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This paper examines school management and policies in Germany and Australia during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study, which is comparative and qualitative, explores the interrelationship between different levels of governance and the responses of teacher unions. The inquiry is informed by the perspectives of historical institutionalism and path dependency, and the document analysis is conducted by utilising the justification categories of value, collective, and formal and procedural driven arguments. We argue the contestation which occurred between different levels of school governance and the teacher unions amidst the pandemic created the potential for changes in policy settings and influence over the administration of schooling. However, there is no indication of fundamental shifts in the organisation, policy direction or control over schooling in Germany or Australia. Instead, there is a conformity to established institutional arrangements and path dependencies, which secure and protect the vested interests of the different policy actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate determinants of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, core affect regarding using telerehabilitation, and digital competencies in rehabilitation professionals in Austria and Germany before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional paper-based and online survey was conducted before and during COVID-19, respectively, with three cohorts of rehabilitation professionals. Outcomes were the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation evaluated using the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology; willingness of technology use using the short scale for assessing the willingness of technology use; digital competencies and core affect using the Digital Competence Framework and semantic differential, respectively. Multivariate ordinal regression analysis was performed to determine predictors. Included were 603 rehabilitation professionals. Analysis revealed differences between Austria and Germany and before and during the pandemic for most outcomes. German residency, the pandemic, and a higher educational level were most important predictors of higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. The pandemic increased most aspects of willingness to adopt telerehabilitation, willingness of technology use, digital competencies, and positive core affect. Results confirm that rehabilitation professionals with higher degrees are more prone to adopt innovations in healthcare.Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021464) The willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is associated with external factors increasing the need for alternative rehabilitation delivery, such as COVID-19, and with financial facilitators, such as reimbursement. As the willingness to adopt telerehabilitation is higher among speech and language therapists and dietitians, efforts are necessary to enhance its use in physiotherapists and occupational therapists. As a higher willingness to adopt telerehabilitation was observed in younger rehabilitation professionals and those with higher education, increasing the importance of telerehabilitation in education curricula and further knowledge transfer into practice for those already working in the field seems necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computer‐based assessment allows for the monitoring of reader behaviour. The identification of patterns in this behaviour can provide insights that may be useful in informing educational interventions. Objectives: Our study aims to explore what different patterns of reading activity exist, and investigates their interpretation and consistency across different task sets (units), countries, and languages. Three patterns were expected: on‐task, exploring and disengaged. Methods: Using log data from the PISA 2012 digital reading assessment (9226 students from seven countries), we conducted hierarchical cluster analyses with typical process indicators of digital reading assessments. We identified different patterns and explored whether they remained consistent across different units. To validate the interpretation of the identified patterns, we examined their relationship to performance and student characteristics (gender, socio‐economic status, print reading skills). Results and Conclusions: The results indicate a small number of transnational clusters, with unit‐specific differences. Cluster interpretation is supported by associations with student characteristics—for example, students with low print reading skills were more likely to show a disengaged pattern than proficient readers. Exploring behaviour tended to be exhibited only once across the three units: It occurred in the first unit for proficient readers and in later units for less skilled readers. Major Takeaways: Behavioural patterns can be identified in digital reading tasks that may prove useful for educational monitoring and intervention. Although task situations are designed to evoke certain behaviours, the interpretation of observed behavioural patterns requires validation based on task requirements, assessment context and relationships to other available information. Lay Description: What is already known about the subject matter?: Students differ in how they read, comprehend and use digital information.Indicators from process data provide insight about how students engage with digital reading tasks. What does this paper add to the subject matter?: Based on multiple process indicators, a small number of clusters indicating different behavioural activity can be distinguished.These clusters can be described as on‐task, passive, hasty, exploring, disengaged, persistent and lost interest.A meaningful interpretation of the clusters must consider the requirements of the underlying tasks. Implications for practice and/or policy: Knowledge of how students engage with digital resources may provide useful feedback for teachers to guide students' learning or intervene when they struggle.Educational monitoring: The high comparability of country‐specific results suggests an invariant set of solution strategies in the digital reading assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online petitions have become a widespread vehicle for contemporary political participation. While research tends to focus on individual factors for potential petitioners that influence signing, less attention has been paid to the influence of the actual text of petitions. This paper uses data from an original web-based survey experiment in Australia and Germany to test the influence of content factors: narratives (i.e., stories based on individual experiences and emotions) and popularity cues (i.e., high numbers of signatures) across two issues: climate change and welfare policy. We find that narratives within petition texts involve readers through the mechanism of transportation and motivate them to sign petitions, as do popularity cues. The effects of narratives were found across both countries but tended to be stronger in Germany than in Australia. We argue that our novel framework can be used for future research on how the presentation of issues shape contemporary political participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between locus of control (LOC) and the demand for supplementary health insurance (SUPP). Drawing on longitudinal data from Germany, we document robust evidence that individuals internal LOC increases the take up of supplementary private health insurance (SUPP). We find that the effect of one standard deviation increase in the measure of internal LOC on the probability of SUPP purchase is equivalent to a 14 percent increase in household income. Second, we find that the positive association between self-reported health and SUPP becomes small and insignificant when we control for LOC. These results suggest that LOC might be an unobserved individual trait that can partly explain previously documented evidence of advantageous selection into SUPP. Third, we find comparable results using data from Australia, which enhances