An examination of the effect on debt/equity ratios with the adoption of IAS 19 : employee benefits

A number of countries have adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a means of harmonising financial statements. .This paper examines the effect of the adoption of IFRS, relating to post employment benefits and its effects on debt/equity ratios. The adoption of the IFRS resulted in most companies reporting a substantial increase in liabilities, a
decrease in shareholders’ equity and a corresponding increase
in debt/equity ratios.

On some properties of weighted averaging with variable weights

Density-based means have been recently proposed as a method for dealing with outliers in the stream processing of data. Derived from a weighted arithmetic mean with variable weights that depend on the location of all data samples, these functions are not monotonic and hence cannot be classified as aggregation functions. In this article we establish the weak monotonicity of this class of averaging functions and use this to establish robust generalisations of these means. Specifically, we find that as proposed, the density based means are only robust to isolated outliers. However, by using penalty based formalisms of averaging functions and applying more sophisticated and robust density estimators, we are able to define a broader family of density based means that are more effective at filtering both isolated and clustered outliers. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Currency overlay for global equity portfolios : cross-hedging and base currency

The effectiveness of a currency overlay hedge for a global equity portfolio can be significantly affected by changes in the base currency. Base currency changes have no significant effect on the hedged portfolio risk; however, they may substantially increase or decrease risk relative to the unhedged position. Australian (AUD) and Canadian (CAD) forwards provide effective cross-hedging, particularly in combination with one or two other currency hedges. Hedge effectiveness is significantly improved by allowing for natural hedges via a dynamic approach that captures structural change and permits under-hedging of currency exposures. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A state space based approach in non-linear hemodynamic response modeling with fMRI data

In this paper we use the modified and integrated version of the balloon model in the analysis of fMRI data. We propose a new state space model realization for this balloon model and represent it with the standard A,B,C and D matrices widely used in system theory. A second order Padé approximation with equal numerator and denominator degree is used for the time delay approximation in the modeling of the cerebral blood flow. The results obtained through numerical solutions showed that the new state space model realization is in close agreement to the actual modified and integrated version of the balloon model. This new system theoretic formulation is likely to open doors to a novel way of analyzing fMRI data with real time robust estimators. With further development and validation, the new model has the potential to devise a generalized measure to make a significant contribution to improve the diagnosis and treatment of clinical scenarios where the brain functioning get altered. Concepts from system theory can readily be used in the analysis of fMRI data and the subsequent synthesis of filters and estimators.

Neural network ensemble : evaluation of aggregation algorithms for electricity demand forecasting

This paper examines and analyzes different aggregation algorithms to improve accuracy of forecasts obtained using neural network (NN) ensembles. These algorithms include equal-weights combination of Best NN models, combination of trimmed forecasts, and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA). The predictive performance of these algorithms are evaluated using Australian electricity demand data. The output of the aggregation algorithms of NN ensembles are compared with a Naive approach. Mean absolute percentage error is applied as the performance index for assessing the quality of aggregated forecasts. Through comprehensive simulations, it is found that the aggregation algorithms can significantly improve the forecasting accuracies. The BMA algorithm also demonstrates the best performance amongst aggregation algorithms investigated in this study.

Variance-covariance based weighing for neural network ensembles

Neural network (NN) is a popular artificial intelligence technique for solving complicated problems due to their inherent capabilities. However generalization in NN can be harmed by a number of factors including parameter's initialization, inappropriate network topology and setting parameters of the training process itself. Forecast combinations of NN models have the potential for improved generalization and lower training time. A weighted averaging based on Variance-Covariance method that assigns greater weight to the forecasts producing lower error, instead of equal weights is practiced in this paper. While implementing the method, combination of forecasts is done with all candidate models in one experiment and with the best selected models in another experiment. It is observed during the empirical analysis that forecasting accuracy is improved by combining the best individual NN models. Another finding of this study is that reducing the number of NN models increases the diversity and, hence, accuracy.

The effects of various binders and moisture content on pellet stability of research diets for freshwater crayfish

Two experiments were conducted to assess the water stability of a practical research diet manufactured with various binders and differing levels of moisture. In the first experiment the binders – agar, gelatine, carrageenan, and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) were included at both 3 and 5% of total ingredient weight. All binders were tested with equal ingredient weight to water volume, and additionally carrageenan was tested in a diet with double the water volume. The dry matter remaining following immersion for up to 180 min was calculated and the rate of pellet decay was modelled using the Weibull distribution. The analysis revealed that the rate of dry matter loss decreased with time, and that carrageenan and CMC binders were significantly better (P < 0.001) binders than the agar and gelatine. The 5% binder concentration slowed the decay rate by as much as 62% as compared with the 3% binder concentration. The second experiment compared the binding performance of carrageenan and sodium alginate in both 50% moisture and 10% moisture pellets. The same analysis revealed that 10% moisture alginate-bound pellets were more water stable than the others. A discussion of the use of moist diets for crayfish research is included.

