The need for competence tests : Queensland judicial perspectives on non-accused child witnesses in criminal proceedings : Part 1.

To examine the question of whether Queensland judicial officers endorse the need for competence tests for non-accused child witnesses in criminal proceedings, a mail survey was sent to judicial officers - questions considered the need to distinguish between children's sworn and unsworn evidence - relevance of age to competence - desirability of competence test formalities.

A comparative analysis of entrepreneurial approaches within public healthcare organisations

This article examines the development of two distinct models of organising allied health professionals within two public sector health service organisations in Australia. The first case illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated a culture that focused on asset protection and whose external orientation was threat oriented because its disparate multiple identities operated as a fractured, fragmented and competitive set of profession disciplines. In this milieu, there was no evidence of entrepreneurial approaches being used. In contrast, the second case study illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated an entrepreneurial culture that focused on asset growth and an external orientation that was opportunity oriented because of the evolution of a strong superordinate allied health identity that operated as a single united health services stakeholder. This evolution was coupled with the emergence of a corporate boardroom model of management that is consonant with Savage et al. (1997) IDS/N model of management. Once this structure and strategy were in place, corporate entrepreneur ship became the modus operandi. Consequently, because the case study was a situation where corporate entrepreneurship existed in the public sector, it was possible to compare the factors that stimulate corporate entrepreneurship in Sadler's (2000) study with factors that were observed in our study.

The content of competence tests: Queensland judicial perspectives on non-accused child witnesses in criminal proceedings: Part 2

Part 1 appeared in UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND LAW JOURNAL 22 (2) 2003 : 199-223 (AGIS 04/2890) - judicial perspectives on the content of competence tests for sworn and unsworn evidence - substantive criteria may vary according to whether a child is to testify sworn or unsworn - formal framing may vary given a judicial appraisal of a child's capacity and understanding - referability of competence tests to the Queensland legislation.

Explaining variations in the knowledge economy in three small wealthy countries

At a broad level, it has been shown that different institutional contexts, policy regimes and business systems affect the kinds of activities in which a nation specialises. This paper is concerned with the way in which different national business systems affect the nature of participation of a nation in the knowledge economy. The paper seeks to explain cross-national variations in the knowledge economy in the Australia, Denmark and Sweden with reference to dominant characteristics of the business system. Although Australia, Denmark and Sweden are all small wealthy countries, they each have quite distinctive business systems. Australia has been regarded as a variant of the competitive business system and has generally been described as an entrepreneurial economy with a large small firm population. In contrast Sweden has a coordinated business system that has favoured large industrial firms. The Danish variant of the coordinated model, with its well-developed vocational training system, is distinguishable by its large population of networked small and medium size enterprises. The three countries also differ significantly on two dimensions of participation in the knowledge economy. First, there is cross-national variation in patterns of specialisation in knowledge intensive industries and services. Second, the institutional infrastructure of the knowledge economy (or the existing stock of knowledge and competence in the economy, the potential for generation and diffusion a new knowledge and the capacity for commercialisation of new ideas) differs across the three countries. This paper seeks to explain variations in these two dimensions of the knowledge economy with reference to characteristics of the business system in the three countries.

Correlating gene expression with larval competence and the effect of age and parentage on metamorphosis in the tropical abalone Haliotis asinina

The non-geniculate crustose coralline alga (CCA) Mastophora pacifica can induce the metamorphosis of competent Haliotis asinina (Vetigastropoda) larvae. The ability to respond to this natural cue varies considerably with larval age, with a higher proportion of older larvae (e.g. 90 h) able to metamorphose in response to M. pacifica than younger larvae (e.g. 66 h). Here we document the variation in time to acquisition of competence within a larval age class. For example, after 18 h of exposure to M. pacifica, approximately 15 and 36% of 84 and 90-h-old H. asinina larvae had initiated metamorphosis, respectively. This age-dependent response to M. pacifica is also observed when different aged larvae are exposed to CCA for varying periods. A higher proportion of older larvae require shorter periods of exposure to CCA than younger larvae in order to initiate metamorphosis. In this experiment, as in the previous, a small proportion of young larvae were able to respond to brief periods of CCA exposure, suggesting that they had developed the same state of competency as the majority of their older counterparts. Comparisons of the proportions of larvae undergoing metamorphosis between families reveals that parentage also has a significant (P < 0.05) affect on whether an individual will initiate metamorphosis at a given age. These familial differences are more pronounced when younger, largely pre-competent larvae (i.e. 66 h old) are exposed to M. pacifica, with proportions of larvae undergoing metamorphosis differing by as much as 10 fold between families. As these data suggest that variation in the rate of development of the competent state has a genetic basis, and as a first step towards identifying the molecular basis to this variation, we have identified numerous genes that are differentially expressed later in larval development using a differential display approach. Spatial expression analysis of these genes suggests that they may be directly involved in the acquisition of competence, or may play a functional role in the postlarva following metamorphosis.

Impact of childhood experiences on the development of entrepreneurial intentions

Fostering entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture has become a key policy priority for governments. To encourage entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture, however, there is a need to understand the factors that influence and shape individuals' intentions to start a business. This study extends models of entrepreneurial intentions by investigating the influence of various childhood-experience factors on the perceived feasibility and desirability of starting a business. A structured questionnaire was completed by over 1,000 university students and analysed using regression analysis. Results indicated that perceptions of entrepreneurship were influenced not only by parental ownership of a business, but also by a difficult childhood and frequent relocation.

Glucosamine supplementation during in vitro maturation inhibits subsequent embryo development: Possible role of the of developmental competence

Glucose concentration during cumulus-oocyte complex (COC) maturation influences several functions, including progression of oocyte meiosis, oocyte developmental competence, and cumulus mucification. Glucosamine (GlcN) is an alternative hexose substrate, specifically metabolized through the hexosamine biosynthesis pathway, which provides the intermediates for extracellular matrix formation during cumulus cell mucification. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of GlcN on meiotic progression and oocyte developmental competence following in vitro maturation (IVM). The presence of GlcN during bovine IVM did not affect the completion of nuclear maturation and early cleavage, but severely perturbed blastocyst development. This effect was subsequently shown to be dose-dependent and was also observed for porcine oocytes matured in vitro. Hexosamine biosynthesis upregulation using GlcN supplementation is well known to increase O-linked glycosylation of many intracellular signaling molecules, the best-characterized being the phosphoinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway. We observed extensive O-linked glycosylation in bovine cumulus cells, but not oocytes, following IVM in either the presence or the absence of GlcN. Inhibition of O-linked glycosylation significantly reversed the effect of GlcN-induced reduction in developmental competence, but inhibition of PI3K signaling had no effect. Our data are the first to link hexosamine biosynthesis, involved in cumulus cell mucification, to oocyte developmental competence during in vitro maturation.