2,025 research outputs found
Association-Sponsored Higher Education for Business: Perceptions of First-Year Students
Association-sponsored learning programs comprise a significant but largely unknown sector of higher education. In North America, for example, almost 500 associations are involved in the education! certification process. This paper begins the process of discovering why individuals enroll in such programmes, rejecting the many other vocationally oriented opportunities available to them. Using data from first-year students enrolled with the Canadian Institute of Management, it was found that the majority were drawn to the Institute through personal business contacts. As well, although other alternatives were investigated, the Institute's reputation, level of difficulty, the perceived "practical" nature of the courses and programme length attracted most students. As to perceptions of “utility," the Institute's learning programme was ranked just below a university degree in management and somewhat higher than a degree in a "non- management" discipline.Les programmes d'enseignement parrainés par des associations dites profession-nelles constituent une partie importante mais mal connue de l'enseignement supérieur. En Amérique du Nord, par exemple, près de 500 associations participent à l'octroi de diplômes et de brevets professionnels. Le présent travail cherche à découvrir les raisons pour lesquelles les individus s'inscrivent à ces programmes et rejettent les innombrables autres possibilités de formation disponibles. L'étude des données concernant les étudiants de première année inscrits à l'Institut canadien de gestion permit de découvrir que la majorité de ces étudiants avaient été attirés à l'Institut par des contacts personnels et professionnels. De plus, après que les étudiants eurent envisagé les autres formations disponibles, c'est la réputation de l'Institut, le niveau de difficulté de l'enseignement offert, l'aspect «pratique» des cours et la durée du programme qui contribuèrent à attirer bon nombre d'entre eux. Quant à 1'« utilité » du programme, les étudiants l'ont jugée légèrement inférieure à celle d'un diplôme universitaire de gestion et légèrement supérieure à celle d'un autre diplôme obtenu dans une matière non reliée à la gestion
Proteomics with a pinch of salt: A cyanobacterial perspective
Cyanobacteria are ancient life forms and have adapted to a variety of extreme environments, including high salinity. Biochemical, physiological and genetic studies have contributed to uncovering their underlying survival mechanisms, and as recent studies demonstrate, proteomics has the potential to increase our overall understanding further. To date, most salt-related cyanobacterial proteomic studies have utilised gel electrophoresis with the model organism Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. Moreover, focus has been on 2–4% w/v NaCl concentrations within different cellular compartments. Under these conditions, Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 was found to respond and adapt to salt stress through synthesis of general and specific stress proteins, altering the protein composition of extracellular layers, and re-directing control of complex central intermediary pathways. Post-transcriptional control was also predicted through non-correlating transcript level data and identification of protein isoforms
Understanding and Articulating Effective Succession Planning: A Means for Infusing Influence by NAITTE Constituencies
Comparative quantitative proteomics of prochlorococcus ecotypes to a decrease in environmental phosphate concentrations
BACKGROUND: The well-lit surface waters of oligotrophic gyres significantly contribute to global primary production. Marine cyanobacteria of the genus Prochlorococcus are a major fraction of photosynthetic organisms within these areas. Labile phosphate is considered a limiting nutrient in some oligotrophic regions such as the Caribbean Sea, and as such it is crucial to understand the physiological response of primary producers such as Prochlorococcus to fluctuations in the availability of this critical nutrient. RESULTS: Prochlorococcus strains representing both high light (HL) (MIT9312) and low light (LL) (NATL2A and SS120) ecotypes were grown identically in phosphate depleted media (10 μM Pi). The three strains displayed marked differences in cellular protein expression, as determined by high throughput large scale quantitative proteomic analysis. The only strain to demonstrate a significantly different growth rate under reduced phosphate conditions was MIT9312. Additionally, there was a significant increase in phosphate-related proteins such as PhoE (> 15 fold increase) and a depression of the Rubisco protein RbcL abundance in this strain, whereas there appeared to be no significant change within the LL strain SS120. CONCLUSIONS: This differential response between ecotypes highlights the relative importance of phosphate availability to each strain and from these results we draw the conclusion that the expression of phosphate acquisition mechanisms are activated at strain specific phosphate concentrations
Biodegradation of high-concentration isopropanol by a solvent-tolerant thermophile, Bacillus pallidus
The aerobic biodegradation of high-concentration,
to 24 g l
–1
, 2-propanol (IPA) by a thermophilic isolate
ST3, identified as
Bacillus pallidus
, was successfully carried
out for the first time. This solvent-tolerant
B. pallidus
utilized
IPA as the sole carbon source within a minimal salts
medium. Cultivation was carried out in 100-ml shake flasks
at 60°C and compared with cultivation within a 1-l stirred
tank reactor (STR). Specific growth rate () was about
0.2 h–1
for both systems, with a maximum cell density of 2.4 x 10
8 cells ml–1
obtained with STR cultivation. During exponential
growth and stationary phase, IPA biodegradation
rates were found to be 0.14 and 0.02 g l
–1h–1, respectively, in
shake-flask experiments, whereas corresponding values of
0.09 and 0.018 g l
–1h–1
were achievable in the STR. Generation
of acetone, the major intermediate in aerobic IPA biodegradation,
was also monitored as an indicator of
microbial IPA utilization. Acetone levels reached a maximum
of 2.2–2.3 g l–1
after 72 and 58 h for 100-ml and 1-l systems,
respectively. Both IPA and acetone were completely
removed from the medium following 160 and 175 h, respectively,
during STR growth, although this was not demonstrated
within shake-flask reactions. Growth of
B. pallidus
on acetone or IPA alone demonstrated that the maximum
growth rate () obtainable was 0.247 h–1
at 4 g l–1
acetone
and 0.202 h–1
at 8 g l–1
IPA within shake-flask cultivation.
