Joanne Evans, Frank Golding, Cate O’Neill, and Rachel Tropea recount Australian Care Leavers’ struggle for archival justice in the form of access, and the role of archival and recordkeeping professionals in both furthering and frustrating that struggle. While asserting a professional obligation to participate in a movement towards equity in records and recordkeeping, they observe the profession’s lacklustre collective response and rightfully question the extent to which archival and recordkeeping regimes embedded in existing power structures can meet the needs of the Care Leaver community. This theme appears throughout chapters concerning public records, particularly those produced in the course of systematic dispossession. Using Barbara Klugman’s framework to evaluate social justice advocacy, the authors assess the potential of the Australian Government’s Find and Connect program to further social justice.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus and high total cholesterol and triglycerides are known to be associated with increased colorectal cancer risk for the general population. These associations are unknown for people with a germline DNA mismatch repair gene mutation (Lynch syndrome), who are at high risk of colorectal cancer. METHODS: This study included 2023 (56.4% female) carriers with a mismatch repair gene mutation (737 in MLH1, 928 in MSH2, 230 in MSH6, 106 in PMS2, 22 in EPCAM) recruited by the Colon Cancer Family Registry between 1998 and 2012. Weighted Cox regression was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between self-reported type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, triglyceride and colorectal cancer risk. RESULTS: Overall, 802 carriers were diagnosed with colorectal cancer at a median age of 42 years. A higher risk of colorectal cancer was observed in those with self-reported type-2 diabetes (HR 1.92; 95% CI, 1.03-3.58) and high cholesterol (HR 1.76; CI 1.23-2.52) compared with those without these conditions. There was no evidence of high triglyceride being associated with colorectal cancer risk. CONCLUSION: For people with Lynch syndrome, self-reported type-2 diabetes mellitus and high cholesterol were associated with increased colorectal cancer risk.

An ePoster presented at the conference: VALA 2018: Libraries, Technology, and the Future. The University of Melbourne Library has transitioned from delivering instruction on reference management software via face-to-face workshops, to delivering 100% of non-discipline-specific reference management sessions online via Zoom webinars in semester 2 2017. In 2017 library staff presented a total of 29 Zoom webinars on Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote, both for beginners and advanced users. Library staff were trained in best practices for webinar delivery using an online guide and a peer-mentoring system, and in total 23 library staff members were involved in presenting webinars in 2017. The webinars were recorded to AARNet via Zoom cloud recording, making it easy to email the link to the recording to clients. In addition, the highest-quality recordings were uploaded to the library’s Vimeo account and embedded on library webpages. Recordings cater both for clients who have missed, or wish to review a session, and for staff wishing to learn more about a reference management tool, or how to deliver a webinar. Overall attendance numbers for reference management sessions increased in 2017 and feedback on the webinars gathered from clients via an online survey has been overwhelmingly positive. There are plans to expand the variety of library training sessions delivered via webinar in 2018.

People with quadriplegia have a high risk for respiratory illness, social isolation and depression. Previous research has demonstrated that therapeutic singing interventions can not only improve breathing function and speech loudness, but also improve mood and social connectedness for people with quadriplegia. Face-to-face group attendance is difficult for this population due to difficulties with distance and travel. Online environments offer an accessible and cost-effective solution for people to connect with others without leaving their home. In a two-phase iterative design, we explored and tested different approaches for delivering online music therapy sessions with 12 patients from an inpatient spinal cord injury rehabilitation service. Six participants in Phase 1 trialled different virtual reality headsets and completed a short interview about their experience of the equipment and online singing trials. Outcomes from Phase 1 testing led to the development of a custom-built virtual reality application for online group music therapy sessions with low-latency audio. We tested the acceptability and feasibility of this platform in comparison to face-to-face and teleconference options for music therapy with six different patients. These participants completed three validated questionnaires: System Usability Scale, Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology, and Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale, and an interview about their experience. Questionnaire scores were good with mean ratings of 4.4 for Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology, 53 for System Usability Scale and positive mean Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale scores of 1.5 for competence, 2 for adaptability and 1.5 for self-esteem. Thematic analysis of post-session qualitative interviews revealed five themes: virtual reality was a positive experience, virtual reality was immersive and transportative, virtual reality reduced inhibitions about singing in front of others, virtual reality may reduce social cues, and the virtual reality equipment was comfortable, accessible and easy to use. Telehealth options, including a custom-designed virtual reality program, with low-latency audio are an acceptable and feasible mode of delivery for therapeutic singing interventions for people with spinal cord injury. Future non-inferiority research is needed to test online delivery modes for music therapy in comparison to face-to-face treatment.

