Nascent entrepreneurship and the developing individual : early entrepreneurial competence in adolescence and venture creation success during the career

What predicts a person's venture creation success over the course of the career, such as making progress in the venture creation process and multiple successful venture creations? Applying a life span approach of human development, this study examined the effect of early entrepreneurial competence in adolescence, which was gathered retrospectively by means of the Life History Calendar method. Human and social capitals during the founding process were investigated as mediators between adolescent competence and performance. Findings were derived from regression analyses on the basis of prospective and retrospective data from two independent samples (N = 88 nascent founders; N = 148 founders). We found that early entrepreneurial competence in adolescence had a positive effect on making progress in the venture creation process. Nascent founders' current human and social capital also had a direct effect, but it did not mediate the effect of early competences. Finally, the data revealed that early entrepreneurial competence in adolescence positively predicted habitual entrepreneurship (multiple successful venture creations) exhibited over a longer period of the individual career (specifically, 18 years). In line with the results from prospective longitudinal studies on early precursors of entrepreneurship, our findings underscore the long neglected importance of adolescent development in the explanation of entrepreneurial performance during the subsequent working life.

Must see TV : mapping an Australian mediasphere

Australian National Cinema and Australian Television Culture. These two books, magisterial accounts of Australian media cultures, are very different. The first analyses (according to its cover blurb) 'the distinct and diverse nature of Australian cinema'; the second offers 'a picture of Australian television'. The books share an author.2 Despite this, their objects of study are constituted very differently. The first is replete with examples of particular films, analyses of their representational strategies, and links to the social context of production. The second addresses almost no programs and those that are mentioned appear only in passing. There is no analysis of any particular television text. The difference between these books cannot be explained in terms of authorial fickleness: rather, it represents the different ways in which television and film have been constructed as objects of study. While film has a recognised canon and a tradition of close textual analysis, in the study of television the programs themselves have tended to vanish - as they do in Australian Television Culture. Most academic work on Australian television is not interested in its programs. Writers have tended to find other aspects more rewarding: industries, institutions, ownership, legislation, technology and production.3 Australian Television Culture is part of this tradition; and an example of how such work, done well, can be a useful contribution to understanding the medium.

Thermal stability of the soil minerals destinezite and diadochite Fe3+2(PO4)(SO4)(OH)·6H2O - implications for soils in bush fires

Thermogravimetry combined with evolved gas mass spectrometry has been used to ascertain the stability of the soil minerals destinezite and diadochite. These two minerals are identical except for their morphology. Diadochite is amorphous whereas destinezite is crystalline. Both minerals are found in soils. It is important to understand the stability of these minerals because soils are subject to bush fires especially in Australia. The thermal analysis patterns of the two minerals are similar but not identical. Subtle differences are observed in the DTG patterns. For destinezite, two DTG peaks are observed at 129 and 182°C attributed to the loss of hydration water, whereas only a broad peak with maximum at 84°C is observed for diadochite. Higher temperature mass losses at 685°C for destinezite and 655°C for diadochite, based upon the ion current curves, are due to sulphate decomposition. This research has shown that at low temperatures the minerals are stable but at high temperatures, as might be experienced in a bush fire, the minerals decompose.

Statutory right of user imposed for landlocked land

The decision of McMurdo J in Pacific Coast Investments Pty Ltd v Cowlishaw [2005] QSC 259 concerned an application under s 180 of the Property Law Act 1974 (Qld) for a statutory right of user.

The requirement to 'Start a Proceeding' to prevent the lapse of a caveat

Section 126 of the Land Title Act 1994 (Qld) regulates whether, and if so, when a caveat will lapse. While certain caveats will not lapse due to the operation of s 126(1), if a caveator does not wish a caveat to which the section applies to lapse, the caveator must start a proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to establish the interest claimed under the caveat within the time limits specified in, and otherwise comply with the obligations imposed by, s 126(4). The requirement, in s 126(4), to “start a proceeding” was the subject of judicial examination by the Court of Appeal (McMurdo P, Holmes JA and MacKenzie J) in Cousins Securities Pty Ltd v CEC Group Ltd [2007] QCA 192.

