The small business assistance dilemma: is the disparity between the offerings of support agencies and the needs of business irreconcilable?

There is a wide range of service providers who have varying motives for supplying assistance to small businesses in Australia. Despite the sizeable numbers of both suppliers and consumers of assistance it is believed that the marketplace for small business assistance operates inefficiently. This inefficiency is described as a disparity or misfit between the learning opportunities offered by service providers to small business and the learning needs of small business owner / operators. This paper provides an analysis of the learning activity that currently exists in the small enterprise sector. The role of communication in bringing supply and demand closer together is discussed and a proposition is developed to alleviate the learning disparity via a more proactive approach to communication by service providers. Two small enterprise projects are used to test the proposition. The findings provide guidance for the more effective functioning of organisations that serve and support small businesses

Early-Season Phenology and Temporal Dynamics of the Common Asparagus Beetle, \u3ci\u3eCrioceris Asparagi\u3c/i\u3e (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), in Southern Minnesota

During the years 1991-1994, studies were conducted to determine the early-season phenology and temporal dynamics of Crioceris asparagi (L.) (Co- leoptera: Chrysomelidae) in southern Minnesota asparagus. To document the early-season phenology, asparagus plots were sampled for egg, larval, and adult stages of C. asparagi during the months of May and June. Temporal dynamics of C. asparagi were determined by measuring the diurnal activity of adults and sampling asparagus plots at specific times (7 am, 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm) throughout May and June. We first detected C. asparagi adults in early May and they remained active throughout the sampling period. Eggs and larvae were also found; larval infestations on spears, however, were consistently lower than those for eggs. The temporal dynamics of C. asparagi adults showed that a higher percentage of asparagus plants were observed to be infested with beetles during the afternoon hours of 1 and 5 pm. The information provided in this paper illustrates the importance of determining the optimum time of day for sampling and will assist in properly targeting sampling efforts in future asparagus research and integrated pest management (IPM) programs

Carson Colcha Embroideries: From Ersatz to Orthodox

In the 5th century BCE, Heraclitus wrote, “Everything in time begets its opposite.” The history of the Carson colchas of New Mexico appears to follow that axiom. Under a range of epithets from “fake” to “authentic,” these embroideries evolved during the 1930s as marketable (alternately enigmatic) replications or copies of 19th century Spanish colonial textiles to finally emerge as a distinctly recognized, legitimate genre of traditional Hispanic needlework in the late 20th century. These pieces were originally associated with the Carson community dominated by a clan of Mormon brothers married to Hispanic sisters, which created a complex intermingling of Anglo Mormon entrepreneurial guidance with Hispanic and Anglo artistic collaboration. My presentation traces the evolution of the Carson colcha legacy as the calculated invention of a Mormon trader who saw an opportunity to create historically “authentic” embroideries from the remnants of genuine Spanish colonial textiles. In the process, appropriation encompasses everything from reusing yarn and patching together original foundation fabrics to borrowing iconography while simulating a particular aesthetic system. Carson designers and stitchers then acculturated neotraditional imagery (Catholic saints and rituals) and ethnic emblems (e.g., Native American) to create eclectic embroideries with immediate visual impact and identifiable symbolic content that met tourist demands for exotic yet “culturally expressive” textiles. This paper explores the consequences of the circulation of a cultural artifact predicated on an interpretation of authenticity, created from artifice, subject to scholarly skepticism, and eventually transformed over time to become the basis of an independent artistic trend, or at least a viable colcha embroidery subgroup

Extending WorldMap to Make It Easier for Humanists and Others to Find, Use, and Publish Geospatial Information

WorldMap is being developed by the Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard University as an open source and open access online platform for visualizing and sharing spatial data. It has attracted considerable use since released in July of 2011. We propose making improvements to WorldMap which will transform it from mapping portal to geospatial node on the web. We will develop a new data catalog to expose WorldMap contents for interactive use in systems outside WorldMap. We will gather map metadata from map servers around the world to add to this catalog, eventually maintaining a complete index of map services. To improve search in a metadata-weak map services environment we will add the capability to search by time; develop a mechanism for exposing feature level text to layer search; and use rankings, usage statistics and internal links to weight search results. We will also enable users to create temporal gazetteers and contribute them to a common crowd-sourced gazetteer

Expanding Disease Definitions in Guidelines and Expert Panel Ties to Industry:A Cross-sectional Study of Common Conditions in the United States

