Cybercrime attribution : an Eastern European case study

Phishing and related cybercrime is responsible for billions of dollars in losses annually. Gartner reported more than 5 million U.S. consumers lost money to phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in September 2008 (Gartner 2009). This paper asks whether the majority of organised phishing and related cybercrime originates in Eastern Europe rather than elsewhere such as China or the USA. The Russian “Mafiya” in particular has been popularised by the media and entertainment industries to the point where it can be hard to separate fact from fiction but we have endeavoured to look critically at the information available on this area to produce a survey. We take a particular focus on cybercrime from an Australian perspective, as Australia was one of the first places where Phishing attacks against Internet banks were seen. It is suspected these attacks came from Ukrainian spammers. The survey is built from case studies both where individuals from Eastern Europe have been charged with related crimes or unsolved cases where there is some nexus to Eastern Europe. It also uses some earlier work done looking at those early Phishing attacks, archival analysis of Phishing attacks in July 2006 and new work looking at correlation between the Corruption Perception Index, Internet penetration and tertiary education in Russia and the Ukraine. The value of this work is to inform and educate those charged with responding to cybercrime where a large part of the problem originates and try to understand why.

Improving the outcomes of foot and ankle surgery through the audit cycle : a case study

The direct costs of managing adverse outcomes from Australian health care are estimated to be $2 billion. The audit cycle is considered an important tool to assist in the preventive management of adverse outcomes.Australian guidelines for audit cycle design allow for comparison of data sets derived from similar surgical specialities. However a lack of data set standardisation inhibits meaningful comparisons of foot and ankle surgical audits. This research will assist development of a best practice model for auditing foot and ankle surgery. Data derived from this model will improve the safety and quality of foot and ankle surgery. The preliminary phase of this process is to identify and understand the attitudes and behaviours of how and why surgeons participate in the audit cycle. A descriptive embedded multiple case study research design is planned to provide an intense focus on a single phenomenon (the audit cycle) within its real life context (clinical governance). The measures to be included in the case study have been identified by the Balanced Patient Safety Measurement Framework. These include: audit and peer review activity, provider attitudes to patient safety, safety learning, action and performance. A purposive sample of 6 to 8 surgeons (units of analysis) from 3 to 4 specialities (cases) will undergo semi-structured interview. This will investigate: current audit tools and processes; attitudes; and behaviours of surgeons to the audit cycle. Similarities in and differences between the units of analysis will indicate which identified measures function as barriers or enablers of the audit cycle. Reliability and validity (external and construct) will be assessed using established methods for case studies. The descriptive embedded multiple case study will reveal how and why foot and ankle surgeons participate in the audit cycle. This will inform further research to improve the outcomes of foot and ankle surgery through development of an audit tool.

Case study analysis for the development and implementation of sustainable housing in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Rapid urbanization in developing countries is putting stress on current infrastructure, which is resulting in the rapid consumption of natural resources to cope with the increasing demand of the population. Saudi Arabia is one of the developing countries facing rapid urbanization where its infrastructure is facing a huge demand by the increasing urbanization levels of its major cities. Developing sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia is a must for the preservation of resources for future generations of the region and of the world. In the coming years, several resources (such as fossil fuels and natural water) will be facing shortage if not managed properly. Providing electricity for housing in Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest challenges facing the country, where it is estimated that by 2050 energy demand in the Kingdom will be approximately 120 GW, and to meet this growing demand, 8 million barrels of oil per day will be required. However, implementation of Sustainable Housing in Saudi is still problematic to reach the desired goals of various key Saudi stakeholders. This paper analyses three case studies that have adopted sustainable construction methods and compares them to traditional non-sustainable houses. The outcome suggests that there is a viable chance for development of sustainable housing in the region if supported by the government with less red tape to deal with. This paper recommends that the Saudi governments should mandate new laws to reduce the overall consumption of energy and water to reduce the overall consumption of natural resources to secure the future generation’s demand of natural resources.

