To keep me safe from harm? Transgender prisoners and the experience of imprisonment

The experience of imprisonment for a transgender person is often a terrifying one. He or she is extremely vulnerable in such an environment from sexual violence from other prisoners. In addition, he or she may be exposed to inadequate or inappropriate medical care. Consequently transgender prisoners are often denied the protection offered by role of law. A significant reason for this treatment is the erasure of the transgender experience in informing the nature of the prison regime. In particular, the failure to give sufficient weight to gender self identification by transgender prisoners exposes them to risks which other prisoners do not have to endure. It is suggested that the only way to reduce such harm is through the cultivation of a prison regime based upon the lives of transgender prisoners.

Pandora`s box : academic perceptions of student plagiarism in writing

Plagiarism is viewed by many academics as a kind of Pandora's box—the elements contained inside are too frightening to allow escape for fear of the havoc that may result. Reluctance by academic members of staff to discuss student plagiarism openly may contribute to the often untenable situations we, as teachers, face when dealing with student plagiarism issues. In this article, I examine the dilemmas English for Academic Purposes (EAP) staff face when dealing with student plagiarism in the tertiary classroom. The perceptions of all 11 teachers involved in teaching a first year EAP writing subject at South-Coast University are detailed in light of the university's policy on plagiarism. My research indicates that not only is an agreed definition of plagiarism difficult to reach by members of staff teaching the same subject, but plagiarism is a multi-layered phenomenon encompassing a spectrum of human intention. Evaluating the spectrum can lead to differences in the implementation of university plagiarism policy, the result of which embodies issues of equity. The aim of the article is to encourage policy-makers and academic staff to acknowledge the concerns about implementation of plagiarism policy. Collaborative, cross-disciplinary re-thinking of plagiarism is needed to reach workable solutions.

Australia`s box - ironbark forests and woodlands : saving the fragments of a threatened ecosystem

Australia's box-ironbark forests and woodlands once covered about 14 per cent of the State of Victoria on the riverine plains and foothills of the Great Dividing Range. But approximately 83 per cent of the total original habitat has been destroyed and what remains of this significant ecosystem is now highly fragmented and vulnerable to further degradation. Moreover, only 14 per cent of the area remaining is on public land. A 10 year campaign on the part of the environmental movement eventually succeeded in forcing the State government to conduct an independent inquiry into this ecosystem and make recommendations on future management. This paper outlines the innovative public participation process adopted by the Victorian State government and the outcomes of the inquiry. A subsequent compensation package for commercial operations disadvantaged by the proclamation of a series of new national parks is also discussed, as are the shortcomings of a process that can have little or no impact on what happens on private land.

Reconsidering the scope of the equitable mortgage arising from deposit of title documents

This article examines the underlying fairness of applying equitable security presumptions to the deposit of title documents belonging to third parties. It argues that within such transactions, the focus of the equitable jurisdiction must be upon the intention of the owner of the title documents rather than presumptions arising from the fact of the deposit. It suggests that there is no logic in applying equitable presumptions, founded on the principles of part performance, to infer a security intention in transactions involving third party title documents. The fact that the parties to a loan advance may have intended to create a mortgage between themselves does not mean that the third party owner of the title documents also intended to create a mortgage. In third party transactions, the objectives of the equity jurisdiction are best achieved through a comprehensive assessment of the intention of all parties and the abolition of presumptions based upon the bare fact of title deposit.

Finding a 'safe' place on the risk continuum: a case study of pregnancy and birthing in Lao PDR (Lao People's Democratic Republic)

This paper addresses two questions. Firstly: are the risk regimes faced, and perceived, by pregnant women in rural Lao PDR substantially different from those experienced by pregnant women in western societies? Secondly, if the Lao experiences and perceptions are different, can improvements in maternal health in Lao PDR be achieved without Laotians inheriting the risk regimes of late modernity experienced by many women in western societies? Secondary analysis is undertaken of data collected in 2005 for the evaluation of a pilot maternity waiting home in Bolikhan, Lao PDR. The results suggest significantly different risk perceptions and experiences between Lao and western communities, based on contrasting views of embodiment, identity construction and cosmologies. In the Lao rural communities studied, there is little evidence yet of 'risk society' despite the introduction of western technologies and practices to improve maternal mortality and morbidity. It is argued that 'risk society' can be avoided.

Frequency distribution of TATA box and extension sequences on human promoters

TATA box is one of the most important transcription factor binding sites. But the exact sequences of TATA box are still not very clear yet. In this study, we conducted a dedicated analysis on the frequency distribution of TATA Box and its extension sequences on human promoters. Sixteen TATA elements derived from TATA Box motif, TATAWAWN, were classified into three distribution patterns: peak, bottom-peak and bottom. Fourteen TATA extension sequences (up to two base extensions) were predicted to be the new TATA Box elements because of their high motif factors, which indicate their statistical significance. Statistical analysis on the promoters of mouse, zebrafish and drosophila melanogaster verified seven of these elements. It was also observed that the distribution of TATA elements on the promoters of housekeeping genes are very similar with their distribution on the promoters of tissue specific genes in human.

