Kartel Convent (KC) Jewish fraternity at the University of Heidelberg; Heidelberg, Germany.

Thomas Krakauer's father, Hans Krakauer is second from left in the rear row.

No evidence for genetic association with the let-7 microRNA-binding site or other common KRAS variants in risk of endometriosis

STUDY QUESTION Is there a contribution of the minor allele at the KRAS single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs61764370 in the let-7 microRNA-binding site to endometriosis risk? SUMMARY ANSWER We found no evidence for association between endometriosis risk and rs61764370 or any other SNPs in KRAS. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY The rs61764370 SNP in the 3' untranslated region of the KRAS gene is predicted to disrupt a complementary binding site (LCS6) for the let-7 microRNA, and was recently reported to be at a high frequency (31%) in 132 women of varying ancestry with endometriosis compared with frequencies in a database of population controls (up to 7.6% depending on ancestry), suggesting a strong effect of this KRAS SNP in the aetiology of endometriosis. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE AND DURATION This was a case-control study with a total of 11 206 subjects. The study was performed between February 2012 and July 2012. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTINGAND METHODS We first investigated a possible association between common markers in KRAS and endometriosis risk from our genome-wide association (GWA) data in 3194 surgically confirmed endometriosis cases and 7060 controls of European ancestry. Although rs61764370 was not genotyped on the GWA arrays, five SNPs typed in the study were highly correlated with this variant. The rs61764370 and two SNPs highly correlated with rs61764370 were then genotyped in 933 endometriosis cases and 952 controls using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE There was no evidence for an association between rs61764370 and endometriosis risk P = 0.411 and odds ratio = 1.10 (95% confidence intervals: 0.88-1.36). We also found no evidence for an association between the highly correlated SNP rs17387019 and endometriosis. Their minor allele frequencies in cases and controls were of 0.087-0.091 similar to the population frequency reported previously for this variant in controls. Analyses of endometriosis cases with revised American Fertility Society stage III/IV disease also showed no evidence for an association between these SNPs and endometriosis risk. LIMITATIONS AND REASONS FOR CAUTION The GWA and genotyped data sets were not independent since individuals and cases from some families overlap. Controls in our GWA study were not screened for endometriosis. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS The key SNP, rs61764370, was genotyped in a subset of samples. Our results do not support the suggestion that carrying the minor allele at rs61764370 contributes to a significant number of endometriosis cases and rs61764370 is, therefore, unlikely to be a useful marker of endometriosis risk. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The research was funded by grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust. None of the authors has competing interests for the study.

Evaluation of polymorphisms in predicted target sites for micro RNAs differentially expressed in endometriosis

Previous microarray analyses identified 22 microRNAs (miRNAs) differentially expressed in paired ectopic and eutopic endometrium of women with and without endometriosis. To investigate further the role of these miRNAs in women with endometriosis, we conducted an association study aiming to explore the relationship between endometriosis risk and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in miRNA target sites for these differentially expressed miRNAs. A panel of 102 SNPs in the predicted miRNA binding sites were evaluated for an endometriosis association study and an ingenuity pathway analysis was performed. Fourteen rare variants were identified in this study. We found SNP rs14647 in the Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome candidate gene1 (WHSC1) 3'UTR (untranslated region) was associated with endometriosis-related infertility presenting an odds ratio of 12.2 (95% confidence interval = 2.4-60.7, P = 9.03 x 10(-5)). SNP haplotype AGG in the solute carrier family 22, member 23 (SLC22A23) 3'UTR was associated with endometriosis-related infertility and more severe disease. With the individual genotyping data, ingenuity pathways analysis identified the tumour necrosis factor and cyclin-dependant kinase inhibitor as major factors in the molecular pathways. Significant associations between WHSC1 alleles and endometriosis-related infertility and SLC22A23 haplotypes and the disease severe stage were identified. These findings may help focus future research on subphenotypes of this disease. Replication studies in independent large sample sets to confirm and characterize the involvement of the gene variation in the pathogenesis of endometriosis are needed.

Albert and Elsa Einstein at the Shanghai home of Chinese painter and calligrapher Wang Yiting; with Shanghai University President Yu Youren, former Beijing University professor Zhang Junmai, the Einstein's Japanese hosts Mr. and Mrs. Inagaki, and Einstein's colleague Mr. Pfister and his wife (and daughter?) Portraits Groups

Dedication: Freundlichste Erinnerung an Herrn Prof. Einstein und seine Frau Gemahlin. I-Jing Wang, Shanghai, China

Kartel Convent (KC) Jewish fraternity at the University of Heidelberg; Heidelberg, Germany.

Thomas Krakauer's father, Hans Krakauer is second from left in the rear row.

Hebrew University

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Heb. U. (Hebrew University) - Opening Ceremony

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Heb. (Hebrew) University Library

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Heb. U. (Hebrew University) - Grad. (Graduation) '32 - High Commissioner

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Heb. U. (Hebrew University) - Einstein Math.

