A Positive Library Experience for International Students? Results from a Business Librarians Association survey

The theme of the annual Business Librarians Association BLA) three-day conference held at Stirling Management Centre during summer 2012 was ‘Going global? Challenges of internationalisation’. Business schools in the UK attract large numbers of international students,2 and the conference aimed to explore how business librarians can help provide a positive experience for international students. To support this theme, three business librarians, Stephen Bull from University of Birmingham,Stephanie Allen from University of Worcester and Alison Lahlafi from Sheffield Hallam University, collaborated on a survey of BLA members services to international students

Vascular and blood-brain barrier-related changes underlie stress responses and resilience in female mice and depression in human tissue

Prevalence, symptoms, and treatment of depression suggest that major depressive disorders (MDD) present sex differences. Social stress-induced neurovascular pathology is associated with depressive symptoms in male mice; however, this association is unclear in females. Here, we report that chronic social and subchronic variable stress promotes blood-brain barrier (BBB) alterations in mood-related brain regions of female mice. Targeted disruption of the BBB in the female prefrontal cortex (PFC) induces anxiety- and depression-like behaviours. By comparing the endothelium cell-specific transcriptomic profiling of the mouse male and female PFC, we identify several pathways and genes involved in maladaptive stress responses and resilience to stress. Furthermore, we confirm that the BBB in the PFC of stressed female mice is leaky. Then, we identify circulating vascular biomarkers of chronic stress, such as soluble E-selectin. Similar changes in circulating soluble E-selectin, BBB gene expression and morphology can be found in blood serum and postmortem brain samples from women diagnosed with MDD. Altogether, we propose that BBB dysfunction plays an important role in modulating stress responses in female mice and possibly MDD

Globalisation and International Students: Remodelling Micro-international Aspects for the Entrepreneurial University

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