Access to bank finance for Scottish SMEs.

There is evidence that some SMEs may still face difficulties in accessing bank finance from lenders (CEEDR, 2007). This paper reports an in-depth study into demand and supply side issues relating to access to bank finance by Scottish SMEs and whether there is still market failure associated with good, bankable business cases from SMEs that do not receive finance. We argue that our study utilises innovative methodology and is relatively rare as a robust study in this area. We combine demand side in depth survey analysis of SMEs with supply side analysis by bank managers of real business propositions through verbal protocol analysis. This paper discusses the ability of SMEs to access debt finance from the commercial banks in Scotland, it reports findings from a survey of 51 SMEs that had reported having difficulty raising finance and from interviews with bank managers utilising verbal protocol analysis with validated real SME business proposals to give insights into the decision-making of bank managers in the processing of proposals from SMEs. Theoretically, there are categories of SMEs that may face greater difficulties or contain circumstances in which it is more difficult for bank managers to apply standard decision-making models and these categories are explored to provide a theoretical framework for the investigation. The theoretical framework provides themes for discussion of the findings. These include for example; younger SMEs and owners, rural-based SMEs and manufacturing SMEs. Bank officers were found to follow standard financial models, although considerable discretion could be exercised by senior bank managers often leading to a heavy reliance on personal relationships. Smaller and newer SMEs where discretion was more limited were more likely to face difficulties. The study revealed a number of categories of SMEs that face difficulties, including strong growth SMEs in rural environments, new and young SMES,young entrepreneurs seeking start-up finance and manufacturing SMEs seeking to diversify and finance new product development. Focusing on these categories of SMEs,we analyse survey evidence, in depth case studies and verbal protocol analysis with bank managers to discuss research questions on whether informational effects can lead to market failure in the provision of debt finance, the circumstances in which sound propositions are turned down and whether such circumstances can be prevented. This forms the basis for development of conclusions on the continued existence of a debt gap for certain categories of SMEs and some policy implications

Do football Club owners create Value?

Schumpeter suggests that the role of the entrepreneur is to create greater value. This paper focuses on football, and football club owners in questioning and contesting not just if club owners create value – but more specifically, value for whom? And at what cost? The questions bring to the fore commodification and a profit maxim versus community asset and a utility maxim. We question the current pursuit of football clubs where owners have sidelined the indigenous fan base to satisfy their thirst for global market growth, at the expense of heritage and social value of the ‘club’. There have been various critical papers written on the subject of the changing nature of professional football, however, little has been written on this topic from a social value perspective. Therefore, whilst focussing on football club owners, our research questions commodification of public utility in the pursuit of globalisation through the commercialisation of clubs and the capitalisation of supporters as club assets to the detriment of social and cultural value. Our theoretical framework utilises Parsons’ systems theory, in particular, Groen et al’s (2008) four capitals adaptation to analyse 'sustainable value creation' (a blend of strategic, economic, cultural and social). Groen et al’s model is used to map ownership of each of the 44 clubs in the top 2 divisions of English football. Following this we draw attention to some examples in highlighting different forms of ownership. Our findings suggest the main current of ownership is in transition and movement towards economic and strategic capitals, which we argue is unsustainable as it comes at the expense of other forms of capital. The mobility of ‘charlatan entrepreneurs’ in this industry is a major concern to us as academics and football supporters. Although the work of unscrupulous owners in football is nothing new, our approach is. We highlight the finite balance between the four capitals that as Groen et al claim, should balance in order to achieve (blended) sustainable value creation, where the changes in football club ownership are putting the sport in a precarious position

Identifying regions of minimal back-scattering by a relativistically-moving sphere

The far-field back-scattering amplitude of an electric field from a relativistically-moving sphere is analyzed. Contrary to prior research, we do so by expressing the fields in the helicity basis, and we highlight here its advantages when compared to the commonly-considered parity basis. With the purpose of exploring specific scattering phenomena considering relativistic effects, we identify conditions that minimize the back-scattered field, leading to a relativistic formulation of the first Kerker condition. The requirements to be satisfied by the sphere are expressed in terms of Mie angles, which constitute an effective parametrization of any possible optical response a sphere might have. We are able to identify multiple combinations of Mie angles up to octupolar order via gradient-based optimization that satisfy our newly formulated relativistic Kerker condition, yielding minima for the back-scattered energy as low as 0.016% of the average scattered energy. Our results can be extended to involve multiple particles forming a metasurface, potentially having direct implications on the design of light sails as considered by the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative.Comment: 4 figures, 1 table, 9 pages + appendix. Link to code used: https://github.com/tfp-photonics/Jorkle.j

