Work-family balance: international research on employee preferences

When the Australian Prime Minister recently referred to the issue of work and family as a ‘barbecue stopper’, it was clear that the issue is both firmly on the policy agenda and highly controversial. (Editor, 2002) While there has been considerable political jockeying in regard to the desirable degree of state intervention to better enable employees to combine work and family, a perhaps more fundamental debate has emerged concerning the forms of intervention and benefits that employees want. What policies and practices do working men and women consider would make a positive difference, in terms of helping them to find a better balance between these two spheres? The object of this paper is to shed light on what employees want by pulling together research data on employee preferences in regard to work-family benefits throughout the western world

Communicating Cancer-Related Information with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis

This item is only available electronically.Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more likely to have poorer health outcomes than non-Aboriginal people. Reasons for the health disparity include the ongoing impacts of colonisation, a lack of access to culturally appropriate health services, and language and communication barriers. Cancer is the second biggest killer of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with the mortality rate for some cancers more than three times higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander than non-Aboriginal Australians. Many factors contribute to the mortality rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with cancer, including lower screening participation, a mistrust for ‘Western’ medical systems and later presentation, meaning the cancer is more advanced when accessing health services. This meta-synthesis aimed to explore how health professionals communicate cancer-related information with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including people with cancer, their families, and communities, to identify ways to improve this communication and, in turn, improve cancer health outcomes. A systematic search of eight electronic databases, following PRISMA guidelines, was undertaken to identify eligible studies. Studies were included if they were full articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals and reported qualitative data that contained data regarding communication of cancer-related information with Aboriginal people. Communication of cancer-related information was defined as encompassing verbal and nonverbal communication, discussion of cancer risk factors and screening, explaining diagnosis and treatment options. Following screening and appraisal for methodological quality 42 studies were synthesised using a meta-aggressive approach. Findings are described and implications including suggestions for how to improve communication and suggestions for future research are also provided.Thesis (B.PsychSc(Hons)) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 202

Self-immolative linkers in polymeric delivery systems

There has been significant interest in the methodologies of controlled release for a diverse range of applications spanning drug delivery, biological and chemical sensors, and diagnostics. The advancement in novel substrate-polymer coupling moieties has led to the discovery of self-immolative linkers. This new class of linker has gained popularity in recent years in polymeric release technology as a result of stable bond formation between protecting and leaving groups, which becomes labile upon activation, leading to the rapid disassembly of the parent polymer. This ability has prompted numerous studies into the design and development of self-immolative linkers and the kinetics surrounding their disassembly. This review details the main concepts that underpin self-immolative linker technologies that feature in polymeric or dendritic conjugate systems and outlines the chemistries of amplified self-immolative elimination

Paid work & parenting: Charting a new course for Australian families

Chifley Research Foundatio

Paid work & parenting: Charting a new course for Australian families

Chifley Research Foundatio

A Floristic and ecological survey of Assateague Island, Virgina-Maryland

Assateague Island is an offshore bar comprising the south-eastern coast of Maryland and the northeastern coast of Virgina. It is part of the system of discontinuous barrier reefs or bars which occupy most of the Atlantic shoreline from Florida to Massachusetts. These are unstable bars, continuously influenced by storm winds and tides which provide a distinct and rigorous habitat for the vegetation there. General floras of the Delmarva Peninusla do not mention Assateague Island specifically. The objective is to prepare a catalog of the vascular plants of Assateague Island and to describe the communities in which they are found, in the hope it will add to the knowledge of barrier reef vegetation

The effects of legislative, demographic and social changes on the provision of school transport services by the local education authorities in the United Kingdom

PhD ThesisThe current basis of school transport provision by the Local Education Authorities was introduced during the 1940s with the role of facilitating the attendance of pupils at the nearest appropriate school and ensuring that access to education was not based upon a child's place of residence or upon parental means. To meet this objective, the provision of free school transport was considered necessary if a child lived beyond the minimum walking distances, established as two miles for pupils of under eight years of age (eleven years in the case of Northern Ireland) and three miles for older pupils. In addition, Local Education Authorities have wide discretionary powers to provide school transport to pupils not statutorily entitled. During the past twenty years, this basis of provision has received repeated criticism for failing to address the issues of rising expenditure on school transport, equity, road safety and parental choice of school. This thesis, therefore, examines the long term demographic and social trends affecting the provision of school transport services by the Local Education Authorities and the institutional responses to these trends. It also examines the current provision of school transport at individual authority level and the recent changes to both public transport and education legislation, to establish whether there is a case for changing the basis of provision to address these issues. Having established that there is a case for changing the basis of provision, recent proposals for change are reviewed and alternative bases of provision, including the system of school transportation in the USA, are discussed in the context of the issues on which criticism has focussed. This shows that the three alternative bases of provision with the scope to address these issues to the greatest extent are: widening the availability of free school transport to all pupils; reducing the minimum walking distances; and flat-fare charging. These three alternatives are then evaluated, with the economic implications of their introduction, not only for the Local Education Authorities, but also parents and society in general, being assessed. From this, it is concluded that the introduction of a flat-fare charging policy could address all the issues to the greatest extent, whilst offering the most economically feasible alternative basis for the provision of school transport provision by the Local Education Authorities in the UK.Science and Engineering Research Council: Transport and Road Research Laboratory (Total Technology Studentship): Tulip Travel Scholarship

Discussions on the relationships between meteorology and oceanography

G. E. R. DEACON: There must be some of you who, like me, did most of their seagoing 20 to 30 years ago and find it difficult to keep pace with the present urgency of introducing more precise reasoning into oceanography. This afternoon\u27s session dealing mainly with such precise arguments has not been easy to follow, and it is clear that there is much serious hard work ahead...

Structure of the neutron-deficient nuclei 173Au and 173Pt and their α-decay descendants

Fusion-evaporation reactions have been used to populate excited states in 173Au and 173Pt, and expand the level schemes for these nuclei. Transitions feeding the π −1 (s1/2) state in 173Au have been discovered for the first time. No collective behaviour was observed in 173Au either. Although no evidence of isomeric transitions or fine structure was present for the decay chain of 173Au, an isomeric transition in 173Pt was observed for the first time. It was found to be decaying from 173Pt’s ν(i13/2) band head to the ν(h9/2) band head. The excitation energy of both of these bands have been determined for the first time. The ν(h9/2) feeds the ground state via decay of a 104-keV γ ray. The ground state of 173Pt has been established to be ν(f7/2). These new findings were compared to systematic trends for both the Pt and Au isotopes. α-decay analysis of 173Pt suggests a ν(f7/2) ground state for the daughter nucleus 169Os, with the 35-keV (5/2−), 112-keV (9/2−), 136-keV and 171-keV states being populated via fine structure of 173Pt’s α decay. The α-decay chains originating from the isomeric π −1 (h11/2 ) state and the π −1 (s1/2) ground state have been studied, culminating in the observation of the α decay of 161Ta m and 165Re g, respectively. As well as reporting a new activity in the decay of 165Re g and confirming that the known α decay of 161Ta is associated with the high-spin isomer, this work has allowed the excitation energy of the high-spin state of 161Ta to be determined for the first time. In combining these new measurements with the information already available on 157Lu Qα -value for the decay of the ground state of 161Ta it has also been possible to deduce the 161Ta. This has enabled the Qp -values of to be measured to give -129(24)keV and -37(21)keV for the ground and isomeric state, respectively, indicating that these states are only just bound with respect to proton emission. The nuclear masses were deduced from Qα measurements in this work and were found to be consistent with values obtained from more direct methods, such as Schottky mass spectrometry or Penning trap mass spectrometry