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Open Educational Resources (OER) in higher education cannot be put into practice without considering institutional contexts, which differ not only globally but also within the same country. Each institutional context provides educators with opportunities or limitations where Open Educational Practices (OEP) and OER for teaching and learning are involved. As part of a broader research project, and as a follow-up to national perspectives, an international comparison was conducted, based on institutional cases of nine different higher education systems (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey). Aspects regarding the availability of infrastructure and institutional policies for OER, as well as the existence of measures directed at OER quality assurance and at the promotion of the development and use of OER were covered. The resulting theoretical contribution sheds light on an international comparative view of OER and points towards country-specific trends, as well as differences among institutions. These aspects could provide an impetus for the development of institutional guidelines and measures. In line with international literature on the topic, recommendations are derived to promote/enhance the use of OER in teaching and learning in higher education at the institutional level.

This paper explores faculty's perspectives and use of open educational resources (OER) and their repositories across different countries by conducting a multiple case study to find similarities and differences between academics' awareness, perceptions and use of OER, as well as examining related aspects of institutional policy and quality that may influence individual views. Data were collected through nine expert reports on each country studied (Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey) and were analyzed through qualitative content analysis using thematic coding. Findings show the impact on individual OER adoption with regard to the individual control of diverse factors by faculty members; of institutional policies and quality measures on the externally determined factors (by the institution); and of institutional professional development and provision of incentives in more internally determined factors (by the faculty members themselves). These findings carry implications for higher education institutions around the world in their attempt to boost OER adoption by faculty members.

In the fourth Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition (from July to September, 2010), 14 surface sediment samples were collected from the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Canadian Basin to examine the spatial distributions, potential sources, as well as ecological and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The ∑PAH (refers to the sum of 16 priority PAHs) concentration range from 27.66 ng/g to 167.48 ng/g (dry weight, d.w.). Additionally, the concentrations of ∑PAH were highest in the margin edges of the Canadian Basin, which may originate from coal combustion with an accumulation of Canadian point sources and river runoff due to the surface ocean currents. The lowest levels occurred in the northern of Canadian Basin, and the levels of ∑PAH in the Chukchi Sea were slightly higher than those in the Being Sea. Three isomer ratios of PAHs (Phenanthrene/Anthracene, BaA/(BaA+Chy), and LMW/HMW) were used to investigate the potential sources of PAHs, which showed the main source of combustion combined with weaker petroleum contribution. Compared with four sediment quality guidelines, the concentrations of PAH are much lower, indicating a low potential ecological risk. All TEQ PAH also showed a low risk to human health. Our study revealed the important role of the ocean current on the redistribution of PAHs in the Arctic., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.