Providing a better work environment for competitive advantage – conceptual considerations linking commitment and firm-specific human resources

Managing for uncertain futures is a major concern in the area of strategic management with environmental stability fading and increasing global impacts on local decisions. One critical resource that has attained special interest lies in talented and qualified employees. It is a challenge to motivate such employees to invest in firm-specific assets that may form a valuable basis for competitive advantage. Short term contracts and a lack of care for employees make it hard to establish a committed workforce. The aim of the paper is the elaboration of a conceptual framework showing the links and contributing to a better understanding of how the alignment of interests of employees and firms maybe a valuable contribution to the understanding of competitive advantage.

Contribution of transmembrane domain V amino acids to β1l-adrenoceptor activity and affinity

There are two binding sites on the β1-adrenoceptor (AR), β1H and β1L corresponding to high and low affinity binding sites respectively, which can be activated to cause cardiostimulation (reviewed Kaumann and Molenaar, 2008). Some β-blockers that block β1AR and β2ARs can activate β1LARs at higher concentrations than those required to cause blockade. The β2AR does not form a corresponding low affinity binding site (Baker et al 2002) and therefore we postulated that heterologous amino acids are responsible for the formation of β1LAR. Our aim was to investigate whether heterologous amino acids of transmembrane domain V (TMDV) of β1AR and β2ARs contribute to β1LAR. β1ARs, β2ARs and mutant β1ARs containing all (β1(β2TMDV)AR) or single amino acids of TMDV of the β2AR were prepared and stably expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Concentration-effect curves for cyclicAMP accumulation were carried out for (-)-CGP12177 or (-)-isoprenaline in the absence or presence of (-)-bupranolol. _______________________________________________________________________ (-)-CGP 12177 (-)-Bupranolol affinity (pKB) pEC50 vs (-)-CGP 12177 vs (-)-isoprenaline _______________________________________________________________________ β1AR 8.00 ± 0.11 (11) 7.23 ± 0.23 (5) 9.52 ± 0.28 (5) β2AR (high density) 9.24 ± 0.14 (5) 9.82 ± 0.52 (8) xPaulxxxxxxx β2AR (low density) no effect β1(β2TMV)AR 8.86 ± 0.10 (15) 8.06 ± 0.17 (8) 9.08 ± 0.22 (6) β1(V230I)AR 9.07 ± 0.07 (10) 7.64 ± 0.12 (8) 9.36 ± 0.28 (9) β1(R222Q)AR 8.09 ± 0.29 (6) 7.33 ± 0.23 (5) 9.36 ± 0.08 (6) β1(V230A)AR 7.59 ± 0.09 (6) 7.32 ± 0.24 (4) 8.62 ± 0.18 (5) _______________________________________________________________________ The potency of (-)-CGP12177 was higher at β2AR than at β1AR consistent with activation through a low affinity site at the β1AR (β1LAR) but not β2AR. The presence of V230 in β1AR accounted for the lower potency of (-)-CGP 12177. The affinity of (-)-bupranolol at β1AR and mutants was higher when determined with (-)-isoprenaline than with (-)-CGP 12177. The affinity of (-)-bupranolol determined against (-)-CGP 12177 was lower at β1AR compared to β2AR. The presence of V230 in β1AR accounted in part for the lower affinity. In conclusion V230 of the β1AR contributes in part to the low affinity binding site of β1AR. Baker JG, Hall IP, Hill SJ (2002). Pharmacological characterization of CGP12177 at the human β2-adrenoceptor. Br J Pharmacol 137, 400−408 Kaumann AJ, Molenaar P (2008) The low-affinity site of the β1-adrenoceptor and its relevance to cardiovascular pharmacology. Pharmacol Ther 118, 303-336

