Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries: An International Perspective

Book review by Lori Wagner. Henry, Colette, ed. Entrepreneurship in the Creative Industries: An International Perspective. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978184542610

Field Theory Toward a Post Critical Theory of Metaphor

Metaphor studies have become vogue in postcritical culture among the scientific and socio-scientific communities, in advertising and in the political arena. In fact, advertisers and marketers for years have known the power of a resonant metaphor to change minds and hearts. Once relegated to the realms of literature and linguistics, metaphor studies today represent the cutting edge of research in nearly every discipline. However, the church and the Biblical Studies academy have essentially ignored this trend, still engaging predominantly in close critical analyses of texts and refusing for the most part to engage in popular culture. This dissertation agrees with theorists Lakoff and Johnson, and others, that metaphors are the DNA of meaning, identity and therefore the necessary catalysts for visioning and change. Because metaphors are inherent in every human thought process, they are also creative, relational, multi-dimensional and interactive. When metaphors are transported from closed literary systems into cultural systems, they take on roles as change agents. I call this kind of open system metaphor theory in my dissertation, “field theory.” Metaphors exist powerfully within fields. They are prismic entities containing depth and breadth. They relate not linearly but in networks and webs. Field theory in the sciences and social sciences has educated us in the way fields behave, and I will draw on scientific and interdisciplinary definitions of “field” in order to explain the way that metaphor can function and contribute powerfully to both the theory and praxis of ministry and in contemporary postcritical culture. Metaphor field theory can help bridge divides inherent between theory and praxis, between church and culture and within and between individuals and can provide the tools for identity building, visioning and mission within postcritical culture. The artifact for this dissertation therefore will introduce a new kind of nonprofit cross-cultural society that transcends boundaries and creates new field space for communication, creativity and an integrated synergetic vision

Private Options to Use Public Goods: Exploiting Revealed Preferences to Estimate Environmental Benefits

We develop and apply a new method for estimating the economic benefits of an environmental amenity. The method fits within the household production framework (Becker 1965), and is based upon the notion of estimating the derived demand for a privately traded option to utilize a freely-available public good. In particular, the demand for state fishing licenses is used to infer the benefits of recreational fishing. Using panel data on state fishing license sales and prices for the continental United States over a fifteen-year period, combined with data on substitute prices and demographic variables, a license demand function is estimated with instrumental variable procedures to allow for the potential endogeneity of administered prices. The econometric results lead to estimates of the benefits of a fishing license, and subsequently to the expected benefits of a recreational fishing day. In contrast with previous studies, which have utilized travel cost or hypothetical market methods, our approach provides estimates that are directly comparable across geographic areas. Further, our results suggest that the benefits of recreational fishing days are generally less than previously estimated.

Occupational Stress and Coping Resources of K-12 Probationary Teachers

The purpose of the study was to measure what factors impact the stress levels of probationary teachers who may or may not be new to the field of education, to determine what demographic characteristics are related to higher levels of stress, to determine what coping resources were successful in reducing stress, and to compare the stress levels and coping resources of probationary teachers to other professionals. The study used the OSI-R to determine the stress levels of k-12 probationary teachers as related to role overload, role insufficiency, role ambiguity, role boundary, responsibility, and physical environment as measured by the Occupational Roles Questionnaire (ORQ) sub scale of the OSI-R. The study determined the coping resources used by these teachers as measured by the Personal Resources Questionnaire (PRQ) of the OSI-R which measures recreation, self-care, social support, and rational/ cognitive coping. Of the 140 people who were sent the survey, 91 responded which was a return rate of 65%. Majority of the respondents were female primarily between the ages of 20 and 49. The average years of experience in education was 7.67 years with most being of the veteran category having been in the field of education more than five years. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between probationary teachers and other professionals for the Role Overload, Role Insufficiency, and Role Ambiguity, Self-Care, and Social Support scales. Beginners, within 0-1 years of educational experience, reported statistically significant scores as compared to their more experience counterparts on the Role Ambiguity scale. Probationary teachers are more stressed than other professionals and feel that their training, education, skills, and experience are either inadequate or inappropriate for the requirements of their jobs. They also reported higher levels of stress in relation to which their priorities, expectations, and evaluation criteria were clear when compared to other professionals. They have a greater ability to coping with stress by completing personal activities to alleviate stress and feel more significantly supported and helped by those around them when compared to other professionals

Private Options to Use Public Goods Exploiting Revealed Preferences to Estimate Environmental Benefits

We develop and apply a new method for estimating the economic benefits of an environmental amenity. The method fits within the household production framework (Becker 1965), and is based upon the notion of estimating the derived demand for a privately traded option to utilize a freely-available public good. In particular, the demand for state fishing licenses is used to infer the benefits of recreational fishing. Using panel data on state fishing license sales and prices for the continental United States over a fifteen-year period, combined with data on substitute prices and demographic variables, a license demand function is estimated with instrumental variable procedures to allow for the potential endogeneity of administered prices. The econometric results lead to estimates of the benefits of a fishing license, and subsequently to the expected benefits of a recreational fishing day. In contrast with previous studies, which have utilized travel cost or hypothetical market methods, our approach provides estimates that are directly comparable across geographic areas. Further, our results suggest that the benefits of recreational fishing days are generally less than previously estimated.Private Options, Public Goods, Environmental Benefits

