The assessment of the family vision generation process in small and medium-sized family businesses

The objective of this study was to assess the family vision generationprocess in small and medium-sized family businesses. Data from489 questionnaires administered to 79 family businesses werecollected and analysed. An Oblimin oblique rotation was performedon the principal components of the exploratory factor analysis. Threefactors with eigenvalues greater than one were extracted, explaining61.93% of the variance, describing the theoretical dimensions ofthe generation of the family vision, the commitment of the youngergeneration family members to family business continuity and thecommitment of the senior generation family members to familybusiness continuity. The results of this study indicate that a signifi cantproportion of the variation in the generation of the family vision isexplained by the commitment of the senior and younger generationfamily members to family business continuity. No practicallysignifi cant diff erences in the mean values could be found betweenthe three extracted factors and the demographic variables in thisstudy. Recommendations are off ered to utilise the questionnaire asa measuring instrument. Practical recommendations are suggestedto ensure an eff ective family vision generation process in small andmedium-sized family businesses

Electrically controllable saturable absorption in hybrid graphene-silicon waveguides

P

A comparison of methods for determining ploidy in white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

Release of sturgeon with abnormal ploidy into the wild may result in reduced fitness due to lowered fertility in the F2 and subsequent generations. Further, there is evidence that ploidy affects reproductive development and caviar yield. Therefore, the ability to accurately characterize the ploidy of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)is essential for both commercial and conservation aquaculture. This study compares nuclear volume and whole erythrocyte long-axis lengths obtained using Coulter counter and blood smears, respectively, from captive white sturgeon from populations originating in California and Idaho. We examine which method provides the most accurate, time efficient and cost-effective characterization of ploidy in this species. Results from Coulter counter and blood smears were compared to results from flow cytometry, the gold standard for genome size analysis. Previous work suggests that blood smears can distinguish between 8N (diploid)and 12N (triploid)sturgeon, but further analysis is required to see if this method can also be used to identify 10N fish and to provide robust evidence of its utility in 8N and 12N fish across populations. In this study, we demonstrated that the Coulter counter had 100% agreement with flow cytometry in ploidy assignment, while blood smears vary in their accuracy based on population. Blood smears showed a high degree of overlap in erythrocyte long-axis length between 8N and 10N individuals as well as some overlap between 10N and 12N individuals in the California fish, and a high degree of overlap between 8N and 12N individuals in the Idaho fish. Although blood smears are time-intensive and vary in their ploidy assignment accuracy, they are a low-cost technique and as such may have some utility for caviar farms attempting to identify 12N individuals in a small number of broodstock. By comparing the accuracy, efficiency and cost of these three methods, sturgeon farmers and conservation hatcheries will be able to choose the best method for their needs in determining the ploidy of their fish. We determined that Coulter counter is equally accurate to flow cytometry and is also the most time efficient method for ploidy determination in white sturgeon

An assessment of selected organisational-based factors on the perceived success of agribusinesses: a corporate entrepreneurship perspective

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of selected organisational-based factors on the perceived success of agribusinesses in South Africa. Business success, for the purposes of this study, was measured by means of two dependent variables, namely Business development and improvement and Business growth. Structured questionnaires were administered to the managers of five of the largest and three smaller agribusinesses in South Africa. A total of 533 usable questionnaires were returned. The construct validity of the measuring instrument was assessed by means of a principal component exploratory factor analysis and by calculating Cronbachs’s alpha coeffi cients. The results show that the managers in the participating agribusinesses perceived the selected organisational-based factors of Strategic intent, Autonomy, Customer orientation and Rewards to have a positive influence on their Business development and improvement. A positive relationship was also found to exist between the selected organisational-based factors of Strategic intent and Customer orientation and the dependent variable Business growth in the participating businesses. Practical recommendations were also proposed to enhance and foster corporate entrepreneurship within these businesses.Key words: corporate entrepreneurship, agribusinesses, perceived succes

Drug-induced gingival enlargement – Oral implications for prescribing physicians

A male patient presented with a main complaint of persistent growth of the upper and lower gingiva that bled easily and resulted in an inability of maintaining proper oral hygiene. He reports that the growth of the gingiva started approximately three years prior to consultation in our clinic and is asymptomatic. His medical history revealed that he suffers from epilepsy and was being treated with a daily anticonvulsant, namely Phenytoin (100mg). Full-mouth non-surgical periodontal therapy was performed and supplemented with an adjunctive chlorhexidine mouth rinse as a chemical plaque control mechanism. Part of the systemic phaseof management of the patient, involved requesting the medical physician change the current epilepsy medication to Epilim®, which was benefi cial in contributing to the resolution of gingival enlargement. Signifi cant reduction in gingival infl ammation and enlargement were achieved with the non-surgical treatment.Corrective surgery therapy was performed to treat those areas of DIGE that had not resolved

