#FeesMustFall2016: Perceived and measured effect on clinical medical students

Background. Medical students are under immense academic stress. Campus unrest can contribute to stress and influence academic performance, social behaviour, emotional stability and financial expenses.Objectives. To investigate the effects of #FeesMustFall2016 (#FMF2016) on the 2016 3rd-year (semester 6) clinical medical students at the University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa.Methods. In phase 1 of the project, anonymous questionnaires were completed by the clinical students who experienced physical test disruption during #FMF2016. Opinions regarding academic performance, financial expenses, behaviour changes and stress levels were gathered. The students also completed a formal post-traumatic stress screening assessment. In phase 2 of the project, the academic performance of these students was compared with that of students not affected by #FMF2016.Results. Of the target population of 138 students, 87.0% completed the questionnaires. Three-quarters of the respondents reported a negative effect on academic performance, and most did not believe that the delivering of lectures on Blackboard was a good way of training. Alcohol consumption increased in 31.9% of the students. Criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were met in 12.7% of students. Compared with previous and later cohorts of students there were no clear differences regarding marks, but there was a tendency towards poorer performance and more failures the next year.Conclusions. Semester 6 medical students at UFS reported that the #FMF2016 protests had a negative effect on academic, social, financial and stress aspects. PTSD was present in 12.7% of students compared with 7.8% in similar populations.

High-capacity transmission over polymer optical fiber

Abstract-Polymer optical fiber (POF) is a promising transmission medium to provide broad-band telecommunication services within the customer's premises. POF offers several attractive features for data transmission such as broad bandwidth and low cost for in-house, access, and local-area-network (LAN) applications. This paper presents a review on optical transmission systems using POF and their enabling technologies. A summary is given of experimental data links with record capacity over record transmission distances. To conclude, we discuss trends for further development and research. Index Terms-Optical communications, optical fiber, polymer optical fiber

Monitoring of species' genetic diversity in Europe varies greatly and overlooks potential climate change impacts.

Genetic monitoring of populations currently attracts interest in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity but needs long-term planning and investments. However, genetic diversity has been largely neglected in biodiversity monitoring, and when addressed, it is treated separately, detached from other conservation issues, such as habitat alteration due to climate change. We report an accounting of efforts to monitor population genetic diversity in Europe (genetic monitoring effort, GME), the evaluation of which can help guide future capacity building and collaboration towards areas most in need of expanded monitoring. Overlaying GME with areas where the ranges of selected species of conservation interest approach current and future climate niche limits helps identify whether GME coincides with anticipated climate change effects on biodiversity. Our analysis suggests that country area, financial resources and conservation policy influence GME, high values of which only partially match species' joint patterns of limits to suitable climatic conditions. Populations at trailing climatic niche margins probably hold genetic diversity that is important for adaptation to changing climate. Our results illuminate the need in Europe for expanded investment in genetic monitoring across climate gradients occupied by focal species, a need arguably greatest in southeastern European countries. This need could be met in part by expanding the European Union's Birds and Habitats Directives to fully address the conservation and monitoring of genetic diversity

The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics.

ABSTRACT: A global genome database of all of Earth’s species diversity could be a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. However, regardless of the major advances in genome sequencing technologies, only a tiny fraction of species have genomic information available. To contribute to a more complete planetary genomic database, scientists and institutions across the world have united under the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP), which plans to sequence and assemble high-quality reference genomes for all ∼1.5 million recognized eukaryotic species through a stepwise phased approach. As the initiative transitions into Phase II, where 150,000 species are to be sequenced in just four years, worldwide participation in the project will be fundamental to success. As the European node of the EBP, the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA) seeks to implement a new decentralised, accessible, equitable and inclusive model for producing high-quality reference genomes, which will inform EBP as it scales. To embark on this mission, ERGA launched a Pilot Project to establish a network across Europe to develop and test the first infrastructure of its kind for the coordinated and distributed reference genome production on 98 European eukaryotic species from sample providers across 33 European countries. Here we outline the process and challenges faced during the development of a pilot infrastructure for the production of reference genome resources, and explore the effectiveness of this approach in terms of high-quality reference genome production, considering also equity and inclusion. The outcomes and lessons learned during this pilot provide a solid foundation for ERGA while offering key learnings to other transnational and national genomic resource projects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Monitoring of species’ genetic diversity in Europe varies greatly and overlooks potential climate change impacts