Land Sales Act 1984: The time limit for an application for exemption

The decision of Wilson J in Wan and Ors v NPD Property Development Pty Ltd [2004] QSC 232 also concerned the operation of the Land Sales Act 1984 (Qld) (‘the Act’). As previously noted, s 8(1) of the Act provides that a proposed allotment of freehold land might be sold only in certain circumstances. An agreement made in contravention of s 8(1) is void. Section 19 allows a purchaser (and others) to apply for an exemption from any of the provisions of Pt 2. By s 19(6), notwithstanding s 8, a person may agree to sell a proposed allotment if the instrument that binds a person to purchase the proposed allotment is conditional upon the grant of an exemption. By s 19(7) an application for exemption must be made ‘within 30 days after the event that marks the entry of a purchaser upon the purchase of the proposed allotment.’

Quantifying variability within technique and performance in elite fast bowlers : is technical variability dysfunctional or functional?

In fast bowling, cricketers are expected to produce a range of delivery lines and lengths while maximising ball speed. From a coaching perspective, technique consistency has been typically associated with superior performance in these areas. However, although bowlers are required to bowl consistently, at the elite level they must also be able to vary line, length and speed to adapt to opposition batters’ strengths and weaknesses. The relationship between technique and performance variability (and consistency) has not been investigated in previous fast bowling research. Consequently, the aim of this study was to quantify both technique (bowling action and coordination) and performance variability in elite fast bowlers from Australian Junior and National Pace Squads. Technique variability was analysed to investigate whether it could be classified as functional or dysfunctional in relation to speed and accuracy.

Archiving nature’s heartbeat using smart phones

The impact of urban development and climate change has created the impetus to monitor changes in the environment, particularly, the behaviour, habitat and movement of fauna species. The aim of this chapter is to present the design and development of a sensor network based on smart phones to automatically collect and analyse acoustic and visual data for environmental monitoring purposes. Due to the communication and sophisticated programming facilities offered by smart phones, software tools can be developed to allow data to be collected, partially processed and sent to a remote server over the network for storage and further processing. This sensor network which employs a client-server architecture has been deployed in three applications: monitoring a rare bird species near Brisbane Airport, study of koalas behaviour at St Bees Island, and detection of fruit flies. The users of this system include scientists (e.g. ecologists, ornithologists, computer scientists) and community groups participating in data collection or reporting on the environment (e.g. students, bird watchers). The chapter focuses on the following aspects of our research: issues involved in using smart phones as sensors; the overall framework for data acquisition, data quality control, data management and analysis; current and future applications of the smart phone-based sensor network, and our future research directions.

Categorisation of activities of daily living of lower limb amputees during short-term use of a portable kinetic recording system : a preliminary study

The purpose of this preliminary study was to determine the relevance of the categorization of the load regime data to assess the functional output and usage of the prosthesis of lower limb amputees. The objectives were a) to introduce a categorization of load regime, b) to present some descriptors of each activity, and c) to report the results for a case. The load applied on the osseointegrated fixation of one transfemoral amputee was recorded using a portable kinetic system for 5 hours. The periods of directional locomotion, localized locomotion, and stationary loading occurred 44%, 34%, and 22% of recording time and each accounted for 51%, 38%, and 12% of the duration of the periods of activity, respectively. The absolute maximum force during directional locomotion, localized locomotion, and stationary loading was 19%, 15%, and 8% of the body weight on the anteroposterior axis, 20%, 19%, and 12% on the mediolateral axis, and 121%, 106%, and 99% on the long axis. A total of 2,783 gait cycles were recorded. Approximately 10% more gait cycles and 50% more of the total impulse than conventional analyses were identified. The proposed categorization and apparatus have the potential to complement conventional instruments, particularly for difficult cases.

On the natural convection boundary layer adjacent to an inclined flat plate subject to ramp heating

An investigation of the natural convection boundary layer adjacent to an inclined semi-infinite plate subject to a temperature boundary condition which follows a ramp function up until some specified time and then remains constant is reported. The development of the flow from start-up to a steadystate has been described based on scaling analyses and verified by numerical simulations. Attention in this study has been given to fluids having a Prandtl number Pr less than unity. The boundary layer flow depends on the comparison of the time at which the ramp heating is completed and the time at which the boundary layer completes its growth. If the ramp time is long compared with the steady state time, the layer reaches a quasi steady mode in which the growth of the layer is governed solely by the thermal balance between convection and conduction. On the other hand, if the ramp is completed before the layer becomes steady; the subsequent growth is governed by the balance between buoyancy and inertia, as for the case of instantaneous heating.