Is academic economics withering in Australia?

Abstract: Departments of economics in Australia have not fared well recently. Many have been closed, merged or relocated, their staff made redundant while economics degrees and majors have been eliminated. This article tries to understand why academic economics appears to be withering in this country, or at least increasingly concentrated in Group of Eight (Go8) universities, and what if anything can still be done to preserve what is left

FDTL voices : drawing from learning and teaching projects

This publication draws on insights and experiences from individuals and teams within learning and teaching development projects in higher education. It considers lessons learnt from the processes, outcomes and tangible outputs of the projects across the spectrum of the FDTL initiative, with the intention that colleagues can draw on and benefit from this experience. The overriding theme at the heart of every FDTL project has been the desire to achieve some form of positive and meaningful change at the level of the individual, institution or discipline. The continuing legacy of the programme has been to create wider community involvement as projects have engaged with the higher education sector on multiple levels - personal, institutional, practice, and policy. This publication has remained throughout a collaborative endeavour, supported by Academy colleagues. It is based around the four themes emerging from the initiative as a whole: • Sectoral/Organisational Change • Conceptual Change • Professional and Personal Development Partnership and • Project Managemen

Resilience and the (Micro-)Dynamics of Organizational Ambidexterity: Implications for Strategic HRM

In the twenty-first century, resilience has emerged as an important topic linked to calls for adaptability, well-being and organizational performance. Extant strategic human resource management (HRM) literature and practices have developed many insights into resilience. However, overall, they have a propensity to conceptualise resilience as being associated with ‘macro-’ and ‘extreme’ situations. This paper complements the prevailing perspective by developing a micro-focus on resilience through the conceptual framework of organizational ambidexterity surfacing under-examined individual resilience in connection with HRM practices. Methodologically, the paper adopts a qualitative approach presenting data from two illustrative contexts: an ‘everyday’ quasi-governmental institution and a prima facie ‘extreme’ pan-international military organization. Using template analysis, a number of valuable themes and similarities are identified. The findings and discussion underline the managerial challenges in handling organizational ambidextrous dynamics and tensions surrounding resilience, positive and sceptical approaches in relation to individual and organizational stances towards HRM practices. As such, the results point at value in HRM managers and practices recontextualising and appreciating ‘extremes’ and resilience more as an everyday (rather than exceptional) phenomenon wherein myriad micro-moments are highly significant in constructing and influencing macro-contexts. This also implies a need to see cynical resistance as normative rather than automatically negatively

‘Smart Cities’ – Dynamic Sustainability Issues and Challenges for ‘Old World’ Economies: A Case from the United Kingdom

The rapid and dynamic rate of urbanization, particularly in emerging world economies, has resulted in a need to find sustainable ways of dealing with the excessive strains and pressures that come to bear on existing infrastructures and relationships. Increasingly during the twenty-first century policy makers have turned to technological solutions to deal with this challenge and the dynamics inherent within it. This move towards the utilization of technology to underpin infrastructure has led to the emergence of the term ‘Smart City’. Smart cities incorporate technology based solutions in their planning development and operation. This paper explores the organizational issues and challenges facing a post-industrial agglomeration in the North West of England as it attempted to become a ‘Smart City’. In particular the paper identifies and discusses the factors that posed significant challenges for the dynamic relationships residents, policymakers and public and private sector organizations and as a result aims to use these micro-level issues to inform the macro-debate and context of wider Smart City discussions. In order to achieve this, the paper develops a range of recommendations that are designed to inform Smart City design, planning and implementation strategies

Reconceptualising Buyer Behaviour in the Digital Era:An Emergent Journey

his conceptual paper evolved from an extensive literature review and a consultancy project conducted via a UK University Business School/commercial sector collaboration. The paper explores how the digital age is presenting challenges for destination and place marketing agencies. Key trends in consumer behaviour are identified and their significance is examined. The context is largely the European tourism sector with a particular focus on the UK. The paper argues that many place and destination marketing agencies are not responding to the challenges of the digital era. With this as the backdrop, a novel conceptualisation of the customer journey model is offered which can be tested empirically. A vignette supports the model and this illustrates the complexities in consumer behaviour that are involved in a decision over where to take a city break. The paper concludes with strategic recommendations for destination and place marketing agencies

Fermion Masses in Emergent Electroweak Symmetry Breaking

We consider the generation of fermion masses in an emergent model of electroweak symmetry breaking with composite $W,Z$ gauge bosons. A universal bulk fermion profile in a warped extra dimension is used for all fermion flavors. Electroweak symmetry is broken at the UV (or Planck) scale where boundary mass terms are added to generate the fermion flavor structure. This leads to flavor-dependent nonuniversality in the gauge couplings. The effects are suppressed for the light fermion generations but are enhanced for the top quark where the $Zt{\bar t}$ and $Wt{\bar b}$ couplings can deviate at the $10-20$ level in the minimal setup. By the AdS/CFT correspondence our model implies that electroweak symmetry is not a fundamental gauge symmetry. Instead the Standard Model with massive fermions and $W,Z$ gauge bosons is an effective chiral Lagrangian for some underlying confining strong dynamics at the TeV scale, where mass is generated without a Higgs mechanism.Comment: modified discussion in Sec 3.1, version published in JHE

Toll-like receptor signaling adapter proteins govern spread of neuropathic pain and recovery following nerve injury in male mice.