the external validity of our results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposition that international students are not only sojourners but future immigrants has become well established in public policy. While education and immigration policy have become more intertwined, they continue to be analysed as separate spheres of influence. This paper compares Australia, Canada, and Germany, which between them host nearly 20% of all globally mobile students and where a nexus between international student and immigration policy has emerged. Using critical discourse analysis, a comparative case study design and based on a systematic literature review of over 300 studies published from 1990 to 2018, the findings revealed three ostensibly paradoxical discourses, which are discussed using the new term 'discursive pairings'. First, international students are selected for success but remain vulnerable to policy shifts that may exclude them and cause them to 'fail'. Second, international students are retained to fill economic shortages, but face difficulties being accepted on the labour market. Third, international students help build national reputation yet have been known to be exploited and subject to discrimination. The contradictions that emerge in the discourses bring into question the 'ideal immigrant' framing of international students, demonstrating that their role, acceptance, and ability to integrate into host countries is far from assured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using long panels of industry-specific offshoring information and subjectively reported well-being datasets mainly from Germany, which is also supported by datasets from the UK and Australia, this paper aims to investigate the relationship between offshoring and workers' subjective well-being in the source country. We employ panel data fixed-effects models with time-variant personality measures and industry-specific measures to alleviate the bias stemming from the non-random sorting of individuals in industries. Our findings suggest that offshoring negatively relates to workers' subjective well-being. The result is unexceptionally consistent across Germany, the UK, and Australia, and the effect is larger in business services and among high-skilled workers. We extensively discuss how contextual "fear-factors" prevailing in the source countries interact with the angst generated by the negative framing of offshoring. To single out such angst, we first show that objective and subjective job security concerns, job characteristics, and labor market conditions only marginally relate to the well-being effect of offshoring. Then, we investigate how the effect of offshoring on well-being is amplified by a larger set of contextual factors pertaining to temporary economic shocks, negative narratives about offshoring during electoral cycles, partisan political preferences, and high immigration rates. Finally, we show that a recent skill upgrade significantly diminishes the negative effect of offshoring on well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forecasts predict a growing shortage of skilled nursing staff in countries worldwide. Nurse migration is already a common strategy used to address nursing workforce needs. Germany, the UK, and Australia are reviewed here as examples of destination countries for nurse migrants. Agreements exist between countries to facilitate nurse migration; however, it is not evident how nurse migrants have contributed to data on which these arrangements are based. We examined existing primary research on nurse migration, including educational needs and initiatives to support policymakers', stakeholders', and health professions educators' decisions on measures for ethical and sustainable nurse migration. We conducted a rapid evidence assessment to review available empirical research data which involved, was developed with, or considered migrant nurses to address the research question: what are the findings of research that directly involves migrant nurses in producing primary research data? A total of 56 papers were included. Four main themes were identified in this research data: Research does not clearly define what is meant by the term migrant nurses; discrimination is often reported by migrant nurses; language and communication competencies are important; and structured integration programs are highly valued by migrant nurses and destination healthcare employers. Migrant nurses continue to experience discrimination and reduced career opportunities and therefore should be included in research about them to better inform policy. Structured integration programs can improve the experience of migrant nurses by providing language support (if necessary), a country-specific bridging program and help with organisational hurdles. Not only researching migrant nurses but making them active partners in research is of great importance for successful, ethical, and sustainable migration policies. A broader evidence base, especially with regard to the views and experiences of migrant nurses and their educational support needs, should be promoted to make future immigration policy more needs-based, sustainable and ethically acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is based on research conducted with support from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Research Stays for Academics funding. While German cities vary in their transport patterns and mobility cultures (Klinger et al. 2013; Scheiner 2012); they have in common federal laws including those defining the purpose of public streets and the basis of rights to them. This paper examines how such higher-level legal norms and rights relating to public streets shape and constrain parking management across heterogenous German cities. Following Treib et al. 's (2007) typology of modes of governance, the paper argues that certain binding or 'hard' federal policy dimensions frame competing claims to curb space. They do so in ways that privilege parked cars as traffic ; and that constrain the limited political frameworks within which German cities may vary their approaches to parking. They also define the conditions through which emerging forms of mobility are able to be established (Marsden et al. 2020). The paper draws on interviews, primarily with transport planners, undertaken to compare car parking approaches across 8 German cities with different transport mode shares; and on a desktop review of parking and related laws mentioned in these interviews. • Examines how higher-level legal norms and rights shape parking management in German cities of varying transport and mobility cultures. • German road laws restrict parking fines and use of revenue, define the purpose of streets as traffic , and define car parking as traffic. • Following Treib et al's (2007) typology of modes of governance, argues 'hard' federal policy dimensions frame competing claims to curb space. • Implications include high rates of illegal parking; limits to pricing or conversion of street space; and uneven take-up. • Road rights privileging parked cars encode 20th century automobility, and define conditions through which new forms of mobility may emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many developed countries lone parent families face high rates of child poverty. Among those lone parents who do get child maintenance there is a hidden problem. States may retain all, or a proportion, of the maintenance that is paid in order to offset other fiscal costs. Thus, the potential of child maintenance to alleviate poverty among lone parent families may not be fully realized, especially if the families are also in receipt of social assistance benefits. This paper provides an original comparative analysis exploring the effectiveness of child maintenance to reduce child poverty among lone parent families in receipt of social assistance. It addresses the question of whether effectiveness is compromised once interaction effects (such as the operation of a child maintenance disregard) are taken into account in four countries Australia, Finland, Germany and the UK using the LIS dataset (2013). It raises important policy considerations and provides