Testing advertising via new media : an exploratory study of advertising practitioner attitudes

New media, as a free and universal communication tool, has had an impact on the power of the general public to comment on a variety of issues. As the public can comment favourably or unfavourably on advertisements, such as on Youtube, the advertising industry must start using weblogs to research reaction to their advertising campaigns. This exploratory study examines the responses of some advertising industry practitioners, both advertisers and agencies, on the impact of new media, specifically weblogs, and the use of new media as a source of research on advertising campaigns.

Commentary : Biomaterials offer cancer research the third dimension

In a mini review from 2002, Tyler Jacks and Robert Weinberg commented on the pioneering three-dimensional (3D) culture work from Bissell laboratories and concluded: “Suddenly the study of cancer cells in two dimensions seems quaint if not archaic.” The relevance of this statement for planning and executing mechanistic biological studies and advanced drug testing has been largely disregarded by both academic researchers and the pharmaceutical and biomedical industry in the twenty-first century.

Three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded structures in the 1:1 proton-transfer compounds of L-tartaric acid with the associative-group monosubstituted pyridines 3-minopyridine, 3-carboxypyridine (nicotinic acid) and 2-carboxypyridine (picolinic acid).

The 1:1 proton-transfer compounds of L-tartaric acid with 3-aminopyridine [3-aminopyridinium hydrogen (2R,3R)-tartrate dihydrate, C5H7N2+·C4H5O6-·2H2O, (I)], pyridine-3-carboxylic acid (nicotinic acid) [anhydrous 3-carboxypyridinium hydrogen (2R,3R)-tartrate, C6H6NO2+·C4H5O6-, (II)] and pyridine-2-carboxylic acid [2-carboxypyridinium hydrogen (2R,3R)-tartrate monohydrate, C6H6NO2+·C4H5O6-·H2O, (III)] have been determined. In (I) and (II), there is a direct pyridinium-carboxyl N+-HO hydrogen-bonding interaction, four-centred in (II), giving conjoint cyclic R12(5) associations. In contrast, the N-HO association in (III) is with a water O-atom acceptor, which provides links to separate tartrate anions through Ohydroxy acceptors. All three compounds have the head-to-tail C(7) hydrogen-bonded chain substructures commonly associated with 1:1 proton-transfer hydrogen tartrate salts. These chains are extended into two-dimensional sheets which, in hydrates (I) and (III) additionally involve the solvent water molecules. Three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded structures are generated via crosslinking through the associative functional groups of the substituted pyridinium cations. In the sheet struture of (I), both water molecules act as donors and acceptors in interactions with separate carboxyl and hydroxy O-atom acceptors of the primary tartrate chains, closing conjoint cyclic R44(8), R34(11) and R33(12) associations. Also, in (II) and (III) there are strong cation carboxyl-carboxyl O-HO hydrogen bonds [OO = 2.5387 (17) Å in (II) and 2.441 (3) Å in (III)], which in (II) form part of a cyclic R22(6) inter-sheet association. This series of heteroaromatic Lewis base-hydrogen L-tartrate salts provides further examples of molecular assembly facilitated by the presence of the classical two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded hydrogen tartrate or hydrogen tartrate-water sheet substructures which are expanded into three-dimensional frameworks via peripheral cation bifunctional substituent-group crosslinking interactions.

Teaching crabs to walk straight : is there a place for ethics education in Malaysian accountancy courses?

Recent releases from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) highlight the importance of ethics education. Academic institutions employ varying methods of teaching ethics and place varying levels of emphasis on ethics teaching during a business/accounting degree. This paper attempts to evaluate whether teaching ethics to final year accountancy students is beneficial. At the commencement of a semester 85 final year accounting students were given five ethical scenarios on which to make an ethical decision. During the semester they were subject to two different methods of teaching ethics, a traditional lecture/tutorial process and a group assignment. ----- After a significant gap, students were re-presented with the ethical scenarios and asked what action they now considered appropriate. In all five instances students offered a more ethical response the second time. When asked to evaluate the methodologies the students considered both training methods to have a positive effect on their ethical thinking. The results suggest it is beneficial to include ethics teaching in accountancy courses, if the profession’s goal of ethical practitioners is to be achieved.

Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus, including community-associated methicillin-resistant strains, in Queensland adults

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are emerging in southeast Queensland, Australia, but the incidence of carriage of CA-MRSA strains is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the nasal carriage rate of S. aureus, including CA-MRSA strains, in the general adult population of southeast Queensland. 396 patients presenting to general practices in two Brisbane suburbs and 303 volunteers randomly selected from the electoral rolls in the same suburbs completed a medical questionnaire and had nasal swabs performed for S. aureus. All isolates of S. aureus underwent antibiotic susceptibility testing and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and binary typing, including determination of Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL). The nasal carriage rate of methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) was 202/699 (28%), a rate similar to that found in other community-based nasal carriage studies. According to multivariate analysis, nasal carriage of S. aureus was associated with male sex, young adult age group and Caucasian ethnicity. Only two study isolates (one MSSA and one CA-MRSA) carried PVL. The nasal carriage rate of MRSA was low, at 5/699 (0.7%), and only two study participants (0.3%) had CA-MRSA strains. CA-MRSA is an emerging cause of infection in southeast Queensland, but as yet the incidence of carriage of CA-MRSA in the general community is low.

