Multiculturalism and women’s employment: A sociological perspective

This paper analyses the patterns and determinants of female labour force participation from a sociological perspective. Using a relatively recent database, the present analysis updates existing knowledge and evaluates prior research regarding the market employment of women, particularly in the multiethnic and multicultural context. The analysis is based on research conducted in Australia, where there is a substantial proportion of European-ancestry populations. The article also provides some cross national comparisons with other multicultural settings. The results of this paper are based on logistic regression analysis. The results suggest that human capital and family formation appear to play as the most fundamental determinants in women's market employment. The results also suggest that while native-born women are generally more benefited in the labour market, the native-foreigner differentials regarding the employment patterns and determinants tend to be mainly associated with ethnic origin and length of residence in the destination country

Intra - Sub - Saharan African trade : is it too little?

Trade among sub-Saharan African countries is very limited. This fact, plus other political and economic considerations, has been used to motivate a growing number of regional integration schemes. Although many authors have shown that intra-sub-Saharan African trade is limited, none has yet asked whether the level of intra-sub-Saharan African trade is higher or lower than one would expect, given a plausible model of the determination of trade flows. The authors compare actual trade with what a traditional gravity model would predict. They find that a gravity model predicts the low level of intra-sub-Saharan African trade. For the 19 sub-Saharan African countries in their sample, the actual sub-Saharan African share of imports plus exports was an average (median) of 8.1 percent (4.5 percent) while the gravity model predicts a slightly lower, not higher, mean (median) of 7.5 percent (4.5 percent).TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy,Common Carriers Industry

Does membership in a regional preferential trade arrangement make a country more or less protectionist?

The author explores whether a systematic relationship exists between a developing country's participation in a preferential regional trade agreement (RTA) and the restrictiveness of its trade regime. The motivation for her study is provided by the current debate about whether regional trading blocs are a stepping-stone toward a more liberal global trading system and whether these blocs have changed over time so that the"new"blocs differ meaningfully from the"old"ones in terms of openness to the rest of the world. She restricts analysis to reciprocal RTAs involving developing countries in partnership either with industrial countries (North-South RTAs) or with other developing countries (South-South RTAs). Nearly every developing country belongs to one or more RTAs, so the author develops criteria for distinguishing effective from noneffective regional blocs. She then taps into many sources of data to compare levels of restrictiveness. She finds no evidence that participation in a regional trade agreement necessarily leads to a more liberal important regime.Trade Policy,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Rules of Origin,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Regional Integration,Trade Policy

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Pen-And-Paper And Email Dialogue Journal Writing On Writing Performance And Anxiety Among Tesl Undergraduates

The purpose of this study was to compare the influence of two methods in writing dialogue journals, pen-and-paper as conventional tools, in contrast to e-mail as online tool, on writing performance in terms of content, language, vocabulary, language use and organization as well as writing anxiety. Measurement of writing performance was based on the ESL Composition Profile developed by Jacobs, Zinkgraf, Wormuth, Hartifel and Hughey (1981) and writing anxiety was measured by using the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) from Cheng (2004). Forty two ESL students in their third semester took a course called “Computer Applications in TESL” participated in the study. Based on their expository writing grades obtained in the previous semester as well as race and gender; they were randomly assigned into two groups 1) e-mail dialogue journal writing and, 2) penand- paper dialogue journal writing. For the first session to obtain pre-test writing, all students were given topics to write and had to complete a pre-test writing anxiety questionnaire. Both groups received two different treatments. Participants in the e-mail dialogue journal group were asked to write dialogue journals to their secret pals by using e-mail while the participants in the pen-and-paper dialogue journal group, wrote their dialogues via pen and paper. Both groups kept corresponding dialogue journals in the class for a seven-week period. After going through seven weeks, post tests were conducted. All data were analyzed using SPSS to answer the hypotheses in the research. Independent-sample t-test and paired-sample t-test were utilized to compare two groups in terms of writing performance and writing anxiety. Results of the data analysis when two groups were compared showed that there is a significant difference between groups in terms of the overall writing performance and language use. However, the results for other components of writing performance; content, organization, vocabulary and mechanics as well as writing anxiety did not show statistically any significant difference between groups. The results for each group when pre and posttest overall writing performance were compared showed that there is a significant difference between groups i.e. participants in both groups have improved their writing performance due to using dialogue journals. Meanwhile, in terms of writing anxiety, paired sample t-test result showed there is no significant difference between pre and posttest writing anxiety for both groups