These results indicate the potential of the solvent-tolerant
thermophile
B. pallidus
ST3 in the bioremediation of hot
solvent-containing industrial waste streams
Mott transition in the -flux SU() Hubbard model on a square lattice
We employ the projector quantum Monte Carlo simulations to study the
ground-state properties of the square-lattice SU(4) Hubbard model with a
flux per plaquette. In the weak coupling regime, its ground state is in the
gapless Dirac semi-metal phase. With increasing repulsive interaction, we show
that, a Mott transition occurs from the semimetal to the valence bond solid,
accompanied by the discrete symmetry breaking. Our simulations
demonstrate the existence of a second-order phase transition, which confirms
the Ginzburg-Landau analysis. The phase transition point and the critical
exponent are also estimated. To account for the effect of a flux
on the ordering in the strong coupling regime, we analytically derive by the
perturbation theory the ring-exchange term which describes the leading-order
difference between the -flux and zero-flux SU(4) Hubbard models.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
A Systematic Evaluation of Chip-Based Nanoelectrospray Parameters for Rapid Identification of Proteins from a Complex Mixture
HPLC-MS/MS is widely used for protein identification from gel spots and shotgun fractions. Although HPLC has well recognized benefits, this type of sample infusion also has some undesirable attributes: relatively low sample throughput, potential sample-to-sample carryover, time-varying sample composition, and no option for longer sample infusion for longer MS analyses. An automated chip-based ESI device (CB-ESI) has the potential to overcome these limitations. This report describes a systematic evaluation of the information-dependant acquisition (IDA) and sample preparation protocols for rapid protein identification from a complex mixture using a CB-ESI source compared with HPLC-ESI (gradient and isocratic elutions). Cytochrome c and a six-protein mixture (11–117 kDa) were used to develop an IDA protocol for rapid protein identification and to evaluate the effects of sample preparation protocols. MS (1–10 s) and MS/MS (1–60 s) scan times, sample concentration (50–500 fmol/μL), and ZipTipC18 cleanup were evaluated. Based on MOWSE scores, protein coverage, experimental run time, number of identified proteins, and reproducibility, a 12.5 min experiment (22 cycles, each with one 3 s MS and eight 10 s MS/MS scans) was determined to be the optimal IDA protocol for CB-ESI. This work flow yielded up to 220% greater peptide coverage compared with gradient HPLC-ESI and provided protein identifications with up to a 2-fold higher throughput rate than either HPLC-ESI approach, whilst employing half the amount of sample over the same time frame. The results from this study support the use of CB-ESI as a rapid alternative to the identification of protein mixtures
Enhanced deep-blue emission from Pt(II) complexes bound to 2-pyridyltetrazolate and an ortho-xylene-linked bis(NHC)cyclophane
The coordination of 2-pyridyltetrazolate and ortho-xylene-linked bis(NHC)cyclophane to Pt(II) yielded a novel complex characterised by enhanced pure deep-blue emission, whose intensity can be modulated via methylation of the tetrazole ring
Effects of heavy metals on Cyanothece sp. CCY 0110 growth, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production, ultrastructure and protein profiles
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Supercritical extraction as an effective first-step in a maize stover biorefinery
Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) has been investigated for the generation of valuable waxy compounds and as an added-value technology in a holistic maize stover biorefinery. ScCO2 extraction and fractionation was carried out prior to hydrolysis and fermentation of maize stover. Fractionation of the crude extracts by scCO2 resulted in wax extracts having different compositions and melting temperatures, enabling their utilisation in different applications. One such fraction demonstrated significant potential as a renewable defoaming agent in washing machine detergent formulations. Furthermore, scCO2 extraction has been shown to have a positive effect on the downstream processing of the maize stover. Fermentation of the scCO2 extracted maize stover hydrolysates exhibited a higher glucose consumption and greater potential growth for surfactant (in comparison with non-scCO2 treated stover) and ethanol production (a 40% increase in overall ethanol production after scCO2 pre-treatment). This work represents an important development in the extraction of high value components from low value wastes and demonstrates the benefits of using scCO2 extraction as a first-step in biomass processing, including enhancing downstream processing of the biomass for the production of 2nd generation biofuels as part of an integrated holistic biorefinery
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