HRTM 483 Hospitality Finance A Peer Review of Teaching and Learning Benchmark Portfolio

The objective of this peer review course portfolio is to provide a comprehensive overview of the course, HRTM 483, Hospitality Finance Management (HFM), including the current scope of the course regarding curriculum and to purposefully explain and assess the undertakings that are intended to enhance student learning and performance. The first objective was to explain hospitality managerial accounting concepts to students and how they apply to specific operations with the hospitality industry. The second objective was to assist students with being able to synthesize the material, solve problems, and think effectively as a hospitality professional. The third objective was to assess the effectiveness of the curriculum by reviewing student performance results from a standardized industry managerial accounting exam. The last objective was to suggest modifications and improvements to this course based on information gathered through the Peer Review of Teaching portfolio process. Upon completion of the Peer Review of Teaching portfolio process, I enhanced my approach to teaching, revised curriculum, and improved student performance. The feedback from my faculty peers influenced the changes in my teaching method that I feel attributed to student success, class participation, and achieving an increase in final exam scores

Tales of Text and Culture: Tropes of Imperialism, Women\u27s Roles, Technologies of Representation, and Collaborative Meaning-making in Rita Golden Gelman\u27s Tales of a Female Nomad, Female Nomad and Friends, and Personal Website

This dissertation examines contemporary travel writing specifically created for a popular reading culture, Rita Golden Gelman\u27s Tales of a Female Nomad, Female Nomad and Friends, and personal website. The project is concerned with how culture is continuously represented and shaped through the dialogic interaction between writer and reader, and the subsequent liminal spaces which emerge in moments of meaning-making. Chapter 1 is a close reading of how Gelman\u27s works reinforce and, in some cases, resist, tropes of imperialism. Chapter 2 examines patriarchal gender roles in Gelman\u27s works and the ways in which recent advances in feminist psychiatry and psychology can radically change our understanding of women\u27s identity formation based on an updated collaborative identity model. Chapter 3 explores the active nature of meaning-making between text, reader, and popular culture utilizing the theoretical framework of reader-response criticism for a reception history of Gelman\u27s texts. In my analysis of the relationship between Gelman as author and her popular readership via print text and web reception, I seek to provide historical context as well as a situated, specific, and tangible exploration of meaning-making for artifacts of popular culture

Changes of memory B- and T-cell subsets in lupus nephritis patients

Introduction. Renal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with production of antibodies to double stranded DNA, deposition of immune complexes and organ damage. These processes have been linked with abnormalities in B- and T-cell memory compartments. The aim of the study was to analyze subsets of peripheral memory B-cells and T-cells in lupus nephritis (LN) patients. Material and methods. We used multicolor flow cytometry to analyze major memory subsets of peripheral blood B-cells (defined by CD27, IgD and CD21) and T-cells (CD45RA, CD45RO, CCR7) in 32 patients with active or inactive LN, and 23 control subjects. Results. Lupus nephritis patients were characterized by increased percentage of immature/early-transitional B-cells (CD27-IgD+CD21-), higher frequency of activated switched memory (SM, CD27+IgD-CD21-) and exhausted memory B-cells (CD27-IgD-), and decrease in non-switched memory (NSM, CD27+IgD+) B-cells. CD21low subsets (immature and activated B-cells) were particularly expanded in patients with active disease. In both groups of LN patients we observed decline in the absolute count of NSM B-cells. It was paralleled by lymphopenia in naïve CD4+ T-cell compartment and increase in the frequency of effector memory T-cells, and these changes were more pronounced in active LN. Conclusions. B-cell memory compartment in LN is deficient in NSM cells and during active disease it is further skewed towards SM and exhausted memory phenotypes, most likely as a cause of chronic antigenic stimulation. Parallel changes in T-helper cell subsets suggest a similar mechanism of SLE-related lymphopenia for both B-cell and T-cell compartment

Renal interstitial mast cell counts differ across classes of proliferative lupus nephritis

