How Useful Is The Genuine Savings Rate As A Macroeconomic Sustainability Indicator For Countries And Regions? Australia And Queensland Compared

This paper demonstrates how macroeconomic indicators of sustainable development can be applied to the Queensland economy. We derive a Genuine Savings Rate (GSR) for Queensland for the period 1989 to 1999, which is then compared with the World Bank estimate of Australia's GSR for the same period. Specifically, we examine how well a single "headline" indicator based on the World Bank's GSR performs as a measure of overall sustainability. In doing so, we review criticisms of the GSR and compare its potential policy directives with those emerging from the use of net state savings and then the GSR as part of a suite of indicators.

Efficacy of infant simulator programmes to prevent teenage pregnancy: a school-based cluster randomised trial in Western Australia

Background: Infant simulator-based programmes seek to prevent teenage pregnancy. They are utilised in western and developing countries but, despite growing popularity, there is no published evidence of their long-term impact. The aim of this trial was to investigate the effect of such a programme, the Virtual Infant Parenting (VIP) Programme, on the pregnancy outcomes of birth and induced abortion. Methods: Fifty-seven of 66 eligible schools (86%) in Perth, Western Australia enrolled in the pragmatic clustered (by school) randomised trial (ISRCTN24952438) with even randomisation to the intervention and control groups. Between 2003 and 2006, the VIP programme was administered to 1,267 girls in the intervention schools, while 1,567 girls in the control schools received the standard health education curriculum. Participants were aged 13-15 years and were followed until age 20 via data linkage to hospital medical and abortion clinic records. Log binomial and Cox proportional hazards regression was used to test for differences in pregnancy rates between study groups. Findings: Compared to girls Findings: Compared to girls in the control group, a higher proportion of girls in the intervention group recorded at least one birth (7.6%, n=97; 4·3%, n=67) or at least one abortion as the first pregnancy event (8.9%, n=113; 6.4%, n=101). After adjustment for potential confounding, the intervention group had a higher overall pregnancy risk (RR = 1·36, 95% CI 1.10–1·67, p=0.003) compared to the control group. Similar results were obtained using proportional hazard models (HR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.10–1·67, p=0·016). Interpretation: The infant-simulator based VIP Programme did not achieve its aim of reducing teenage pregnancy. Girls in the intervention group were more likely to experience a birth or an induced abortion than those in the control group before turning 20 years of age. Funding: The Health Promotion Research Foundation of Western Australia (Healthway), Lotteries WA, the Western Australian Department of Education and Training and the Western Australian Department of Health

Study protocol for the evaluation of an Infant Simulator based program delivered in schools: a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial

Background: This paper presents the study protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of a school based program developed to prevent teenage pregnancy. The program includes students taking care of an Infant Simulator; despite growing popularity and an increasing global presence of such programs, there is no published evidence of their long-term impact. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the Virtual Infant Parenting (VIP) program by investigating pre-conceptual health and risk behaviours, teen pregnancy and the resultant birth outcomes, early child health and maternal health. Methods and Design: Fifty-seven schools (86% of 66 eligible secondary schools) in Perth, Australia were recruited to the clustered (by school) randomised trial, with even randomisation to the intervention and control arms. Between 2003 and 2006, the VIP program was administered to 1,267 participants in the intervention schools, while 1,567 participants in the non-intervention schools received standard curriculum. Participants were all female and aged between 13-15 years upon recruitment. Pre and post-intervention questionnaires measured short-term impact and participants are now being followed through their teenage years via data linkage to hospital medical records, abortion clinics and education records. Participants who have a live birth are interviewed by face-to-face interview. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and proportional hazards regression will test for differences in pregnancy, birth and abortion rates during the teenage years between the study arms.Discussion: This protocol paper provides a detailed overview of the trial design as well as initial results in the form of participant flow. The authors describe the intervention and its delivery within the natural school setting and discuss the practical issues in the conduct of the trial, including recruitment. The trial is pragmatic and will directly inform those who provide Infant Simulator based programs in school settings

