Understanding effectual decision-making in a science-based business : the case of Hart Biologicals

This case focuses on the effectual decision-making processes of an individual entrepreneur. It examines a proposed acquisition by Hart Biologicals, a small biotechnology company based in the Northeast England. Alby Pattison, the Managing Director, is currently considering an acquisition with a ‘symbiotic’ business. The firm is working in the same area as Hart Biologicals (haematology) but is not a competitor. Alby considers that the acquisition would help the company grow more rapidly and add to its current portfolio of products. The case considers how effectual decision-making is employed by the entrepreneur to identify, evaluate and pursue new opportunities. This concept is explored in the context of the current dilemma of Hart Biologicals proposed acquisition. Finally, the case also considers the impact of the acquisition on the performance and behaviour of a family firm

The Hextol Foundation : building a sustainable social enterprise business model

This case focuses on how social entrepreneurs use business model thinking to create successful business models for sustainable social enterprise. It explores how the Hextol Foundation, an independent charitable company whose aim is to improve the quality of life of young people who are learning disabled, or who have mental ill health, uses business model thinking as part of a decision-making process to develop a sustainable social enterprise business model. The case provides a detailed account of the unique challenges presented to entrepreneurs who are driven by social purpose rather than solely by the need to generate a profit. The case is also useful in highlighting how business model thinking is used by entrepreneurs to identify, evaluate and pursue a range of strategic options. It advances our understanding of business model thinking and business model innovation in the context of a social enterprise

INN Placement Website

Work experience is a valuable experience for all students. It can be hard for students to find work experience and sometimes challenging for them to understand the job market. Students at Innovation North have an opportunity to undertake a Placement year between L5 and L6 and this is something we wish to actively promote, support and encourage. Innovation North had a website which held the details of the work opportunities, it was very dated, contained no images and was cumbersome to search. The project was to create a new website for Innovation North students holding details of all work placements (short, long term, voluntary, paid). Specification for the site included search facilities, providing information and giving reflections from students who had undertaken work opportunities. The website has been developed by three INN students. It has been live since September 2009

Opioids depress cortical centers responsible for the volitional control of respiration

Respiratory depression limits provision of safe opioid analgesia and is the main cause of death in drug addicts. Although opioids are known to inhibit brainstem respiratory activity, their effects on cortical areas that mediate respiration are less well understood. Here, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine how brainstem and cortical activity related to a short breath hold is modulated by the opioid remifentanil. We hypothesized that remifentanil would differentially depress brain areas that mediate sensory-affective components of respiration over those that mediate volitional motor control. Quantitative measures of cerebral blood flow were used to control for hypercapnia-induced changes in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal. Awareness of respiration, reflected by an urge-to-breathe score, was profoundly reduced with remifentanil. Urge to breathe was associated with activity in the bilateral insula, frontal operculum, and secondary somatosensory cortex. Localized remifentanil-induced decreases in breath hold-related activity were observed in the left anterior insula and operculum. We also observed remifentanil-induced decreases in the BOLD response to breath holding in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, the cerebellum, and periaqueductal gray, brain areas that mediate task performance. Activity in areas mediating motor control (putamen, motor cortex) and sensory-motor integration (supramarginal gyrus) were unaffected by remifentanil. Breath hold-related activity was observed in the medulla. These findings highlight the importance of higher cortical centers in providing contextual awareness of respiration that leads to appropriate modulation of respiratory control. Opioids have profound effects on the cortical centers that control breathing, which potentiates their actions in the brainstem

Generic Modal Cut Elimination Applied to Conditional Logics

We develop a general criterion for cut elimination in sequent calculi for propositional modal logics, which rests on absorption of cut, contraction, weakening and inversion by the purely modal part of the rule system. Our criterion applies also to a wide variety of logics outside the realm of normal modal logic. We give extensive example instantiations of our framework to various conditional logics. For these, we obtain fully internalised calculi which are substantially simpler than those known in the literature, along with leaner proofs of cut elimination and complexity. In one case, conditional logic with modus ponens and conditional excluded middle, cut elimination and complexity were explicitly stated as open in the literature