evidence to show that if policy makers are serious about reducing child poverty, they must understand how hidden mechanisms within interactions between child maintenance and social security systems can work as effective cost recovery tools for the state, but have no poverty reduction impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Quality of life is included in the economic evaluation of health services by measuring the preference for health states, i.e. health state utilities. However, most intervention studies include a disease-specific, not a utility, instrument. Consequently, there has been increasing use of statistical mapping algorithms which permit utilities to be estimated from a disease-specific instrument. The present paper provides such algorithms between the MacNew Heart Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) instrument and six multi-attribute utility (MAU) instruments, the Euroqol (EQ-5D), the Short Form 6D (SF-6D), the Health Utilities Index (HUI) 3, the Quality of Wellbeing (QWB), the 15D (15 Dimension) and the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-8D). Methods: Heart disease patients and members of the healthy public were recruited from six countries. Non-parametric rank tests were used to compare subgroup utilities and MacNew scores. Mapping algorithms were estimated using three separate statistical techniques. Results: Mapping algorithms achieved a high degree of precision. Based on the mean absolute error and the intra class correlation the preferred mapping is MacNew into SF-6D or 15D. Using the R squared statistic the preferred mapping is MacNew into AQoL-8D. Implications for research: The algorithms reported in this paper enable MacNew data to be mapped into utilities predicted from any of six instruments. This permits studies which have included the MacNew to be used in cost utility analyses which, in turn, allows the comparison of services with interventions across the health system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To report a systematic review of the psychometric properties of self-report instruments to identify the symptoms of anxiety in pregnancy to help clinicians and researchers select the most suitable instrument. Background Excessive anxiety in pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes, developmental and behavioural problems in infants and postnatal depression. Despite recommendations for routine psychological assessment in pregnancy, the optimal methods to identify anxiety in pregnancy have not been confirmed. Design Psychometric systematic review. Data sources A systematic literature search of the multiple databases (1990-September 2014). Review methods Identification of self-report instruments to measure anxiety in pregnancy using COSMIN guidelines to assess studies reporting a psychometric evaluation of validity and reliability. Results Thirty-two studies were included. Studies took place in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain and the Netherlands. Seventeen different instruments were identified. Measures of validity were reported in 19 papers and reliability in 16. The overall quality of the papers was rated as fair to excellent using the COSMIN checklist. Only one paper scored excellent in more than one category. Conclusion Many instruments have been adapted for use in different populations to those for which they were designed. The State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale have been tested more frequently than other instruments, yet require further assessment to confirm their value for use in pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active load shifting of the electricity demand unlocks a variety of benefits. Examples of such advantages include the increased stability of energy systems, reduced electricity costs and financial savings in the transmission as well as generation infrastructure. Although the technology necessary for demand response has been extensively studied for individual appliances or at the micro-grid level, evaluations of its nationwide impact are scarce. Yet governments and policy-makers require quantitative assessments in order to understand the underlying value and derive appropriate policies. For this purpose, this paper utilizes real-world data from the German-Austrian electricity market in order to calculate ex post the impact of demand response on electricity spot prices and load. As a result, we find that a 25% adoption rate of the available potential for load shifting could have decreased nationwide electricity expenses by approximately €500 million, or 6%, in 2014. At the same time, we observe that the price volatility rises under this scheme and thus impairs non-flexible electricity customers. This observation entails significant implications in terms of designing effective policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain. • Case study for ammonia trade between Australia and Germany in 2030. • Sensitivity analysis on ammonia prices for technical and economic parameters. • Cost comparison of conventional and green ammonia production. This paper contributes to understanding the transformation of global energy trade to green energy carriers, focusing on green ammonia as the foreseeable first green hydrogen carrier. We provide a comprehensive overview of today's ammonia trade and assess scaling options for the trade of green ammonia. To that aim, we develop an optimization model for the integrated assessment of the green ammonia value chain that covers all steps from green ammonia production in an exporting country, up to delivery to a harbor in an importing country. The model endogenously chooses among different technology options and determines cost minimal operation. In a case study, we apply the model to the large-scale import of ammonia from Australia to Germany in a scenario for 2030. The results show that green ammonia can reach cost parity with gray ammonia even for moderate gas prices (but not necessarily with blue ammonia) if CO 2 prices are high enough. We also provide a sensitivity analysis with respect to the interest rate and other key technical and economic parameters and show that cracking ammonia to provide pure hydrogen comes at a 45 % cost markup per MWh at the destination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DESPITE EMERGING EVIDENCE OF THE contributors to high-quality family day care, a comprehensive comparison of international family day care systems has not been undertaken. The aim of this paper is to compare regulated family day care (FDC) in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Sweden, and the USA, using standard information about FDC usage and each country's structural characteristics, regulatory approach, quality assurance indicators, supervision and support, and sector challenges. A template was developed by representatives of the International Family Day Care Organisation, including academics, FDC providers, and FDC educators and management staff. The paper demonstrates that, although the existing body of published research is sufficient to provide clear guidance for developing and maintaining quality FDC, this knowledge is not always being applied in current practices. Three practices, each pertaining to several countries, are of concern: (a) minimal requirements for being a regulated FDC provider, (b) minimal quality assurance guidelines, and (c) minimal provider supports. There is great potential to learn from countries that have a high level of success in providing high-quality FDC and strong support for providers and families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, various concepts with similar underlying philosophies have evolved within the urban water sector calling for a more integrated, sustainable, and adaptive management approach. Whilst many advocate this idea, the process of transitioning to sustainability-focused water management seems to proceed slowly. There are sector-specific characteristics that generally bring a level of conformity within the sector, but various national and regional drivers and constraints also shape each utility's option space. Business models can be useful catalysts for change by