Investigating the patterns and determinants of life satisfaction in Germany following reunification

This paper investigates the patterns and determinants of life satisfaction in Germany following reunification. We implement a new fixed-effect estimator for ordinal life satisfaction in the German Socio-Economic Panel and find negative effects on life satisfaction from being recently fired, losing a spouse through either death or separation, and time spent in hospital, while we find strong positive effects from income and marriage. Using a new causal decomposition technique, we find that East Germans experienced a continued improvement in life satisfaction to which increased household incomes contributed around 12 percent. Most of the improvement is explained by better average circumstances, such as greater political freedom. For West Germans, we find little change in average life satisfaction over this period.

Short-termism : challenges and resolutions

The global financial crisis has highlighted the vulnerability of our economy to systemic risks. While its causes are numerous and relate to complex problems deeply embedded in capital markets, ‘short-termism’ (excessive focus on short-term outcomes at the expense of long-term wealth creation and sustainability) has frequently been flagged as a major contributor to this crisis. Although short-termism is not new, the global financial crisis has highlighted the presence of short-termism among institutional investors, and the failure of global markets and regulators to deal with such perverse and destructive behaviour (Guyatt 2009). Solutions are clearly needed. Although there is a body of research that provides evidence of the presence of short-termism in capital markets and the consequences of short-term decision-making on the financial wellbeing of both individuals and organisations, there is no consensus on mitigating solutions to short-termism. What emerges from the literature is the need to take a broad interdisciplinary perspective in seeking solutions to the problem.

Positioning public relations as an academic discipline in Australia

Academic public relations in Australia appears to be entering a new phase in its relatively short history. The early model, in which tertiary courses were confined to teaching – focused institutions and conducted largely by teacher-practitioners, is being supplanted by one in which the discipline is now offered in most Australian universities, is increasingly embracing research, and is being taught by staff following more traditional academic career paths. Despite the formal association with the communication discipline through Australian and New Zealand Communication Association, public relations academics have increasingly asserted the independence of their discipline and in reality have very little dialogue with the other strands of the communication discipline. These developments call into question the most appropriate knowledge base for public relations as an academic discipline in Australia and its proper relation to the profession (and the Public Relations Institute of Australia as the professional body). One danger associated with the assertion of disciplinary independence lies in the risk of excessive reliance on a relatively narrow body of work emanating from the more established United States public relations academy, in the process ignoring much richer work in surrounding disciplines such as social theory, rhetoric, organisation communication, and business and society. The emphasis on disciplinary demarcation also seems curious during a time of growing ‘interdisciplinarity’ in the humanities and the social sciences. This paper critically reviews the construction of public relations as an academic discipline in Australia, drawing on some of the literature on academic disciplinarity to propose a repositioning of the discipline, one that is less focused on asserting difference than on finding connections with other bodies of knowledge while maintaining close links with professional practice.

Mildura, Victoria : Aboriginal health promotion short course

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation’s (VACCHO) Public Health and Research Unit delivered an Aboriginal Health Promotion Short Course in Mildura in 2009. ----- The VACCHO delivered Aboriginal Health Promotion Short Course included current health promotion theory and practice as it specifically relates to Aboriginal people within Victoria. As Aboriginal people have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, the course specifically addressed risk factors for chronic disease including smoking, physical activity, nutrition and mental health and well-being. Hence, a key part of the course involved participants working in groups to plan a health promotion program for one of the key health issues- smoking, physical activity and nutrition, or spiritual health and wellbeing. The aim is for participants to use these programs in their daily work with Aboriginal clients.

Secondary curve behaviour in Lenke IC class adolescent idiopathic scoliosis following video assisted thoracoscopic spinal fusion

