Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor expression and angiogenesis in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix

Growth and metastatic spread of invasive carcinoma depends on angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) is an angiogenic growth factor for a number of solid tumors, including lung, bladder, colorectal, and renal cell cancer. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) is the precursor to squamous cell cervical carcinoma (SCC). Mean vessel density (MVD) increases from normal cervical tissue, through low- and high-grade CIN to SCC. We evaluated PD-ECGF immunoreactivity and correlated its expression with MVD in normal, premalignant, and malignant cervical tissue. PD-ECGF expression was assessed visually within the epithelial tissues and scored on the extent and intensity of staining. MVD was calculated by counting the number of vessels positive for von Willebrand factor per unit area subtending normal or CIN epithelium or within tumor hotspots for SCC. Cytoplasmic and/or nuclear PD-ECGF immunoreactivity was seen in normal epithelium. PD-ECGF expression significantly increased with histologic grade from normal, through low- and high-grade CIN, to SCC (P < .02). A progressive significant increase in the microvessel density was also seen, ranging from a mean of 28 vessels for normal tissue to 57 for SCC (P < .0005). No correlation was found between PD-ECGF expression and MVD (P = .45). We conclude that PD-ECGF expression and MVD increase as the cervix transforms from a normal to a malignant phenotype. PD-ECGF is thymidine phosphorylase, a key enzyme in the activation of fluoropyrimidines, including 5-fluorouracil. Evaluation of PD-ECGF thymidine phosphorylase expression may be important in designing future chemotherapeutic trials in cervical cancer. Copyright (C) 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.

Developing within-company information and communication technologies (ICT) innovation diffusion networks : a study of three Australian major contractors

The innovation diffusion and knowledge management literature strongly supports the importance of communities of practice (COP) for enabling knowledge about how to use and adopt innovation initiatives. One of the most powerful tools for innovation diffusion is word-of-mouth wisdom from committed individuals who mentor and support each other. Close proximity for face-to-face interaction is highly effective, however, many organisations are geographically dispersed with projects being virtual linked sub-organisations using ICT to communicate. ICT has also introduced a useful facilitating technology for developing knowledge networks. This paper presents findings from a research program concentrating on ICT innovation diffusion in the Australian construction industry. One way in which ICT diffusion is taking place was found to be through within-company communities of practice. We undertook in-depth unstructured interviews with three of the major 10 to 15 contractors in Australia to discuss their ICT diffusion strategies. We discovered that in all three cases,within company networked communities of practice was a central strategy. Further, effective diffusion of ICT groupware tools can be critical in developing COP where they are geographically dispersed.

A study of Australian company responses to email complaints

As businesses and organisations move online, many question how to use Internet communication tools effectively, such as Web sites and electronic mail (Porter, 2001). Where and how should they invest their time and money in technology? This research explores a small part of this broad question, online complaining and electronic customer service. This paper extends prior US-based research of consumer complaints by email (Strauss and Hill, 2001) in several ways. First, it replicates their research in an Australian setting. Second, this research addresses several future research issues that Strauss and Hill (2001) raised. And third, this paper uses diffusion of innovation (Rogers, 1995) to explain some of the results. The results partially support the findings of Strauss and Hill (2001), take a small step towards further investigation of effective email responses and provide practical suggestions for better email customer service.

Tackling the burden of injury in Australasia : developing a binational trauma registry

Existing trauma registries in Australia and New Zealand play an important role in monitoring the management of injured patients. Over the past decade, such monitoring has been translated into changes in clinical processes and practices. Monitoring and changes have been ad hoc, as there are currently no Australasian benchmarks for “optimal” injury management. A binational trauma registry is urgently needed to benchmark injury management to improve outcomes for injured patients.

Frameworks in regulating company directors : rethinking the philosophical foundations to enhance accountability

Sets out a system of corporate governance regulation, aimed at combining legal and social methods of governing director behaviour and at creating a framework flexible enough to accommodate different business and ethical cultures. Outlines the theoretical basis of corporate governance and the broad responsibilities of directors, and discusses the extent to which they can and should be regulated. Discusses the constitution of a regulatory framework encompassing law, soft law and best practice, and ethics.

The language of neofeudal corporatism and the war on Iraq

In this paper we argue that the term “capitalism” is no longer useful for understanding the current system of political economic relations in which we live. Rather, we argue that the system can be more usefully characterised as neofeudal corporatism. Using examples drawn from a 300,000 word corpus of public utterances by three political leaders from the “coalition of the willing”— George W. Bush, Tony Blair, and John Howard—we show some defining characteristics of this relatively new system and how they are manifest in political language about the invasion of Iraq.

Internships in marketing: Goals, structures and assessment - student, company and academic perspectives

Work-integrated learning in the form of internships is increasingly important for universities as they seek to compete for students, and seek links with industries. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical research on the details of internships: (1) What they should accomplish? How they should be structure? (3) How students performance should be assess? There is also surprisingly little conceptual analysis of these key issues, either for business internships in general. or for marketing internships in particular. Furthermore, the "answers" on these issues may differ depending upon the perspective if the three stakeholders: students, business managers and university academics. There is not study in the marketing literature which surveys all three groups on these important aspects of internships. To fill these gaps, this paper discusses and analyses internships goals, internship structure, and internship assessment or undergraduate marketing internships, and then reports on a survey of the views of all three stakeholder groups on these issues. There are a considerable variety of approaches for internships, but generally there is consensus among the stake holder groups, with some notable differences. Managerial implication include recognition of the importance of having and academic aspects in internships; mutual understanding concerning needs and constraints; and the requirement that companies, students, and academics take a long-term view of internship programs to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

The new wave : a Brisbane perspective : La Boite Theatre Company's distinctive contribution