providing a more holistic view of potential options and transition pathways. This paper outlines the concept of business modeling for use in Sustainable Urban Water Management (SUWM). A literature-based comparative assessment was undertaken for two cases: Melbourne, Australia and the Emscher Region, Germany. We demonstrate the practical relevance of the proposed framework for understanding enablers and inhibitors of change and identifying strategies for sustainability within the urban water sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a comparative study of temporary protection (TP) mechanisms in Australia and selected European jurisdictions. Specifically, it analyzes policy developments and trends in the use of TP mechanisms in Denmark, Germany, and Australia through a systematic examination of the evolution of "substitute protection" mechanisms; their implications for "effective protection" and their impacts on key stakeholders. The policy analyses are augmented by interviews and survey questionnaires with key NGO service providers in the three target jurisdictions. The paper argues that the traditional link between Refugee Convention protection and national territorial jurisdiction and responsibility is being undermined by extraterritorial processing and offshoring arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on an exploratory investigation of the perceptions of information and communication technology (ICT) as a field of study and work in German secondary schools. A total of 160 students from five secondary schools in Lower Saxony participated in the study in February 2007, and four teachers of the students were interviewed. The investigation is part of the research carried out by the authors within the Griffith University Women in Information Technology (WinIT) project, which has been studying the problem of low female participation since 1995. In this paper we discuss German school students' (male and female) and their teachers' views of ICT, its use at school and home, their influences in using technology, and their ideas about working with technology in the future. We drew on the challenges faced and opportunities available to teachers in the study to put this in context. We found that many senior secondary students have not decided what they want to do when they finish school, suggesting that the environment is ripe for them to receive relevant and useful information that may help them to choose to study tertiary ICT courses. By dispelling negative ICT perceptions and allowing students to make an informed choice as to whether to take up a career in ICT, we can hopefully encourage more students into this ever-growing and exciting industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large collections of Syllidae (Polychaeta) from around Australia, housed at the Australian Museum (Sydney), have been examined and identified. Australian material from the Hamburgische Zoologische Museum der Universität, Hamburg, Germany was also examined, as well as some specimens lodged in other museums. All known Australian species of the subfamily Syllinae (Syllidae) belonging to the genera Branchiosyllis Ehlers, 1887 (9 species): Eurysyllis Ehlers, 1864 (1 species); Karroonsyllis San Martin & López, 2003 (1 species); Parasphaerosyllis Monro, 1937 (1 species); Plakosyllis Hartmann- Schröder, 1956 (1 species); Rhopalosyllis Augener, 1913 (1 species), Tetrapalpia n.gen. (1 species), and Xenosyllis Marion & Bobretzky, 1875 (2 species), are described and figured. Some were examined using the Scanning Electron Microscope to illustrate characters and methods of reproduction in this subfamily. Since there are numerous genera and species of Syllinae, the results will be presented in a series of several papers treating different genera. Keys to genera of Australian Syllinae will be provided in the final paper. Keys to species level are provided for genera having more than one Australian representative. Six new species are described: Branchiosyllis baringabooreen, B. orbiniiformis. B. carmenroldanae, B. thylacine, Xenosyllis moloch, and X. scabroides. A new genus, Tetrapalpia is described for the species Opisthosvllis dorsoaciculata. The genus Xenosyllis is described for the first time from Australia, as well as Branchiosyllis oculata Ehlers, 1887, and B. maculata (Imajima, 1966). A discussion of the reproduction and systematics of the subfamily is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that governments of some otherwise enlightened states are increasingly fearful of acknowledging the restraints imposed on them by existing international law. They are also reluctant to enter into new commitments by way of international conventions that would expand the reach of international law. The paper asks whether these fears are based on a true understanding of international law or on some distorted view of it. It will draw comparisons and some contrasts between Australia and the United States in their reactions to a number of recent events as well as to some enduring situations of contemporary relevance. Had time (and the limits of my research) permitted, one might also have examined public attitudes toward international law in China, Japan, and Russia in this context, where similar fears appear to be entertained. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also enlightened states, appear by contrast to belong to a group more dedicated to international law. As Robert Kagan has recently remarked, the experience of two world wars at close quarters, and the formation of the European Union, have made the European countries more dedicated to process, where the United States is more interested in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent studies from Australia and Germany have both shown that people who stutter (PWS) have elevated Neuroticism scores on the widely used NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) compared to individuals in a control sample. The two studies showed opposite results, however, for the personality traits Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. One reason for these opposing findings could be that the two studies were conducted in different cultural settings. Given that the effect of different cultural background on the relationship between the NEO-FFI and stuttering remains an open question, we investigated the NEO-FFI scores from 98 PWS and an age- and sex-matched control-group from a less widely studied cultural background (Iran). Overall, the present study showed, in line with a study from Germany, higher Agreeableness, but not Neuroticism, in PWS compared to normally fluent controls. To get further insights into these findings, we also contrasted both samples from Iran with a healthy matched sample from Germany. The resulting cross-cultural differences from these analyses are also discussed in the present paper. Although the present study is limited by a cross-sectional design, and so no causal conclusions can be drawn, the authors discuss whether the replicated elevated Agreeableness scores in PWS might represent a self-defense mechanism to cope with one's own speech handicap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of ‘knowledge economies’ across the industrialised world, transitions from school to work have generally become more complex and uncertain. Nonetheless, such developments vary between countries, as young people form aspirations which align with their individual preferences, academic abilities and the economic, cultural and social capital to which they have access. Previous research emphasises the positive influence social capital received from parents and school networks has on young people's developing aspirations. Meanwhile, the social capital young people generate for themselves through ‘out-of-school’ activities is often construed as either irrelevant or problematic. In this paper, we examine the relationship between this latter dimension of social capital and the educational aspirations of young people in Australia (aged 14/15;n= 3586) and Germany (aged 14/15;n= 2517). Both countries have distinct institutional settings with varied school-to-work transition regimes. Our results show that youth-derived