Non-Commercial Homestay;an exploration of encounters and experiences of guests visiting the UK.

This paper explores the experiences of tourists travelling within the UK using hosts through the web based non commercial homestay organisations. The author, as a host explores the guests’ expectations, experiences and views on hospitality within this unique but growing form of accommodation. In order to ascertain the benefits to the guest, within non commercial homestay it is necessary to review the concept of value for the guest, explore the different forms or dimensions of hospitality, and ascertain levels of reciprocity within the host guest relationship. The paper shows that reciprocity within this hospitality context is asymmetrical and that the sacrifice made by the guest is to the benefit of the host be it non financial

The value of Real Working Environments in Developing Employability.

For some time, the School of Services Management (SSM) at Bournemouth University and many other schools, within HEIs, offering hospitality courses have been challenged to reconsider and reconfigure the skills based learning of its hospitality students. For many institutions this has been prompted by a number of drivers, not least the growing evidence that a modern university must acknowledge the demands of an increasingly diverse cohort of learners. The closure of some traditional training restaurants has also had other drivers including growing demand on resources, space and budgets particularly with the change in undergraduate funding where the band C and B weighting was reduced. Many schools have, and are, independently looking at a variety of delivery models and this article shows how the SSM has moved away from the traditional training restaurant approach and utilised a different strategy for the delivery of their practical curriculum. The team delivering the curriculum is now 48 months into the new delivery method and this article reflects on this

Untersuchung der Genexpression von Dictyostelium discoideum nach Infektion mit Legionella mittels DNA-Microarrays

Frischwasser-Amöben stellen den natürlichen Wirt von L. pneumophila, den Erreger der Legionärskrankheit dar. Die soziale Amöbe D. discoideum, ein Modellorganismus, wurde verwendet, um die differentielle Genexpression des Wirts nach Infektion mit L. pneumophila zu untersuchen. Dazu wurde ein DNA-Microarray hergestellt, das mit 5906 genspezifischen Sonden etwa die Hälfte des D. discoideum-Genoms repräsentiert. Mit Hilfe interner Kontrollen wurden die gemessenen Faktoren der Induktion und Repression der Expression von Genen überprüft und die Nachweisgrenze des Systems bestimmt. Es wurde untersucht, wie sich die Messunsicherheit durch wiederholte Messungen verringern lässt, und welche Faktoren zur Messunsicherheit beitragen. Ein automatisiertes Auswerteverfahren wurde entwickelt, mit dem die Messspanne des Systems durch die Verwendung von zwei Messbereichen vergrößert wurde. Das Verfahren nutzt freie Software, um alle Messwerte eines Microarray-Experiments gemeinsam zu normalisieren und die differentiell exprimierten Gene zu identifizieren. Mit diesem Microarray-System wurde die Genexpression von D. discoideum nach Infektion mit L. pneumophila untersucht. Die Experimente wurden im Vergleich zu drei Kontrollen, uninfizierten Zellen und Koinkubation mit L. hackeliae sowie mit L. pneumophila DdotA durchgeführt. L. hackeliae und L. pneumophila DdotA sind Legionella Stämme, die eine verminderte Pathogenität bzw. ein deletiertes Pathogenitätsgen aufweisen. Für den Zeitpunkt 24 Stunden nach Infektionsbeginn wurden 140 in D. discoideum differentiell exprimierte Gene identifiziert. Bei einigen handelt es sich um Gene, die für bekannte Proteine von D. discoideum kodieren. Dazu gehören RtoA, Discoidin I, CotB und die lysosomale a-Mannosidase. Anderen konnte mittels Homologie-Suche eine Funktion zugeordnet werden. Hierzu zählen das molekulare Chaperon ClpB, b�-COP und drei kleine Calcium-bindende Proteine. Mit Hilfe einer Kategorisierung der Sonden nach zellulären Prozessen wurden die Genexpressionsänderungen auch auf einer funktionellen Ebene analysiert. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass besonders viele Gene reguliert sind, deren Produkte am Nukleotid-Metabolismus beteiligt sind, oder bei denen es sich um ribosomale Proteine handelt. Die Genexpression wurde auch in einer Zeitreihe der Infektion über 48 Stunden untersucht. Dabei zeigte sich, dass drei Stunden und 24 Stunden nach Infektionsbeginn die meisten Änderungen auftreten. Die mit dem Microarray identifizierten Änderungen der Genexpression wurden für zehn Gene mittels quantitativer PCR und Northernblots bestätigt

Longing for a taste of home.

