An Analysis of FEE-HELP in the Vocational Education and Training Sector

The public vocational education and training (VET) system is now one of the few areas in Australia’s tertiary education system where students are required to pay up-front fees without access to loan assistance. These arrangements may lead to sub-optimal educational outcomes to the extent that prospective students reject a VET education on the basis of short-term financial constraints. In this paper we analyse some of the important issues related to the adoption of FEE-HELP (a 2005 Federal Government financial instrument based on the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)). It is argued that income contingent loans of this kind are associated with the advantages of both default-protection and consumption smoothing. Using data from the first three waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, we examine various empirical issues associated with the adoption of FEE-HELP in VET, including the extent of private salary returns to VET qualifications. As well, we explore issues related to the public subsidies inherent in the adoption of FEE-HELP in VET, and illustrate the time periods involved in loan repayments for various assumptions concerning the size of the charge and the future income of VET graduates. Administrative issues are considered, as are the implications for the Commonwealth Government with respect to potential subsidies associated with the design parameters.educational finance, educational economics, vocational education

Social Capital and Entrepreneurship in Aspatial Indian Ethnic Communities

This research contributes to an understanding of how work is done in India through an exploration of the effects of religious philosophies, cultures and value systems on management practices. The overarching research question addressed is: How do unique philosophies and traditions influence management systems and practices in India? Central to this thesis are social networks. Embeddedness and interdependence are two important considerations, where dense interactions between economic and non-economic activities provide access to inimitable resources. Embeddedness in ethnic communities leads to the formation of strategic groups, linked by ethnicities, kinship and multiplex ties. Social capital becomes available, which refers to the ability of members to access resources by virtue of their memberships in these social structures. This study shows how a reliance on religious teachings and value systems can lead to the creation of inimitable and valuable resources. How traditions and ties influence collective and independent entrepreneurship is discussed. An important theoretical contribution is the identification and prioritising of orders of social capital, and effects at each level. Contributions to theory include demonstrating the importance of quality and balance in ties, as well as the significance of cognitive anchoring. In research contributions, an Indian management framework, or chakra, is developed to conceptually capture the parameters that are relevant in the Indian context. In practice terms, the importance of the joint family structure in the Indian framework is highlighted and policy recommendations are provided

Investigating the potential of adding thermal mass to mitigate overheating in a super-insulated low-energy timber house

Evidence suggests that many UK dwellings are subjected to overheating or will be at some point in the future. Dwellings built using modern methods of construction may have a higher overheating risk due to the low levels of thermal mass associated with most of these methods. The Nottingham HOUSE, a prefabricated timber modular building designed to zero-carbon and Passivhaus standards, was examined in terms of overheating occurrence. The ability of a high-density fibreboard and phase change materials to provide additional levels of thermal mass was examined with the results suggesting that these can help regulate internal temperatures with the benefit of being easy to integrate

How will integrator perceptions affect the adoption of radio frequency identification technology

Purpose - This study aims to assess the perceptions of leading Australian integrators within the RFID (radio frequency identification) Industry about the future of the industry and barriers to more widespread adoption of the technology.Methodology/approach - Five leading Australian integrators presently working within the RFID Industry were interviewed.Findings - We find that the interviewed managers were realistic and circumspect about the industry’s future and potential supply chain savings, which can be contrasted with the “hype” evident in the commercial literature (for example, AIMRFID Connections, 2003).Research implications - Understanding integrators’ current perceptions about the industry will help vendors and integrators to develop applications that will be more likely to gain widespread acceptance in the future.Originality/value - This paper provides a unique insight into the perceptions of leading Australian RFID suppliers and integrators regarding the future of the industry and barriers to more widespread adoption of the technology