Introduction. Ideally after selective thoracic fusion for Lenke Class IC (i.e. major thoracic / secondary lumbar) curves, the lumbar spine will spontaneously accommodate to the corrected position of the thoracic curve, thereby achieving a balanced spine, avoiding the need for fusion of lumbar spinal segments1. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behaviour of the lumbar curve in Lenke IC class adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) following video-assisted thoracoscopic spinal fusion and instrumentation (VATS) of the major thoracic curve. Methods. A retrospective review of 22 consecutive patients with AIS who underwent VATS by a single surgeon was conducted. The results were compared to published literature examining the behaviour of the secondary lumbar curve where other surgical approaches were employed. Results. Twenty-two patients (all female) with AIS underwent VATS. All major thoracic curves were right convex. The average age at surgery was 14 years (range 10 to 22 years). On average 6.7 levels (6 to 8) were instrumented. The mean follow-up was 25.1 months (6 to 36). The pre-operative major thoracic Cobb angle mean was 53.8° (40° to 75°). The pre-operative secondary lumbar Cobb angle mean was 43.9° (34° to 55°). On bending radiographs, the secondary curve corrected to 11.3° (0° to 35°). The rib hump mean measurement was 15.0° (7° to 21°). At latest follow-up the major thoracic Cobb angle measured on average 27.2° (20° to 41°) (p<0.001 – univariate ANOVA) and the mean secondary lumbar curve was 27.3° (15° to 42°) (p<0.001). This represented an uninstrumented secondary curve correction factor of 37.8%. The mean rib hump measured was 6.5° (2° to 15°) (p<0.001). The results above were comparable to published series when open surgery was performed. Discussion. VATS is an effective method of correcting major thoracic curves with secondary lumbar curves. The behaviour of the secondary lumbar curve is consistent with published series when open surgery, both anterior and posterior, is performed.

Elliptic curves, group law, and efficient computation

This thesis is about the derivation of the addition law on an arbitrary elliptic curve and efficiently adding points on this elliptic curve using the derived addition law. The outcomes of this research guarantee practical speedups in higher level operations which depend on point additions. In particular, the contributions immediately find applications in cryptology. Mastered by the 19th century mathematicians, the study of the theory of elliptic curves has been active for decades. Elliptic curves over finite fields made their way into public key cryptography in late 1980’s with independent proposals by Miller [Mil86] and Koblitz [Kob87]. Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), following Miller’s and Koblitz’s proposals, employs the group of rational points on an elliptic curve in building discrete logarithm based public key cryptosystems. Starting from late 1990’s, the emergence of the ECC market has boosted the research in computational aspects of elliptic curves. This thesis falls into this same area of research where the main aim is to speed up the additions of rational points on an arbitrary elliptic curve (over a field of large characteristic). The outcomes of this work can be used to speed up applications which are based on elliptic curves, including cryptographic applications in ECC. The aforementioned goals of this thesis are achieved in five main steps. As the first step, this thesis brings together several algebraic tools in order to derive the unique group law of an elliptic curve. This step also includes an investigation of recent computer algebra packages relating to their capabilities. Although the group law is unique, its evaluation can be performed using abundant (in fact infinitely many) formulae. As the second step, this thesis progresses the finding of the best formulae for efficient addition of points. In the third step, the group law is stated explicitly by handling all possible summands. The fourth step presents the algorithms to be used for efficient point additions. In the fifth and final step, optimized software implementations of the proposed algorithms are presented in order to show that theoretical speedups of step four can be practically obtained. In each of the five steps, this thesis focuses on five forms of elliptic curves over finite fields of large characteristic. A list of these forms and their defining equations are given as follows: (a) Short Weierstrass form, y2 = x3 + ax + b, (b) Extended Jacobi quartic form, y2 = dx4 + 2ax2 + 1, (c) Twisted Hessian form, ax3 + y3 + 1 = dxy, (d) Twisted Edwards form, ax2 + y2 = 1 + dx2y2, (e) Twisted Jacobi intersection form, bs2 + c2 = 1, as2 + d2 = 1, These forms are the most promising candidates for efficient computations and thus considered in this work. Nevertheless, the methods employed in this thesis are capable of handling arbitrary elliptic curves. From a high level point of view, the following outcomes are achieved in this thesis. - Related literature results are brought together and further revisited. For most of the cases several missed formulae, algorithms, and efficient point representations are discovered. - Analogies are made among all studied forms. For instance, it is shown that two sets of affine addition formulae are sufficient to cover all possible affine inputs as long as the output is also an affine point in any of these forms. In the literature, many special cases, especially interactions with points at infinity were omitted from discussion. This thesis handles all of the possibilities. - Several new point doubling/addition formulae and algorithms are introduced, which are more efficient than the existing alternatives in the literature. Most notably, the speed of extended Jacobi quartic, twisted Edwards, and Jacobi intersection forms are improved. New unified addition formulae are proposed for short Weierstrass form. New coordinate systems are studied for the first time. - An optimized implementation is developed using a combination of generic x86-64 assembly instructions and the plain C language. The practical advantages of the proposed algorithms are supported by computer experiments. - All formulae, presented in the body of this thesis, are checked for correctness using computer algebra scripts together with details on register allocations.

