Digital Commons Network^™

Ambient Facile Synthesis Of Gram-Scale Copper Selenide Nanostructures From Commercial Copper And Selenium Powder, Xinqi Chen, Zhen Li, S X. Dou

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

Grams of copper selenides (Cu_2-xSe) were prepared from commercial copper and selenium powders in the presence of thiol ligands by a one-pot reaction at room temperature. The resultant copper selenides are a mixture of nanoparticles and their assembled nanosheets, and the thickness of nanosheets assembled is strongly dependent on the ratio of thiol ligand to selenium powder. The resultant Cu_2-xSe (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.25) nanostructures were treated with hydrazine solution to remove the surface ligands and then explored as a potential thermoelectric candidate in comparison with commercial copper selenide powders. The research provides a novel …

Decompression Wave Speed In Co2 Mixtures: Cfd Modelling With The Gerg-2008 Equation Of State, Alhoush Elshahomi, Cheng Lu, Guillaume Michal, Xiong Liu, Ajit R. Godbole, Phillip Venton

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The development of CO2 pipelines for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) raises new questions regarding the control of ductile fracture propagation and fracture arrest toughness criteria. The decompression behaviour in the fluid must be determined accurately in order to estimate the proper pipe toughness. However, anthropogenic CO2 may contain impurities that can modify the fluid decompression characteristics quite significantly. To determine the decompression wave speed in CO2 mixtures, the thermodynamic properties of these mixtures must be determined by using an accurate equation of state. In this paper we present a new decompression model developed using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) …

Uow Outlook, University Of Wollongong

Wollongong Outlook: The University Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Continuity Of Mammalian Fauna Over The Last 200,000 Y In The Indian Subcontinent, Patrick Roberts, Eric Delson, Preston Miracle, Peter Ditchfield, Richard G. Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, James Blinkhorn, Russell L. Ciochon, John G. Fleagle, Stephen R. Frost, Christopher C. Gilbert, Greg F. Gunnell, Terry Harrison, Ravi Korisettar, Michael D. Petraglia

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Mammalian extinction worldwide during the Late Pleistocene has been a major focus for Quaternary biochronology and paleoecology. These extinctions have been variably attributed to the impacts of climate change and human interference. However, until relatively recently, research has been largely restricted to the Americas, Europe, and Australasia. We present the oldest Middle-Late Pleistocene stratified and numerically dated faunal succession for the Indian subcontinent from the Billasurgam cave complex. Our data demonstrate continuity of 20 of 21 identified mammalian taxa from at least 100,000 y ago to the present, and in some cases up to 200,000 y ago. Comparison of this …

The Contribution Of Australian Academia To The World’S Best Economics Research: 2001-2010, Joan Rodgers, Frank Neri

Faculty of Business - Economics Working Papers

This paper investigates the output of top-tier economics research by Australian academic economists from 2001 to 2010. By constructing and analysing a unique database of all substantive publications in the world’s top 45 economics journals, we compare Australia’s output with those of over 100 other countries, determine whether Australia’s output has increased since 2001, and rank Australian universities based on their output. Our analysis suggest that Australia’s output of top-tier economics research, both in absolute and relative terms, increased over the study period and that on a per capita basis, appears to be converging to the levels of the most …

Book Review: Hugh Jackson: Australians And The Christian God: An Historical Study, Josip Matesic

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Hugh Jackson’s Australians and the Christian God is a valuable first attempt to articulate the historical relationship of Australians to the Christian God. Although this book contains some discussions that may serve to stimulate further investigation, its major shortcoming is that it is simply too short and therefore covers its subject matter only superficially.

Keynote Address At 'The 7th Apb Theatre School Directors Conference & Theatre Festival', Janys Hayes

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

To The Shanghai Theatre Academy, The Directors of the Asia Pacific Bureau, To UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute, and all the students participating in this APB Theatre Schools’ Festival. Welcome. NI How!

I am honoured to address this widely experienced company of theatre exponents here today.

Thank you to the APB for inviting us from the University of Wollongong to participate in this year’s Festival. (Wollongong by the way is an indigenous name that means ‘the sound of the sea’).

