The purpose of the research was to investigate whether cultural dissonance was experienced by a group of migrant students during educational and cultural transition to new education systems which shared cultural markers of language and ethnicity. Cultural dissonance is defined in this study as:A sense of discord or disharmony, experienced by participants in cultural change where cultural differences are found to occur which are unexpected, unexplained and therefore difficult to negotiate and which inhibit behavioural adaptation.The study utilised case histories of children from forty-seven families. The respondents in the research were the children's parents. The families had emigrated from the United Kingdom to Western Australia during the period 1985-1995.The families reported receiving little information about education systems in Western Australia prior to migration. In the post-migration period, little official information was provided at system or at school level. Because placing the children in schools was a priority for the families, encounters with Western Australian education systems took place within a few weeks of their arrival as migrants.This lack of prior information meant that cultural differences in educational provision were unexpected and unexplained. In particular, families encountered unexpected problems in the appropriate placement of their children in Western Australian schools. Accented English and differences in word usage led to unexpected rejection and teasing. The perceived failure on the part of schools to address these and other differences caused confrontations between parents and many schools and disrupted the children's educational progress. These discordant experiences and difficulties led to what, in this study, is characterised as cultural dissonance.The implications for the study are discussed on two levels. With particular ++ / reference to Western Australian education systems, the lack of induction policies for English-speaking migrant children was apparent. There appeared to be no system or school level guidelines which mandated the use of printed matter, provided at State system level to address these difficulties. The schools were not seen to make good use of the information parents provided about the children's educational stages. The intervention of teachers at classroom level to discourage teasing was seen as ineffective and in two cases teachers contributed to the problems being encountered.On a more general level, the study has implications for attitudinal change within Australian society towards the reception of skilled and financially secure migrant new criteria for entry to Australia have implications for the socio-economic status of potential migrants. The self-identity of these families is influenced by their status in the social hierarchies of their country-of origin. Skilled and professional families are likely to resist policies for their children's induction being seen as a low priority in Western Australian schools simply because of the child's migrant status.The research findings gave rise to recommendations that:Information of education systems in Western Australia should be made available to all intending migrant families with children.Induction policies for all migrant children should be in place and be utilised in Western Australian schools.The formulation of policy takes account of the effects of changes to migrant socio- economic status, brought about by the changes to the criteria for entry to Australia.The study concluded that shared markers of language and ethnicity were not sufficient to ensure that the cultural differences in education systems were not experienced by the families. A lack of prior information on those differences and a lack of induction ++ / policies for the children led to difficulties and to experiences of cultural dissonance for the families.

This thesis examines the development of copyright and patent protection in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia and proposes that intellectual property is not the correct mechanism for protecting computer software. Both copyright and patent protection are evaluated in relation to their application to protecting the various elements of software. The increased desire for patent protection of software in the United States has recently impacted the debate over the correct regime for intellectual property protection. There has also been a corresponding restriction in the application of copyright protection by the courts. Combined with an undercurrent of sui generis software legislation being advocated by academia this has lead to the situation where there is continuing uncertainty over which method of protection should be provided for software. It will be shown that copyright is inadequate for the protection of computer software and that it does not address the correct element requiring protection. Patents, by corollary, provide protection that is excessive. The socio-economic effects of patent protection will be shown to demonstrate that it is not a worthy successor or adjunct to copyright. While copyright has attempted to protect one aspect (source code) patents have attempted to protect another (functionality). The thesis identifies the fundamental flaws in the protection offered by both regimes and proposes that they are equally unsuitable for the protection of software. Software will be shown to possess a diverse array of elements that are largely indivisible if adequate protection is to be provided. It is proposed that software be considered as a new form of property, referred to as Binary property, which covers informational and information processing entities. Further, the existing common law principles should be applied to the aspects that are at the heart of the intellectual property protection dilemma. In reality the elements requiring protection in software are activities that wrongfully duplicate a work or replicate it to create clones. It will be shown that the common law principles of theft, trespass, breach of contract and passing-off are suitable for protecting developers from these infringements. It will also be contended that any legislative intervention should be limited so that a certain degree of replication is allowable where there is a benefit to society through technological advancement or enhancement through standardisation. As such the application of common law principles are applied in a minimalist legalistic environment. The minimalist approach takes the position that there should be minimal legislative intervention in the computer industry. It proposes that there should be legislative intervention to enable the existing common law to take account of computer technology and provide for its continuing impact on society that will accelerate into the next millennium. It further shows that the continuing development of computer technology will outpace intellectual property necessitating the recognition of computer software as a unique form of new property in existing jurisprudence. The application of existing common law principles of property and the reduction in the monopolistic nature of intellectual property will not only benefit the highly dynamic and creative international computer industry but it will also be in the best interests of the Australian software development industry.

