ABC online : a vortal for new opportunities?

This article undertakes an analysis of the ABCs website, ABC Online -- www. abc.net.au -- to explore how the public broadcaster uses the Internet to offer new services. While recognising that the ABC aims to enhance its traditional radio and television services using the Internet, the article establishes the extent to which ABC Online also provides innovative, original, and interactive new services, including those with no connection to traditional radio and television programs, as is often demanded by audiences. This article examines the capacity for ABC Online to develop a unique and distinctive role via the Internet through the potential to offer novel and interactive content and services.

Networking of Multimedia Women Event : beyond epsilon science - "where to look and how to realize new opportunities"

"Networking of Multimedia Women" event is a continuation of an on-going conversation in the multimedia research community and efforts by the ACM SIGMM to engage and promote female researchers in multimedia community, enable networking of junior and senior female researchers, and give insights towards successful professional careers based on examples. This year, the event will have a theme, called "Beyond Epsilon Science", where preeminent senior female researchers from academia, industry and government, Svetha Venkatesh, Nalini Venkatasubramanian, Dulce Ponceleon, Susanne Boll, and Maria Zemankova will present and discuss how to go beyond epsilon science, where to look for big ideas with high social impact, as well as how to obtain funding to realize these ideas, innovations and opportunities. Their current research projects and funding efforts, and their personal experiences will drive the event's discussions, awareness of major research and funding initiatives, answers to open questions and insights into successful professional careers.

Old challenges and new opportunities for the MDGs : now and beyond 2015

As we approach the 2015 date by which the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved, there is increasing scrutiny as to the progress towards their achievement. The MDGs were intended to be global targets and not necessarily to be assessed at the country level. In other words, countries were to contribute to the global targets but not be held to account against them, as they were originally conceived. In practice though, countries are assessed against the global MDG targets. It is appropriate that continuing interest be paid to the achievement of the MDGs, however it is also necessary that the global community now start to turn its attention to what framework for addressing the world's development needs beyond the MDG timeframe following 2015. The ‘poverty landscape’ has changed significantly in the last decade – partly as a result of the international community's focus on the MDGs – and so it is necessary that a new approach to poverty alleviation reflect this changed reality. This paper introduces a range of papers presented at an international conference on the MDGs that critically analyse the current MDGs and pose questions as to how should we follow the MDGs beyond 2015.

The Wool ComfortMeter and the Wool HandleMeter, new opportunities for wool

Two instruments have been developed by the Sheep CRC that provide the tools for a new standard in comfort and handle for the next generation of next-to-skin wool knitwear. The Wool ComfortMeter and Wool HandleMeter provide a rapid, accurate and objective measure of two important characteristics of wool knitwear that are currently determined by subjective assessment. The Wool HandleMeter allows the prediction of a set of handle attribute values that can quantify the hand feel of a lightweight jersey fabric. The instrument uses the principle of pushing a fabric sample through a ring. The force displacement curve associated with the fabric test is characterised and used to define each fabric. These values were then compared to the average handle values, as determined by a group of experts, of a large set of lightweight knitted fabrics. Algorithms were developed that enable the instrument to more accurately predict each of seven handle attributes than an individual expert. The Wool ComfortMeter provides a measure of the fibres that are protruding from the surface of the fabric that are responsible for the itchy sensation caused by some knitwear. The results from the instrument have been compared to the results from extensive wearer trials to provide an understanding of the relationship between the instrument value and the comfort perceptions of wearers. The results have shown a very clear relationship between the instrument and wearer trials.

New opportunities for occupational therapy through the occupation of contemporary pilgrimage

Twenty-first century pilgrimage is a journey of great personal significance not limited to traditional religiosity. The transformative potential of this diverse and evolving occupation is increasingly evidence based. This opinion piece explores the definition of contemporary pilgrimage and underlines the relevance of this occupation to occupational therapists and their clients. The exceptional accessibility of contemporary pilgrimage is described, suggesting limitless opportunities for the use of pilgrimage as a therapeutic tool. Interdisciplinary examples of promoting wellbeing through contemporary pilgrimage are then presented. This opinion piece seeks to inspire a local response to this global phenomenon.

