Higher Education in Cambodia and the Atypical Example of the History Department at RUPP 2

In the past few years, Cambodia has seen an explosion in the growth of Higher Education that has been, to a large extent, absorbed by the dramatic rise in the number of private Universities. There are now some 106 campuses across the country. In the academic year, 2007-8, there were 110,090 bachelor degree students enrolled, among which 46,395 were in public Universities and 63,695 in private ones, according to Ministry of Education figures. There were also 15,802 Associate Degree students and 11,209 post –graduate students (over twice the number of the previous year).The vast majority of students - even in state universities - pay fees of about $400 a year. More than half of the 5,184 postgraduate students in Cambodian Higher Education Institutions 2006-2007 took an MBA or a related financial management course. Enrolments are now over 12 times the number in 1996. Scholarships do not exist - only a few of the best students are exonerated from paying those fees. Unlike all other Departments of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), the History Department has not been renovated and is not connected to any other in the region or in the West. Recruitment is low: there are only cohorts of about 30 students for each of the 4 years. The Department is supposed to train upper secondary school teachers for the entire country. It has 11 lecturers, 5 of whom have a Master. None have a PhD. This subject is not very popular in Cambodia among students these days, as teachers are poorly paid. Ces dernières années, le Cambodge a vu une grande explosion dans la croissance de l’éducation supérieure, surtout absorbée par l’essor dramatique des universités privées. Il existe maintenant 106 campus dans le pays. D’après les chiffres du Ministère de l’Éducation, 110.090 bacheliers se sont inscrits dans les universités pendant l’année universitaire 2007/2008, dont 63.695 dans des universités privées et 46.395 dans des universités publiques. Il y avait également 15.802 étudiants inscrits dans des filières universitaires technologiques, ainsi que 11.209 étudiants de troisième cycle. La plupart des étudiants, même dans les universités publiques, payent des droits de scolarité de 400 dollars américains par an. Plus de la moitié des 5.184 étudiants de troisième cycle des institutions universitaires cambodgiennes ont étudié un MBA ou un cours d’administration en 2006/2007. L’inscription est aujourd’hui 12 fois plus élevée en nombre qu’en 1996. Il n’existe pas de bourses – seulement quelques uns des meilleurs étudiants ne payent pas. Contrairement à tous les autres départements de l’Université Royale de Phnom Penh (RUPP), le département d’histoire n’a pas été rénové et n’est connecté à aucune des régions de l’ouest. Le recrutement est peu important: les cohortes sont seulement de 30 étudiants tous les quatre ans. Le département est censé préparer des professeurs de collèges dans tout le pays mais il n’a que onze chargés de cours, dont cinq ont une maîtrise. Aucun d’entre eux n’a de doctorat. Cette matière n’est plus très populaire de nos jours au Cambodge car les professeurs sont mal payés

Proceedings of the EuBIC Winter School 2019

The 2019 European Bioinformatics Community (EuBIC) Winter School was held from January 15th to January 18th 2019 in Zakopane, Poland. This year’s meeting was the third of its kind and gathered international researchers in the field of (computational) proteomics to discuss (mainly) challenges in proteomics quantification and data independent acquisition (DIA). Here, we present an overview of the scientific program of the 2019 EuBIC Winter School. Furthermore, we can already give a small outlook to the upcoming EuBIC 2020 Developer’s Meeting

The transfer of diatoms from freshwater to footwear materials: An experimental study assessing transfer, persistence, and extraction methods for forensic reconstruction

In recent years there has been growing interest in environmental forms of trace evidence, and ecological trace evidence collected from footwear has proved valuable within casework. Simultaneously, there has been growing awareness of the need for empirical experimentation to underpin forensic inferences. Diatoms are unicellular algae, and each cell (or ‘frustule’) consists of two valves which are made of silica, a robust material that favours their preservation both in sediments and within forensic scenarios. A series of experiments were carried out to investigate the transfer and persistence of diatoms upon common footwear materials, a recipient surface that has historically been overlooked by studies of persistence. The effectiveness of two novel extraction techniques (jet rinsing, and heating and agitation with distilled water) was compared to the established extraction technique of hydrogen peroxide digestion, for a suite of five common footwear materials: canvas, leather, and ‘suede’ (representing upper materials), and rubber and polyurethane (representing sole materials). It was observed that the novel extraction technique of heating and agitation with distilled water did not extract fewer diatom valves, or cause increased fragmentation of valves, when compared to peroxide digestion, suggesting that the method may be viable where potentially hazardous chemical reactions may be encountered with the peroxide digestion method. Valves could be extracted from all five footwear materials after 3 min of immersion, and more valves were extracted from the rougher, woven upper materials than the smoother sole materials. Canvas yielded the most valves (a mean of 2511/cm2) and polyurethane the fewest (a mean of 15/cm2). The persistence of diatoms on the three upper materials was addressed with a preliminary pilot investigation, with ten intervals sampled between 0 and 168 h. Valves were seen to persist in detectable quantities after 168 h on all three upper materials. However, some samples produced slides with no valves, and the earliest time after which no diatom valves were found was 4 h after the transfer. Analysis of the particle size distributions over time, by image analysis, suggests that the retention of diatoms may be size-selective; after 168 h, no particles larger than 200 μm2 could be found on the samples of canvas, and > 95% of the particles on the samples of suede were less than or equal to 200 μm2. A pilot investigation into the effects of immersion interval was carried out upon samples of canvas. Greater numbers of valves were extracted from the samples with longer immersion intervals, but even after 30 s, > 500 valves could be recovered per cm2, suggesting that footwear may be sampled for diatoms even if the contact with a water body may have been brief. These findings indicate that, if the variability within and between experimental runs can be addressed, there is significant potential for diatoms to be incorporated into the trace analysis of footwear and assist forensic reconstructions