BACKGROUND: Financial ties between health professionals and industry may unduly influence professional judgments and some researchers have suggested that widening disease definitions may be one driver of over-diagnosis, bringing potentially unnecessary labeling and harm. We aimed to identify guidelines in which disease definitions were changed, to assess whether any proposed changes would increase the numbers of individuals considered to have the disease, whether potential harms of expanding disease definitions were investigated, and the extent of members' industry ties. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We undertook a cross-sectional study of the most recent publication between 2000 and 2013 from national and international guideline panels making decisions about definitions or diagnostic criteria for common conditions in the United States. We assessed whether proposed changes widened or narrowed disease definitions, rationales offered, mention of potential harms of those changes, and the nature and extent of disclosed ties between members and pharmaceutical or device companies. Of 16 publications on 14 common conditions, ten proposed changes widening and one narrowing definitions. For five, impact was unclear. Widening fell into three categories: creating “pre-disease”; lowering diagnostic thresholds; and proposing earlier or different diagnostic methods. Rationales included standardising diagnostic criteria and new evidence about risks for people previously considered to not have the disease. No publication included rigorous assessment of potential harms of proposed changes. Among 14 panels with disclosures, the average proportion of members with industry ties was 75%. Twelve were chaired by people with ties. For members with ties, the median number of companies to which they had ties was seven. Companies with ties to the highest proportions of members were active in the relevant therapeutic area. Limitations arise from reliance on only disclosed ties, and exclusion of conditions too broad to enable analysis of single panel publications. CONCLUSIONS: For the common conditions studied, a majority of panels proposed changes to disease definitions that increased the number of individuals considered to have the disease, none reported rigorous assessment of potential harms of that widening, and most had a majority of members disclosing financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summar

Effective, clinically feasible and sustainable: Key design features of psycho-educational and supportive care interventions to promote individualised self-management in cancer care

As the global burden of cancer increases healthcare services will face increasing challenges in meet the complex needs of these patients, their families and the communities in which they live. This raises the question of how to meet patient need where direct clinical contact may be constrained or not readily available. Patients and families require resources and skills to manage their illness outside of the hospital setting within their own communities. Aim. To propose a framework for the development and delivery of psycho-educational and supportive care interventions drawing on theoretical principles of behaviour change and evidence-based interventions, and based on extensive experience in developing and testing complex interventions in oncology. Approach. At the core of this intervention framework are considerations of efficiency: interventions are designed to cater for individuals\u27 unique needs; to place minimal demands on the health system infrastructure and to be rapidly disseminated into usual care if successful. There are seven key features: 1) Targeting cancer type and stage; 2) Tailoring to unique individual needs; 3) Promotion of patient self-management of their disease and treatment side effects; 4) Efficient delivery of the intervention; 5) Training and adherence to protocol; 6) Ensuring the intervention is evidence-based; 7) Confirming stakeholder acceptability of the intervention. Application. A case study of a randomised controlled trial which tested psycho-educational oncology interventions using this framework is presented. These interventions were designed to cater for individuals\u27 unique needs and promote self-management while placing minimal demands on the acute health care setting. Discussion. Innovative ways to realise the potentially major impact that psycho-educational and supportive care interventions can have on psychological morbidity, coping, symptoms and quality of life in serious and chronic illness are needed. This framework, which is driven by theory, evidence, and experience, is designed to ensure that interventions are effective, clinically feasible and sustainable

Aryl Phosphoramidates of 5-Phospho Erythronohydroxamic Acid, A New Class of Potent Trypanocidal Compounds

RNAi and enzymatic studies have shown the importance of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGDH) in Trypanosoma brucei for the parasite survival and make it an attractive drug target for the development of new treatments against human African trypanosomiasis. 2,3-O-Isopropylidene-4-erythrono hydroxamate is a potent inhibitor of parasite Trypanosoma brucei 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGDH), the third enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway. However, this compound does not have trypanocidal activity due to its poor membrane permeability. Consequently, we have previously reported a prodrug approach to improve the antiparasitic activity of this inhibitor by converting the phosphate group into a less charged phosphate prodrug. The activity of prodrugs appeared to be dependent on their stability in phosphate buffer. Here we have successfully further extended the development of the aryl phosphoramidate prodrugs of 2,3-O-isopropylidene-4-erythrono hydroxamate by synthesizing a small library of phosphoramidates and evaluating their biological activity and stability in a variety of assays. Some of the compounds showed high trypanocidal activity and good correlation of activity with their stability in fresh mouse blood