This is a short article about working to make a significant, historic glass lantern slide collection available online via the Omeka platform and the partnership with the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and Research Platforms at the University of Melbourne that formed part of the process.

The Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) at Creswick offered the first formal Forestry Course in Australia and is the longest continuous course, now a part of the University of Melbourne’s School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences. The origins of the VSF are lost, with a range of individuals identified as founders, most notably the politician A.J. Peacock, whose role is memorialised on a metal plaque installed on the gates of the school in 1952. This paper draws on new evidence to introduce John Johnstone, the Superintendent of State Plantations, who oversaw the State Nursery and Plantation at Creswick, as the person who initiated the scheme and did the work to establish the School at Creswick. We will look at Johnstone, described by one writer as ‘a glorified landscape gardener’, his background and his place in Forestry in Victoria and consider why he was omitted from the historiography of Australian forestry

Slides for a lightning talk presented as part of the Challenges in Professionalizing Data Stewardship Birds of a Feather (BoF) session. This session was due to be held at the Research Data Alliance (RDA) Plenary 15 in Melbourne, which was cancelled, so was held virtually online instead.

Members of the haloacid dehalogenase (HAD) family of metabolite phosphatases play an important role in regulating multiple pathways in Plasmodium falciparum central carbon metabolism. We show that the P. falciparum HAD protein, phosphoglycolate phosphatase (PGP), regulates glycolysis and pentose pathway flux in asexual blood stages via detoxifying the damaged metabolite 4-phosphoerythronate (4-PE). Disruption of the P. falciparumpgp gene caused accumulation of two previously uncharacterized metabolites, 2-phospholactate and 4-PE. 4-PE is a putative side product of the glycolytic enzyme, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and its accumulation inhibits the pentose phosphate pathway enzyme, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD). Inhibition of 6-PGD by 4-PE leads to an unexpected feedback response that includes increased flux into the pentose phosphate pathway as a result of partial inhibition of upper glycolysis, with concomitant increased sensitivity to antimalarials that target pathways downstream of glycolysis. These results highlight the role of metabolite detoxification in regulating central carbon metabolism and drug sensitivity of the malaria parasite.IMPORTANCE The malaria parasite has a voracious appetite, requiring large amounts of glucose and nutrients for its rapid growth and proliferation inside human red blood cells. The host cell is resource rich, but this is a double-edged sword; nutrient excess can lead to undesirable metabolic reactions and harmful by-products. Here, we demonstrate that the parasite possesses a metabolite repair enzyme (PGP) that suppresses harmful metabolic by-products (via substrate dephosphorylation) and allows the parasite to maintain central carbon metabolism. Loss of PGP leads to the accumulation of two damaged metabolites and causes a domino effect of metabolic dysregulation. Accumulation of one damaged metabolite inhibits an essential enzyme in the pentose phosphate pathway, leading to substrate accumulation and secondary inhibition of glycolysis. This work highlights how the parasite coordinates metabolic flux by eliminating harmful metabolic by-products to ensure rapid proliferation in its resource-rich niche.

This reflection piece is based on the talk given by the authors at the Society of North Carolina Archivists (SNCA) conference in March 2018. They spoke on the topic of emotional labour and archival practice, discussing the effects that exposure to records with potentially traumatising content can have on those working with archival materials. Below they discuss the content of the presentation and reflect on the feedback and responses they received at the time.

This article uses the Return, Reconcile, Renew: understanding the history, effects and opportunities of repatriation and building an evidence base for the future project as a case study to explore the collaborative relationship between the eScholarship Research Centre and the community partners, representative organizations of the Ngarrindjeri, the Torres Strait and the Kimberley Indigenous communities. Drawing on interviews with Return, Reconcile, Renew project archivists, it explores archival issues – across the four themes of collaboration, space, time and place, neutrality and access – relating to Indigenous cultural heritage and working with Indigenous communities to make materials and knowledge accessible in culturally appropriate ways. Within the context of community rights to cultural knowledge, this paper will discuss the ongoing obligations of organizations working with Indigenous communities and records.

This article discusses the development of a new online training course, A trauma-informed approach to managing archives, for the Australian Society of Archivists. It outlines why such a course is needed, who its audience is, and provides a brief overview of what is covered. Trauma is pervasive and affects everyone, and this course provides information and training materials about what this means for archives and how archivists can better support people having a trauma reaction. It introduces the concept of trauma-informed practice, expands on that notion to outline what trauma-informed archival practice may look like, and also discusses vicarious trauma and the impacts this may have on archives workers. The article provides information about when the course will be available, and how people will be able to access the course.