Identifying regions of minimal back-scattering by a relativistically-moving sphere

The far-field back-scattering amplitude of an electric field from a relativistically-moving sphere is analyzed. Contrary to prior research, we do so by expressing the fields in the helicity basis, and we highlight here its advantages when compared to the commonly-considered parity basis. With the purpose of exploring specific scattering phenomena considering relativistic effects, we identify conditions that minimize the back-scattered field, leading to a relativistic formulation of the first Kerker condition. The requirements to be satisfied by the sphere are expressed in terms of Mie angles, which constitute an effective parametrization of any possible optical response a sphere might have. We are able to identify multiple combinations of Mie angles up to octupolar order via gradient-based optimization that satisfy our newly formulated relativistic Kerker condition, yielding minima for the back-scattered energy as low as 0.016% of the average scattered energy. Our results can be extended to involve multiple particles forming a metasurface, potentially having direct implications on the design of light sails as considered by the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative

Entrepreneurial Charlatans?- The selling of the soul of Football Clubs

Objectives: Schumpeter suggests that the role of the entrepreneur is to create greater value. Using the example of ‘the business of football’ the paper argues that whilst in some cases the selling of professional football clubs to entrepreneurial owners may result in increased commercialisation and profitability - is this always creating greater value? We question the current pursuit of football clubs where owner-entrepreneurs have sidelined the indigenous fan base to satisfy their thirst for global market growth, at the expense of heritage and social value of the ‘club’. Prior work: There have various critical papers written on the subject of the changing nature of professional football, however, little has been written on this topic from an entrepreneurial perspective. Approach: This paper offers a theoretical perspective suggesting that ‘entrepreneurs’ who take acquisition of a professional football club may undermine the value of the club and accordingly be termed; ‘entrepreneurial charlatans’. Results: By analysing the activities of ‘entrepreneurial charlatans’ the paper finds that rather than adding value these entrepreneurs are subtracting value, which is having a damaging impact on the individual club level in terms of a ‘glass escalator effect’ with entrepreneur-led parachute finance, creating unsustainable clubs and also at the national level in creating unbalanced leagues. Implications: Whilst the governing bodies of football clubs have certain regulations applicable to the running of football clubs these tend to be ineffective in curbing entrepreneurial charlatan behaviours, such as ‘heritage stripping’ (rebranding) and debt finance. In terms of supporters, they cannot as easily move from Tescos to Sainsburys like supermarket shoppers. We highlight the subtraction of value and the ‘voice’ of the supporter. We question if owner-entrepreneurs of football clubs are capitalising on the perceived values of their clubs for global adoration to the detriment of the foundations of the football clubs social values themselves – have they ‘sold the soul’? Value: This paper contributes to the underpinning literature by questioning the ‘added value’ that entrepreneurs have made in the business of football. Indeed the paper develops a new concept, that of the ‘entrepreneurial charlatan’, people who seek to create greater value yet rather than add value to an asset, in the football club context, they subtract value

Vascular uptake of rehydration fluids in hypohydrated men at rest and exercise

The purpose of this study was to formulate and to evaluate rehydration drinks, which would restore total body water and plasma volume (PV), for astronauts to consume before and during extravehicular activity, a few hours before reentry, and immediately after landing. In the first experiment (rest, sitting), five healthy men (23-41 yr), previously dehydrated for 24 hr., drank six (1a, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7) fluid formulations (one each at weekly intervals) and then sat for 70 min. Pre-test PV were measured with Evans blue dye and changes in PV were calculated with the hematocrit-hemoglobin transformation equation. This rest experiment simulated hypohydrated astronauts preparing for reentry. The second experiment (exercise, supine) followed the same protocol except four healthy men (30-46 yr) worked for 70 min. in the supine position on a cycle ergometer at a mean load of 71+/-1 percent of their peak aerobic work capacity. This exercise experiment simulated conditions for astronauts with reduced total body water engaging in extravehicular activity