The case for internalising externalities in a sustainable rail asset base

Although the concept of sustainability and Sustainable development has tended to be mostly associated with the management of natural resources and the consequent environmental impact, the most accepted definition draws together its social, economic and environmental dimensions. The rail industry, as provider of a low carbon transport system, is well placed to have a significant role to play in promoting an environmental, economic and social balance that can be sustained and afforded for the foreseeable future. The paper suggests that a more comprehensive perspective on the scope of a sustainable intervention in rail infrastructure assets is needed, arguing that the necessary whole life evaluation process should include an additional positive externality: the uplift in knowledge, skill and expertise that comes about as a result of participation in projects and programmes. The inclusion of this benefit would provide a more accurate representation of value to support investment decision making and strengthen the case for a broader funding base. And that the demonstration of the correlation between participation in projects and programmes and the consequent uplift in skill, knowledge and expertise could be used to shift the emphasis in rail project planning

Descent polynomials for permutations with bounded drop size

Motivated by juggling sequences and bubble sort, we examine permutations on the set {1,2,...,n} with d descents and maximum drop size k. We give explicit formulas for enumerating such permutations for given integers k and d. We also derive the related generating functions and prove unimodality and symmetry of the coefficients.Comment: 15 page

Tumor bed brachytherapy for locally advanced laryngeal cancer: a feasibility assessment of combination with ferromagnetic hyperthermia

Purpose. To assess the feasibility of adding hyperthermia to an original method of organ-preserving brachytherapy treatment for locally advanced head and neck tumors. Methods and materials. The method involves organ-preserving tumor resection and adjunctive high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy delivered via afterloading catheters. These catheters are embedded in a polymeric implant prepared intraoperatively to fill the resection cavity, allowing precise computer planning of dose distribution in the surrounding at-risk tumor bed tissue. Theoretical and experimental analyzes address the feasibility of heating the tumor bed implant by coupling energy from a 100 kHz magnetic field applied externally into ferromagnetic particles, which are uniformly distributed within the implant. The goal is to combine adjuvant hyperthermia (40 °C–45 °C) to at-risk tissue within 5 mm of the resection cavity for thermal enhancement of radiation and chemotherapy response. Results. A five-year relapse free survival rate of 95.8% was obtained for a select group of 48 male patients with T3N0M0 larynx tumors, when combining organ-preserving surgery with HDR brachytherapy from a tumor bed implant. Anticipating the need for additional treatment in patients with more advanced disease, a theoretical analysis demonstrates the ability to heat at-risk tissue up to 10 mm from the surface of an implant filled with magnetically coupled ferromagnetic balls. Using a laboratory induction heating system, it takes just over 2 min to increase the target tissue temperature by 10 °C using a 19% volume fraction of ferromagnetic spheres in a 2 cm diameter silicone implant. Conclusion. The promising clinical results of a 48 patient pilot study demonstrate the feasibility of a new organ sparing treatment for laryngeal cancer. Anticipating the need for additional therapy, theoretical estimations of potential implant heating are confirmed with laboratory experiments, preparing the way for future implementation of a thermobrachytherapy implant approach for organ-sparing treatment of locally advanced laryngeal cancer

Quantification of synmagmatic flow structures of the Vila Pouca de Aguiar Pluton, NE Portugal

Methods based on fractal geometry offer the opportunity to quantify complex rock patterns (Kruhl. 2013), which provide information about the pattern forming processes. Mineral distribution patterns of Variscan post-tectonic granites from NE of Portugal (Vila Pouca de Aguiar Pluton) were analyzed with the MORFA and Map-­Counting software (Peternell, 2011). The result of the analysis provides information about pattern inhomogeneity and anisotropy, i.e. magmatic flux directions and mineral equilibrium processes in the crystallizing magma chamber.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Quantification of synmagmatic flow structures: a tool for Rock Quality Evaluation

The result of the analysis using methods based on fractal geometry provides information about magmatic flux directions and mineral equilibrium processes in the crystallizing magma chamber. Additionally, the used methods may also provide important information for the rock industry, because they allow a fast and automatically evaluation of rock quality.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT