Resale price maintenance - in need of further reform

The Competition Policy Reform Act extended the resale price maintenance provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974 to include services and provide for authorisation where the conduct can be shown to benefit the public such that it should be allowed. This article explores the scope of these changes and their shortcomings. It also seeks to provide some guidance as to their likely application and makes recommendations for further reform.

Who does not gain weight? Prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance in young women

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and predictors of weight maintenance over time in a large sample of young Australian women.

DESIGN: This population study examined baseline and 4 y follow-up data from the cohort of young women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health.

SUBJECTS: A total of 8726 young women aged 18-23 y at baseline.

MEASURES: Height, weight and body mass index (BMI); physical activity; time spent sitting; selected eating behaviours (eg dieting, disordered eating, takeaway food consumption); cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption; parity; and sociodemographic characteristics.

RESULTS: Only 44% of the women reported their BMI at follow-up to be within 5% of their baseline BMI (maintainers); 41% had gained weight and 15% had lost weight. Weight maintainers were more likely to be in managerial or professional occupations; to have never married; to be currently studying; and not to be mothers. Controlling for sociodemographic factors, weight maintainers were more likely to be in a healthy weight range at baseline, and to report that they spent less time sitting, and consumed less takeaway food, than women who gained weight.

CONCLUSIONS: Fewer than half the young women in this community sample maintained their weight over this 4 y period in their early twenties. Findings of widespread weight gain, particularly among those already overweight, suggest that early adulthood, which is a time of significant life changes for many women, may be an important time for implementing strategies to promote maintenance of healthy weight. Strategies which encourage decreased sitting time and less takeaway food consumption may be effective for encouraging weight maintenance at this life stage.

Two dictyostelium orthologs of the prokaryotic cell division protein ftsZ localize to mitochondria and are required for the maintenance of normal mitochondrial morphology

In bacteria, the protein FtsZ is the principal component of a ring that constricts the cell at division. Though all mitochondria probably arose through a single, ancient bacterial endosymbiosis, the mitochondria of only certain protists appear to have retained FtsZ, and the protein is absent from the mitochondria of fungi, animals, and higher plants. We have investigated the role that FtsZ plays in mitochondrial division in the genetically tractable protist Dictyostelium discoideum, which has two nuclearly encoded FtsZs, FszA and FszB, that are targeted to the inside of mitochondria. In most wild-type amoebae, the mitochondria are spherical or rod-shaped, but in fsz-null mutants they become elongated into tubules, indicating that a decrease in mitochondrial division has occurred. In support of this role in organelle division, antibodies to FszA and FszA-green fluorescent protein (GFP) show belts and puncta at multiple places along the mitochondria, which may define future or recent sites of division. FszB-GFP, in contrast, locates to an electron-dense, submitochondrial body usually located at one end of the organelle, but how it functions during division is unclear. This is the first demonstration of two differentially localized FtsZs within the one organelle, and it points to a divergence in the roles of these two proteins.

Perceived personal, social and environmental barriers to weight maintenance among young women: a community survey

Background: Young women are a group at high risk of weight gain. This study examined a range of perceived personal, social and environmental barriers to physical activity and healthy eating for weight maintenance among young women, and how these varied by socioeconomic status (SES), overweight status and domestic situation. Methods: In October-December 2001, a total of 445 women aged 18–32 years, selected randomly from the Australian electoral roll, completed a mailed self-report survey that included questions on 11 barriers to physical activity and 11 barriers to healthy eating (relating to personal, social and environmental factors). Height, weight and socio-demographic details were also obtained. Statistical analyses were conducted mid-2003. Results: The most common perceived barriers to physical activity and healthy eating encountered by young women were related to motivation, time and cost. Women with children were particularly likely to report a lack of social support as an important barrier to physical activity, and lack of social support and time as important barriers to healthy eating. Perceived barriers did not differ by SES or overweight status. Conclusions: Health promotion strategies aimed at preventing weight gain should take into account the specific perceived barriers to physical activity and healthy eating faced by women in this age group, particularly lack of motivation, lack of time, and cost. Strategies targeting perceived lack of time and lack of social support are particularly required for young women with children.

Adoption and maintenance of environmental management systems: critical success factors

The implementation of various management systems and standards has become an important activity for organisations irrespective of their size, sector or nature of the business. Even with a history of implementing change across the organisation, managers continue to experience resistance and challenges when implementing and maintaining the systems/standards, whether they be in quality, occupational health and safety, environmental or any other area. Based on a major research project recently completed, this paper presents the critical success factors for successful implementation of an environmental management system. The project involved three phases of fieldwork: preliminary interviews, a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. A brief summary of the findings from each of these phases of research is presented. Based on the findings, the paper discusses the critical success factors for the successful implementation and maintenance of EMS.

