Four obstacles facing the management accounting professionals as they seek to step up as global leaders

No matter how aspirational they are, management accountants face a series of roadblocks in the course of building careers in organisations. Experts reveal the four key obstacles that need to be addressed in the course of becoming global leaders.

Charitable grants and donations from maching gaming sources : Does it all work out in the wash up?

Material for this paper comes partly from a report commissioned by the Department of Family Services, Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. The report is the result of a multi-strategy research project designed to assess the impact of gaming machines on the fundraising capacity of charitable and community organisations in Queensland. The first Queensland gaming machine was commissioned on 11 February 1992. By 30 November 1994 there were: · 636 clubs operating 13,162 gaming machines · 436 hotels/taverns operating 3,468 gaming machines.1 It was anticipated that the introduction of gaming machines would impact on charities and community organisations. The adverse impacts would be through competition with charity gaming and disposable income that might otherwise be directed towards donations. Some also expressed concern that charities would be relied on to finance social services for problem gamblers. This paper seeks to describe the donations and grants derived by charities from Gaming Machine revenues. Such revenues primarily come from either government distributions from its gaming machine taxes and levies or gaming machine club donations. A final comment is made on the opinions of charitable fundraising professionals about the impact of gaming machine levies on club donations.

Prevalence of breast cancer treatment sequelae over 6 years of follow-up

Background: There is a need to better describe and understand the prevalence of breast cancer treatment-related adverse effects amenable to physical therapy and rehabilitative exercise. Prior studies have been limited to single issues and lacked long term follow-up. The Pulling Through Study provides data on prevalence of adverse effects in breast cancer survivors followed over six years. Methods: A population-based sample of Australian women (n=287) diagnosed with invasive, unilateral breast cancer was followed for a median of 6.6 years and prospectively assessed for treatment-related complications at 6, 12, 18 months, and 6 years post-diagnosis. Assessments included post-surgical complications, skin or tissue reaction to radiation therapy, upper-body symptoms, lymphedema, 10% weight gain, fatigue, and upper-quadrant function. The proportion of women with positive indication for each complication and one or more complication was estimated using all available data at each time point. Women were only considered to have a specific complication if they reported the highest two levels of the Likert scale for self-reported issues. Results: At six years post-diagnosis over 60% of women experienced one or more side effects amenable to rehabilitative intervention. The proportion of women experiencing 3 or more side effects decreased throughout follow-up, while the proportion experiencing no side effects remained stable around 40% from 12 months to six years. Weight gain was the only complication to increase in prevalence over time. Conclusion: These data support the development of a multi-disciplinary prospective surveillance approach for the purposes of managing and treating adverse effects in breast cancer survivors.

Joined-up practice : five areas of exemplary practice for social workers and educators to re-engage homeless youth

Young people seen as ‘at risk’ are a substantial focus across a wide range of policy and practice fields in national and international contexts. This article addresses two of those fields, youth homelessness and youth failing to obtain a basic education that will give them access to employment and full community participation as active citizens. By comparing solutions to the problems of youth homelessness and youth educationally at risk, the article distils key meta-characteristics useful for both social workers and educators in mutually supporting some of the most at risk young people in our communities today. This is what the authors term ‘a joined-up practice’.

Inherent errors in pollutant build-up estimation in considering urban land use as a lumped parameter

Stormwater quality modelling results is subject to uncertainty. The variability of input parameters is an important source of overall model error. An in-depth understanding of the variability associated with input parameters can provide knowledge on the uncertainty associated with these parameters and consequently assist in uncertainty analysis of stormwater quality models and the decision making based on modelling outcomes. This paper discusses the outcomes of a research study undertaken to analyse the variability related to pollutant build-up parameters in stormwater quality modelling. The study was based on the analysis of pollutant build-up samples collected from 12 road surfaces in residential, commercial and industrial land uses. It was found that build-up characteristics vary appreciably even within the same land use. Therefore, using land use as a lumped parameter would contribute significant uncertainties in stormwater quality modelling. Additionally, it was also found that the variability in pollutant build-up can also be significant depending on the pollutant type. This underlines the importance of taking into account specific land use characteristics and targeted pollutant species when undertaking uncertainty analysis of stormwater quality models or in interpreting the modelling outcomes.

Researching doctoral pedagogy close up : design and action in two doctoral programs

With growing international interest in diversifying sites for pedagogical work within the doctorate, doctoral programs of different kinds are being developed in different disciplinary, institutional and national settings. However, little is known about how the pedagogical work of these programs is designed and enacted, and with what effects. In this paper, we present two cases of doctoral pedagogical work being undertaken within different disciplinary and institutional settings to describe how learning opportunities were designed and to theorise what it means to be engaged in doing doctoral pedagogy. Starting from the position that working from a design model supports systematic and rigorous documentation and development of pedagogy, we employ the twin concepts of design and action, drawing broadly on rhetorical and ethnomethodological understandings of pedagogy as social action. Of particular interest within the concept of design itself is the concept of enactment, the translation of designs into the practices of doctoral work. Together, the two cases become a resource for ‘slowing down’ and making visible the practices of doctoral pedagogy that often go unrecognised because they appear so ordinary and everyday. This call for examining close-up existing doctoral education practices and relationships is attending to the ‘next challenge for doctoral education’ (Green, 2009).

