Australian Bank Capital and the Regulatory Framework

The amount and quality of the Australian banking sector’s capital has increased considerably over the past couple of years. As in a number of other countries, this is because the recent global financial crisis has prompted both markets and regulators to reappraise their views on acceptable levels and forms of capital. National and international regulatory bodies have proposed a number of major changes to existing capital regulations, details of which will be finalised later this year.banks; capital; bank capital; capital regulation; capital standards; Basel I; Basel II; Basel III; Tier 1 capital; credit risk; market risk; risk-weighted assets

Axions and SN1987A

The effect of free-streaming axion emission on numerical models for the cooling of the newly born neutron star associated with SN1987A is considered. It is found that for an axion mass of greater than approximately 10 to the -3 eV, axion emission shortens the duration of the expected neutrino burst so significantly that it would be inconsistent with the neutrino observations made by the Kamiokande II and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detectors. However, the possibility has not been investigated that axion trapping (which should occur for masses greater than or equal to 0.02 eV) sufficiently reduces axion emission so that axion masses greater than approximately 2 eV would be consistent with the neutrino observations

Axions and SN 1987A: Axion trapping

If an axion of mass between about 10(exp -3) eV and 1 eV exists, axion emission would have significantly affected the cooling of the nascent neutron star associated with SN 1987A. For an axion of mass less than about 10(exp -2) eV, axions produced deep inside the neutron star simply stream out; in a previous paper this case has been addressed. Remarkably, for an axion of mass greater than about 10(exp -2) eV axions would, like neutrinos, have a mean-free path that is smaller than the size of a neutron star, and thus would become 'trapped' and radiated from an axion sphere. In this paper the trapping regime is treated by using numerical models of the initial cooling of a hot neutron star that incorporate a leakage approximation scheme for axion-energy transport. The axion opacity is computed due to inverse nucleon-nucleon, axion bremsstrahlung, and numerical models are used to calculate the integrated axion luminosity, the temperature of the axion sphere, and the effect of axion emission on the neutrino bursts detected by the Kamiokande 2 (K2) and Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven (IMB) water-Cherenkov detectors. The larger the axion mass, the stronger the trapping and the smaller the axion luminosity. The earlier estimate is confirmed and refined of the axion mass above which trapping is so strong that axion emission does not significantly affect the neutrino burst. Based upon the neutrino-burst duration--the most sensitive barometer of axion cooling--it is concluded that for an axion mass of greater than about 0.3 eV, axion emission would not have had a significant effect on the neutrino bursts detected by K2 and IMB. The present work, together with the previous work, strongly suggests that an axion with mass in the interval 10(exp -3) eV to 0.3 eV is excluded by SN 1987A

Digital Literacy Adoption with Academic Technology: Namely Digital Information Literacy to Enhance Student Learning Outcomes

This study explores Arts & Science faculty and librarians’ attitude of learning theory and perceptions of digital literacy (DL) and how digital information literacy (DIL) might improve and enhance student learning outcomes. Digital literacy (DL), information literacy (IL), and digital information literacy (DIL) consists of interaction with academic technology (AT) programs and tools. The objectives are: the rise of IL within the parameters of DL and discuss the birth of DIL, examine the modes of adoption and explore the levels of inclusion for faculty and librarians’ concepts of DL with DIL instruction with AT, define the IL phenomenon, and how IL affects faculty and librarian pedagogy. The study reveals the tension and distinction between DL and IL. Key research questions are: What are Arts & Science faculties’ digital literacy (DL) epistemology? What is the librarian’s/ library digital literacy (DL) epistemology perspectives, and what are Arts & Science faculties’ concept of DIL

The professional status of community pharmacists: an exploration of the perceptions of community pharmacists and the general public

