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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the practice of casting celebrity performers in London West End theatres. The paper uses the literature on celebrity to explore the impact that casting a celebrity has on the London theatre audience.

The pervasiveness of celebrity culture forms the background and starting point for this research. In the first phase, theatre managers, directors and producers were interviewed to explore their views on the practice of celebrity casting. In the second phase, an audience survey was conducted. The approach taken is exploratory and is intended to illuminate the conditions under which a successful celebrity-focused strategy can be constructed.

A distinction between fame and celebrity was drawn by both theatre professionals and audiences, with celebrity status being seen as something that is created by media exposure and being in the public eye. This is in contrast to fame, which is earned by being famous for something, or some achievement. Theatre audiences are more likely to be attracted by celebrities who have theatrical expertise and not by someone known simply through film, television or the all-pervasive gossip columns. Celebrities with a background in theatre and film were seen to strongly draw audiences to the theatre, as opposed to those with a background in reality TV shows, search-for-a-star shows or for being half of a famous couple.

The paper is focused on the theatre and makes an original contribution to the current discussion of the power wielded by celebrities. It is the first empirical research on this aspect of the theatre business. Its contribution lies in understanding audience members’ interpretation and understanding of celebrity to ascertain the extent to which they perceive celebrities as credible to perform theatre. This is based on a differentiation between their mediated fame and expertise. It is helpful and useful information for producers when deciding whether or not to cast a celebrity and to which audiences that the celebrity might appeal.

The purpose of this paper is to initially evaluate the most current and important complications of sustainable mega rail transportation projects. This purpose is assisted by thoroughly reviewing the foremost uncertainties and challenging issues of STI. Once these factors are established, they will be the base of STI indicators. Finally, to consolidate such alignment, the Sydney Metro and Melbourne Metro are then compared and analyzed. The analysis would then create a platform to measure sustainability and relevant complexities in mega rail transportation projects.

To further consolidate such hypothesis, this research investigated two mega rail transportation projects in Australia. Both Sydney Metro and Melbourne Metro Rail were selected as the basis of case study, as both possess similar sustainability aspects.

As an outcome this research found that, complexities in both of these projects were based on future challenges and opportunities including imperfect equalization or not balancing all the four sustainability indicators; and where and how to emphasize the overlapping of these four indicators. In summary, these findings can assist the relevant planners, to better prepare and manage mega railway infrastructure and their operations.

While the sustainability for transportation infrastructure has been covered extensively by other authors, this paper strengthens the four specific and separate STI indicators – especially for mega rail infrastructure. Although, there are some crossover areas within these indicators, however, this research separately validates each as an independent entity. Commonly, there are three dimensions within the sustainability domain – environmental, economical and social. Nevertheless, for this research, a fourth dimension engineering which includes all the technical focus, has been separately developed. This is particularly important to effectively deal with all the complexities, particularly for mega projects, such as rail transportation infrastructure. Accordingly, separating the engineering dimension would thus reshape the triple bottom line factors to include a separate technical focus. To further evaluate this separation of the four specific areas, two mega Australian rail transportation projects are then reviewed as experiments.

This paper aims to discuss the ways to strengthen the contribution of scholarship to gender equity in practice for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. Research that spotlights gender construction and enactment, including its origins and its discriminatory effects on people, is inherently social action to the degree that it motivates institutional change. For this 10th year recognition of the founding of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, the four waves of feminism framework is used to consider our conceptual domain and select practitioners in the gender × entrepreneurship field are interviewed for input on-field needs. Findings are that academics can boost equity in practice by doing original research and promoting research that is more representative, sharing specialized scholarship skills in activist arenas, making the results of academic research available to practitioners and policymakers, and reviewing and validating (or discrediting) information circulating in public spheres.

This reflective essay is designed to consider the relevance of scholarship in gender and entrepreneurship to practitioners who participate in the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The concept of the temporal waves of feminism, plus interviews with international practitioners, are used to inform the issues.

Findings are that academics can boost equity in practice by doing original research and promoting research that is more representative, sharing specialized scholarship skills in activist arenas, making the results of academic research available to practitioners and policymakers, and reviewing and validating (or discrediting) information circulating in public spheres.

Scholars of gender and entrepreneurship can look for and create access and meaning for their work with and for practitioners. Bridges to scholarship on gender (e.g. in psychology, anthropology, gender studies, social psychology) can be built to stay current and effective.

The purpose of this paper is to review the Fuzzy Markov development for assessing the structural integrity of buried transportation bridges. In doing so, the appropriateness of Fuzzy Markov will be assessed, leading to the subsequent model.

This research will utilize the Fuzzy Markov techniques as the conceptual framework. Such methodology is further supported via the utilization and evaluation of 30 buried transportation bridges using the developed Fuzzy Markov model.

