External perceptions of successful university brands

Branding in universities has become an increasingly topical issue, with some institutions committing substantial financial resources to branding activities. The particular characteristics of the sector present challenges for those seeking to build brands and it therefore seems to be timely and appropriate to investigate the common approaches of those institutions perceived as having successful brands. This study is exploratory in nature, seeking to investigate how successfully UK universities brand themselves, whether they are distinct and if the sector overall communicates effectively. This is approached through examining the perspective of opinion formers external to universities but closely involved with the sector – a key stakeholder group in UK higher education Overall, the research’s exploratory nature aims to further the debate on effective branding in UK higher education. The findings and conclusions identify some issues surrounding university branding activity; most UK universities were considered to be distinct from one another, but few were seen to have real fully formed brands. Although a number of institutions that were seen as having more ‘successful’ brands were identified, it was argued that whilst many UK universities communicate their brand well enough to key stakeholders, they fail to consistently do this across all audiences. It was also suggested that UK universities may concentrate on areas of perceived immediate strategic importance (in terms of branding) to an extent where others are neglected

Lung function decline over 25 years of follow-up among black and white adults in the ARIC study cohort

Interpretation of longitudinal information about lung function decline from middle to older age has been limited by loss to follow-up that may be correlated with baseline lung function or the rate of decline. We conducted these analyses to estimate age-related decline in lung function across groups of race, sex, and smoking status while accounting for dropout from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Risk prediction models with incomplete data with application to prediction of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer: prospective data from the Nurses' Health Study

Introduction A number of breast cancer risk prediction models have been developed to provide insight into a woman\u27s individual breast cancer risk. Although circulating levels of estradiol in postmenopausal women predict subsequent breast cancer risk, whether the addition of estradiol levels adds significantly to a model\u27s predictive power has not previously been evaluated. Methods Using linear regression, the authors developed an imputed estradiol score using measured estradiol levels (the outcome) and both case status and risk factor data (for example, body mass index) from a nested case-control study conducted within a large prospective cohort study and used multiple imputation methods to develop an overall risk model including both risk factor data from the main cohort and estradiol levels from the nested case-control study. Results The authors evaluated the addition of imputed estradiol level to the previously published Rosner and Colditz log-incidence model for breast cancer risk prediction within the larger Nurses\u27 Health Study cohort. The follow-up was from 1980 to 2000; during this time, 1,559 invasive estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cases were confirmed. The addition of imputed estradiol levels significantly improved risk prediction; the age-specific concordance statistic increased from 0.635 ± 0.007 to 0.645 ± 0.007 (P \u3c 0.001) after the addition of imputed estradiol. Conclusion Circulating estradiol levels in postmenopausal women appear to add to other lifestyle factors in predicting a woman\u27s individual risk of breast cancer

Global lung function initiative 2012 reference values for spirometry in Asian Americans

Background Spirometry reference values specifically designed for Asian Americans are currently unavailable. The performance of Global Lung Function Initiative 2012 (GLI-2012) equations on assessing spirometry in Asian Americans has not been evaluated. This study aimed to assess the fitness of relevant GLI-2012 equations for spirometry in Asian Americans. Methods Asian subjects who never smoked and had qualified spirometry data were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012. Z-scores of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV1/FVC were separately constructed with GLI-2012 equations for North East (NE) Asians, South East (SE) Asians, and individuals of mixed ethnic origin (Mixed). In addition, Proportions of subjects with observed spirometry data below the lower limit of normal (LLN) were also evaluated on each GLI-2012 equation of interest. Results This study included 567 subjects (250 men and 317 women) aged 6–79 years. Spirometry z-scores (z-FEV1, z-FVC, and z-FEV1/FVC) based on GLI-2012 Mixed equations had mean values close to zero (− 0.278 to − 0.057) and standard deviations close to one (1.001 to 1.128); additionally, 6.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.1–8.9%) and 6.4% (95% CI 3.7–9.1%) of subjects were with observed data below LLN for FEV1/FVC in men and women, respectively. In contrast, for NE Asian equations, all mean values of z-FEV1 and z-FVC were smaller than − 0.5; for SE Asian equations, mean values of z-FEV1/FVC were significantly smaller than zero in men (− 0.333) and women (− 0.440). Conclusions GLI-2012 equations for individuals of mixed ethnic origin adequately fitted spirometry data in this sample of Asian Americans. Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these findings

Exploring rationales for branding a university: Should we be seeking to measure branding in UK universities?

