On the robustness and security of digital image watermarking

In most of the digital image watermarking schemes, it becomes a common practice to address security in terms of robustness, which is basically a norm in cryptography. Such consideration in developing and evaluation of a watermarking scheme may severely affect the performance and render the scheme ultimately unusable. This paper provides an explicit theoretical analysis towards watermarking security and robustness in figuring out the exact problem status from the literature. With the necessary hypotheses and analyses from technical perspective, we demonstrate the fundamental realization of the problem. Finally, some necessary recommendations are made for complete assessment of watermarking security and robustness.

Ingroup and role identity influences on the initiation and maintenance of students' voluntary attendance at peer study sessions for statistics

Background: Although class attendance is linked to academic performance, questions remain about what determines students’ decisions to attend or miss class. Aims: In addition to the constructs of a common decision-making model, the theory of planned behaviour, the present study examined the influence of student role identity and university student (in-group) identification for predicting both the initiation and maintenance of students’ attendance at voluntary peer-assisted study sessions in a statistics subject. Sample: University students enrolled in a statistics subject were invited to complete a questionnaire at two time points across the academic semester. A total of 79 university students completed questionnaires at the first data collection point, with 46 students completing the questionnaire at the second data collection point. Method: Twice during the semester, students’ attitudes, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, student role identity, in-group identification, and intention to attend study sessions were assessed via on-line questionnaires. Objective measures of class attendance records for each half-semester (or ‘term’) were obtained. Results: Across both terms, students’ attitudes predicted their attendance intentions, with intentions predicting class attendance. Earlier in the semester, in addition to perceived behavioural control, both student role identity and in-group identification predicted students’ attendance intentions, with only role identity influencing intentions later in the semester. Conclusions: These findings highlight the possible chronology that different identity influences have in determining students’ initial and maintained attendance at voluntary sessions designed to facilitate their learning.

Quantum-like non-separability of concept combinations, emergent associates and abduction

Consider the concept combination ‘pet human’. In word association experiments, human subjects produce the associate ‘slave’ in relation to this combination. The striking aspect of this associate is that it is not produced as an associate of ‘pet’, or ‘human’ in isolation. In other words, the associate ‘slave’ seems to be emergent. Such emergent associations sometimes have a creative character and cognitive science is largely silent about how we produce them. Departing from a dimensional model of human conceptual space, this article will explore concept combinations, and will argue that emergent associations are a result of abductive reasoning within conceptual space, that is, below the symbolic level of cognition. A tensor-based approach is used to model concept combinations allowing such combinations to be formalized as interacting quantum systems. Free association norm data is used to motivate the underlying basis of the conceptual space. It is shown by analogy how some concept combinations may behave like quantum-entangled (non-separable) particles. Two methods of analysis were presented for empirically validating the presence of non-separable concept combinations in human cognition. One method is based on quantum theory and another based on comparing a joint (true theoretic) probability distribution with another distribution based on a separability assumption using a chi-square goodness-of-fit test. Although these methods were inconclusive in relation to an empirical study of bi-ambiguous concept combinations, avenues for further refinement of these methods are identified.

Eat, drink and be civil : sociability and the cafe

The article investigates the ascendency of the cafe in the current period of urbanism. I suggest that “going for a coffee” is less about coffee and more about how we connect with others in a mobile world, when flexible work hours are increasingly the norm and more people are living alone than any other period in history. The café also plays a role in the development of civil discourse and civility, and plays an important role in the development of cosmopolitan civil societies.

Reliability of clinical measurement for assessing spinal fusion: An experimental sheep study