Purpose This study offers an understanding of the role of food in the adjustment journey of Nigerian students in the UK. Methodology A qualitative approach was used, involving interviews with ten Nigerians studying in the UK. Findings Thematic analysis revealed that participants found the food they ate locally to be bland and fattening, and that they quickly adopted a home country diet, using ingredients bought locally or sent and brought from home to recreate Nigerian dishes. Eating Nigerian food had a positive emotional impact, and it was also a vehicle for social interaction. Limitations It is acknowledged that this is a small scale preliminary study that could be extended across the UK with a more quantitative approach to get a broader picture of the eating habits of Nigerian, students at British Universities. There is also an opportunity to widen it to include other African states who are neglected within the present literature. A more longitudinal study picking up migrants could also explore how adjustments have been made in their eating habits. Participants in this research equated fast food with local, English food due to their limited access to authentic local cuisine. Practical implications There are practical implications of this study whereby actions can be taken to help avoid the negative impacts experienced causing concerns in around mental wellbeing and poor health. Originality This study fills a gap in knowledge on how this important segment of the international student population adapts to a new food culture

A deficit in visits to the optometrist by preschool age children: implications for vision screening

Vision screening in children is aimed primarily at detecting non-strabismic amblyopia (other forms of vision defect are generally evident to parents). Such non-strabismic amblyopia occurs mostly as a result of uncorrected refractive errors.1,2 In the December 2003 report by the Child Health Sub-group3 it was recommended that all 4−5 year olds should receive vision screening. The Health For All Children 4 (HFAC4, 2003) “Hall Report”4 and the Children’s Eye Health Working Party guidelines5 similarly suggest vision screening should be undertaken in all 4–5 year olds. This advice is in accord with the results of the first randomised controlled trial of treatment for amblyopia,2 which found that treatment of moderate amblyopia (acuity 6/36−6/18) in preschool aged children was effective

Family aggregation of high myopia: estimation of the sibling recurrence risk ratio

PURPOSE. To estimate the sibling recurrence risk (KS) and the sibling recurrence risk ratio ({lambda}S) for high myopia in a cohort in the United Kingdom. METHOD. The recurrence risks for myopia and high myopia were estimated in the siblings of 296 randomly selected high myopes ascertained from an optometric practice population. A model using an age of onset of spectacle wear for myopia of 9.1 ± 0.7 years or younger was developed as a surrogate for high myopia. The influence of parental myopia on the sibling recurrence risk for high myopia was also evaluated. RESULTS. KS was estimated (95% confidence limits) to be 10.0% (5.9, 14.8) and {lambda}S to be 4.9 (2.8, 7.6). High myopes without myopic parents were surprisingly common (~40%) and were less likely to have highly myopic siblings (KS ~6%) than those with at least one myopic parent (KS ~14%). CONCLUSIONS. The sibling recurrence risk ratio reported herein ({lambda}S ~ 4.9) implies that the high penetrance autosomal dominant loci for high myopia identified to date account for only a minority of cases of high myopia in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, high-penetrance autosomal dominant inheritance or even high-penetrance recessive inheritance, per se, cannot account for most cases of high myopia. Instead, it may be necessary to consider high myopia as a "complex disease" resulting from the influence of either alleles of reduced penetrance ("susceptibility genes"), environmental factors, or both

Identification of the protein kinases Pyk3 and Phg2 as regulators of the STATc-mediated response to hyperosmolarity

Cellular adaptation to changes in environmental osmolarity is crucial for cell survival. In Dictyostelium, STATc is a key regulator of the transcriptional response to hyperosmotic stress. Its phosphorylation and consequent activation is controlled by two signaling branches, one cGMP- and the other Ca(2+)-dependent, of which many signaling components have yet to be identified. The STATc stress signalling pathway feeds back on itself by upregulating the expression of STATc and STATc-regulated genes. Based on microarray studies we chose two tyrosine-kinase like proteins, Pyk3 and Phg2, as possible modulators of STATc phosphorylation and generated single and double knock-out mutants to them. Transcriptional regulation of STATc and STATc dependent genes was disturbed in pyk3(-), phg2(-), and pyk3(-)/phg2(-) cells. The absence of Pyk3 and/or Phg2 resulted in diminished or completely abolished increased transcription of STATc dependent genes in response to sorbitol, 8-Br-cGMP and the Ca(2+) liberator BHQ. Also, phospho-STATc levels were significantly reduced in pyk3(-) and phg2(-) cells and even further decreased in pyk3(-)/phg2(-) cells. The reduced phosphorylation was mirrored by a significant delay in nuclear translocation of GFP-STATc. The protein tyrosine phosphatase 3 (PTP3), which dephosphorylates and inhibits STATc, is inhibited by stress-induced phosphorylation on S448 and S747. Use of phosphoserine specific antibodies showed that Phg2 but not Pyk3 is involved in the phosphorylation of PTP3 on S747. In pull-down assays Phg2 and PTP3 interact directly, suggesting that Phg2 phosphorylates PTP3 on S747 in vivo. Phosphorylation of S448 was unchanged in phg2(-) cells. We show that Phg2 and an, as yet unknown, S448 protein kinase are responsible for PTP3 phosphorylation and hence its inhibition, and that Pyk3 is involved in the regulation of STATc by either directly or indirectly activating it. Our results add further complexities to the regulation of STATc, which presumably ensure its optimal activation in response to different environmental cues