Ion Radiography As A Tool For Patient Set-Up & Image Guided Particle Therapy: A Monte Carlo Study, Nicolas Depauw, Marta F. Dias, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, Joao C. Seco

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This study investigate the use of ion radiography as a tool for patient set-up and tumor tracking capabilities for image guided particle therapy (IGPT) using Monte Carlo simulations. One pediatric, two lung and one liver cancer patients were considered in this study. For each patient, 230 and 330 MeV proton, and 500 MeV/nucleon carbon ion pencil beams were simulated through their computed tomography (CT) data set using GEANT4.9.0. Energy, position and direction cosines of each particle were recorded in front and behind the patient. Ion radiographs were subsequently reconstructed using a dedicated in-house software. The image quality was assessed by …

Breaking The Link Between Legal Access To Alcohol And Motor Vehicle Accidents: Evidence From New South Wales, Jason Lindo, Peter Siminski, Oleg Yerokhin

Faculty of Business - Economics Working Papers

A large literature has documented signficant public health benefits associated with the minimum legal drinking age in the United States, particularly because of the resulting effects on motor vehicle accidents. These benefits form the primary basis for continued efforts to restrict youth access to alcohol. It is important to keep in mind, though, that policymakers have a wide variety of alcohol-control options available to them, and understanding how these policies may complement or substitute for one another can improve policy making moving forward. Towards this end, we propose that investigating the causal effects of the minimum legal drinking age in …

Pete Seeger: A Life Of Song, And The Power Of ‘We’, Anthony Ashbolt

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

We Shall Overcome became the theme song of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s. It is most identified with Pete Seeger, the great American musician who died January 27.

Yet as Arlo Guthrie put it this week: “Of course he passed away. But that doesn’t mean he’s gone."

Model For Acid-Mediated Tumour Invasion With Chemotherapy Intervention I: Spatially Homogeneous Populations, Andrew Brett Holder, Marianito R. Rodrigo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

The acid-mediation hypothesis, that is, the hypothesis that acid produced by tumours, as a result of aerobic glycolysis, provides a mechanism for invasion, has so far been considered as a relatively closed system. The focus has mainly been on the dynamics of the tumour, normal-tissue, acid and possibly some other bodily components, without considering the effect of an external intervention such as a cytotoxic treatment. This article aims to examine the effect that a cytotoxic treatment has on a tumour growing under the acid-mediation hypothesis by using a simple set of ordinary differential equations that consider the interaction between normal-tissue, …

Implications Of Ownership Identity And Insider's Supremacy On The Economic Performance Of The Listed Companies, Qaiser Rafique Yasser, Abdullah Al Mamun

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We adopt a multi-theoretic approach to investigate a previously unexplored phenomenon in extant literature, namely the differential impact of ownership identity and director dominate shareholding on the performance of emerging market firms. The main research question addressed is, whether the impact of this relationship is conditional on the identity of the block investor. First, the relationship between overall block ownership and firm performance is tested by employing multiple regressions on 500 firm-year observations for the period from 2007 to 2011. Then, the block ownership is classified as the state, individuals, insiders, financial institutions, corporate and foreign investors and the influence …

Ceo Duality Structure And Firm Performance In Pakistan, Qaiser Rafique Yasser, Abdullah Al Mamun, Abdul Suriya

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article examines the impact of CEO duality on firm performance; which attracted much attention, especially in emerging economies, yet yielded several inconsistent empirical results. CEO duality exists when the offices of the CEO and Chairman are retained by the same person. This study examines the relationship between CEO duality and the performance of Pakistani public listed companies by using a sample of five years, from 2007 to 2011. This study tested the hypotheses with data obtained from the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 indexed firms, and employed the agency and stewardship theory perspectives. However, our empirical results do not show …

The Impact Of Demographic Factors On Tax Compliance Attitude And Behavior In Malaysia, Abdullah Al Mamun, Harry Entebang, Shazali Abu Mansor, Qaiser Rafique Yasser, Thurai Murugan Nathan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This research explored the existence of differences in the impact of demographic factors on tax compliance attitude and behavior in Johor Bahru, Johor. The sample for the preliminary study is small which 92 respondents only and thus the optimum of the results is limited. The result of this investigation shows the ignorance of taw law among taxpayers in Johor Bahru, Johor may be a significant concern to the Government. Majority of the respondents agree that cash received for work dine is taxable but view bartering goods with a friend and not reporting it, though illegal, on their tax return as …