Public policy on corporate audit committees : case study evidence of current practice

Corporate failures and malpractices have led to an increasing emphasis on the governance role of audit committees. The Smith report Audit Committee Combined Code Guidance and the Higgs Review of the Role and Effectiveness of Non-Executive Directors (now incorporated in a Revised Combined Code) represent further attempts to strengthen corporate accountability in the UK. Although the regulatory focus on audit committees indicates confidence in their role as part of the solution to governance failures, questions remain about their efficacy in practice. Against the background of the publication of the Smith report and the wider reliance on audit committees in several countries to help improve corporate accountability, this paper provides research evidence, drawn from an ACCA-sponsored project, on the processes and effects of the audit committees in three UK companies. This study complements other research on audit committees by adopting a case study approach, in order to reflect the importance of investigating audit committee operations from within the organisation and to develop a closer understanding of audit committee impact than is available from generally observable data. The empirical evidence for the case studies was obtained from semi-structured interviews with personnel involved in the audit committee process, internal documents made available by the companies, and publicly available information, including annual reports.

Paediatric Nursing in Australia

Paediatric Nursing in Australia equips students with the essential skills and knowledge to become paediatric, child and youth health nurses across a variety of clinical and community settings. It prepares students for critical thinking and problem solving within this field by emphasising contemporary issues impacting on the health of children, young people and their families. Written by a team of experienced paediatric nurses, the content is based on themes that align with Australian standards of competence and expectations of paediatric nursing: communication, family involvement and evidence-based practice. Comprehensive yet concise, the text examines the integration of theoretical and clinical components of nursing knowledge. To enhance learning, chapters feature case studies, reflection points and learning activities. An essential resource for nursing students, this text is grounded in current care delivery and professional issues for care of the child to prepare future nurses for evidence-based practice in paediatric settings throughout Australia. • Prepares students for critical thinking and problem solving within paediatric, child and youth health nursing by emphasising contemporary issues that impact on the health of children and young people and their families • Written by a team of experienced paediatric nurses • Enhances learning by providing illustrative case studies, reflection points and learning activities in each chapter

Navigating uncertainty in Australia : fostering informed citizenship through teaching controversial issues with pre-service teachers

Australia is a multicultural immigrant society created by public policy and direct state action over a period of two hundred years. It is now one of the world’s most diverse societies. However, like many nations, Australia faces challenges to managing ‘unauthorized arrivals’ who claim to be refugees. The issue of how to deal with unauthorized arrivals is controversial and highly emotive as it challenges public policy and government capacity to manage the multicultural ‘mix’ of Australia’s population. It also raises questions about border security. Given that it is impossible to discern beforehand who is a ‘proper’ refugee and who is not, claims to refugee status by unauthorised arrivals in Australia need to be tested against international convention criteria devised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). There are no simple solutions to controversial questions such as how and where should unauthorised arrivals, and the children accompanying them, be housed whilst their claims are investigated? Moreover, as this issue continues to prompt division and heated debate in Australian society, teachers new to the profession are often reluctant to explore it in the classroom. However, there are opportunities in national and state curriculum documents for the values dimensions of curriculum inquiries into controversial issues such as this to be addressed. For example, the most recent national statement on the goals for schooling in Australia, the Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008), makes clear that Australian students need to be prepared for the challenges of the 21st century and to develop the capacity for innovation and complex problem-solving. The Melbourne Declaration informs the first national curriculum to be implemented in the Australian states and territories, and all other national and state initiatives. Its focus on developing active and informed citizens who can contribute to a socially cohesive society implies a capacity to deal with a range of issues associated with cultural diversity, This chapter explores the ways in which pre-service and early career teachers in one Australian state reflect upon curriculum opportunities to address controversial issues in the social sciences and history classroom. As part of their pre-service education, all the participants in this study completed a final year social science curriculum method unit that embedded a range of controversial issues, including the placement of children in Australian Immigration Detention Centres (IDCs), for investigation. By drawing from interviews and focus groups conducted with different cohorts of pre-service teachers in their final year of university study and beginning years of teaching, this chapter analyses the range of perceptions about how controversial issues can be examined in the secondary classroom as part of fostering informed citizenship. The discussion and analysis of the qualitative data in this study makes no claims for the representativeness of its findings, rather, a range of beginner teacher insights into a complex and important facet of teaching in a period of change and uncertainty is offered.

