The meaning of cultural diversity among staff as it pertains to employee motivation

Recent trends in increasing ethnic diversity in Park Hyatt Hamburg brought up the question on how cultural diversity is linked to employees’ motivation. The study focuses on the relationship between cultural diversity and employees’ motivation. The research is based on twelve, forty-five-minute, semi-structured interviews with front office and housekeeping employees of Park Hyatt Hamburg. It reveals that cultural diversity plays an important role in the motivation of employees as most employees mention atmosphere and teamwork including cultural diversity as the most motivating factors. Most of the employees responded positively to cultural diversity. However, deep level dissimilarities including different standards and values can lead to negative outcomes. These findings are consistent with published research and literature on the subject. An important factor with regard to the perception of cultural diversity is the cultural competence of the employees. Therefore, it is recommended that the employment of culturally diverse employees is favourable, though attention has to be paid when employees have a very different culture from other employees, as it can lead to conflict.Keywords: cultural diversity, motivation, cultural competency, team wor

Three-dimensional Deformable Pore Networks

Porous structures in materials play a part in many areas of research and development. A couple of examples of this are extraction of water through aquifers and oil through fracking processes. Current understanding of the small scale fluid-fluid interactions in the structure of these porous materials stops at data of the two dimensional interface between the two fluids. This experiment aimed to create three dimensional, transparent, deformable micro-models which are expected allow us to obtain three dimensional data sets of the capillary pressure–saturation–interfacial area per volume relationship. The micro-models were synthesized using a grain deposition technique. Grains were formed using the polymerization of a 5% (v/v) solutions of Irgacur 1173 initiator in poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate when the solution is exposed to patterns of ultraviolet light (in the range of 435nm to 485nm). These grains are layered in a pre-made plain channel micro-model to create a complex but transparent porous structure. Initial imaging using laser confocal microscopy shows that these micro-models can be used to study three dimensional interactions between fluids in porous structures. Through the creation of these three dimensional micro-models we now have a better way to experimentally model porous materials found in nature which offers many topological possibilities for applications in rock, biology, oil, water, and even food science research

Alternative glues for the production of ATLAS silicon strip modules for the Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Detector

The Phase-II upgrade of the ATLAS detector for the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) includes the replacement of the current Inner Detector with an all-silicon tracker consisting of pixel and strip detectors. The current Phase-II detector layout requires the construction of 20,000 strip detector modules consisting of sensor, circuit boards and readout chips, which are connected mechanically using adhesives. The adhesive between readout chips and circuit board is a silver epoxy glue as was used in the current ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT). This glue has several disadvantages, which motivated the search for an alternative. This paper presents a study concerning the use of six ultra-violet (UV) cure glues and a glue pad for use in the assembly of silicon strip detector modules for the ATLAS upgrade. Trials were carried out to determine the ease of use, the thermal conduction and shear strength, thermal cycling, radiation hardness, corrosion resistance and shear strength tests. These investigations led to the exclusion of three UV cure glues as well as the glue pad. Three UV cure glues were found to be possible better alternatives. Results from electrical tests of first prototype modules constructed using these glues are presented.Comment: 23 pages, to be published in Journal of Instrumentatio

Influence of relative NK-DC abundance on placentation and its relation to epigenetic programming in the offspring

Normal placentation relies on an efficient maternal adaptation to pregnancy. Within the decidua, natural killer (NK) cells and dendritic cells (DC) have a critical role in modulating angiogenesis and decidualization associated with pregnancy. However, the contribution of these immune cells to the placentation process and subsequently fetal development remains largely elusive. Using two different mouse models, we here show that optimal placentation and fetal development is sensitive to disturbances in NK cell relative abundance at the fetal–maternal interface. Depletion of NK cells during early gestation compromises the placentation process by causing alteration in placental function and structure. Embryos derived from NK-depleted dams suffer from intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), a phenomenon that continued to be evident in the offspring on post-natal day 4. Further, we demonstrate that IUGR was accompanied by an overall reduction of global DNA methylation levels and epigenetic changes in the methylation of specific hepatic gene promoters. Thus, temporary changes within the NK cell pool during early gestation influence placental development and function, subsequently affecting hepatic gene methylation and fetal metabolism.Fil: Freitag, Nancy. Medicine University of Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Zwier, M. V.. University of Groningen; Países BajosFil: Barrientos, Gabriela Laura. Medicine University of Berlin; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tirado González, Irene. Medicine University of Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Conrad, Melanie L.. Medicine University of Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Rose, Matthias. Medicine University of Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Scherjon, S. A.. University of Groningen; Países BajosFil: Plösch, T.. University of Groningen; Países BajosFil: Blois, Sandra M.. Medicine University of Berlin; Alemani

