The Graeme Bell All Stars: Play On

In the golden era of Australian jazz, the Graeme Bell Allstars were icons. From touring the globe to hosting their own television show, they captured the world with their music. Graeme Bell came out of retirement at the age of 88 to reform his band. For over 3 years they enjoyed sold out performances and standing ovations at jazz festivals around Australia, climaxing in one final performance for Graeme\u27s 90th birthday. On tour & at home Graeme & his band reflect on their love of music, their history and their legacy. Accessed from: http://www.nfsa.gov.au/the_collection/ This jazz documentary, screened on ABC TV in 2006 and was made with the assistance of the National Film and Sound Archive. The Graeme Bell All Stars: Play On, focuses on the famous Australian jazz band, and features interviews with a number of Australian jazz stalwarts, including Bob and Len Barnard, Bob Henderson, Kate Dunbar and the legendary Graeme Bell. Marco Ianniello said the film was not intended as a history, but as a celebration of the band, the music and the legacy they are leaving behind . It was filmed in 2004 during Graeme Bell\u27s 90th birthday Reunion Band Tour. Veteran jazz aficionado Bill Haesler has said of the documentary: The film is wonderfully produced and photographed. A real winner, and one of the best jazz docos I\u27ve seen. Accessed from: http://www.afc.gov.au/newsandevents/at_archive/access/jazzdoco/newspage_304.aspx A one hour documentary following the legendary Australian jazz band which screened on the ABC in 2006. Staff and Students of the University of Notre Dame may access this documentary from St Benedict\u27s Library, Sydney

Disclosure of non-audit services in annual reports and auditor independence: Evidence from Italy

This article explores recent regulatory reforms in Italy and analyzes the first-time application of mandatory disclosure in annual reports of audit and non-audit fees. This information can convey to readers of fi nancial statements an indication of auditor independence (in appearance). An empirical analysis is conducted on annual reports of 239 Italian listed companies for the year 2007. The main research objectives are as follows: (1) to provide a comprehensive description of the relative level of non-audit fees; and (2) to investigate the relation between non-audit services (NAS) and the opinion expressed in the audit report. The evidence shows that the average ratio of non-audit fees (further assurance services, tax advisory services and other services) to total auditor remuneration is 0.24. In particular, there are 38 companies (15.9 per cent) that paid their auditor more for NAS than for audit services; excluding further assurance services, there are 22 cases (9.2 per cent) with a ratio of non-audit fees that is higher than 0.50. In our sample, we observed 231 unqualified opinions (96.7 per cent) and eight qualified opinions (3.3 per cent): a statistical significant relationship between the NAS ratio and qualified opinions was not found. However, the study ’ s results show that there is a positive association between the emphasis of matter paragraph in the audit report and NAS. This finding cannot be interpreted as an indication of compromised auditor independence, thus opening space for further empirical studies on the use of emphasis of matter paragraphs in auditor reports

Indicatori sull’indipendenza (in apparenza) del revisore contabile: il caso della prestazione di servizi non di revisione

