A lack of positive entrepreneurial role models makes it tougher for women to see themselves starting businesses, according to Binghamton University researcher Vishal Gupta. Eric Coker reports at the school's DISCOVER-e:
Gupta points to arguably the most popular television show with an entrepreneurial focus, Donald Trump’s The Apprentice. “What that show is doing is turning women away from being entrepreneurs because they’re looking at it and thinking, ‘That’s not me,’” Gupta says. “It so blatantly emphasizes those stereotypical masculine characteristics. “When I watch TV, I have to work really hard to find role models for my female students, especially business role models.” Even when there is a successful female entrepreneur, the media can still present her in a negative light, Gupta says. One such example is a movie about Martha Stewart called Martha, Inc. “If you saw that movie, you would not want your daughter to be an entrepreneur,” Gupta says. “They show Martha Stewart as selfish and only looking out for herself at an early age. That’s a big problem. You have to emphasize that entrepreneurs are people who contribute positively to the economy and society.”
Crohn’s breakthrough
Cornell University researchers may have put their finger on the cell that causes Crohn's disease, reports the school's news service in the Ithaca Journal:
Denkers' lab studies the prevalent protozoan Toxoplasma gondii and recently steered Toxoplasma research in an entirely new direction. "We noticed that the initial intestinal inflammation these parasites can cause looks very similar to what happens during Crohn's disease," said Denkers, one of the first to study this connection. "Our lab has started using Toxoplasma to model Crohn's disease in humans and help us find the pivotal perpetrator, which has turned out to be a cell from our own immune forces."
Biometric tracking
University at Buffalo researchers have developed a system for using cameras and biometric information (like height or the way a person walks) to determine where people are in a physical space. The system could help identify where folks are in hospitals or nursing homes, without using invasive technology like closed circuit monitoring and RFID tags, reports the school's press service (via PhysOrg.com).
Maintaining infrastructure
A new report from the Brookings Hamilton Project suggests a three-pronged approach to maintaining road infrastructure, reports Eric Jaffe at Infrastructurist. Government has to fix roads, expand them, and then reward road builders for hitting targets like on-time completion - in that order.
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