International Business Training In The 21st Century: How Do They Learn?

International business and the ‘global marketplace’ have captured the American mindset. This is evidenced throughout our media, and certainly on U.S. business school campuses. More and more universities require international business courses as core course requirements, and many now offer international business as separate majors. Business study abroad programs have been around for years. Programs range from direct enrollment at foreign universities to ‘packaged’ courses offered by U.S. universities in other countries. Although these programs are popular with students and faculty alike, one questions how much learning is actually accomplished in these in-tensive but often brief programs. Based on the results of tests we administered we concluded that students participating in a three week Study Abroad course learned more about understanding the importance cultural differences in international business operations than students who cover the topic in a required international business course on campus

Quantifying, Projecting, and Addressing India's Hidden Hunger

<p>It is estimated that more than two billion people suffer from ‘hidden hunger’ (micronutrient malnutrition) globally, with nearly half living in India. Despite being highlighted as one the most cost-effective investments for human development, progress on addressing micronutrient deficiencies (MiND) has been slowing. The severe social, health, and economic costs of MiND in India should make it a top priority for domestic governance and international donors alike. This study, for the first time, maps food system pathways from crop production through to household-level food availability, for a range of key vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Results suggest widespread (>80% total Indian population) risk of deficiencies in calcium, vitamin A, B₁₂, folate, in addition to lysine limitation, with more localized deficiencies (<25% population) in iron, zinc, and vitamin B₆. These deficiencies are the result of a combination of a monotonous cereal-dominated diet lacking in diversity, and overall insufficient food intake. This approach also allowed for “MiND by micronutrient” scenario analysis to 2030, to identify potential intervention points in the food system and the capacity of these interventions to address deficiency. Scenario analysis to 2030 and 2050 indicates that, although increased availability of animal-based products, reduction of supply chain losses, and close to maximum (90%) attainable yields could make some contribution to addressing Indian MiND, additional intervention strategies will be essential. Recommendations for intervention in the short (urgent), near-term (2030), and long-term (2050) have been formulated based on this analysis.</p

Are the immuno-stimulatory properties of Lenalidomide extinguished by co-administration of Dexamethasone?

Dexamethasone has been a mainstay of anti-myeloma therapy for 20 years. However, it is intensely immunosuppressive and may limit the efficacy of the immune system to control myeloma, and limit the exciting opportunities to use immune stimulating drug therapies such as Lenalidomide to maximize the fight against this disease

Telomere length regulation: coupling DNA end processing to feedback regulation of telomerase

The conventional DNA polymerase machinery is unable to fully replicate the ends of linear chromosomes. To surmount this problem, nearly all eukaryotes use the telomerase enzyme, a specialized reverse transcriptase that utizes its own RNA template to add short TG-rich repeats to chromosome ends, thus reversing their gradual erosion occurring at each round of replication. This unique, non-DNA templated mode of telomere replication requires a regulatory mechanism to ensure that telomerase acts at telomeres whose TG tracts are too short, but not at those with long tracts, thus maintaining the protective TG repeat cap at an appropriate average length. The prevailing notion in the field is that telomere length regulation is brought about through a negative feedback mechanism that counts TG repeat-bound protein complexes to generate a signal that regulates telomerase action. This review summarizes experiments leading up to this model and then focuses on more recent experiments, primarily from yeast, that begin to suggest how this counting mechanism might work. The emerging picture is that of a complex interplay between the conventional DNA replication machinery, DNA damage response factors, and a specialized set of proteins that help to recruit and regulate the telomerase enzyme

Giant Stark effect in the emission of single semiconductor quantum dots

We study the quantum-confined Stark effect in single InAs/GaAs quantum dots embedded within a AlGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well. By significantly increasing the barrier height we can observe emission from a dot at electric fields of -500 kV/cm, leading to Stark shifts of up to 25 meV. Our results suggest this technique may enable future applications that require self-assembled dots with transitions at the same energy

Importance of site of infection and antibiotic selection in the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis

ABSTRACT In a retrospective analysis of 215 patients with carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa sepsis, we observed a significantly higher risk of mortality associated with respiratory tract infection (risk ratio [RR], 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04 to 1.39; P = 0.010) and lower risk with urinary tract infection (RR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.90; P = 0.004). Aminoglycoside monotherapy was associated with increased mortality, even after adjusting for confounders (adjusted RR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.03 to 2.85; P = 0.037), consistent across multiple sites of infection. </jats:p

Effective antibiotic conservation by emergency antimicrobial stewardship during a drug shortage

We present the first description of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP) used to successfully manage a multi-antimicrobial drug shortage. Without resorting to formulary restriction, meropenem utilization decreased by 69% and piperacillin-tazobactam by 73%. During the shortage period, hospital mortality decreased (P=.03), while hospital length of stay remained unchanged.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:356–359</jats:p

Empirical Study of Carbon Dioxide Released to the Atmosphere during Commercial Red Grape Fermentation

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant (greenhouse gas) that is emitted during winemaking but not currently regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. While winery CO2 emissions have been modeled, they have never been measured continuously or confirmed during a commercial fermentation. As international interest increases in greenhouse gases, it is important to know the amount of CO2 release and the determining factors; yeast strain, temperature, and dissolved CO2 are potentially important parameters. The study was designed to quantify emissions and test a theoretical model for atmospheric release of CO2 during alcoholic fermentation in a commercial winery. Gas release was channeled through a manifold system with an in-line mass flow meter calibrated for CO2, providing real-time and integrated measurement of atmospheric emission. Intermittent use of a hot-wire anemometer was used as a check on the mass-flow measurements. Initial results indicate that integrated mass of CO2 release is dependent on total Brix decrease and not duration of fermentation, consistent with the Williams and Boulton model. However, the time course of release and the shape of the release curves differed substantially among ferments and were primarily dependent on the length of active fermentation

Contactless graphene conductivity mapping on a wide range of substrates with terahertz time-domain reflection spectroscopy.

We demonstrate how terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) operating in reflection geometry can be used for quantitative conductivity mapping of large area chemical vapour deposited graphene films on sapphire, silicon dioxide/silicon and germanium. We validate the technique against measurements performed with previously established conventional transmission based THz-TDS and are able to resolve conductivity changes in response to induced back-gate voltages. Compared to the transmission geometry, measurement in reflection mode requires careful alignment and complex analysis, but circumvents the need of a terahertz transparent substrate, potentially enabling fast, contactless, in-line characterisation of graphene films on non-insulating substrates such as germanium.H.L. and J.A.Z. acknowledge financial support from the EPSRC (Grant No. EP/L019922/1). P.B.W. acknowledges EPSRC Cambridge NanoDTC EP/G037221/1. R.D., H.E.B. and D. R. acknowledge financial support from the EPSRC (Grant No. EP/J017671/1, Coherent Terahertz Systems). S.H. acknowledges funding from the EPSRC (Grant No. EP/K016636/1, GRAPHTED)