Solving navigational uncertainty using grid cells on robots

To successfully navigate their habitats, many mammals use a combination of two mechanisms, path integration and calibration using landmarks, which together enable them to estimate their location and orientation, or pose. In large natural environments, both these mechanisms are characterized by uncertainty: the path integration process is subject to the accumulation of error, while landmark calibration is limited by perceptual ambiguity. It remains unclear how animals form coherent spatial representations in the presence of such uncertainty. Navigation research using robots has determined that uncertainty can be effectively addressed by maintaining multiple probabilistic estimates of a robot's pose. Here we show how conjunctive grid cells in dorsocaudal medial entorhinal cortex (dMEC) may maintain multiple estimates of pose using a brain-based robot navigation system known as RatSLAM. Based both on rodent spatially-responsive cells and functional engineering principles, the cells at the core of the RatSLAM computational model have similar characteristics to rodent grid cells, which we demonstrate by replicating the seminal Moser experiments. We apply the RatSLAM model to a new experimental paradigm designed to examine the responses of a robot or animal in the presence of perceptual ambiguity. Our computational approach enables us to observe short-term population coding of multiple location hypotheses, a phenomenon which would not be easily observable in rodent recordings. We present behavioral and neural evidence demonstrating that the conjunctive grid cells maintain and propagate multiple estimates of pose, enabling the correct pose estimate to be resolved over time even without uniquely identifying cues. While recent research has focused on the grid-like firing characteristics, accuracy and representational capacity of grid cells, our results identify a possible critical and unique role for conjunctive grid cells in filtering sensory uncertainty. We anticipate our study to be a starting point for animal experiments that test navigation in perceptually ambiguous environments.

Global Creative Industries

The creative industries are the subject of growing attention among policy-makers, academics, activists, artists and development specialists worldwide. This engaging book provides a global overview of developments in the creative industries, and analyses how these developments relate to wider debates about globalization, cities, culture and the global creative economy. Flew considers creative industries from six angles: industries; production; consumption; markets; places; and policies. Designed for the non-specialist, the text includes insightful and wide-ranging case studies on topics such as: fashion; design thinking; global culture; creative occupations; monopoly and competition; Shanghai and Seoul as creative cities; popular music and urban cultural policy; and the rise of “Nollywood”. Global Creative Industries will be of great interest to students and scholars of media and communications, cultural studies, economics, geography, sociology, design, public policy, and the arts. It will also be of value to those working in the creative industries, and involved in their development.

How optometrists record corneal staining

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine current approaches adopted by optometrists to the recording of corneal staining following fluorescein instillation. Methods: An anonymous ‘record-keeping task’ was sent to all 756 practitioners who are members of the Queensland Division of Optometrists Association Australia. This task comprised a form on which appeared a colour photograph depicting contact lens solution-induced corneal staining. Next to the photograph was an empty box, in which practitioners were asked to record their observations. Practitioners were also asked to indicate the level of severity of the condition at which treatment would be instigated. Results: Completed task forms were returned by 228 optometrists, representing a 30 per cent response rate. Ninety-two per cent of respondents offered a diagnosis. The most commonly used descriptive terms were ‘superficial punctate keratitis’ (36 per cent of respondents) and ‘punctate staining’ (29 per cent). The level of severity and location of corneal staining were noted by 69 and 68 per cent of respondents, respectively. A numerical grade was assigned by 44 per cent of respondents. Only three per cent nominated the grading scale used. The standard deviation of assigned grades was � 0.6. The condition was sketched by 35 per cent of respondents and two per cent stated that they would take a photograph of the eye. Ten per cent noted the eye in which the condition was being observed. Opinions of the level of severity at which treatment for corneal staining should be instigated varied considerably between practitioners, ranging from ‘any sign of corneal staining’ to ‘grade 4 staining’. Conclusion: Although most practitioners made a sensible note of the condition and properly recorded the location of corneal staining, serious deficiencies were evident regarding other aspects of record-keeping. Ongoing programs of professional optometric education should reinforce good practice in relation to clinical record-keeping.

The CAPA Indigenous Project. Indigenous postgraduate education: A project into the barriers which indigenous students must overcome in postgraduate studies: A short history 1993-2000.

This brief paper outlines some of the early work undertaken in Indigenous postgraduate activism in Australia. In particular, the work undertaken in the lead up to the 'Project into the Barriers which Indigenous Students must Overcome in Postgraduate Studies'.

The role of informal networks in providing effective work opportunities for people with an intellectual disability

Being in paid employment is socially valued, and is linked to health, financial security and time use. Issues arising from a lack of occupational choice and control, and from diminished role partnerships are particularly problematic in the lives of people with an intellectual disability. Informal support networks are shown to influence work opportunities for people without disabilities, but their impact on the work experiences of people with disability has not been thoroughly explored. The experience of 'work' and preparation for work was explored with a group of four people with an intellectual disability (the participants) and the key members of their informal support networks (network members) in New South Wales, Australia. Network members and participants were interviewed and participant observations of work and other activities were undertaken. Data analysis included open, conceptual and thematic coding. Data analysis software assisted in managing the large datasets across multiple team members. The insight and actions of network members created and sustained the employment and support opportunities that effectively matched the needs and interests of the participants. Recommendations for future research are outlined.

