The Impact of Full Time Versus Adjunct/Part Time Faculty Status on Course Assessments by Hospitality Management Students

Over the past most recent decades, one of the most significant changes in post secondary education is the dramatic increase in the use of adjunct/part-time faculty members. As there are many potential advantages in the use of adjunct/part-time faculty there are also many possible concerns and disadvantages in the use of adjunct/part-time faculty. In order to balance the use of adjunct/part-time faculty and attempt to fully realize the advantages in using adjunct/part-time faculty while minimizing the disadvantages, it is important to determine what areas of university/college teaching are assessed by students differently between adjunct/part-time faculty and full time faculty instruction. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare Hospitality Management student\u27s course assessment summary surveys of courses taught by adjunct/part-time faculty and full time faculty at a private four-year post secondary institution. The assessment instrument used in this research was the Student Instructional Report II assessment survey/summary developed and tested by the Education Testing Service. This instrument, first developed in 1972, and revised in the mid 1990\u27s, assesses post secondary faculty in the areas of course organization/planning, communication, faculty/student interaction, assignments, exams/grading, supplementary instructional methods, course outcomes, student effort/involvement, course difficulty, workload/pace, and overall evaluation. Survey summaries were collected from 48 courses taught by adjunct/part-time faculty and 48 classes taught by full time faculty members. All classes were attended by Hospitality Management students. Means were compared for differences in the areas of university/college teaching and tested for significance. It is hoped that this research will identify possible areas of improvement in university/college teaching needed to be addressed by adjunct/part-time faculty members as assessed by Hospitality Management students. With this research, adjunct/part-time faculty members can adjust teaching methods or techniques which may increase student satisfaction while the college/university can realize the advantages in the use of part-time/adjunct faculty

Mise en place d'une gestion intégrée d'un oiseau ravageur des cultures à la Réunion

La gestion intégrée des oiseaux ravageurs des cultures est une alternative aux luttes chimiques ou mécaniques, et s'inscrit dans les projets d'agriculture durable. La prise en compte, d'une part d'un partenariat des différents acteurs en recherche/ingénierie/action, et d'autre part des différents niveaux fonctionnels tant administratif que biologique est un des moyens de construction d'une telle gestion. Nous avons appliqué cette démarche pour répondre aux dégâts causés à la production fruitière par un oiseau récemment introduit à la Réunion. La construction d'un groupe de travail pluri-organisme, les premiers résultats scientifiques d'une thèse en biologie des populations et les stratégies d'intervention ont été replacés dans une approche pluri-échelle et permettent d'illustrer l'emboîtement des prises de décision. / Integrated management of agricultural pest birds is an alternative of chemical and mechanical actions, and it is in keeping with the general pattern of sustainable agriculture. Taking into account of a multiple partners in research/engenery/action, and of multiple levels of administration and biological organizations, is a way of this management construction. We have applied this to resolve fruit production damage by a bird recently introduced on Reunion island. Multiple level method was involved in the construction of a pluri-organization work group, in the methods and first results of a population biology thesis, and in the application strategies. We present here some results that illustrate the interest of hierarchical steps in decision making

Créole et français à La Réunion : une cohabitation complexe

The cohabitation of Creole and French is described here in an interlectal framework and in an epistemology of complexity. Assuming the researcher's involvement in his study, the militant's inclination is never adopted so as to brush aside any ideological excess. The corpuses gathered from local native speakers are treated in their entirety, as in their constituents, refusing to set apart or to reject the least element that could act against the hypothesis. Specific syntactic forms, different from the grown ups', are created among young local speakers while learning or through their language acquisition, which would allow to bring out utterances close to interlingual mechanisms. A complex glottopolitical approach hasn't been ruled out. From the 1960s and until today strong linguistic demands have been brought forward by intellectuals and talented artists. From the time of the first academic researches in creolistics, scientists have been suggesting educational interventions that would grant room to creole in language learning. However, politicians haven't tackled this question yet, thus leaving it in the hands of other glottopolitical forces focusing on spelling, literature and school. We've been up to suggesting the broad outline of what could be a teaching of reunionese plurilingualism.La cohabitation du créole et du français est décrite ici dans un cadre interlectal et dans une épistémologie de la complexité. En assumant l'implication du chercheur dans son objet d'étude, jamais la posture du militant n'est adoptée afin d'écarter toute surenchère idéologique. Les corpus récoltés auprès de locuteurs réunionnais variés sont traités dans leur globalité, comme dans leurs constituants, refusant d'isoler ou de rejeter le moindre élément qui pourrait contrarier les hypothèses. Des formes syntaxiques particulières, différentes de celles des adultes, se réalisent chez de jeunes locuteurs en situation d'apprentissage ou lors de leur phase d'acquisition du langage, ce qui permettrait de mettre en relief des énoncés qui seraient proches des mécanismes de l'interlangue. L'économie d'une approche glottopolitique complexe a été rejetée. À partir des années 1960, et jusqu'à aujourd'hui, de fortes revendications linguistiques sont portées par des intellectuels et des artistes de talent. Depuis l'époque des premiers travaux universitaires en créolistique, les scientifiques font des propositions d'interventions pédagogiques qui accorderaient une place au créole dans les apprentissages. Pourtant, le monde politique ne s'est pas encore emparé de cette question, la laissant ainsi aux mains de forces glottopolitiques autres, autour de la question de la graphie, de la littérature et de l'école. Nous sommes allé jusqu'à proposer les grandes lignes de ce que pourrait être une didactique du plurilinguisme réunionnais

