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The everyday challenges faced by workers 'struggling to juggle' competing commitments of paid work, home and family remain stubbornly persistent and highly gendered. Reinforcing these problems, many employers regard work-life balance ( WLB) provision as too costly. In response, this paper explores the learning and innovation advantages that can result from WLB provision in knowledge-intensive firms, as part of a WLB 'mutual gains' research agenda. These synergies are explored through a case study of IT workers and firms in two high-tech regional economies - Dublin, Ireland and Cambridge, UK - prior to (2006-8) and subsequent to (2010) the economic downturn. The results suggest that by making available the kinds of WLB arrangements identified by workers as offering meaningful reductions in gendered work-life conflicts, employers can also enhance the learning and innovation processes within and between firms, which are widely recognized as fundamental for firms' long-term sustainable competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The teaching of anatomy remains controversial to the present day. This paper explores the arguments over its merits in medical and scientific education at one of the ancient universities. History Medical professors at Cambridge University relied upon the science departments to provide basic scientific instruction, whilst science professors relied upon medical students to make up numbers for their courses. Discussion Human anatomy became a source of contention: did it really educate the mind, or was it simply a dry subject that medical students had to learn by rote? Could the university even cater for professional education? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The questionnaire survey reported in this paper is part of an ongoing evaluation of the effect of a bursary scheme on recruitment to Cambridge University. It sought to identify factors that encouraged or discouraged highly successful A Level students from applying to Cambridge. Findings reveal three main dimensions associated with the decision to apply to Cambridge, the nature of the courses, the prestige of the university and anxiety about the application process combined with fear of failure. Further analyses showed that there were complex interactions between these three dimensions which governed the decision to apply to Cambridge. These findings are relevant to other prestigious universities. The availability of a bursary did appear to influence the decisions of those who were eligible, but its influence was not as great as some of the other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the interplay of factors that produce specific local patterns of interaction between firms and universities, using survey evidence from a comparative study of two e´lite locations, the Oxford and Cambridge regions. It uses these examples to examine why innovating firms have external links, why they have them with universities, which spatial mechanisms are significant in the place-specific technology transfer links universities have with firms in their immediate hinterlands, and what kinds of institutional factors influence the form links take. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents updates on issues related to "Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics." The issue 15(5) of the journal has focused on papers presented at the British College of Optometrists' Centenary Conference conducted in Cambridge, England. David Edgar has been selected deputy editor for the journal. The journal has decided to adopt the Harvard style of referencing.