BackgroundSpinal Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and signaling intermediaries have been implicated in persistent pain states. We examined the roles of two major TLR signaling pathways and selected TLRs in a mononeuropathic allodynia.MethodsL5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) was performed in wild type (WT, C57BL/6) male and female mice and in male Tlr2-/-Tlr3-/-, Tlr4-/-, Tlr5-/-, Myd88-/-, Triflps2, Myd88/Triflps2, Tnf-/-, and Ifnar1-/- mice. We also examined L5 ligation in Tlr4-/- female mice. We examined tactile allodynia using von Frey hairs. Iba-1 (microglia) and GFAP (astrocytes) were assessed in spinal cords by immunostaining. Tactile thresholds were analyzed by 1- and 2-way ANOVA and the Bonferroni post hoc test was used.ResultsIn WT male and female mice, SNL lesions resulted in a persistent and robust ipsilateral, tactile allodynia. In males with TLR2, 3, 4, or 5 deficiencies, tactile allodynia was significantly, but incompletely, reversed (approximately 50%) as compared to WT. This effect was not seen in female Tlr4-/- mice. Increases in ipsilateral lumbar Iba-1 and GFAP were seen in mutant and WT mice. Mice deficient in MyD88, or MyD88 and TRIF, showed an approximately 50% reduction in withdrawal thresholds and reduced ipsilateral Iba-1. In contrast, TRIF and interferon receptor null mice developed a profound ipsilateral and contralateral tactile allodynia. In lumbar sections of the spinal cords, we observed a greater increase in Iba-1 immunoreactivity in the TRIF-signaling deficient mice as compared to WT, but no significant increase in GFAP. Removing MyD88 abrogated the contralateral allodynia in the TRIF signaling-deficient mice. Conversely, IFNβ, released downstream to TRIF signaling, administered intrathecally, temporarily reversed the tactile allodynia.ConclusionsThese observations suggest a critical role for the MyD88 pathway in initiating neuropathic pain, but a distinct role for the TRIF pathway and interferon in regulating neuropathic pain phenotypes in male mice

Spinal muscle activity in simulated rugby union scrummaging is affected by different engagement conditions

IntroductionPrevious kinetic and kinematics studies on machine(1) and live(2) scrummaging in Rugby Union indicated a reduction of the biomechanical load experienced by front row players when a ‘crouch-bind-set’ (CBS) engagement procedure was used instead of a ‘crouch-touch-set’ (CTS) one. These findings led to law amendments that were trialled during the 2013-14 competitive season. The reduction in biomechanical loading on front-row players may reduce stresses on the spinal structures, and ultimately decrease spinal injury incidence. The activation of neck and spinal muscles may have an effect on the stiffness of the cervical area and hence on the distribution of load, but the contribution of these muscles during the engagement phase has still to be thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to compare spinal muscles activation in three different scrummaging conditions.Materials and MethodsNine male front-row forwards were asked to perform individual scrum engagements. Three engagement conditions were analysed: CBS (players pre-bind before they engage) and CTS (players engage and bind simultaneously) against a scrum machine; and, “Live”, against one another in a two versus one live condition (passive engagement). Muscle activities of the sternocleidomastoid (SMC), upper trapezius (UT) and (ES) were measured over the pre-engagement, engagement and sustained push phases, with the latter being the only phase studied in the Live condition.ResultsMuscle activity tended to be higher in CBS than CTS, significantly (p < 0.05) for UT and SCM in the engagement phase (Figure 1 (a) and 1 (b)). The activity of ES was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in Live than either CBS or CTS during the sustained push phase (Figure 1 (c)).DiscussionThe increase in spinal muscle activation in CBS compared to CTS may be influenced by the differences in binding techniques between the conditions. Since the increase in UT and SCM activity increases upper truck stiffness, in CBS the higher activity of spinal muscles, combined with a decrease in spinal loading(2), may ultimately reduce spinal injuries when compared to the CTS condition.ES was significantly (p < 0.05) more activated in Live than in either of the machine conditions. In live conditions, front row players scrum against a dynamic and unstable target therefore they need extra activation for stabilising lumbar muscles to maintain optimal lumbar spinal posture, and decrease the risk of injuryConclusionThe increased activity of the UT and SCM in CBS indicates that a pre-bind procedure make the upper spine more prepared to accept external load. This may lead to a reduction in spinal injury rates. Machine scrummaging does not replicate the demands of a live contest. This emphasises the requirement of individuals to practise and learn scrummage techniques in a live situation, rather than against a machine.References(1) Preatoni et al. (2014). BJSM [Epub ahead of print] 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092938(2) Cazzola et al. (2014). BJSM [Epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2013-09290