Demystifying university rankings and their impact on reputation among consumers of higher education

Purpose: Several universities in different countries are using their college ranking as a marketing and branding tool. Main scope of this paper is to investigate the interrelation between college rankings in Korea and how they affect university service marketing and reputation. Methods: Forty-six universities are examined through a non-parametric technique, by comparing three different Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models regarding their adeptness to their Research and Development Business Foundation; parametric methods used to measure efficiencies in the public or private sectors are Ratio Analysis, Productivity Index Approach and Functional Approach. Results: The results delineate that the three model have different results since CCR and BCC models have better efficiency scores compared to SBM. Furthermore, public universities with local character seems to have better decision-making units leading to better branding. Implications: Decision makers can enhance policies by improving the effectiveness and antagonism of Research and Development Business Foundations, to improve university's reputation and attract more and better students. In spite of some valid considerations regarding the ranking of educational institutions in the world, ARWU (Academic Ranking of World Universities) is still a useful indicator for universities who wish to grow further, and will remain as a good guideline

The Mx/G/1 queue with queue length dependent service times

We deal with the MX/G/1 queue where service times depend on the queue length at the service initiation. By using Markov renewal theory, we derive the queue length distribution at departure epochs. We also obtain the transient queue length distribution at time t and its limiting distribution and the virtual waiting time distribution. The numerical results for transient mean queue length and queue length distributions are given.Bong Dae Choi, Yeong Cheol Kim, Yang Woo Shin, and Charles E. M. Pearc

Antioxidant, color and sensory properties of sorghum bran in pre-cooked ground beef patties varying in fat and iron content

The effect of currently used antioxidants and sorghum bran in pre-cooked beef patties was evaluated at two different fat levels (10 and 27%, w/w). Pre-formulated ground beef was purchased at a retail store on three different processing days. Within each fat level, ground beef portions were weighed and randomly assigned to control, butylated hydroxanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (0.001%), rosemary (0.25%) or sorghum bran (0.25, 0.5 or 1.0%). After mixing in the appropriate antioxidant, 200-g patties were formed, and pH and objective color measurements for each raw patty were performed. Patties were cooked to an internal temperature of 73oC. Cooked patties were packaged and stored at 4oC. Two patties per treatment were sampled after 0, 1, 3 and 5 d of storage and analyzed for 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), non-heme iron, pH, instrumental color and trained flavor and texture descriptive attributes. The addition of BHA/BHT and rosemary extract to patties reduced non-heme iron, TBARS values, and cooked beef fat flavor attributes, but increased beef/brothy flavor attributes relative to control patties (P<0.05). As sorghum bran level increased, cooked beef patties were darker (P<0.05), less yellow (P<0.05), had higher non-heme iron (P<0.05), lower TBARS (P<0.05) and higher sandy/gritty (P<0.05) sensory texture. Cooked patties containing antioxidants did not differ in other sensory attributes (P>0.05). Fat mouthfeel of control patties were higher than treated patties (P<0.05). Sorghum bran delayed lipid oxidation by reducing TBARS values and cooked beef fat flavors, and when used at 0.25 and 0.5%, minimal effects on color and sensory attributes were observed. Our results suggested that sorghum bran can be a desirable natural antioxidant in pre-cooked ground beef

Effect of Conjugated Linoleic Acid or Oleic Acid Addition on Fatty Acid Composition Profiles of Poultry Meat