This study explores the inter relationships between the nominal interest rates of Australia and its principal trading partners. The analysis focus on the short end of the yield curve --specifically, rates of up to one year to maturity. In essence, the study comprises a suite of essays, which together provide an overall understanding of the relevant relationship that is, in both depth and scope, greater than the sum of the individual essays. The inquiry begins with an investigation of the impact of the overnight information content of international interest rates upon the Australian domestic money market. The results indicate that the strongest information impact on Australian interest rates is from the overnight interest and exchange rates of the United States. This is followed, in the second essay, by an investigation of the relationship between domestically and internationally traded Australian dollar denominated, financial assets. The results indicate that a Euro-Australian dollar inter-bank deposit and Australian bank accepted bills are effectively the same assets. Based on this result the third essay investigates the extent to which the short-term nominal interest rates of Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan are consistent with the expectations theory of the interest rate term structure. The results indicate that nominal inter-bank deposit rates in all four currencies are broadly consistent with the expectations theory. In addition, two common stochastic trends are identified, which can be associated with the markets of the United States and Japan. The forth essay focuses on the bilateral relationships between the nominal interest rates of Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, and aims at establishing the extent to which the observed data is consistent with interest rate parity conditions. It was found that, in the long run, and with some exceptions, there is strong support for all three of the usual parity conditions. These relationships are interpreted as a measure of the efficiency with which the interest rates are simultaneously determined across the four markets. The final essay brings together insights gained in the preceeding essays to help analysis the interactions between each of the four markets at each of the four maturities selected within the consistent framework of a single model. The results indicate that the system can be usefully conceptualised as interactions between two sub-systems. The first sub-system models the nexus between Australia and the United States, and the second sub-system, that between the United Kingdom and Japan. The interactions within and between these two sub-systems are found to change as the maturity increases. At the shortest maturity, Australian interest rates are directly affected by both sub-systems. In contrast, at the longest maturity, Australian interest rates anticipate those of the United States and are not directly affected by the second sub-system.

This project examines the impact of standards-based and curriculum reforms on the role of materials in educational systems in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Australia. The project focused on identifying activities undertaken by publishing companies and in educational systems to develop, select and use materials in the context of standards-based and curriculum reforms by investigating: (1) research literature about the publishing industry, the policies controlling the adoption of materials, and the patterns influencing the use of materials in schools in the United States; (2) the perceptions of educational publishers about the impact of these reforms on the new materials developed by their companies to meet the needs of schools in implementing these reforms; (3) the impact of national curriculum reforms in the United Kingdom on the materials� marketplace; (4) the impact of the national standards movement in the United States on the materials� marketplace; (5) the impact of state standards in the United States on various aspects relating to materials designed to support these reforms; (6) the impact of national curriculum collaboration in Australia on the materials� marketplace; and (7) the impact of state and territory curricula in Australia on various aspects relating to materials designed to support these reforms. The report concludes by applying categories defined in a typology to classify various activities relating to the development, selection and use of materials identified in educational publishing and educational systems in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. Samples and questionnaires relating to surveys and a bibliography are appended.

This thesis analyses the nature, rationale, and implementation of United Kingdom and Australian regulation of research involving human embryos and cloning using legal materials, other documents and qualitative interviews with researchers, practitioners and regulators. It considers how law-makers have decided upon what to regulate and where to draw the line between permissible and prohibited activities, and the type of regulatory design strategies and enforcement approaches adopted in each jurisdiction (the ‘how to regulate’ question). It is argued that both jurisdictions have effectively decided upon permissible and prohibited activities as a result of thorough public consultation, research, reviews and the parliamentary process, and have appropriately balanced competing rationales for regulation. However, the type of regulation used in relation to those who are licensed to research in this area is unsuitable due to an over-emphasis on deterrence and the authoritarian approach taken by the regulatory bureaucracies. The central thesis is that a responsive regulatory system for licence-holders should be adopted. It is proposed that such a system would maintain the top level ‘command and control’ design strategies and deterrence approaches present in the current regulatory systems for breaches of legislation by non-licence holders and serious breaches by licence holders. However, greater use of co-regulatory design strategies and cooperative, educative and persuasive enforcement approaches should be used for regulating licensed research activities.