Adaptive spike detection for resilient data stream mining

Automated adversarial detection systems can fail when under attack by adversaries. As part of a resilient data stream mining system to reduce the possibility of such failure, adaptive spike detection is attribute ranking and selection without class-labels. The first part of adaptive spike detection requires weighing all attributes for spiky-ness to rank them. The second part involves filtering some attributes with extreme weights to choose the best ones for computing each example’s suspicion score. Within an identity crime detection domain, adaptive spike detection is validated on a few million real credit applications with adversarial activity. The results are F-measure curves on eleven experiments and relative weights discussion on the best experiment. The results reinforce adaptive spike detection’s effectiveness for class-label-free attribute ranking and selection.

An investigation into the cross-cultural equivalence of the personal wellbeing index

The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) is being developed for the cross-cultural measurement of subjective wellbeing (SWB). This paper reports the findings of its utility with the Hong Kong Chinese and Australian populations. An item on affect, ‘satisfaction with own happiness’ was also investigated to determine whether it should be added to the index. Three-hundred and sixty participants (180 per country), with equal representation from groups aged 18–35, 35–64 and 65 years and above, were recruited from each country. The PWI demonstrated good psychometric performance in terms of its reliability, validity and sensitivity, which are comparable in both countries. The item ‘satisfaction with own happiness’ was found to contribute significantly to the scale’s psychometric performance in Australia but not in Hong Kong. Cultural differences in the perception of the concepts ‘satisfaction’ and ‘happiness’ were suggested as an explanation for this finding. The PWI data are also consistent with homeostasis theory, which proposes that each person’s SWB level is maintained within a limited positive range. For the Australian population, their mean SWB level fell within the established Western range of 70–80, on a scale from 0 to 100. The Hong Kong population, however, fell below this range. Cultural response bias was identified as a plausible explanation for the differences between the Hong Kong and Australian samples.

Immunostimulatory polysaccharides from Chlorella pyrenoidosa. A new galactofuranan. Measurement of molecular weight and molecular weight dispersion by DOSY NMR.

Fractionation of the hot water extract of Chlorella pyrenoidosa was performed using a combination of ethanol precipitation, size exclusion chromatography, and anion exchange chromatography. One fraction contained a new polysaccharide, and this compound was shown to be a 1→2-linked β-d-galactofuranan from its 1D and 2D 1H and 13C NMR spectra, with a molecular weight of 15 kDa from DOSY NMR measurements. A number of other fractions were shown to have the same repeating unit as the previously identified arabinogalactan. However, arabinogalactans from different fractions were shown by DOSY NMR to have different molecular weights, which ranged from 27 to 1020 kDa. Agreement with molecular weights measured for some of these fractions by SEC-MALS was very good, further confirming the relationship established by Viel et al. between molecular weights of neutral polysaccharides and self-diffusion coefficients. The smaller molecular weight polysaccharides, the galactofuranan and the 27 and 50 kDa arabinogalactans, were shown to be close to monodisperse by analysis of the distributions of the self-diffusion coefficients for the polymers. The larger arabinogalactans had considerable variation in their molecular weights (188 ± 109 kDa and 1020 ± 370 kDa). Only the two larger arabinogalactans showed immunostimulatory activity.

Sexual content induced delay : a re-examination investigating relation to sexual desire

This article reports the utility of an information processing approach to examine whether there is a relationship between sexual content induced delay and levels of sexual desire as determined by self-report questionnaires. We tested this idea using a partial replication of the J. H. Geer and H. S. Bellard (1996) protocol demonstrating sexual content induced delay (SCID) in responding to sexual versus neutral words. In addition, the experiment examined whether SCID was different in people with varying levels of sexual desire. It was hypothesized that persons with low levels of sexual desire might respond more slowly to sexual word cues than others. Words with equal frequency of usage and similar word length were chosen from among those used in the Geer and Bellard study. The experiment was conducted with 171 volunteers who completed sexual desire questionnaires, lexical decision making tasks, and word ratings. The SCID effect was demonstrated by both men and women in the study with no significant variation between the sexes. In accordance with prediction, it was found that persons with lower levels of sexual desire responded more slowly to sexual stimuli than other participants, and rated sexual words as less familiar, less acceptable, and less positive emotionally to them. These findings have implications for understanding how emotional content contributes to SCID. They also suggest that further exploration of these ideas, perhaps using other stimulus modalities, may be helpful in advancing understanding of responses to sexual cues, and the potential implications that may have in better understanding sexual desire.

