Enhancing the Experience: An Analysis of Collegiate Recreation’s Impact on Student Learning

Collegiate recreation has the opportunity to impact student growth beyond physical activity. Serving as one of the university’s largest employers, collegiate recreation provides students with opportunities to achieve desired university learning outcomes. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to examine what on-the-job activities and experiences impact the five learning domains: career development, civic and community engagement, leadership, ethics and values, and responsible independence. BGSU undergraduate students who have been employed with BGSU Recreation and Wellness for a minimum of one semester were recruited to participate in this study. Respondents who agreed to participate in the study competed a self-administered questionnaire by rating the frequency of their experiences in 13 on-the-job activities and experiences and questions about the five learning domains. The result of analysis indicated there are statistically significant relationships between many on-the-job experiences and the five learning domains. Collaboration, problem solving, task repetition and informal interactions with supervisors were found to be on-the-job activities relating strongest to the five learning domains

Equality, Non-Discrimination and Work-Life Balance in Canada

The principle that everyone has a right to equal treatment was first entrenched in Canadian law in the aftermath of the Second World War when legislation began to be enacted prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, race and religion. Since that time, the grounds of prohibited discrimination have steadily increased. These grounds will be discussed in greater detail in the answer to question 1. Because Canada is a federal state and courts have held that legislative authority over human rights is primarily a matter of provincial jurisdiction, there is no uniform law of Canada. Nevertheless, the provisions of statutory human rights codes (HRCs) are quite similar across the country. There is, however, a second, more recent source of equality rights, and that is section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), which came into force in 1985. Section 15 guarantees the “right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability” but also applies to other analogous grounds that courts may identify. The Charter is part of Canada’s constitution and thus is national in scope. However it only applies to state action and so while it does not apply to private employers, it can be used to challenge legislation that violates equality rights as well as actions performed by government in its role as an employer

Fixed-Term Contracts and Principle of Equal Treatment in Canada

Canada is best characterized as a liberal market economy which lightly regulates employment relations and, in particular, the duration of employment contracts.1 As such, many of the kinds of protections that might be found in other countries included in this dossier are not present in Canada. There are, however, a few older statutory provisions that limit the length of fixed-term contracts and impose formalities for their creation because of a concern about the creation of disguised forms of unfree labour. There is also a small body of common law that reflects a preference for contracts of indefinite hiring over fixed term contracts and that provides for damages when fixed-term contracts are prematurely terminated without just cause. These are discussed in more detail below

A systematic review of evidence to inform HIV prevention interventions among men who have sex with men in Europe.

An estimated 42% of all newly diagnosed HIV cases in Europe in 2013 were transmitted during sex between men. This review was performed to identify and describe studies evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions among men who have sex with men (MSM), in relation to implementation data from European settings. A systematic search was performed individually for 24 interventions.Data were extracted from studies including efficacy or implementation data from European settings,appraised for efficacy, implementation and plausibility, and assigned a grade (1-4) according to the Highest Attainable Standard of Evidence (HASTE)framework. Four interventions (condom use, peer outreach,peer-led groups, and using universal coverage of antiretroviral treatment and treatment as prevention)were assigned the highest HASTE grade, 1. Another four interventions were assigned 2a for probable recommendation, including voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, using condom-compatible lubricant,using post-exposure prophylaxis, and individual counselling for MSM living with HIV. In addition, seven interventions were assigned a grade of 2b, for possible recommendation. Encouragingly, 15 interventions were graded to be strongly, probably or possibly recommended.In the relatively resource-rich European setting, there is an opportunity to provide global leadership with regard to the regional scale-up of comprehensive HIV prevention interventions for MSM

Scatter correction of transmission near-infrared spectra by photon migration data: Quantitative analysis of solids

The scope of this work is a new methodology to correct conventional near-infrared (NIR) data for scattering effects. The technique aims at measuring the absorption coefficient of the samples rather than the total attenuation measured in conventional NIR spectroscopy. The main advantage of this is that the absorption coefficient is independent of the path length of the light inside the sample and therefore independent of the scattering effects. The method is based on time-resolved spectroscopy and modeling of light transport by diffusion theory. This provides an independent measure of the scattering properties of the samples and therefore of the path length of light. This yields a clear advantage over other preprocessing techniques, where scattering effects are estimated and corrected for by using the shape of the measured spectrum only. Partial least squares (PLS) calibration models show that, by using the proposed evaluation scheme, the predictive ability is improved by 50% as compared to a model based on conventional NIR data alone. The method also makes it possible to predict the concentration of active substance in samples with other physical properties than the samples included in the calibration model

Blood Meal Analysis to Identify Reservoir Hosts for Amblyomma americanum Ticks

Blood meal analysis identified white-tailed deer as hosts for ticks that carry zoonotic pathogens

Gulf Coast Ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) and Rickettsia parkeri, United States

Geographic distribution of Rickettsia parkeri in its US tick vector, Amblyomma maculatum, was evaluated by PCR. R. parkeri was detected in ticks from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, which suggests that A. maculatum may be responsible for additional cases of R. parkeri rickettsiosis throughout much of its US range

Comparison of Phenology and Pathogen Prevalence, Including Infection With the Ehrlichia muris-Like (EML) Agent, of Ixodes Scapularis Removed from Soldiers in the Midwestern and Northeastern United States Over a 15 Year Period (1997-2012)

Background: Since 1997, human-biting ticks submitted to the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program (HTTKP) of the US Army Public Health Command have been tested for pathogens by PCR. We noted differences in the phenology and infection prevalence among Ixodes scapularis ticks submitted from military installations in different geographic regions. The aim of this study was to characterize these observed differences, comparing the phenology and pathogen infection rates of I. scapularis submitted from soldiers at two sites in the upper Midwest ( Camp Ripley, MN, and Ft. McCoy, WI) and one site in the northeastern US (Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA). Methods: From 1997 through 2012, the HTTKP received 1,981 I. scapularis from the three installations and tested them for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi and the Ehrlichia muris-like (EML) agent using PCR; pathogen presence was confirmed via sequencing or amplification of a second gene target. Pathogen and co-infection prevalence, tick engorgement status, and phenology were compared among installations. Results: Greater rates of A. phagocytophilum and Ba. microti infections were detected in ticks submitted from installations in Minnesota than in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, and the EML agent was only detected in ticks from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Midwestern ticks were also more likely to be co-infected than those from Pennsylvania. Both adult and nymphal ticks showed evidence of feeding on people, although nymphs were more often submitted engorged. Adult I. scapularis were received more frequently in June from Minnesota than from either of the other sites. Minnesota adult and nymphal peaks overlapped in June, and submissions of adults exceeded nymphs in that month. Conclusions: There were clear differences in I. scapularis phenology, pathogen prevalence and rates of co-infection among the three military installations. Seasonal and temperature differences between the three sites and length of time a population had been established in each region may contribute to the observed differences. The synchrony of adults and nymphs observed in the upper Midwest has implications for pathogen infection prevalence. The EML agent was only detected in Minnesota and Wisconsin, supporting the previous assertion that this pathogen is currently limited to the upper Midwest