New opportunities for quantitative and time efficient 3D MRI of liquid and solid electrochemical cell components: Sectoral Fast Spin Echo and SPRITE.

The ability to image electrochemical processes in situ using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers exciting possibilities for understanding and optimizing materials in batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors. In these applications, however, the quality of the MRI measurement is inherently limited by the presence of conductive elements in the cell or device. To overcome related difficulties, optimal methodologies have to be employed. We show that time-efficient three dimensional (3D) imaging of liquid and solid lithium battery components can be performed by Sectoral Fast Spin Echo and Single Point Imaging with T1 Enhancement (SPRITE), respectively. The former method is based on the generalized phase encoding concept employed in clinical MRI, which we have adapted and optimized for materials science and electrochemistry applications. Hard radio frequency pulses, short echo spacing and centrically ordered sectoral phase encoding ensure accurate and time-efficient full volume imaging. Mapping of density, diffusivity and relaxation time constants in metal-containing liquid electrolytes is demonstrated. 1, 2 and 3D SPRITE approaches show strong potential for rapid high resolution (7)Li MRI of lithium electrode components.

Durability in concrete : new instruments : new opportunities

New infrastructure, particularly in the developing countries, demands substantial capital investment and a loss of durability of the concrete means a waste of oportunity. Improving durability of concrete structures is a non-trivial task. The durability of concrete has been related to its ability to resist the transport of water and the potentail imporvements to concrete durability using supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) has been well documented. With access to neutron and synchrotron facilities it has become possible to; (a) measure the ability of SCM to inhibit transport of water in concrete (b) measure particle size increase of hydrating cements (with and without SCM) by ultra-small angle neutron scattering (c) use neutron tomography combined with x-ray tomography to determine the three dimensional flaws in the structure of concretes that enable water ingress into structures, and (d) determine the amount of curing or degree of hydration on the durability of SCM/OPC blends. This review will detail preliminary results on cement and concrete obtained using the newly available neutron, synchrotron and other facilities in Australia and Brazil and highlights their ability to estimate factors which determine the service life of concrete

The professionalisation of Australian women's cricket: new times and new opportunities

When the Australian Women’s Cricket Team defeated the West Indies in 2013, to win their 5th World Cup from eight attempts, they reaffirmed their status as one of Australia’s most successful international teams. Victory in the 2015 Ashes series, in England, further reinforced their pre-eminent world status. During this time, significant changes also occurred off the field. Cricket Australia introduced pay increases of up to 150% for international and state level players. The sustained success of the national team is attributed to the rapid growth of participation in women’s cricket (up 18% 2013 - 2014), a trend that has resulted in females making up almost 25% of all cricket participants across Australia. On face value, the burgeoning profile of women’s cricket across Australia is cause for celebration. It is against this backdrop that Cricket Australia faces a range of enduring and emerging issues in the provision and promotion of the women’s game. With so many changes and adaptations occurring across the game, we chose to limit the focus of this research to the elite level. Among the enduring issues that are understood at this level are persistently high attrition rates amongst elite and aspiring players and large age differences across teams and squads. A further point of difference in the men’s and women’s games is that female teams are largely supervised by male coaches and support staff.

The Strategic outsourcing Decision of IT and eCommerce: The Case of Small Businesses in New Zealand

In New Zealand, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in the economy by their contribution to both employment and gross domestic product. Addressing issues pertinent to SMEs is of paramount importance in driving this sector forward. Information Technology (IT) emerges as one main enabler for SMEs in automating their operations, seeking new opportunities and enhancing their strategic business positioning in local and international markets. However, the inability of SMEs to handle the dynamic nature of IT due to problems inherent in their size, structure and resources, makes it difficult for them to take appropriate decisions to benefit from the IT technologies. The advent of eCommerce (EC) has only compounded this problem. One way out of this complex situation is to outsource the IT and EC technology requirements by the SMEs. This study endeavours to identify the pattern of IT and EC outsourcing issues of SMEs within New Zealand. This research attempts to identify the main driver for IT/EC outsourcing in SMEs as well as to explore the problems of IT outsourcing and makes suggestions for further research in this crucial sector.

