Overseas Accounting Students in Australia and Performance in Literary Work: An Empirical Test

This study compared the performance of local and overseas students, studying in a Western Australian university, in respect of both a literary and practical component of an examination question associated with a second year accounting unit. An analysis of the results, using an analysis of variance, indicated that language background for these two groups of students was a significant discriminating variable. This result lends support for the claim by the large Australian-based major public accounting firms that overseas accounting graduates lack language skill, which is, in turn, cited by the firms as a basis for not employing the graduates. Notwithstanding the extreme importance and implications of this research for concerned stakeholders, including educators, educational institutions, graduates and employers, and government migration policy, the research findings should be treated as tentative and further research is suggested.Accounting education, International students, Literary performance

An Improved Living Environment, But...

In 2000, the CHA received a HOPE VI grant to revitalize the Madden/Wells community by demolishing the nearly 3,000-unit dilapidated development and replacing it with a new mixed-income community named Oakwood Shores. Another development, Dearborn Homes, was slated for revitalization a few years later and was often used to house residents from other CHA developments targeted for demolition who were reluctant to leave CHA housing or had not qualified for mixed-income housing or vouchers.The plan for Dearborn Homes was to substantially rehabilitate its buildings.For over 10 years, the Urban Institute has been researching the outcomes of residents from these developments. This brief examines whether and to what extent the original residents of these distressed developments ended up in an improved living environment 3 to 10 years after relocating from Madden/Wells (the Panel Study sample) or 1 to 3 years after relocating from either Madden/Wells or the Dearborn Homes (the Demonstration sample).In general, these CHA families live in better housing in substantially safer, but still very poor, neighborhoods. Yet these gains are fragile; relocatees experience significant material hardship, and too many of those who have moved with vouchers live in neighborhoods where drug traf?cking and violent crime remain significant problems

Marine thorium and protactinium distributions: Tools for past and present chemical flux

Adsorption to sinking particulate matter, known as scavenging, is an important yet elusive term in the budgets of many bioactive and contaminant trace metals in the ocean. Scavenging is also involved in the cycling of other trace metals used in ocean sediments to learn about ocean processes, such as circulation rates or biological productivity, of the geologic past. This dissertation is an oceanographic exploration of the naturally-occurring radionuclides 230Th, 232Th and 231Pa aimed to better understand how their scavenging behavior can be utilized to trace chemical flux in the modern and the past ocean. While 230Th and 231Pa are produced by the radioactive decay of uranium dissolved in seawater, 232Th is added to the ocean via the input of continental material. Removal of Th by scavenging should be equivalent for both Th isotopes based on chemical principles. I use measured 232Th inventories from the North Pacific water column and apply a removal rate based on 234U:230Th disequilibria to estimate the flux of dissolved trace elements, such as the micro-nutrient Fe, to the ocean through the deposition of mineral dust (Chapter 2). Results from this study also raise the possibility of differing chemical behavior of the two Th isotopes in shallow water (<500 m depth) related to size-partitioning between truly dissolved and colloidal phases. Finally, results from the U.S. GEOTRACES North Atlantic Transect are used to investigate the relationship between 231Pa and 230Th in the water column and several of their proposed paleoceanographic purposes. The accuracy of 230Th as a proxy for constant sediment flux can be directly quantified to 40±10% with observations of boundary scavenging near the coast of Northwest Africa (Chapter 4). The 231Pa/230Th ratio in the water column is not clearly controlled by either ocean ventilation (Chapter 4) or particle composition (Chapter 5) alone. Near-bottom enhanced scavenging of both isotopes is also occurring over large regions, in benthic layers of resuspended sediments and in a hydrothermal plume emanating from the mid-Atlantic ridge. These novel observations must be reconciled in a new conceptual model, likely requiring future numerical modeling work, in order to clarify the use of the 231Pa/230Th ratio as a proxy for the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation

Developing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for hemp russet mite (Aculops cannabicola Farkas) on hemp (Cannabis sativa L.)

