714 research outputs found
Recent Developments
No full textAdmiralty--The Broadening Scope of Damages Awardable for Wrongful Death in Admiralty
Stephen W. Ramp
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Aliens--State Restrictions on Alien Lawyers
Christopher L. Dutto
Exploiting Knowledge across Networks through Reputation Management.
No full textThe emerging paradigm of network competition is increasingly in evidence across many industrial sectors and provides further support for the idea that ‘supply chains compete, not companies’. It can be argued that network competition requires a much greater focus on managing the interfaces that connect the individual players in that network and exchanging and leveraging knowledge across the network. This paper sets out to establish a framework whereby the critical interfaces and the knowledge sharing benefits can be identified and how the strength of the relationships at those interfaces can become the basis for building organisational reputation and create an environment more conducive to co-operation and knowledge sharing. Finally, the paper analyses the potential impact of reputational risks in influencing the perception of stakeholders about the organisation.
Whilst the idea of value-adding networks based on closely connected providers of capabilities and resources is appealing, it should be recognised that, if not properly managed, the actions of the stakeholders in those networks can impact the risk profile of the business significantly—particularly reputational risk. The more that organisations become part of complex global networks, the more dependent they become upon the other network members for knowledge and other resources. Because of this dependency there is always the danger that the reputation of the focal firm can be damaged by the actions of other network members, hence reducing the likelihood of future collaborative working and knowledge exploitation.
Using examples drawn from a variety of industries, the paper highlights the potential for reputational risk if the critical network interfaces are not closely managed. It will be argued that by actively managing relationships with stakeholders in the network the risk to the organisation's reputation can be mitigated and the sharing of knowledge simultaneously enhanced
Inter-agency Cooperation and New Approaches to Employability
No full textThis article examines the role of inter-agency cooperation, which is one form of ‘partnership’, in new approaches to employability in the UK. The article articulates a ‘model for effective partnership working’ on employability. This model is applied first in a general review of employability policy and then to discuss case study research on the recent ‘Pathways to Work’ and ‘Working Neighbourhoods’ pilots. It is argued that successful partnerships need a clear strategic focus based on a necessity for inter-agency cooperation and institutional arrangements that allow for shared ownership, trust and mutualism, and flexibility in resource-sharing. While some of these factors are apparent in UK employability services, an over-reliance on contractualism and centralized organizational structures may undermine partnership-based approaches. Many of the success factors associated with effective partnership working appeared to be in place, even though the role of the Public Employment Service was fundamentally different in each case (as a key actor in implementing the first pilot, but largely withdrawing from the implementation role in the second). The article concludes by outlining the relevance of this model and the case study findings to discussions of the future development of employability policies and related partnership working
Harmony and discord within the English ‘counter-culture’, 1965-1975, with particular reference to the ‘rock operas’ Hair, Godspell, Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar
No full textPhDThis thesis considers the discrete, historically-specific theatrical and musical sub-genre of ‘Rock Opera’ as a lens through which to examine the cultural, political and social changes that are widely assumed to have characterised ‘The Sixties’ in Britain. The musical and dramatic texts, creation and production of Hair (1967), Tommy (1969), Godspell (1971), Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) and other neglected ‘Rock Operas’ of the period are analysed. Their great popularity with ‘mainstream’ audiences is considered and contrasted with the overwhelmingly negative and often internally contradictory reaction towards them from the English ‘counter-culture’. This examination offers new insights into both the ‘counter-culture’ and the ‘mainstream’ against which it claimed to define and differentiate itself.
The four ‘Rock Operas’, two of which are based upon Christian scriptures, are considered as narratives of spiritual quest. The relationship between the often controversial quests for re-defined forms of faith and the apparently precipitous ‘secularization’ and ‘de-Christianization’ of British society during the 1960s and 1970s is considered.
The thesis therefore analyses the ‘Rock Operas’ as significant, enlightening prisms through which to view many of the profound societal debates – over ‘faith’ and ‘belief’ in the widest senses, sexuality, the Vietnam war, generational conflict, drugs and ‘spiritual enlightenment’, and race – which were, to some considerable extent, elevated onto the national, political agenda by the activities of the broadly-defined ‘counter-culture’. It considers subsequent representations of the ‘counter-culture’ as the root of a contested but enduring popular legacy of ‘The Sixties' as a period of profound cultural change
An agent-based model of energy in social networks
No full textWe present a family of simulation models of agents with energy from social interactions. We take the concept of “energy” from social network analysts Cross & Parker, from Collins’s micro-sociology of interaction rituals, and from the social psychologists Ryan & Deci’s studies on intrinsic motivation. We use simulation models as “tools for thinking” about what energy is, and how it relates to the take up of ideas, the formation of cultural groups and the performance of work. Our models also provide insight into phenomena from studies of “communities of practice”, social capital and computer models of networks. Baker & Quinn have also developed simulations of agents with energy, and so we offer a critique of those. We develop our models as extensions of the Axelrod Cultural Model. Our family of energy models include those that ascribe “emotional energy” variously to individual agents, to agents’ individual attributes, and to agents’ memories of interactions rituals. Agents obtain energy payoffs from interactions based variously on their sense of autonomy, belongingness and competence. We compare the behaviour of each model and choice of payoff function through experiments to test claims derived from Cross & Parker: namely that “energisers” cause greater take up of their ideas, cause larger cultural groups to form around them, and raise the problem-solving performance of the agent population. We demonstrate this first claim for several model scenarios, but fail to find scenarios where the second two hold. We then conduct experiments to relate the capabilities of energisers to tasks of: disseminating ideas to otherwise homogeneous groups, and; spanning boundaries across cultural divides between groups. In all experiments we find two factors play critical roles in determining the diffusion and homogenisation of culture: the decay of energy charges on memories, and; the initial number of cultural traits in the population
