Diversifications in ethnic minority businss: the case of Asians in London's creative industries.

Purpose – To provide an initial assessment of the nature and extent of the involvement of Asian-owned firms in the creative industries in London; to identify and assess any barriers they face; and draw out the implications for policy. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study, undertaken in late 2002. Data sources included official statistical data and previous reports, as well as a programme of semi-structured,in-depth interviews with 23 Asian entrepreneurs spread across eight sub-sectors. Findings – Asians are making a significant contribution to London’s creative sectors, although they do face a number of specific constraints. Some of these are specific to the creative industries but others are shared with other small firms. However, few of these constraints appear to be exclusively Asian. Research limitations/implications – There are some limitations relating to the small scale of the study and its focus on a single geographical location. Practical implications – The research shows how (cultural) diversity can contribute to creativity and the competitiveness of regional economies, as well as individual businesses. This particularly applies in the creative industries because of extensive interlinkage with firms in other sectors. Originality/value – In creative activities, cultural diversity is a source of potential competitiveness, because of the positive relationships between diversity, creativity and innovation. Asian owned firms in the creative sectors contrast with the low value added nature of many traditional areas of Asian business activity in the UK

The use of external sources of health and safety information and advice: the case of small firms

This paper draws on British survey and interview data concerning the use made by small firms of external health and safety information and advice, the sources of such information and advice that they utilise, or would consider using, and the difficulties they experience in accessing information and advice of this type. These data are then used by the authors to shed light on the channels of such information and advice that are most likely to support improvements in how health and safety is managed in small enterprises. The authors' analysis leads them to caution against adopting an overly optimistic view of the part that can be played in this respect by intermediary organisations and the publication of more and better advisory material, and to stress the importance of not understating the advisory and information-providing role of health and safety inspectors

The role of acidity in solid tumour growth and invasion

Acidic pH is a common characteristic of human tumours. It has a significant impact on tumour progression and response to therapies. In this paper, we develop a simple model of three-dimensional tumour growth to examine the role of acidosis in the interaction between normal and tumour cell populations. Both vascular and avascular tumour dynamics are investigated, and a number of different behaviours are observed. Whilst an avascular tumour always proceeds to a benign steady state, a vascular tumour may display either benign or invasive dynamics, depending on the value of a critical parameter. Analysis of the model allows us to assess novel therapies directed towards changing the level of acidity within the tumour

Metabolic changes during carcinogenesis: Potential impact on invasiveness

Successful adaptation to varying microenvironmental constraints plays a crucial role during carcinogenesis. We develop a hybrid cellular automation approach to investigate the cell–microenvironmental interactions that mediate somatic evolution of cancer cells. This allows investigation of the hypothesis that regions of premalignant lesions develop a substrate-limited environment as proliferation carries cells away from blood vessels which remain separated by the intact basement membrane. We find that selective forces in tumoural regions furthest from the blood supply act to favour cells whose metabolism is best suited to respond to local changes in oxygen, glucose and pH levels. The model predicts three phases of somatic evolution. Initially, cell survival and proliferation is limited due to diminished oxygen levels. This promotes adaptation to a second phase of growth dominated by cells with constitutively up-regulated glycolysis, less reliant on oxygen for ATP production. Increased glycolysis induces acidification of the local environment, limiting proliferation and inducing cell death through necrosis and apoptosis. This promotes a third phase of cellular evolution, with emergence of phenotypes resistant to acid-induced toxicity. This emergent cellular phenotype has a significant proliferative advantage because it will consistently acidify the local environment in a way that is toxic to its competitors but harmless to itself. The model's results suggest this sequence is essential in the transition from self-limited premalignant growth to invasive cancer, and, therefore, that this transition may be delayed or prevented through novel strategies directed towards interrupting the hypoxia–glycolysis–acidosis cycle

Quiescience as a mechanism for cyclical hypoxia and acidosis

Tumour tissue characteristically experiences fluctuations in substrate supply. This unstable microenvironment drives constitutive metabolic changes within cellular populations and, ultimately, leads to a more aggressive phenotype. Previously, variations in substrate levels were assumed to occur through oscillations in the hæmodynamics of nearby and distant blood vessels. In this paper we examine an alternative hypothesis, that cycles of metabolite concentrations are also driven by cycles of cellular quiescence and proliferation. Using a mathematical modelling approach, we show that the interdependence between cell cycle and the microenvironment will induce typical cycles with the period of order hours in tumour acidity and oxygenation. As a corollary, this means that the standard assumption of metabolites entering diffusive equilibrium around the tumour is not valid; instead temporal dynamics must be considered

Ethnic minority enterprise: policy in practice.

Aims This project reviews recent research on ethnic minorities in business, focusing in particular on implications for policy. The more specific objectives were to: • Assess existing approaches towards supporting ethnic minority businesses • Identify examples of ‘good practice’ • Map out a research and policy agenda Methodology The methodology involved the following elements: • A review of studies of EMBs from academic sources and grey literature • Telephone interviews with 53 separate Business Links to examine the scope and dimensions of policies towards EMBs. • Where examples of ‘good practice’ policies were identified in these initial interviews, a second interview was conducted with the individual best positioned to describe the initiative. Fifteen such cases are presented in the report

Mapping the social economy in the rural East Midlands.

This project mapped the types of social enterprises in rural areas, examined their development needs and assessed how these were being met by support providers. Factors contributing to the support of new social enterprises were also examined and ways in which social entrepreneurs can be encouraged and facilitated were identified

How victim age affects the context and timing of child sexual abuse: applying the routine activities approach to the first sexual abuse incident

The aim of this study was to examine from the routine activities approach how victim age might help to explain the timing, context and nature of offenders’ first known contact sexual abuse incident. One-hundred adult male child sexual abusers (M = 45.8 years, SD = 12.2; range = 20–84) were surveyed about the first time they had sexual contact with a child. Afternoon and early evening (between 3 pm and 9 pm) was the most common time in which sexual contact first occurred. Most incidents occurred in a home. Two-thirds of incidents occurred when another person was in close proximity, usually elsewhere in the home. Older victims were more likely to be sexually abused by someone outside their families and in the later hours of the day compared to younger victims. Proximity of another person (adult and/or child) appeared to have little effect on offenders’ decisions to abuse, although it had some impact on the level of intrusion and duration of these incidents. Overall, the findings lend support to the application of the routine activities approach for considering how contextual risk factors (i.e., the timing and relationship context) change as children age, and raise questions about how to best conceptualize guardianship in the context of child sexual abuse. These factors should be key considerations when devising and implementing sexual abuse prevention strategies and for informing theory development

Cultural influences on health and safety attitudes and behaviour in small firms.

This report details the findings of a study which sought to identify the role of cultural influences on health and safety attitudes and behaviour in small and micro-enterprises and related issues concerning channels of communication and the role of the Health and Safety Executive. The main cultural influence on health and safety attitudes and behaviour in small businesses was found to be the organisational culture that typifies many such enterprises, reflecting less formal approaches to management, the preference of owner/managers for autonomy and the closeness of employer/employee relations in small businesses