A fluorenone based low band gap solution processable copolymer for air stable and high mobility organic field effect transistors

A fluorenone based alternating copolymer (PFN-DPPF) with a furan based fused aromatic moiety has been designed and synthesized. PFN-DPPF exhibits a small band gap with a lower HOMO value. Testing this polymer semiconductor as the active layer in organic thin-film transistors results in hole mobilities as high as 0.15 cm2 V-1 s-1 in air.

Furan substituted diketopyrrolopyrrole and thienylenevinylene based low band gap copolymer for high mobility organic thin film transistors

A novel solution processable donor-acceptor (D-A) based low band gap polymer semiconductor poly{3,6-difuran-2-yl-2,5-di(2-octyldodecyl)-pyrrolo[3,4- c]pyrrole-1,4-dione-alt-thienylenevinylene} (PDPPF-TVT), was designed and synthesized by a Pd-catalyzed Stille coupling route. An electron deficient furan based diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) block and electron rich thienylenevinylene (TVT) donor moiety were attached alternately in the polymer backbone. The polymer exhibited good solubility, film forming ability and thermal stability. The polymer exhibits wide absorption bands from 400 nm to 950 nm (UV-vis-NIR region) with absorption maximum centered at 782 nm in thin film. The optical band gap (Eoptg) calculated from the polymer film absorption onset is around 1.37 eV. The π-energy band level (ionization potential) calculated by photoelectron spectroscopy in air (PESA) for PDPPF-TVT is around 5.22 eV. AFM and TEM analyses of the polymer reveal nodular terrace morphology with optimized crystallinity after 200 °C thermal annealing. This polymer exhibits p-channel charge transport characteristics when used as the active semiconductor in organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) devices. The highest hole mobility of 0.13 cm 2 V -1 s -1 is achieved in bottom gate and top-contact OTFT devices with on/off ratios in the range of 10 6-10 7. This work reveals that the replacement of thiophene by furan in DPP copolymers exhibits such a high mobility, which makes DPP furan a promising block for making a wide range of promising polymer semiconductors for broad applications in organic electronics.

Correlates of perceiving human resource management as a 'problem' in smaller firms

In this paper we investigate factors likely to correlate with human resource management (HRM) being perceived as a problem in smaller firms. The owner-manager and firm characteristics identified recognise that managerial ‘problems’ can result from a firm’s phase of growth, as well as the way in which an owner-manager’s capacity and characteristics affect their interpretation of such. From a survey of 1200 smaller firms in south east Melbourne (Australia), we use logistic regression on data from 428 respondents to assess organisational and individual factors correlating with perceiving HRM, broadly defined, to be a problem. The highest odds of this occurring were associated with being a larger manufacturing firm which was in a phase of growth other than diversification and which had a long-tenured manager who based the firm’s competitive success on factors other than the quality of staff. Knowing these correlates means assistance to help solve the perceived ‘problem’ with HRM can be more effectively targeted.

Making meaning in mathematics problem solving using the Reciprocal Teaching approach

This paper examines the application of the Reciprocal Teaching instructional approach to Mathematical word problems in the middle years. The Reciprocal Teaching process is extended from the four traditional strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarising, to include further cognitive reading comprehension strategies applied to the context of solving Mathematical word problems.

An experimental approach to air gap optimisation for a correction-less small field diode

Aim A recent Monte Carlo based study has shown that it is possible to design a diode that measures small field output factors equivalent to that in water. This is accomplished by placing an appropriate sized air gap above the silicon chip (1) with experimental results subsequently confirming that a particular Monte Carlo design was accurate (2). The aim of this work was to test if a new correction-less diode could be designed using an entirely experimental methodology. Method: All measurements were performed on a Varian iX at a depth of 5 cm, SSD of 95 cm and field sizes of 5, 6, 8, 10, 20 and 30 mm. Firstly, the experimental transfer of kq,clin,kq,msr from a commonly used diode detector (IBA, stereotactic field diode (SFD)) to another diode detector (Sun Nuclear, unshielded diode, (EDGEe)) was tested. These results were compared to Monte Carlo calculated values of the EDGEe. Secondly, the air gap above the EDGEe silicon chip was optimised empirically. Nine different air gap “tops” were placed above the EDGEe (air depth = 0.3, 0.6, 0.9 mm; air width = 3.06, 4.59, 6.13 mm). The sensitivity of the EDGEe was plotted as a function of air gap thickness for the field sizes measured. Results: The transfer of kq,clin,kq,msr from the SFD to the EDGEe was correct to within the simulation and measurement uncertainties. The EDGEe detector can be made “correction-less” for field sizes of 5 and 6 mm, but was ∼2% from being “correction-less” at field sizes of 8 and 10 mm. Conclusion Different materials will perturb small fields in different ways. A detector is only “correction-less” if all these perturbations happen to cancel out. Designing a “correction-less” diode is a complicated process, thus it is reasonable to expect that Monte Carlo simulations should play an important role.