A problem-posing intervention in the development of problem-solving competence of underachieving, middle-year students

This study reported on the issues surrounding the acquisition of problem-solving competence of middle-year students who had been ascertained as above average in intelligence, but underachieving in problem-solving competence. In particular, it looked at the possible links between problem-posing skills development and improvements in problem-solving competence. A cohort of Year 7 students at a private, non-denominational, co-educational school was chosen as participants for the study, as they undertook a series of problem-posing sessions each week throughout a school term. The lessons were facilitated by the researcher in the students’ school setting. Two criteria were chosen to identify participants for this study. Firstly, each participant scored above the 60th percentile in the standardized Middle Years Ability Test (MYAT) (Australian Council for Educational Research, 2005) and secondly, the participants all scored below the cohort average for Criterion B (Problem-solving Criterion) in their school mathematics tests during the first semester of Year 7. Two mutually exclusive groups of participants were investigated with one constituting the Comparison Group and the other constituting the Intervention Group. The Comparison Group was chosen from a Year 7 cohort for whom no problem-posing intervention had occurred, while the Intervention Group was chosen from the Year 7 cohort of the following year. This second group received the problem-posing intervention in the form of a teaching experiment. That is, the Comparison Group were only pre-tested and post-tested, while the Intervention Group was involved in the teaching experiment and received the pre-testing and post-testing at the same time of the year, but in the following year, when the Comparison Group have moved on to the secondary part of the school. The groups were chosen from consecutive Year 7 cohorts to avoid cross-contamination of the data. A constructionist framework was adopted for this study that allowed the researcher to gain an “authentic understanding” of the changes that occurred in the development of problem-solving competence of the participants in the context of a classroom setting (Richardson, 1999). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through a combination of methods including researcher observation and journal writing, video taping, student workbooks, informal student interviews, student surveys, and pre-testing and post-testing. This combination of methods was required to increase the validity of the study’s findings through triangulation of the data. The study findings showed that participation in problem-posing activities can facilitate the re-engagement of disengaged, middle-year mathematics students. In addition, participation in these activities can result in improved problem-solving competence and associated developmental learning changes. Some of the changes that were evident as a result of this study included improvements in self-regulation, increased integration of prior knowledge with new knowledge and increased and contextualised socialisation.

Adiabatic compression testing - part I : historical development and evaluation of fluid dynamic processes including shock-wave considerations

Adiabatic compression testing of components in gaseous oxygen is a test method that is utilized worldwide and is commonly required to qualify a component for ignition tolerance under its intended service. This testing is required by many industry standards organizations and government agencies. This paper traces the background of adiabatic compression testing in the oxygen community and discusses the thermodynamic and fluid dynamic processes that occur during rapid pressure surges. This paper is the first of several papers by the authors on the subject of adiabatic compression testing and is presented as a non-comprehensive background and introduction.

Adiabatic compression testing - part II : background and approach to estimating severity of test methodology

Adiabatic compression testing of components in gaseous oxygen is a test method that is utilized worldwide and is commonly required to qualify a component for ignition tolerance under its intended service. This testing is required by many industry standards organizations and government agencies; however, a thorough evaluation of the test parameters and test system influences on the thermal energy produced during the test has not yet been performed. This paper presents a background for adiabatic compression testing and discusses an approach to estimating potential differences in the thermal profiles produced by different test laboratories. A “Thermal Profile Test Fixture” (TPTF) is described that is capable of measuring and characterizing the thermal energy for a typical pressure shock by any test system. The test systems at Wendell Hull & Associates, Inc. (WHA) in the USA and at the BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Germany are compared in this manner and some of the data obtained is presented. The paper also introduces a new way of comparing the test method to idealized processes to perform system-by-system comparisons. Thus, the paper introduces an “Idealized Severity Index” (ISI) of the thermal energy to characterize a rapid pressure surge. From the TPTF data a “Test Severity Index” (TSI) can also be calculated so that the thermal energies developed by different test systems can be compared to each other and to the ISI for the equivalent isentropic process. Finally, a “Service Severity Index” (SSI) is introduced to characterizing the thermal energy of actual service conditions. This paper is the second in a series of publications planned on the subject of adiabatic compression testing.