Although branding is now widespread among UK universities, the application of branding principles in the higher education sector is comparatively recent and may be controversial for internal audiences who question its suitability and efficiency. This paper seeks to investigate how and whether the effectiveness of branding activity in the higher education sector should be evaluated and measured, through exploratory interviews with those who often drive it; UK University marketing professionals. Conclusions suggest that university branding is inherently complex and therefore application of commercial approaches may be over simplistic. Whilst marketing professionals discuss challenges they do not necessarily have a consistent view of the objectives of branding activity although all were able to clearly articulate branding objectives for their university, including both qualitative and, to some extent, quantitative metrics. Some measures of the real value of branding activity are therefore suggested but a key debate is perhaps whether the objectives and role of branding in higher education needs to be clarified, and a more consistent view of appropriate metrics reached? Various challenges in implementing branding approaches are also highlighted

Record Maximum Oscillation Frequency in C-face Epitaxial Graphene Transistors

The maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) quantifies the practical upper bound for useful circuit operation. We report here an fmax of 70 GHz in transistors using epitaxial graphene grown on the C-face of SiC. This is a significant improvement over Si-face epitaxial graphene used in the prior high frequency transistor studies, exemplifying the superior electronics potential of C-face epitaxial graphene. Careful transistor design using a high {\kappa} dielectric T-gate and self-aligned contacts, further contributed to the record-breaking fmax

Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) Levels Do Not Predict Disease Severity or Progression in Emphysema

Rationale: Though matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are critical in the pathogenesis of COPD, their utility as a disease biomarker remains uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) or plasma MMP measurements correlated with disease severity or functional decline in emphysema. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and luminex assays measured MMP-1, -9, -12 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the BALF and plasma of non-smokers, smokers with normal lung function and moderate-to-severe emphysema subjects. In the cohort of 101 emphysema subjects correlative analyses were done to determine if MMP or TIMP-1 levels were associated with key disease parameters or change in lung function over an 18-month time period. Main Results: Compared to non-smoking controls, MMP and TIMP-1 BALF levels were significantly elevated in the emphysema cohort. Though MMP-1 was elevated in both the normal smoker and emphysema groups, collagenase activity was only increased in the emphysema subjects. In contrast to BALF, plasma MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were actually decreased in the emphysema cohort compared to the control groups. Both in the BALF and plasma, MMP and TIMP-1 measurements in the emphysema subjects did not correlate with important disease parameters and were not predictive of subsequent functional decline. Conclusions: MMPs are altered in the BALF and plasma of emphysema; however, the changes in MMPs correlate poorly with parameters of disease intensity or progression. Though MMPs are pivotal in the pathogenesis of COPD, these findings suggest that measuring MMPs will have limited utility as a prognostic marker in this disease. © 2013 D'Armiento et al

Comparative analysis of homology models of the Ah receptor ligand binding domain: Verification of structure-function predictions by site-directed mutagenesis of a nonfunctional receptor

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that mediates the biological and toxic effects of a wide variety of structurally diverse chemicals, including the toxic environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). While significant interspecies differences in AHR ligand binding specificity, selectivity, and response have been observed, the structural determinants responsible for those differences have not been determined, and homology models of the AHR ligand-binding domain (LBD) are available for only a few species. Here we describe the development and comparative analysis of homology models of the LBD of 16 AHRs from 12 mammalian and nonmammalian species and identify the specific residues contained within their ligand binding cavities. The ligand-binding cavity of the fish AHR exhibits differences from those of mammalian and avian AHRs, suggesting a slightly different TCDD binding mode. Comparison of the internal cavity in the LBD model of zebrafish (zf) AHR2, which binds TCDD with high affinity, to that of zfAHR1a, which does not bind TCDD, revealed that the latter has a dramatically shortened binding cavity due to the side chains of three residues (Tyr296, Thr386, and His388) that reduce the amount of internal space available to TCDD. Mutagenesis of two of these residues in zfAHR1a to those present in zfAHR2 (Y296H and T386A) restored the ability of zfAHR1a to bind TCDD and to exhibit TCDD-dependent binding to DNA. These results demonstrate the importance of these two amino acids and highlight the predictive potential of comparative analysis of homology models from diverse species. The availability of these AHR LBD homology models will facilitate in-depth comparative studies of AHR ligand binding and ligand-dependent AHR activation and provide a novel avenue for examining species-specific differences in AHR responsiveness. © 2013 American Chemical Society

IGF1 genotype, mean plasma level and breast cancer risk in the Hawaii/Los Angeles multiethnic cohort

The insulin-like growth factor 1 gene (IGF1) is a strong candidate gene for a breast cancer susceptibility model. We investigated a dinucleotide repeat 969 bp upstream from the transcription start site of the IGF1 gene for possible associations with plasma IGF1 levels and breast cancer risk in a multiethnic group of postmenopausal women. Furthermore, we investigated the relation between race/ethnicity, mean plasma IGF1 levels and breast cancer rates in the Hawaii/Los Angeles Multiethnic Cohort. The mean age-adjusted IGF1 level among Latino-American women, 116 ng ml(-1), was statistically significantly lower than the mean age-adjusted IGF1 levels for each of the three other racial/ethnic groups, African-American, Japanese-American and Non-Latino White women (146, 144 and 145 ng ml(-1), respectively) (P<0.0001). Latino-American women have the lowest breast cancer rates of any racial/ethnic group in the cohort. These results support the investigation of an expansion of the hypothesis for an important role of IGF1 in breast cancer tumorigenesis to different racial/ethnic groups and to postmenopausal women. It is unlikely that any involvement of IGF1 in breast cancer aetiology is mediated by the IGF1 dinucleotide repeat polymorphism, which was not significantly associated with circulating IGF1 levels nor breast cancer risk in this study. Research into relevant determinants of IGF1 levels in the blood must continue