social capital, generated through participation in out-of school extra-curricular activities, mediates the association between parental background and educational aspirations in both countries. We suggest that, by exposing young people to broader sets of values, skills and resources not accessible within the family and the school context, such involvement may be important for promoting educational aspirations and attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education policy is a highly interesting field from the point of view of governance, given the substantial changes that have been made throughout the world to the governance of such policy over the last 30 years or so. Western governments in particular have made significant changes in the governance arrangements of their education policy in order to achieve two fundamental goals: increased efficiency and greater accountability. In this process, the role of governments has changed but not diminished. This paper explores such developments by comparing the trajectories of governance reforms in three federal countries (Australia, Canada and Germany). What emerges is that the role of governments is key to all governance mixes modelled by the reform processes in the three analysed countries, and that there is greater “national” coordination than before, but also significant differences in the strategies adopted and in the content of reform, due to the differing nature of such countries’ federal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narrative studies with migrant teachers offer new perspectives on local educational practices and policies. As part of a study investigating German migrant teachers' experiences in Australian language classes, this paper uses narratives to evaluate present language education strategies in Germany and Australia. It examines the provision and uptake of foreign languages as a subject area in the two countries and compares existing educational goals and arrangements regarding language education in Germany and Australia. The German migrant teachers' accounts illustrate how current school policies and the value placed on language proficiency and multilingualism in the two countries' education are impacting on learning and teaching in the language classroom. The findings have significant potential to inform and stimulate the evaluation of recent national initiatives in language education in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hygrothermal assessment is essential to the production of healthy and energy efficient buildings. This has given rise to the demand for the development of a hygrothermal laboratory, as input data to hygrothermal modeling tools can only be sourced and validated through appropriate empirical measurements in a laboratory. These data are then used to quantify a building's dynamic characteristic moisture transport vis-a-vis a much more comprehensive energy performance analysis through simulation. This paper discusses the methods used to establish Australia's first hygrothermal laboratory for testing the water vapor resistivity properties of construction materials. The approach included establishing a climatically controlled hygrothermal test room with an automatic integrated system which controls heating, cooling, humidifying, and de-humidifying as required. The data acquisition for this hygrothermal test room operates with the installation of environmental sensors connected to specific and responsive programming codes. The room was successfully controlled to deliver a relative humidity of 50% with ±1%RH deviation and at 23 °C temperature with ±1 °C fluctuation during the testing of the water vapor diffusion properties of a pliable membrane common in Australian residential construction. To validate the potential of this testing facility, an independent measurement was also conducted at the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics laboratory (IBP) Holzkirchen, Germany for the diffusion properties of the same pliable membrane. The inter-laboratory testing results were subjected to statistical analysis of variance, this indicates that there is no significant difference between the result obtained in both laboratories. In conclusion, this paper demonstrates that a low-cost hygrothermally controlled test room can successfully replace the more expensive climatic chamber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and tracing product and process qualities along global supply chains have become increasingly challenging tasks for companies at the downstream end of the chain. High levels of uncertainty in trade coordination arise among importing companies in the face of these developments. The conceptual aim of this paper is to show, by the example of organic food imports to Germany and Australia, how convention theory can contribute to the analysis of trade coordination in global value chains. Our empirical results affirm that industrial conventions such as standards and third-party certification have gained increasing significance over the past two decades. Simultaneously, however, we argue that industrial conventions are not enough to overcome uncertainties in trade. They do not necessarily lead to reduced differences in perceptions of product quality between suppliers and importers. Less tangible factors such as trust established through relationship management and reputation are likewise significant. Furthermore, not only companies with a certain ideological tradition, but also individual people with altruistic motives within other types of firms, can determine how 'dedicated' a firm is in pushing trade coordination according to civic and domestic conventions. Market conventions (ie, the importance of price and competitiveness) are stressed more by Australian firms reflecting the country's liberal market economy and low state subsidies especially in the area of agriculture. Finally, compromises between conventions are sometimes necessary to end a situation of conflict between buyer and supplier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen is fast becoming a new international "super fuel" to accelerate global climate change ambitions. This paper has two inter-weaving themes. Contextually, it focuses on the potential impact of the EU's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on fossil fuel-generated as opposed to green hydrogen imports. The CBAM, as a transnational carbon adjustment mechanism, has the potential to impact international trade in energy. It seeks both a level playing field between imports and EU internal markets (subject to ambitious EU climate change policies), and to encourage emissions reduction laggards through its "carbon diplomacy". Countries without a price on carbon will be charged for embodied carbon in their supply chains when they export to the EU. Empirically, we focus on two hydrogen export/import case studies: Australia as a non-EU state with ambitions to export hydrogen, and Germany as an EU Member State reliant on energy imports. Energy security is central to energy trade debates but needs to be conceptualized beyond supply and demand economics to include geopolitics, just transitions and the impacts of border carbon taxes and EU carbon diplomacy. Accordingly, we apply and further develop a seven-dimension energy security-justice framework to the examples of brown, blue and green hydrogen export/import hydrogen operations, with varying carbon-intensity supply chains, in Australia and Germany. Applying the framework, we identify potential impact—risks and opportunities—associated with identified brown, blue and green hydrogen export/import projects in the two countries. This research contributes to the emerging fields of international hydrogen trade, supply chains, and international carbon diplomacy and develops a potentially useful seven-dimension energy security-justice framework for energy researchers and policy analysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This paper examines how negative experiences with the health-care system create a lack of confidence in receiving medical care in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Methods The empirical analysis is based on data