Certain cyclically presented groups are infinite

We prove that the groups in two infinite families considered by Johnson, Kim and O'Brien are almost all infinite.

Television and cultural studies: Unfinished business

This introductory article argues that the current state of debate on television within cultural studies is marked by considerable areas of theoretical and political uncertainty. The spread of deregulatory and privatizing public policies in relation to television, and the disarticulation of television from the idea of the national community and from the role of the citizen, have posed new problems for theorizing the relation between television and its audiences. In this article I survey a number of key areas of debate: the relation between television, the nation and the state; television and the citizen/consumer, television content and performance, and the likely future(s) of television.

A decade of Taiwanese migration in Australia: Comparisons with Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong settlers

The arrival of Taiwanese migrants to Australia represents the second major wave of Chinese immigration to this nation. Many who entered Australia did so as business migrants. They were typically well educated, affluent professionals, managers, &/or entrepreneurs who were looking for new business opportunities as well as a lifestyle characterized by open space, clean air, a good education for their children, & personal & political safety. Yet, the settlement experiences of many Taiwanese migrants, despite their affluence & (business) skills, have been typified by stress & hardship, particularly in making adjustments in social, business, & economic relationships. A review of statistical data compiled from census & government reports in Australia has revealed that after a decade Down Under, the Taiwanese settler group was still characterized by high unemployment, even when compared to other Chinese migrant groups from Hong Kong & Mainland China. It is suggested that the Taiwanese migrants' persistent high nonparticipation in Australia's labor force is indicative & poignant of their highly distinctive, albeit not exclusive in the broader Chinese migrant terms, experience of migration settlement. There seems to be an increasing number of Taiwanese settlers returning to resettle in Taiwan in recent years, because of perceived better employment & business opportunities or for family & personal reasons. Recent interviews with Taiwanese settlers have also suggested that the most recent arrivals, being more aware of the obstacles in achieving work or business satisfaction during settlement, seem less likely to commit themselves to lifelong settlement in Australia. 16 Tables, 1 Figure, 37 References. Adapted from the source document.

Resolution of natural groups using iterative assignment tests: an example from two species of Australian native rats (Rattus)

Sympatric individuals of Rattus fuscipes and Rattus leucopus, two Australian native rats from the tropical wet forests of north Queensland, are difficult to distinguish morphologically and are often confused in the field. When we started a study on fine-scale movements of these species, using microsatellite markers, we found that the species as identified in the field did not form coherent genetic groups. In this study, we examined the potential of an iterative process of genetic assignment to separate specimens from distinct (e.g. species, populations) natural groups. Five loci with extensive overlap in allele distributions between species were used for the iterative process. Samples were randomly distributed into two starting groups of equal size and then subjected to the test. At each iteration, misassigned samples switched groups, and the output groups from a given round of assignment formed the input groups for the next round. All samples were assigned correctly on the 10th iteration, in which two genetic groups were clearly separated. Mitochondrial DNA sequences were obtained from samples from each genetic group identified by assignment, together with those of museum voucher specimens, to assess which species corresponded to which genetic group. The iterative procedure was also used to resolve groups within species, adequately separating the genetically identified R. leucopus from our two sampling sites. These results show that the iterative assignment process can correctly differentiate samples into their appropriate natural groups when diagnostic genetic markers are not available, which allowed us to resolve accurately the two R. leucopus and R. fuscipes species. Our approach provides an analytical tool that may be applicable to a broad variety of situations where genetic groups need to be resolved.