Symbolic Politics Meets Digital Media:Research on Political Meaning-Making
No full textThe concept of performance is gaining relevance in the analysis of global political phenomena. The spectacle of modern politics, engagement with citizens as audiences, personalization and populism all speak to this trend. But a performance perspective also allows us to address the process of meaning-making at that crucial point where a disruptive optic constructs political reality and political agents engage in struggles over meaning and truth. Increasingly, this is happening through digital and hybrid forms of communication. But three key stumbling blocks are hampering our investigations. First, political communication research is confined – by theoretical and methodological limitations – to silos of media types. Second, it addresses exclusively the materiality of digital media or (more rarely) its symbolic properties, not how they inform each other. Third, an obsession with big data encourages this status quo. The author suggests that a research agenda based on the notion of political performance can overcome these hurdles
Temporal and spatial variation of water quality in the upper Cibolo Creek watershed, Kendall County, TX
No full textThis item is available only to currently enrolled UTSA students, faculty or staff. To download, navigate to Log In in the top right-hand corner of this screen, then select Log in with my UTSA ID.Waters from the Edwards Aquifer contain slightly elevated concentrations of nitrate with occasional measured concentrations higher than the 44 mg/L (as NO<sub>3</sub>) maximum contaminant level (MCL) set by the Environmental Protection Agency. Well water samples that contain elevated levels of nitrate are generally widely dispersed throughout the aquifer and the nitrate does not appear to be from any single source. These elevated nitrate levels are generally attributed to anthropogenic sources, but the exact source is unknown. The goal of this project is to characterize the waters from the upper Cibolo Creek watershed, specifically from the segment located within the Cibolo Preserve, to determine if the discharge from Cibolo Creek may account for a portion of the elevated nitrates in the Edwards Aquifer.
Evaporation, photosynthesis, and changes in input from the two wastewater treatment plants appear to be the dominant controls on the evolution of water quality over time. Overall, waters in this section of the creek have a distinct signature with elevated concentrations of sodium, nitrate, and chloride. The average nitrate concentration was 55.2 mg/L (as NO<sub>3</sub>) and all values measured were consistently higher than previously reported values. The results from this study may be used to trace possible groundwater flow paths.Geoscience
Launch of 'Adjacent worlds : a literary life of Bruce Dawe' by Ken Goodwin, University of Queensland Co-op Bookshop, 5 Aug 1988
No full textThe Bruce Dawe Papers include correspondence, poetry and prose manuscripts, newspaper cuttings, audiotape recordings, and miscellaneous items.Australian poet Dr Bruce Dawe, AO, was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne. From 1959 to 1968 he served in the RAAF, completing his first degree and his first three volumes of poetry during this period. Dawe taught English and History at Downlands College, Toowoomba. In 1990 he was made an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Queensland. A prolific and popular poet, Bruce Dawe has published poetry collections, short stories and essays and received numerous awards, including the Patrick White Literary Award (1980) and the FAW Christopher Brennan Award (1983). He has also written as: Donald Bruce Dawe, D. B. Dawe, Leyburn Choate, Llewellyn Rhys and Frank Hamilton.[Additional information: https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A2508
Storm activity in ancient climates 2. An analysis using climate simulations and sedimentary structures.
No full textSevere storms generate sedimentary structures and textures that can be identified in the geologic record. A companion paper [PSUCLIM, this issue] describes the genesis and distribution of both winter storms and hurricanes and their sensitivity to climatic and geographic variables. In this paper, a total of 90 storm deposits are compared to GENESIS climate simulations in order to examine storm activity from the Permian to the Cretaceous and to evaluate the ability of the model to predict storms in ancient environments. Approximately 70% of the observed deposits are predicted by the models. The majority of the missed deposits are associated with recognizable errors. If these specific sources of error are eliminated, the model predicts over 90% of observed deposits. This degree of accuracy allows the assignment of generative processes to individual deposits; however, causative differences between hummocky cross stratification and tempestite type deposits are not distinguishable. The distribution of severe storms through Earth history varies as a function of both continental geometry and climate. Elevated atmospheric CO2 appears to homogenize the latitudinal distribution of storm deposits by expanding the area of hurricane genesis. Geography exerted the dominant control on winter storm distribution and was responsible for a shift in the concentration of winter storm deposits from the Southern Hemisphere in the Early Permian to the Northern Hemisphere in the mid-Cretaceous.Anna M. Agustsdottir, Eric J. Barron, Karen L. Bice, Lee A. Colarusso, Janette L. Cookman, Brian A. Cosgrove, Jennifer L. De Lurio, Jan F. Dutton, Brent J. Frakes, Lawrence A. Frakes, Carmen J. Moy, Thomas D. Olszewski, Richard D. Pancost, Christopher J. Poulsen, Charles M. Ruffner, Douglas G. Sheldon, and Timothy S. White
South American camelids in Central Andean religious practices
No full textThis paper focuses on using ethno-historic and ethnographic sources in order to determine if these works are able to assist with interpreting what is found archaeologically. It looks at the uses of South American camelids in ritual contexts by examining ethno-historic documents from the sixteenth century as well as more recent ethnographic works and comparing them to what has been found archaeologically. Through this we will hopefully be able to gain a better understanding of whether these data can be used to interpret archaeological finds or if too much has changed in the region since Spanish colonization as a result of the introduction of Christianity, European influences, and globalization
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