Determination of burn criterion for promoted combustion testing

Promoted ignition testing [1–3] is used to determine the relative flammability of metal rods in oxygen-enriched atmospheres. In these tests, a promoter is used to ignite each metal rod to start the sample burning. Experiments were performed to better understand the promoted ignition test by obtaining insight into the effect a burning promoter has on the preheating of a test sample. Test samples of several metallic materials were prepared and coupled to fast-responding thermocouples along their length. Various ignition promoters were used to ignite the test samples. The thermocouple measurements and test video were synchronized to determine temperature increase with respect to time and length along each test sample. A recommended length of test sample that must be consumed to be considered a flammable material was determined based on the preheated zone measured from these tests. This length was determined to be 30 mm (1.18 in.). Validation of this length and its rationale are presented.

Regulatory approaches to genetic testing in insurance

Rapid advancements in the field of genetic science have engendered considerable debate, speculation, misinformation and legislative action worldwide. While programs such as the Human Genome Project bring the prospect of seemingly miraculous medical advancements within imminent reach, they also create the potential for significant invasions of traditional areas of privacy and human dignity through laying the potential foundation for new forms of discrimination in insurance, employment and immigration regulation. The insurance industry, which has of course, traditionally been premised on discrimination as part of its underwriting process, is proving to be the frontline of this regulatory battle with extensive legislation, guidelines and debate marking its progress.

On importer trust and commitment : a comparative study of two developing countries

Purpose: Relationship trust and commitment are two key dimensions of international exchanges. Both have been extensively investigated from an exporter (as opposed to importer) perspective in developed country (as opposed to developing country) contexts. To address these gaps, this study aims to develop a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment in two developing countries.---------- Design/methodology: The authors test the proposed model using data from Chile and Bangladesh. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).---------- Findings: SEM analysis revealed that most of the hypotheses were supported in both the Bangladeshi and Chilean context. The findings of this study also suggest that the effects of importer transaction-specific investments on importer commitment are distinct in the Bangladeshi context. Practical implications: Practically, these results show that trust and commitment are essential for enhancing importer relationship performance in developing countries. Importer trust in a foreign supplier is effective when suppliers are competent and provide relatively superior facilities, as opposed to opportunistic proclivity. Importer commitment to a foreign supplier is stronger when importers perceive that the foreign supplier is not opportunistic, but is knowledgeable and experienced with the importer market, and they perceive that it is an advantage importing from that supplier. Cultural similarity between importers and foreign suppliers improves importer trust in both countries. However, importer commitment in Chile increases with importer transaction-specific investment, but this is not found to be the case in Bangladesh.---------- Originality/value: This study contributes to the importer-exporter exchange relationship literature by testing a model of antecedents and outcomes of importer trust and commitment. The tested model is one of few that considers developing country contexts and incorporates two novel antecedents of trust and commitment: importer knowledge and experience, and supplier resource competency.

Discount rates in disarray : evidence on flawed goodwill impairment testing

Carlin and Finch, this issue, compare goodwill impairment discount rates used by a sample of large Australian firms with ‘independently’ generated discount rates. Their objective is to empirically determine whether managers opportunistically select goodwill discount rates subsequent to the 2005 introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Australia. This is a worthwhile objective given that IFRS introduced an impairment regime, and within this regime, discount rate selection plays a key role in goodwill valuation decisions. It is also timely to consider the goodwill valuation issue. Following the recent downturn in the economy, there is a high probability that many firms will be forced to write down impaired goodwill arising from boom period acquisitions. Hence, evidence of bias in rate selection is likely to be of major concern to investors, policymakers and corporate regulators. Carlin and Finch claim their findings provide evidence of such bias. In this commentary I review the validity of their claims.

Mechanisms of change in negative thinking and urinary monoamines in depressed patients during acute treatment with group cognitive behavior therapy and antidepressant medication

This naturalistic study investigated the mechanisms of change in measures of negative thinking and in 24-h urinary metabolites of noradrenaline (norepinephrine), dopamine and serotonin in a sample of 43 depressed hospital patients attending an eight-session group cognitive behavior therapy program. Most participants (91%) were taking antidepressant medication throughout the therapy period according to their treating Psychiatrists' prescriptions. The sample was divided into outcome categories (19 Responders and 24 Non-responders) on the basis of a clinically reliable change index [Jacobson, N.S., & Truax, P., 1991. Clinical significance: a statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 12–19.] applied to the Beck Depression Inventory scores at the end of the therapy. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance [ANOVA] analyses of variance indicated that all measures of negative thinking improved significantly during therapy, and significantly more so in the Responders as expected. The treatment had a significant impact on urinary adrenaline and metadrenaline excretion however, these changes occurred in both Responders and Non-responders. Acute treatment did not significantly influence the six other monoamine metabolites. In summary, changes in urinary monoamine levels during combined treatment for depression were not associated with self-reported changes in mood symptoms.

Skydweller and representations of the adolescent crisis : group identity versus alienation

This document contains a creative work – the text of a young adult novel, Skydweller – and an exegesis discussing the ways in which identity and the adolescent crisis of group identity versus alienation are represented in young adult science fiction/fantasy novels.