Efficient shine- Dalgarno sequence but not translation is necessary for LacZ mRNA stability in Escherichia coli

Journal ArticleThe 5' ends of many bacterial transcripts are important in determining mRNA stability. A series of Shine-Dalgarno (SD) sequence changes showed that the complementarity of the SD sequence to the anti-SD sequence of 16S rRNA correlates with lacZ mRNA stability in Escherichia coli. Several initiation codon changes showed that an efficient initiation codon is not necessary to maintain lacZ mRNA stability. A stop codon in the 10th codon of lacZ increased mRNA stability. Therefore, ribosomal binding via the SD sequence but not translation of the coding region is necessary to maintain lacZ mRNA stability

Male Tibetan Macaques’ (Macaca Thibetana) Choice of Infant Bridging Partners

Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males’ affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males’ choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all occurrences, focal animal, and scan methods, from August to September 2011 at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China. We found that male infants were significantly preferred over females for bridging, but of three male infants in the group, only one was used by all males, while one male infant was used less often than expected. Adult males had females they were significantly more likely to be proximate to and/or to groom, but these corresponded to the mother of the bridging infant for only one male. Our results are most consistent with the agonistic buffering hypothesis: lower-ranked males used the alpha male’s preferred bridging infant in an attempt to regulate their interactions with the alpha

Tourist Behavior and Decibel Levels Correlate with Threat Frequency in Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan, China

Tourism is a common component of management practices directed toward endangered species and habitats, but few studies have explored the potential stressors that may occur to nonhumans as objects of tourism. We examined the impact that tourists have on provisioned, habituated Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana). Data were collected during August 2005 at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys (VWM), Mt. Huangshan, China. From a tourist viewing platform, we measured tourist densities, behaviors (for example, foot, hand, and mouth noises; mimicking monkeys; throwing objects or food), and decibel levels. Frequencies of monkey threats in the provisioning area of their range were recorded. The tourists\u27 collective behaviors correlated with monkey threats (Pearson\u27s correlations; r=0.391, p=0.014), as did decibel levels on the viewing platform (r=0.334, p=0.038). No relationship between tourist density and monkey threats, or between particular tourist behaviors and monkey threats, was significant. Based on these results, we recommend park staff be trained on how to discourage noise often associated with tourists and regulate prohibited tourist behaviors, such as feeding the monkeys. Enforcement of park rules will decrease chances that tourist-monkey interactions at VWM will escalate into situations where injuries occur, as has happened at some other macaque tourism sites. Finally, we suggest the development of tourist education materials

Behaviors that Predict Personality Components in Adult free-Ranging Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana)

To further the potential for applied personality studies, we present a methodology for assessing personality in nonhuman animals without a priori assumptions, using behavioral measures to discriminate personality survey results. Our study group consisted of 12 free-ranging, provisioned, adult Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China. We asked familiar Chinese park guards and scientists to rate each of the 12 macaques using 27-item personality surveys. We also recorded behavioral observations (\u3e 100 hrs) from August–September, 2012. The personality surveys showed reliability in 22 of the items that were then utilized in a principal component analysis that revealed five components: Insecurity, Reactivity, Boldness, Sociability, and Leadership. Prior personality research on Macaca show comparable components. In order to determine which behaviors would best predict those five personality components, we conducted ­discriminant analyses using behavioral measures as predictors. We found that behavioral measures of avoidance, lunging, fear-grinning, self-directed behaviors, touching, proximity and chasing could significantly predict personality component scores in certain situations. Finally, we analyzed the effects of situation (provisioning and tourists) and found situation influenced proximity and rates of avoidance and self-directed behaviors. Wider implementation of this methodology may permit long-term analysis of personality using behavioral proxies for established personality traits, in particular on research investigating the effects of tourism and provisioning on personality

Client depletion assay comparison of paclitaxel to Hsp90 inhibitors

Many researchers have claimed they have found a successful inhibitor of Hsp90; however, we suspect they are only successful when the inhibitor is used in large quantities. On top of being one of the easiest ways to show an effective inhibitor, researchers are claiming they have found an inhibitor when only meeting as few as two hallmarks. Due to the researchers' inhibitors only meeting two of the criteria, we are trying to show whether these limited expectations are a valid way in identifying Hsp90 inhibitors. We think the client depletion assay test is not specific to Hsp90 inhibitors but instead is a generalized cell response to cell death. At this point in our research, we know a lot about client depletion assays and Hsp90s; however, we do not know if the claims these researchers are making are valid claims because of the amount of Hsp90 inhibitor they are using.Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education ProgramBiochemistry and Molecular Biolog