Learning and Educational Programs for Entrepreneurs

This chapter summarizes the latest studies in entrepreneurial learning in order to highlight their implications for the design of educational programs (Pittaway & Thorpe, 2012). It examines in detail the latest thinking on the subject, summarizes the key concepts and empirical contributions with a particular focus on expanding understanding of ‘situated’, social and contextual learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The chapter stems from Pittaway and Thorpe’s (2012: 850) summary of Cope’s framework. Here it highlights critical concepts, such as dynamic temporal phases, forms and characteristics of learning (Cope, 2010) and lays out the underlying principles of each concept. Following this initial framework recent contributions to the subject of entrepreneurial learning, both conceptual and empirical, are presented to provide an up-to-date picture of thinking in the field. The latter part of the chapter highlights implications of current thinking on the design of development programs for entrepreneurs. It focuses on how concepts in this field can be used to enhance efforts to consider, design and deliver educational programs for entrepreneurs. A number of forms of educational practice are recommended based on this analysis. The chapter closes by considering future developments and lines of inquiry in entrepreneurial learnin

Correlation between substrate morphology and the initial stages of epitaxial organic growth PTCDA Ag 111

We have investigated the initial growth of the first two epitaxial layers of PTCDA on a Ag(111) surface consisting of a distribution of flat (111) terraces, separated by single atomic steps or step bunches with a few point defects. By utilizing the low-energy electron microscopy (LEEM) technique in both bright and dark field modes, we are able not only to follow the growth of the first layers but also to distinguish between different rotational and mirror domains and their influence on the growth of subsequent layers. Thus, we learn much about diffusion lengths and barriers, domain sizes, and about the influence of domain boundaries and nucleation centers. The results give deep insight into the growth dynamics, the influence of step orientation, and the quality of the resulting epitaxial layers and lead to the conclusion that the morphology of the substrate surface is likely to be the most influential parameter for the homogeneity of epitaxial layers

Direct observation of epitaxial organic film growth temperature dependent growth mechanisms and metastability

The growth of the first ten layers of organic thin films on a smooth metallic substrate has been investigated in real-time using the model system PTCDA on Ag(111). The complex behaviour is comprehensively studied by electron microscopy, spectroscopy and diffraction in a combined PEEM/LEEM instrument revealing several new phenomena and yielding a consistent picture of this layer growth. PTCDA grows above room temperature in a Stranski–Krastanov mode, forming three-dimensional islands on a stable bi-layer, in competition with metastable 3rd and 4th layers. Around room temperature this growth mode changes into a quasi layer-by-layer growth, while at temperatures below about 250 K a Vollmer–Weber-like behaviour is observed. By means of laterally resolved soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy the orientation of all adsorbed molecules is found to be homogeneously flat lying on the surface, even during the growth process. The films grow epitaxially, showing long-range order with rotational domains. For the monolayer these domains could be directly analysed, showing an average size of several micrometers extending over substrate steps

The zinc finger gene Krox20 regulates HoxB2 (Hox2.8) during hindbrain segmentation

The zinc finger gene Krox20 and many Hox homeobox genes are expressed in segment-restricted domains in the hindbrain. The restricted expression patterns appear before morphological segmentation, suggesting that these transcription factors may play an early role in the establishment and identity of rhombomeric segments. In this paper, we show that the HoxB2 (Hox2.8) gene is normally upregulated in rhombomeres (r) 3, 4, and 5, and we identify an enhancer region upstream of the gene that imposes r3/r5 expression in transgenic mice. This enhancer contains three Krox20-binding sites required in vitro for complex formation with Krox20 protein and in vivo for rhombomere-restricted expression. In transgenic mice, Krox20 expressed in ectopic domains can transactivate a reporter construct containing the HoxB2 r3/r5 enhancer. These data demonstrate that Krox20 is a part of the upstream transcriptional cascade that directly regulates HoxB2 expression during hindbrain segmentation.link_to_subscribed_fulltex