A complex systems approach to the value of ecological resources

A theory of value sits at the core of every school of economic thought and directs the allocation of resources to competing uses. Ecological resources complicate the modem neoclassical approach to determining value due to their complex nature, considerable non-market values and the difficulty in assigning property rights. Application of the market model through economic valuation only provides analytical solutions based on virtual markets, and neither the demand nor supply-side techniques of valuation can adequately consider the complex set of biophysical and ecological relations that lead to the provision of ecosystem goods and services. This paper sets out a conceptual framework for a complex systems approach to the value of ecological resources. This approach is based on there being both an intrinsic quality of ecological resources and a subjective evaluation by the consumer. Both elements are necessary for economic value. This conceptual framework points the way towards a theory of value that incorporates both elements, so has implications for principles by which ecological resources can be allocated. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Polarization in the Production of the Antihydrogen Ion

We provide estimates of both the cross section and rate coefficient for the radiative attachment of a second positron to create the H̅+ ion, H̅(1s)+e+→H̅+(1s2 1Se)+ℏω, for which the polarization of the initial state H̅(1s) is taken into account. We show how to analytically integrate the resulting six-dimensional, three-body integrals for wave functions composed of explicitly correlated exponentials, a result that may be extended to Hylleraas wave functions. We extend Bhatia’s polarization results for the equivalent matter problem down to the low temperatures required for the Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest (GBAR) experiment at CERN. The two-electron polarization cross-term is of intrinsic interest because it has every appearance of being singular at the origin, but non-singular when integrated numerically. We show that conventional approaches lead to a final integral with two singular terms that may be made to cancel in lowest order. However, higher-order terms in such approaches defy analytical integration. We use an integro-differential transform based on Gaussian transforms to bypass this blockage to yield a fully analytic result. Even in this method, one avoids the singular form only by integrating out the radial integrals before solving the second Gaussian integral

Approaching Critical Thinking Through Science

One unanticipated development of University Studies is the degree to which it rapidly became seen not just as general education, but as the replacement for all generally re quired courses. Because the natural sciences had com prised one of the distribution areas of the old program, expectations that the new program would teach science quickly flowered, although exactly what faculty mean by that term has yet to be established. In fact, discussions of what we intend by science education have brought in creased attention to these expectations as we continually revisit the goals of University Studies. The matter is far from resolved, however, as natural scientists themselves continue to grapple with what constitutes, if not the essential definition of scientific understanding, then at least one that is meaningful and instructive. Meanwhile, University Studies faculty have introduced a wide range of scientific practice?both natural and social?into their courses as important forms of critical thinking

Advances in Crystallographic Image Processing for Scanning Probe Microscopy

Brief overview of advances in image processing for scanning probe microscopes, as related to high resolution images of crystals and arrays of membrane proteins

Polarization in the production of the antihydrogen ion

We provide estimates of both the cross section and rate coefficient for the radiative attachment of a second positron to create the ${\overline{\mathrm{H}}}^{+}$ ion, $\overline{\mathrm{H}}(1s)+{e}^{+}\to {\overline{\mathrm{H}}}^{+}\left(1{s}^2{\enspace }^1{S}^e\right)+\mathrm{\hslash }\omega$, for which the polarization of the initial state $\overline{\mathrm{H}}(1s)$ is taken into account. We show how to analytically integrate the resulting six-dimensional, three-body integrals for wave functions composed of explicitly correlated exponentials, a result that may be extended to Hylleraas wave functions. We extend Bhatia’s polarization results for the equivalent matter problem down to the low temperatures required for the Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest (GBAR) experiment at CERN. The two-electron polarization cross-term is of intrinsic interest because it has every appearance of being singular at the origin, but non-singular when integrated numerically. We show that conventional approaches lead to a final integral with two singular terms that may be made to cancel in lowest order. However, higher-order terms in such approaches defy analytical integration. We use an integro-differential transform based on Gaussian transforms to bypass this blockage to yield a fully analytic result. Even in this method, one avoids the singular form only by integrating out the radial integrals before solving the second Gaussian integral