Portmerion, Proportion and Perspective

The holiday village of Portmerion was created by Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis (1883 1978) over a period of fifty-one years, starting in 1926. It was grade II listed in 1971. However, Portmerion has become a part of western popular culture rather than of mainstream architectural history. Its use as the setting for the cult 1967 television series “The Prisoner” ensures continued worldwide interest and a constant stream of visitors. Williams Ellis’ design methods were empirical, initial designs being adjusted by eye on site in close collaboration with trusted builders. This paper analyses the development of Portmerion as a gesamtkunstwerk; considering the experience of movement through the village as a dynamic composition of shifting vistas, focussing the visitor on a series of constructed views. Through this analysis, Portmerion is revealed as both a manifestation of the architecture of pleasure and an exercise in the pleasure of architecture

PROTEST FROM THE FRINGE: Overseas Students and their Influence on Australia’s Export of Education Services Policy 1983-1996

The thesis investigates the motivations behind, the methods used in, and the results of the overseas students’ collective action contesting the measures, which the Australian government introduced from 1983 to 1996. As a group of temporary residents located outside the boundaries of domestic political systems, yet within the core of Australia’s revenue earnings, overseas students independently mobilised in an attempt to influence the Australian Government policy on education from a position of limited political, social and legal rights. As temporary residents on short-term permits fully regulated under prescribed immigration rules, overseas students employed conventional repertoires of contention— they established formal structures, adopted action tools, framed their claims, internationalised their protest, formed alliances — in an attempt to mobilise resources and access existing avenues to influence government’s export of education services policy. Their mobilisation response and campaign strategy achieved modest success in securing some policy concessions, particularly during the early stages of education aid reform. Their strategy, however had to evolve as the fledgling export of education services expanded and eventually they shifted their position to fully embrace and reinterpret the government’s own ‘language of liberalisation’, which they used to greater effectiveness in making subsequent claims. Overseas students ability to procure concessions is derived not from their political or universal rights to education, but from their ability to influence policy changes based on their importance and strategic location in the Australian economy. In other words, government, universities and industry stakeholders have increasingly become dependent on substantial revenue earnings derived from overseas students and have become susceptible to potential chaos that may be precipitated if current students withdrew from the economy, or potential students choosing alternative education service destinations

БИБЛЕЙСКИЙ ИНТЕРТЕКСТ В РАННИХ СТИХОТВОРЕНИЯХ А. ДЕ ВИНЬИ («СУСАННА», «КУПАНИЕ ЗНАТНОЙ РИМЛЯНКИ», «ИЗМЕННИЦА)

Ранние стихотворения А. де Виньи исследуются как библейский интертекст и мифопоэтический дискурс в контексте современных идей о романтизме

Managerial Skills for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs)

Effective managerial skills can play a key role in the internal governance of micro and small businesses in Africa, enabling them to survive, compete and thrive in a dynamic business environment. However, due to the low absorption capacity, many micro and small entrepreneurs and managers lack the necessary managerial skills. We collected data from MSMEs owners and managers in Tanzania to examine the managerial skills required and their effect on business performance based on thematic content analysis and regression analysis. The results show that the managerial skills of MSMEs owners and managers have a significantly positive effect on MSMEs performance, in particular, financial management, marketing, human relations, and entrepreneurial skills were crucial skills in running small businesses successfully. However, financial management, marketing and entrepreneurial skills were the main skills gaps for many MSMEs owners and managers, suggesting that education, mentoring, and training in these areas for MSMEs owners and managers need to be strengthened. This study argues that since young people form the majority of the stakeholders running small businesses, targeted policies and strategies to promote entrepreneurship among young people through entrepreneurial learning and experiences can help instil an entrepreneurial mindset, one of the crucial skills in small business management

Comparative in vitro activity of telithromycin against macrolide-resistant and -susceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae

Objectives: The first objective was to investigate the in vitro activity of telithromycin against respiratory tract pathogens in comparison with other antimicrobial agents. The second objective was to identify the influence of the erm(B) and mef(A) genes on the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae to telithromycin. Methods: The in vitro activity of telithromycin against S. pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Haemophilus influenzae, isolated from the UK and 40 macrolide-resistant S. pneumoniae from four different countries was compared with a variety of antimicrobial agents. The 140 isolates were examined for the presence of the erm(B) and mef(A) genes. The impact of 5% CO2 on susceptibility testing was also investigated. Results: Telithromycin showed greatest activity against S. pneumoniae, but also had good activity against M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae, which was independent of their resistance profiles to other antibiotics. The MIC90 of telithromycin for S. pneumoniae was 0.12 mg/L, which was 64-fold lower than the lowest macrolide MIC; 21% of the S. pneumoniae were macrolide resistant. Thirty-eight per cent of the macrolide-resistant strains were erm(B)-positive and 62% were mef(A)-positive, but no strain contained both genes. The activity of telithromycin was similar to that of azithromycin against both M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae, Erythromycin was slightly less active: 1% and 8% of M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae, respectively, were resistant to erythromycin, but none were resistant to telithromycin. Five per cent of the S. pneumoniae strains and 4% of the H. influenzae strains changed from telithromycin susceptible to non-susceptible entirely because of the incubation conditions. The MIC50s and MIC90s of S. pneumoniae, M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae increased by one dilution when incubated in CO2. Conclusions: Telithromycin has shown high in vitro activity against S. pneumoniae, including those strains that are macrolide susceptible and resistant as well as M. catarrhalis and H. influenzae. This study has also demonstrated that there is no cross-resistance between erythromycin and telithromycin. The impact of 5% CO2 on susceptibility testing should be investigated further before providing definite guidelines on telithromycin susceptibility testing

