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A “hands‐on” robotic system for total knee replacement (TKR) surgery is presented. Computed tomography (CT) based software is used to accurately plan the procedure pre‐operatively. Intra‐operatively, the surgeon guides a small, special‐purpose robot, called Acrobot^®, which is mounted on a gross positioning device. The Acrobot uses active constraint control, which constrains the motion to a pre‐defined region, and thus allows the surgeon to safely cut the knee bones to fit a TKR prosthesis with high precision. A non‐invasive anatomical registration method is used. The system has undergone early clinical trials with very promising outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the debate surrounding quality of training as it has unfolded in Australia and how concerns about high non‐completion rates have entered the debate.

This paper bases its discussion of quality in VET training on analysis of qualitative data collected from focus groups and one‐on‐one interviews conducted with employers, Institutes of Tertiary and Further Education, registered training organisations, trade unions and local, State and Commonwealth government representatives located in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia.

The paper shows that throughout many parts of the world a growing concern has emerged about the quality of training for apprentices and trainees in what has become an increasingly deregulated environment dominated by private interests. In Australia, where non‐completion rates can be as high as 50 percent of those who commence training, government leaders at both State and Federal levels are taking a renewed interested in understanding the relationship between quality of training and non‐completion rates. The paper finds that data suggesting training quality in Australia is being threatened by fully on‐the‐job training, the narrowing of training skills, the loss of transferable skills and a lack of training. It argues that these factors have contributed to high rates of non‐completions among apprentices and trainees and that poor regulation of quality standards, government subsidies to employers and training organisations and abuse are contributing to these quality problems.

The paper presents useful insights into the relationship between quality in training and attrition among apprentices and trainees in regional Australia.

The purpose of this paper is to present a numerical and an analytical study of the fluid flow and heat transfer in the unsteady, laminar boundary layer resulting from the forced convection flow along a semi‐infinite wedge, where the transients are initiated at time t¯ = 0 when the wedge is impulsively started from rest with a uniform velocity and a constant heat flux at the walls of the wedge is suddenly imposed.

The velocity of the main free stream is written in non‐dimensional form for t > 0 as u_e(x) = x^m, where x is the non‐dimensional distance along the surface from the leading edge (apex) of the wedge and the constant m is related to the included angle of the wedge πβ by m = β / (2 − β) (0 ≤ m ≤ 1 for physical applications). The wedge and the fluid are assumed to be initially (t¯ = 0) at the same uniform temperature T_∞, so that there is zero heat flux at the surface. A time‐dependent thermal boundary layer is then produced at t¯ = 0 as the zero heat flux at the surface is suddenly changed, and a constant heat flux q_w is imposed as the wedge is set into motion. Analytical solutions for the simultaneous development of the momentum and thermal boundary layers are obtained for both small (initial unsteady flow) and large (steady‐state flow) times for several wedge angles (several values of m) and several values of the Prandtl number Pr. These two asymptotic solutions are matched using two specialised numerical procedures.

The numerical results obtained for the transient fluid velocity and temperature fields concentrate mainly on the case when the Prandtl number Pr = 1 and m = 1 / 5, namely a wedge angle of 60^○. Required alterations to these parameters are then discussed with reference to variations in Pr and m separately. Further, an engineering empirical expression is presented for the skin friction C_f (τ) Re_x^1/2 that is valid for all times. The comparison between the empirical formula and the full numerical solution demonstrates that this matching solution can be used with confidence over the whole range of values of the non‐dimensional time τ for each of the values of m presented, and may therefore be used with confidence in engineering applications.

The results of the present work, which have been obtained through many computations, are very important for the advancement of knowledge on this classical problem of fluid mechanics and heat transfer. It is believed that such very detailed solutions have not previously been presented.

This paper aims to analyse, through the lens of learning network theory, ways in which external VET practitioners work within private enterprises to promote learning within these organizations.

The paper is based on analyses of six case studies in two Australian States, each comprising a vocational education institute and an enterprise. In total, 34 interviews were held with four groups of participant – TAFE managers and practitioners, enterprise personnel and worker‐learners – from different industries.

The paper finds that the overlaying of an external learning system on existing learning systems brings inevitable tensions that need to be carefully managed. VET practitioners working in industry operate in two worlds with very different cultures. They need to learn how to work within different power structures, how to build around existing work and learning networks, and how to mesh in with the flow of enterprise work. In the process of working with company staff, and crossing boundaries, they may well be creating a “third space” in which new meanings can be, and have to be, constructed that go beyond the limits of either site.

The paper shows that understanding these ways of working has practical implications for VET managers and practitioners, company staff and policy‐makers in terms of how human resources are managed and how different parties work together.

