A change process for the Tourism Undergraduate Programme of the University of Malta

Success in tourism depends on having tourism practitioners who are well prepared. The ITTC is instrumental in preparing Malta’s tourism practitioners of the future. The ITTC prepares practitioners who will be able to work in tourism, culture and related industries. The Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture (ITTC) has recently concluded the Periodic Programme Review (PPR) for the tourism studies undergraduate programme. In this brief report, we explain the process. We also highlight some of the main issues that emerged and explain how these were addressed. This report will be presented in a seminar for stakeholders that will be held on 24 January 2020.peer-reviewe

SPECIES INTERACTIONS DURING SUCCESSION IN ROCKPOOLS: ROLE OF HERBIVORES AND PHYSICAL FACTORS

Positive interactions are increasingly recognised to be important as community structure processes. Bertness and Callaway's model predicts positive interactions to be important under high consumer pressure or high environmental stress. Associational defences between organisms, when palatable algae take advantage of living with less palatable ones, will be the dominant structuring forces under high consumer pressure and low physical stress. Habitat ameliorations become more important under harsh physical conditions and low consumer pressure. This model was tested at Wembury Bay, Devon, Southwest England, using rockpools and emergent rock habitats distributed over the vertical height of the shore to generate gradients of environmental stress. Relationships between rockpool physico-chemical parameters and assemblage composition were investigated across the shore. Highest rockpool communities on the shore experienced the harshest environmental stress. Consumer pressure measured in rockpools was twice that recorded on emergent rock owing to high tide limpet movements from the surroundings into the pool rather than herbivore densities. Over these gradients, experimental plots were maintained at natural and reduced grazer density to control consumer pressure. Species interactions during succession were examined. Experimental plots distributed at three shore heights (high, mid, low) were scraped in both habitats to initiate succession and were then sampled regularly over a 2 year period. Species susceptibility to grazing drove different trajectories of succession under high and low consumer pressure suggesting that palatability influences species interactions. Physical stress affected species recruitment and development of the successional sequence in both habitats and over the intertidal gradient. Selective removal of early ephemeral and later perennial colonising algal species provided some evidence of positive interactions under both elevated levels of physical stress and high consumer pressure. These results are discussed in the context of the Bertness and Callaway model with which they are consistent and other models of succession.The Marine Biological Association of the U

Microplastics contamination in blue mussels (Mytilus edulis (L.)) and marine sediments along the coast of British Columbia, Canada

Contamination of marine ecosystems with microplastics (plastic particles ≤ 5mm) is now recognized as a serious and growing threat to sealife. One major concern is that invertebrates, fish, seabirds and marine mammals mistake plastic for food, leading to suffocation, blockage of the gut and/or malnutrition. Microplastics have been detected in sediment around the world, highlighting the propensity of this matrix to serve as a sink. Due to their extensive filter-feeding activity, marine bivalves are directly exposed to this structural pollutant. In the present study, we investigate microplastics contamination in nearshore subtidal sediment and mussel samples collected at 43 sites along the British Columbia coast. Microplastics were extracted from a 50g sediment subsample using a newly-developed method based on oleophilic properties of microplastics while mussel soft tissues were digested using enzymes. All samples are currently being analyzed under light microscopy to count and characterize (shape, colour, size) microplastics particles. A subset of microplastics will then be analyzed using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) in order to characterize polymer types. Our results will help shed some light on the source, transport and fate of microplastics in coastal British Columbia

Creating effective advisory boards for schools of nursing

Increasingly, a significant priority for the dean and faculty in schools of nursing is fundraising. Raising financial resources is highly competitive and requires sophisticated approaches to building relationships with individual donors, government agencies, private foundations, and corporations. Fundraising efforts need to be designed to cultivate alumni, parents, and friends as key leaders educated in the work of the school, its vision for the future, and the nursing profession. Advisory boards, with an emphasis on development, can effectively nurture such leaders who are fully versed in the strategic vision of the school and who are willing to provide financial support and access to a broad community of interest. An integrated approach that capitalizes on the expertise and knowledge of the dean, the faculty, advancement officers, and a carefully selected board chair forms the foundation of a successful model for development-focused advisory boards. Advisory board implementation is discussed from the perspective of a clearly articulated board charge, selection and recruitment, board retreat, assessment of interest and inclination through an annual board-planning process, engagement in priority project planning with the faculty, and careful cultivation toward deepened relationships and funding

The implications of regional and national demographic projections for future GMS costs in Ireland through to 2026