Professionalism has often been a difficult concept to define or describe but researchers agree that it is an important trait to maintain professional status within society. Professional status is attained through a process of professionalisation, it can be lost through a process of deprofessionalisation and can be re-attained through reprofessionalisation. Despite being considered a profession by some researchers, others have argued that pharmacy has failed to fully professionalise with some labelling it a ‘quasi-profession’. Some scholars believe that the future of community pharmacy may rely on service provision and that this is essential to reprofessionalise pharmacy. Given the uncertainty of current professional status, a mixed methods approach was used to explore the views and opinions of the general public, pharmacists and pharmacy leaders on matters relating to professional status. The thesis presents three studies: a qualitative study with pharmacy leaders; a mixed methods study comprising a questionnaire with members of the general public in England and a further mixed methods study comprising a questionnaire with pharmacists. The qualitative study with pharmacy leaders gave an insight into pharmacy leaders’ views and opinions relating to public understanding of pharmacy, professionalism and professional status. This informed the development of the questionnaires used for the subsequent two studies. The questionnaires identified differing public understanding and opinions on pharmacists and matters relating to professional status. Differences were also identified between the general public and pharmacists on these matters. Finally, the qualitative stage offered further exploration and clarification of findings discovered from the questionnaire data. Recommendations about understanding current public opinion of pharmacists may help further clarify the current professional status of community pharmacy

A camera trap study on the spatio-temporal behaviour of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) to mitigate human-elephant conflicts in the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai – Forest Complex, Thailand

Human-elephant conflicts (HEC) in Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) range countries have been increasing during the past half-century and are a major conservation issue for governments. Research suggests studying the spatio-temporal behavioural patterns of E. maximus could indicate behavioural preferences and help mitigate such conflicts. These behavioural preferences could be influenced by factors such as seasonal and lunar cycles, and habitat type. This study aims to determine at what degree these influencing factors are driving E. maximus behaviour and HEC. Considering previous studies on seasonal and lunar cycles and habitat utilisation affecting E. maximus’ behaviour and HEC it asks; How do these factors influence E. maximus behaviour and HEC events? Considering these factors, are there any correlations between HEC events and behaviour observed within an adjacent protected forest complex? HEC event data was obtained from the Wang Mee district; a community adjacent to a protected area, the Dong Phayayen – Khao Yai – forest complex in Thailand. This community has undergone increasing HEC in recent years. The data was analysed to identify the effects of the aforementioned factors on HEC frequency. Furthermore, camera trap data within the forest complex are also utilised to analyse the effects of these factors on behaviour, such as changes in the observations of E. maximus’ mean distance to forest borders and habitat utilisation measured with relative abundance index (RAI). Analysis of data indicates a significant correlation between lunar and seasonal cycles and HEC events. HEC events were greater during hot and monsoon compared with the cold season. The RAI of E. maximus observations at forest borders were also significantly higher during hot season when compared to RAI at greater distances. First and last quarter moon phases indicated a significant increase in HEC in general. Seasonal and lunar cycles also determined the selection of mixed deciduous forest habitats, indicating a general increase in utilisation during the cold season. Utilisation during the cold season also varied greatly depending on the lunar cycle – increasing during the first quarter and lowest during full moon phases, indicating high variability. The results indicate that studying habitat selection preferences and seasonal and lunar cycles are important factors for park and HEC managers when mitigating conflicts. By understanding E. maximus’ behaviour and habitat needs managers can better plan for effective management and HEC mitigation

On the Response of a Nonlinear Structure to High Kurtosis Non-Gaussian Random Loadings

This paper is a follow-on to recent work by the authors in which the response and high-cycle fatigue of a nonlinear structure subject to non-Gaussian loadings was found to vary markedly depending on the nature of the loading. There it was found that a non-Gaussian loading having a steady rate of short-duration, high-excursion peaks produced essentially the same response as would have been incurred by a Gaussian loading. In contrast, a non-Gaussian loading having the same kurtosis, but with bursts of high-excursion peaks was found to elicit a much greater response. This work is meant to answer the question of when consideration of a loading probability distribution other than Gaussian is important. The approach entailed nonlinear numerical simulation of a beam structure under Gaussian and non-Gaussian random excitations. Whether the structure responded in a Gaussian or non-Gaussian manner was determined by adherence to, or violations of, the Central Limit Theorem. Over a practical range of damping, it was found that the linear response to a non-Gaussian loading was Gaussian when the period of the system impulse response is much greater than the rate of peaks in the loading. Lower damping reduced the kurtosis, but only when the linear response was non-Gaussian. In the nonlinear regime, the response was found to be non-Gaussian for all loadings. The effect of a spring-hardening type of nonlinearity was found to limit extreme values and thereby lower the kurtosis relative to the linear response regime. In this case, lower damping gave rise to greater nonlinearity, resulting in lower kurtosis than a higher level of damping