The paper shows two objectives: a relatively new focus in the research literature and an extension of learning network theory in terms of external learning systems.

The relevance of the planning approach for innovative and for young entrepreneurial firms had been subject to debate. It has been argued that planning dampens the realisation of entrepreneurial vision. This study examines the enacted strategy approaches of entrepreneurs who had studied on a Graduate Enterprise programme that aimed to help them to start a business. The approaches they used to strategy formation were compared to the planning approach that had been emphasised to them seven to 12 years earlier. Data were gathered through non‐directive interviews, and were analysed using survey and case study methods. The formation of strategy by these entrepreneurs relied more on emergent than planning approaches, but some elements of the planning approach were strongly associated with growth. Some key resources were essential for the firms and their strategy formation processes. These were key personal relationships, with whom and through whom the entrepreneurs found ways of enacting their visions – the essence of their strategy process. Implications for curriculum and course development are given.

As a result of a badly conceived farm policy the bulk of the EC′s dried grape crop of 1981/82 was sold into intervention. Minimum import prices (MIPs) were introduced, throwing the import trade into confusion, and distorting the market for dried grapes. MIPs meant that the competitive advantage of low cost suppliers was lost, and the importer′s traditional skills of buying cheap were thwarted. Failure to distinguish between types of product, quality and presentation, led to further difficulties. Even marginal failure to respect the MIP led to the application of substantial countervailing charges. In February 1988 a ruling of the European Court gave some relief to the beleaguered trade.

The internationalization of small and medium‐sized businesses typically involves negotiation, agreement and exchange between business leaders from different national cultural values and traditions. Explores whether, and how, national values affect the strategic aims of business leaders, the content of their strategic deliberations, and the processes they follow to develop those ways of thinking into enacted strategies. The two business leaders studied were operating within the Standard Industrial Code 33.20/1, developing and combining electronic hardware and software technologies to address the needs of industrial customers world‐wide, but were from countries with different national values. The aims of the business leaders, and the processes they used to develop strategies differed, in ways which reflected their national backgrounds. The contents of the strategic issues they considered, however, were more similar, largely reflecting industry norms and demands, in these cases expressed on a global scale.

The purpose of this paper is to identify good practice in conducting outreach for homeless people, and hence to provide recommendations for future library outreach projects.

The authors examine of four case studies taken from the library literature, and conduct six semi‐structured interviews with outreach and/or inclusion librarians from library authorities in South and West Yorkshire.

The recommendations include: developing partnerships with relevant organisations; removing proof‐of‐identity requirements for joining the library; disseminating the results obtained in projects; using book deposits and mobile library stops; training library staff to ensure that they are aware of relevant issues; building trust in the target audience; ensuring that outreach is tailored to the specific needs of different groups of homeless people; and using a range of methods to evaluate project effectiveness.

Identification of themes common to the published case studies and to the interviews provides a reasoned basis for the recommendations that are presented. These recommendations provide, for the first time in the UK, clear guidelines for future outreach projects for homeless people.

Reviews and analyses the long standing concern over the availability of finance for young and potentially growing business. The perception of a “finance gap” has led to the creation of financial institutions to address it, few of which now survive. Examines the management practices of some in the UK and the USA, which have not only survived, but also appear to be both filling “the gap” and investing successfully. Identifies a number of resources other than finance which these organizations have found it necessary to supply in order to generate success among their investee businesses, and a number of common investment management practices. Finds the issue of the finance gap to be inseparable from issues of other resource deficiencies within young firms. Suggests that policy makers might valuably heed the experience of organizations which have learned, often painfully, how the finance gap might, and might not, be filled.

Reports and discusses the findings of an investigation that examined the efficacy of guided learning in the workplace. The investigation comprised the trialing of guided learning strategies and an analysis of the learning occurring in five workplaces over a period of six months. The guided learning strategies selected for investigation were questioning dialogues, the use of diagrams and analogies within an approach to workplace learning emphasising modelling and coaching. Throughout the investigation, critical incident interviews were conducted to identify the contributions to learning that had occurred during these periods, including those provided by the guided learning. As anticipated, it was found that participation in everyday work activities (the learning curriculum) was most valued and reported as making effective contributions to learning in the workplace. However, there was also correlation between reports of the frequency of guided learning interactions and their efficacy in resolving novel workplace tasks, and therefore learning. It is postulated that some of these learning outcomes could not have been secured by everyday participation in the workplace alone. Further, factors associated with the readiness of enterprise and those within it were identified as influencing the likely effectiveness of guided learning at work.