Search

Disasters cause economic and human losses. In order to mitigate the impact of disasters, there is now a global consensus amongst national and international actors that policies and programmes must be linked to support human existence. This global consensus is reflected in the 'Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2015-2030' and the 'Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030' (SFDRR). With this global consensus and the need to reduce disaster risks and disaster losses, there has been an increasing demand for specialised professionals and future leaders to understand the nuances of risk, crisis, disaster and development and their interfaces. However, what is yet to be seen is, how these global trends, national needs and everyday realities of the disaster-affected and vulnerable communities are integrated into professional development programmes taught within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Japan and the UK, to build the capacity of students and their leadership skills. The Universities of Kansai, Sheffield and Leicester undertook a joint research project (funded by Kansai University's Grant-in-Aid for the Promotion and Upgrading of Education and Research) from July 2017 to August 2018 to study and recommend a Future Leader Programme that might be required to improve students’ learning and leadership skills for the effective management of risk, crisis, disaster and development. Three objectives were set for this study: 1) To identity and map the number of courses/programmes on risk, crisis, disaster and development management (RCDDM) offered by the HEIs in the UK and Japan. 2) To identify indicators for a quality Future Leader Programme in line with the SDGs and SFDRR. 3) To engage with key stakeholders to validate the indicators and explore the meaning of a future leader. To realise these objectives qualitative methods were used to collect data from July 2017 to December 2018. This included mapping and reviewing of RCDDM Programmes and the Times Higher Education databases in the UK and the KAKEN database, developing indicators through a literature review on 'quality' education and a content analysis of the SDG and the SFDRR, and gathering opinions through two key stakeholders' workshops and several formal and informal interviews with students and academics. The findings suggest that as of October 2017, there were a total of 48 HEIs in the UK and 777 in Japan that offered courses/programmes in RCDDM. From the content analysis of the SDGs and the SFDRR, it was found that Goals 4, 11 and 13, and the SFDRR's Priorities for Actions 1 and 3 were the most relevant to identify indicators for a quality Future Leader Programme. These indicators were ratified by the stakeholders. The stakeholders defined a 'Future Leader' for RCDDM as an individual who brings about change to enrich life standards and communities' abilities to manage risks, crises, disasters and development through social influence. The findings also identify the topics and the type of courses that will be needed to develop a Future Leader Programme for RCCDM.

This is a systematic review funded by Marie Curie with the following objectives: 1. To identify the patient-centred outcome measures implemented in palliative care clinical practice; 2. To identify the facilitators of implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 3. To identify the barriers to implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 4. To identify lessons learned on implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 5. To identify the implementation models used when implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 6. To identify what implementation outcomes were measured and how, when implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 7. To assess the financial costs of implementing patient-centred outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice; 8. To update the recommendations from our previous literature to inform the implementation process in palliative care clinical practice for stakeholders at different levels.

Cohesin's association with and translocation along chromosomal DNAs depend on an ATP hydrolysis cycle driving the association and subsequent release of DNA. This involves DNA being 'clamped' by Scc2 and ATP-dependent engagement of cohesin's Smc1 and Smc3 head domains. Scc2's replacement by Pds5 abrogates cohesin's ATPase and has an important role in halting DNA loop extrusion. The ATPase domains of all SMC proteins are separated from their hinge dimerisation domains by 50-nm-long coiled coils, which have been observed to zip up along their entire length and fold around an elbow, thereby greatly shortening the distance between hinges and ATPase heads. Whether folding exists in vivo or has any physiological importance is not known. We present here a cryo-EM structure of the apo form of cohesin that reveals the structure of folded and zipped-up coils in unprecedented detail and shows that Scc2 can associate with Smc1's ATPase head even when it is fully disengaged from that of Smc3. Using cysteine-specific crosslinking, we show that cohesin's coiled coils are frequently folded in vivo, including when cohesin holds sister chromatids together. Moreover, we describe a mutation (SMC1D588Y) within Smc1's hinge that alters how Scc2 and Pds5 interact with Smc1's hinge and that enables Scc2 to support loading in the absence of its normal partner Scc4. The mutant phenotype of loading without Scc4 is only explicable if loading depends on an association between Scc2/4 and cohesin's hinge, which in turn requires coiled coil folding.