Digital Identities and Study Abroad: Teaching Intercultural Competence through Social Media Literacy

Social media platforms are contemporary spaces where selves are revealed and exposed in reciprocity. By imagining digital communication, technology use, and online representation in the same vein as we discuss the experiences of the physical self, the ability to adapt across cultures becomes a skill to hone online as well as in person. As such, digital media is a prime learning tool that practitioners in the field can utilize to reach their target student population no matter their physical location and during each phase of the study abroad process. In this way, study abroad offices can fulfill a mission that goes beyond the logistics of travel in order to concentrate attention on the development of student intercultural competencies

Life Course Socioeconomic Conditions and Metabolic Syndrome in Adults: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

This study examined the effect of childhood, adulthood and cumulative SES (cumSES) on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in middle-aged adults in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, (1987–89)

Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status Characteristics and Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study

The objective of this study was to examine the association of individual socioeconomic status (iSES) and neighborhood SES (nSES) on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, (1987–99)

International Society of Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM)-ITS reference DNA barcoding database - the quality controlled standard tool for routine identification of human and animal pathogenic fungi

Human and animal fungal pathogens are a growing threat worldwide leading to emerging infections and creating new risks for established ones. There is a growing need for a rapid and accurate identification of pathogens to enable early diagnosis and targeted antifungal therapy. Morphological and biochemical identification methods are time-consuming and require trained experts. Alternatively, molecular methods, such as DNA barcoding, a powerful and easy tool for rapid monophasic identification, offer a practical approach for species identification and less demanding in terms of taxonomical expertise. However, its wide-spread use is still limited by a lack of quality-controlled reference databases and the evolving recognition and definition of new fungal species/complexes. An international consortium of medical mycology laboratories was formed aiming to establish a quality controlled ITS database under the umbrella of the ISHAM working group on "DNA barcoding of human and animal pathogenic fungi." A new database, containing 2800 ITS sequences representing 421 fungal species, providing the medical community with a freely accessible tool at http://www.isham.org and http://its.mycologylab.org/ to rapidly and reliably identify most agents of mycoses, was established. The generated sequences included in the new database were used to evaluate the variation and overall utility of the ITS region for the identification of pathogenic fungi at intra-and interspecies level. The average intraspecies variation ranged from 0 to 2.25%. This highlighted selected pathogenic fungal species, such as the dermatophytes and emerging yeast, for which additional molecular methods/genetic markers are required for their reliable identification from clinical and veterinary specimens.This study was supported by an National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NH&MRC) grant [#APP1031952] to W Meyer, S Chen, V Robert, and D Ellis; CNPq [350338/2000-0] and FAPERJ [E-26/103.157/2011] grants to RM Zancope-Oliveira; CNPq [308011/2010-4] and FAPESP [2007/08575-1] Fundacao de Amparo Pesquisa do Estado de So Paulo (FAPESP) grants to AL Colombo; PEst-OE/BIA/UI4050/2014 from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) to C Pais; the Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo) to BCCM/IHEM; the MEXBOL program of CONACyT-Mexico, [ref. number: 1228961 to ML Taylor and [122481] to C Toriello; the Institut Pasteur and Institut de Veil le Sanitaire to F Dromer and D Garcia-Hermoso; and the grants from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) and the Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Goias (FAPEG) to CM de Almeida Soares and JA Parente Rocha. I Arthur would like to thank G Cherian, A Higgins and the staff of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Path West, QEII Medial Centre. Dromer would like to thank for the technical help of the sequencing facility and specifically that of I, Diancourt, A-S Delannoy-Vieillard, J-M Thiberge (Genotyping of Pathogens and Public Health, Institut Pasteur). RM Zancope-Oliveira would like to thank the Genomic/DNA Sequencing Platform at Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-PDTIS/FIOCRUZ [RPT01A], Brazil for the sequencing. B Robbertse and CL Schoch acknowledge support from the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Library of Medicine. T Sorrell's work is funded by the NH&MRC of Australia; she is a Sydney Medical School Foundation Fellow.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

European code against cancer 4th edition: 12 ways to reduce your cancer risk

This overview describes the principles of the 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer and provides an introduction to the 12 recommendations to reduce cancer risk. Among the 504.6 million inhabitants of the member states of the European Union (EU28), there are annually 2.64 million new cancer cases and 1.28 million deaths from cancer. It is estimated that this cancer burden could be reduced by up to one half if scientific knowledge on causes of cancer could be translated into successful prevention. The Code is a preventive tool aimed to reduce the cancer burden by informing people how to avoid or reduce carcinogenic exposures, adopt behaviours to reduce the cancer risk, or to participate in organised intervention programmes. The Code should also form a base to guide national health policies in cancer prevention. The 12 recommendations are: not smoking or using other tobacco products; avoiding second-hand smoke; being a healthy body weight; encouraging physical activity; having a healthy diet; limiting alcohol consumption, with not drinking alcohol being better for cancer prevention; avoiding too much exposure to ultraviolet radiation; avoiding cancer-causing agents at the workplace; reducing exposure to high levels of radon; encouraging breastfeeding; limiting the use of hormone replacement therapy; participating in organised vaccination programmes against hepatitis B for newborns and human papillomavirus for girls; and participating in organised screening programmes for bowel cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer

