Triclosan: An Instructive Tale

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a final rule to ban triclosan and 18 other antimicrobial chemicals from soaps. We applaud this rule specifically because of the associated risks that triclosan poses to the spread of antibiotic resistance throughout the environment. This persistent chemical constantly stresses bacteria to adapt, and behavior that promotes antibiotic resistance needs to be stopped immediately when the benefits are null

Enriching the Case Study Approach: Expert Perspectives from European Hospitality Industry Managers. ACES Working Papers, August 2010

For my undergraduate and graduate hospitality industry management courses, I planned to supplement frequent case study discussions and role plays with video-recorded insights from successful international and domestic hospitality managers. In these courses, numerous business topics are reviewed utilizing active learning approaches, with specific application to the hospitality industry

The fight to vote: voter identification laws and their impact on voter turnout during the 2014, 2016, and 2018 elections

"Voter identification (ID) laws were introduced into the American electoral system during the 1970s, but have garnered more widespread attention in recent years and have expanded to over 30 states as of 2018. Critics have claimed that these laws are discriminatory toward several groups of voters. Given the supposed relationship between voter ID laws and voter turnout, a contemporary quantitative analysis of this connection should be examined. This analysis will improve existing election law and voting behavior literature by providing recent analyses and data using a quantitative approach with difference-in-difference regression tests. Using data provided by the Current Population Survey, individual Sectary of State office archives, and county-level election boards, this paper measures county-level voter turnout differences in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 election cycles, while controlling for voter ID law implementation and other state-level demographic variables. I concentrate my tests on states that have applied a voter ID law between 2014 and 2018. This analysis finds that states with voter ID laws impact voter turnout in negative and positive directions, which all suggests a larger strategy to ensure Republican victories in historically competitive states.

Student Motivation: Premise, Effective Practice and Policy

The purpose of this article is to outline how motivation of first year university students can be enhanced through effective pedagogic practices and to discuss policy level decisions that impact upon the cultivation of student motivation. It reports on practices within a specific first year unit, Understanding University Learning, which successfully incorporates teaching and learning strategies to enhance academic motivation

Overlapping Protein-Encoding Genes in Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf0-1

The annotated genome sequences of prokaryotes seldom include overlapping genes encoded opposite each other by the same stretch of DNA. However, antisense transcription is becoming recognized as a widespread phenomenon in eukaryotes, and examples have been linked to important biological processes. Pseudomonas fluorescens inhabits aquatic and terrestrial environments, and can be regarded as an environmental generalist. The genetic basis for this ecological success is not well understood. In a previous search for soil-induced genes in P. fluorescens Pf0-1, ten antisense genes were discovered. These were termed ‘cryptic’ genes, as they had escaped detection by gene-hunting algorithms, and lacked easily recognizable promoters. In this communication, we designate such genes as ‘non-predicted’ or ‘hidden’. Using reverse transcription PCR, we show that at each of six non-predicted gene loci chosen for study, transcription occurs from both ‘sense’ and ‘antisense’ DNA strands. Further, at least one of these hidden antisense genes, iiv14, encodes a protein, as does the sense transcript, both identified by poly-histidine tags on the C-terminus of the proteins. Mutational and complementation studies showed that this novel antisense gene was important for efficient colonization of soil, and multiple copies in the wildtype host improved the speed of soil colonization. Introduction of a stop codon early in the gene eliminated complementation, further implicating the protein in colonization of soil. We therefore designate iiv14 “cosA”. These data suggest that, as is the case with eukaryotes, some bacterial genomes are more densely coded than currently recognized

Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives of Hotel Frontline Employees