In 1967 Brisbane Repertory Theatre made a decision that was to change the city's cultural landscape in a significant and lasting way. Faced with crippling theatre rental costs, Brisbane Rep. found a realistic solution by converting one of its properties - an old Queenslander - into a unique theatre space. The theatre-in-the box that emerged, aptly called La Boite, opened on 23 June 1967 with a production of John Osborne's Look Back in Anger. This experimental space excited the imagination of a new, younger audience not previously interested in Brisbane Rep's essentially conservative fare. It attracted a new group of directors and actors keen to be part of a changing repertoire that embraced more radical, non-mainstream productions, some of which were of Australian plays. The decade after 1967 was a period of change and development unprecedented in La Boite's history. Since then the company has sustained and grown its commitment to Australian plays and the commissioning of new works. To what extent was this most significance moment in La Boite's transformational journey influenced by southern 'new waves' of change? With the benefit of hindsight, it is now time for a re-consideration of Brisbane's distinctive contribution to the New Wave.

La Boite The Story of an Australian Theatre Company

Since its genesis in 1925, La Boite has never been afraid of change. Despite controversies, crises and crippling set-backs that should have closed its stage doors many times, La Boite - which began life as the Brisbane Repertory Theatre Society - has proved itself an extraordinary survivor. When the opportunity came to build its own theatre, its inspired choice of theatre-in-the-round gave Brisbane an iconic performance space that attracted a whole new generation of actors, directors and designers and placed La Boite at the forefront of contemporary theatre practice. The place, in Katharine Brisbane’s words, “to see the red meat of theatre”. Always enterprising, with gritty determination it became a professional theatre company of national significance; and early in the new millennium triumphantly re-located to its new home at The Roundhouse Theatre. La Boite –The Story of an Australian Theatre Company both interrogates and celebrates the history of Queensland’s oldest theatre company. Highlighting the roles key people played in its evolution – particularly four remarkable women – Christine Comans explores La Boite’s colourful past, its cultural significance to Brisbane, and its vibrant and enduring role in the nation’s theatrical history.

Knowledge is not power, but it’s a start : young people and employment entitlements

This paper employs empirical evidence from a survey of Queensland secondary school students to examine their knowledge about their wages and working conditions. It does so within the theoretical lens of the Gagne (or Gagne-Briggs) theory of instruction, which centres on the content of learning and how learning is acquired (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1988). While Gagne articulates five categories of learning, our focus here is on two; verbal information or declarative knowledge (facts that people can declare), and procedural knowledge (the rules and procedures for achieving outcomes). We show that student workers know little about the instruments governing their employment, or their workplace entitlements. Of the total sample of year 9 and year 11 students surveyed (n=892), those students who worked, or who had worked in the past year (n=438), were asked to identify whether they were employed under an award, collective agreement or AWA. Eighty three per cent of students did not know which industrial instrument set their wages. We argue that if young workers do not have declarative knowledge of their entitlements, nor basic procedural knowledge about redress, then they are not in a position to deploy Gagne’s ‘cognitive strategies’ that would enable them to take action to ensure their working conditions meet legal minima. We advocate that young workers should be given summary information on their wages and other entitlements on appointment and that such summary information should be readily available on employers’ noticeboards and electronically on company websites, and that the information should include a brief summary of avenues for redressing issues of underpayment or sub-standard conditions.

Performance measurement and continuous improvement : are they linked to manufacturing strategy?

To maintain or achieve competitiveness and profitability, a manufacturing firm or enterprise must respond to a range of challenges, including rapid improvements in technology; declining employment and output; globalisation of markets and environmental requirements. In addition, substantial changes in government policy have had important impacts in many countries, as have the increasing levels of global trade. Manufacturing enterprises need to have a clear understanding of what their customers want and why customers purchase their products rather than purchase from their competitors. They need to fully understand the aims of the business in terms of its customers, market segments, product attributes, geographical markets and performance. Continuous Improvement (CI) methods have become widely adopted and regarded as providing an important component of increased company competitiveness. This article examines the extent to which continuous improvement activities have contributed to the different areas of business performance.

The 2008 declaration of independence by the Hong Kong Court and anomalies in the Hong Kong Company Law

Discusses two aspects of Hong Kong law: 1) the judgment of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in A Solicitor v The Law Society of Hong Kong on whether Hong Kong courts were bound, post-1997, by pre-1997 House of Lords or Privy Council decisions, by pre-1997 decisions of their own, or by post-1997 overseas decisions from any jurisdiction; and 2) the need for clarification in the Hong Kong Companies Ordinance of whether a company can have a single legal representative, the ultra vires rule and the duties of company directors

Does Chinese traditional values matter in regulating China's company directors? Preliminary findings from surveys in Hong Kong

Much has been said about Chinese corporate governance and the new laws on companies. While most literature focuses on either the political or the legal doctrinal issues, this paper argues that Chinese traditional values do matter in Chinese corporate governance. The object of this paper is to report on the preliminary findings of a project supported by the General Research Fund in Hong Kong (HK). Thus far the survey results from HK respondents support our hypothesis. As such, traditional Chinese values should be on the agenda of the next round of company law reforms in China.

Fraud detection in ERP systems using scenario matching

ERP systems generally implement controls to prevent certain common kinds of fraud. In addition however, there is an imperative need for detection of more sophisticated patterns of fraudulent activity as evidenced by the legal requirement for company audits and the common incidence of fraud. This paper describes the design and implementation of a framework for detecting patterns of fraudulent activity in ERP systems. We include the description of six fraud scenarios and the process of specifying and detecting the occurrence of those scenarios in ERP user log data using the prototype software which we have developed. The test results for detecting these scenarios in log data have been verified and confirm the success of our approach which can be generalized to ERP systems in general.