Academia meets industry: Bridging the gap to produce the preferred graduates

With worldwide growth of tourism and its respective industries, there has been increased focus on tourism and hospitality education in recent years. Concurrently, there is growing industry demand for better educational infrastructure and curriculum relevant to build a competent workforce. Despite shared consensus between academics and industry on the need to produce graduates with suitable theoretical and practical competencies, there seems to exist a gap between what educators are nurturing and what the industry expects. This study aims to examine the tourism and hospitality programs currently offered by institutions vis-à-vis the graduate competencies and job-specific skills sought by the industry. It aims to assess the gaps (if any) existing between industry expectations and education curriculum; and in doing so provide the foundation for future research on strategies needed to bridge the gap(s) identified for a better fit between tourism and hospitality education and industry requirements

The association of lipoprotein lipase PvuII polymorphism and niacin intake in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome: a KMSRI-Seoul study

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) polymorphism correlated with LPL activity is associated with plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels. We aimed to investigate the frequency of LPL PvuII polymorphism and effects of LPL PvuII polymorphism and niacin intake on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) in Koreans. Lifestyle questionnaires, anthropometry, and dietary records were completed, and LPL PvuII polymorphism, LPL mass, and lipid profiles were determined in 548 Koreans (MetSyn: 278, Non-MetSyn: 270). The MetSyn group showed a significantly lower frequency of P1P1 (wild type) and a higher frequency of P1P2 (hetero type) than the non-MetSyn group. The P2P2 (mutant type) group significantly showed lower levels of HDLc and LPL mass and a higher level of TG than the P1P1 group. As niacin intake increased, LPL mass decreased in the P2P2 group (r2 = 0.07). In particular, the lowest niacin intake group (≤14.82 mg/day) increased more than 3 times with regard to a higher risk of MetSyn than the others in the P2P2 mutant groups. However, the MetSyn risk declined 74% at the optimal levels of niacin intake (14.83–17.80 mg/day) in the P2P2 group compared to those of the P1 allele group. The findings indicate that optimal levels of niacin intake effectively decreased Korean MetSyn prevalence in the P2P2 mutant group