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The purpose of this paper is to understand what (if any) actual and perceived barriers exist for women to take on fire and emergency management leadership roles within the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Victoria, Australia.

An anonymous quantitative online survey was used to collect data about opinions and thoughts of staff. This informed the qualitative component of the research – in-depth, semi-structured interviews and a focus group. The combination of these techniques provides deeper insight into the nature of the barriers for women.

Respondents identified real barriers for women accessing leadership roles in fire and emergency. Reflecting the wider literature on barriers to women in executive roles, those identified related to sexism, career penalties not faced by men for family responsibilities, and assumptions of women helping other women’s careers. There were more men in senior roles, leaving senior women isolated and often overlooked. Women had fewer role models and sponsors than men and less developed networks, finding it harder to access training and deployments. The context was described by most as “a boys’ club”, where men were seen to dominate meetings and stereotype the abilities of women.

This paper analyses the barriers to women in fire and emergency leadership roles within a masculine workplace and is rare in including a qualitative aspect to the issue in the Australian context.

Discusses the results of a consumer survey on the likes and dislikes of consumers towards breakfast cereals. Suggests a possible model of consumer behaviour to explain their preferences. The perceived risks and risk‐reducing strategies used by consumers are empirically investigated. Discusses the results in a way that highlights their usefulness to the industry′s marketers.

The idea that risk could be a motivating factor in consumers′ choice of breakfast cereal seemed less than plausible on first consideration. However, reports an investigation of secondary sources, some focus groups and a survey of 180 shoppers which revealed that this initial reaction was unfounded and that risk appeared significant in affecting consumers′ purchasing behaviour. The most important risks were those of taste and nutritional value. The most important risk relievers were choosing a well‐known brand and obtaining free samples. The findings seem to support the high advertising spends characteristic of the market, but question the widespread use of celebrity endorsements.

This study has been carried out to reveal the advantages of harmonization of accounting practices in Saudi Arabia. It deals with the process and the degree in accounting harmonization already taking place, and with analyzing the best option for Saudi Arabia to achieve accounting harmonization. A survey of accounting practices in Saudi Arabia is made of the consistency and change in measurement methods used over the period 2000‐2002. Two statistical tools are used. The Chi‐square test is used to assess whether the measurement practices by companies in Saudi Arabia are significantly different and the C‐index is used to find the degree of harmonization within Saudi Arabia in order to determine what factors appear to have influenced comparability.

This paper aims to critically evaluate theoretical and empirical research into capital structure practices in Islamic banks (IBs) from four perspectives, namely, theoretical aspect and its nature, determinants of capital structure in IBs, links between capital structure and risk management and nexus between capital structure and performance of IBs.

The authors will review and examine past studies on IBs’ capital structure from both theoretical and empirical research.

The paper concludes that most of the literature on IB capital structure is largely theoretical than empirical. The existing studies on IB capital structure have various limitations, which suggest a need for detailed empirical work. Detailed empirical research in the field of capital structure will support bank managers and policymakers in making decisions about improving capital structure.

This research will make several noteworthy contributions to address literature gaps for IB capital structure. Furthermore, this paper will identify areas for future research into capital structure practices and IB financing decisions. Lastly, this paper will equip regulators with guidelines for establishing sound capital requirements for IB.

Finance textbooks typically state that 8 to 20 stocks can provide adequate diversification for a portfolio. However, these recommendations usually assume a short time horizon such as one year. We examine 20‐year cumulative rates of return and ending wealth from an initial $100,000 investment allocated among 100 large U.S. stocks. Probability distributions obtained from simulations illustrate the shortfall risk faced by investors who own fewer titan 100 stocks. Five percent of the 20‐stock portfolios have ending wealth shortfalls exceeding 28%. These findings suggest that 8 to 20 stocks may be insufficient for long‐term investors.