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Past-day recall of sedentary time: Validity of a self-reported measure of sedentary time in a university population

Background Sedentary behaviour is associated with several deleterious health consequences. Although device-based measures of sedentary time are available, they are costly and do not provide a measure of domain specific sedentary time. High quality self-report measures are necessary to accurately capture domain specific sedentary time, and to provide an alternative to devices when cost is an issue. In this study, the Past-day Adults’ Sedentary Time (PAST) questionnaire, previously shown to have acceptable validity and reliability in a sample of breast cancer survivors, was modified for a university sample and validity of the modified questionnaire was examined compared with activPAL. Methods Participants (n = 58, age = 18–55 years, 48% female, 66% students) were recruited from the University of Queensland (students and staff). They answered the PAST questionnaire, which asked about time spent sitting or lying down for work, study, travel, television viewing, leisure-time computer use, reading, eating, socialising and other purposes, during the previous day. Time reported for these questions was summed to provide a measure of total sedentary time. Participants also wore an activPAL device for the full day prior to completing the questionnaire and recorded their wake and sleep times in an activity log. Total waking sedentary time derived from the activPAL was used as the criterion measure. Correlation (Pearson's r) and agreement (Bland–Altman plots) between PAST and activPAL sedentary time were examined. Results Participants were sedentary (activPAL-determined) for approximately 66% of waking hours. The correlation between PAST and activPAL sedentary time for the whole sample was r = 0.50 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28–0.67]; and higher for non-students (r = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.26–0.84) than students (r = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.16–0.68). Bland–Altman plots revealed that the mean difference between the two measures was 19 min although limits of agreement were wide (95% limits of agreement −4.1 to 4.7 h). Discussion The PAST questionnaire provides an acceptable measure of sedentary time in this population, which included students and adults with high workplace sitting. These findings support earlier research that questionnaires employing past-day recall of sedentary time provide a viable alternative to existing sedentary behaviour questionnaires.

Should I stay or should I go?: Rural and remote students in first year university stem courses

Research on the achievement of rural and remote students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of rural students in higher education. International studies such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), have reported lower levels of mathematical and scientific literacy in Australian students from rural and remote schools (Thomson et al, 2011). The SiMERR national survey of science, mathematics and ICT education in rural and regional Australia (Lyons et al, 2006) identified factors affecting student achievement in rural and remote schools. Many of the issues faced by rural and remote students in their schools are likely to have implications on their university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. For example, rural and remote students are less likely to attend university in general than their city counterparts and higher university attrition rates have been reported for remote students nationally. This paper examines the responses of a sample of rural/remote Australian first year STEM students at Australian universities to two questions. These related to their intentions to complete the course; and whether -and if so, why- they had ever considered withdrawing from their course. Results indicated that rural students who were still in their course by the end of first year were no more or less likely to consider withdrawing than were their peers from more populous centres. However, almost 20% of the rural cohort had considered withdrawing at some stage in their course, and their explanations provide insights into the reasoning of those who may not persist with their courses at university. These results, in the context of the greater attrition rate of remote students from university, point to the need to identify factors that positively impact on rural and remote students’ interest and achievement in science and mathematics. It also highlights a need for future research into the particular issues remote students may face in deciding whether or not to do science at the two key transition points of senior school and university/TAFE studies, and whether or not to persist in their tertiary studies. This paper is positioned at the intersection of two problems in Australian education. The first is a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian universities. The second is persistent inequitable access to, and retention in, tertiary education for students from rural and remote areas. Despite considerable research attention to both of these areas over recent years these problems have thus far proved to be intractable. This paper therefore aims to briefly review the relevant Australian literature pertaining to these issues; that is, declining STEM enrolments, and the underrepresentation and retention of rural/remote students in higher education. Given the related problems in these two overlapping domains, we then explore the views of first year rural students enrolled in courses, in relation to their intentions of withdrawing (or not) and the associated reasons for their views.

Can teacher collaboration overcome barriers to interdisciplinary learning in a disciplinary university? A case study using climate change

A teacher network was formed at an Australian university in order to better promote interdisciplinary student learning on the complex social-environmental problem of climate change. Rather than leaving it to students to piece together disciplinary responses, eight teaching academics collaborated on the task of exposing students to different types of knowledge in a way that was more than the summing of disciplinary parts. With a part-time network facilitator providing cohesion, network members were able to teach into each other’s classes, and share material and student activities across a range of units that included business, zoology, marine science, geography and education. Participants reported that the most positive aspects of the project were the collegiality and support for teaching innovation provided by peers. However, participants also reported being time-poor and overworked. Maintaining the collaboration beyond the initial one year project proved difficult because without funding for the network facilitator, participants were unable to dedicate the time required to meet and collaborate on shared activities. In order to strengthen teacher collaboration in a university whose administrative structures are predominantly discipline-based, there is need for recognition of the benefits of interdisciplinary learning to be matched by recognition of the need for financial and other resources to support collaborative teaching initiatives.

Review of the Deakin University Master of Public Health Program

This work is one in a series of reports that forms a national review of Indigenous Public Health Core Competencies Integration into Master of Public Health programs. The review is a component of the Indigenous Public Health Capacity Building (IPHCB) Project funded by the Australian Government Department of Health.The Indigenous public health competencies are a core component of the Foundational Competencies for MPH Graduates in Australia (ANAPHI 2009), a curriculum framework that integrates the six core competencies in Indigenous public health expected of every Australian MPH graduate. The aim of this review is to investigate the integration of the core Indigenous public health competencies into the curriculum of MPH programs nationally in order to document and disseminate examples of best practice and to find ways of strengthening the delivery of this content. This report, one in a series, relates to the curriculum review conducted at Deakin University’s Burwood campus, Melbourne in April 2013.