Public space for street-scape theatrics : guerrilla spatial tactics and methods of urban hacking in Brisbane, Australia

It could be argued that architecture has an inherent social responsibility to enrich the urban and spatial environments for the city’s occupants. However how we define quality, and how ‘places’ can be designed to be fair and equitable, catering for individuals on a humanistic and psychological level, is often not clearly addressed. Lefebvre discusses the idea of the ‘right to the city’; the belief that public space design should facilitate freedom of expression and incite a sense of spatial ownership for its occupants in public/commercial precincts. Lefebvre also points out the importance of sensory experience in the urban environment. “Street-scape theatrics” are performative activities that summarise these two concepts, advocating the ‘right to the city’ by way of art as well as providing sensual engagement for city users. Literature discusses the importance of Street-scape Theatrics however few sources attempt to discuss this topic in terms of how to design these spaces/places to enhance the city on both a sensory and political level. This research, grounded in political theory, investigates the case of street music, in particular busking, in the city of Brisbane, Australia. Street culture is a notion that already exists in Brisbane, but it is heavily controlled especially in central locations. The study discusses how sensory experience of the urban environment in Brisbane can be enriched through the design for busking; multiple case studies, interviews, observations and thematic mappings provide data to gather an understanding of how street performers see and understand the built form. Results are sometime surprisingly incongruous with general assumptions in regards to street artist as well as the established political and ideological framework, supporting the idea that the best and most effective way of urban hacking is working within the system. Ultimately, it was found that the Central Business District in Brisbane, Australia, could adopt certain political and design tactics which attempt to reconcile systematic quality control with freedom of expression into the public/commercial sphere, realism upheld. This can bridge the gap between the micro scale of the body and the macro of the political economy through freedom of expression, thus celebrating the idiosyncratic nature of the city.

Schooling elsewhere: Rurality, inclusion and education

Over its history, the International Journal of Inclusive Education has had a strong record of naming, critiquing and redressing the ways in which particular social locations shape experiences of inclusion and exclusion in education. In this special issue, we continue this tradition taking as our focus those who live outside the metropolitan mainstream. To date, rural schools and the communities of which they are part have often been overlooked by researchers of inclusive education. This is not to suggest that the rural has been ignored entirely in research on inclusivity and schooling. For example, a number of studies have included rural case studies as part of broader research on subjects such as educational disadvantage and experiences of poverty (Horgan 2009), inclusivity and early childhood services (Penn 1997), constraints to inclusive educational practice (Shevlin, Winter, and Flynn 2013) and the efficacy of inclusivity training programmes for teachers (Strieker, Logan, and Kuhel 2012). Such work provides a critical reference point for this special issue as it has demon- strated that the educational landscape may be very differently experienced in the rural compared to the urban. Illustrative is Wikeley et al.’s (2009, 381) assertion that working class Irish youth living outside the urban sphere are ‘doubly disadvantaged’ in terms of accessing out-of-school activities and Milovanovic et al.’s (2014, 47) claim that for young children in the Western Balkans, there is a ‘dearth of pre-school provision in rural areas’. As well as highlighting cleavages of disadvantage as they exist between urban and rural schools, work in this journal has also revealed disadvantage that exists within rural schools. This scholarship has explored how particular social locations, such as disability, ethnicity, sexuality, gender and class intersect with rurality to produce very different educational biographies. For example, it may be class, as Holt (2012) found in her study of young rural women’s transition to a city university, or it may be gender, as Tuwor and Sossou (2008) posited in their work on the schooling of girls in West Africa.