Advances in application of climate prediction in agriculture

Agricultural ecosystems and their associated business and government systems are diverse and varied. They range from farms, to input supply businesses, to marketing and government policy systems, among others. These systems are dynamic and responsive to fluctuations in climate. Skill in climate prediction offers considerable opportunities to managers via its potential to realise system improvements (i.e. increased food production and profit and/or reduced risks). Realising these opportunities, however, is not straightforward as the forecasting skill is imperfect and approaches to applying the existing skill to management issues have not been developed and tested extensively. While there has been much written about impacts of climate variability, there has been relatively little done in relation to applying knowledge of climate predictions to modify actions ahead of likely impacts. However, a considerable body of effort in various parts of the world is now being focused on this issue of applying climate predictions to improve agricultural systems. In this paper, we outline the basis for climate prediction, with emphasis on the El Nino-Southern Oscillation phenomenon, and catalogue experiences at field, national and global scales in applying climate predictions to agriculture. These diverse experiences are synthesised to derive general lessons about approaches to applying climate prediction in agriculture. The case studies have been selected to represent a diversity of agricultural systems and scales of operation. They also represent the on-going activities of some of the key research and development groups in this field around the world. The case studies include applications at field/farm scale to dryland cropping systems in Australia, Zimbabwe, and Argentina. This spectrum covers resource-rich and resource-poor farming with motivations ranging from profit to food security. At national and global scale we consider possible applications of climate prediction in commodity forecasting (wheat in Australia) and examine implications on global wheat trade and price associated with global consequences of climate prediction. In cataloguing these experiences we note some general lessons. Foremost is the value of an interdisciplinary systems approach in connecting disciplinary Knowledge in a manner most suited to decision-makers. This approach often includes scenario analysis based oil simulation with credible models as a key aspect of the learning process. Interaction among researchers, analysts and decision-makers is vital in the development of effective applications all of the players learn. Issues associated with balance between information demand and supply as well as appreciation of awareness limitations of decision-makers, analysts, and scientists are highlighted. It is argued that understanding and communicating decision risks is one of the keys to successful applications of climate prediction. We consider that advances of the future will be made by better connecting agricultural scientists and practitioners with the science of climate prediction. Professions involved in decision making must take a proactive role in the development of climate forecasts if the design and use of climate predictions are to reach their full potential. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age-related lifecycles - Purpose variations

By describing and discussing Australian data on outbound tourism, this paper investigates the bimodal (double peaked) lifecycle pattern predicted and observed in the literature. These theories are primarily based on demand for holiday tourism, but tourists do not just go overseas for this purpose, with visiting friends and relatives, business, convention and conference, employment and educational tourism relevant purposes also. Trips overseas by Australians are split into these groups, enabling the age-related lifecycles of each to be examined separately. Unlike holiday tourism, all other purposes are unimodal, although they vary with respect to the age groups at which they peak and their relative positions.

Reliability factors in business software: volatility, requirements and end-users

Many business-oriented software applications are subject to frequent changes in requirements. This paper shows that, ceteris paribus, increases in the volatility of system requirements decrease the reliability of software. Further, systems that exhibit high volatility during the development phase are likely to have lower reliability during their operational phase. In addition to the typically higher volatility of requirements, end-users who specify the requirements of business-oriented systems are usually less technically oriented than people who specify the requirements of compilers, radar tracking systems or medical equipment. Hence, the characteristics of software reliability problems for business-oriented systems are likely to differ significantly from those of more technically oriented systems.

Resolving the puzzle of productive and destructive conflict in culturally heterogeneous workgroups: A communication accommodation theory approach

This study presents an investigation of the communicative behaviors and strategies employed in the stimulation and management of productive and destructive conflict in culturally heterogeneous workgroups. Using communication accommodation theory (CAT), we argue that the type and course of conflict in culturally heterogeneous workgroups is impacted by the communicative behaviors and strategies employed by group members during interactions. Analysis of data from participant observations, non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and self-report questionnaires support CA T-based predictions and provide fresh insights into the triggers and management strategies associated with conflict in culturally heterogeneous workgroups. In particular, results indicated that the more groups used discourse management Strategies, the more they experienced productive conflict. In addition, the use of explanation and checking of own and others' understanding was a major feature of productive conflict, while speech interruptions emerged as a strategy leading to potential destructive conflict. Groups where leaders emerged and assisted in reversing communication breakdowns were better able to manage their discourse, and achieved consensus On task processes. Contributions to the understanding of the triggers and the management of productive conflict in culturally heterogeneous workgroups are discussed.

Efficient simple groups

We prove that the simple group L-3(5) which has order 372000 is efficient by providing an efficient presentation for it. This leaves one simple group with order less than one million, S-4(4) which has order 979200, whose efficiency or otherwise remains to be determined.