“We received a memorandum from the Manufactured Foods Division of the Ministry of Food requesting our advice on a proposal to make an Order prescribing maximum limits for the fluorine content of calcium acid phosphate (A.C.P.) sold for use in food, and certain articles containing it. The memorandum stated that two processes are used for the manufacture of A.C.P. In the first process elementary phosphorus is used as the raw material and the product is of a high degree of purity. Something like 80 per cent. of the total output in the country is made in this way. In the alternative process the raw material is rock phosphate and the product is contaminated with compounds of fluorine. We were informed that manufacturers using this process claim that they have been selling A.C.P. containing as much as 3,000 p.p.m. of fluorine for many years without exception being taken by Food and Drugs Authorities. During the last few years these manufacturers have had to use such rock phosphates as have been available and no doubt the resulting A.C.P. has often been more heavily contaminated than it was before the war. We were also informed that the possibility of harmful contamination of foods with fluorine has been giving concern to Public Health Authorities. From 1942, Food and Drugs Authorities brought proceedings in certain cases under the Food and Drugs Act, 1938, in respect of baking powder or articles containing it contaminated with fluorine, but they failed in some of them to obtain conviction. In August, 1943, the Society of Public Analysts and Other Analytical Chemists, which had been giving consideration to this question, issued a statement recommending that no action should be taken under the Food and Drugs Act where the following proportions of fluorine, however combined, were not exceeded: In acid phosphates, 200 parts per million; in baking powder, 70 parts per million; in golden raising powder, 50 parts per million; in self‐raising flour, cake mixtures and like compositions, 5 parts per million. Nevertheless, in the absence of a legal standard it is difficult to convince a Court that where any of these proportions is exceeded an offence has been committed. In at least one case subsequently a Food and Drugs Authority failed to secure a conviction and in general Authorities appear to have been reluctant to take action. In view of this unsatisfactory situation, several Authorities have proposed that limits should be defined by Regulation. Manufacturers have also urged that steps should be taken to clarify the position, and at our invitation the manufacturers submitted a report of work carried out on their behalf by H.E. Archer, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., F.R.I.C, and B. Leech, M,A., F.R.I.C. In this report it was suggested that: (i) In the combination in which it occurs in food products after aerating ingredients have interacted, fluorine is insoluble in normal gastric juice even when the acidity approaches the upper limit of normality. Further, phosphates present in a food after interaction of the aerating ingredients buffer the gastric juice at a pH on the alkaline side of neutrality so that any fluorine present is insoluble and unabsorbable. (ii) Within the limits of experimental error, any fluorine ingested in the form of baking powder containing contaminated A.C.P. after interaction of the aerating ingredients is excreted completely in the faeces. The report was discussed at a meeting between the manufacturers representatives and the committee. We pointed out that since the experiments described related to only one adult, who was on a high milk diet, the results could not be accepted as evidence of what might take place in the case of other persons, especially children, taking a more varied diet. Dr. Archer, however, indicated that the case for the harmlessness of fluorine rested not merely on the experiments described in the report, which he recognised as being chiefly of a confirmatory nature, but also on the fact that mottling of teeth is rarely or never found except where the water supply is known to be contaminated. He asserted that this condition was a highly sensitive indicator of fluorine absorption, and since A.C.P. contaminated with fluorine was extensively used, the absence of mottling of teeth showed that fluorine was not absorbed from A.C.P. It was further asserted that even if widespread mottling had occurred, the condition was to be regarded merely as a cosmetic disability and not as evidence of the toxicity of fluorine. Reference was made to work by Roholm stated to show that cryolite workers enjoyed excellent health and that comparatively large amounts had to be ingested daily for many years before any symptoms developed. It was stated further that investigations in this country had failed to reveal any radiological evidence of skeletal changes in either adults or children with mottled teeth, except in under‐nourished children from bad homes. The manufacturers' case therefore was the fluorine was not absorbed from A.C.P., and even if absorbed was harmless. On the other hand, our attention was drawn to various statements in medical literature suggesting that mottling of teeth is more common than usually supposed. Moreover, with other toxic elements, for example lead, almost complete excretion in the faeces does not necessarily justify the assumption that oral ingestion is harmless. We felt that the arguments advanced by the manufacturers could not be dismissed