Learning Through Serving: Learning Service-Learning Pedagogy to Enhance your Teaching

This workshop is geared toward faculty and staff at universities who would want to integrate service learning into their courses as well as community partners who would like to explore a service-learning opportunity with a campus partner. The definition of service learning and how it is different from other forms of experiential learning will be discussed. Concepts will be illustrated using a short video clip and other real life examples. The service learning criteria of Meaningful Service, Enhanced Academic Learning, and Purposeful Civic Learning will be identified. The application of these criteria will be illustrated through BGSU service-learning courses - the Listening Post and Small Group Communication are two courses that have integrated older adults into the curriculum. Specific examples and strategies will be described. The role and importance of continuous reflection will be described. Participants will receive handouts on the What, So What, Now What model and the DEAL Model of Critical Reflection. Emphasis on the mutual benefit for community partners will be shared along with best practices in Community Partnerships.Participants will have the opportunity to brainstorm potential courses and community partnerships for service-learning. Using an Action Plan handout, faculty and staff participants will identify new or existing courses at their institutions to apply service-learning pedagogy, identify one learning objective related to each criteria, list potential community partner to support learning objectives, and list potential challenges. Community partner participants and practitioners will have the opportunity to develop a partnership action plan. They will receive a similar Action Plan handout to brainstorm how their organization might be able to utilize a service-learning partnership; identifying potential projects, why they would fit as service-learning, and what action steps they could take to initiate a partnership with a local campus. Additional resources for service-learning will be identified including Ohio Campus Compact (funding, program models), Campus Compact syllabi database, and Offices of Service-Learning on various campuses

Changes in subclass-specific IgG Fc glycosylation associated with the postnatal maturation of the murine immune system

Early postnatal life is characterized by a critical time period in which the developing neonatal immune system transitions from passive immunity, induced by protective maternal antibodies, to the competence of a fully functioning immune system. The inflammatory capability of both maternal and neonatal antibodies is governed by N-linked glycosylation of the Fc region, and though this has been examined extensively in adults, there is currently little information regarding antibody glycosylation patterns during early postnatal life. To characterize the murine IgG Fc glycosylation profile during early life, we used nano-LC-ESI-Qq-TOF mass spectrometry analysis to assess subclass specific Asn-297 glycosylation patterns in the serum of BALB/c mice from 5–60 days of age. From birth to adulthood, we observed a decline in proinflammatory Fc glycosylation in all IgG subclasses. This was shown by significantly reduced agalactosylated and monogalactosylated structures combined with increased sialylation after weaning at 45 and 60 days of age. This information indicates that the transition between neonatal life and adulthood in mice is accompanied by reduction of inflammatory IgG antibodies. Our study contributes to a growing body of literature indicating the importance of IgG Fc glycosylation and its association with inflammation during different life stages.Fil: Barrientos, Gabriela Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Hospital Alemán. Laboratorio de Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Habazin, Sinia. Genos Ltd; CroaciaFil: Novokmet, Mislav. Genos Ltd; CroaciaFil: Almousa, Yahia. Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Alemania. Freie Universität Berlin; Alemania. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Berlin Institute of Health; AlemaniaFil: Lauc, Gordan. Genos Ltd; Croacia. University of Zagreb; CroaciaFil: Conrad, Melanie L.. Freie Universität Berlin; Alemania. Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin; Alemania. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Alemania. Berlin Institute of Health; Alemani

SSRC Annual Report 2012

The SSRC was established in 1950 and enjoys a long and storied history of research accomplishments. The impact of our research has had on the state, the nation and the world is evident in the success of our organization, which has ultimately been driven by the desire and dedication of our employees. Although an organization\u27s annual report provides a venue to applaud the hard work and dedication of its employees for its success during the previous year, this particular report also celebrates our accomplished past and acknowledges significant historical milestones celebrated this year