MeerKLASS: MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey

We discuss the ground-breaking science that will be possible with a wide area survey, using the MeerKAT telescope, known as MeerKLASS (MeerKAT Large Area Synoptic Survey). The current specifications of MeerKAT make it a great fit for science applications that require large survey speeds but not necessarily high angular resolutions. In particular, for cosmology, a large survey over $\sim 4,000 \, {\rm deg}^2$ for $\sim 4,000$ hours will potentially provide the first ever measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillations using the 21cm intensity mapping technique, with enough accuracy to impose constraints on the nature of dark energy. The combination with multi-wavelength data will give unique additional information, such as exquisite constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity using the multi-tracer technique, as well as a better handle on foregrounds and systematics. Such a wide survey with MeerKAT is also a great match for HI galaxy studies, providing unrivalled statistics in the pre-SKA era for galaxies resolved in the HI emission line beyond local structures at z > 0.01. It will also produce a large continuum galaxy sample down to a depth of about 5\,$\mu$Jy in L-band, which is quite unique over such large areas and will allow studies of the large-scale structure of the Universe out to high redshifts, complementing the galaxy HI survey to form a transformational multi-wavelength approach to study galaxy dynamics and evolution. Finally, the same survey will supply unique information for a range of other science applications, including a large statistical investigation of galaxy clusters as well as produce a rotation measure map across a huge swathe of the sky. The MeerKLASS survey will be a crucial step on the road to using SKA1-MID for cosmological applications and other commensal surveys, as described in the top priority SKA key science projects (abridged).Comment: Larger version of the paper submitted to the Proceedings of Science, "MeerKAT Science: On the Pathway to the SKA", Stellenbosch, 25-27 May 201

The relation between the diffuse X-ray luminosity and the radio power of the central AGN in galaxy groups

Our understanding of how active galactic nucleus feedback operates in galaxy clusters has improved in recent years owing to large efforts in multiwavelength observations and hydrodynamical simulations. However, it is much less clear how feedback operates in galaxy groups, which have shallower gravitational potentials. In this work, using very deep Very Large Array and new MeerKAT observations from the MIGHTEE survey, we compiled a sample of 247 X-ray selected galaxy groups detected in the COSMOS field. We have studied the relation between the X-ray emission of the intra-group medium and the 1.4 GHz radio emission of the central radio galaxy. For comparison, we have also built a control sample of 142 galaxy clusters using ROSAT and NVSS data. We find that clusters and groups follow the same correlation between X-ray and radio emission. Large radio galaxies hosted in the centres of groups and merging clusters increase the scatter of the distribution. Using statistical tests and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the correlation is not dominated by biases or selection effects. We also find that galaxy groups are more likely than clusters to host large radio galaxies, perhaps owing to the lower ambient gas density or a more efficient accretion mode. In these groups, radiative cooling of the intra-cluster medium could be less suppressed by active galactic nucleus heating. We conclude that the feedback processes that operate in galaxy clusters are also effective in groups.Peer reviewe

Reliability of a novel thermal imaging system for temperature assessment of healthy feet

Abstract Background Thermal imaging is a useful modality for identifying preulcerative lesions (“hot spots”) in diabetic foot patients. Despite its recognised potential, at present, there is no readily available instrument for routine podiatric assessment of patients at risk. To address this need, a novel thermal imaging system was recently developed. This paper reports the reliability of this device for temperature assessment of healthy feet. Methods Plantar skin foot temperatures were measured with the novel thermal imaging device (Diabetic Foot Ulcer Prevention System (DFUPS), constructed by Photometrix Imaging Ltd) and also with a hand-held infrared spot thermometer (Thermofocus® 01500A3, Tecnimed, Italy) after 20 min of barefoot resting with legs supported and extended in 105 subjects (52 males and 53 females; age range 18 to 69 years) as part of a multicentre clinical trial. The temperature differences between the right and left foot at five regions of interest (ROIs), including 1st and 4th toes, 1st, 3rd and 5th metatarsal heads were calculated. The intra-instrument agreement (three repeated measures) and the inter-instrument agreement (hand-held thermometer and thermal imaging device) were quantified using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Both devices showed almost perfect agreement in replication by instrument. The intra-instrument ICCs for the thermal imaging device at all five ROIs ranged from 0.95 to 0.97 and the intra-instrument ICCs for the hand-held-thermometer ranged from 0.94 to 0.97. There was substantial to perfect inter-instrument agreement between the hand-held thermometer and the thermal imaging device and the ICCs at all five ROIs ranged between 0.94 and 0.97. Conclusions This study reports the performance of a novel thermal imaging device in the assessment of foot temperatures in healthy volunteers in comparison with a hand-held infrared thermometer. The newly developed thermal imaging device showed very good agreement in repeated temperature assessments at defined ROIs as well as substantial to perfect agreement in temperature assessment with the hand-held infrared thermometer. In addition to the reported non-inferior performance in temperature assessment, the thermal imaging device holds the potential to provide an instantaneous thermal image of all sites of the feet (plantar, dorsal, lateral and medial views). Trial registration Diabetic Foot Ulcer Prevention System NCT02317835, registered December 10, 201