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this thesis is to examine and compare the maternal mortality in three different countries; Malawi, India and United Kingdom, as well as highlighting the attributing factors and preventive steps that would reduce the maternal mortality in these countries. <strong>Methods and material: </strong>The studied design that was chosen is an ecological study which means to study the relationship between aggregated health data and exposing factors, for example a geographical area and time period. The reason of choosing this study can be seen in the relationship and the factors that contribute to maternal mortality in Malawi, India and the United Kingdom. In order to attain the objective of the thesis a variety of sources were utilized to find data, statistics and scientific articles concerning maternal mortality in all three countries.<strong>Results and conclusion: </strong>Maternal mortality is the highest in Malawi and India, while it is very low in the United Kingdom when compared with these two countries. The result shows among other things that the maternal mortality is mainly caused by direct causes both in Malawi and India and in the United Kingdom the maternal mortality is mainly from indirect causes. It is also shown that the maternal mortality in these countries have been changed over the years. It is also shown that preventive steps such as family planning, skilled attendance, obstetric emergency care and antenatal care can significantly reduce the maternal mortality rate.</p>

Objective: The aim of this thesis is to examine and compare the maternal mortality in three different countries; Malawi, India and United Kingdom, as well as highlighting the attributing factors and preventive steps that would reduce the maternal mortality in these countries. Methods and material: The studied design that was chosen is an ecological study which means to study the relationship between aggregated health data and exposing factors, for example a geographical area and time period. The reason of choosing this study can be seen in the relationship and the factors that contribute to maternal mortality in Malawi, India and the United Kingdom. In order to attain the objective of the thesis a variety of sources were utilized to find data, statistics and scientific articles concerning maternal mortality in all three countries.Results and conclusion: Maternal mortality is the highest in Malawi and India, while it is very low in the United Kingdom when compared with these two countries. The result shows among other things that the maternal mortality is mainly caused by direct causes both in Malawi and India and in the United Kingdom the maternal mortality is mainly from indirect causes. It is also shown that the maternal mortality in these countries have been changed over the years. It is also shown that preventive steps such as family planning, skilled attendance, obstetric emergency care and antenatal care can significantly reduce the maternal mortality rate.

This thesis examines how the international terrorist group known as Al Qaeda has expanded its operations globally since 9/11. Case studies of Al Qaeda’s operations in the Arabian Peninsula, the United Kingdom, and the United States illustrate how the organization has exploited diverse environmental conditions to achieve either a limited or fully integrated local presence. This thesis argues that Al Qaeda has evolved into a highly diffuse and decentralized franchise that exercises little command and control over its organizational arms.

In 2004 a law banning all religious affiliation in public schools in France came into force. This started a heavy debate in the whole of Europe on whether this law is a violation of human rights law on the basis on freedom of religion and the freedom to manifest his/hers religion or belief in worship. This had the greatest impact on Muslim girls wearing the Islamic headscarf. This is a study of the legal framework of the law in the light of human rights perspective. It is also a semi comparison between the French and the United Kingdom way of approaching the issue with the Islamic headscarf in public schools.Keywords: religion,

This thesis has been carried out within the framework of the Master of ScienceProgramme in Sociotechnical Systems Engineering and performed for the SwedishTrade Council in London. The author investigates how the Swedish Trade Councilcan facilitate and bridge the contacts between venture capitalists in the UK andhigh-tech start-ups in Sweden. High-tech ventures in the start-up phases often face a challenge in accumulatingsufficient financial resources and skills to successfully move from concept stage tobusiness, particularly within the life sciences’. High costs associated to time consumingand demanding product development cycles may require external investors whichprovide venture capital and expertise. However, many face difficulties in attractingventure capital partly due to the so-called equity gap, which relates to financiersunwillingness for taking on risk and investing in the early-stages. The study shows that venture capital largely rely on local networks and are limited intheir investments’ geographical distribution. The interviewed market players alsoemphasise the importance of local networks in the investment processes. Given thesecharacteristics, it may be difficult for a Swedish company seeking venture capitalabroad without help from intermediaries. Although there is a role to fill forintermediaries in assisting in the investment discovery process, it is likely to provedifficult over time as tasks become increasingly cumbersome.