The Science Of Attracting Foster Carers, Melanie Randle, Leonie Miller, Sara Dolnicar, Joseph Ciarrochi

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Across the world the number of children needing a foster home is increasing; however, the number of individuals willing to foster a child is decreasing. It is therefore critical to gain insight into the barriers preventing people from fostering a child. Using data from a 2009 survey of 756 Australians, combinations of barriers are investigated by conducting a posteriori segmentation analysis within the market of potential foster carers. Four segments are identified and profiled to determined significant differences in terms of psychological and socio-demographic characteristics. Findings, including the fact that almost one-third of respondents indicated that they had not considered …

Tourism Marketing Communications On A Chinese Social Media Platform, Jing Ge

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Social media have become important communicative platforms for tourism marketers but it is not clear if and how the communicative language of marketerto- consumer is different from consumer-to-consumer. Given the enormous growth of both tourism and social media in China, this paper focuses on patterns in language use by the Chinese tourism marketers on Weibo. Using systemic semiotic approach, it selects and investigates two corpora of communication on Weibo - tourism to consumer and consumer to consumer. This study expects to provide the firm understanding and categorize the patterns in the language used by Chinese social media marketers so that …

Do Smart Phones Bring Us Closer? A Family Life And Vacation Perspective, Heather Kennedy-Eden

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Relationships developed in families are crucial because these bonds play an integral part in learning how to function and interact in society. In the past, these bonds were strengthened by spending leisure time together as a family but now smart phone technology provides opportunities for individual entertainment, connecting on social media, and spending time physically together while being emotionally separated. This research looks at this issue from a systems theory perspective, conceptualizing families as open, self-regulating social systems with the smart phone being a technical system within the family system. The smart phone acts as a conduit between immediate family …

Can A Carbon Tax Be Effective Without A Grand Coalition?, Amnon Levy

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper analyzes an interaction between a carbon-tax collecting and investing coalition of rich countries, abstaining rich countries and poor countries. The non-coalition countries may suffer from loss of reputation and guilt and may overstate the emission-moderating effect of the carbon tax. As long as these three types of countries react to their counterparts' emissions, taxing carbon-dioxide emissions unilaterally does not necessarily reduce the global emissions. Nor does it necessarily moderate the emissions of the coalition.

A Psychological Profile Of Potential Youth Mentor Volunteers, Melanie Randle, Leonie Miller, Joseph Ciarrochi, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Mentoring programs rely on adult volunteers to offer disadvantaged children friendship, role modeling, and insight into the way others relate. However, with the increasing numbers of children requiring mentors, programs are finding it difficult to attract enough volunteers. This study investigates (a) community awareness of an Australian youth mentoring program, (b) the proportion of the population who would consider becoming a mentor in future, and (c) whether those who would consider it differ significantly in their psychological characteristics. While awareness of the program is low, consideration of mentoring is relatively high. Those who would consider volunteering for the program have …

In War As Well As In Peace: From The Displacement Effect To Incrementalism In Public Expenditures, Giuseppe Eusepi, Edgar Wilson

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

The paper will study the trend in public expenditure starting from the Peacock and Wiseman (1961)'s contribution known as displacement effect. In our view, the notion of displacement effect is important not for its capability to capture essentials in the mechanisms governing taxing and spending areas in public economy, but rather for what it does not explain: incrementalism in public expenditure. According to Peacock and Wiseman, wars allow governments to drastically increase expenditure without constraining government to go back to the pre-war levels once the war is over. Our main point is that the unbridled increase in public expenditure during …

Do Venture Capitalists Play A Monitoring Role In An Emerging Market? Evidence From The Pay-Performance Relationship Of Chinese Entrepreneurial Firms, Jerry Cao, Qigui Liu, Gary Tian

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper investigates venture capitalists' monitoring of managerial behaviour by examining their impact on CEO pay-performance sensitivity across various controlling structures in Chinese firms. We find that the effectiveness of venture capitalists' monitoring depends on different types of agency conflict. In particular, we find that venture capital (VC) monitoring is hampered in firms that experience severe controlling-minority agency problems caused by disproportionate ownership structures. We provide further evidence that VC is more likely to exert close monitoring in firms that have greater managerial agency conflict, and thus require more direct monitoring. However, controlling-minority agency problems have a greater impact on …