Urinary Retention in Women: Causes and Management

Objectives: Urinary retention in women is uncommon and there are numerous etiological factors. Most reported studies are from Europe and North America, with few studies from developing countries. The aim of this study was to review the etiology of urinary retention in women referredto our institution, a public sector hospital serving a largely indigent population.Patients and Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of all patients admitted with urinary retention to the Urology wards in our hospital during the period September 1998 to June 2007. In total there were 589 patients with urinary retention, 558 (94.7%) men and 31 (5.3%) women.Results: The average age of the 31 women was 51.9 years (range 20 to 88 years). The underlying pathology was cervical carcinoma (4 patients), urethral carcinoma (4), transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (3), eosinophilic cystitis (3), hematuria due to miscellaneous causes (3), antiincontinence surgery (2), cerebral palsy (2), multiple sclerosis (1 patient), diabetes mellitus (1), hypotonic detrusor (1), bladder stone (1), vaginal leiomyoma (1), cyclophosphamide cystitis (1), constipation (1), postpartum (1), blocked indwelling catheter and idiopathic (1). Renal dysfunction was present in 17 (55%) of the patients.Conclusion: The most common causes of urinary retention in women in this study were malignancy in 11 patients (36%) and neuropathic bladder dysfunction in 5 (16%). Eosinophilic cystitis, normally a rare condition, was diagnosed in 3 women (10%). The high incidence of malignancy in this study differs from other reported series, in which neuropathic bladder dysfunction was the most common cause of urinary retention in women.Key Words : Urinary retention, women, etiolog

The role of coping responses in the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life amongst chronic pain patients

Background: This study aimed to determine the effect of coping responses on the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life in a sample of chronic pain patients. Methods: One hundred and seventy-two adult outpatients at the Pain Control Unit at Universitas Hospital in Bloemfontein completed measures of perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale) and coping responses (Coping Responses Inventory – Adult Version). Descriptive statistics were calculated for the sample. Correlation coef cients were calculated between perceived stress and satisfaction with life. Regression analyses were employed to determine the effect of coping responses on the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life. Results: A statistically signi cant negative correlation was found between perceived stress and satisfaction with life. Approach coping moderates the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life, while avoidance coping has no effect on the relationship. The relationship between perceived stress and life satisfaction therefore appears to change as a function of the level of approach coping that patients with chronic pain exhibit. Conclusion: Approach coping moderates the relationship between perceived stress and satisfaction with life amongst chronic pain patients.Keywords: coping; perceived stress; satisfaction with life; chronic pai

An investigation into youth entrepreneurship in selected South African secondary schools: An exploratory study

This research paper examines the status of entrepreneurship educationin selected South African secondary schools to determine the impactthereof on young learners’ attitude towards entrepreneurshipand their future plans. It highlights some challenges facing youthentrepreneurship development in Sedibeng secondary schools. Thestudy is based on the attitude approach to entrepreneurship researchand discusses the results of an empirical study involving 1 748 grade10 learners. South African youth appear to have a positive attitudetowards entrepreneurship and the existence of opportunities fornew venture creation, but seem to have inflated expectations withrespect to their future academic qualifications and less interestthan would be expected in starting their own businesses. Statisticalanalysis of the data revealed that entrepreneurship education in thesample schools was largely infrequent and without depth or focus.The results indicated that catalytic factors, such as exposure toentrepreneurship at school and having self-employed parents, havenot had any effect on learners in the sample, thus re-emphasisingthe urgent need for entrepreneurship training programmes of value.The paper concludes with recommendations for further research onentrepreneurship education in South African secondary schools

Classifying seabed sediment type using simulated tidal-induced bed shear stress

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is freely available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.An ability to estimate the large-scale spatial variability of seabed sediment type in the absence of extensive observational data is valuable for many applications. In some physical (e.g., morphodynamic) models, knowledge of seabed sediment type is important for inputting spatially-varying bed roughness, and in biological studies, an ability to estimate the distribution of seabed sediment benefits habitat mapping (e.g., scallop dredging). Although shelf sea sediment motion is complex, driven by a combination of tidal currents, waves, and wind-driven currents, in many tidally energetic seas, such as the Irish Sea, long-term seabed sediment transport is dominated by tidal currents. We compare observations of seabed sediment grain size from 242 Irish Sea seabed samples with simulated tidal-induced bed shear stress from a three-dimensional tidal model (ROMS) to quantitatively define the relationship between observed grain size and simulated bed shear stress. With focus on the median grain size of well-sorted seabed sediment samples, we present predictive maps of the distribution of seabed sediment classes in the Irish Sea, ranging from mud to gravel. When compared with the distribution of well-sorted sediment classifications (mud, sand and gravel) from the British Geological Survey digital seabed sediment map of Irish Sea sediments (DigSBS250), this 'grain size tidal current proxy' (GSTCP) correctly estimates the observed seabed sediment classification in over 73% of the area.Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through grant NE/I527853/1 (Ph.D. studentship to SLW). The authors are grateful for access to the seabed sediment sample data and would like to acknowledge colleagues collecting and preparing these data through the projects HABMAP, SWISS, IMAGIN, ADFISH, and various projects led by the JNCC, as well as Hilmar Hinz, Lee Murray and Gwladys Lambert for work undertaken on a project funded by the Isle of Man Government (Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture). The author acknowledges modelling support from Patrick Timko and Reza Hashemi. The digital seabed sediment map (DigSBS250) was kindly made available by the BGS. The model simulations were undertaken on High Performance Computing (HPC) Wales, a collaboration between Welsh universities, the Welsh Government and Fujitsu