Genetic monitoring of populations currently attracts interest in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity but needs long-term planning and investments. However, genetic diversity has been largely neglected in biodiversity monitoring, and when addressed, it is treated separately, detached from other conservation issues, such as habitat alteration due to climate change. We report an accounting of efforts to monitor population genetic diversity in Europe (genetic monitoring effort, GME), the evaluation of which can help guide future capacity building and collaboration towards areas most in need of expanded monitoring. Overlaying GME with areas where the ranges of selected species of conservation interest approach current and future climate niche limits helps identify whether GME coincides with anticipated climate change effects on biodiversity. Our analysis suggests that country area, financial resources and conservation policy influence GME, high values of which only partially match species’ joint patterns of limits to suitable climatic conditions. Populations at trailing climatic niche margins probably hold genetic diversity that is important for adaptation to changing climate. Our results illuminate the need in Europe for expanded investment in genetic monitoring across climate gradients occupied by focal species, a need arguably greatest in southeastern European countries. This need could be met in part by expanding the European Union’s Birds and Habitats Directives to fully address the conservation and monitoring of genetic diversity

Understanding Adaptive Hypermedia: An Architecture for Personalisation and Adaptivity

The predominant approach taken by the adaptive hypermedia (AH) community to implementing AH systems may be characterised as application-orientated and technologydriven. This has, in part, resulted in relatively low levels of interchangeability and interoperability between AH systems. To address this situation recent AH research has begun to focus on understanding the mechanisms and structures underpinning AH systems. In particular, several formal models have been proposed which address these issues, the prominent examples being Adaptive Hypermedia Application Model, the Fundamental Open Hypermedia Model and the Goldsmiths Adaptive Hypermedia Model. In this paper we propose a component-based architecture for AH within which these approaches to modelling are compared and understood. Using this architecture we show that although each model uses different representations there are important underlying commonalities. It is envisaged that through an understanding of these commonalities, it may be possible for the AH community to devise a standardised "plug 'n' play" architecture for the development of future AH systems

EFFECTS OF OVERABUNDANT MOOSE ON THE NEWFOUNDLAND LANDSCAPE

The long-term effects of introduced and overabundant herbivores on community development must be monitored and managed in an ecosystem-based forest management approach. This paper builds on previously published ecological descriptions and hypotheses offered on the effects of moose overabundance in Newfoundland. The island, in the absence of wolves, provides a setting for study of local irruptions in moose populations, which now affect an increasing area of the forest. Moose effects occur most often after natural disturbances and logging, involving unique forest succession patterns. We describe some of these changes, along with anticipated and realised changes in associated forest biodiversity. We offer suggestions to improve or refine monitoring of moose populations, especially at local scales, to detect cases of overabundance. Finally, we offer recommendations for the management of overabundant moose populations

Wild opportunities with dedomestication genetics of rabbits

After domestication, wild progenitors, such as the aurochs and the wild horse, became extinct. For the European rabbit, however, ancestral, domestic, and feral populations exist. During domestication of the rabbit, very few alleles have been fixed for selective traits, and thus, the ancestral genotypes have been preserved in lowered frequencies. This facilitates investigations on genetic processes involved in domestication as well as dedomestication, that is, where domestic strains are \u201crewilded.\u201d The acquired knowledge may be useful in the search for genotypic, phenotypic, and, perhaps most importantly, ecotypic equivalents that could assist in the restoration of extinct fauna and its ecosystem functions. Such efforts could provide novel evolutionary trajectories useful in nature restoration, management, and conservation