Bridging the gap: Early warning, gender and the responsibility to protect

Women, Peace and Security (WPS) scholars and practitioners have expressed reservations about the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle because of its popular use as a synonym for armed humanitarian intervention. On the other hand, R2P’s early failure to engage with and advance WPS efforts such as United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1325 (2000) has seen the perpetuation of limited roles ascribed to women in implementing the R2P principle. As a result, there has been a knowledge and practice gap between the R2P and WPS agendas, despite the fact that their advocates share common goals in relation to the prevention of atrocities and protection of populations. In this article we propose to examine just one of the potential avenues for aligning the WPS agenda and R2P principle in a way that is beneficial to both and strengthens the pursuit of a shared goal – prevention. We argue that the development and inclusion of gender-specific indicators – particularly economic, social and political discriminatory practices against women – has the potential to improve the capacity of early warning frameworks to forecast future mass atrocities.

A Memetic Algorithm for the location-based continuously operating reference stations placement problem in Network Real-Time Kinematic

Network Real-Time Kinematic (NRTK) is a technology that can provide centimeter-level accuracy positioning services in real time, and it is enabled by a network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). The location-oriented CORS placement problem is an important problem in the design of a NRTK as it will directly affect not only the installation and operational cost of the NRTK, but also the quality of positioning services provided by the NRTK. This paper presents a Memetic Algorithm (MA) for the location-oriented CORS placement problem, which hybridizes the powerful explorative search capacity of a genetic algorithm and the efficient and effective exploitative search capacity of a local optimization. Experimental results have shown that the MA has better performance than existing approaches. In this paper we also conduct an empirical study about the scalability of the MA, effectiveness of the hybridization technique and selection of crossover operator in the MA.

Mind the insolvency gap : lessons to be learned from audit expectations gap theory

There is a general perception that public confidence in the insolvency profession is low as the result of the recent unethical practices of a few high profile liquidators. As a result, the effectiveness of the current regulatory mechanisms has been questioned, leading to a review of the performance of insolvency practitioners and subsequent regulation proposals. The challenge for the insolvency profession is balancing the expectations of the general public whilst ensuring that the obligations and duties imposed upon them are performed to acceptable and realistic standards. It is difficult (if not impossible) for the profession to meet this challenge in the absence of a cohesive framework which identifies those issues that require further regulation as opposed to those that relate to general education on the insolvency process. This paper will examine the audit expectations gap theory in the context of insolvency practitioners and suggests that a model based on this theory provides an effective framework for evaluating the regulation of the insolvency industry.

Investigating the mediating effects of emotional intelligence and coping on problem behaviours in adolescents

This study explored the mediating effect of emotional intelligence (EI) and coping strategies on problem behaviours in Australian adolescents. One hundred and forty-five adolescents (60 boys and 85 girls with a mean age of 12.02 years) completed self-report instruments of EI, stress coping strategies, and problem behaviours. The relationships between Emotional Management and Control and engagement in internalising and externalising behaviours were found to be mediated by the use of non-productive coping strategies. Mediation models of the relationship between problem behaviours and the Understanding Emotions and Emotional Recognition and Expression dimensions were found to be only partially mediated by the engagement in problem-focused and non-productive coping strategies. The results are discussed in regards to how coping strategies utilised in adolescence may produce more or less adaptive patterns of coping during adulthood. The development of emotional abilities may be required to improve coping outcomes for adolescents, which in turn may produce better psychological outcomes for adolescents in the long term.

“This is not a burning issue for me”: How citizens justify their use of wood heaters in a city with a severe air pollution problem

Although wood smoke pollution has been linked to health problems, wood burning remains a popular form of domestic heating in many countries across the world. In this paper, we describe the rhetoric of resistance to wood heater regulation amongst citizens in the regional Australian town of Armidale, where wood smoke levels regularly exceed national health advisory limits. We discuss how this is related to particular sources of resistance, such as affective attachment to wood heating and socio-cultural norms. The research draws on six focus groups with participants from households with and without wood heating. With reference to practice theory, we argue that citizen discourses favouring wood burning draw upon a rich suite of justifications and present this activity as a natural and traditional activity promoting comfort and cohesion. Such discourses also emphasise the identity of the town as a rural community and the supposed gemeinschaft qualities of such places. We show that, in this domain of energy policy, it is not enough to present ‘facts’ which have little emotional association or meaning for the populace. Rather, we need understand how social scripts, often localised, inform identity and practice.

How Modern Governments Made Prostitution a Social Problem: Creating a Responsible Prostitute Population

Table of Contents Acknowledgments Preface by Dr. Pat Carlen Introduction 1. Political Languages of Prostitution 2. Genealogical Analysis: Documenting The Disorder of Things 3. From Death Rituals to Health Practices 4. Policing Female Prostitutes 5. Private Remedies for Public Concerns 6. The Emergence of the Male Prostitute 7. From Procreation to Pleasure 8. HIV/AIDS and Prostitution Conclusion Bibliography Index

‘Children Ask the Damnedest Questions’: Sex(uality) Education as a Social Problem

Perspectives in Human Sexuality is an overview of key debates, research findings and theories in the area of sex and sexuality. This textbook written especially for undergraduate students offers a detailed and comprehensive introduction to sex and sexuality from an Australian and New Zealand perspective. It examines controversial issues such as sex and age, sex work and gay, lesbian and queer sex in a fair and balanced manner.