from the Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey 2007, with nationally representative samples of adults aged 18 and over. For the analysis of the experience of cost barriers and confidence in receiving medical care, we conducted pairwise comparisons of group percentages as well as country-wise multivariate logistic regression models. Results Individuals who have experienced cost barriers show a significantly lower level of confidence in receiving safe and quality medical care than those who have not. This effect is most pronounced in the United States, where people who have foregone necessary treatment because of costs are four times as likely to lack confidence as individuals without the experience of cost barriers (adjusted odds ratio 4.00). In New Zealand, Germany, and Canada, individuals with the experience of cost barriers are twice as likely to report low confidence compared with those without this experience (adjusted odds ratios of 1.95, 2.19 and 2.24, respectively). In the Netherlands and UK, cost barriers are only a marginal phenomenon. Conclusions The fact that the experience of financial barriers considerably lowers confidence indicates that financial incentives, such as private co-payments, have a negative effect on overall public support and therefore on the legitimacy of health-care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities and regions in different political contexts might play different roles in building communities, but when the cities shrink, they share common elements of what can be characterized as a “shrinkage identity”. One well-documented element is the independence from the country political context and a certain dependence on the effects of globalization on local industries. It can be described as economic structural dependency. Two other potential elements received very little attention: social structural dependency (so-called instituted behaviour) and urban sprawl. Case studies from Germany and England and observations in Australia witness that these three elements are specifications of the same analogue on different levels: spatial mismatches of needs and urban functions. This paper poses questions related to the role of the spatial mismatch concept and particularly interrogates social structural dependencies and urban sprawl as examples. It suggests that the latter are certainly contributing to long-term urban shrinkage (as cause and effect) and that spatial mismatches in general are hardly discussed as reasons for it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Landcare' is a specific form of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) that is expanding across the world. Although Landcare is widely understood to have originated in Australia in the late 1980s, a similar concept, Landschaftspflege, developed in Germany much earlier, with Landschaftspflegeverbände, or 'Landcare Groups', having been established around the same time. The existence of other forms of CBNRM around the world diminishes Australian Landcare's claims to uniqueness but provides a richer context for further refinements of CBNRM models. Based on 57 qualitative key informant interviews and a thorough document analysis, this paper compares Landcare in Australia with Germany. A key finding is that there are substantial similarities but also significant differences. As a result of recent changes, it is likely that the differences will diminish over time. Recommendations for the design of initiatives to promote community involvement in environmental management are provided as are considerations for Landcare as it expands internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Grass is an excellent energy crop; it may be classified as a high yielding, low energy input, perennial crop. Over 90% of Irish agricultural land is under grass; thus farmers are familiar with, and comfortable with, this crop as opposed to a “new energy crop” such as Miscanthus. Of issue therefore is not the crop, but the methodology of generating energy from the crop. Numerous farmers across Europe (in particular Germany and Austria) use grass silage as a feedstock for biogas production; in a number of cases the produced biogas is scrubbed to biomethane and used as a transport fuel or injected into the natural gas grid. Many Irish farmers are considering converting from conventional farming such as beef production to grass biomethane production. Numerous technologies and combinations of such technologies are available; from one-stage batch dry systems to two-stage wet continuous systems; from one-stage continuous wet systems to two-stage systems incorporating a batch dry reactor coupled with a second stage high-rate reactor. This paper reviews work carried out both in the scientific literature and in practice at commercial scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), one of the German states, catchment areas for part-time vocational schools were abolished in 2008. With the intention to foster competition between schools in order to improve school quality, training companies now may freely choose the school of their choice. NRW is the first German state to take this step. In this paper, the principle of part-time vocational school choice, as it has recently been introduced in the NRW dual system, is compared to the principle of User Choice which has been applied to Australian New Apprenticeships from 1998. A three-step approach is used: First, the country specific VET policy backgrounds are depicted. Secondly, a synoptical comparison is drawn between the two principles of choice. Thirdly, existing research studies and findings on the Australian User Choice principle are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper uses household economic panel data from five countries—Australia, Britain, Germany, Hungary and The Netherlands—to provide a reassessment of the impact of economic well-being on happiness. The main conclusion is that happiness is considerably more affected by economic circumstances than previously believed. In all five countries wealth affects life satisfaction more than income. In the countries for which consumption data are available (Britain and Hungary), non-durable consumption expenditures also prove at least as important to happiness as income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education in Germany and Australia is being subject to pressures of market forces, internationalisation and financial constraints. This had led to both systems experiencing significant crisis and change over the past 20 years. In this paper, frame analysis is used to compare the changing policies in each nation and examine the extent to which the landscapes of each system have been transformed. It is found that higher education policy in both nations underwent significant change in the late 1980s and again in the early 2000s, impacting on system structures and institutional forms. There is now evidence of further change occurring in both nations that may mark a transition to a ‘post-public era’ in higher education. This analysis reveals a degree of convergence in the neo-liberal policy trajectories of both nations but differences in the rate and nature of the transitions taking place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume of cold tap water consumed is an essential element in quantitative microbial risk assessment. This paper presents a review of tap water consumption studies. Study designs were evaluated and statistical distributions were fitted to water consumption data from The Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany and Australia. we conclude that the diary is to be preferred for collecting water consumption data. If a diary is not feasible, a 24 h recall would be the best alternative, preferably repeated at least once. From the studies evaluated, the mean daily consumption varies from 0.10L to 1.55L. No conclusions could be drawn regarding the effects of season, age and gender on tap water consumption. Physical activity, yearly income and perceived health status were reported to influence water consumption. Comparison of the different statistical probability distribution functions of the datasets demonstrated that