Study Design. A sheep study designed to compare the accuracy of static radiographs, dynamic radiographs, and computed tomographic (CT) scans for the assessment of thoracolumbar facet joint fusion as determined by micro-CT scanning. Objective. To determine the accuracy and reliability of conventional imaging techniques in identifying the status of thoracolumbar (T13-L1) facet joint fusion in a sheep model. Summary of Background Data. Plain radiographs are commonly used to determine the integrity of surgical arthrodesis of the thoracolumbar spine. Many previous studies of fusion success have relied solely on postoperative assessment of plain radiographs, a technique lacking sensitivity for pseudarthrosis. CT may be a more reliable technique, but is less well characterized. Methods. Eleven adult sheep were randomized to either attempted arthrodesis using autogenous bone graft and internal fixation (n = 3) or intentional pseudarthrosis (IP) using oxidized cellulose and internal fixation (n = 8). After 6 months, facet joint fusion was assessed by independent observers, using (1) plain static radiography alone, (2) additional dynamic radiographs, and (3) additional reconstructed spiral CT imaging. These assessments were correlated with high-resolution micro-CT imaging to predict the utility of the conventional imaging techniques in the estimation of fusion success. Results. The capacity of plain radiography alone to correctly predict fusion or pseudarthrosis was 43% and was not improved using plain radiography and dynamic radiography with also a 43% accuracy. Adding assessment by reformatted CT imaging to the plain radiography techniques increased the capacity to predict fusion outcome to 86% correctly. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of static radiography were 0.33, 0.55, and 0.43, respectively, those of dynamic radiography were 0.46, 0.40, and 0.43, respectively, and those of radiography plus CT were 0.88, 0.85, and 0.86, respectively. Conclusion. CT-based evaluation correlated most closely with high-resolution micro-CT imaging. Neither plain static nor dynamic radiographs were able to predict fusion outcome accurately. © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Perceiving and pursuing novelty : a grounded theory of adolescent creativity

Creativity plays an increasingly important role in our personal, social, educational, and community lives. For adolescents, creativity can enable self-expression, be a means of pushing boundaries, and assist learning, achievement, and completion of everyday tasks. Moreover, adolescents who demonstrate creativity can potentially enhance their capacity to face unknown future challenges, address mounting social and ecological issues in our global society, and improve their career opportunities and contribution to the economy. For these reasons, creativity is an essential capacity for young people in their present and future, and is highlighted as a priority in current educational policy nationally and internationally. Despite growing recognition of creativity’s importance and attention to creativity in research, the creative experience from the perspectives of the creators themselves and the creativity of adolescents are neglected fields of study. Hence, this research investigated adolescents’ self-reported experiences of creativity to improve understandings of their creative processes and manifestations, and how these can be supported or inhibited. Although some aspects of creativity have been extensively researched, there were no comprehensive, multidisciplinary theoretical frameworks of adolescent creativity to provide a foundation for this study. Therefore, a grounded theory methodology was adopted for the purpose of constructing a new theory to describe and explain adolescents’ creativity in a range of domains. The study’s constructivist-interpretivist perspective viewed the data and findings as interpretations of adolescents’ creative experiences, co-constructed by the participants and the researcher. The research was conducted in two academically selective high schools in Australia: one arts school, and one science, mathematics, and technology school. Twenty adolescent participants (10 from each school) were selected using theoretical sampling. Data were collected via focus groups, individual interviews, an online discussion forum, and email communications. Grounded theory methods informed a process of concurrent data collection and analysis; each iteration of analysis informed subsequent data collection. Findings portray creativity as it was perceived and experienced by participants, presented in a Grounded Theory of Adolescent Creativity. The Grounded Theory of Adolescent Creativity comprises a core category, Perceiving and Pursuing Novelty: Not the Norm, which linked all findings in the study. This core category explains how creativity involved adolescents perceiving stimuli and experiences differently, approaching tasks or life unconventionally, and pursuing novel ideas to create outcomes that are not the norm when compared with outcomes by peers. Elaboration of the core category is provided by the major categories of findings. That is, adolescent creativity entailed utilising a network of Sub-Processes of Creativity, using strategies for Managing Constraints and Challenges, and drawing on different Approaches to Creativity – adaptation, transfer, synthesis, and genesis – to apply the sub-processes and produce creative outcomes. Potentially, there were Effects of Creativity on Creators and Audiences, depending on the adolescent and the task. Three Types of Creativity were identified as the manifestations of the creative process: creative personal expression, creative boundary pushing, and creative task achievement. Interactions among adolescents’ dispositions and environments were influential in their creativity. Patterns and variations of these interactions revealed a framework of four Contexts for Creativity that offered different levels of support for creativity: high creative disposition–supportive environment; high creative disposition–inhibiting environment; low creative disposition–supportive environment; and low creative disposition–inhibiting environment. These contexts represent dimensional ranges of how dispositions and environments supported or inhibited creativity, and reveal that the optimal context for creativity differed depending on the adolescent, task, domain, and environment. This study makes four main contributions, which have methodological and theoretical implications for researchers, as well as practical implications for adolescents, parents, teachers, policy and curriculum developers, and other interested stakeholders who aim to foster the creativity of adolescents. First, this study contributes methodologically through its constructivist-interpretivist grounded theory methodology combining the grounded theory approaches of Corbin and Strauss (2008) and Charmaz (2006). Innovative data collection was also demonstrated through integration of data from online and face-to-face interactions with adolescents, within the grounded theory design. These methodological contributions have broad applicability to researchers examining complex constructs and processes, and with populations who integrate multimedia as a natural form of communication. Second, applicable to creativity in diverse domains, the Grounded Theory of Adolescent Creativity supports a hybrid view of creativity as both domain-general and domain-specific. A third major contribution was identification of a new form of creativity, educational creativity (ed-c), which categorises creativity for learning or achievement within the constraints of formal educational contexts. These theoretical contributions inform further research about creativity in different domains or multidisciplinary areas, and with populations engaged in formal education. However, the key contribution of this research is that it presents an original Theory and Model of Adolescent Creativity to explain the complex, multifaceted phenomenon of adolescents’ creative experiences.