Vínculos Históricos entre Nueva Orleans, Luisiana y Cuba

This paper examines the historical ties between Cuba and New Orleans. It makes a summary of the economic relationships between this country and this U. S. city from the 18th century until the present day. Additionally, potentially positive effects these ties could have on New Orleans and Cuba’s culture and economy when US-Cuba relations are completely normalized in the future are examined as well

Designing a 'Best Practice' Model of Integrated Biosystems of Waste Re-Use in a Typical Rural Town: Final Report - July 2004

There is increasing pressure worldwide for firms to become more efficient in their use of resources and to reduce waste emissions to landfill, air and water. Consequently, individual firms and groups of firms are seeking to develop innovative and commercially attractive alternatives to waste disposal. Wastes are increasingly being regarded as 'by-products' rather than wastes and one firm's waste is increasingly being regarded as another's input. There is potential now to develop 'industrial ecosystems' where waste is re-used and the waste loop is closed. Closing the loop does, however, require a significant amount of multidisciplinary research in order to understand the nature of the waste streams available and the various options for transforming these, economically, into re-usable inputs. This report summarises the results of one such study. Because many rural towns tend to have similar waste streams, this study lays the groundwork for the development of industrial ecosystems in regional Australia. Regional centres such as Tamworth (NSW), where this study was undertaken, have agro-industrial estates that produce significant levels of organic by-product. The Glen Artney Industrial Estate (GAIE) in Tamworth is home to two abattoirs, a meat products manufacturer, livestock saleyard, hydroponic vegetable producer, industrial laundry and a range of other smaller service industries. There is also potential to double the number of firms operating within its boundary. A survey and analysis of the GAIE reveals that the major wastes presently produced include heat, carbon dioxide, various wastewaters, plant and animal waste products (including paunch). As part of the endeavor to understand how loops might be closed, this report provides a technical discussion of the major processes for transforming organic waste to energy. Included in this discussion are: direct combustion, gasification; pyrolysis; anaerobic digestion and alcoholic fermentation. The advantages and disadvantages of each process for the disposal of organic waste are also discussed. The nature, amount and type of waste produced suggest that the process of anaerobic digestion might have the most potential. This conclusion is supported by the imminent development of a commercial anaerobic digester at a similar agro-industrial estate in Wagga Wagga (NSW). There are, however, other issues that need to be addressed before general recommendations and development of this process can be recommended. These include OH&S issues, institutional (including legal and bureaucratic) constraints, possible problems in obtaining a constant, reliable quality and quantity of required organic inputs on which new systems will depend, and the development of efficient transport systems. More research is required in these areas

Trends in the breeding population of Adélie penguins in the Ross Sea, 1981-2012: a coincidence of climate and resource extraction effects.

Measurements of the size of Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies of the southern Ross Sea are among the longest biologic time series in the Antarctic. We present an assessment of recent annual variation and trends in abundance and growth rates of these colonies, adding to the published record not updated for more than two decades. High angle oblique aerial photographic surveys of colonies were acquired and penguins counted for the breeding seasons 1981-2012. In the last four years the numbers of Adélie penguins in the Ross and Beaufort Island colonies (southern Ross Sea metapopulation) reached their highest levels since aerial counts began in 1981. Results indicated that 855,625 pairs of Adélie penguins established breeding territories in the western Ross Sea, with just over a quarter (28%) of those in the southern portion, constituting a semi-isolated metapopulation (three colonies on Ross Island, one on nearby Beaufort Island). The southern population had a negative per capita growth rate of -0.019 during 1981-2000, followed by a positive per capita growth rate of 0.067 for 2001-2012. Colony growth rates for this metapopulation showed striking synchrony through time, indicating that large-scale factors influenced their annual growth. In contrast to the increased colony sizes in the southern population, the patterns of change among colonies of the northern Ross Sea were difficult to characterize. Trends were similar to southern colonies until the mid-1990s, after which the signal was lost owing to significantly reduced frequency of surveys. Both climate factors and recovery of whale populations likely played roles in the trends among southern colonies until 2000, after which depletion of another trophic competitor, the Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni), may explain the sharp increasing trend evident since then