the Poisson distribution performed better than the lognormal distribution as suggested by Roseberry and Burmaster. For quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) it is recommended to use country-specific consumption data and statistical distributions, if available. If no country specific data are available we recommend to use the Australian distribution data from the Melbourne diary study (Poisson, λ = 3.49 glasses/d) as a conservative estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the evolution of the photovoltaics industry in Australia, Germany and Japan taking a comparative perspective. A modification of the sectoral innovation system framework is used to discuss: knowledge and technologies, actors and interactions, institutions and funding, development of markets and technological structure, as a way to understand the changes. In the process of transition from niche to mass production, national players have specialised in different activities, and the institutions’ building block has been a key determinant. In the case of Australia, it is also the least developed area which ultimately exposes the country to losing its innovation benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper explores the extraordinary interest in trade with Australia evinced by the Nazi regime in Germany. The presumed orientation of Berlin was then towards the expansion of international trade, to become 'domestic' after the outbreak of the Second World War, with eastern and southeastern Europe. Yet a considerable effort was expended up the development of commercial ties with distant Australia. The effort expended upon the Antipode in part met the desires of German individuals and businesses with an interest in the area. It was no doubt intended as a contribution towards focusing the attention of Whitehall upon the British Empire, to leave the Nazi regime with a 'free hand in Europe'. The effort also, however, lends support to the notion that the ultimate objective of that regime was a global hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In late 1946, the Australian government formalised its attempts to acquire post-war German scientific and technical expertise with the establishment of the Employment of Scientific and Technical Enemy Aliens (ESTEA) scheme. Under this scheme, between 1946 and 1954 some 150 scientists, engineers and technicians were recruited to work in Australia, although several thousand candidates were actually under consideration.Among those who sought employment in Australia under this program was Austrian-born rocket pioneer Eugen Sänger, his long-time colleague and future wife Irene Bredt and several others who had been, to a greater or lesser extent, involved in wartime rocket development in Germany. With the establishment of the Anglo-Australian Joint Project for long-range missile development in 1946 and the opening of the Woomera Rocket Range in 1947, the prospect of enhancing the expertise-base within the Long Range Weapons Establishment by the acquisition of a team of experienced German researchers should have been appealing to the Australian Government: yet the 1949 applications by Sänger and the others were eventually rejected in 1951.This paper will outline the story of the now-forgotten attempts by Sänger and other personnel associated with the German rocket program to migrate to Australia under the ESTEA scheme. It will look at the background and operation of the ESTEA program and consider in detail the case of Sanger et al., examining both the reasons that may have prompted them to apply for work in Australia in the first instance and the possible reasons their ultimate rejection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Anthropologists increasingly express links between individuals or collectivities through the discursively convenient prefix '-inter'; inter-personal, inter-subjective, inter-cultural, inter-textual. However, attempts to describe the psychodynamics that effect the linkings that are integral to human social experience have not held pace. I want to suggest that a regard for the ontogenetic primary forms of encounter--looking, eating, playing--can substantiate the analysis of being a self among other selves within and across the boundaries of social worlds. Engaging a phenomenological and psychoanalytic perspective, this paper examines how We-relationships have been variously structured by Pitjantjatjara Aborigines in encountering others at home and in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia now often include cognitive assessments in addition to clinical ratings of symptoms. Recently, these trials have included cross-national assessments. It is not clear if translated psychological tests produce consistent results across different languages. This paper presents the results of a study of the comparability of the results of cognitive assessments in different English-speaking countries and a number of countries where tests were translated into other languages. Performance on tests of executive functioning, verbal and visuo-spatial learning and memory, language skills, psychomotor speed, and vigilance was compared across the first episode patients with schizophrenia (n=301) assessed in six different languages (English, French, Finnish, German, Hebrew, and Afrikaans), including two different countries where patients were assessed in English and other languages: Canada (French) and South Africa (Afrikaans). The variance in performance across the sites tested in English was as large as the variance between English and non-English speakers when all tests were considered. Performance differences across English and other languages were found only for executive functions, vigilance, and psychomotor speed, with executive functioning differences nonsignificant when education was considered. No differences were found between English and non-English speakers in Canada. These results suggest that the translation of tests of memory and verbal skills can lead to consistent results across translated versions of the tests. Differences between countries were greater than differences between languages, suggesting the need to consider representativeness of patient samples in terms of local educational attainment. In general, these data support the validity of cross-national neuropsychological assessments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, the acceptance of bilingualism and the role of bilingual education are studied in Australia and Germany. The differences between these countries with respect to immigration and multiculturalism/multilingualism policies allows the study of the underlying reasons with regard to the handling of bilingualism. While in Germany a contrast between teaching of migrant and minority languages and foreign languages is obvious, the development of LOTE in Australia overcomes this distinction but not the reluctance towards bilingual education. It is then asked what is the meaning of bilingualism with regard to citizenship, which is based on the concept of the nation state in both countries, though in Australia at least concepts of a multicultural state are discussed. The connections of bilingualism/bilingual education and citizenship are also considered with regard to both countries within the context of political developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a study to determine the world views on nature and origins of ecological world. The study upon which this paper is based is one of a number of preliminary projects being conducted in Melbourne and Munich as the first stage in the development of a cross-national study between Australia and Germany. It has addressed the environmental attitudes and behaviour of undergraduate tertiary students at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and of a sample of residents in the Melbourne metropolitan area. On all the major variables, and particularly on the measure of ecological world view, the distributions from these three samples are almost identical. Hence, the two student samples have been combined, and, for much of the analysis, so have the student and community samples. The mean item scores for the combined sample range from 4.43 to 2.32, with a mean of 373 for the total scores. it is worth noting that the five items concerned with the role of science and technology in solving environmental problems are to be found amongst the seven items with the lowest scores.