Convergence In Sovereign Debt Ratios Across Heavily Indebted Eu Countries: Evidence From Club Convergence, N Apergis, Arusha Cooray

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We study the convergence of sovereign debt accumulation in five European Monetary Union (EMU) countries using quarterly data from June 2009 to June 2013, with a focus on debt ratio convergence following the 2009 sovereign debt crisis and the adoption of fiscal consolidation programmes. We test the Phillips and Sul (2007) club convergence hypothesis. We find the evidence of a lack of debt convergence for Greece and Portugal. Our results support the view that there is not a uniform austerity prescription for all, especially, without emphasizing friendly growth policies, which makes these countries more prone to investors' sentiments.

A Critical Reflection On The Role Of Stakeholders In Sustainable Tourism Development In Least-Developed Countries, Sotear Ellis, Lynnaire Sheridan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

While investigating the implementation of community-based tourism in least-developed countries (LDCs), the critical role of stakeholders in sustainable tourism development became apparent. External stakeholders, in particular, develop theory models and define policy for translation into the field yet there is little critical consideration of their role and influence. This article encapsulates insights achieved by the researchers at the interface of theory and practice in a challenging LDC setting.

An Evaluation Of The World's Major Airlines' Technical And Environmental Performance, Amir Arjomandi, Juergen Seufert

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In this empirical study, we apply bootstrapped data envelopment analysis (DEA) models under variable returns to scale to examine both the environmental and technical efficiencies of airlines. Using the regional classification of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), we chose 48 of the world's major full-service and low-cost carriers from six different regions, and then estimated their performance over the period 2007-2010. Our empirical results show that many of the most technically efficient airlines are from China and North Asia, whilst many of the best environmental performers are from Europe. We also found that although the number of environmentally oriented …

A Comparison Of Group-Based Research Methods, Melanie Randle, Hugh Mackay, Dorothy Dudley

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In the modern era, group-based methods have come to largely dominate qualitative research, particularly in the commercial arena of market research. The most commonly used method is the "focus group" technique, which involves a group of strangers being directed to discuss a pre-determined set of topics. In reality, in many parts of the world, including Australia where this study was conducted, focus groups are often employed as the default technique without systematically questioning the appropriateness of methodological characteristics or the impact they have on the resultant data. This empirical study compares two different group-based methods - the "focus group" approach …

Theories To Define And Understand Family Firms, Mary Barrett

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

My earlier chapter in this volume on the four phases of learning in family firms relies on some important theories about the nature of family firms and how they differ from non-family firms. This chapter explains them briefly.

Activity Theory: Who Is Doing What, Why And How, Helen Hasan, Alanah Kazlauskas

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In simple terms, Activity Theory is all about 'who is doing what, why and how'. However, things are rarely that simple. Sometimes referred to as the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), Activity Theory is grounded in the work of the Russian psychologist Vygotsky and his students, in particular, Leontiev, in the 1920s. Activity Theory provides a lens with which to tease out and to better understand human activity.

Theories For Competitive Advantage, Hui-Ling Wang

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Introduction Competitive advantage is obtained when an organisation develops or acquires a set of attributes (or executes actions) that allow it to outperform its competitors. The development of theories that help explain competitive advantage has occupied the attention of the management community for the better part of half a century. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the key theories in this space. The overview will span a long timeline, starting from the 1960s to formulations that were introduced in mid-2013. In the early period, there were two dominant theories of competitive advantage: the Market-Based View (MBV) and the …

Complexity Theory, Helen Hasan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Several years ago a prominent Australian politician, responsible for a new program to 'Network the Nation' used this diagram to try to explain what he envisaged. Popularly referred to as 'The Noodle Nation', the diagram was ridiculed for its apparent complexity. It seems that there are better ways to deal with complex issues!

Attribution Theory: Untangling The Relationship Between Management And Workers, Irit Alony

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Attribution theory deals with how and why people form an opinion about the reasons for an event or observation (Winkler 2010). This theory is based on the idea that perception is the foundation of human understanding, sensemaking, and behaviour. This theory claims that people develop explanations for the behaviours of others, similarly to how scientists try to understand the world. The theory asserts that people's opinions are formed based on how they perceive the behaviour and the reality surrounding it. This explanation, the attribution, is based on how the observing person perceives a cause for the actor's behaviour.