Social media for international students:It's not all about Facebook

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discover which social networking sites international students prefer for information dissemination activities. As more libraries experiment with social networking to inform and connect with students, there is a need to determine the effectiveness of this strategy for reaching international students. The paper seeks to address three questions: what social networking sites do international students prefer and why? Which sites do they use to socialise and which do they use to gather and distribute information? How can libraries leverage this information to enhance the international student experience?Design/methodology/approachInformation on social networking preferences and usage was gathered from 13 per cent of students at Bond University via an online survey.FindingsThe findings confirm that for some international student populations, social networking preferences differentiated between the domestic students' preferences. In addition to social activities, international and domestic students are using particular social networking sites for a wide range of educational purposes, including group work and sharing and gathering information. Although Facebook is still the predominant choice for the majority of students, the findings suggest particular sites such as Twitter and YouTube should be considered by libraries as a means to engage both international and domestic students. Institutions with large Chinese student populations should consider the use of Renren.Originality/valueAs of yet there have been no studies that have investigated and compared international students' social networking preferences to domestic students. The study connects the findings to practical implications for academic library use of social networking sites.</jats:sec

Cytokines regulate complement receptor immunoglobulin expression and phagocytosis of Candida albicans in human macrophages: A control point in anti-microbial immunity

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Complement Receptor Immunoglobulin (CRIg), selectively expressed by macrophages, plays an important role in innate immunity by promoting phagocytosis of bacteria. Thus modulation of CRIg on macrophages by cytokines can be an important mechanism by which cytokines regulate anti-microbial immunity. The effects of the cytokines, tumor necrosis factor, transforming growth factor-β1, interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-6, lymphotoxin-α, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and GM-CSF on CRIg expression were examined in human macrophages. We demonstrated that cytokines regulated the CRIg expression on macrophages during their development from monocytes in culture at the transcriptional level using qPCR and protein by Western blotting. Both CRIg spliced forms (Long and Short), were similarly regulated by cytokines. Direct addition of cytokines to matured CRIg+ macrophages also changed CRIg mRNA expression, suggesting that cytokines control macrophage function via CRIg, at two checkpoints. Interestingly the classical complement receptors, CR3 and CR4 were differentially regulated by cytokines. The changes in CRIg but not CR3/CR4 mRNA expression correlated with ability to phagocytose Candida albicans by macrophages. These findings suggest that CRIg is likely to be a control point in infection and immunity through which cytokines can mediate their effects, and is differentially regulated from CR3 and CR4 by cytokines

General medical practitioners’ knowledge and management of oral and dental problems

BackgroundMany patients with oral and dental problems seek help from medical practitioners rather than from dentists. Little is known about why this occurs in Australia and how medical practitioners manage these problems.AimsThe aims were to: 1) provide insight into why patients seek treatment for oral and dental problems from medical practitioners, 2) assess how these patients were managed by medical practitioners, and 3) assess medical practitioners’ perception of their knowledge of oral and dental problems.Methods An electronically distributed survey was completed by general medical practitioners who were members of the Australian Medical Association in Western Australia. The survey had 19 questions with a combination of both quantitative and qualitative responses. All responses were anonymous.Results From 130 responses, the most common reasons for patients to present with dental-related issues to general medical practitioners included: cost of dental consults, perceived need for antibiotics, ease of access and immediate relief of pain. Respondents reported that 68 per cent of presentations were during typical business hours. Antibiotic (83 per cent) and analgesic (91 per cent) prescriptions followed by referral to dentists (76 per cent) were the most frequently reported managements. About half the respondents felt their knowledge of oral and dental problems was adequate while 35 per cent felt it was inadequate and 16 per cent felt it was deficient in some areas.ConclusionPatients present to medical practitioners mainly for pain relief or antibiotic prescription. Most practitioners manage these cases with antibiotic and analgesic prescriptions. Practitioners’ knowledge of dental-related problems varies with about half feeling it could be improved