Nuclei of Non-Muscle Cells Bind Centrosome Proteins upon Fusion with Differentiating Myoblasts

Background: In differentiating myoblasts, the microtubule network is reorganized from a centrosome-bound, radial array into parallel fibres, aligned along the long axis of the cell. Concomitantly, proteins of the centrosome relocalize from the pericentriolar material to the outer surface of the nucleus. The mechanisms that govern this relocalization are largely unknown. Methodology: In this study, we perform experiments in vitro and in cell culture indicating that microtubule nucleation at the centrosome is reduced during myoblast differentiation, while nucleation at the nuclear surface increases. We show in heterologous cell fusion experiments, between cultures of differentiating mouse myoblasts and human cells of nonmuscular origin, that nuclei from non-muscle cells recruit centrosome proteins once fused with the differentiating myoblasts. This recruitment still occurs in the presence of cycloheximide and thus appears to be independent of new protein biosynthesis. Conclusions: Altogether, our data suggest that nuclei of undifferentiated cells have the dormant potential to bin

Ultrastructure of Zebra Fish Dorsal Aortic Cells

Expression of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) markers such as serum response factor (SRF) is complicated in zebrafish because of the ill-defined histology of the dorsal aorta and the presence of perivascular pigment. We report the ultrastructure of aortic cells in 7-day, 1-month, and 3-month-old zebrafish and provide clear evidence for the presence of perivascular melanocytes harboring an abundance of melanin. In 7-day-old larvae, endothelial cells (EC) and synthetic mural cells that display little evidence of VSMC differentiation comprise the dorsal aorta. The latter mural cells appear to fully differentiate into VSMC by 1 month of age. In 3-month-old adult zebrafish, EC exhibit greater differentiation as evidenced by the accumulation of electron-dense bodies having a diameter of approximately 200 nm. Adult zebrafish aortae also exhibit at least one clear layer of VSMC with the characteristic array of membrane-associated dense plaques, myofilament bundles, and a basement membrane. Subjacent to VSMC are collagen-producing adventitial fibroblasts and melanocytes. These studies indicate that fully differentiated VSMC occur only after day 7 in zebrafish and that such cells are arranged in at least one lamellar unit circumscribing the endothelium. These findings provide new data about the timing and accumulation of VSMC around the zebrafish aorta, which will be useful in phenotyping mutant zebrafish that exhibit defects in blood circulation

Expression and Comparative Genomics of Two Serum Response Factor Genes in Zebrafish

Serum response factor (SRF) is a single copy, highly conserved transcription factor that governs the expression of hundreds of genes involved with actin cytoskeletal organization, cellular growth and signaling, neuronal circuitry and muscle differentiation. Zebrafish have emerged as a facile and inexpensive vertebrate model to delineate gene expression, regulation, and function, and yet the study of SRF in this animal has been virtually unexplored. Here, we report the existence of two srf genes in zebrafish, with partially overlapping patterns of expression in 3 and 7 day old developing animals. The mammalian ortholog (srf1) encodes for a 520 amino acid protein expressed in adult vascular and visceral smooth muscle cells, cardiac and skeletal muscle, as well as neuronal cells. The second zebrafish srf gene (srf2), encoding for a presumptive protein of only 314 amino acids, is transcribed at lower levels and appears to be less widely expressed across adult tissues. Both srf genes are induced by the SRF coactivator myocardin and attenuated with a short hairpin RNA to mammalian SRF. Promoter studies with srf1 reveal conserved CArG boxes that are the targets of SRF-myocardin in embryonic zebrafish cells. These results reveal that SRF was duplicated in the zebrafish genome and that its protein expression in all three muscle cell types is highly conserved across vertebrate animals suggesting an ancient code for transcriptional regulation of genes unique to muscle cell lineages

Does prenatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption affect blood pressure in childhood?

