The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs

This study examines nascent entrepreneurship by comparing individuals engaged in nascent activities (n=380) with a control group (n=608), after screening a sample from the general population (n=30,427). The study then follows the developmental process of nascent entrepreneurs for 18 months. Bridging and bonding social capital, consisting of both strong and weak ties, was a robust predictor for nascent entrepreneurs, as well as for advancing through the start-up process. With regard to outcomes like first sale or showing a profit, only one aspect of social capital, viz. being a member of a business network, had a statistically significant positive effect. The study supports human capital in predicting entry into nascent entrepreneurship, but only weakly for carrying the start-up process towards successful completion.

Does venture opportunity variation matter? Investigating systemic process differences between innovative and imitative new ventures

The central thesis in the article is that the venture creation process is different for innovative versus imitative ventures. This holds up; the pace of the process differs by type of venture as do, in line with theory-based hypotheses, the effects of certain human capital (HC) and social capital (SC) predictors. Importantly, and somewhat unexpectedly, the theoretically derived models using HC, SC, and certain controls are relatively successful explaining progress in the creation process for the minority of innovative ventures, but achieve very limited success for the imitative majority. This may be due to a rationalistic bias in conventional theorizing and suggests that there is need for considerable theoretical development regarding the important phenomenon of new venture creation processes. Another important result is that the building up of instrumental social capital, which we assess comprehensively and as a time variant construct, is important for making progress with both types of ventures, and increasingly, so as the process progresses. This result corroborates with stronger operationalization and more appropriate analysis method what previously published research has only been able to hint at.

Child welfare policy and practice on children’s exposure to domestic violence

There are emerging movements in several countries to improve policy and practice to protect children from exposure to domestic violence. These movements have resulted in the collection of new data on EDV and the design and implementation of new child welfare policies and practices. To assist with the development of child welfare practice, this article summarizes current knowledge on the prevalence of EDV, and on child welfare services policies and practices that may hold promise for reducing the frequency and impact of EDV on children. We focus on Australia, Canada, and the United States, as these countries share a similar socio-legal context, a long history of enacting and expanding legislation about reporting of maltreatment, debates regarding the application of reporting laws to EDV, and new child welfare practices that show promise for responding more effectively to EDV.

Vulnerable road user groups : a review of younger drivers, motorcyclists and older drivers

Scientific efforts to understand and reduce the occurrence of road crashes continue to expand, particularly in the areas of vulnerable road user groups. Three groups that are receiving increasing attention within the literature are younger drivers, motorcyclists and older drivers. These three groups are at an elevated risk of being in a crash or seriously injured, and research continues to focus on the origins of this risk as well as the development of appropriate countermeasures to improve driving outcomes for these cohorts. However, it currently remains unclear what factors produce the largest contribution to crash risk or what countermeasures are likely to produce the greatest long term positive effects on road safety. This paper reviews research that has focused on the personal and environmental factors that increase crash risk for these groups as well as considers direction for future research in the respective areas. A major theme to emerge from this review is that while there is a plethora of individual and situational factors that influence the likelihood of crashes, these factors often combine in an additive manner to exacerbate the risk of both injury and fatality. Additionally, there are a number of risk factors that are pertinent for all three road user groups, particularly age and the level of driving experience. As a result, targeted interventions that address these factors are likely to maximise the flow-on benefits to a wider range of road users. Finally, there is a need for further research that aims to bridge the research-to-practice gap, in order to develop appropriate pathways to ensure that evidenced-based research is directly transferred to effective policies that improve safety outcomes.

New exact solutions for Hele-Shaw flow in doubly connected regions

Radial Hele-Shaw flows are treated analytically using conformal mapping techniques. The geometry of interest has a doubly-connected annular region of viscous fluid surrounding an inviscid bubble that is either expanding or contracting due to a pressure difference caused by injection or suction of the inviscid fluid. The zero-surface-tension problem is ill-posed for both bubble expansion and contraction, as both scenarios involve viscous fluid displacing inviscid fluid. Exact solutions are derived by tracking the location of singularities and critical points in the analytic continuation of the mapping function. We show that by treating the critical points, it is easy to observe finite-time blow-up, and the evolution equations may be written in exact form using complex residues. We present solutions that start with cusps on one interface and end with cusps on the other, as well as solutions that have the bubble contracting to a point. For the latter solutions, the bubble approaches an ellipse in shape at extinction.