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine hotel frontline employees\u27 perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at the hotel they currently work, and how their perceptions influence their level of organizational identification, an indicator of their relationship quality with the hotel. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses 575 responses of hotel frontline employees in the US, collected through a national online survey. Findings – Results show that hotel employees\u27 perceptions of CSR activities encompass the host community, colleagues, and customers, beyond green practices. Moreover, their perceptions of CSR activities positively and significantly influence the level of organizational identification. Research limitations/implications – The results of this exploratory study should not be generalized to all frontline employees in the US hotel industry. Future studies should extend this study to examine potential relationships among other variables relevant to organizational identification, and in other hospitality industry contexts. Also, this study does not seek to question the merits of CSR per se, as it takes a managerial perspective to assist hoteliers\u27 understanding of and decision-making on CSR. Practical implications – As CSR activities often represent company values and norms, frontline employees\u27 perceptions of them can influence how they identify with the company, which is an impetus for their attitudinal and behavioral support to help achieve the company\u27s goals. Accordingly, CSR activities can be a critical tool in engaging frontline employees to achieve better performance and derive more meaning in their careers, and in attracting good quality employees. Originality/value – This study is a first attempt to empirically examine how CSR activities can benefit hotel employees, based on various literatures on service-profit-chain, CSR, and social identity theory

Utilizing Consumer-Generated Online Reviews in an Urban Destination to Develop a Comprehensive Hotel Complaint Framework

While negative online reviews can damage a hotel reputation and virally spread negative word of mouth, guest complaints in these reviews can offer lodging executives a valuable and accessible source of market research information. This study investigates the nature of online complaints and responses by content analyzing nearly 2,000 one-star consumer-generated reviews of 86 Washington DC hotels from ten travel electronic distribution channels and social media websites, including TripAdvisor, Priceline and Yelp. A detailed complaint typology was derived, comprised of 47 complaint areas representing hotel, staff and guestroom issues. Destination managers are encouraged to utilize the complaint framework to enhance local accommodation quality by providing its membership with aggregated feedback and structured market intelligence from online review websites

Working Memory, Language, Reading and Behavior: The Importance of Laterality, Symbolism and Default Networks

The present review draws attention to the importance of working memory, not just for cognitive development, but also for language-related reading skills. The classical work of Patricia Goldman-Rakic drew attention to the advent of language in human development in allowing the efficient use of symbolic ‘goals’ to be held in working memory throughout the processes of goal achievement (sometimes over long periods of time). The role of a switching mechanism between cognitive, language and default circuits allows the recruitment of salient emotional and/or memory information during the process of goal completion. When these systems malfunction, the often-described comorbidities between conditions such as ADHD, language and learning disability, and behavior problems may be observed. At a developmental level, the capacity for symbolic representation in working memory is likely to be important for early orthographic and later comprehension in reading ability. More recent work has drawn attention to a specific role for selective cerebellar working memory selective areas such as lobules V11b/V111a in supporting parallel cortico-cerebellar visual working memory networks, a new specific role for cerebellar/cortical connections

Literacy and numeracy support in vocational education: Perceptions from engineering apprentices in victoria

This research explored how engineering apprentices at an Australian TAFE institution perceive their supported acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills. Using a mixed methods approach, 56 apprentices completed questionnaires with nine participating in subsequent interviews. The study identified apprentices’ perceived ability levels in reading, writing and numeracy, learning strategies they employed, and literacy and numeracy support they found most helpful. Findings provide insight into apprentices’ approaches to learning, many of whom struggled to articulate how they acquired the literacy and numeracy skills for their studies and employment. Participants primarily focused on navigation of coursework and reading demands while reporting similar learning strategies. Literacy and numeracy support (LNS) teachers were considered helpful for others, with clear distinctions between the trade teacher/trainer and LNS teacher. Agitation with the self-paced nature of the classroom and a mismatch between study and workplace was also highlighted. This research suggests greater awareness of how apprentices learn would support literacy and numeracy skills development without reinforcing a deficit discourse. New approaches to develop apprentices’ learning strategies within the wider dialogue of literacy and numeracy acquisition is recommended. © 2021, Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Inc.. All rights reserved