Taking a global perspective:The nature and value of comparative and international education (CIE) in UK universities

Comparative and international education (CIE) offers undergraduate students a perspective on education systems and contexts beyond their own direct experience. In this chapter, we introduce CIE as a field, and share an overview of what is currently taught within CIE units and modules at undergraduate level in the UK. To do so, we draw on a review of CIE units at 24 UK universities – perhaps even including your own institution, and units that you may have taken or consider taking in the future. Our findings demonstrate some key current debates within the field and push readers to think more deeply about the values, priorities and assumptions that we may take for granted in studying others’ approaches to education

Teaching Comparative and International Education in the UK: a national survey of undergraduate programmes

This BAICE-funded study reports on the status of comparative and international education (CIE) in undergraduate programmes in the UK based on analysis of curriculum documents and interviews with teachers on CIE units. While there are have been numerous efforts to map CIE research over the years (Davidson et al., 2020; Pizmony-Levy, 2021), the nature of CIE teaching has received considerably less attention. To our knowledge this is the first systematic effort to map CIE teaching in UK universities since the 1990s (Schweisfurth 1999). The overarching question guiding this study is the nature of CIE as taught at undergraduate level in the UK, as well as the value and the challenges of such courses from the perspectives of teachers. We explore these issues through the analysis of curriculum documents and interviews with teachers. Evidence for this study was collected as follows. In September 2020 we issued a call via the BAICE mailing list, social media and professional networks for UK-based colleagues to share the handbooks for undergraduate courses which address comparative education, international education and/or globalisation. Materials for 40 units (Appendix 1) were received from colleagues at 24 institutions (9 pre-1992, 15 post-1992). Following this, in Spring 2021 interviews were conducted with seven teachers of CIE (4 pre-1992, 3 post-1992). In this report we share findings on the geographical and thematic coverage of CIE at undergraduate level, and teachers’ perspectives on the purposes as well as the challenges of teaching these courses. We hope that findings from this study can inform future teaching, curriculum development and debate in this area

Surfactant-free synthesis and scalable purification of triangular gold nanoprisms with low non-specific cellular uptake

Gold nanoprisms possess remarkable optical properties that make them useful for medical biotechnology applications such as diagnosis and photothermal therapy. However, shape-selective synthesis of gold nanoprisms is not trivial and typically requires either toxic surfactants or time-consuming purification protocols, which can limit their applicability. Here, we show how triangular gold nanoprisms of different sizes can be purified by precipitation using the non-toxic glutathione ligand, thereby removing the need for toxic surfactants and bottleneck purification techniques. The protocol is amenable for direct scaling up as no instrumentation is required in the critical purification step. The new purification method provides a two-fold increased yield in gold nanoprisms compared to electrophoretic filtration, while providing nanoprisms of similar localized surface plasmon resonance wavelength. Crucially, the gold nanoprisms isolated using this methodology show fewer non-specific interactions with cells and lower cellular internalization, which paves the way for a higher selectivity in therapeutic applications

Metformin improves healthspan and lifespan in mice

Metformin is a drug commonly prescribed to treat patients with type 2 diabetes. Here we show that long-term treatment with metformin (0.1% w/w in diet) starting at middle age extends healthspan and lifespan in male mice, while a higher dose (1% w/w) was toxic. Treatment with metformin mimics some of the benefits of calorie restriction, such as improved physical performance, increased insulin sensitivity, and reduced LDL and cholesterol levels without a decrease in caloric intake. At a molecular level, metformin increases AMP-activated protein kinase activity and increases antioxidant protection, resulting in reductions in both oxidative damage accumulation and chronic inflammation. Our results indicate that these actions may contribute to the beneficial effects of metformin on healthspan and lifespan. These findings are in agreement with current epidemiological data and raise the possibility of metformin-based interventions to promote healthy aging

Chromosome 10Q2432 Variants associate With Brain arterial Diameters in Diverse Populations: a Genome-Wide association Study