IT and ecommerce outsourcing in small to medium-size enterprises in New Zealand : an exploratory research

In New Zealand, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a very important role in the economy by their contribution to both employment and also to gross domestic product. Addressing issues pertinent to SMEs is of paramount importance in driving this sector forward. Information Technology (IT) emerges as one main enabler for SMEs in automating their operations, seeking new opportunities and enhancing their strategic business positioning in local and international markets. However, the dynamic nature of IT and inability of SMEs, due to problems inherent in their size and structure, makes it difficult for them to take appropriate decisions to benefit from the IT technologies. The advent of eCommerce (EC) has only compounded this problem. One way out of this complex situation is to outsource the IT and EC technology requirements by the SMEs. This study endeavours to identify the pattern of IT and EC outsourcing issues of SMEs within New Zealand. It reveals that the main driver for IT outsourcing is access to expertise and used mainly for maintenance purposes only. The study also identifies the problems in IT outsourcing and makes suggestions for further research in this crucial sector.

Real footballers don`t eat quiche: old narratives in new times

In this article, the authors examine the way that sport acts as a contradictory and complex medium for masculinity making. The analysis illustrates the way that many discourses now unite in a cybernetic mix that offers both new opportunities and presents complex challenges for educators, coaches, and administrators. The method used combines a number of strategies and narratives pitched at the local, national, and international levels. The analysis is grounded in the game of football, although it is argued that the issues raised translate to other settings. At the same time, the authors demonstrate that large-scale, macro level analyses miss an important force working within the dynamics of masculinity making and sport, namely, peer group power. The analysis concludes with insights from a junior coach who has consciously "worked" the peer group dynamics to foster a strong sense of personal and group responsibility.

Global education : travel and new imaginaries for teachers' work

This workshop reports on Learning across Latitude - a trans-national collaborative project that joined teacher education students from Australia, Denmark and Malaysia. The project offered a unique opportunity for students to explore concepts and dialogue with their teacher education peers in three countries. Over a two week period, 116 students in 13 forums posted 365 messages into a forum space hosted by Deakin University. 
During week 1, students introduced themselves to each other and discussed their reasons to become teachers, qualities of a good teacher and the issues facing teaching in their country. Because many students life experiences are local in experience such a project expands notions of being a teacher in a global world. Student’s responses to qualities of a good teacher were analysed to build knowledge of global teacher identities.
During week 2 students discussed what it means to be a good citizen in their country. How is citizenship as a concept explained across three countries? In the virtual discussions for Malaysian and Danish students, English was a second language. These forums opened new awareness for all students of the challenges of conversing with English as second language students.
This project illustrated that the changing contexts of education and globalisation means new opportunities and challenges for teacher education at local and global levels. Implications from Learning across Latitudes suggest possibilities for teacher education to build global citizenship, and teacher identities as technology enables such possibilities.

New girl heroes : the rise of popular feminist commentators in an era of sexualisation

The level of public interest in what has variously been called ‘raunch culture’, ‘pornification’ or more broadly ‘sexualisation’ of culture, has created new opportunities for enterprising women. In recent years, a number of immensely popular books have emerged raising concerns about girls and sexualisation by female authors across Western nations such as the USA, Australia and the UK. Here, I explore the media work of two prominent Australian media commentators on girls and sexualisation, Melinda Tankard Reist and Dannielle Miller. I explore how, in their educative work designed to empower girls and free them from the stifling, damaging aspects of sexualised popular culture, these commentators may be citing and performing other normative dimensions of contemporary young femininity that go unremarked upon and are thus reinscribed as normal and expected.