Delayed bedtime due to screen time in schoolchildren: Importance of area deprivation

Background Sleep duration is an important predictor of obesity and health. This study evaluated the association between late bedtime and screen time, and the role of geographical deprivation in English schoolchildren. Methods We collected bedtime and waking time, screen time, sociodemographic data and measured body mass index in a cross-section of 1332 11-15-year-old schoolchildren (45.7% female) participating in the East of England healthy heart study. Logistic regression was used to determine the likelihood of late bedtime in schoolchildren with different screen time and from a different geographic location. Mean differences were assessed either on ANOVA or t-test. Results Approximately 42% of boys went to bed late at night compared with 37% of girls. When compared to those with 4 h of daily screen time were most likely to go to sleep late at night (OR, 1.97; 95%CI: 1.34-2.89). Late bedtime was associated with deprivation in schoolchildren. Conclusions High screen time and deprivation may explain lateness in bedtime in English schoolchildren. This explanation may vary according to area deprivation and geographic location. Family-centered interventions and parental support are important to reduce screen time, late bedtime and increase sleep duration

Cost-effectiveness model of using zoledronic acid once a year versus current treatment strategies in postmenopausal osteoporosis

OBJECTIVES: To compare effectiveness, associated cost of outcomes and cost-effectiveness of a single annual infusion of zoledronic acid versus current treatment strategies plans for postmenopausal osteoporosis in France. METHODS: Twelve simulation-based models were built to investigate three types of fractures: vertebral (VF), non-vertebral excluding hip (NVF) and hip (HF), comparing two groups: zoledronic acid and current postmenopausal antiosteoporotic treatment strategies. Two effectiveness comparability assumptions have been tested: specific agent efficacy values, and same standard efficacy values for all active agents. Direct medical costs included drug costs, medical visits, monitoring and fracture management. Adherence levels were integrated into the model under the assumption that non-adherent patients had treatment effects similar to the levels of placebo effectiveness. RESULTS: Using the most conservative assumption (same standard efficacy values for all active agents), zoledronic acid strategy results in less vertebral, non-vertebral and hip fractures than other current antiosteoporotic treatment options over 3 years: 12.04% vs. 14.18%, 10.61% vs. 11.28% and 2.82% vs. 4.64% respectively, (p<0.001). In addition, zoledronic acid is more cost-effective than the current treatment strategies in all types of fractures (p<0.001): 1497 euros vs. 1685 euros per VF avoided, 1337 euros vs. 1404 euros per NVF avoided and 1216 euros vs. 1323 euros per HF avoided. CONCLUSION: Zoledronic acid is a cost-effective treatment strategy regardless of fracture type or effectiveness comparability assumptions

El eslabón perdido de las imágenes en el genocidio camboyano: en torno a La imagen perdida (Rithy Panh, 2013)

La imagen perdida (L'image manquante / The Missing Picture, Rithy Panh, 2013) constituye una indagación, a la vez intimista e histórica, acerca de las posibilidades, y por tanto también los límites, de cualquier imagen para capturar acontecimientos extremos de la historia y de la experiencia humana del dolor, en este caso ante el teatro del genocidio camboyano perpetrado por los Jemeres Rojos (1975-1979). En realidad, las imágenes que se utilizan en ámbitos documentales y ficcionales para representar el genocidio son de muy diversa condición. En primer lugar, este artículo expone las modalidades de dichas imágenes en función de su relación con los hechos y el tipo de mirada que las funda (imágenes de perpetradores, de liberadores, testimoniales, post facto¿) para adentrarse más tarde en el estudio de otras formas carentes de soporte físico (imágenes espectrales, traumáticas o interiores). Una vez considerada su migración en el tiempo y el tejido icónico que entre todas conforman, el artículo estudia cómo actúan estos distintos tipos de imagen en el film y cómo, además de imágenes socializadas, Rithy Panh da forma a imágenes memorísticas incorpóreas. L'image manquante / The Missing Picture (Rithy Panh, 2013) might be considered an investigation, both intimate and historical, on the possibilities and limits for any image to represent atrocities and the experience of atrocities. The theatre of this reflection is the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979). As a matter of fact, the range of images commonly used to embody the extermination perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge are extremely varied. First, this article analyzes their modality in relation to the facts they are supposed to convey, in particular, the kind of gaze they put forward so as to distinguish among perpetrators images, liberators images, testimonial images, images post facto. Then, it takes into consideration other images lacking physical support, such as spectral images, traumatic images and inner images. Once these cases have been studied in their interaction as well as in their temporal migration, this article closely examines how they intervened in the film and the way Rithy Panh gives shape to these incorporeal memorial images