New teachers, professional knowledge and educational reform in New Zealand

This thesis examines the professional knowledge of new secondary school teachers in New Zealand, their negotiation of multiple discourses encountered in policy and practice, and their processes of professional identity formation. It is also a study of policy reform. In New Zealand, as elsewhere, recent educational and social reforms have brought about major changes to the way education is managed and implemented. These reforms emphasise market ideologies promoting consumer choice and responsibility, while measuring and monitoring quality and effectiveness. At the same time, the reforms attempt to alleviate social inequality. Teachers' negotiation of an accountability culture and the dominant equity policies is a major focus of this study. The study draws upon group interviews held with nine new teachers during the first two years of their teaching careers. The group interviews were designed to elicit extended narratives from individual teachers, as well as promote more interactive dialogue and reflections within the groups. Because the interviews were conducted at different points in their early careers, the study also has a longitudinal element, allowing insight into how teachers' views are formed or changed during an intense period of professional learning. Analysis of the teachers' narratives is informed by poststructural and feminist understandings of identity and knowledge and by a methodological orientation to writing as a method of enquiry. The thesis develops three main types of discussion and sets of arguments. The first examines new teachers' negotiation of the 'macro' context of teacher knowledge formation that is, their negotiation of an educational policy environment that juxtaposes an equity agenda with accountability controls. In order to historically situate these dilemmas, the particular political, social and educational context of New Zealand is examined. It is argued that teachers negotiate competing political and conceptual debates about social justice, equity and difference, and that this negotiation is central to the formation of professional knowledge. The analysis illustrates ways in which teachers make sense of equity discourses in educational policy and practice, and the apparent contradictions that arise from placing tight accountability standards on schools and teachers to achieve associated equity goals. The second type of discussion focuses on teachers' negotiation of the 'micro' dimension of professional knowledge, looking closely at the processes and practices that form professional identity. Against stage or developmental models of teacher identity, it is argued that professional identity is formed in an ongoing, uneven and fluid manner and is socially and discursively situated/embedded. It is further argued that professional knowledge and identity are entwined and that this relationship is most usefully understood through analysis of the discursive practices that frame teachers' working lives and through which teachers work out who they are or should become and what and how they (should) think. This analysis contributes new perspectives to debates in teacher education about teacher preparation and the knowledge required of teachers in current 'new times'. The final cluster of arguments brings together these macro and micro aspects of professional knowledge and identity with a case study of how new teachers negotiated a recent educational reform of senior secondary school qualifications in New Zealand. This reform has had a significant impact on secondary schools and on the way teachers, and New Zealanders in general, think about education, achievement and success. It was found that this reform significantly challenged new teachers to question their beliefs about assessment and justice in education, and what counts as success. This case study draws attention to the tensions between equity, academic excellence and standards-based assessment, and contributes to understanding how teacher professional knowledge forms both in the context of a specific educational policy reform and in relation to educational reform in general. This study contributes new knowledge to the formation of teacher professional knowledge and identity in an educational climate of change in New Zealand. The findings offer new insights for teacher educators, policymakers and schools into how teachers build, shape and sustain professional knowledge; how they juggle contradictions between a desire for justice, policy imperatives and teacher education rhetoric; the self-constructed, but contingent nature of professional knowledge and identity; and the urgency to address identity formation as part of teacher education and to take account of the dynamic ways in which identities form. These matters need to be articulated in teacher education both pre-service and in-service in order to address teacher retention and satisfaction, and teachers' commitment to equity reform in education.

Bipolar missed states : the diagnosis and clinical salience of bipolar mixed states

Objective: To explore diagnostic and treatment issues concerning bipolar mixed states.

Method: Bipolar mixed states are described and concerns about diagnostic and treatment difficulties are summarized and discussed.

Result: Mixed states can present with equal admixtures of depressive or manic symptoms, or more commonly one component predominates. There is fair consensus, although little data, regarding the management of manic mixed states. However depressive mixed states are far more complex both in terms of recognition and management. People suffering from mixed states characteristically present with complaints of depression.

Conclusions: The boundaries between depressive mixed states and agitated depression are vague, yet carry substantial therapeutic implications. Bipolar mixed states are often difficult to treat, and tend to take much longer to settle than either pure mania or depression.  Furthermore there is data that treatment with antidepressants can worsen the course of mixed states. Hence missed diagnoses can potentially have negative clinical implications.  Therefore in this paper the clinical presentation, diagnosis and therapy of mixed states is reviewed with a view to improving management.

The interval between sexual encounters affects male courtship tactics in a desert-dwelling fish

Courtship displays are often important in determining male mating success but can also be costly. Thus, instead of courting females indiscriminately, males might be expected to adjust their signalling effort strategically. Theory, however, predicts that such adjustments should depend on the rate with which males encounter females, a prediction that has been subject to very little empirical testing. Here, we investigate the effects of female encounter rate on male courtship intensity by manipulating the time interval between sequential presentations of large (high quality) and small (low quality) females in a fish, the Australian desert goby Chlamydogobius eremius. Males that were presented with a small female immediately after a large female reduced their courtship intensity significantly. However, males courted large and small females with equal intensity if the interval between the sequential presentations was longer. Our results suggest that mate encounter rate is an important factor shaping male reproductive decisions and, consequently, the evolutionary potential of sexual selection.