Informational city

Many cities worldwide face the prospect of major transformation as the world moves towards a global information order. In this new era, urban economies are being radically altered by dynamic processes of economic and spatial restructuring. The result is the creation of ‘informational cities’ or its new and more popular name, ‘knowledge cities’. For the last two centuries, social production had been primarily understood and shaped by neo-classical economic thought that recognized only three factors of production: land, labor and capital. Knowledge, education, and intellectual capacity were secondary, if not incidental, factors. Human capital was assumed to be either embedded in labor or just one of numerous categories of capital. In the last decades, it has become apparent that knowledge is sufficiently important to deserve recognition as a fourth factor of production. Knowledge and information and the social and technological settings for their production and communication are now seen as keys to development and economic prosperity. The rise of knowledge-based opportunity has, in many cases, been accompanied by a concomitant decline in traditional industrial activity. The replacement of physical commodity production by more abstract forms of production (e.g. information, ideas, and knowledge) has, however paradoxically, reinforced the importance of central places and led to the formation of knowledge cities. Knowledge is produced, marketed and exchanged mainly in cities. Therefore, knowledge cities aim to assist decision-makers in making their cities compatible with the knowledge economy and thus able to compete with other cities. Knowledge cities enable their citizens to foster knowledge creation, knowledge exchange and innovation. They also encourage the continuous creation, sharing, evaluation, renewal and update of knowledge. To compete nationally and internationally, cities need knowledge infrastructures (e.g. universities, research and development institutes); a concentration of well-educated people; technological, mainly electronic, infrastructure; and connections to the global economy (e.g. international companies and finance institutions for trade and investment). Moreover, they must possess the people and things necessary for the production of knowledge and, as importantly, function as breeding grounds for talent and innovation. The economy of a knowledge city creates high value-added products using research, technology, and brainpower. Private and the public sectors value knowledge, spend money on its discovery and dissemination and, ultimately, harness it to create goods and services. Although many cities call themselves knowledge cities, currently, only a few cities around the world (e.g., Barcelona, Delft, Dublin, Montreal, Munich, and Stockholm) have earned that label. Many other cities aspire to the status of knowledge city through urban development programs that target knowledge-based urban development. Examples include Copenhagen, Dubai, Manchester, Melbourne, Monterrey, Singapore, and Shanghai. Knowledge-Based Urban Development To date, the development of most knowledge cities has proceeded organically as a dependent and derivative effect of global market forces. Urban and regional planning has responded slowly, and sometimes not at all, to the challenges and the opportunities of the knowledge city. That is changing, however. Knowledge-based urban development potentially brings both economic prosperity and a sustainable socio-spatial order. Its goal is to produce and circulate abstract work. The globalization of the world in the last decades of the twentieth century was a dialectical process. On one hand, as the tyranny of distance was eroded, economic networks of production and consumption were constituted at a global scale. At the same time, spatial proximity remained as important as ever, if not more so, for knowledge-based urban development. Mediated by information and communication technology, personal contact, and the medium of tacit knowledge, organizational and institutional interactions are still closely associated with spatial proximity. The clustering of knowledge production is essential for fostering innovation and wealth creation. The social benefits of knowledge-based urban development extend beyond aggregate economic growth. On the one hand is the possibility of a particularly resilient form of urban development secured in a network of connections anchored at local, national, and global coordinates. On the other hand, quality of place and life, defined by the level of public service (e.g. health and education) and by the conservation and development of the cultural, aesthetic and ecological values give cities their character and attract or repel the creative class of knowledge workers, is a prerequisite for successful knowledge-based urban development. The goal is a secure economy in a human setting: in short, smart growth or sustainable urban development.

The effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability

Background The relationship between positive parent-child interactions and optimal child development is well established. Families with a child with a disability may face additional challenges to establishing positive parent-child relationships. There are limited studies addressing the effectiveness of interventions which seek to address these issues with parents and young children with a disability. In particular, prior studies of music therapy with this group have been limited by small sample sizes and the use of measures of limited reliability and validity. Objective This study investigates the effectiveness of a short-term group music therapy intervention for parents who have a child with a disability and explores the factors associated with higher outcomes for participating families. Methods The participants were 201 mother-child dyads, where the child had a disability. Pre and post intervention parental questionnaires and clinician observation measures were taken on a range of parental wellbeing, parenting behaviours and child developmental factors. Descriptive data, t-tests for repeated measures and a predictive model tested via logistic regression are presented. Results Significant improvements pre to post were found for parent mental health, child communication and social skills, parenting sensitivity, parental engagement with child and acceptance of child, child responsiveness to parent, and child interest and participation in program activities. There was also evidence that parents were very satisfied with the program and that it brought social benefits to families. Reliable change on six or more indicators of parent or child functioning was predicted by attendance and parent education. Conclusions This study provides positive evidence for the effectiveness of group music therapy in promoting improved parental mental health, positive parenting and key child developmental areas. Whilst several limitations are discussed, the study does address some of the gaps in the music therapy evidence base in this area.

