Costing study of two-year accelerated honours degrees

Report to HEFCE by Liz Hart Associates. "[This] study had two key objectives: to provide evidence of the impact of two-year accelerated honours degrees on course costs; to make comparisons with the costs of comparable degrees delivered through the traditional three-year route; and, in addition, the study was to consider any barriers to the possibility of expansion of two-year accelerated honours degrees... The indicative cost comparisons and institutional modelling in this study clearly show the potential for cost savings represented by two-year accelerated honours degrees. However, the realisation of these savings presents further challenges for institutions and the study makes recommendations to HEFCE as to how some of these might be addressed." - pp 3-4

A Review and Analysis of the Effects of Financial Slack on Firm Innovation

I analyze the effect of financial slack on firm innovation by reviewing prior research and conducting an empirical analysis. The goal of this paper is to describe, refine and expand research on the relationship between financial slack and innovation. I describe how past scholars\u27 conceptualizations and operationalizations of financial slack vary across studies and are often inconsistent with theoretical definitions suggesting that financial slack is a resource that exists in excess of some foreseeable need. My theoretical analysis suggests that one solution to this problem may be to operationalize financial slack as a proportion of total R&D spending (what I refer to as the financial slack-R&D ratio). Research suggests that innovation outcomes may be more strongly affected by the ratio of financial slack relative to total R&D spending than by financial slack measured independent of R&D spending. However, few, if any scholars have operationalized financial slack as a proportion of total R&D spending. I assess the moderating role of project and department level variables that are easily observable (readily accessible to firm managers), universal (found across firms and across industries) and for which the management literature provides conflicting support regarding their likely influence on the financial slack-innovation relationship. Specifically, I explore the influence of portfolio effects (the number and diversity of R&D projects) and maturity effects (nearness to completion) on the amount of financial slack-R&D ratio needed to optimize innovation outcomes. I test my hypotheses using data from a sample of U.S.-based biotechnology firms attempting to develop new pharmaceutical drugs

Cell Cycle Entry Control in Naïve and Memory CD8⁺ T Cells

CD8+ T cells play important roles in immunity and immuno-oncology. Upon antigen recognition and co-stimulation, naïve CD8+ T cells escape from dormancy to engage in a complex programme of cellular growth, cell cycle entry and differentiation, resulting in rapid proliferation cycles that has the net effect of producing clonally expanded, antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). A fraction of activated T cells will re-enter dormancy by differentiating into memory T cells, which have essential roles in adaptive immunity. In this review, we discuss the current understanding of cell cycle entry control in CD8+ T cells and crosstalk between these mechanisms and pathways regulating immunological phenotypes

Developing an International Competence-Based Curriculum for Environmental Health

In 1998, the International Federation of Environmental Health (IEFH) commissioned the International Faculty Forum (IFF) of environmental health educators to develop an international curriculum for environmental health. In commissioning such a curriculum, IFEH implicitly recognised and sought to address the ongoing issues of professional identity, status and the transportability of qualifications for Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs). A draft model for an international curriculum based on competence was proposed by Brennan, Konkel anad Lewis and developed and supported by IFF members when they met in May 2008 in Brisbane, Australia. Development of the model and its underpinning concepts of \u27environmental healthness\u27 ( EHness ) is complete. EHness is defined as those abilities/skills that are uniquely possessed and focused on in professional practce by EHPs. The draft international curriculum details EHness by the specification of core knowledge, skill and competencies to be attained and maintained by EHPs during the initial qualification process and via lifelong professional development and learning