Barriers and facilitators to overcoming mental block in springboard and highboard diving

Mental block can be a significant psychological challenge for many springboard and highboard divers. Consequently, this study investigated the barriers and facilitators to overcoming mental block in these performers. Three former elite divers engaged in reflective interviews to discuss their experiences of mental block. Four barriers (emotions, loss of control, poor coaching and physical sensations) and four facilitators (preparatory skills, team mates, good coaching and cognitive skills) emerged from analysed transcripts. Findings from the current study suggest a link to self-efficacy theory as a potential mediator of mental block in diving

Organophosphate poisoning in pregnancy: Is it a cry for help

Organophosphate poisoning seems to be a fairly common cause of mortality in young and teenage mothers. The attending healthcare personnel, especially nursing staff and doctors, should always have a high index of suspicion when attending to teenagers who have never initiated antenatal care or those who request termination of pregnancy (TOP), because often – if these patients are not assisted – they choose unsafe, unauthorised alternatives, which could have dire consequences. A management plan should always include preventive measures, attempts to diagnose, and prompt, directed immediate and maintenance therapies. Preventive measures must include clear decisive plans on how to manage women who request TOP and advocacy for use of long-acting reversible contraception, including the intra-uterine device, for all young women who are at any time in contact with the health system. Early and correct diagnosis is mainly guided by the history, including a collateral history if the woman is unresponsive. Attending health personnel are usually able to establish substance ingestion accompanied by a varying degree of symptoms – from nausea, vomiting, hypersecretions, headache, severe confusion, pinpoint pupils, bradycardia, tachypnoea/bradypnoea, hypertension/hypotension to convulsions, coma and eventually death. The basic concepts of multidisciplinary team resuscitation, including the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach, should always be followed to stabilise the patient, while trying to elicit the cause and thus assist with further management

Stillbirth risk across pregnancy by size for gestational age in Western Cape Province, South Africa: Application of the fetuses-at-risk approach using perinatal audit data

Background. There is little published work on the risk of stillbirth across pregnancy for small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational (LGA) pregnancies in low-resource settings.Objectives. To compare stillbirth risk across pregnancy between SGA and appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) pregnancies in Western Cape Province, South Africa (SA).Methods. A retrospective audit of perinatal mortality data using data from the SA Perinatal Problem Identification Program was conducted. All audited stillbirths with information on size for gestational age (N=677) in the Western Cape between October 2013 and August 2015 were included in the study. The Western Cape has antenatal care (ANC) appointments at booking and at 20, 26, 32, 34, 36, 38 and 41 (if required) weeks’ gestation. A fetuses-at-risk approach was adopted to examine stillbirth risk (28 - 42 weeks’ gestation, ≥1 000 g) across gestation by size for gestational age (SGA <10th centile Theron growth curves, LGA >90th centile). Stillbirth risk was compared between SGA/LGA and AGA pregnancies.Results. SGA pregnancies were at an increased risk of stillbirth compared with AGA pregnancies between 30 and 40 weeks’ gestation, with the relative risk (RR) ranging from 3.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.6 - 7.6) at 30 weeks’ gestation to 15.3 (95% CI 8.8 - 26.4) at 33 weeks’ gestation (p<0.001). The risk for LGA babies increased by at least 3.5-fold in the later stages of pregnancy (from 37 weeks) (p<0.001). At 38  weeks, the greatest increased risk was seen for LGA pregnancies (RR 6.6, 95% CI 3.1 - 14.2; p<0.001).Conclusions. There is an increased risk of stillbirth for SGA pregnancies, specifically between 33 and 40 weeks’ gestation, despite fortnightly ANC visits during this time. LGA pregnancies are at an increased risk of stillbirth after 37 weeks’ gestation. This high-risk period highlights potential issues with the detection of fetuses at risk of stillbirth even when ANC is frequent.