Effects of polydispersity on the phase coexistence diagrams in multiblock copolymers with Laser block length distribution

Phase behavior of AB-multiblock copolymer melts which consists of chains with Laser distribution of A and B blocks have been investigated in the framework of the mean-field theory, where the polydispersity of copolymer is a function of two parameters K and M. The influence of the Laser distribution on higher order correlation functions (up to sixth order) are computed for various values of K and M, and their contributions on the phase diagrams and phase coexistence are presented. It is shown that, with increasing polydispersity (decreasing K and increasing M) the transition lines of all phases shift upwards, consequently polydispersity destabilize the system.Comment: 15 pages, Late

Study Intention Survey 2010: Research Report May 2011

The Secondary School Study Intentions Survey is now in its seventh year. The main objectives of this research are to identify secondary school students’ choice of programme, the level of qualification that students aspire to and the extent to which students would study in Tauranga. This report presents the results for nine secondary schools of Western Bay of Plenty, and where relevant compares the 2010 results with previous years

Indentation study of honeycomb sandwich composite materials

This study was conducted to quasi-static indentation study of composite sandwich panels made of glass/vinylester facesheets and polypropylene honeycomb core. Composite sandwich panel with different material types including chopped strand mat and plain woven glass/vinylester were analyzed numerically and experimentally. The effects of different parameters such as types of material, number of layers of facesheets and consequently the thickness of facesheets and the loading rate on indentation behavior were studied numerically and experimentally and the obtained results were compared together. The results of the research study showed that the maximum applied load on composite sandwich panel made of plain woven glass/vinylester and energy absorption properties is higher than chopped strand mat glass/vinylester. Also, the results of experimental tests showed that loading rate have big effect on load-deflection and energy absorption properties of composite sandwich panel and by increasing the loading rate, the maximum applied load and energy absorption properties of sandwich panel with honeycomb core is increased and there is direct relation between the loading rate and the indentation properties of sandwich panel. The results of finite element analysis and experimental tests were compared together and it has found that there is difference between the obtained results

Novel sol–gel preparation of (PO)–(CaO)–(NaO)–(TiO) bioresorbable glasses (X = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15)

Quaternary phosphate-based glasses in the PO–CaO–NaO–TiO system with a fixed PO and CaO content of 40 and 25 mol% respectively have been successfully synthesised via sol–gel method and bulk, transparent samples were obtained. The structure, elemental proportion, and thermal properties of stabilised sol–gel glasses have been characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), P nuclear magnetic resonance (P NMR), titanium K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES), fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential thermal analysis (DTA). The XRD results confirmed the amorphous nature for all stabilized sol–gel derived glasses. The EDX result shows the relatively low loss of phosphorus during the sol–gel process and Ti K-edge XANES confirmed titanium in the glass structure is in mainly six-fold coordination environment. The P NMR and FTIR results revealed that the glass structure consist of mainly Q and Q phosphate units and the Ti cation was acting as a cross-linking between phosphate units. In addition DTA results confirmed a decrease in the glass transition and crystallisation temperature with increasing NaO content. Ion release studies also demonstrated a decrease in degradation rates with increasing TiO content therefore supporting the use of these glasses for biomedical applications that require a degree of control over glass degradation. These sol–gel glasses also offer the potential to incorporate proactive molecules for drug delivery application due to the low synthesis temperature employed

Motivational predictors of language learning autonomy among ESL secondary school students in Malaysia.

Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this study investigated secondary school students’ autonomy extent and the motivation orientation for learning English in Malaysia. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between language learning autonomy and motivation in one of the eastern collectivist context, i.e. Malaysia. Going more in-depth, the relationship between more self-determined and less self-determined forms of motivation and autonomy in Malaysian context were explored. Additionally, by applying regression analysis categories of motivation which can predict language learning autonomy are determined

Boron centres allow design, control and systematic tuning of neutral homoaromatics for functionalization purposes

Homoaromatic compounds are currently viewed more as an interesting novelty with little to no practical application. Based on calculations within density functional theory, we show that the unique charge redirection properties of tricoordinate boron, along with it being isolobal to a carbocation allow for a larger range of two‐electron donors to be utilized, leading to the rational design of homoaromatic compounds better suited to functionalization. Among others, these compounds show a strong dependency on the relative positioning of the hetero‐atoms within the ring system, a modulation control rendered possible by the insertion of the boron centres