Exploring the relationships among service quality features, perceived value and customer satisfaction

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships among service quality features (responsiveness, assurance, and empathy), perceived value and customer satisfaction in the context of Malaysia. The empirical data are drawn from 102 members of an academic staff of a Malaysian public institution of higher learning using a survey questionnaire. The results indicate three important findings: firstly, the interaction between perceived value and responsiveness was not significantly correlated with customer satisfaction. Secondly, the interaction between perceived value and assurance also did not correlate significantly with customer satisfaction. Thirdly, the interaction between perceived value and empathy correlated significantly with customer satisfaction. Thus the results demonstrate that perceived value had increased the effect of empathy on customer satisfaction, but it had not increased the effect of responsiveness and assurance on customer satisfaction. In sum, this study confirms that perceived value act as a partial moderating variable in the service quality models of the organizational sample. In addition, implications and limitations of this study, as well as directions for future research are discussed.Peer Reviewe

Organizational capacity building of Community Initiative Support Organization (CISO) in Tandale Ward, Dar es Salaam city

This paper assesses the organizational capacity building gaps of the Local NGO (CISO) for the purpose of identifying the organizational strengths and limitations so as to find possible ways o f improving their performance. This in turn would lead to the improvement and strengthening the capacity o f local NGO members to effectively deliver services and bring about social change to the community. The study and the findings were used to provide recommendations on organizational capacity building for sustainable organizational growth and development of the organization based in Tandale Wardin Dar es Salaam city. In the assessment process, the following tools were used together necessarily information for strategic planning; questionnaires, informal interview, focus groups' discussions and direct observation. Relevant literature and theories such as NGOs sector in community development, organizational capacity building, capacity building cycle and the Tanzania Community Development Policy were reviewed. The study findings revealed that the implemented organizational capacity building project was ideal and was considered helpful by the organizational members. It also showed that inadequate organizational capacity skills of the organizational members hinder the organizational growth and development in most of the Local NGOs in Tanzania. The inadequate organizational skills including strategic visioning skills, project design and management skills; management practices skills, human resources management skills, administrative management skills, financial management skills and external relations and networking skills. For organizational development and sustainability of the Local NGOs, the respondents and the research findings recommended improvements in the following key areas: Periodically review and strengthening vision, mission, goal and organizational values, enhance organizational capacity in participatory project design and management, improvement in recruitment procedures and develop the existing staff to cope with the changing world and enhancement of fund raising procedures. Generally, the study findings recommended the following: > The organization should have clear, focused, realistic and time-bound written long-range goals, which are consistent with the vision, values and mission of the organization. All staff should be involved in formulating these goals > New projects should generally be consistent with long-range goals and overall program design, and make some attempt to respond to the problems and needs identified by the defined target group. > Leaders should demonstrate value of people and staff by listening and being open to ideas and information that is shared with staff in the belief that can assist in making good decisions. > The organization should develop written personnel policies, which reflect the organization's values and support the organization's purposes. > Organization should have clear procedures for authorizing procurement of goods and services where by quotations is required from more than one source for purchases over a specified amount and these procedures should be consistently followed. > Written financial policies and procedures should be developed and are consistently used to ensure the security and proper use o f funds, and accurate and timely reporting to donors and other relevant entities. > Organization should develop strategy to initiate contacts and meet with potential donors on a regular basis and demonstrates knowledge o f donors and trends in funding as well as maintain up to date information base on potential donors In trying to address some of these recommendations, facilitator used different approaches including offering advice, facilitate training workshops, providing on-the job training and mentoring; and facilitating linkages with other organizations. The outcome realized during capacity building support including reviewing of organizational vision, mission, values and goal following training workshop organized for them. CISO was also supported in the formulation of monitoring and evaluation tool; organizational by-laws were also formulated during this reporting period. It is hoped that part of recommendations which were implemented and the outstanding ones in this study and during the whole process of organizational capacity building will improve the capacity of the organizational members and eventually serve the target community to improve their living standard. (Author abstract)Kitiku, S. F. (2005). Organizational capacity building of Community Initiative Support Organization (CISO) in Tandale Ward, Dar es Salaam city. Retrieved from http://academicarchive.snhu.eduMaster of Science (M.S.)School of Community Economic Developmen