Book Review: The Twenty-First Century University: Developing Faculty Engagement in Internationalization

Review of The Twenty-First Century University: Developing Faculty Engagement in Internationalization, by L. K. Childress. New York, NY: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. 174 pages; ISBN 978-1-4331-0659-

International Faculty\u27s Perceptions of Their Professional Experiences: Results from a Recent Survey

The current study examined international faculty\u27s perceptions of their professional experiences at a regional university in the Southeastern United States. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Overall, results present a very positive picture of how these foreign born faculty members are functioning at the university. Most are satisfied with a number of areas in their professional responsibilities; are confident about their English skills; enjoy positive interaction with their students and colleagues; and view their international experiences and global perspectives as valuable assets in their professional life

Perceptions of Beauty Among Female Chinese Students in the United States and China

This pilot study compared the perceptions of beauty among Chinese women who were exchange students in the United States with Chinese women who were students in their homeland. We interviewed 19 women in China and 19 women in the United States to determine differences in responses. In accordance with the sociocultural approach and the social comparison approach, we expected Chinese women in the United States to have a be more acculturate, more frequently conclude that American women were more beautiful than Chinese women, be more likely than those studying in China to report body dissatisfaction, be more likely to dislike and desire to alter body parts that specifically reflect American beauty ideals, and express a greater desire to surgically alter their bodies. Results indicated that participants in the United States group were more likely to reflect some American beauty standards (particularly their desires to lose weight and to be taller), while maintaining those of their own culture (the importance of facial appearance), as well. Suggestions for future research and practice, particularly for mental health workers on college campuses with growing populations of Chinese exchange students, are discussed

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead