The Role of Corporate Reputation Versus Relationships in Building Employer Brand Equity: The case of a Major Private Hospital

In Australia and many other developed countries, there are now acute skills shortages in a number of different industries - healthcare being a notable example. The need to attract and retain the best available employees has become a critical managerial task. Building a strong employer brand offers a promising approach to this problem. The academic literature is still at a relatively early stage of development but internal relationship marketing and corporate reputation have been identified as two key concepts associated with employer branding. This case study of a private hospital in Australia explores the role of these concepts in building employer brand equity. Initial findings suggest corporate reputation has an asymmetric impact - the costs of a negative reputation far outweigh the benefits of a positive one

Reputation or relationships: What really drives perceptions of employer attractiveness in the health industry?

Managing relationships with key stakeholders has long been regarded as a central concern of corporate public relations. In recent years, however, the concept of reputation management has gained rapidly in popularity, potentially supplanting relationships as the discipline's driving philosophy. This paper presents a case study of a major private hospital in Australia, focusing on the respective roles of corporate reputation versus relationships in forming perceptions of employer attractiveness. Through depth interviews and focus groups involving hospital management and highly skilled professionals, this study investigates what drives perceptions of employer attractiveness. Ramifications for the theory and practice of public relations are discussed

Graphene oxide nanosheets modulate spinal glutamatergic transmission and modify locomotor behaviour in an in vivo zebrafish model

Graphene oxide (GO), an oxidised form of graphene, is widely used for biomedical applications, due to its dispersibility in water and simple surface chemistry tunability. In particular, small (less than 500 nm in lateral dimension) and thin (1-3 carbon monolayers) graphene oxide nanosheets (s-GO) have been shown to selectively inhibit glutamatergic transmission in neuronal cultures in vitro and in brain explants obtained from animals injected with the nanomaterial. This raises the exciting prospect that s-GO can be developed as a platform for novel nervous system therapeutics. It has not yet been investigated whether the interference of the nanomaterial with neurotransmission may have a downstream outcome in modulation of behaviour depending specifically on the activation of those synapses. To address this problem we use early stage zebrafish as an in vivo model to study the impact of s-GO on nervous system function. Microinjection of s-GO into the embryonic zebrafish spinal cord selectively reduces the excitatory synaptic transmission of the spinal network, monitored in vivo through patch clamp recordings, without affecting spinal cell survival. This effect is accompanied by a perturbation in the swimming activity of larvae, which is the locomotor behaviour generated by the neuronal network of the spinal cord. Such results indicate that the impact of s-GO on glutamate based neuronal transmission is preserved in vivo and can induce changes in animal behaviour. These findings pave the way for use of s-GO as a modulator of nervous system function

Variability of the Aging Process in Dementia-Free Adults With Down Syndrome

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyze the typical aging process in adults with Down syndrome, focusing on its variability. The sample comprised 120 adults with Down syndrome who were free of dementia. Ages ranged from 20 to 69 years. Each participant was assessed on cognitive functioning and social adaptation, and was checked for the presence of psychopathological disorders. Results revealed an age-related deterioration in both cognitive and social adaptation skills, the extent of this decline depending on the dimension under scrutiny, and interindividual variability in aging profiles

Ground state order and spin-lattice coupling in tetrahedral spin systems Cu2Te2O5X2

High-resolution ac susceptibility and thermal conductivity measurement on Cu2Te2O5X2(X=Br,Cl) single crystals are reported. For Br-sample, sample dependence prevents to distinguish between possibilities of magnetically ordered and spin-singlet ground states. In Cl-sample a three-dimensional transition at 18.5 K is accompanied by almost isotropic behavior of susceptibility and almost switching behavior of thermal conductivity. Thermal conductivity studies suggest the presence of a tremendous spin-lattice coupling characterizing Cl- but not Br-sample. Below the transition Cl-sample is in a complex magnetic state involving AF order but also the elements consistent with the presence of a gap in the excitation spectrum.Comment: version accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.B-Rapid Communicatio

Assessing the quality of models of the ambient solar wind

In this paper we present an assessment of the status of models of the global Solar Wind in the inner heliosphere. We limit our discussion to the class of models designed to provide solar wind forecasts, excluding those designed for the purpose of testing physical processes in idealized configurations. In addition, we limit our discussion to modeling of the ‘ambient’ wind in the absence of coronal mass ejections. In this assessment we cover use of the models both in forecast mode and as tools for scientific research. We present a brief history of the development of these models, discussing the range of physical approximations in use. We discuss the limitations of the data inputs available to these models and its impact on their quality. We also discuss current model development trends

Safety Assessment of Graphene-Based Materials: Focus on Human Health and the Environment

Graphene and its derivatives are heralded as 'miracle' materials with manifold applications in different sectors of society from electronics to energy storage to medicine. The increasing exploitation of graphene-based materials (GBMs) necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of the potential impact of these materials on human health and the environment. Here we discuss synthesis and characterization of GBMs as well as human and environmental hazard assessment of GBMs using in vitro and in vivo model systems with the aim to understand the properties that underlie the biological effects of these materials; not all GBMs are alike, and it is essential that we disentangle the structure-activity relationships for this class of materials

The Spin Structure of the Nucleon

We present an overview of recent experimental and theoretical advances in our understanding of the spin structure of protons and neutrons.Comment: 84 pages, 29 figure

Probabilistic solar wind and geomagnetic forecasting using an analogue ensemble or "Similar Day" approach

Effective space-weather prediction and mitigation requires accurate forecasting of near-Earth solar-wind conditions. Numerical magnetohydrodynamic models of the solar wind, driven by remote solar observations, are gaining skill at forecasting the large-scale solar-wind features that give rise to near-Earth variations over days and weeks. There remains a need for accurate short-term (hours to days) solar-wind forecasts, however. In this study we investigate the analogue ensemble (AnEn), or “similar day”, approach that was developed for atmospheric weather forecasting. The central premise of the AnEn is that past variations that are analogous or similar to current conditions can be used to provide a good estimate of future variations. By considering an ensemble of past analogues, the AnEn forecast is inherently probabilistic and provides a measure of the forecast uncertainty. We show that forecasts of solar-wind speed can be improved by considering both speed and density when determining past analogues, whereas forecasts of the out-of-ecliptic magnetic field [ BNBN ] are improved by also considering the in-ecliptic magnetic-field components. In general, the best forecasts are found by considering only the previous 6 – 12 hours of observations. Using these parameters, the AnEn provides a valuable probabilistic forecast for solar-wind speed, density, and in-ecliptic magnetic field over lead times from a few hours to around four days. For BNBN , which is central to space-weather disturbance, the AnEn only provides a valuable forecast out to around six to seven hours. As the inherent predictability of this parameter is low, this is still likely a marked improvement over other forecast methods. We also investigate the use of the AnEn in forecasting geomagnetic indices Dst and Kp. The AnEn provides a valuable probabilistic forecast of both indices out to around four days. We outline a number of future improvements to AnEn forecasts of near-Earth solar-wind and geomagnetic conditions