Win-win solutions : applying business planning in a collaborative undergraduate design project

Abstract: Comprehensive universities in an emerging tertiary education context require effective teaching strategies and projects to enhance optimal output that is benchmarked on an international level of excellence. This paper reports on a collaborative project applied in an undergraduate fashion design and business (entrepreneurship) programme at a comprehensive university in Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of this study was to enhance programme outcomes through a creative collaborative project in order to enhance the quality of business planning through an action learning approach. Relevant principles were applied to the collaborative project relate to theory on collective creativity as well as action learning. Empirical data collected during the project was predominantly qualitative in nature involving: student reflections during and post-project (probed by means of a developed tool), minutes of students’ action-oriented meetings, video recordings of final presentations, as well as evaluation of the final business plans proposing a workable business concept for the competitive and creative fashion industry. Data were analysed by means of content analysis of student journals, lecturers’ observations of video material were documented and an analytic rubric was implemented to evaluate the quality of the business plans. Findings suggest the advantages for the lecturers of the programme pertained to using the allocated time for the project optimally as they could only facilitate the process and simply explain the principles of the project and business planning instead of formally teaching the relevant theory relating to the business plan. Other critical cross outcomes were also obtained, such as enhancing communication skills in meetings and through social media, promoting cultural and students’ self-awareness. The findings culminates in a framework which aims to aid collective creativity through action learning in a context of in applying a higher level of designer-like thinking to business planning

Morphology of the ferritin iron core by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

As the major iron storage protein, ferritin stores and releases iron for maintaining the balance of iron in fauna, flora, and bacteria. We present an investigation of the morphology and iron loading of ferritin (from equine spleen) using aberration-corrected high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy. Atom counting method, with size selected Au clusters as mass standards, was employed to determine the number of iron atoms in the nanoparticle core of each ferritin protein. Quantitative analysis shows that the nuclearity of iron atoms in the mineral core varies from a few hundred iron atoms to around 5000 atoms. Moreover, a relationship between the iron loading and iron core morphology is established, in which mineral core nucleates from a single nanoparticle, then grows along the protein shell before finally forming either a solid or hollow core structure

SELDI-TOF-MS determination of hepcidin in clinical samples using stable isotope labelled hepcidin as an internal standard

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepcidin is a 25-residue peptide hormone crucial to iron homeostasis. It is essential to measure the concentration of hepcidin in cells, tissues and body fluids to understand its mechanisms and roles in physiology and pathophysiology. With a mass of 2791 Da hepcidin is readily detectable by mass spectrometry and LC-ESI, MALDI and SELDI have been used to estimate systemic hepcidin concentrations by analysing serum or urine. However, peak heights in mass spectra may not always reflect concentrations in samples due to competition during binding steps and variations in ionisation efficiency. Thus the purpose of this study was to develop a robust assay for measuring hepcidin using a stable isotope labelled hepcidin spiking approach in conjunction with SELDI-TOF-MS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We synthesised and re-folded hepcidin labelled with ¹³C/¹⁵N phenylalanine at position 9 to generate an internal standard for mass spectrometry experiments. This labelled hepcidin is 10 Daltons heavier than the endogenous peptides and does not overlap with the isotopic envelope of the endogenous hepcidin or other common peaks in human serum or urine mass spectra and can be distinguished in low resolution mass spectrometers. We report the validation of adding labelled hepcidin into serum followed by SELDI analysis to generate an improved assay for hepcidin.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrate that without utilising a spiking approach the hepcidin peak height in SELDI spectra gives a good indication of hepcidin concentration. However, a stable isotope labelled hepcidin spiking approach provides a more robust assay, measures the absolute concentration of hepcidin and should facilitate inter-laboratory hepcidin comparisons.</p

The safety and tolerability of a potential alginate-based iron chelator:results of a healthy participant study

Evidence supporting the ferro-toxic nature of iron in the progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is becoming well established. A microbial dysbiosis is observed in IBD patients, and intra-luminal colonic-iron is able to support a more pathogenic community of bacteria; whether this is attributed to the development of IBD and how iron could be mediating these microbial changes is still unknown. Dietary fibres are commonly used in pre-biotic supplements to beneficially affect the host by improving the viability of bacterial communities within the colon. Alginates are a class of biopolymers considered as prebiotics due to their fibre-like composition and are able to bind metal cations, in particular, iron. Considering that iron excess is able to negatively alter the microbiome, the use of alginate as a food supplement could be useful in colonic-iron chelation. As such, this first-in-man study aimed to assess whether the use of alginate as a dietary iron chelator was both safe and well tolerated. In addition, the impact of alginate on the microbiome and iron levels was assessed by using an intestinal model SHIME (Simulation of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem). Alginate was supplemented into the diets (3 g/day) of healthy volunteers (n = 17) for 28 days. Results from this study suggest that daily ingestion of 3 g alginate was well tolerated with very minor side effects. There were no detrimental changes in a variety of haematological parameters or the intestinal microbiome. The bacterial communities within the SHIME model were also not influenced by iron and or alginate; it is possible that alginate may be susceptible to bacterial or enzymatic degradation within the gastro-intestinal tract