Systemic lupus erythematosus frequently involves the kidneys leading to significant morbidity and mortality. It is classified according to glomerular involvement pattern but tubulointerstitial lesions are also important for progression and prognosis, as seen in other kidney glomerular diseases. One of the cell types which participate in this process are mast cells. The aim of the study was to analyze the counts of tryptase-positive and chymase-positive mast cells in lupus nephritis classes II, III and IV. Material consisted of 42 renal biopsies from patients with lupus nephritis; 11 class II, 9 class III and 22 class IV. Chymase- and tryptase-containing cells were stained by immunohistochemistry and counted microscopically. Mean count of chymase-positive mast cells was 9.8/10 high power fields (hpf) for the whole group, 4.66 for class II, 11.89 for class III, and 11.51 for class IV. The mean count of tryptase-positive cells was 18.6/10 hpf for the whole group, 7.65 for class II, 25.57 for class III, and 21.23 for class IV. The differences between lupus nephritis classes were significant both for chymase- and tryptase-positive cells. Tryptase- but not chymase-positive cell counts showed a correlation with the creatinine level (R = 0.35). These results suggest that mast cells are involved to a different degree in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis depending on the class of the disease

Development of the anterior-posterior axis is a self-organising process in the absence of maternal cues in mouse embryo

This work was supported by Wellcome Trust, Grant ID: 098287 (MZG) and EMBO (MB).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cr.2015.10

Development of the anterior-posterior axis is a self-organizing process in the absence of maternal cues in the mouse embryo.

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/cr.2015.104This work was supported by Wellcome Trust, Grant ID: 098287 (MZG) and EMBO (MB)

The USTC co-opts an ancient machinery to drive piRNA transcription in C. elegans.

Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) engage Piwi proteins to suppress transposons and nonself nucleic acids and maintain genome integrity and are essential for fertility in a variety of organisms. In Caenorhabditis elegans, most piRNA precursors are transcribed from two genomic clusters that contain thousands of individual piRNA transcription units. While a few genes have been shown to be required for piRNA biogenesis, the mechanism of piRNA transcription remains elusive. Here we used functional proteomics approaches to identify an upstream sequence transcription complex (USTC) that is essential for piRNA biogenesis. The USTC contains piRNA silencing-defective 1 (PRDE-1), SNPC-4, twenty-one-U fouled-up 4 (TOFU-4), and TOFU-5. The USTC forms unique piRNA foci in germline nuclei and coats the piRNA cluster genomic loci. USTC factors associate with the Ruby motif just upstream of type I piRNA genes. USTC factors are also mutually dependent for binding to the piRNA clusters and forming the piRNA foci. Interestingly, USTC components bind differentially to piRNAs in the clusters and other noncoding RNA genes. These results reveal the USTC as a striking example of the repurposing of a general transcription factor complex to aid in genome defense against transposons

Decision making through the simulation of centralized and decentralized distribution storage systems

The design of a Supply Chain network has a great impact on a company\u27s performance. Simulation modeling and optimization techniques were selected to analyze and solve supply chain and distribution storage problems.;The techniques were applied to a decision making process of reconfiguring an existing distribution storage system for a Warehouse Chain Company, and modifying it from centralized to a decentralized one. This research presented a methodology for identifying data needs, building an analytical database, creating simulation models with Arena software, optimizing the models with OptQuest software, and performing sensitivity analysis.;As a result of applying this methodology, it was found that the centralized distribution storage system allows the company to operate at a lower cost (savings from 11.03% to 19.09%) while providing customers with better service. The sensitivity analysis proved that savings are affected by transportation cost, demand volume, and the time at which products need to be available for delivery. The centralized system provides customers with a higher service level in scenarios where orders have to be dispatched to customers in seven days or less. Simulation/optimization approach was found to be effective and allowed for the creation of a methodology that can be repeated for similar types of problems.*.;*This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Micrsoft Office