Exploring gender differences in attitudes of university students towards entrepreneurship

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to understand gender differences in entrepreneurial intentions as measured by perceived feasibility and perceived desirability, and to explore gender differences in perceptions of entrepreneurship education needs - in terms of programmes, activities or projects - to succeed in an entrepreneurial career from the university students’ point of view. Design/Methodology/Approach - Using data gathered from 3420 university students in more than 10 countries, and applying the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test, differences between genders and different intention groups were examined. To reduce the items regarding educational needs, factor analysis was used. Gender differences in educational needs were also examined via Mann-Whitney Test. Findings - The results confirm that compared to males, female students are less willing to start their own businesses. There are significant gender differences in terms of perceived feasibility and perceived desirability such that although they feel more supported by their families, females are less self-confident, more tense, reluctant and concerned about entrepreneurship. In terms of entrepreneurial intention, there are fewer gender differences among students; however, differences relating to self-confidence and family support still exist. Furthermore, students cited establishing entrepreneurial mentoring and an appropriate tutoring structure as the most needed entrepreneurial educational activity/program/project at an academic institution; this was rated higher by females compared to males. Practical implications – The findings of this paper could help guide educators and policy makers in designing effective entrepreneurship programmes that are customized to respond to gender specific needs to increase entrepreneurial participation. Originality/Value - This study reveals the gender differences in perceived desirability and perceived feasibility which impact entrepreneurial intentions. Gender differences in the entrepreneurial programmes/activities/projects required at an academic institution to promote entrepreneurial participation among university students is also explored

Caspase-8 controls the gut response to microbial challenges by Tnf-alpha-dependent and independent pathways

Objectives: Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) express toll-like receptors (TLR) that facilitate microbial recognition. Stimulation of TLR ligands induces a transient increase in epithelial cell shedding, a mechanism that serves the antibacterial and antiviral host defence of the epithelium and promotes elimination of intracellular pathogens. Although activation of the extrinsic apoptosis pathway has been described during inflammatory shedding, its functional involvement is currently unclear. Design: We investigated the functional involvement of caspase-8 signalling in microbial-induced intestinal cell shedding by injecting Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic bacterial pathogens and poly(I:C) as a probe for RNA viruses in vivo. Results: TLR stimulation of IEC was associated with a rapid activation of caspase-8 and increased epithelial cell shedding. In mice with an epithelial cell-specific deletion of caspase-8 TLR stimulation caused Rip3-dependent epithelial necroptosis instead of apoptosis. Mortality and tissue damage were more severe in mice in which IECs died by necroptosis than apoptosis. Inhibition of receptor-interacting protein (Rip) kinases rescued the epithelium from TLR-induced gut damage. TLR3-induced necroptosis was directly mediated via TRIF-dependent pathways, independent of Tnf-α and type III interferons, whereas TLR4-induced tissue damage was critically dependent on Tnf-α. Conclusions: Together, our data demonstrate an essential role for caspase-8 in maintaining the gut barrier in response to mucosal pathogens by permitting inflammatory shedding and preventing necroptosis of infected cells. These data suggest that therapeutic strategies targeting the cell death machinery represent a promising new option for the treatment of inflammatory and infective enteropathies

Self-efficacy enhanced in a cross-cultural context through an initiative in under-resourced schools in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

This paper discusses the Khanyisa Programme, an initiative in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where learners from under-resourced schools are supported by teachers and high achievers in Grade 11 and 12 from a previously advantaged state school under apartheid. A qualitative, evaluative study was undertaken to identify key elements in the ongoing success of the programme and collect participant suggestions for improvement. The findings, discussed within the framework of self-efficacy theory, identified enormous gains by Khanyisa learners, leading to vastly improved career prospects

Microbial differences between dental plaque and historic dental calculus are related to oral biofilm maturation stage

Dental calculus, calcified oral plaque biofilm, contains microbial and host biomolecules that can be used to study historic microbiome communities and host responses. Dental calculus does not typically accumulate as much today as historically, and clinical oral microbiome research studies focus primarily on living dental plaque biofilm. However, plaque and calculus reflect different conditions of the oral biofilm, and the differences in microbial characteristics between the sample types have not yet been systematically explored. Here, we compare the microbial profiles of modern dental plaque, modern dental calculus, and historic dental calculus to establish expected differences between these substrates.- Background - Results -- Authentication of a preserved oral biofilm in calculus samples -- Dental calculus and plaque biofilm communities are distinct -- Health-associated communities of dental plaque and calculus are distinct -- Signatures of health and of disease are shared in modern and historic calculus samples -- Microbial community differences between health and disease in calculus are poorly resolved -- Absence of caries-specific microbial profiles in dental calculus -- Microbial co-exclusion patterns in plaque and calculus reflect biofilm maturity -- Microbial complexes in plaque and calculus -- Functional prediction in calculus is poorly predictive of health status -- Proteomic profiles of historic healthy site calculus -- Correlations between taxonomic, proteomic, and metabolomic profiles - Discussion - Conclusions - Materials and methods --Historic and modern calculus sample collection DNA extraction -- DNA library construction and high-throughput sequencing -- DNA sequence processing -- Genetic assessment of historic calculus sample preservation -- Genetic microbial taxonomic profiling -- Principal component analysis -- Assessment of differentially abundant taxa -- Sparse partial least squares-discriminant analysis -- Assessment of microbial co-exclusion patterns -- Gene functional categorization with SEED -- Proteomics -- Metabolomics -- Regularized canonical correlation analysi

Exploring partnership: Reflections on an international collaboration.

yesThis article explores some of the challenges involved in a collaborative mental health partnership, drawing on the reflections of two project members from the Chainama College of Health Sciences in Zambia and the Leeds Metropolitan University in England. The aim of the project was to support the education and training of the mental health workforce in Zambia as services shift from institutional to community-based care. The discussion is located within Gray’s ‘three-pronged dilemma’ and debates concerning the internationalisation agenda in social work and higher education. The conclusion emphasises the benefits and tensions of partnership working between ‘developed’ and ‘developing’ countries

Short-term dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid treatment during in vitro fertilization procedure

Objectives: Embryo implantation represents the major limiting step during in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure. Immu- nological and coagulation abnormalities were shown to have a substantial part in multifactorial etiology of IVF failure. We aimed to investigate the effect of short-term low-dose dexamethasone plus acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) treatment, starting at the time of embryo transfer, on the implantation and clinical pregnancy rates in general IVF population.  Material and methods: Out of 233 consecutive patients undergoing fresh IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles 64 received an adjuvant treatment consisting of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/day) plus ASA (100 mg/day) (DA group), starting on the day of embryo transfer. Patients not receiving these medications comprised a control group.  Results: Significantly more patients in DA group had positive ß-hCG values than controls (59.38% vs. 37.67%, p = 0.004) (OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.33–4.41). Implantation rate was 26.53% in DA group and 15.92% in controls (p = 0.0294). Clinical preg- nancy rate per started cycle was higher in DA group (43.59%) than controls (28.92%), but the difference was not significant (p = 0.0879; OR = 1.99, 95% CI: 0.89–4.41).  Conclusions: Our study shows a potential benefit of dexamethasone plus ASA adjuvant treatment in females undergoing IVF/ICSI procedure. As these results show improvement of IVF outcome, a greater number of patients undergoing this type and regime of adjuvant treatment should be investigated.