INTRODUCTION: Prenatal exposure to organic methylmercury (MeHg) from seafood consumption has been reported to increase children's blood pressure (BP). A report from the Faroe Islands noted significantly increased diastolic and systolic BP in 7-year-old children as prenatal MeHg exposure increased. The Faroese diet includes sea mammals that contain MeHg, cadmium, and other pollutants. We examined this relationship in the Seychelles Islands to determine if it was present in a society exposed primarily to MeHg from consuming ocean fish. METHODS: We obtained BP at ages 12 and 15 years on children with known prenatal MeHg exposure enrolled in the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS). We examined the association between prenatal MeHg exposure and BP using longitudinal models and linear regression adjusted for relevant covariates. RESULTS: Blood pressure at both ages was associated with BMI, height and maternal hypertension during pregnancy as expected. No association between prenatal MeHg exposure and BP was present in girls at either age or in either sex at age 12 years. At age 15 years diastolic BP in boys increased with increasing prenatal MeHg exposure, while systolic BP was unaffected. SUMMARY: It is unclear whether the association between prenatal MeHg exposure and diastolic BP seen in 15-year-old boys is of biological significance or if it is a chance finding. However, the finding is intriguing and deserves further study

0107: Strategy of early detection and active management of supraventricular arrhythmia with remote monitoring: the randomized, multicenter SETAM trial

ObjectiveAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a common arrhythmia associated with increased risk of thromboembolic events or other complications. The French randomized, multicenter, SETAM trial assessed the impact of the home monitoring (HM) technology on detection and treatment of supra-ventricular arrhythmia (SVA).MethodsPatients (pts) implanted with a dual chamber pacemaker were enrolled in the study at hospital discharge if they had a sinusal rhythm at enrollment, no antiarrhythmic, anticoagulant or dual-antiplatelet therapy, and if they had a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 2 or more. The pts were randomly assigned to an active group (Act Gp), followed by Biotronik HM, or a control group (Cont Gp) without HM surveillance. The time from implantation to the first SVA-related intervention was compared between the 2 groups (primary endpoint).ResultsA total of 595 pts (mean age = 79±8 y.o, 63% male, mean CHA2DS2-VASc score = 3.7±1.2) were followed during 12.8±3.3Mo. The most prevalent co-morbidities were hypertension (82% pts), diabetes (29%) and vascular disease (24%). Implantation indications were atrio-ventricular blocks in 77% of pts, sinus node disease in 20% and others in 3%.The global SVA incidence was 25% (29% in the Act Gp vs 22% in the Cont Gp, p=ns).A therapy (drugs or ablation) was instituted for 49/291 pts (17%) in the Act Gp vs 43/304 pts (14%) in the Cont Gp (p=ns). The median time from implantation to the first therapy for SVA was 114 [44; 241] days in the Act Gp vs 224 [67; 366] days in the Cont Gp, representing a median gain of 110-days in SVA management (50% reduction, p=0.01). Over these 92 pts, 54 had AF (59%) and 38 had atrial flutter or tachyarrhythmia (41%). Anticoagulation was initiated in 80% of pts and antiarrhythmic drugs in 55%.ConclusionThe SETAM study demonstrated that HM allows earlier detection and treatment of SVA in pacemaker pts. The next step is to report how early detection of SVA with HM can possibly improve the patients clinical outcome

Rigid Chiral Membranes

Statistical ensembles of flexible two-dimensional fluid membranes arise naturally in the description of many physical systems. Typically one encounters such systems in a regime of low tension but high stiffness against bending, which is just the opposite of the regime described by the Polyakov string. We study a class of couplings between membrane shape and in-plane order which break 3-space parity invariance. Remarkably there is only {\it one} such allowed coupling (up to boundary terms); this term will be present for any lipid bilayer composed of tilted chiral molecules. We calculate the renormalization-group behavior of this relevant coupling in a simplified model and show how thermal fluctuations effectively reduce it in the infrared.Comment: 11 pages, UPR-518T (This replaced version has fonts not used removed.