"There Were Only Friendly People and Love in the Air": Fans, Tourism and the Eurovision Song Contest

This chapter will give some insight into the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) as an event that attracts a particular group of tourists – fans. Fan tourism is a growing field and the travel industries are increasingly viewing fans as a key market segment. What makes the ESC unique both as an event and a fandom is that the fans are firstly fans of the competition, and not of a particular artist. With a television audience of around 200 million the ESC can be regarded as a mega event, but despite its size it has maintained a certain intimacy – which may be partly due to the friendly atmosphere among the traveling fans (many of whom are regular ESC attendees). The ESC as a media event is sometimes prone to stereotyping, and perhaps constructing simplified European identities, but the corporal event experience adds other aspects and dimensions. While watching from the sofa and following social media comments may reinforce old-fashioned dichotomies, traveling to attend the event and mixing with fans from other countries foster a greater sense of respect for other cultures

"There were only friendly people and love in the air"; fans, tourism and the Eurovision Song Contest

This chapter will give some insight into the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) as an event that attracts a particular group of tourists – fans. Fan tourism is a growing field and the travel industries are increasingly viewing fans as a key market segment. Visit London, for example, has built a whole marketing campaign around fans and fan tourism – “Fans of London” (Visit London, 2017) – and VisitBritain encourages fans of Britain to post pictures and comments on social media as part of the global #OMGB (“Oh My GREAT Britain”) campaign (VisitBritain, 2017). As the concept of the fan has become more inclusive it has also entered into the mainstream consciousness – we can now be fans of “almost anything” (Guerrier, 2015). Although being a fan may still be “fraught with baggage from historical and contemporary media representations” (Stanfill, 2013, p. 17) – and fans are sometimes viewed as a threat to the dominant social order (Jensen, 1992; Hills, 2002; Sandvoss, 2005; Jenkins, 2008; Duffett, 2013) – the broadening of the fan concept has placed particular emphasis on fans as customers and, as such, they are attractive for businesses (Linden & Linden, 2017). In fact, in the experience economy, or consumer society, where subcultures are increasingly difficult to identify, it is instead normal to be a fan. So, while fans were previously viewed with suspicion, being a fan can now enhance one’s status and increase one’s social and cultural capital not only within the fandom, but beyond it too. Fans experience things, and after all, experiences are what we are all after

Role of sialic acid in brachyspira hyodysenteriae adhesion to pig colonic mucins

Infection with Brachyspira hyodysenteriae results in mucoid hemorrhagic diarrhea. This pathogen is associated with the colonic mucus layer, mainly composed of mucins. Infection regulates mucin O-glycosylation in the colon and increases mucin secretion as well as B. hyodysenteriae binding sites on mucins. Here, we analyzed potential mucin epitopes for B. hyodysenteriae adhesion in the colon, as well as the effect of colonic mucins on bacterial growth. Associations between B. hyodysenteriae binding to pig colonic mucins and mucin glycan data showed that B. hyodysenteriae binding was associated with the presence of N-glycolylneuraminic acid (NeuGc) on mucins. The role of sialic acid in B. hyodysenteriae adhesion was analyzed after the removal of sialic acid residues on the mucins by enzymatic treatment with sialidase A, which decreased bacterial binding to the mucins. The effect of pig colonic mucins on B. hyodysenteriae growth was determined in carbohydrate-free medium. B. hyodysenteriae growth increased in the presence of mucins from two out of five infected pigs, suggesting utilization of mucins as a carbon source for growth. Additionally, bacterial growth was enhanced by free sialic acid and N-acetylglucosamine. The results highlight a role of sialic acid as an adhesion epitope for B. hyodysenteriae interaction with colonic mucins. Furthermore, the mucin response and glycosylation changes exerted in the colon during B. hyodysenteriae infection result in a potentially favorable environment for pathogen growth in the intestinal mucus layer

Architecture and Access: Navigating A New Space

Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is a small, private art and design college founded in 1909. PNCA is located in downtown Portland and hosts approximately 600 students in ten undergraduate programs and five graduate programs. In January 2015, the campus was moved from our old building — a converted warehouse — to the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design, a former federal building located on Portland’s North Park Blocks in the heart of the city. This move almost doubled the square footage of the library, affording us more space for our collection, three new study rooms, a reference desk, a built-in IT help desk, and more seating and workspace for our patrons. Like any new space, however, the Albert Solheim Library required many adjustments, both in our approach to access services and in the usage and layout of the space itself

Declining peatland bird numbers are not consistent with the increasing Common Crane population

The Common Crane (Grus grus) population has experienced an unprecedented increase across Europe during the last decades. Although cranes feed mostly on invertebrates, amphibians and berries during the breeding season, they can also eat eggs and young of other birds. Therefore, conservationists have raised concerns about the potential predatory effect of cranes on wetland avifauna, but the effects of crane predation on bird numbers have so far not been investigated. We here test the relationship between the crane and peatland bird population' abundances in Finland for five common wader and passerine species, and a set of seven less common waders, using line-transect data spanning from 1987 to 2014. We found that the population densities of two small passerines (Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis and Western Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava) and one wader species (Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola) were positively associated with crane numbers, probably related to a protective effect against nest predators. For the two other common species and the set of less common waders, we did not find any significant relationships with crane abundance. None of the species was influenced by the (lagged) effect of crane presence (i.e. years since crane was first observed). Peatland drainage was responsible for most species' negative densities, indicating the need to protect and restore peatlands to mitigate the loss of peatland bird diversity in Finland. In addition, openness, wetness and area size were important peatland characteristics positively influencing most of the studied bird populations. The development in crane and other mire bird numbers in Europe should be monitored regularly to reveal any possible future predatory effects contributing to the shaping of the peatland bird community.Peer reviewe

