Assessing the level of I.T. security culture improvement: results from three Australian SMEs

Transitioning towards an improved I.T. security culture that fosters desired I.T. security behaviour and attitudes in individuals is pertinent to any organizational I.T. security strategy. To improve the current I.T. security culture of an organization and its members, an initial assessment covering four core questions was necessary to determine how much of an improvement was needed. The assessments and data collection techniques and corresponding results and findings are presented and discussed. The implications of this research will be of great benefit to both practitioners wanting to improve I.T. security culture and awareness in their organization, and will help to fill the lack empirical research within the academic field of I.T. security. ©2009 IEEE.

Assessing the performance of two lung age equations on the Australian population: using data from the cross-sectional BOLD-Australia study

Lung age, a simple concept for patients to grasp, is frequently used as an aid in smoking cessation programs. Lung age equations should be continuously updated and made relevant for target populations. We observed how new lung age equations developed for Australian populations performed when utilizing the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD)-Australia dataset compared to more commonly used equations.

A comprehensive framework for assessing the life-cycle energy of building construction assemblies

Building environmental design typically focuses on improvements to operational efficiencies such as building thermal performance and system efficiency. Often the impacts occurring across the other stages of a building's life are not considered or are seen as insignificant in comparison. However, previous research shows that embodied impacts can be just as important. There is limited consistent and comprehensive information available for building designers to make informed decisions in this area. Often the information that is available is from disparate sources, which makes comparison of alternative solutions unreliable. It is also important to ensure that strategies to reduce environmental impacts from one life cycle stage do not come at the expense of an increase in overall life-cycle impacts. A consistent and comprehensive framework for assessing and specifying building assemblies for enhanced environmental outcomes does not currently exist. This article presents the initial findings of a project that aims to establish a database of life cycle energy requirements for a broad range of construction assemblies, based on a comprehensive assessment framework. Life cycle energy requirements have been calculated for eight residential construction assemblies integrating an innovative embodied energy assessment technique with thermal performance modelling and ranked according to their performance. © #2010 Earthscan ISSN: 0003-8628.

LC-REHAB : randomised trial assessing the effect of a new patient education method - learning and coping strategies - in cardiac rehabilitation

Due to improved treatments and ageing population, many countries now report increasing prevalence in rates of ischemic heart disease and heart failure. Cardiac rehabilitation has potential to reduce morbidity and mortality, but not all patients complete. In light of favourable effects of cardiac rehabilitation it is important to develop patient education methods which can enhance adherence to this effective program. The LC-REHAB study aims to compare the effect of a new patient education strategy in cardiac rehabilitation called 'learning and coping' to that of standard care. Further, this paper aims to describe the theoretical basis and details of this intervention.

The payment of dividends : legal confusion, complexities and the need for comprehensive reform

Submissions have closed on exposure draft legislation intending to amend thetest for payment of dividends under s 254T of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).Until 2010, a dividend could only be paid out of profits of a company. Sincethen, the dividends provision has been repealed and replaced with a newprovision, which allows a company to pay dividends if it satisfies an “assetsgreater than liabilities”, “fair and reasonable to shareholders” and “no materialprejudice to creditors” test. This article first examines why the profits test wasomitted from s 254T, before examining the current dividends provision,identifying the shortcomings of the 2010 reforms and critically evaluating theprovisions proposed to replace the current s 254T. The article then considersinternational developments, with a focus on New Zealand and a look at SouthAfrica, as examples of dividends tests in overseas jurisdictions, beforeproposing how to address the current confusion and uncertainty. The articleconcludes that the proposed amendments to s 254T will only partly addressexisting problems. Thus, comprehensive reform in this area of the Australiancorporation’s law is recommended.

