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Using global citizenship as the framework and guided by a phenomenological approach, this paper examines the experiences of overseas education on Chinese students studying in American high schools, and the mechanisms through which potential growth takes place. The data were collected from interviews with 15 Chinese students studying at American high schools and seven teacher participants who work closely with them. Findings reveal that international sojourning could potentially serve as an effective pathway to global citizenship because it may help international students develop global competencies (knowledge, understanding and skills), and global consciousness (values and attitudes). The paper argues that the process of growing into a global citizen may be viewed as an advanced level of student development, and the mechanisms through which this kind of ideal transformation takes place which were identified in this study include: having non-vanity motives, developing self-authorship, exposure to different perspectives, and experiencing disadvantages and deprivation.

Using global citizenship as the framework and guided by a phenomenological approach, this paper examines the experiences of overseas education on Chinese students studying in American high schools, and the mechanisms through which potential growth takes place. The data were collected from interviews with 15 Chinese students studying at American high schools and seven teacher participants who work closely with them. Findings reveal that international sojourning could potentially serve as an effective pathway to global citizenship because it may help international students develop global competencies (knowledge, understanding and skills), and global consciousness (values and attitudes). The paper argues that the process of growing into a global citizen may be viewed as an advanced level of student development, and the mechanisms through which this kind of ideal transformation takes place which were identified in this study include: having non-vanity motives, developing self-authorship, exposure to different perspectives, and experiencing disadvantages and deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate are well-known inhibitors of the sodium-iodide symporter and may disrupt thyroid function. This exploratory study investigated the association among urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate concentrations and parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels in the general U.S. population. Methods: We analyzed data on 4265 adults (aged 20 years and older) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2005 through 2006 to evaluate the relationship among urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate concentration and PTH levels and the presence of hyperparathyroidism cross-sectionally. Results: The geometric means and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) concentrations of urinary perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate were 3.38 (3.15–3.62), 40363 (37512–43431), and 1129 (1029–1239) ng/mL, respectively. After adjusting for confounding variables and sample weights, creatinine-corrected urinary perchlorate was negatively associated with serum PTH levels in women (P = 0.001), and creatinine-corrected urinary nitrate and thiocyanate were negatively associated with serum PTH levels in both sex groups (P = 0.001 and P<0.001 for men, P = 0.018 and P<0.001 for women, respectively). Similar results were obtained from sensitivity analyses performed for exposure variables unadjusted for creatinine with urinary creatinine added as a separate covariate. There was a negative relationship between hyperparathyroidism and urinary nitrate and thiocyanate [odds ratio (95% CI) = 0.77 (0.60–0.98) and 0.69 (0.61–0.79), respectively]. Conclusions: A higher urinary concentration of perchlorate, nitrate, and thiocyanate is associated with lower serum PTH levels. Future studies are needed to determine the pathophysiological background of the observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]