Using strengths-based approaches in early years practice and research

Strengths-based approaches draw upon frameworks and perspectives from social work and psychology but have not necessarily been consistently defined or well articulated across disciplines. Internationally, there are increasing calls for professionals in early years settings to work in strengths-based ways to support the access and participation of all children and families, especially those with complex needs. The purpose of this paper is to examine a potential promise of innovative uses of strengths-based approaches in early years practice and research in Australia, and to consider implications for application in other national contexts. In this paper, we present three cases (summarised from larger studies) depicting different applications of the Strengths Approach, under pinned by collaborative inquiry at the interface between practice and research. Analysis revealed three key themes across the cases: (i) enactment of strengths-based principles, (ii) the bi-directional and transformational influences of the Strengths Approach (research into practice/practice into research), and (iii) heightened practitioner and researcher awareness of, and responsiveness to, the operation of power. The findings highlight synergies and challenges to constructing and actualising strengths-based approaches in early years childhood research and practice. The case studies demonstrate that although constructions of what constitutes strengths-based research and practice requires ongoing critical engagement, redefining, and operationalising, using strengths-based approaches in early years settings can be generative and worthwhile.

Miami heat: Patent law, informed consent and benefit-sharing

This article considers whether the granting of patents in respect of biomedical genetic research should be conditional upon the informed consent of research participants. It focuses upon several case studies. In Moore v the Regents of the University Of California, a patient sued his physician for breach of fiduciary duty and lack of informed consent, because the doctor had obtained a patent on the patient's cell line, without the patient's authorisation. In Greenberg v Miami Children's Hospital, the research participants, the Greenbergs, the National Tay Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, and Dor Yeshorim brought a legal action against the geneticist Reubon Matalon and the Miami Children's Hospital over a patent obtained on a gene related to the Canavan disease and accompany genetic diagnostic test. PXE International entered into a joint venture with Charles Boyd and the University of Hawaii, and obtained a patent together for ‘methods for diagnosing Pseudoxanthoma elasticum’. In light of such case studies, it is contended that there is a need to reform patent law, so as to recognise the bioethical principles of informed consent and benefit-sharing. The 2005 UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights provides a model for future case law and policy-making.

Beyond Science Education: Embedding sustainability in teacher education systems

This chapter will report on a study that sought to develop a systemwide approach to embedding education for sustainability (EfS (the preferred term in Australia) in teacher education. The strategy for a coordinated and coherent systemic approach involved identifying and eliciting the participation of key agents of change within the‘teacher education system’ in one state in Australia, Queensland. This consisted of one representative from each of the eight Queensland universities offering pre-service teacher education, as well as the teacher registration authority, the key State Government agency responsible for public schools, and two national professional organisations. Part of the approach involved teacher educators at different universities developing an institutional specific approach to embedding sustainability education within their teacher preparation programs. Project participants worked collaboratively to facilitate policy and curriculum change while the project leaders used an action research approach to inform and monitor actions taken and to provide guidance for subsequent actions to effect change simultaneously at the state, institutional and course levels. In addition to the state-wide multi-site case study, which we argue has broader applications to national systems in other countries, the chapter will include two institutional level case studies of efforts to embed sustainability in science teacher education.