Traffic and climate change impacts on water quality : measuring build-up and wash-off of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons

Understanding the impacts of traffic and climate change on water quality helps decision makers to develop better policy and plans for dealing with unsustainable urban and transport development. This chapter presents detailed methodologies developed for sample collection and testing for heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons, as part of a research study to investigate the impacts of climate change and changes to urban traffic characteristics on pollutant build-up and wash-off from urban road surfaces. Cadmium, chromium, nickel, copper, lead, iron, aluminium, manganese and zinc were the target heavy metals, and selected gasoline and diesel range organics were the target total petroleum hydrocarbons for this study. The study sites were selected to encompass the urban traffic characteristics of the Gold Coast region, Australia. An improved sample collection method referred to as ‘the wet and dry vacuum system’ for the pollutant build-up, and an effective wash-off plan to incorporate predicted changes to rainfall characteristics due to climate change, were implemented. The novel approach to sample collection for pollutant build-up helped to maintain the integrity of collection efficiency. The wash-off plan helped to incorporate the predicted impacts of climate change in the Gold Coast region. The robust experimental methods developed will help in field sample collection and chemical testing of different stormwater pollutants in build-up and wash-off.

The effect of warm-up intensity on range of motion and anaerobic performance

Although there is a paucity of scientific support for the benefits of warm-up, athletes commonly warm up prior to activity with the intention of improving performance and reducing the incidence of injuries. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of warm-up intensity on both range of motion (ROM) and anaerobic performance. Nine males (age = 21.7 +/- 1.6 years, height = 1.77 +/- 0.04 m, weight = 80.2 +/- 6.8 kg, and VO2max = 60.4 +/- 5.4 ml/kg/min) completed four trials. Each trial consisted of hip, knee, and ankle ROM evaluation using an electronic inclinometer and an anaerobic capacity test on the treadmill (time to fatigue at 13 km/hr and 20% grade). Subjects underwent no warm-up or a warm-up of 15 minutes running at 60, 70 or 80% VO2max followed by a series of lower limb stretches. Intensity of warm-up had little effect on ROM, since ankle dorsiflexion and hip extension significantly increased in all warm-up conditions, hip flexion significantly increased only after the 80% VO2max warm-up, and knee flexion did not change after any warm-up. Heart rate and body temperature were significantly increased (p < 0.05) prior to anaerobic performance for each of the warm-up conditions, but anaerobic performance improved significantly only after warm-up at 60% VO2max (10%) and 70% VO2max (13%). A 15-minute warm-up at an intensity of 60-70% VO2max is therefore recommended to improve ROM and enhance subsequent anaerobic performance.

Characteristics of men aged 50 years or older who do not take up skin self-examination following an educational intervention

Men aged 50 years or older are at high risk of melanoma, and both incidence and mortality are increasing in this group1. Skin self-examination (SSE) could be one avenue to improve outcomes from melanoma. Several recent intervention trials successfully increased SSE, but resistance to such interventions is less well studied. This posthoc secondary analysis of interventional study data aimed to identify characteristics of older men who did not take up SSE for the early signs of skin cancer, despite exposure to educational materials during a randomized intervention trial

Setting up a platform for plant-based influenza virus vaccine production in South Africa

Background During a global influenza pandemic, the vaccine requirements of developing countries can surpass their supply capabilities, if these exist at all, compelling them to rely on developed countries for stocks that may not be available in time. There is thus a need for developing countries in general to produce their own pandemic and possibly seasonal influenza vaccines. Here we describe the development of a plant-based platform for producing influenza vaccines locally, in South Africa. Plant-produced influenza vaccine candidates are quicker to develop and potentially cheaper than egg-produced influenza vaccines, and their production can be rapidly upscaled. In this study, we investigated the feasibility of producing a vaccine to the highly pathogenic avian influenza A subtype H5N1 virus, the most generally virulent influenza virus identified to date. Two variants of the haemagglutinin (HA) surface glycoprotein gene were synthesised for optimum expression in plants: these were the full-length HA gene (H5) and a truncated form lacking the transmembrane domain (H5tr). The genes were cloned into a panel of Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary plant expression vectors in order to test HA accumulation in different cell compartments. The constructs were transiently expressed in tobacco by means of agroinfiltration. Stable transgenic tobacco plants were also generated to provide seed for stable storage of the material as a pre-pandemic strategy. Results For both transient and transgenic expression systems the highest accumulation of full-length H5 protein occurred in the apoplastic spaces, while the highest accumulation of H5tr was in the endoplasmic reticulum. The H5 proteins were produced at relatively high concentrations in both systems. Following partial purification, haemagglutination and haemagglutination inhibition tests indicated that the conformation of the plant-produced HA variants was correct and the proteins were functional. The immunisation of chickens and mice with the candidate vaccines elicited HA-specific antibody responses. Conclusions We managed, after synthesis of two versions of a single gene, to produce by transient and transgenic expression in plants, two variants of a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus HA protein which could have vaccine potential. This is a proof of principle of the potential of plant-produced influenza vaccines as a feasible pandemic response strategy for South Africa and other developing countries.

Shut up and write! Facilitating informal learning in doctoral candidature

Doctoral candidates spend at least 2/3 of their degree outside of structured classroom instruction; most of their learning and writing takes place in their own time. Providing research degree candidates with writing help during their degree study is difficult. Candidates come into their degree with widely varying needs and levels of experience. Course work might seem to offer a way to create parity, but, according to the Australian Qualification Framework, mandated coursework can only occupy 1⁄3 of the degree

A cost-outcome description of the septic work-up for bacterial infection in neonates in a tertiary care hospital

Analysis of the septic work-up of 194 neonates at Women's College Hospital, Toronto, showed that the only antepartum condition predicting neonatal sepsis was the mother being on antibiotics. The only postnatal condition predicting sepsis was a maternal postpartum white blood cell count over 11,000. The average cost for tests for a septic work-up in these 194 mother-neonate pairs was $71.48 (Canadian dollars), and the average cost of tests to find a septic case was $1,066.77.