A framework for environmental management system adoption and maintenance : an Australian perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for environmental management system (EMS) adoption which can be used by managers to enable them to achieve a faster, smoother, effective and sustainable EMS implementation. This is termed by the authors as “successful” EMS implementation.
Design/methodology/approach – The framework presented is based on an extensive field study conducted in Australia that included a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews conducted with practitioners, the results of which have been reported in this and other journals.
Findings – The framework presented covers three distinct phases, namely development, certification and maintenance and continuous improvement. Preliminary assessment of this framework by a group of Australian experts that included four senior managers, one academic and one consultant suggests that this framework is a useful tool for implementing an effective EMS.
Practical implications – Each of the three phases of the framework provides a step-by-step approach and a sequential map towards a successful EMS implementation.
Originality/value – The framework has been developed from extensive fieldwork and has been validated by a group of “experts” which comprised of four industry practitioners, one management academic, and one EMS consultant. The framework provides a detailed understanding of the steps involved in the implementation, certification, and maintenance of EMS.

The role of performance anxiety in the development and maintenance of sexual dysfunction in men and women

The current study evaluated the association between attitudes toward sex, stress, relationship quality, performance anxiety, and sexual dysfunction among 157 men (114 dysfunctional, 43 functional) and 186 women (84 dysfunctional, 102 functional). The results demonstrate that the main factors related to all types of sexual dysfunction among men were attitudes toward sex, conflict in their relationship, and performance anxiety. For women, the main factors related to all types of sexual dysfunction were attitudes toward sex, relationship quality, and performance anxiety. These results demonstrate the central role of performance anxiety in either the development or maintenance of sexual dysfunction among both men and women. Clearly, this is an area that has to be considered in any treatment program for sexual dysfunction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserve

Mortgages and bonds: the asset management practices of Australian life insurers to 1960

Recent studies of the experience of the British life insurance industry indicate that a period of transition, and the development of more diversified investment strategies, began in the interwar period. Australian life insurers lagged behind their British counterparts in the introduction of such strategies. This paper investigates why this was the case. It argues that in the Australian market there was both a lack of opportunity and incentive to broaden asset portfolios. However, this did not mean that asset management practices did not advance. Australian life offices became progressively more sophisticated in their approach to portfolio management during this period. Developments in the interwar period provided a grounding for post-war expansion into the equity market.

Agile approaches to software maintenance : an exploratory study of practitioner views

Whilst there has been some research into the application of agile approaches to the world of software maintenance, in this paper it is argued that there has not been a coherent investiga-tion that focuses on the collection and analysis of the views and perceptions of agile software maintenance approaches held by experienced software maintenance professionals. In this paper, we report such an exploratory investigation, which has seeded the development of a simple framework for classifying collected views and perceptions. Specifically, a matrix framework has been introduced, to facilitate comparison of the levels of understanding of the issues affecting an agile adoption decision, and the extent to which an agile approach has been implemented. Examples of organizations operating in all four cells of this matrix have been presented.

Route maintenance using mobility prediction for mobile ad hoc networks

Next generation networks (3G & beyond) will support real-time multimedia applications through traditional wide-area networking concepts as well as hot-spot (WLAN) and ad hoc networking concepts. In order to fulfill the vision of next generation networks a method of maintaining a real-time flow despite frequent topology changes and irregularity in user movement is required. Mobility prediction has been identified as having applications in the areas of link availability estimation and pro-active routing in ad hoc networks. In this work we present the mobility prediction based algorithm for route maintenance in mobile ad hoc networks. Simulation study of the algorithm proves it to offer significant benefits to dynamic source routing (DSR)

Approaches to the development and maintenance of professional values, ethics and attitudes in accounting education programs

IES 4, Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes prescribes the professional values, ethics and attitudes professional accountants should acquire during the education program leading to membership of an IFAC member body.
The purpose of this paper is to support the development of IEPS 4.1, Approaches to Developing and Maintaining Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes. This will assist and support IFAC member bodies to discharge effectively their responsibilities to ensure that candidates for membership of an IFAC member body are equipped with the appropriate professional values, ethics and attitudes to function as professional accountants.
The IAESB believes that this paper, and the findings of the independent research team, will be of interest and benefit to IFAC member bodies, accounting educators, and others seeking to implement ethics education programs for professional accountants.

The future of Victoria's greatest asset : the coast. An independent review of the Coastal Management Act 1995 after ten years of operation

This report is in essence a critique of the Victorian Coastal Management Act 1995 (VCMA), followed by recommendations for improving the Act and its implementation. The author recognises that of course the Coastal Management Act 1995 is far from the sole piece of legislation or element of governance for Victorian coastal planning and management (see Wescott, 1988.1990,1993,1995, Birrell,1994). But the Act is the leading element of Victorian coastal governance and hence an analysis and critique of its operation after ten years, and recommendations for improvements to the Act, should enhance future coastal planning and management.