Includes bibliographical references.2022 Fall.Cannabis sativa L. is a plant that is rapidly becoming a crop of global agricultural importance. However, because of the historical peculiar regulatory status of this crop little has been developed on the pests and pest management needs of the crop. Among the more serious pests that have become established with this plant is hemp russet mite (HRM) Aculops cannabicola Farkas (Acari: Eriophyidae). In order to assess the efficacy of various IPM approaches to mitigating HRM infestations, a series of field and lab experiments were conducted including: 1) evaluation of the effects of sprays of sulfur on control of hemp russet mite, yield, and cannabinoid produduction; 2) evaluation of the efficacy of field release of the phytoseiid mites Amblyseius andersoni, A. swirskii, Neoseiulus fallacis, and N. californicus on HRM-infested hemp plants; and 3) evaluation of hot water immersion as a potential disinfestation method for HRM-infested cuttings used in propagation. The results of the sulfur sprays in field trials showed excellent ability to suppress HRM by up to 98%. Yields of treated plants improved by up to 33% and there was a further increase in the percentage of phytocannabinoids by up to 45% relative to untreated plants. Greatest effects were seen in all trials with plants receiving two applications, one during the vegetative period in July and the second at the initiation of flower production in August. Mass releases of N. fallacis and A. swirskii, but not N. californicus and A. amblysieus, did produce a significant reduction in HRM populations, but no treatments significantly affected yield or percentage of phytocannabinoids, relative to untreated plants. No reproduction was observed of any of the released mites on HRM-infested plants. Immersion treatments to disinfest cuttings included use of a water bath at temperatures of 106°F or 109°F for 10 or 15 minutes, and dips in room temperature surfactant solution of Dr. Bonner's Pure-Castile lavender soap at 1.0% and 0.1% concentrations. All treatments were able to cause significant reduction of HRM on infested hemp cuttings, although none caused complete elimination. No phytotoxicity, as evidenced by effects on subsequent rooting, were observed with any treatment. This study provides novel effective approaches to mitigating HRM at multiple stages in hemp production operations. Outcomes of this research may provide hemp producers and other stakeholders with key pest management strategies needed to produce hemp plants that are free of HRM

Driving to Opportunity: Understanding the Links among Transportation Access, Residential Outcomes, and Economic Opportunity for Housing Voucher Recipients

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Department of Housing and Urban Development sponsored two major experiments to test whether housing choice vouchers propelled low-income households into greater economic security, the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing program (MTO) and the Welfare to Work Voucher program (WTW). Using data from these programs, this study examines differences in residential location and employment outcomes between voucher recipients with access to automobiles and those without. Overall, the findings underscore the positive role of automobiles in outcomes for housing voucher participants

YoeB toxin is activated during thermal stress.

Type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules are thought to mediate stress-responses by temporarily suppressing protein synthesis while cells redirect transcription to adapt to environmental change. Here, we show that YoeB, a ribosome-dependent mRNase toxin, is activated in Escherichia coli cells grown at elevated temperatures. YoeB activation is dependent on Lon protease, suggesting that thermal stress promotes increased degradation of the YefM antitoxin. Though YefM is efficiently degraded in response to Lon overproduction, we find that Lon antigen levels do not increase during heat shock, indicating that another mechanism accounts for temperature-induced YefM proteolysis. These observations suggest that YefM/YoeB functions in adaptation to temperature stress. However, this response is distinct from previously described models of TA function. First, YoeB mRNase activity is maintained over several hours of culture at 42°C, indicating that thermal activation is not transient. Moreover, heat-activated YoeB does not induce growth arrest nor does it suppress global protein synthesis. In fact, E. coli cells proliferate more rapidly at elevated temperatures and instantaneously accelerate their growth rate in response to acute heat shock. We propose that heat-activated YoeB may serve a quality control function, facilitating the recycling of stalled translation complexes through ribosome rescue pathways

Support for Drought Response and Community Preparedness: Filling the Gaps between Plans and Action

This chapter examines which levels of government handle various aspects of drought, as well as interactions between levels of government, providing examples from states across the western United States. It also takes a look at aspects of drought that fall outside traditional lines of authority and disciplinary boundaries. As part of a discussion on how states support local drought response, the chapter details and contrasts how California and Colorado track public water supply restrictions, and describes Colorado’s process for incorporating input from river basins across the state into its water plan. Case studies focus on drought planning in the Klamath River and Upper Colorado River basins through the lens of collaborative environmental planning. The chapter concludes that drought planning will be more effective as more states coordinate and align goals and policies at multiple levels of government

Creating Inclusive Organizations: Its Meaning and Measurement

There is growing interest in the concept of inclusion by both scientists and practitioners. The goal of the current study was to bring empirical support to the organizational inclusion literature. Inclusion was defined as a psychosocial need and a model was developed specifying its relationship to antecedent and consequence variables. The measurement model was explored with a sample of responses from 418 undergraduate students (Study 1). The measurement model was confirmed and the structural model was assessed with a sample of responses from 609 employees of a medical center (Study 2). Results of structural equation modeling provided limited support for the inclusion construct and poor support for the proposed measurement and structural models. While results supported the existence of an inclusive construct, there was little support for the efficacy of inclusion to understand attitudes in the context of organizations. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are discussed