without further investigation and that their validity could be assessed only by persons having the requisite physiological and toxicological knowledge. The following questions were accordingly addressed to the Medical Research Council: (1) Is there any authoritative evidence that injury to human health has resulted from the absorption over lengthy periods of small amounts of fluorine from food other than water? (2) Is it true that widespread mottling of teeth in the community does not occur? (3) If the answer to question (2) above is in the affirmative, can the absence of widespread mottling be accepted as evidence that absorption does not occur at all or not to any harmful extent? (4) Having regard to the available evidence, including that advanced in the report prepared by Dr. Archer and Mr. Leech, is it in the opinion of the council desirable that an Order should be made limiting the amount of fluorine in calcium acid phosphate? (5) If the answer to question (4) is in the affirmative, what limit should be imposed? The following specific answers were given to these questions: (1) Answer is no, because so far no one would have recognised the effects of such ingestion; analysts have only been interested in fluorine determinations in recent years and pathologists have not clearly established the criteria of milder forms of chronic fluorosis. (2) Answer is no: in any case mottling of enamel is not the most suitable indication of fluorine ingestion except by the water supply. (3) Animal experiments have shown that fluorine is ingested by pigs, rabbits, rats, cattle, sheep and dogs from food, pasture and rock phosphates. Widespread fluorosis occurs in cattle and humans in Algeria, one of the regions from which much rock phosphate is obtained. The ingestion of fluorine from rock phosphates, besides producing the well‐known bone changes, produces in different species different effects, including pathological changes in the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal, and nephrosis. (4) Yes, an Order should be made. (5) The limit for calcium acid phosphate should be 300 p.p.m. In recommending that the limit be somewhat higher than was suggested by the Society of Public Analysts and Other Analytical Chemists, the Council stated that in their view a limit of 300 p.p.m. would still be safe having regard to the proportion of A.C.P. which is used in foods containing it. In amplification of these answers the Council informed us that in their opinion it is essential that a limit be set for the amount of fluorine permissible in any material used in food production and suggested that the safest procedure would be to prohibit the use of A.C.P. made from rock phosphate for food purposes. The view was expressed that since the effects of fluorine are cumulative, absorption from the alimentary canal could only be proved or disproved by determining the urinary excretion of fluorine during administration over a period. The argument that the absence of mottling of teeth showed that absorption does not occur was criticised on various grounds. In addition, it was suggested that Roholm's monograph on fluorine poisoning, the recent work of Ockerse in South Africa and Shortt in India, and reports from industries using fluorine compounds, all tended to show that fluorine was a potentially toxic contaminant. In view of the possible effect such an Order would have on certain manufacturers we felt it desirable to acquaint ourselves more fully with the grounds underlying the Council's recommendation, and Dr. Margaret Murray, who had advised the Council on the matter, kindly attended a meeting of the Committee to provide further information. Dr. Murray suggested that it was not justifiable to base any opinion on a short term experiment, since, for example, in the parts of India where fluorosis is endemic, the effects may not become evident for 25 to 30 years. She considered that the balance found by Dr. Archer and Mr. Leech in the intake and excretion of fluorine by their patient must have been largely fortuitous because, apart from the difficulty of accurately determining small quantities in the excreta, fluorine is cumulative and the fluorine excreted on one particular day is not necessarily that ingested the previous day. She agreed that small amounts, in drinking water, had a beneficial effect in tending to prevent caries, but was nevertheless of the opinion that this did not justify the ingestion of fluorine in larger quantities, or from other sources. The further evidence provided by Dr. Murray may be summed up by saying that fluorine, if absorbed in small quantities over a sufficient period of time, can produce gross lesions of bone; there is abundant evidence from animal experiments and analyses of human bones that fluorine can be cumulatively absorbed; and there is radiological evidence that a mild spondylitis occurs in some children living in areas where the drinking water contains fluorine, although it is possible that the affection occurs only in those children whose nutritional state is poor. We record our appreciation of the assistance rendered by the Medical Research Council and by Dr. Murray. In view of the unquestionable harmfulness of large amounts of fluorine, and of the cumulative effect of small doses, we feel that the risk to the public health from the repeated ingestion of small amounts of fluorine is too serious to be ignored, and that an Order should be made prescribing maximum limits for the contamination.”