Background: Patient safety in primary care is an emerging field of research with a growing evidence base in western countries but little has been explored in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) including the Sultanate of Oman. This study aimed to review the literature on the safety culture and patient safety measures used globally to inform the development of safety culture among health care workers in primary care with a particular focus on the Middle East. Methods: A systematic review of the literature. Searches were undertaken using Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL and Scopus from the year 2000 to 2014. Terms defining safety culture were combined with terms identifying patient safety and primary care. Results: The database searches identified 3072 papers that were screened for inclusion in the review. After the screening and verification, data were extracted from 28 papers that described safety culture in primary care. The global distribution of the articles is as follows: the Netherlands (7), the United States (5), Germany (4), the United Kingdom (1), Australia, Canada and Brazil (two for each country), and with one each from Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The characteristics of the included studies were grouped under the following themes: safety culture in primary care, incident reporting, safety climate and adverse events. The most common theme from 2011 onwards was the assessment of safety culture in primary care (13 studies, 46%). The most commonly used safety culture assessment tool is the Hospital survey on patient safety culture (HSOPSC) which has been used in developing countries in the Middle East. Conclusions: This systematic review reveals that the most important first step is the assessment of safety culture in primary care which will provide a basic understanding to safety-related perceptions of health care providers. The HSOPSC has been commonly used in Kuwait, Turkey, and Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the stock exchanges for a large set of countries (20 in total) before and after the subprime crisis, identifying which markets are the most central and if the linkage pattern changed after the crisis. We started by calculating the correlations between stock markets' returns, using the ρ DCCA, in order to identify if there is some variation in the scale between the links in the different stock markets of the network, in both periods. Additionally, a cross-correlation filtering process will be performed with the intention of identifying which countries have stronger relationships according to the used time scales. The results show the central role of European markets among the world's main financial markets, mainly France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Moreover, after the subprime crisis we find the formation of two large communities, one of European and American countries and the other formed by Asian countries plus Australia, while in the pre-crisis period three communities could be identified. It is possible to conclude that after the 2008 crisis the connectivity and integration of the network for the whole set of analyzed timescales increased. • We analyze the stock exchanges for 20 countries. • We build a multiscale network identifying the linkages between markets. • Results show the central role of European stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Techniques for late spontaneous recovery from stuttering clustered into six strategies. • The strategies reflect components of established treatments and naïve explanations. • Causal attributions of recovery clustered into three implicit theories about recovery. • Knowledge about strategies and implicit theories may help to improve treatment. (1) To survey the employed techniques and the reasons/occasions which adults who had recovered from stuttering after age 11 without previous treatment reported as causal to overcome stuttering, (2) to investigate whether the techniques and causal attributions can be reduced to coherent (inherently consistent) dimensions, and (3) whether these dimensions reflect common therapy components. 124 recovered persons from 8 countries responded by SurveyMonkey or paper-and-pencil to rating scale questions about 49 possible techniques and 15 causal attributions. A Principal Component Analysis of 110 questionnaires identified 6 components (dimensions) for self-assisted techniques (Speech Restructuring; Relaxed/Monitored Speech; Elocution; Stage Performance; Sought Speech Demands; Reassurance; 63.7% variance explained), and 3 components of perceived causal attributions of recovery (Life Change, Attitude Change, Social Support; 58.0% variance explained). Two components for self-assisted techniques (Speech Restructuring; Elocution) reflect treatment methods. Another component (Relaxed/Monitored Speech) consists mainly of items that reflect a common, non-professional understanding of effective management of stuttering. The components of the various perceived reasons for recovery reflect differing implicit theories of causes for recovery from stuttering. These theories are considered susceptible to various biases. This identification of components of reported techniques and of causal attributions is novel compared to previous studies who just list techniques and attributions. The identified dimensions of self-assisted techniques and causal attributions to reduce stuttering as extracted from self-reports of a large, international sample of recovered formerly stuttering adults may guide the application of behavioral stuttering therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physician migration has been gaining attention worldwide. In Germany, physician migration became a topic of interest in the context of the discussion about a shortage of physicians, for which one contributing factor may be physicians leaving the country. However, there is a lack of literature on "push" factors causing German physicians to leave. The present study seeks to provide current data in an effort to promote the identification of "push" factors motivating German physicians to emigrate.Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, all physicians ≤40 years of age registered with the State Chamber of Physicians of Saxony, Germany (n = 5956) were sent a paper-pencil questionnaire examining socio-demographics, job satisfaction, the wish to emigrate, and the likelihood of moving abroad in the near future. Variables associated with the wish to emigrate were assessed with multivariate logistic regression models.Results: Approximately 30% of participants wished to emigrate. The favourite destination countries were Switzerland, Scandinavian countries, and Australia or New Zealand. Of participants wishing to emigrate, approximately 52% thought it likely to emigrate for a limited, and 15% for an unlimited period of time. Participants with the wish to emigrate were significantly less satisfied with their job situation as compared to physicians without the wish to emigrate, the one exception being their "relationship with patients". The three aspects with the highest difference in satisfaction were the overall work situation, followed by work load, and time for family, friends, and leisure activities. Being a woman, being in a relationship, and having children were associated with a lower chance for wishing to emigrate. Higher satisfaction with the factors "work load", "patient care", and "structural aspects" was also associated with a lower chance for wishing to emigrate.Conclusions: Emigration seems to be a viable option for at least a subset of physicians. Preventive measures should address modifiable determinants associated with an increased chance for wishing to emigrate, such as job satisfaction. Especially satisfaction with the factor "work load" seems to play a crucial role as a "push" factor for physician emigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]