Proportionality in sentencing: the need to factor in community experience, not public opinion

This is the first book to address the question of what role public opinion should play in the way criminal offenders are punished.Should public opinion determine—or even influence—sentencing policy and practice? Should the punishment of criminal offenders reflect what the public regards as appropriate? These deceptively simple questions conceal complex theoretical and methodological challenges to the administration of punishment.In the West, politicians have often answered these questions in the affirmative; penal reforms have been justified with direct reference to the attitudes of the public. This is why the contention that politicians should bridge the gap between the public and criminal justice practice has widespread resonance. Criminal law scholars, for their part, have often been more reluctant to accept public input in penal practice, and some have even held that the idea of consulting public opinion constitutes a populist approach to punishment.The purpose of this book is to examine the moral significance of public opinion for penal theory and practice. For the first time in a single volume the editors, Jesper Ryberg and Julian V. Roberts, have assembled a number of respected criminologists, philosphers, and legal theorists to address the various aspects of why and how public opinion should be reflected in the way the criminal justice system deals with criminals. The chapters address the myriad complexities surrounding this issue by first weighing the justifications for incorporating public views into punishment practices and then considering the various ways this might be achieved through juries, prosecutors, restoratifve justice programs, and other means.

Sentencing: from vagueness to arbitrariness - the need to abolish the stain that is the instinctive synthesis

Criminal sanctions involve the deliberate infliction of hardship on offenders. In sentencing, the state acts in its most coercive and decisive manner: ‘the state may use its most awesome power: the power to use force against its citizens and others’. Despite the importance of the interests at stake in the sentencing realm,sentencing is arguably the least coherent, predictable and principled area of law. The High Court of Australia has not facilitated attempts to inject clarity and precision into sentencing determinations. It has repeatedly endorsed the ‘instinctive synthesis’ approach to sentencing, emphasising the need for ‘individual justice’ over the need for transparency and a step-wise systematic approach to sentencing.

Children's play in the Australian Indigenous context: the need for a contemporary view

Despite an extensive search, very little literature was found on Australian Indigenous children’s play, and more specifically pretend play. Most of the literature found was written in the period from 1840 to the 1950s and was primarily descriptive. We argue that the literature found on Australian Indigenous children’s play could be interpreted through the prominent classical theories of the day. These theories emphasized the value of play in preparing children for adulthood. The literature is silent in regard to the value and significance of play in Indigenous Australian culture and on the contribution of play to children’s developmental skills such as language, cognition, problem-solving, literacy and learning. This paper presents a review of the available literature and argues for an analysis of contemporary Australian Indigenous children’s play which values play in the development of the child and interprets play behavior within an Indigenous cultural framework.

Assessing the impact of foreign aid: value for money and aid for trade

 Assessing the Impact of Foreign Aid: Value for Money and Aid for Trade provides updated information on how to improve foreign aid programs, exploring the concept and practice of impact assessment within the sometimes-unproblematic approaches advocated in current literature of value for money and aid for trade.
Contributors from multi-lateral agencies and NGOs discuss the changing patterns of Official Development Assistance and their effects on impact assessment, providing theoretical, political, structural, methodological, and practical frameworks, discussions, and a theory-practice nexus.
With twin foci of economics and policy this book raises the potential for making sophisticated and coherent decisions on aid allocation to developing countries.

Assessing the detectability of antioxidants in two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography

This paper explores the analytical figures of merit of two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography for the separation of antioxidant standards. The cumulative two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography peak area was calculated for 11 antioxidants by two different methods--the areas reported by the control software and by fitting the data with a Gaussian model; these methods were evaluated for precision and sensitivity. Both methods demonstrated excellent precision in regards to retention time in the second dimension (%RSD below 1.16%) and cumulative second dimension peak area (%RSD below 3.73% from the instrument software and 5.87% for the Gaussian method). Combining areas reported by the high-performance liquid chromatographic control software displayed superior limits of detection, in the order of 1 × 10(-6) M, almost an order of magnitude lower than the Gaussian method for some analytes. The introduction of the countergradient eliminated the strong solvent mismatch between dimensions, leading to a much improved peak shape and better detection limits for quantification.