Patterns, correlates, and prognostic significance of quality of life following breast cancer

Objective To describe quality of life (QOL) over a 12-month period among women with breast cancer, consider the association between QOL and overall survival (OS), and explore characteristics associated with QOL declines. Methods A population-based sample of Australian women (n=287) with invasive, unilateral breast cancer (Stage I+), was observed prospectively for a median of 6.6 years. QOL was assessed at six, 12 and 18 months post-diagnosis, using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, Breast (FACT-B+4) questionnaire. Raw scores for the FACT-B+4 and subscales were computed and individuals were categorized according to whether QOL declined, remained stable or improved between six and 18 months. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards survival methods were used to estimate OS and its associations with QOL. Logistic regression models identified factors associated with QOL decline. Results Within FACT-B+4 sub-scales, between 10% and 23% of women showed declines in QOL. Following adjustment for established prognostic factors, emotional wellbeing and FACT-B+4 scores at six months post-diagnosis were associated with OS (p<0.05). Declines in physical (p<0.01) or functional (p=0.02) well-being between six and 18 months post-diagnosis were also associated significantly with OS. Receiving multiple forms of adjuvant treatment, a perception of not handling stress well and reporting one or more other major life events at six months post-diagnosis were factors associated with declines in QOL in multivariable analyses. Conclusions Interventions targeted at preventing QOL declines may ultimately improve quantity as well as quality of life following breast cancer.

Validation of the WHOQOL-BREF among women following childbirth

Background: There is an increasing interest in measuring quality of life (QOL) in clinical settings and in clinical trials. None of the commonly used QOL instrument have been validated for use postnatally. Aim: To assess the psychometric properties of the 26-item WHOQOL-BREF among women following childbirth. Methods: Using a prospective cohort design we recruited 320 women within the first few days of childbirth. At six weeks postpartum, participants were asked to complete the WHOQOL-BREF, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Index and the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index. Validation of the WHOQOL-BREF included an analysis of internal consistency, discriminate validity, convergent validity and an examination of the domain structure. Results: 221 (69.1%) women returned their six-week questionnaire. All domains of the WHOQOL-BREF met reliability standards (alpha coefficient exceeding 0.70). The questionnaire discriminated well between known groups (depressed and non-depressed women. P = <0.000) and demonstrated satisfactory correlations with the Australian Unity Wellbeing index (r = >0.45). The domain structure of the WHOQOL-BREF was also valid in this population of new mothers, with moderate to high correlation between individual items and the domain structure to which the items were originally assigned. Conclusion: The WHOQOL-BRF is well-accepted and valid instrument in this population and may be used in postnatal clinical settings or for assessing intervention effects in research studies.

No energy compensation at the meal following exercise indietary restrained and unrestrained women

The objective of this investigation was to compare the acute effects of exercise and diet manipulations on energy intake, between dietary restrained and unrestrained females. Comparisons of two studies using an identical 2 x 2 repeated-measures design (level of activity (rest or exercise) and lunch type (high-fat or low-fat)) including thirteen dietary unrestrained and twelve restrained females were performed. Energy expenditure during the rest session was estimated and the energy cost of exercise was measured by indirect calorimetry. Relative energy intake was calculated by subtracting the energy expenditure of the exercise session from the energy intake of the test meal. Post-meal hedonic ratings were completed after lunch. Energy intake and relative energy intake increased during high-fat conditions compared with the low-fat, independently of exercise (P < 0.001). There was a positive relationship between dietary restraint scores and energy intake or relative energy intake in the rest conditions only (r 0.54, P < 0.01). The decrease of relative energy intake between the rest and exercise conditions was higher in restrained than in unrestrained eaters (P < 0.01). These results confirm that a high-fat diet reversed the energy deficit due to exercise. There was no energy compensation in response to an acute bout of exercise during the following meal. In restrained eaters, exercise was more effective in creating an energy deficit than in unrestrained eaters. Exercise may help restrained eaters to maintain control over appetite.