Land fraud and inappropriate dealings in an electronic environment : An Australian and New Zealand perspective

The thesis presented in this paper is that the land fraud committed by Matthew Perrin in Queensland and inflicted upon Roger Mildenhall in Western Australia demonstrates the need for urgent procedural reform to the conveyancing process. Should this not occur, then calls to reform the substantive principles of the Torrens system will be heard throughout the jurisdictions that adopt title by registration, particularly in those places where immediate indefeasibility is still the norm. This paper closely examines the factual matrix behind both of these frauds, and asks what steps should have been taken to prevent them occurring. With 2012 bringing us Australian legislation embedding a national e-conveyancing system and a new Land Transfer Act for New Zealand we ask what legislative measures should be introduced to minimise the potential for such fraud. In undertaking this study, we reflect on whether the activities of Perrin and the criminals responsible for stealing Mildenhall's land would have succeeded under the present system for automated registration utilised in New Zealand.

Predictors of young people’s charitable intentions to donate money : an extended theory of planned behavior perspective

An extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) was used to predict young people’s intentions to donate money to charities in the future. Students (N = 210; 18-24 years) completed a questionnaire assessing their attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control [PBC], moral obligation, past behavior and intentions toward donating money. Regression analyses revealed the extended TPB explained 61% of the variance in intentions to donate money. Attitude, PBC, moral norm, and past behavior predicted intentions, representing future targets for charitable giving interventions.

A finite volume method for solving the two-sided time-space fractional advection-dispersion equation

The field of fractional differential equations provides a means for modelling transport processes within complex media which are governed by anomalous transport. Indeed, the application to anomalous transport has been a significant driving force behind the rapid growth and expansion of the literature in the field of fractional calculus. In this paper, we present a finite volume method to solve the time-space two-sided fractional advection dispersion equation on a one-dimensional domain. Such an equation allows modelling different flow regime impacts from either side. The finite volume formulation provides a natural way to handle fractional advection-dispersion equations written in conservative form. The novel spatial discretisation employs fractionally-shifted Gr¨unwald formulas to discretise the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivatives at control volume faces in terms of function values at the nodes, while the L1-algorithm is used to discretise the Caputo time fractional derivative. Results of numerical experiments are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.

The Road to Whatever: Middle Class Cultgure and the Crisis of Adolescence

In this groundbreaking book, acclaimed sociologist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliott Currie draws on years of interviews to offer a profound investigation of what has gone wrong for so many “mainstream” American adolescents. Rejecting such predictable answers as TV violence, permissiveness, and inherent evil, Currie links this crisis to a pervasive “culture of exclusion” fostered by a society in which medications trump guidance and a punitive “zero tolerance” approach to adolescent misbehavior has become the norm. Broadening his inquiry, he dissects the changes in middle-class life that stratify the world into "winners" and "losers," imposing an extraordinarily harsh culture—and not just on kids. Vivid, compelling, and deeply empathetic, The Road to Whatever is a stark indictment of a society that has lost the will—or the capacity—to care.

