Nineteenth meeting of national customs directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal

First meeting on European soil. The Nineteenth Meeting of National Customs Directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal was held in Palma, Mallorca, Spain, from 2 to 6 November 1998. The opening session stressed the importance of this being the first meeting held on European soil, and members were urged to pool their efforts to develop closer cooperative ties between the region's customs services.

Seventeenth meeting of national customs directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal

The seventeenth Meeting of National Customs Directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal was held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia from 27 to 31 January 1997. The meeting was attended by representatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela. Observers from Australia, France, Japan and the United States were also present. Representatives of the following international organizations also attended the meeting: Association of Customs Agents of Uruguay, International Association of Professional Customs Agents (ASAPRA), Latin American Integration Organization (LAIA), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Latin American Convention of Courier Enterprises (CLADEC), Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE), Board of the Cartagena Agreement (JUNAC), Organization of American States (OAS), World Customs Organization (WCO), and Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (PUASP).

Twentieth meeting of national customs directors of Latin America, Portugal and Spain

The twentieth Meeting of National Customs Directors of Latin America, Spain and Portugal was held from 26 to 29 October 1999 in Cancún, Quinta Roo, Mexico. Working groups discussed issues relating to control, harmonization of customs procedures, strategic alliances for combating commercial fraud, integrity and the impact of the year 2000 computer problem on customs services. At the plenary meeting of this session, agreement was reached on 30 points.Uruguay, headquarters for the twenty-first meeting: The delegation of Uruguay's offer to host the twenty-first meeting in October 2000 was accepted.

Modern Gulliver's travels. Lilliput: being a new journey to that celebrated island. Containing a faithful account of the manners, character, customs, religion, laws, politics, revenue, taxes, learning, general progress in arts and sciences, dress, amusements, and gallantry of those famous little people. From the year 1702, when they were first discovered and visited by Captain Lemuel Gulliver, the father of the compiler of this work, to the present aera 1796.

Cf. Teerink, H. A bibliography of the writings of Jonathan Swift. 2d ed. Philadelphia [1963], p. 250.

The mythology and rites of the British druids, ascertained by national documents; and compared with the general traditions and customs of heathenism, as illustrated by the most eminent antiquaries of our age. With an appendix, containing ancient poems and extracts, with some remarks on ancient British coins ...

Index to the author's Celtic researches: 6 p. at end.

Popular antiquities of Great Britain. Faiths and folklore; a dictionary of national beliefs, superstitions and popular customs, past and current, with their classical and foreign analogues described and illustrated.

Mode of access: Internet.

Union membership, dues, initiation fees, per capita taxes, and per capita revenue of 191 unions with a declared membership of 18,363,692.

Tables.

Reconnaissance of Noatak National Preserve and biosphere reserve as a potential site for inclusion in the integrated global background monitoring network /

"June 1986."

Effect of self-monitoring and national culture on follower perceptions of personal charisma and charismatic message

In this paper, a theory of charismatic relationships is examined with reference to the follower's personal characteristics. It is argued that a leader's charismatic message and personal charisma occupy different roles for individuals who vary in national culture and level of self-monitoring. In an empirical test of the theory, 387 undergraduates of Chinese and Australian cultural backgrounds completed self-monitoring and charismatic leadership instruments. High self-monitors placed more importance on personal charisma than the charismatic message. Chinese participants relied more than the Australians on the charismatic message, although this preference depended on self-monitoring orientation. These results indicate the influence of both individual-and cultural-level variables on leader-member relationships, and the need to consider these effects in future developments of a theory of charismatic leadership.

Alcohol- and drug-use disorders in Australia: implications of the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Objective: This study reports the prevalence and correlates of ICD-10 alcohol- and drug-use disorders in the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) and discusses their implications for treatment. Method: The NSMHWB was a nationally representative household survey of 10 641 Australian adults that assessed participants for symptoms of the most prevalent ICD-10 and DSM-IV mental disorders, including alcohol- and drug-use disorders. Results: In the past 12 months 6.5% of Australian adults met criteria for an ICD-10 alcohol-use disorder and 2.2% had another ICD-10 drug-use disorder. Men were at higher risk than women of developing alcohol- and drug-use disorders and the prevalence of both disorders decreased with increasing age. There were high rates of comorbidity between alcohol- and other drug-use disorders and mental disorders and low rates of treatment seeking. Conclusions: Alcohol-use disorders are a major mental health and public health issue in Australia. Drug-use disorders are less common than alcohol-use disorders, but still affect a substantial minority of Australian adults. Treatment seeking among persons with alcohol- and other drug-use disorders is low. A range of public health strategies (including improved specialist treatment services) are needed to reduce the prevalence of these disorders.

Perceived need for mental health care, findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being

Background. The Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-being was designed to detect and describe psychiatric morbidity, associated disability, service use and perceived need for care. The survey employed a single-phase interview methodology, delivering a field questionnaire to a clustered probability sample of 10641 Australians. Perceived need was sampled with an instrument designed for this survey, the Perceived Need for Care Questionnaire (PNCQ). This questionnaire gathers information about five categories of perceived need, assigning each to one of four levels of perceived need. Reliability and validity studies showed satisfactory performance of the instrument. Methods. Perceived need for mental health care in the Australian population has been analysed using PNCQ data, relating this to diagnostic and service utilization data from the above survey. Results. The survey findings indicate that an estimated 13.8 % of the Australian population have perceived need for mental health care. Those who met interview criteria for a psychiatric diagnosis and also expressed perceived need make up 9.9 % of the population. An estimated 11.0% of the population are cases of untreated prevalence, a minority (3.6% of the population) of whom expressed perceived need for mental health care. Among persons using services, those without a psychiatric diagnosis based on interview criteria (4.4% of the population), showed high levels of perceived met need. Conclusions. The overall rate of perceived need found by this methodology lies between those found in the USA and Canada. The findings suggest that service use in the absence of diagnosis elicited by survey questionnaires may often represent successful intervention. In the survey, untreated prevalence was commonly not accompanied by perceived need for mental health care.

Personality disorders in the community: a report from the Australian national survey of mental health and wellbeing

Background: The first set of aims of the present study was to determine the prevalence of personality disorders (PDs) in a nation, and gender differences in the types and numbers of PDs endorsed. The second set of aims was to establish the relationship of PD to other, non-PD disorders, physical conditions, and disability. Method: Data were obtained from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, conducted between May and August 1997. A stratified random sample of households was generated, from which all those aged 18 or over were considered potential interviewees. There were 10,641 respondents to the survey, and this represented a response rate of 78%. Each interviewee was asked 59 questions indexing specific ICD-10 PD criteria. Results: Of the total survey sample, 704 persons had at least one PD. Using weighted replicate weights, it was estimated that approximately 6.5% of the adult population of Australia have one or more PDs (lifetime prevalence). Persons with PD were more likely to be younger, male, and not married, and to have an anxiety disorder, an affective disorder, a substance use disorder, or a physical condition. They were also more likely to have greater disability than those without PD. Conclusion: The study is the first nationwide survey of mental disorders conducted within Australia. It provides an estimate of the prevalence of the various types of PD. The survey has considerable limitations, however, and these are discussed.