Modelling the interaction of keratinocytes and fibroblasts during normal and abnormal wound healing processes

The crosstalk between fibroblasts and keratinocytes is a vital component of the wound healing process, and involves the activity of a number of growth factors and cytokines. In this work, we develop a mathematical model of this crosstalk in order to elucidate the effects of these interactions on the regeneration of collagen in a wound that heals by second intention. We consider the role of four components that strongly affect this process: transforming growth factor-beta, platelet-derived growth factor, interleukin-1 and keratinocyte growth factor. The impact of this network of interactions on the degradation of an initial fibrin clot, as well as its subsequent replacement by a matrix that is mainly comprised of collagen, is described through an eight-component system of nonlinear partial differential equations. Numerical results, obtained in a two-dimensional domain, highlight key aspects of this multifarious process such as reepithelialisation. The model is shown to reproduce many of the important features of normal wound healing. In addition, we use the model to simulate the treatment of two pathological cases: chronic hypoxia, which can lead to chronic wounds; and prolonged inflammation, which has been shown to lead to hypertrophic scarring. We find that our model predictions are qualitatively in agreement with previously reported observations, and provide an alternative pathway for gaining insight into this complex biological process.

Critical time scales for advection–diffusion–reaction processes

The concept of local accumulation time (LAT) was introduced by Berezhkovskii and coworkers in 2010–2011 to give a finite measure of the time required for the transient solution of a reaction–diffusion equation to approach the steady–state solution (Biophys J. 99, L59 (2010); Phys Rev E. 83, 051906 (2011)). Such a measure is referred to as a critical time. Here, we show that LAT is, in fact, identical to the concept of mean action time (MAT) that was first introduced by McNabb in 1991 (IMA J Appl Math. 47, 193 (1991)). Although McNabb’s initial argument was motivated by considering the mean particle lifetime (MPLT) for a linear death process, he applied the ideas to study diffusion. We extend the work of these authors by deriving expressions for the MAT for a general one–dimensional linear advection–diffusion–reaction problem. Using a combination of continuum and discrete approaches, we show that MAT and MPLT are equivalent for certain uniform–to-uniform transitions; these results provide a practical interpretation for MAT, by directly linking the stochastic microscopic processes to a meaningful macroscopic timescale. We find that for more general transitions, the equivalence between MAT and MPLT does not hold. Unlike other critical time definitions, we show that it is possible to evaluate the MAT without solving the underlying partial differential equation (pde). This makes MAT a simple and attractive quantity for practical situations. Finally, our work explores the accuracy of certain approximations derived using the MAT, showing that useful approximations for nonlinear kinetic processes can be obtained, again without treating the governing pde directly.

An investigation of market segmentation theory and its impact on effective fundraising

This paper presents the findings of an indepth study into the effects and success of marketing segmentation, target marketing and fundraising. Organisations are constantly seeking new ways and more efficient means to raise funds so that they can fulfill their objectives. These organisations review and evaluate their resources to gain competitive advantage and increased fundraising success...

ACE research briefing paper 004 : emerging and young high potential start-ups

In this report we take a look at what separates high potential emerging and young start-ups from others. We compare the characteristics, intentions and behaviours of start-ups that we judge to be 'high potential' with other start-ups. We utilise the first two years of data from the CAUSEE study. We also compare Australian start-ups with a similar study conduced in the US.

Tear film surface quality with rigid and soft contact lenses

Objectives: To measure tear film surface quality (TFSQ) using dynamic high-speed videokeratoscopy during short-term (8 hours) use of rigid and soft contact lenses. Methods: A group of fourteen subjects wore 3 different types of contact lenses on 3 different non-consecutive days (order randomized) in one eye only. Subjects were screened to exclude those with dry eye. The lenses included a PMMA hard, an RGP (Boston XO) and a soft silicone hydrogel lens. Three 30 second long high speed videokeratoscopy recordings were taken with contact lenses in-situ, in the morning and again after 8 hours of contact lens wear, both in normal and suppressed blinking conditions. Recordings were also made on a baseline day with no contact lens wear. Results: The presence of a contact lens in the eye had a significant effect on the mean TFSQ in both natural and suppressed blinking conditions (p=0.001 and p=0.01 respectively, repeated measures ANOVA). TFSQ was worse with all the lenses compared to no lens in the eye (in the afternoon during both normal and suppressed blinking conditions (all p<0.05). In natural blinking conditions, the mean TFSQ for the PMMA and RGP lenses was significantly worse than the baseline day (no lens) for both morning and afternoon measures (p<0.05). Conclusions: This study shows that both rigid and soft contact lenses adversely affect the TFSQ in both natural and suppressed blinking conditions. No significant differences were found between the lens types and materials. Keywords: Tear film surface quality, rigid contact lens, soft contact lens, dynamic high-speed videokeratoscopy

