all stages of a realist review. Sustained involvement enabled better identification of the components of the complex intervention of community-based peer support. It also challenged assumptions of how peer support is constructed, leading the review team to question whether the process of designing and implementing interventions has more influence on effectiveness than previously recognised in empirical studies. We conclude with a discussion on when sustained involvement should be used, and the challenges of incorporating it into the traditional researcher-led approach to systematic reviews