Linkage analysis of the genetic loci for high myopia on chromosomes 18p, 12q and 17q in 51 UK families

PURPOSE. To determine the extent to which high myopia in a cohort of 51 U.K. families can be attributed to currently identified genetic loci. METHODS. The families comprised 245 subjects with phenotypic information and DNA available, of whom 170 were classified as affected. Subjects were genotyped for microsatellite markers spanning _40cM regions on 18p (MYP2), 12q (MYP3) and 17q, together with markers flanking COL2A1, COL11A1, and FBN1. Two-point linkage analyses were performed using the same disease gene segregation model as was used in the original publications, followed by nonparametric and multipoint analyses using Genehunter (http://linkage.rockefeller. edu/soft/gh/ provided in the public domain by Rockefeller University, New York, NY), with additional maximization over the parameter _, the proportion of linked families. RESULTS. Evidence of linkage was found for the MYP3 locus on 12q (two-point Zmax _ 2.54, P _ 0.0003 and multipoint hLOD _ 1.08 at _ _ 0.24, P _ 0.023 for marker D12S332; nonparametric linkage [NPL] _ 1.49, P _ 0.07 for marker D12S1607). For the 17q locus there was weak evidence of excess allele sharing and linkage under a recessive model (NPL _ 1.34, P _ 0.09 for marker D17S956; two-point hLOD _ 1.24 at _ _ 0.30 for marker D17S1795; multipoint hLOD _ 1.24 at _ _ 0.17, P _ 0.014 for marker at 77.68 cM, between markers D17S956 and D17S1853). No significant linkage was found to the MYP2 locus on 18p, or to the COL2A1, COL11A1, and FBN1 genes. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that the MYP3 locus on 12q could be responsible for high myopia in approximately 25% of the U.K. families showing apparent autosomal dominant transmission, but that the loci on 18p and 17q are less common causes. Thus, additional loci for high myopia are likely to be the cause of the majority of cases of high myopia in the United Kingdom

Visual Acuity Measures Do Not Reliably Detect Childhood Refractive Error - an Epidemiological Study

PURPOSE: To investigate the utility of uncorrected visual acuity measures in screening for refractive error in white school children aged 6-7-years and 12-13-years. METHODS: The Northern Ireland Childhood Errors of Refraction (NICER) study used a stratified random cluster design to recruit children from schools in Northern Ireland. Detailed eye examinations included assessment of logMAR visual acuity and cycloplegic autorefraction. Spherical equivalent refractive data from the right eye were used to classify significant refractive error as myopia of at least 1DS, hyperopia as greater than +3.50DS and astigmatism as greater than 1.50DC, whether it occurred in isolation or in association with myopia or hyperopia. RESULTS: Results are presented from 661 white 12-13-year-old and 392 white 6-7-year-old school-children. Using a cut-off of uncorrected visual acuity poorer than 0.20 logMAR to detect significant refractive error gave a sensitivity of 50% and specificity of 92% in 6-7-year-olds and 73% and 93% respectively in 12-13-year-olds. In 12-13-year-old children a cut-off of poorer than 0.20 logMAR had a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 91% in detecting myopia and a sensitivity of 41% and a specificity of 84% in detecting hyperopia. CONCLUSIONS: Vision screening using logMAR acuity can reliably detect myopia, but not hyperopia or astigmatism in school-age children. Providers of vision screening programs should be cognisant that where detection of uncorrected hyperopic and/or astigmatic refractive error is an aspiration, current UK protocols will not effectively deliver