Subsequently, through a developed Fuzzy Markov model, this research found that as the basis of structural resilience, specific matrices for age-dependent transition probability can be compiled using conditional survival probabilities in the various structural states; as the basis of structural integrity, specific environmental and economic schemes can also be established based on inspection intervals, intervention systems and failure phases; exact inspection and maintenance intervals can be scheduled to further prolong an asset’s life; and clear and early warning signs can also be formulated for immediate intervention when the structural integrity of the asset are indeed compromised.

The gap within the literature currently surrounds the limitation of computational analysis for some buried structures such as bridges. Specifically, to streamline such evaluation and regimes, a Fuzzy Markov is developed and reviewed.

This service evaluation study aimed to demonstrate the impact of implementing ward‐based multidisciplinary therapy input on an acute psychiatric ward in a London hospital for a six‐month period. The results indicated a high level of patient engagement with the project and referrals facilitated for patients following discharge. A reduction of incidents on the ward was reported over the project period compared to the previous year and there was less use of containment measures by staff by the end of the project. Recommendations are made for service improvement.

This inspiring article describes a series of activities that have taken place in the UK over the past year (2001) aiming to generate interest in user/survivor/consumer‐run social enterprises. The writers want to let others know about these activities, about the survivor‐run businesses in Ontario, and hopefully to create more interest in this type of work/community initiative. As editor of this journal I hope that the article will provoke those of you already running user/survivor‐led businesses in the UK to rise to the challenge and write about your work for future issues. Can't let the Canadians have things all their own way… Bob Grove.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between gossip and emotion in health‐care organizations. It draws on findings from empirical research exploring the characteristics and function of gossip which, to date, has been a relatively under‐researched organizational phenomenon.

A multidisciplinary approach was adopted, drawing on an eclectic range of discipline‐based theories, skills, ideas and data. Methods included repertory grid technique, in‐depth interviews and structured diary records of work‐related gossip. The sample comprised 96 qualified nurses working in a range of practice areas and organizational settings in the UK.

Template analysis was used to integrate findings across three phases of data collection. The findings revealed that gossip is used to express a range of emotions including care and concern about others, anger, annoyance and anxiety, with emotional outcomes that include feeling reassured and supported. It is the individual who gossips, while the organization provides the content, emotional context, triggers and opportunities.

Nurses were chosen as an information‐rich source of data, but the findings may simply reflect the professional culture and practice of nursing. Future research should take into account a wider range of health‐care organizational roles and perspectives in order to capture the dynamics and detail of the emotions and relationships that initiate and sustain gossip.

Because gossip makes people feel better it may serve to reinforce the “stress mask of professionalism”, hiding issues of conflict, vulnerability and intense emotion. Managers need to consider what the emotions expressed through gossip might represent in terms of underlying issues relating to organizational health, communication and change.

This paper makes a valuable contribution to the under‐researched phenomenon of gossip in organizations and adds to the growing field of research into the role of emotion in health‐care organizations and emotion work in nursing.

On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined to replace the XT and AT models that are the mainstay of the firm's current personal computer offerings. The numerous changes in hardware and software, while representing improvements on previous IBM technology, will require users purchasing additional computers to make difficult choices as to which of the two IBM architectures to adopt.

The purpose of this paper is to develop some baseline data about games in libraries in North America. The term games is taken broadly in this piece to mean all types of games from card and board games to video games. The focus is primarily on public libraries, but there is some discussion of school and academic libraries as well.

There were two surveys done. The first was a phone survey of 400 public libraries, selected at random. The second survey was a Web‐based convenience sample of libraries of different types. In both studies, we asked questions about the support of gaming in the library, the types of gaming programs run in the library, and the goals and outcomes of those gaming programs.

Around 78 per cent of public libraries support gaming of some type. About 40 per cent run formal gaming programs, and about 20 per cent circulate games. The larger the library, the more likely they are to support gaming. The primary goals of gaming in libraries are to attract the underserved, attract current library patrons, and to create a space for social interactions between members of the community.

The first study is a random sample and therefore is a statistically significant representation of the population. The second study, being a Web‐based convenience sample, is not statistically representative of a population.

This type of baseline data is not available. Understanding how libraries are supporting games is valuable to researchers in asking appropriate questions. In addition, it helps libraries considering adding games to their services to learn how other libraries are doing it.

The radical center is a space of convergence among overlapping circles, a space in which various ecosystems come into contact. In this chapter, we discuss curricular approaches that take their home in this radical center, leveraging documentary mediamaking practices to connect students, disciplinary approaches, community members, and organizing efforts in relationships of transparency, accountability, and mutuality. In such contexts, students can be equipped to create responsible documentaries through engaged pedagogies that focus on critical documentary theory and understanding of individual location (Coles, 1997). This chapter presents two case studies that facilitated documentary-as-praxis in different communities in the Lehigh Valley, in Pennsylvania.