Short Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index

BACKGROUND: Sleep duration may be an important regulator of body weight and metabolism. An association between short habitual sleep time and increased body mass index (BMI) has been reported in large population samples. The potential role of metabolic hormones in this association is unknown. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Study participants were 1,024 volunteers from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, a population-based longitudinal study of sleep disorders. Participants underwent nocturnal polysomnography and reported on their sleep habits through questionnaires and sleep diaries. Following polysomnography, morning, fasted blood samples were evaluated for serum leptin and ghrelin (two key opposing hormones in appetite regulation), adiponectin, insulin, glucose, and lipid profile. Relationships among these measures, BMI, and sleep duration (habitual and immediately prior to blood sampling) were examined using multiple variable regressions with control for confounding factors. A U-shaped curvilinear association between sleep duration and BMI was observed. In persons sleeping less than 8 h (74.4% of the sample), increased BMI was proportional to decreased sleep. Short sleep was associated with low leptin (p for slope = 0.01), with a predicted 15.5% lower leptin for habitual sleep of 5 h versus 8 h, and high ghrelin (p for slope = 0.008), with a predicted 14.9% higher ghrelin for nocturnal (polysomnographic) sleep of 5 h versus 8 h, independent of BMI. CONCLUSION: Participants with short sleep had reduced leptin and elevated ghrelin. These differences in leptin and ghrelin are likely to increase appetite, possibly explaining the increased BMI observed with short sleep duration. In Western societies, where chronic sleep restriction is common and food is widely available, changes in appetite regulatory hormones with sleep curtailment may contribute to obesity

Octreotide (long-acting release formulation) treatment in patients with graves' orbitopathy: clinical results of a four-month, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

There are few effective, safe modalities for the management of Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO), a cell-mediated immune comorbidity of thyroid disease. Somatostatin analogs inhibit lymphocyte proliferation and activation, and accumulate in the orbital tissue of patients with GO. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a long-acting somatostatin analog [16 wk of long-acting release formulation of octreotide (octreotide-LAR)] was conducted in 51 patients with mild active GO with the aim of preventing deterioration and precluding the need for more aggressive therapeutic modalities, such as glucocorticoids or radiotherapy. No treatment effect was observed for the primary end point (a composite parameter defining the outcome as either success or failure on the basis of changes in class/grade of the severity index and Clinical Activity Scale of GO). The Clinical Activity Scale score was reduced for patients treated with octreotide-LAR, but without any significant difference with respect to patients receiving placebo. However, octreotide-LAR significantly reduced proptosis (as measured by exophthalmometry). This was associated with nonsignificant differences in favor of octreotide-LAR in a series of proptosis-related parameters: class III grade, opening of the upper eyelid, the difference in ocular pressure between primary position and upgaze, and extraocular muscle involvement. By magnetic resonance imaging evaluation the extraocular muscle volumes appeared reduced, but nonsignificantly. No significant correlation between the initial uptake of the somatostatin analog indium-labeled and the response to treatment was observed. One patient in the octreotide-LAR group developed gallstones. In this study, octreotide-LAR did not seem suitable to mitigate activity in mild GO. Surprisingly, it significantly reduced proptosis, one of the most debilitating symptoms of GO. Additional studies are warranted to define the benefit to risk ratio of the somatostatin analogs in this indication

Genetic Markers of Obesity Risk: Stronger Associations with Body Composition in Overweight Compared to Normal-Weight Children

Genetic factors are important determinants of overweight. We examined whether there are differential effect sizes depending on children's body composition. We analysed data of n = 4,837 children recorded in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), applying quantile regression with sex- and age-specific standard deviation scores (SDS) of body mass index (BMI) or with body fat mass index and fat-free mass index at 9 years as outcome variables and an "obesity-risk-allele score" based on eight genetic variants known to be associated with childhood BMI as the explanatory variable. The quantile regression coefficients increased with increasing child's BMI-SDS and fat mass index percentiles, indicating larger effects of the genetic factors at higher percentiles. While the associations with BMI-SDS were of similar size in medium and high BMI quantiles (40th percentile and above), effect sizes with fat mass index increased over the whole fat mass index distribution. For example, the fat mass index of a normal-weight (50th percentile) child was increased by 0.13 kg/m(2) (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.09, 0.16) per additional allele, compared to 0.24 kg/m(2) per allele (95% CI: 0.15, 0.32) in children at the 90th percentile. The genetic associations with fat-free mass index were weaker and the quantile regression effects less pronounced than those on fat mass index. Genetic risk factors for childhood overweight appear to have greater effects on fatter children. Interaction of known genetic factors with environmental or unknown genetic factors might provide a potential explanation of these findings