The Use and Abuse of Business History

The use of history in vocational undergraduate courses is contested. Although there has been a recent push to bolster the teaching of history in Australian secondary schools, history in business courses still often seems only to linger at the margins. Pleas to include historical approaches to business education are made from time to time that suggest a role for history in the curriculum that is essentially not historical – they often highlight the skills history students develop or the broader humanistic understanding usually associated with historical knowledge, not necessarily ones based on what is unique to history. This paper argues that historical analysis is essentially different than that represented by other traditional disciplines and that this fundamental aspect of history should be at the core of arguments to include business history in course curriculums.The symposium is organised on behalf of AAHANZBS by the Business and Labour History Group, The University of Sydney, with the financial support of the University’s Faculty of Economics and Business

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

Rapid optimization of engineered metabolic pathways with serine integrase recombinational assembly (SIRA)

Metabolic pathway engineering in microbial hosts for heterologous biosynthesis of commodity compounds and fine chemicals offers a cheaper, greener, and more reliable method of production than does chemical synthesis. However, engineering metabolic pathways within a microbe is a complicated process: levels of gene expression, protein stability, enzyme activity, and metabolic flux must be balanced for high productivity without compromising host cell viability. A major rate-limiting step in engineering microbes for optimum biosynthesis of a target compound is DNA assembly, as current methods can be cumbersome and costly. Serine integrase recombinational assembly (SIRA) is a rapid DNA assembly method that utilizes serine integrases, and is particularly applicable to rapid optimization of engineered metabolic pathways. Using six pairs of orthogonal attP and attB sites with different central dinucleotide sequences that follow SIRA design principles, we have demonstrated that ΦC31 integrase can be used to (1) insert a single piece of DNA into a substrate plasmid; (2) assemble three, four, and five DNA parts encoding the enzymes for functional metabolic pathways in a one-pot reaction; (3) generate combinatorial libraries of metabolic pathway constructs with varied ribosome binding site strengths or gene orders in a one-pot reaction; and (4) replace and add DNA parts within a construct through targeted postassembly modification. We explain the mechanism of SIRA and the principles behind designing a SIRA reaction. We also provide protocols for making SIRA reaction components and practical methods for applying SIRA to rapid optimization of metabolic pathways

Evidence-based primary care treatment guidelines for skin infections in Europe: a comparative analysis

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: In Europe, most antibiotics for human use are prescribed in primary care. Incorporating resistance data into treatment guidelines could improve appropriate prescribing, increase treatment effectiveness and control the development of resistance. OBJECTIVES: This study reviews primary care treatment guidelines for bacterial skin infections across Europe and assesses to what extent they are based on antibiotic resistance data. METHODS: Thirteen primary care treatment guidelines were obtained from eight countries across Europe. Both the treatment recommendations and the underlying evidence were assessed. The class and dose of recommended antibiotics were investigated and compared using the World Health Organisation's standardized volume of Defined Daily Dose. Furthermore, analysis investigated whether guidelines included references to scientific publications about antibiotic resistance data, and whether these were of national origin. RESULTS: Guidelines were included regarding common skin infections in primary care: Impetigo, Cellulitis, Erysipelas, Folliculitis and Furuncle. RESULTS showed a high agreement across Europe: all recommended antibiotics are of the beta-lactam class and mainly in the small spectrum. The advised treatment durations are consistent; the dosages, however, vary considerably, with the highest dosages recommended in Sweden. Seven guidelines (54%) did not include scientific references related to resistance. CONCLUSION: There may be a lack of relevant national data on resistance. This study highlights the need to collect more national resistance data (particularly regarding beta-lactams) to create stronger evidence-based treatment guidelines for skin infections in Europe

Primary care treatment guidelines for skin infections in Europe: congruence with antimicrobial resistance found in commensal Staphylococcus aureus in the community

BACKGROUND: Over 90% of antibiotics for human use in Europe are prescribed in primary care. We assessed the congruence between primary care treatment guidelines for skin infections and commensal Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) antimicrobial resistance levels in community-dwelling persons. METHODS: The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in S. aureus was analysed by taking nose swabs from healthy primary care patients in nine European countries (total N = 32,032). Primary care treatment guidelines for bacterial skin infections were interpreted with respect to these antimicrobial resistance patterns. First- and second-choice recommendations were assessed and considered congruent if resistance to the antibiotic did not exceed 20%. RESULTS: We included primary care treatment guidelines for impetigo, cellulitis, folliculitis and furuncle. Treatment recommendations in all countries were consistent: most of the first-choice recommendations were beta-lactams, both for children and adults. Antimicrobial resistance levels were low, except for penicillin (on average 73% resistance). Considerable variation in antimicrobial resistance levels was found between countries, with Sweden displaying the lowest levels and Spain the highest. In some countries resistance to penicillin and azithromycin was significantly higher in children (4-17 years) compared with adults. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the first- and second-choice recommendations in the treatment guidelines for skin infections were congruent with commensal S. aureus antimicrobial resistance patterns in the community, except for two recommendations for penicillin. Given the variation in antimicrobial resistance levels between countries, age groups and health care settings, national data regarding antimicrobial resistance in the community should be taken into account when updating or developing primary care treatment guidelines

Prevalence and resistance of commensal Staphylococcus aureus, including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: a European cross-sectional study.

Background: Information on the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus resistance has mainly been obtained from invasive strains, although the commensal flora is considered an important reservoir of resistance. Within ‘The Appropriateness of prescribing antibiotics in primary health care in Europe with respect to antibiotic resistance’ (APRES) study, we compared the prevalence of nasal S. aureus carriage and antibiotic resistance, including meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), among healthy patients between nine European countries. The genotypic structure of the isolated MRSA strains was determined by means of spa-typing. Methods: Nasal swabs were obtained from patients recruited by general practitioners (GPs) participating in existing nationwide GP networks. Swabs were sent to national microbiological laboratories for identification and isolation of S. aureus. Antibiotic resistance testing was performed at one central microbiological laboratory. Results: S. aureus was isolated from 6,956 (21.6%) out of 32,206 patients swabbed. The adjusted S. aureus prevalence ranged from 12.1% (Hungary) to 29.4% (Sweden). Except for penicillin, the highest resistance was observed to azithromycin: range 1.6% (Sweden) to 16.9% (France). In total, 91 MRSA strains were isolated, with the highest MRSA prevalence being found in Belgium (2.1%). 53 different spa types were detected, with t002 (9.9%) and t008 (7.7%) being most prevalent. Conclusion: The prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriage differed between nine European countries, even after correcting for age, sex and GP. In general, the prevalence of resistance, including MRSA, was low. MRSA strains found showed genotypic heterogeneity, both within and between countries. Key messages The prevalence of S. aureus resistance, including MRSA, was low in the community setting of the nine participating European countries. The prevalence of S. aureus nasal carriage differed between nine European countries, even after correcting for age, sex and GP