Strategies to engage academics in assuring graduate attributes

Assurance of learning (AoL) is a predominant feature in both quality assurance and quality enhancement in higher education. The process may be used for program development, and to inform external accreditation and evaluation bodies. However, there is an obvious challenge in trying to get academic staff to buy into the benefits of the AoL process. This project conducted an audit across 25 Australian Business Schools. The majority of those interviewed stated that academic staff considered AoL to be extra work and viewed the process as a box ticking exercise for external bodies rather than sound educational practice. A change management process is required to promote the necessary cultural change to embed AoL into practice. This paper showcases some of the educational leadership strategies that have been successfully implemented across Australia to foster staff engagement in the AoL process. These include: strong senior management commitment and leadership demonstrating a constant and high level drive for staff engagement until AoL becomes an institutional norm; developing leadership and champions among unit and program level staff, to share practices and promote the benefits that come from engaging in the process; providing professional development opportunities to discuss and resolve difficulties and tensions around AoL; demonstrating success and effectiveness by selling staff on the evidence that AoL makes a difference; and making the process inclusive with academics collaborating in the development and implementation of the process.

Testing a model of physical activity among mothers and fathers of young children: integrating self-determined motivation, planning, and the theory of planned behavior

Parents are at risk for inactivity; however, research into understanding parental physical activity (PA) is scarce. We integrated self-determined motivation, planning, and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to better understand parental PA. Parents (252 mothers, 206 fathers) completed a main questionnaire assessing measures underpinning these constructs and a 1-week follow-up of PA behavior to examine whether self-determined motivation indirectly influenced intention via the TPB variables (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) and intention indirectly influenced behavior via planning. We found self-determined motivation on intention was fully mediated by the TPB variables and intention on behavior was partially mediated by the planning variables. In addition, slight differences in the model’s paths between the sexes were revealed. The results illustrate the range of important determinants of parental PA and provide support for the integrated model in explaining PA decision making as well as the importance of examining sex differences.

Connection without caution? The role of mobile phone involvement in predicting young people’s intentions to use a mobile phone while driving

The present study examined the predictors of the intentions of young people aged between 17 and 24 years (N = 196) to use their mobile phone while driving. Using convenience sampling, drivers were recruited at petrol station travel centres to complete a cross-sectional survey. The Theory of Planned Behaviour constructs of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control (PBC) were measured, as well as mobile phone involvement - a construct based on behavioural addiction components to reflect people’s cognitive and behavioural interaction with their mobile phone. Attitudes, PBC, and mobile phone involvement predicted young people’s intentions to use their mobile phone while driving, highlighting the need for interventions to address the perceived rewards and costs of the behaviour and to challenge the potentially powerful need to be constantly connected with others by technology irrespective of the associated dangers.

Investigating mothers' decisions about their child's sun-protective behaviour using the Theory of Planned Behaviour

This study tested the utility of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to predict mothers’ decisions to ensure their child engages in sun-protective behaviours. Mothers (N = 162) of children aged four or five years completed standard TPB items (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, intention) and additional variables of role construction, mothers’ own sun safe behaviour, planning and past behaviour. One week later, participants (N = 116) reported their behaviour. Results found support for the TPB constructs, role construction, past behaviour and the mediating role of planning. These findings can inform strategies to prevent skin cancer.

Regulating precarious employment : the case of young Australian retail workers

Young workers are highly susceptible to the precarities of external labour markets. They are more likely to be employed in precarious, part-time and insecure work and to lose their jobs in an economic downturn. For young people, the process of transitioning between education and employment includes periods in and out of further education and in and out of employment, and in underemployment. The underemployment of youth is the global norm (Roberts 2009). The policy orthodoxy in industrialised nations normalises these transitions as ‘natural’ and as a ‘stage’ through which young people must pass. Here, the state plays a vital role in providing both welfare support and regulatory protection for young people in precarious work and transitioning from it.