Nitrogen and phosphorus transformations in fixed-film biofilters subjected to aeration/no-aeration cycles

Despite recent developments in fixed-film combined biological nutrients removal (BNR) technology; fixed-film systems (i.e., biofilters), are still at the early stages of development and their application has been limited to a few laboratory-scale experiments. Achieving enhanced biological phosphorus removal in fixed-film systems requires exposing the micro-organisms and the waste stream to alternating anaerobic/aerobic or anaerobic/anoxic conditions in cycles. The concept of cycle duration (CD) as a process control parameter is unique to fixed-film BNR systems, has not been previously investigated, and can be used to optimise the performance of such systems. The CD refers to the elapsed time before the biomass is re-exposed to the same environmental conditions in cycles. Fixed-film systems offer many advantages over suspended growth systems such as reduced operating costs, simplicity of operation, absence of sludge recycling problems, and compactness. The control of nutrient discharges to water bodies, improves water quality, fish production, and allow water reuse. The main objective of this study was to develop a fundamental understanding of the effect of CD on the transformations of nutrients in fixed-film biofilter systems subjected to alternating aeration I no-aeration cycles A fixed-film biofilter system consisting of three up-flow biofilters connected in series was developed and tested. The first and third biofilters were operated in a cyclic mode in which the biomass was subjected to aeration/no-aeration cycles. The influent wastewater was simulated aquaculture whose composition was based on actual water quality parameters of aquacuture wastewater from a prawn grow-out facility. The influent contained 8.5 - 9:3 mg!L a111monia-N, 8.5- 8.7 mg/L phosphate-P, and 45- 50 mg!L acetate. Two independent studies were conducted at two biofiltration rates to evaluate and confirm the effect of CD on nutrient transformations in the biofilter system for application in aquaculture: A third study was conducted to enhance denitrification in the system using an external carbon- source at a rate varying from 0-24 ml/min. The CD was varied in the range of0.25- 120 hours for the first two studies and fixed at 12 hours for the third study. This study identified the CD as an important process control parameter that can be used to optimise the performance of full-scale fixed-film systems for BNR which represents a novel contribution in this field of research. The CD resulted in environmental conditions that inhibited or enhanced nutrient transformations. The effect of CD on BNR in fixed-film systems in terms of phosphorus biomass saturation and depletion has been established. Short CDs did not permit the establishment of anaerobic activity in the un-aerated biofilter and, thus, inhibited phosphorus release. Long CDs resulted in extended anaerobic activity and, thus, resulted in active phosphorus release. Long CDs, however, resulted in depleting the biomass phosphorus reservoir in the releasing biofilter and saturating the biomass phosphorus reservoir in the up-taking biofilter in the cycle. This phosphorus biomass saturation/depletion phenomenon imposes a practical limit on how short or long the CD can be. The length of the CD should be somewhere just before saturation or depletion occur and for the system tested, the optimal CD was 12 hours for the biofiltration rates tested. The system achieved limited net phosphorus removal due to the limited sludge wasting and lack of external carbon supply during phosphorus uptake. The phosphorus saturation and depletion reflected the need to extract phosphorus from the phosphorus-rich micro-organisms, for example, through back-washing. The major challenges of achieving phosphorus removal in the system included: (I) overcoming the deterioration in the performance of the system during the transition period following the start of each new cycle; and (2) wasting excess phosphorus-saturated biomass following the aeration cycle. Denitrification occurred in poorly aerated sections of the third biofilter and generally declined as the CD increased and as the time progressed in the individual cycle. Denitrification and phosphorus uptake were supplied by an internal organic carbon source, and the addition of an external carbon source (acetate) to the third biofilter resulted in improved denitrification efficiency in the system from 18.4 without supplemental carbon to 88.7% when the carbon dose reached 24 mL/min The removal of TOC and nitrification improved as the CD increased, as a result of the reduction in the frequency of transition periods between the cycles. A conceptual design of an effective fixed-film BNR biofilter system for the treatment of the influent simulated aquaculture wastewater was proposed based on the findings of the study.