In the European framework set up by the Directive 2006/43/CE and adopted in Italy with the Legislative Decree (D. Lgs.) No. 39/2010, the issue of auditor independence is confirmed among the key topics for the credibility of the statutory auditing function and, as a consequence, for the reliability of financial statements. Starting from the distinction between auditor independence in fact and in appearance, this paper analyses the regulatory policy aiming at increasing the disclosure on the auditor-client relationship. Disclosure about this relationship can contribute to the knowledge of potential conflict of interest that in turn can impair auditor independence. In this context,a specific relationship has been empirically investigated: the provision of non audit services to the audit client by the incumbent auditor. Our analysis shows that the mandatory disclosure of fees for audit and non-audit services as initially required in 2007 by the Italian regulation significantly reduced the ratio of non-audit fees to total fees from 2007 to 2008 for Italian firms. It appears that the regulation did make a significant impact by reducing the non-audit services provided by incumbent auditors.Nel quadro europeo delineato dalla Direttiva 2006/43/CE adottata in Italia con il D. Lgs. n. 39/2010, il tema dell’indipendenza del revisore legale dei conti si conferma come pietra miliare per la credibilità della funzione di revisione contabile e, di conseguenza, per il contributo all’attendibilità dell’informativa di bilancio rivolta al pubblico. Partendo dalla distinzione tra indipendenza di fatto e in apparenza, la presente ricerca si focalizza sulla politica regolamentare tendente ad aumentare la trasparenza nei bilanci aziendali con riferimento ai rapporti tra azienda e revisore contabile. La lettura di tali relazioni può contribuire nella conoscenza di potenziali conflitti di interesse che possono compromettere l’indipendenza del revisore. Una particolare relazione osservata nella presente indagine è la prestazione di servizi aggiuntivi da parte del revisore incaricato della revisione legale dei conti. L’analisi dimostra che l’obbligo di pubblicare i compensi per servizi di revisione e non di revisione ha avuto un impatto significativo sulle società italiane quotate con più alta capitalizzazione: l’indice dei servizi non di revisione è diminuito significativamente dal 2007 al 2008. Di conseguenza, la pubblicazione di informazioni relative alla relazione tra revisore e azienda controllata può svolgere un ruolo nel limitare situazioni che possono compromettere l’indipendenza (in apparenza) del revisore

Transformative interventions. An ecological-enactive approach to art practices

Starting from an ecological-enactive approach to human cognition (Rietveld, Kiverstein 2014) I have articulated a series of transformative interventions whose purpose is to explore how art practices can reorganize our form of life (Noë, 2015; Rietveld, 2019). To do this, I discuss how a plethora of heterogeneous tools traceable in the performing arts, such as masks, puppets, and hybrid costumes, can help us, through what I call monstrous practices, to explore imaginative dimensions that our own bodies "cannot afford." This is the core of the transformative chain that I will define monster-monstrous-Monster: we feed imaginative “monsters” to become “monstrous”– that is, to pool and cross-fertilize our abilities – to confront the "Monsters" in our lives. My main interest is in analyzing how it is possible to create or collect new affordances so as to transfigure one's repertoire of possibilities and transform a shared practice. Each transformative intervention is not only defined through written words but is also developed through unorthodox sociomaterial invitations, usually not used in philosophical practice: storyboards, visual ethnographies, performance projects, and installations, which I will define more properly through an enriched notion of real-life thinking model (Rietveld; RAAAF)

Effects of Environmental Variables on the Reproduction of Quagga Mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) in Lake Mead, NV/AZ

In 2007, quagga mussels (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) were found in Lake Mead and have spread downstream on the Colorado River and to other lakes and reservoirs in the Southwestern United States. The quagga mussel\u27s extremely quick colonization of Lake Mead and annual veliger abundance trends provide evidence that the quagga mussels in the Southwest have different reproductive behavior than in previous habitats. This study is one of the first to specifically examine quagga mussel reproduction in the Southwest and examines how quagga mussel reproduction varies at sites known to have different temperatures and other environmental variables resulting from the input of Las Vegas Wash, and at different depths at each of these sites. Mussels were collected monthly over the course of a year at four different sites from Las Vegas Bay to Boulder Basin at depths of 20ft, 40ft and 70ft. A histological analysis of the gonads of these mussels was conducted to determine the reproductive development status in the form of a maturity index. This maturity index was then compared to environmental variables including water temperature, depth, water salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Out of these factors, temperature was the only environmental variable which showed a significant effect upon quagga mussel reproduction. Also the seasonal pattern of maturity indices was found to differ between the deepest and shallowest depths. This study contributes to the understanding of the reproductive biology of quagga mussels living in the southwestern United States

Tidally induced residual currents in estuaries of constant breadth and depth

Two-dimensional analytic solutions are derived, as a function of depth and longitudinal distance, for the Eulerian and Lagrangian residual currents induced in narrow tidal channels of constant breadth, depth and rectangular cross-section by the nonlinear interactions of the first order tides. The turbulence is represented by several different vertically variable eddy viscosity models chosen to bracket the range of likely vertical variation...