Diurnal Variation of Retinal Thickness with Spectral Domain OCT

Purpose. To investigate whether diurnal variation occurs in retinal thickness measures derived from spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods. Twelve healthy adult subjects had retinal thickness measured with SD-OCT every 2 h over a 10 h period. At each measurement session, three average B-scan images were derived from a series of multiple B-scans (each from a 5 mm horizontal raster scan along the fovea, containing 1500 A-scans/B-scan) and analyzed to determine the thickness of the total retina, as well as the thickness of the outer retinal layers. Average thickness values were calculated at the foveal center, at the 0.5 mm diameter foveal region, and for the temporal parafovea (1.5 mm from foveal center) and nasal parafovea (1.5 mm from foveal center). Results. Total retinal thickness did not exhibit significant diurnal variation in any of the considered retinal regions (p > 0.05). Evidence of significant diurnal variation was found in the thickness of the outer retinal layers (p < 0.05), with the most prominent changes observed in the photoreceptor layers at the foveal center. The photoreceptor inner and outer segment layer thickness exhibited mean amplitude (peak to trough) of daily change of 7 ± 3 μm at the foveal center. The peak in thickness was typically observed at the third measurement session (mean measurement time, 13:06). Conclusions. The total retinal thickness measured with SD-OCT does not exhibit evidence of significant variation over the course of the day. However, small but significant diurnal variation occurs in the thickness of the foveal outer retinal layers.

Established-outsider relations and fear of crime in mining towns

Using Elias and Scotson's (1994) account of established-outsider relations, this article examines how the organisational capacity of specific social groups is significant in determining the quality of crime-talk in isolated and rural settings. In particular, social 'oldness' and notions of what constitutes 'community' are significant in determining what activities and individuals are salient within crime-talk. Individual and gorup interviews, conducted in a West Australian mining town, revealed how crime-talk is an artefact of specific social figurations and the relative ability of groups to act as cohesive and integrated networks. We argue that anxieties regarding crime are a product of specific social figurations and the shifting power ratios of groups within such figurations.

Monte Carlo modeling of a 4 mm conical collimator for a Novalis Tx Linear Accelerator

The work presented in this poster outlines the steps taken to model a 4 mm conical collimator (BrainLab, Germany) on a Novalis Tx linear accelerator (Varian, Palo Alto, USA) capable of producing a 6MV photon beam for treatment of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) patients. The verification of this model was performed by measurements in liquid water and in virtual water. The measurements involved scanning depth dose and profiles in a water tank plus measurement of output factors in virtual water using Gafchromic® EBT3 film.

A further exploration of sensation seeking propensity, reward sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and the risky behaviour of young novice drivers in a structural equation model

Young novice drivers constitute a major public health concern due to the number of crashes in which they are involved, and the resultant injuries and fatalities. Previous research suggests psychological traits (reward sensitivity, sensation seeking propensity), and psychological states (anxiety, depression) influence their risky behaviour. The relationships between gender, anxiety, depression, reward sensitivity, sensation seeking propensity and risky driving are explored. Participants (390 intermediate drivers, 17-25 years) completed two online surveys at a six month interval. Surveys comprised sociodemographics, Brief Sensation Seeking Scale, Kessler’s Psychological Distress Scale, an abridged Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, and risky driving behaviour was measured by the Behaviour of Young Novice Drivers Scale. Structural equation modelling revealed anxiety, reward sensitivity and sensation seeking propensity predicted risky driving. Gender was a moderator, with only reward sensitivity predicting risky driving for males. Future interventions which consider the role of rewards, sensation seeking, and mental health may contribute to improved road safety for younger and older road users alike.

“They’re lunatics on the road” : Exploring the normative influences of parents, friends, and police on young novices’ risky driving decisions

Purpose: Young novice drivers experience significantly greater risk of being injured or killed in car crashes than older more experienced drivers. This research utilised a qualitative approach guided by the framework of Akers’ social learning theory. It explored young novice drivers’ perspectives on risky driving including rewards and punishments expected from and administered by parents, friends, and police, imitation of parents’ and friends’ driving, and advantages and disadvantages of risky driving. Methods: Twenty-one young drivers (12 females, 9 males) aged 16–25 years (M = 17.71 years, SD = 2.15) with a Learner (n = 11) or Provisional (n = 10) driver licence participated in individual or small group interviews. Findings and conclusions: Content analysis supported four themes: (1) rewards and (2) punishments for risky driving, and the influence of (3) parents and (4) friends. The young novice drivers differed in their vulnerability to the negative influences of friends and parents, with some novices advising they were able to resist risky normative influences whilst others felt they could not. The authority of the police as enforcers of road rules was either accepted and respected or seen as being used to persecute young novices. These findings suggest that road safety interventions should consider the normative influence of parents and friends on the risky and safe behaviour of young novices. Police were also seen as influential upon behaviour. Future research should explore the complicated relationship between parents, friends, the police, young novices, and their risky driving behaviour.