AN INVESTIGATION ON A BACTERIOPHAGE ENDOLYSIN POSSESSING ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of nosocomial (i.e. hospital-acquired) infection. Significantly, over 90% of S. aureus strains are resistant to penicillin, and since the mid-1980’s, methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains have become prevalent in hospitals worldwide, with resistance rates approaching 70%. In the U.S. alone, MRSA is responsible for over 100,000 invasive life threatening infections, such as necrotizing fasciitis, and causes 20,000 deaths annually. More worrisome, a variant known as community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) is spreading in schools, gymnasiums, and even professional sports teams, where it infects otherwise healthy adolescents and young adults. Vancomycin is often considered the last antibiotic of choice against MRSA and other Gram-positive pathogens. However, rates of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have already reached 30% and it is widely believed that emergence of vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA) is due to gene transfer during co-colonization of MRSA and VRE. Thus, alternative antimicrobial approaches are desperately needed. Endolysins, or peptidoglycan hydrolases, are phage-derived enzymes that actively lyse bacterial cells upon direct contact and may be considered such an alternative option. Moreover, the inability of bacteria to evolve resistance to endolysins is due to the specificity of the N-terminal catalytic domain, which cleaves a conserved peptidoglycan bond, and the C-terminal cell wall binding domain, which binds a cell surface moiety. This thesis represents an investigation into the endolysin PlyGRCS, which displays potent bacteriolytic activity against all antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus tested. This enzyme is active in physiologically relevant conditions (pH, NaCl, temperature), and its activity is greatly enhanced in the presence of calcium. PlyGRCS is the first endolysin with a single catalytic domain that cleaves two distinct sites in the peptidoglycan. Unlike antibiotics, PlyGRCS displays anti-biofilm activity, preventing, removing, and killing biofilms grown on abiotic and biotic surfaces. Engineering efforts were made to create an enzyme with a variable binding domain, which unfortunately displayed less activity than the wild type endolysin in the conditions tested. The antimicrobial efficacy of PlyGRCS was validated in a mouse model of S. aureus septicemia. The results from this study indicate that the endolysin PlyGRCS is a revolutionary therapeutic that should be further pursued for subsequent translational development

Connecting to Nature, Community, and Self: A Conservation Corps Approach to Re-engaging At-Risk Youth in Science Education

The social and environmental challenges of the coming decades will require that individuals possess environmental literacy: the understanding of natural systems combined with a sense of care for the earth, and the confidence and competency to act on its behalf. At the same time, disengaged youth need education environments that foster belonging and promote affective outcomes. The youth conservation corps model provides a natural context for engaging academically at-risk youth in environmental science education, while fostering connection to nature and student self-efficacy in ways that are experiential, relevant, and relationship-based. The focus of this study was a conservation corps program that integrates habitat restoration fieldwork and environmental science curriculum. The participants of this study were eight high school seniors who participated in the program for credit toward their high school diplomas. Data were collected through both quantitative and qualitative measures. Students completed a pre-test to assess their understanding and application of conceptual knowledge in ecosystem relationships and biodiversity. Upon completion of a six-week curriculum, they completed a post-test assessing knowledge in the same areas, two retrospective pre-post surveys measuring connection to nature and self-efficacy, and a post-evaluation measuring affective outcomes. Individual interviews were conducted in order to provide further insights and to identify elements of the program that contributed to positive outcomes. Results showed statistically significant increases in all outcome areas as well as positive student evaluation of affective outcomes. The outdoor and experiential components of the program were found to contribute most significantly to the positive outcomes

ReflAct:Formative assessment for teacher reflection in video-coaching settings

Video coaching appears to be a promising approach for teachers' professional development, but is not automatically productive. To our knowledge, there are no tools to help coaches to formatively assess the quality of reflective talk. Such a tool is needed to help coaches realize the potential of reflective video coaching conversations. Key features of a minimally viable prototype were explored through a mixed-methods proof-of-concept study, focusing on (perceptions of) added value, compatibility, clarity, and tolerance. A total of 17 participants with insight into teachers' reflective practices participated in an online study. Data were collected through think-aloud protocols, interviews, surveys, and use logs. Findings showed modest, yet concrete evidence that a tool would be viable and is worth developing further. First, users indicated that it could add value in terms of development and calibration that outweighed the associated costs. Second, the tool was deemed compatible with improvement needs, though respondents pointed out that attention should be paid to user differences, and to strengthening familiarization opportunities. Third, seven sub-factors require explanation to increase the tool's clarity. Finally, the tool appeared tolerant of various modalities of use, but reasoning about the nature of reflective conversations requires support. Together, the results yield quality criteria that can be used for further development and evaluation, and the findings extend current theory on the collaborative learning and reflection of (pre- and in-service) teacher educators. Overall, this study illustrates how digital technology can facilitate operationalization of ambiguous processes like reflective talk, and highlights the importance of attending to the implementation early on