The dual nature of information systems in enabling a new wave of hardware ventures: Towards a theory

Hardware ventures are emerging entrepreneurial firms that create new market offerings based on development of digital devices. These ventures are important elements in the global economy but have not yet received much attention in the literature. Our interest in examining hardware ventures is specifically in the role that information system (IS) resources play in enabling them. We ask how the role of IS resources for hardware ventures can be conceptualized and develop a framework for assessment. Our framework builds on the distinction of operand and operant resources and distinguishes between two key lifecycle stages of hardware ventures: start-up and growth. We show how this framework can be used to discuss the role, nature, and use of IS for hardware ventures and outline empirical research strategies that flow from it. Our work contributes to broadening and enriching the IS field by drawing attention to its role in significant and novel phenomena.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs: A theoretical perspective

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs are increasingly seen as a threat to communities around the world. They are a visible threat as a recognizable symbol of deviance and violence. This book discusses the social context within which Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs and groups have emerged and the implication of labelling these groups as deviant and outlaw. There is no doubt that members of these clubs have been involved in serious criminal activity and this book explores whether gang and organised crime theory can effectively explain their criminal activities. Importantly, the book also assesses policing and political responses to the clubs' activities. It argues that there is an increasing need for national and international cooperation on the part of law enforcement agencies with various levels of government as well as the private sector. Importantly, the book offers suggestions for the best responses to the crimes committed by members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

A values analysis of attitudes towards the use of law to prevent obesity: How might these values inform public health law theory and practice?

This thesis asks whether values, like government duty, individual responsibility, community and social justice, influence the way that scholars and research participants think about the use of law to prevent obesity. It explores the way participants speak about values when expressing their support for or against a variety of government regulatory interventions, including taxation, food labelling reforms and advertising restrictions. This research contributes to our understanding of theories of public health law and public health ethics. The qualitative findings also have implications for policy development, in advocating for a variety of government interventions to prevent obesity.

Common psychotic symptoms can be explained by the theory of ecological perception

The symptoms of psychiatric illness are diverse, as are the causes of the illnesses that cause them. Yet, regardless of the heterogeneity of cause and presentation, a great deal of symptoms can be explained by the failure of a single perceptual function – the reprocessing of ecological perception. It is a central tenet of the ecological theory of perception that we perceive opportunities to act. It has also been found that perception automatically causes actions and thoughts to occur unless this primary action pathway is inhibited. Inhibition allows perceptions to be reprocessed into more appropriate alternative actions and thoughts. Reprocessing of this kind takes place over the entire frontal lobe and it renders action optional. Choice about what action to take (if any) is the basis for the feeling of autonomy and ultimately for the sense-of-self. When thoughts and actions occur automatically (without choice) they appear to originate outside of the self, thereby providing prima facie evidence for some of the bizarre delusions that define schizophrenia such as delusional misidentification, delusions of control and Cotard’s delusion. Automatic actions and thoughts are triggered by residual stimulation whenever reprocessing is insufficient to balance automatic excitatory cues (for whatever reason). These may not be noticed if they are neutral and therefore unimportant whereas actions and thoughts with a positive bias are desirable. Responses to negative stimulus, on the other hand, are always unwelcome, because the actions that are triggered will carry the negative bias. Automatic thoughts may include spontaneous positive feelings of love and joy, but automatic negative thoughts and visualisations are experienced as hallucinations. Not only do these feel like they emerge from elsewhere but they carry a negative bias (they are most commonly critical, rude and are irrationally paranoid). Automatic positive actions may include laughter and smiling and these are welcome. Automatic behaviours that carry a negative bias, however, are unwelcome and like hallucinations, occur without a sense of choice. These include crying, stereotypies, perseveration, ataxia, utilization and imitation behaviours and catatonia.

Using an extended theory of planned behavior to predict a change in the type of blood product donated

Background Demand for essential plasma-derived products is increasing. Purpose This prospective study aims to identify predictors of voluntary non-remunerated whole blood (WB) donors becoming plasmapheresis donors. Methods Surveys were sent to WB donors who had recently (recent n = 1,957) and not recently donated (distant n = 1,012). Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) constructs (attitude, subjective norm, self-efficacy) were extended with moral norm, anticipatory regret, and donor identity. Intentions and objective plasmapheresis donation for 527 recent and 166 distant participants were assessed. Results Multi-group analysis revealed that the model was a good fit. Moral norm and self-efficacy were positively associated while role identity (suppressed by moral norm) was negatively associated with plasmapheresis intentions. Conclusions The extended TPB was useful in identifying factors that facilitate conversion from WB to plasmapheresis donation. A superordinate donor identity may be synonymous with WB donation and, for donors with a strong moral norm for plasmapheresis, may inhibit conversion.

