Professional service firms are relationship marketers: But does size matter?

There are few research-based insights into professional service firms’ (PSFs) contemporary marketing practices. This is unfortunate as the professional services sector is a key contributor to growth in Australian and other economies around the world. As professional services are unique in a number of ways and their operations and marketing activities inextricably intertwined, the present study investigated the extent to which PSFs practice marketing and whether this differs according to size. Depth interviews were held with thirty seven Australian senior managers in four key industries. We examined the extent of relationship marketing, conceptualised at an overall managerial level as well as four sub-practices identified in research by Coviello and colleagues. We found relationship management and interaction marketing were the most common practices, which is consistent with the inseparability concept, and that relationship management and database marketing were more common in larger firms, which is consistent with their relative resource strength

Reconceptualizing professional service firm innovation capability: Scale development

Building on capability theory, this paper presents a reconceptualization of the innovation capability construct within a knowledge-intensive service context, specifically, professional service firms (PSFs). Employing a rigorous multi-stage scale development process we interviewed 37 participants and surveyed 463 respondents across a wide range of PSFs including lawyers, accountants, consulting engineers and management consultants. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses highlight the multi-dimensional nature of innovation capability within this context. Three dimensions were identified: client-focused, marketing focused, and technology-focused innovation capability. We provide evidence of face validity, content validity, convergent and discriminant validity, nomological validity and reliability of our scale. Our scale offers a new way to measure innovation capability within PSFs and highlights the need to move beyond the narrow manufacturing mind-set focus of prior innovation research. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

Collapse and recovery of forage fish populations prior to commercial exploitation

We use a new, well‐calibrated 500 year paleorecord off southern California to determine collapse frequency, cross correlation, persistence, and return times of exploited forage fish populations. The paleorecord shows that “collapse” (defined as <10% of the mean peak biomass) is a normal state repeatedly experienced by northern anchovy, Pacific hake, and Pacific sardine which were collapsed 29–40% of the time, prior to commercial fishing exploitation. Mean (± SD) persistence of “fishable biomass” (defined as one third mean peak biomass from the paleorecord) was 19 ± 18, 15 ± 17, and 12 ± 7 years for anchovy, hake, and sardine. Mean return times to the same biomass was 8 years for anchovy but 22 years for sardine and hake. Further, we find that sardine and anchovy are positively correlated over 400 years, consistent with coherent declines of both species off California. Persistence and return times combined with positive sardine‐anchovy correlation indicate that on average 1–2 decades of fishable biomass will be followed by 1–2 decades of low forage. Forage populations are resilient on the 500 year time scale, but their collapse and recovery cycle (based on the paleorecord) are suited to alternating periods of high fishing mortality and periods of little or no fishing.Key PointsThe paleorecord shows that “collapse” is a normal state repeatedly experienced by northern anchovy, Pacific hake, and Pacific sardineMean return times to “fishable” biomass was 8 years for anchovy, but 22 years for sardine and hake, and persistence was of the same orderSardine and anchovy are positively correlated over 400 years, consistent with coherent declines of both species off CaliforniaPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136405/1/grl55551.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/136405/2/grl55551_am.pd

Adaptively monitoring streamflow using a stereo computer vision system

The gauging of free surface flows in waterways provides the foundation for monitoring and managing the water resources of built and natural environments. A significant body of literature exists around the techniques and benefits of optical surface velocimetry methods to estimate flows in waterways without intrusive instruments or structures. However, to date, the operational application of these surface velocimetry methods has been limited by site configuration and inherent challenging optical variability across different natural and constructed waterway environments. This work demonstrates a significant advancement in the operationalisation of non-contact stream discharge gauging applied in the computer vision stream gauging (CVSG) system through the use of methods for remotely estimating water levels and adaptively learning discharge ratings over time. A cost-effective stereo camera-based stream gauging device (CVSG device) has been developed for streamlined site deployments and automated data collection. Evaluations between reference state-of-the-art discharge measurement technologies using DischargeLab (using surface structure image velocimetry), Hydro-STIV (using space–time image velocimetry), acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs), and gauging station discharge ratings demonstrated that the optical surface velocimetry methods were capable of estimating discharge within a 5 %–15 % range between these best available measurement approaches. Furthermore, results indicated model machine learning approaches leveraging data to improve performance over a period of months at the study sites produced a marked 5 %–10 % improvement in discharge estimates, despite underlying noise in stereophotogrammetry water level or optical flow measurements. The operationalisation of optical surface velocimetry technology, such as CVSG, offers substantial advantages towards not only improving the overall density and availability of data used in stream gauging, but also providing a safe and non-contact approach for effectively measuring high-flow rates while providing an adaptive solution for gauging streams with non-stationary characteristics.</p

