Australian equity warrants: Are retail investors getting a fair go?

The AS X has two functionally similar markets for contingent equity contracts - a warrants market principally serving retail investors and an ETO market that may be used by retail and professional traders. Using pricing and volatility comparisons, this study finds that warrants are generally overpriced and are significantly dearer than their ETO equivalents. The paper recommends that short selling be allowed in the warrants market in order to reduce the pricing differentials and end the systematic exploitation of retail warrant investors by warrant issuers

System for the measurement of ultra-low stray light levels

An apparatus is described for measuring the effectiveness of stray light suppression light shields and baffle arrangements used in optical space experiments and large space telescopes. The light shield and baffle arrangement and a telescope model are contained in a vacuum chamber. A source of short, high-powered light energy illuminates portions of the light shield and baffle arrangement and reflects a portion of same to a photomultiplier tube by virtue of multipath scattering. The resulting signal is transferred to time-channel electronics timed by the firing of the high energy light source allowing time discrimination of the signal thereby enabling the light scattered and suppressed by the model to be distinguished from the walls and holders around the apparatus

Multiparameter vision testing apparatus

Compact vision testing apparatus is described for testing a large number of physiological characteristics of the eyes and visual system of a human subject. The head of the subject is inserted into a viewing port at one end of a light-tight housing containing various optical assemblies. Visual acuity and other refractive characteristics and ocular muscle balance characteristics of the eyes of the subject are tested by means of a retractable phoroptor assembly carried near the viewing port and a film cassette unit carried in the rearward portion of the housing (the latter selectively providing a variety of different visual targets which are viewed through the optical system of the phoroptor assembly). The visual dark adaptation characteristics and absolute brightness threshold of the subject are tested by means of a projector assembly which selectively projects one or both of a variable intensity fixation target and a variable intensity adaptation test field onto a viewing screen located near the top of the housing

Influences on children’s attainment and progress in Key Stage 2: cognitive outcomes in Year 6

These reports forms part of a set of two reports that examine key influences on children’s Maths, English and social behavioural outcomes (self-regulation, pro-social behaviour, hyperactivity and anti-social behaviour) in Year 6 and on their progress across Key Stage 2. The sister report describes the results of analyses on children’s social/behavioural outcomes (ref: DCSF-RR049). The report is from the effective pre-school and primary education 3 to 11 project (EPPE 3 to 11) which is longitudinal study using multi-level modelling investigating the effects of home background, pre-school and primary education on pupils’ attainment and social / behavioural development. Around 3,000 children were recruited from 141 pre-school settings in 6 English LEAs at the age of 3+ between 1996 and 1999. The study followed these children through pre-school and into more than 900 primary schools in 100 local authorities

Perceptions And Validation Of Key Information Technology Competencies From An IT Alumni Viewpoint: Another Stakeholder In The Curriculum Design Process

The objective of this research was to determine the perceptions of End-user Information Systems graduates from selected universities (now alumni status) regarding an updated Organizational & End-user Information Systems (OEIS) curriculum sponsored by the Organizational Systems Research Association now referred to as AIS-SIG OSRA.  The study included the following research objectives:  (1) to determine the perceived level of importance of the OEIS curriculum content in today’s global workforce and (2) to ascertain the information systems (IS) personnel viewpoints on the overall importance of the specific course objectives.  Survey findings revealed specific topics are of critical and/or considerable importance upon graduation from an end-user information systems-related program.  An understanding of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) including planning and implementation of end-user support systems in combination with troubleshooting skills were perceived to be noted essential components of an IT curriculum.  Moreover, an experiential learning/internship experience—similar to a clinical practicum--was deemed to be of critical importance for information technology (IT) professionals.  To further validate the model, it is recommended that universities in other regions of the United States survey their alumni to assess what specific IS & IT objectives and skill sets are currently needed, especially given the exponential demand for trained personnel in emerging areas of health information technology, enterprise systems, project management, virtualization,  and information assurance

Dynamical decoherence of the light induced interlayer coupling in YBa2_{2}Cu3_{3}O6+δ_{6+\delta}

Optical excitation of apical oxygen vibrations in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+\delta}$ has been shown to enhance its c-axis superconducting-phase rigidity, as evidenced by a transient blue shift of the equilibrium inter-bilayer Josephson plasma resonance. Surprisingly, a transient c-axis plasma mode could also be induced above T$_{c}$ by the same apical oxygen excitation, suggesting light activated superfluid tunneling throughout the pseudogap phase of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+\delta}$. However, despite the similarities between the above T$_{c}$ transient plasma mode and the equilibrium Josephson plasmon, alternative explanations involving high mobility quasiparticle transport should be considered. Here, we report an extensive study of the relaxation of the light-induced plasmon into the equilibrium incoherent phase. These new experiments allow for a critical assessment of the nature of this mode. We determine that the transient plasma relaxes through a collapse of its coherence length rather than its carrier (or superfluid) density. These observations are not easily reconciled with quasiparticle interlayer transport, and rather support transient superfluid tunneling as the origin of the light-induced interlayer coupling in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+\delta}$.Comment: 27 pages (17 pages main text, 10 pages supplementary), 5 figures (main text

Tracking pupil mobility over the pre-school and primary school period: evidence from EPPE 3-11

This report describes the ‘tracking’ of the EPPE 3-11 sample and then goes on to examine the possible influence of mobility on EPPE 3-11 children’s cognitive progress and social/behavioural development over both the pre-school and primary school period. In the present research ‘mobility’ is defined as having changed pre-school or school centre at least once. The aims of the research are: • To determine possible means of reducing attrition in a longitudinal sample - tracking • To identify any likely predictors of mobility, that is, whether mobile individuals share any defining characteristics; • To investigate the effects of mobility when predicting children’s cognitive and social/behavioural outcomes, controlling for other background factors; • To investigate the effects of children’s mobility in terms of the academic effectiveness of the schools attended and to which children moved