Two different studies were conducted to reduce the overall amount of omega-6 fatty acids in broiler chickens. The first experiment was performed to determine the effects of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fatty acid combination on the omega-6 fatty acid accumulation in broiler chicken breast and thigh meat. Eight broilers from each treatment were processed at 4 and 6 weeks of age, respectively. Regarding the diets containing five different fat sources, broiler chickens fed CLA and fish oil diet had a lower C20:4 (arachidonic acid, AA, n-6) deposition but showed a higher n-3/n-6 ratio in breast and thigh meat than those fed a flaxseed oil diet and CLA and flaxseed oil diet (P 0.05). However, the addition of CLA and fish oil to the diet resulted in a increase of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentration in broiler chicken breast and thigh meat when compared to that of fish oil diet (P<0.05). The second experiment was conducted based on six different combination of n-3 and n-9 fatty acids. One bird per pen was processed, and each bird was weighed, and blood, liver, breast and thigh samples from the bird were collected. Although the generation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was not affected due to combination of n-3 and n-9 fatty acids in our diets, the deposition of n-6 fatty acids including C18:2 and C20:4 was decreased in broiler chicken breast and/or thigh muscles as n-3 fatty acids were supplied to broiler chickens for 9 weeks. Eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5, EPA, n-3) addition to poultry diet (FEO) did not reduce the deposition of C18:2 and/or C20:4 as much as C22:6 (FDO) did. When C20:5 and C22:6 were blended to poultry diet (FHO) and fed to broiler chickens for 9 weeks, synergistic effects were observed. Reduction of C20:4 was obtained when FHO diet was fed to broiler chickens, and it may be induced due to decreased expression of delta-6 desaturase mRNA

In Vitro Chemosensitivity Using the Histoculture Drug Response Assay in Human Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

The choice of chemotherapeutic drugs to treat patients with epithelial ovarian cancer has not depended on individual patient characteristics. We have investigated the correlation between in vitro chemosensitivity, as determined by the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA), and clinical responses in epithelial ovarian cancer. Fresh tissue samples were obtained from 79 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. The sensitivity of these samples to 11 chemotherapeutic agents was tested using the HDRA method according to established methods, and we analyzed the results retrospectively. HDRA showed that they were more chemosensitive to carboplatin, topotecan and belotecan, with inhibition rates of 49.2%, 44.7%, and 39.7%, respectively, than to cisplatin, the traditional drug of choice in epithelial ovarian cancer. Among the 37 patients with FIGO stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ serous adenocarcinoma who were receiving carboplatin combined with paclitaxel, those with carboplatin-sensitive samples on HDRA had a significantly longer median disease-free interval than patients with carboplatin- resistant samples (23.2 vs. 13.8 months, p＜0.05), but median overall survival did not differ significantly (60.4 vs. 37.3 months, p＝0.621). In conclusion, this study indicates that HDRA could provide useful information for designing individual treatment strategies in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

The EPOCH Project: I. Periodic variable stars in the EROS-2 LMC database

The EPOCH (EROS-2 periodic variable star classification using machine learning) project aims to detect periodic variable stars in the EROS-2 light curve database. In this paper, we present the first result of the classification of periodic variable stars in the EROS-2 LMC database. To classify these variables, we first built a training set by compiling known variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud area from the OGLE and MACHO surveys. We crossmatched these variables with the EROS-2 sources and extracted 22 variability features from 28 392 light curves of the corresponding EROS-2 sources. We then used the random forest method to classify the EROS-2 sources in the training set. We designed the model to separate not only $\delta$ Scuti stars, RR Lyraes, Cepheids, eclipsing binaries, and long-period variables, the superclasses, but also their subclasses, such as RRab, RRc, RRd, and RRe for RR Lyraes, and similarly for the other variable types. The model trained using only the superclasses shows 99% recall and precision, while the model trained on all subclasses shows 87% recall and precision. We applied the trained model to the entire EROS-2 LMC database, which contains about 29 million sources, and found 117 234 periodic variable candidates. Out of these 117 234 periodic variables, 55 285 have not been discovered by either OGLE or MACHO variability studies. This set comprises 1 906 $\delta$ Scuti stars, 6 607 RR Lyraes, 638 Cepheids, 178 Type II Cepheids, 34 562 eclipsing binaries, and 11 394 long-period variables. A catalog of these EROS-2 LMC periodic variable stars will be available online at http://stardb.yonsei.ac.kr and at the CDS website (http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR).Comment: 18 pages, 20 figures, suggseted language-editing by the A&A editorial office is applie

A Facile Fabrication and Transfer Method of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on a Mo/Ni Bilayer for Wearable Energy Devices