BACKGROUND: As the health services in Ireland have become more resource-constrained, pressure has increased to reduce public spending on community drug schemes such as General Medical Services (GMS) drug prescribing and to understand current and future trends in prescribing. The GMS scheme covers approximately 37% of the Irish population in 2011 and entitles them, inter alia, to free prescription drugs and appliances. This paper projects the effects of future changes in population, coverage, claims rates and average claims cost on GMS costs in Ireland. METHODS: Data on GMS coverage, claims rates and average cost per claim are drawn from the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) and combined with Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Regional and National Population Projections through to 2026). A Monte Carlo Model is used to simulate the effects of demographic change (by region, age, gender, coverage, claims rates and average claims cost) will have on GMS prescribing costs in 2016, 2021 and 2026 under different scenarios. RESULTS: The Population of Ireland is projected to grow by 32% between 2007 and 2026 and by 96% for the over 70s. The Eastern region is estimated to grow by 3% over the lifetime of the projections at the expense of most other regions. The Monte Carlo simulations project that females will be a bigger driver of GMS costs than males. Midlands region will be the most expensive of the eight old health board regions. Those aged 70 and over and children under 11 will be significant drivers of GMS costs with the impending demographic changes. Overall GMS medicines costs are projected to rise to €1.9bn by 2026. CONCLUSIONS: Ireland’s population will experience rapid growth over the next decade. Population growth coupled with an aging population will result in an increase in coverage rates, thus the projected increase in overall prescribing costs. Our projections and simulations map the likely evolution of GMS cost, given existing policies and demographic trends. These costs can be contained by government policy initiatives

The implications of regional and national demographic projections for future GMS costs in Ireland through to 2026

As the health services in Ireland have become more resource-constrained, pressure has increased to reduce public spending on community drug schemes such as General Medical Services (GMS) drug prescribing and to understand current and future trends in prescribing. The GMS scheme covers approximately 37% of the Irish population in 2011 and entitles them, inter alia, to free prescription drugs and appliances. This paper projects the effects of future changes in population, coverage, claims rates and average claims cost on GMS costs in Ireland

PCB and PBDE levels in southern and northern resident killer whales: update on contaminant levels and related health effects

Salish Sea’s killer whale populations are among the most contaminated marine mammals in the world and face risks related to the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and related contaminants such as polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs). While PCBs have long been banned, they continue to present toxic risks to marine mammals, along with a number of other, emerging persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) contaminants. Since PBTs have been identified as a threat to the recovery of resident killer whale populations under the auspices of the US Endangered Species Act and the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA), documenting the presence, trends and health effects of emerging PBT contaminants represents an important line of research. In the summer of 2016 and 2017, we collected blubber biopsies from 10 southern resident and nine northern resident killer whales. PCB and PBDE analyses were conducted using high resolution gas chromatography/high resolution mass spectrometry. Given the likelihood of significant temporal changes in the concentrations of these contaminants, this study will provide updated contaminant concentration data and strengthen our ability to prioritize contaminants of concern in resident killer whales. In addition, stable isotope and fatty acid analyses will provide important information on diet and nutritional status. Together with analyses of the expression of essential genes involved in immune response, hormone regulation and lipid metabolism, this study provides new essential information on the health status of resident killer whales as it relates to contaminant exposure and will help inform the development and application of recovery action plans

Characteristics of seismic survey pulses and the ambient soundscape in Baffin Bay and Melville Bay, West Greenland

In 2012 a seismic survey campaign involving four vessels was conducted in Baffin Bay, West Greenland. Long-distance (150 km) pre-survey acoustic modeling was performed in accordance with regulatory requirements. Four acoustic recorders, three with hydrophones at 100, 200, and 400m depths, measured ambient and anthropogenic sound during the survey. Additional recordings without the surveys were made from September 2013 to September 2014. The results show that (1) the soundscape of Baffin Bay is typical for open ocean environments and Melville Bay's soundscape is dominated by glacial ice noise; (2) there are distinct multipath arrivals of seismic pulses 40 km from the array; (3) seismic sound levels vary little as a function of depth; (4) high fidelity pre-survey acoustic propagation modeling produced reliable results; (5) the daily SEL did not exceed regulatory thresholds and were different using Southall, Bowles, Ellison, Finneran, Gentry, Greene, Kastak, Ketten, Miller, Nachtigall, Richardson, Thomas, and Tyack [(2007) Aquat. Mamm. 33, 411-521] or NOAA weightings [National Marine Fisheries Service (2016). NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-OPR-55, p. 178]; (6) fluctuations of SPL with range were better described by additive models than linear regression; and (7) the survey increased the 1-min SPL by 28 dB, with most of the energy below 100 Hz; energy in the 16 000 Hz octave band was 20 dB above the ambient background 6 km from the source. (C) 2017 Acoustical Society of America