Systematic literature review: Research on Supported Playgroups

Overview This review of research conducted with supported playgroups was prepared for the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment (DETE). The report provides a synthesis of the research on the effectiveness of supported playgroups to improve child, parent, and community outcomes and to identify key features of supported playgroups that support effective outcomes. Supported playgroups are community-based services that provide a low intensity parenting intervention, through regular group sessions for parent-child dyads. Supported playgroups target vulnerable families who may benefit from parenting support. Supported playgroups have common goals to enhance children’s early learning and parental wellbeing. Method A search strategy was devised to identify research studies, nationally and internationally, that involved parent-child group programs for families with young children, delivered under the leadership of an employed facilitator. Academic databases and other data sources were explored for studies conducted in the period from 2004 to 2014. Summary descriptions of the research studies were developed; assessment of research methodologies was made; research evidence on the effectiveness of supported playgroups to improve child, parent, and community outcomes was identified; and comparative analyses of the implementation features of supported playgroups were completed. Findings The search strategy identified 34 research publications, reporting on 29 different programs. Twenty-six of the studies report on research conducted in Australia and eight reported on research conducted in other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Three clusters of playgroups were identified: Category 1 - Standard supported playgroups; Category 2 - Mobile playgroups; Category 3 – Supported playgroups with specific interventions. The research studies identified encompassed experimental and non-experimental research designs. The studies of standard supported playgroups and mobile playgroups were most often qualitative studies and modest in scale, in terms of the number of research participants. Experimental and quasi-experimental research designs characterised the studies identified in the category of supported playgroups with specific interventions. Overall, the research studies that were categorised as supported playgroups with specific interventions provided stronger evidence for effectiveness to improve parental behaviour in ways that are known to support children’s early developmental competence. Qualitative studies, including case studies and ethnographic research, documented important features of program delivery, such as the importance of facilitators’ interpersonal skills to positive experiences for families in the playgroups; as well as the important opportunities that the playgroups afforded to vulnerable families to reduce social isolation. Conclusions The potential for supported playgroups to improve a broad range of learning and psychosocial outcomes for children and parents was suggested by many of the research studies. However, the nature of the research designs employed means that it is not possible to conclude that there is strong evidence of the impact of supported playgroups on child, parent, and community outcomes. The qualitative studies did provide rich descriptions about the implementation processes of playgroups and also captured the variability in the delivery of the playgroups in terms of who participated, local contextual factors that impacted on the playgroup experiences, and the nature of the experiences of parents within the playgroups. Research methodologies need to be employed that address the limitations of the studies to date. This would provide more defensible evidence that supported playgroups have an impact over time on outcomes for children, families, and communities. Overall, this area of research remains relatively under-evaluated in terms of rigorous research designs. The identified research studies point to some promising research directions but do not yet enable strong claims to be made about the effectiveness of the standard playgroup or mobile playgroup models to impact on parenting outcomes. Data collected from interview and survey methodologies clearly identifies that supported playgroups are highly acceptable to families. Given the popularity of supported playgroups to engage families across diverse communities, and the reported high levels of satisfaction and benefits identified within many of the research studies, it is clear that the provision of supported playgroups is fulfilling an important community need by providing support to parents with young children. However, there is a need to strengthen the evidence base that supported playgroups are an effective early parenting intervention that improves outcomes for children, parents, and communities.

An economic approach towards estimating health impacts of major transport investments and transport policies: A case study of transport emission abatement policy

The PhD thesis developed an economic model as an integral part of the current Health Impact Assessment (HIA) framework. Based on a Health Production Function approach, the model showed how to estimate economic benefits of positive health gains generated by transport investment programs and transport policies. Using Australian mortality and morbidity statistics and applying econometric analysis, the case study quantified health benefits induced by transport emission abatement policies in dollar terms for the Australian households. Finally, the thesis demonstrated transferability of the economic model through two example case studies, establishing a wider application capacity of the model.

The Fashion Studies Book

The Fashion Book is an exciting, readable and comprehensive, all-in-one resource for students of fashion across the English-speaking world. It is designed as an introduction to fashion studies that can be used in a range of fashion courses from fashion studies degrees to fashion modules, and majors in disciplines including cultural studies, cultural sociology, cultural geography, communications and media, anthropology and cultural history. The book will present current writings and research on major topics debates in fashion studies drawing on the literature on fashion theory and incorporating many global case studies (as easy-to-read boxed material). Graphs, tables and diagrams will add texture to the written material. Approximately 200 colour images are planned to generously illustrate the historical and the contemporary tapestry of fashion. A dedicated interactive website will complement the text and ensure that students are in touch with the latest news, issues and trends.

The relevance of composing: Children’s spaces for social agency

This chapter addresses the relevance of composing for young children in creating spaces for social agency. It begins with a working definition of agency, outlines forms of agency and what might constrain it. Referring to case studies of particular children, it then goes on to discuss key themes, which illuminate what is possible and what is at stake when children compose. These overlapping themes include identity (sense of self, belonging), positioning (helping, initiating, befriending, “being bright”), voices (made through sound effects, singing, language style, and appropriating from popular culture and digital worlds), play (appropriating, imagining, designing, and creating), and resistance (not participating, staying silent, moving). Two main cases are drawn upon, those of Ta’Von and Gareth, who demonstrate agency in terms of finding spaces of belonging and meaning-making occasions in the classroom and playground. Vignettes from other children are referred to in order to illustrate common themes.