What can we do about patients presenting with myeloma and severe renal failure? Observations from the UK MERIT plasma exchange trial

Myeloma patients presenting with renal failure continue to have a poor prognosis despite significant advances in anti-myeloma therapy. MERIT was a randomised clinical trial (RCT), set up to evaluate if mechanical reduction of elevated free light chain levels (FLC) would result in clinical benefit. Completion of the planned seven plasma exchanges (PEs) in the first 14 days failed to show, for the exchange group, a greater reduction in FLC or any improvement in dialysis independence at 100 days or subsequently. To improve prognosis for these patients requires earlier diagnosis and prompt anti-myeloma therapy with effectiveness guided by frequent FLC monitoring

Pesticide-related illness reported to and diagnosed in Primary Care: implications for surveillance of environmental causes of ill-health

BACKGROUND: In Great Britain (GB), data collected on pesticide associated illness focuses on acute episodes such as poisonings caused by misuse or abuse. This study aimed to investigate the extent and nature of pesticide-related illness presented and diagnosed in Primary Care and the feasibility of establishing a routine monitoring system. METHODS: A checklist, completed by General Practitioners (GP) for all patients aged 18+ who attended surgery sessions, identified patients to be interviewed in detail on exposures and events that occurred in the week before their symptoms appeared. RESULTS: The study covered 59320 patients in 43 practices across GB and 1335 detailed interviews. The annual incidence of illness reported to GPs because of concern about pesticide exposure was estimated to be 0.04%, potentially 88400 consultations annually, approximately 1700 per week. The annual incidence of consultations where symptoms were diagnosed by GPs as likely to be related to pesticide exposure was 0.003%, an annual estimate of 6630 consultations i.e. about 128 per week. 41% of interviewees reported using at least one pesticide at home in the week before symptoms occurred. The risk of having symptoms possibly related to pesticide exposure compared to unlikely was associated with home use of pesticides after adjusting for age, gender and occupational pesticide exposure (OR = 1.88, 95% CI 1.51 - 2.35). CONCLUSION: GP practices were diverse and well distributed throughout GB with similar symptom consulting patterns as in the Primary Care within the UK. Methods used in this study would not be feasible for a routine surveillance system for pesticide related illness. Incorporation of environmental health into Primary Care education and practice is needed

Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire

Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a significant period, in late autumn or winter. Selected remnants of craft-working and consumption were deposited in pits, before deliberate infilling. These depositions repeatedly memorialised activity on the hillside at a time of contemporary activity elsewhere on King Barrow Ridge and at the future site of Stonehenge. Middle Neolithic pits are present in significant numbers across King Barrow Ridge, and alongside pits in the Durrington area, form one of the densest concentrations of such activity in the region. Long distance mobility is suggested by the possible Irish origins of the inhumation, the first Middle Neolithic individual excavated in the environs of Stonehenge. Whilst of significance for understanding the Middle Neolithic in the WHS and the region, this research also hints at the roots of Late Neolithic monumentalisation of this landscape

Real‐world assessment of the clinical impact of symptomatic infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (COVID‐19 disease) in patients with Multiple Myeloma receiving systemic anti‐cancer therapy.

Infection with the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 virus resulting in an acute respiratory disease (COVID‐19 disease) is the cause of the current pneumonia pandemic, with a rapid rise in cases being reported in the European Union and UK (1, 2). The UK index case was identified on the 31st of January, 2020 and given the rapid spread and high mortality rate of COVID‐19, it is imperative to define the impact on patients with co‐existing medical conditions(3)