Fluid registration of diffusion tensor images using information theory

We apply an information-theoretic cost metric, the symmetrized Kullback-Leibler (sKL) divergence, or $J$-divergence, to fluid registration of diffusion tensor images. The difference between diffusion tensors is quantified based on the sKL-divergence of their associated probability density functions (PDFs). Three-dimensional DTI data from 34 subjects were fluidly registered to an optimized target image. To allow large image deformations but preserve image topology, we regularized the flow with a large-deformation diffeomorphic mapping based on the kinematics of a Navier-Stokes fluid. A driving force was developed to minimize the $J$-divergence between the deforming source and target diffusion functions, while reorienting the flowing tensors to preserve fiber topography. In initial experiments, we showed that the sKL-divergence based on full diffusion PDFs is adaptable to higher-order diffusion models, such as high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI). The sKL-divergence was sensitive to subtle differences between two diffusivity profiles, showing promise for nonlinear registration applications and multisubject statistical analysis of HARDI data.

Test-retest reliability of graph theory measures of structural brain connectivity

The human connectome has recently become a popular research topic in neuroscience, and many new algorithms have been applied to analyze brain networks. In particular, network topology measures from graph theory have been adapted to analyze network efficiency and 'small-world' properties. While there has been a surge in the number of papers examining connectivity through graph theory, questions remain about its test-retest reliability (TRT). In particular, the reproducibility of structural connectivity measures has not been assessed. We examined the TRT of global connectivity measures generated from graph theory analyses of 17 young adults who underwent two high-angular resolution diffusion (HARDI) scans approximately 3 months apart. Of the measures assessed, modularity had the highest TRT, and it was stable across a range of sparsities (a thresholding parameter used to define which network edges are retained). These reliability measures underline the need to develop network descriptors that are robust to acquisition parameters.

Reconnecting theory and practice in pluralistic contexts: Issues and Aristotelian considerations

The purpose of this article is to contribute, from a research practitioner perspective, to the theory–practice gap debate in organization studies, focusing on pluralistic contexts such as project organizing. The current debate is introduced; then the features of the two main philosophical traditions (i.e., modernism and postmodernism) are critically summarized. Then, propositions to reconnect theory and practice according to the Aristotelian premodern ethical and practical philosophy are discussed. Some key implications in the following areas are outlined: roles played by practitioners and scholars; emancipatory praxeological style of reasoning; closing the “phronetic gap”; and the development of “good practice,” ethics, and politics.

'Crossing the line': Criminological expertise, policy advice and the 'quarrelling society'

In October 2009, Professor David Nutt, eminent neuropsychopharmacologist and world leading expert on drugs, was dismissed as Chair of the UK government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for comments he made at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies’ Eve Saville lecture. This article considers the role of evidence in political decision-making through the case of David Nutt. It is argued that the status of expert knowledge is in crisis for both the natural and the social sciences. We examine the role of the criminological advisor within emerging discourses of public criminology and suggest that high-stakes political issues can open up unprecedented opportunities for critical voices to engage in unbridled critique and to mobilise movements of dissent.

The commodification and exploitation of fresh water: Property, human rights and green criminology

In recent years, both developing and industrialised societies have experienced riots and civil unrest over the corporate exploitation of fresh water. Water conflicts increase as water scarcity rises and the unsustainable use of fresh water will continue to have profound implications for sustainable development and the realisation of human rights. Rather than states adopting more costly water conservation strategies or implementing efficient water technologies, corporations are exploiting natural resources in what has been described as the “privatization of water”. By using legal doctrines, states and corporations construct fresh water sources as something that can be owned or leased. For some regions, the privatization of water has enabled corporations and corrupt states to exploit a fundamental human right. Arguing that such matters are of relevance to criminology, which should be concerned with fundamental environmental and human rights, this article adopts a green criminological perspective and draws upon Treadmill of Production theory.

Review: Let's talk kinship: Innovating Australian social work education, theory, research and practice through Aboriginal knowledge

Review(s) of: Let's talk kinship: Innovating Australian social work education, theory, research and practice through Aboriginal knowledge, by Christine Fejo-King, published by Christine Fejo-King Consulting, ISBN: 978-0-9922814-0-3.

No Exit from the gaze: Sartre’s theory facilitated through aspects of Meisner’s practice

This article explores the theory/practice nexus in performance and considers a method for the transfer of theory in rehearsal and performance. In a 2011 production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s "No Exit", rehearsal, performance and post-performance exercises were devised to facilitate an understanding of Sartre’s existential concepts for audiences based on Sanford Meisner’s techniques. In this production, Sartre’s theory of “the gaze” was “practiced” by actors and audience members opening up new perspectives on the conflation of theory and practice in theatre productions.

Neo-Piagetian Theory and the novice programmer

This PhD project studied the genetic epistemology of novice programmers, and provides empirical evidence that the development of programming skills can be described using the neo-Piagetian cognitive development framework. The thesis identifies the manifestations of each of the early neo-Piagetian stages of development in the programming domain – that is: sensorimotor, preoperational and concrete operational. This research informs not only tertiary pedagogy, but teaching and learning of computer programming in any setting. It will enable educators to (a) identify the developmental stage of their students, (b) provide stage-appropriate learning resources and (c) assist students in transitioning to the next more mature stage of reasoning.