BACKGROUND: Brain arterial diameters (BADs) are novel imaging biomarkers of cerebrovascular disease, cognitive decline, and dementia. Traditional vascular risk factors have been associated with BADs, but whether there may be genetic determinants of BADs is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: The authors studied 4150 participants from 6 geographically diverse population-based cohorts (40% European, 14% African, 22% Hispanic, 24% Asian ancestries). Brain arterial diameters for 13 segments were measured and averaged to obtain a global measure of BADs as well as the posterior and anterior circulations. A genome-wide association study revealed 14 variants at one locus associated with global BAD at genome-wide significance ( CONCLUSIONS: The current study reveals 3 novel risk loci

Age-dependent impact of two exercise training regimens on genomic and metabolic remodeling in skeletal muscle and liver of male mice

Skeletal muscle adapts to different exercise training modalities with age; however, the impact of both variables at the systemic and tissue levels is not fully understood. Here, adult and old C57BL/6 male mice were assigned to one of three groups: sedentary, daily high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT), or moderate intensity continuous training (MICT) for 4 weeks, compatible with the older group’s exercise capacity. Improvements in body composition, fasting blood glucose, and muscle strength were mostly observed in the MICT old group, while effects of HIIT training in adult and old animals was less clear. Skeletal muscle exhibited structural and functional adaptations to exercise training, as revealed by electron microscopy, OXPHOS assays, respirometry, and muscle protein biomarkers. Transcriptomics analysis of gastrocnemius muscle combined with liver and serum metabolomics unveiled an age-dependent metabolic remodeling in response to exercise training. These results support a tailored exercise prescription approach aimed at improving health and ameliorating age-associated loss of muscle strength and function in the elderly.This work was supported by funding from the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging/NIH. Work in JMV laboratory was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) grant BFU2015-64630-R, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MICIU) grant RTI2018-100695-B-I00, Spanish Junta de Andalucía grants P18-RT-4264, 1263735-R and BIO-276, the FEDER Funding Program from the European Union, and Universidad de Córdoba. MCR was supported by a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (reference FPU14/06308). SRL held a FPI predoctoral contract funded by MINECO (reference BES-2016-078229).Peer reviewe

Hybrid antimicrobial films containing a polyoxometalate-ionic liquid

The increasing resistance of pathogenic microorganisms against common treatments requires innovative concepts to prevent infection and avoid long-term microbe viability on commonly used surfaces. Here, we report the preparation of a hybrid antimicrobial material based on the combination of microbiocidal polyoxometalate-ionic liquids (POM-ILs) and a biocompatible polymeric support, which enables the development of surface coatings that prevent microbial adhesion. The composite material is based on an antibacterial and antifungal room-temperature POM-IL composed of guanidinium cations (N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-N″, N″-dioctylguanidinum) combined with lacunary Keggin-type polyoxotungstate anions, [α-SiW11O39]8–. Integration of the antimicrobial POM-IL into the biocompatible, flexible, and stable polymer poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) results in processable films, which are suitable as surface coatings or packaging materials to limit the proliferation and spread of pathogenic microorganisms (e.g., on public transport and hospital surfaces, or in ready-to-eat-food packaging).This research was supported by Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst DAAD (A.G.E.); Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades (Spain) Proyectos I + D + I, PID2019-109333RB-I00 (S.G.M & R.M.-R.); CSIC i-Link + 2019 project LINK20270 (S.G.M & R.M.-R.); European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 845427) (E.A.B. and S.G.M); Programa Operativo Aragón de Fondo Social Europeo 2014–2020 (I.F.C.); Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina (National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion, ANPCYT): PICT 2017-3767 (M.B.) and PICT 2017-0340 (M.J.C); the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (National Scientific and Technical Research Council); and the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, CAI + D 50620190100020LI (M.J.C) and Gobierno de Aragón (Project LMP49-18).Peer reviewe