Carbon nanotubes are a promising material for flexible/wearable electrochemical device due to their mechanical softness, chemical stability, and high conductivity. Furthermore, the vertically aligned form of carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) have a large surface area due to their unique three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure. Thus, VACNTs are particularly useful for wearable electrochemical sensors and/or energy devices. However, VACNTs are generally grown via a high-temperature chemical vapor deposition process, which requires a rigid substrate. As a flexible/wearable device platform, therefore, VACNTs should be transferred from rigid substrates to soft substrates. Here, a facile fabrication and transfer method of a unique 3D nanostructure, that is, VACNTs on the Mo/Ni bilayer, for high performance flexible/wearable devices is reported. After growth of VACNTs on a Mo/Ni bilayer, VACNTs with the Mo/Ni bilayer can be easily peeled-off from the SiO2 wafer by using weak adhesion of Ni to SiO2 for transfer printing onto polymeric/elastomeric substrates. Moreover, the Mo layer helps facile growth of VACNTs, and the Mo/Ni bilayer underneath VACNTs maximizes the lateral current flow. The proposed 3D nanostructure (VACNTs on the Mo/Ni bilayer) is successfully applied as flexible electrodes for high-performance wearable asymmetric supercapacitors.

The ancient phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling system is a master regulator of energy and carbon metabolism in algae

Algae undergo a complete metabolic transformation under stress by arresting cell growth, inducing autophagy and hyperaccumulating biofuel precursors such as triacylglycerols and starch. However, the regulatory mechanisms behind this stress-induced transformation are still unclear. Here, we use biochemical, mutational, and “omics” approaches to demonstrate that PI3K signaling mediates the homeostasis of energy molecules and influences carbon metabolism in algae. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the inhibition and knockdown (KD) of algal class III PI3K led to significantly decreased cell growth, altered cell morphology, and higher lipid and starch contents. Lipid profiling of wild-type and PI3K KD lines showed significantly reduced membrane lipid breakdown under nitrogen starvation (-N) in the KD. RNA-seq and network analyses showed that under -N conditions, the KD line carried out lipogenesis rather than lipid hydrolysis by initiating de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, which was supported by tricarboxylic acid cycle down-regulation and via acetyl-CoA synthesis from glycolysis. Remarkably, autophagic responses did not have primacy over inositide signaling in algae, unlike in mammals and vascular plants. The mutant displayed a fundamental shift in intracellular energy flux, analogous to that in tumor cells. The high free fatty acid levels and reduced mitochondrial ATP generation led to decreased cell viability. These results indicate that the PI3K signal transduction pathway is the metabolic gatekeeper restraining biofuel yields, thus maintaining fitness and viability under stress in algae. This study demonstrates the existence of homeostasis between starch and lipid synthesis controlled by lipid signaling in algae and expands our understanding of such processes, with biotechnological and evolutionary implications.Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning 2015M3A6A2065697Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries 2015018

Effects of Kimchi Extract and Temperature on Embryostasis of Ascaris suum Eggs

To determine the effects of kimchi extracts at different temperatures on larval development, Ascaris suum eggs were mixed with soluble part of 7 different brands of commercially available kimchi and preserved at either 5℃ or 25℃ for up to 60 days. A. suum eggs incubated at 25℃ showed marked differences in larval development between kimchi extract and control group. While all eggs in the control group completed embryonation by day 21, only 30% of the eggs in the kimchi extract group became embryonated by day 36 and about 25% never became larvated even at day 60. At 5℃, however, none of the eggs showed larval development regardless of the incubation period or type of mixture group. To determine the survival rate of A. suum eggs that showed no embryonation after being preserved at 5℃, eggs preserved in kimchi extracts for 14, 28, and 60 at 5℃ were re-incubated at 25℃ for 3 weeks in distilled water. While all eggs in the control group became larvated, eggs in the kimchi extract group showed differences in their embryonation rates by the incubation period; 87.4 % and 41.7% of the eggs became embryonated after being refrigerated for 14 days and 28 days, respectively. When refrigerated for 60 days, however, no eggs mixed in kimchi extract showed larval development. Our results indicate that embryogenesis of A. suum eggs in kimchi extract was affected by duration of refrigeration, and that all eggs stopped larval development completely in kimchi kept at 5℃ for up to 60 days