If I were a wealthy man there are two things I would do : in the first place, I would found a Chair at one of our more progressive medical schools and instal in it a man whose duty it would be to give as part of the clinical training of every student a course of lectures in the prevention of disease by good food. Something must be done to dispel from the medical man's mind the idea that vitamins are a kind of medicine to be prescribed for certain disorders, much as you give quinine to counter malaria. It has been said with much wisdom that it is better to build a fence at the top of the cliff than to maintain an ambulance at the bottom—incidentally, it is also cheaper. We do need to make it more clearly understood that, apart from all humanitarian considerations, the proper feeding of the people is a question of national insurance. This aspect of the future of nutrition has always seemed to me so obvious that it has surprised me that those whose job it is to understand the basic principles of insurance have not appreciated years ago its potential value to them. When I was in Canada recently I found, however, that they had got hold of the idea. One of the largest insurance companies in the Dominion is contributing $500,000 towards the cost of the national nutrition propaganda campaign because they are convinced that it is the most promising project for improving health and increasing expectation of life. The second benefaction I would make would be to finance the sending to each of about half a dozen countries of a small, well qualified and equipped team of young medical men and nutrition experts, trained to correlate on the spot information about diet and the incidence of disease. I would send one team to the heavy meat‐eating areas of the South American plains. They would solve in a year or two the long disputed question whether very high protein intakes are harmful to health and liable to produce certain disorders. I would send another team to South‐Eastern Europe to one of the areas where the peasants live almost entirely on vegetables, coarse bread and goats' milk. Is it true that these people have a very low incidence of digestive disorders and hardly ever suffer from cancer of the digestive tract? We do not know, but a team using standardised methods of examination and survey would not be long in finding the truth. Dr. Sinclair and his Oxford Nutrition Survey team has prepared the model of what is required. Such teams will, I believe, be widely used in the post‐war years. They may actually be required even earlier. They would be invaluable if they could be rushed into territories as soon as they are liberated from the enemy, where their task would be to survey and advise on the nutritional conditions of the liberated people—which in many cases, we fear, are likely to be grievous. War has few virtues. One undoubtedly is that activity in many fields of enterprise is enormously stimulated. Another is that problems can often be lifted clear of the arena of political dispute. This war of liberation will offer some compensation for the devastation and waste of human effort if it brings nearer by years the day when every man, woman and child can be assured that they will never know the want of the foods on which their health depends. Not until that day dawns can the Atlantic Charter, calling for freedom from fear, freedom from want, become reality.

The aim of the present study was to compare psychological functioning in male rape survivors who had been raped either by strangers or acquaintances, and to test differences between the functioning of gay versus heterosexual survivors. Thirty‐eight male rape survivors completed a range of measures relating to their perceptions about the nature of the effects of their assault, their general health, self‐esteem and world assumptions. Results revealed that survivors of stranger rapes had lower psychological functioning overall than survivors of acquaintance rapes. Gay survivors were more likely to have crises about their sexual identity than heterosexual survivors. Suggestions for future work are proposed.

A respectable theory which accounts for investor behaviour needs to start from a statement of investor objectives. The objective may be generally stated as the maximisation of utility (von Neumann & Morgenstern 1953), though of itself utility is difficult to measure. In order to operationalise the theory utility may be broken down into more readily measurable elements, risk and return. From an investor's point of view, it also becomes necessary to specify a scale whereon various combinations of risk and return may be compared. This latter exercise is a very personal one; indeed it may be unique to each investor. It is beyond the scope of this paper to follow this line of argument. Instead we shall concentrate on describing the measurement of risk and return, in particular by using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). We recognise, however, that in using this model, we are simplifying the investment behaviour process, in particular we posit the choice of portfolios to be based on single period return/risk with investors having identical estimates (subjective) of these returns.