Motivations and intentions : a case study of design-led activism

With a focus on intention and motivation, this paper describes a study involving three organisational communities and their collective effort to develop and provide more inclusive housing for people with disabilities and their families. While many studies, such as that by Rocha & Miles (2009), focus on commercial organisations, and sustainability from an economic perspective, this study involves a not-for-profit organisation (the accommodation and service provider) as well as a research organisation and a design action group volunteering their services free of charge. From this pro-bono context, the paper describes a case study that explores the nature of the collective as a basis for creative practice and political activism and the theoretical implications and wider application in terms of emerging research in the area of collaborative entrepreneurship and design activism.

That's a rap : the making of an Australian hip hop integrated musical film

To date, the majority of films that utilise or feature hip hop music and culture, have either been in the realms of documentary, or in ‘show musicals’ (where the film musical’s device of characters’ bursting into song, is justified by the narrative of a pursuit of a career in the entertainment industry). Thus, most films that feature hip hop expression have in some way been tied to the subject of hip hop. A research interest and enthusiasm was developed for utilising hip hop expression in film in a new way, which would extend the narrative possibilities of hip hop film to wider topics and themes. The creation of the thesis film Out of My Cloud, and the writing of this accompanying exegesis, investigates a research concern of the potential for the use of hip hop expression in an ‘integrated musical’ film (where characters’ break into song without conceit or explanation). Context and rationale for Out of My Cloud (an Australian hip hop ‘integrated musical’ film) is provided in this writing. It is argued that hip hop is particularly suitable for use in a modern narrative film, and particularly in an ‘integrated musical’ film, due to its: current vibrancy and popularity, rap (vocal element of hip hop) music’s focus on lyrical message and meaning, and rap’s use as an everyday, non-performative method of communication. It is also argued that Australian hip hop deserves greater representation in film and literature due to: its current popularity, and its nature as a unique and distinct form of hip hop. To date, representation of Australian hip hop in film and television has almost solely been restricted to the documentary form. Out of My Cloud borrows from elements of social realist cinema such as: contrasts with mainstream cinema, an exploration/recognition of the relationship between environment and development of character, use of non-actors, location-shooting, a political intent of the filmmaker, displaying sympathy for an underclass, representation of underrepresented character types and topics, and a loose narrative structure that does not offer solid resolution. A case is made that it may be appropriate to marry elements of social realist film with hip hop expression due to common characteristics, such as: representation of marginalised or underrepresented groups and issues in society, political objectives of the artist/s, and sympathy for an underclass. In developing and producing Out of My Cloud, a specific method of working with, and filming actor improvisation was developed. This method was informed by improvisation and associated camera techniques of filmmakers such as Charlie Chaplin, Mike Leigh, Khoa Do, Dogme 95 filmmakers, and Lars von Trier (post-Dogme 95). A review of techniques used by these filmmakers is provided in this writing, as well as the impact it has made on my approach. The method utilised in Out of My Cloud was most influenced by Khoa Do’s technique of guiding actors to improvise fairly loosely, but with a predetermined endpoint in mind. A variation of this technique was developed for use in Out of My Cloud, which involved filming with two cameras to allow edits from multiple angles. Specific processes for creating Out of My Cloud are described and explained in this writing. Particular attention is given to the approaches regarding the story elements and the music elements. Various significant aspects of the process are referred to including the filming and recording of live musical performances, the recording of ‘freestyle’ performances (lyrics composed and performed spontaneously) and the creation of a scored musical scene involving a vocal performance without regular timing or rhythm. The documentation of processes in this writing serve to make the successful elements of this film transferable and replicable to other practitioners in the field, whilst flagging missteps to allow fellow practitioners to avoid similar missteps in future projects. While Out of My Cloud is not without its shortcomings as a short film work (for example in the areas of story and camerawork) it provides a significant contribution to the field as a working example of how hip hop may be utilised in an ‘integrated musical’ film, as well as being a rare example of a narrative film that features Australian hip hop. This film and the accompanying exegesis provide insights that contribute to an understanding of techniques, theories and knowledge in the field of filmmaking practice.