A comparison of pilling results tested with the ICI pill box and a new perspex™ pill box

Identical single jersey wool knit fabrics produced inconsistent results when tested on the same type of ICI pill box in 4 independence testing laboratories.  The hypothesis formulated to investigate this event was that continued pilling testing in the ICI pill box changes the frictional properties of the cork liners, resulting in the difference pilling ratings.  The aim of this study was to decrease the inconsistencies in the pilling results by replacing the conventional cork lined pill box with a Perspex^TM pill box.  The smae or similar pilling results found for several of the knit facots tested in the two difference pill boxes, while for others there were some significant differences found.  In addition, while using the Perspex^TM pill box observations of the movement of the pilling tubes during testing provided evidence of greater fabric-to-fabric abrasion, rather the expected high degree of fabric-to-cork abrasion (or fabric-to-Perspex^TM) during pilling testing.

The diet of a Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae in Box-ironbark country, central Victoria

The diet of a Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae in a Box-Ironbark woodland remnant in central Victoria was studied. An analysis of 42.5 pellets found invertebrates to represent 82% of the total prey items, but vertebrates, in the form of the House Mouse Mus domesticus, to represent 88% of the biomass. The proportion of spiders as prey items in the diet in this instance (43%) was significantly higher than in other studies on mainland Australia.

Nestedness in fragmented landscapes: birds of the box-ironbark forests of south-eastern Australia

Nestedness in biota as a function of species richness – biota of depauperate assemblages being non-random subsets of richer biotas – has been widely documented in recent years (see Wright et al. 1998, Oecologia 113: 1–20). Ordering sites by richness maximizes nestedness indices; however, ordering by other criteria such as area or isolation may be more ecologically interpretable. We surveyed birds in true fragments (35 in all), and in "reference areas" in large extant forest blocks (30 locations), of the same range of areas (10, 20, 40, 80 ha). The avifauna was divided into "bush birds"– species dependent on forest and woodland, and "open country" species. We looked at nestedness in four data sets: "bush birds" in fragments and reference areas, and "all birds" in fragments and in reference areas. All data sets were significantly nested. Ordering by area in all cases was not significantly less nested than ordering by richness. Ordering by area in fragments was significantly greater than in reference areas, but the differences in standardized nestedness indices were small (<15%). We identified those birds that had distributions among fragments that conformed strongly with area, those that were more randomly distributed and some species that were more likely to occupy the smallest fragments. Among the latter was a hyperaggressive, invasive, colonial native species (noisy miner Manorina melanocephala). A suite of small, insectivorous birds were more likely to strongly conform with expected distributions in relation to area, which was consistent with observations of their vulnerability to the effects of the noisy miner in smaller fragments.

Masochistic marketing : Volvo Australia's not "so safe" strategy

Purpose – The objective is to describe a marketing approach used by Volvo in the Australian marketplace. It appears to be a rare approach and could be perceived to some extent as being “masochistic”.

Design/methodology/approach – The research is based upon a case study. The term “masochistic marketing” is introduced.

Findings – The “masochistic marketing” approach applied by Volvo in Australia should be seen as a process. It is dependent upon the outcome of a series of cause and effect relationships.

Research limitations/implications – The masochistic marketing approach may be divided into four cause-related phases, all of which create a dualistic outcome of either positive or negative effect-chains in respect to the corporate image in the marketplace and society.

Practical implications – A masochistic marketing approach is a high-risk venture. It is a challenging and demanding marketing process, because it plays on the humiliation of the corporate image itself. The core idea of the masochistic marketing approach violates, or at least appears to oppose, the fundaments of marketing.

Originality/value – Masochistic marketing is not recommended to be used as a common approach, unless a series of events has turned the corporate image in the marketplace into something that is highly undesirable and a stigma.

Review of the green consumers' perception formation about the environmentally safe products

This study examines the influence of various factors on the green purchase intention of customers in Australia. A conceptual model has been proposed and was subjected to empirical verification with the use of a survey of metropolitan and regional households in Victoria. The results indicate that corporate perception with respect of companies not placing higher priority on reducing pollution than increasing profitability was the significant predictor of customers’ negative overall perception toward environmentally safe products. The only positive contribution to customers’ perceptions was their past experience with the product. Other factors including the perception of environmentally safe products, product labels, and regulatory protection did not appear to influence customers’ perceptions. The results also suggest that customers are not tolerant of lower quality and higher prices of environmentally safe products. The present findings provide an understanding of the antecedents of green purchasing and highlight that green customers rely more on personal experience with the product rather than the information provided by the marketer.