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IN A LETTER to the Daily Telegraph last month, it was left to Mr J. Kirby, director of Kirby (Oldham) Ltd to underline the prime cause why statistics of those out of work go down so slowly if indeed at all.

MAKE no mistake about it, robots are not just here to stay static: their use will extend far beyond the very dreams of their earliest inventors, and who they were is lost under the veils of age‐long antiquity.

According to a report issued by the Director of the Chemical Laboratory of the Department of Police in Berlin which has reached the Journal of the American Medical Association, some interesting exhibitions of German “culture” in the matter of food frauds have been afforded during the war. We do not know the origin or the justification (if any) of the ancient proverb that there is “honour among thieves.” Evidently, however, even this form of “honour,” if it exists, does not exist among the Huns, since the criminal in the German lines is hocussed by the huckster‐criminal in the German fake‐shop. One of the articles supplied to stimulate the Hun in the doing of those deeds of Hunnish valour peculiar to himself is known as “solid alcohol,” advertised as a substitute for familiar alcoholic beverages, and consisting of cubes of gelatin to which brandy and sugar are supposed to have been added before the mixture has solidified. The directions are to pour hot water on these cubes, whereupon one obtains a sweetish fluid, weak in alcohol, and possessing the objectionable flavour of glue. The longer the cubes are kept the greater is the tendency of the alcohol originally present to disappear by evaporation, so that the supposedly invigorating “solid brandy,” never at any time a representative product, becomes weaker and weaker in alcoholic strength. In some cases the cubes have been replaced by collapsible tubes of semi‐gelatinous mixtures containing some brandy and advertised for use in the same way with hot water. The price of two‐ounce tubes varies from 25 to 35 cents. The alcohol content has gradually been reduced by the manufacturers, and one firm went so far as to introduce brandy substitutes and substances of a “peppery” nature to simulate the “warmth” of a dose of brandy. Painful lesions about the mouth have been reported by Germans on the march who were unable to wash out the disgusting mixture that was sent to them by their friends. Other “substitutes” for alcoholic beverages were found to consist of cubes of sugar coloured with coal‐tar dyes mixed with tartaric acid. Grosslv adulterated coffee and cocoa have likewise been supplied in tablet form. One popular brand was sold at the rate of 12 marks per pound. Coffee has been often replaced by chicory mixed with sugar. 500,000 kilograms of cocoa husks found their way into the market in Hamburg alone. Tablets alleged to be made of dried milk, but being nothing of the kind, have been sent in enormous quantities.

After great Wars, the years that follow are always times of disquiet and uncertainty; the country is shabby and exhausted, but beneath it, there is hope, expectancy, nay! certainty, that better times are coming. Perhaps the golden promise of the fifties and sixties failed to mature, but we entered the seventies with most people confident that the country would turn the corner; it did but unfortunately not the right one! Not inappropriate they have been dubbed the “striking seventies”. The process was not one of recovery but of slow, relentless deterioration. One way of knowing how your country is going is to visit others. At first, prices were cheaper that at home; the £ went farther and was readily acceptabble, but year by year, it seemed that prices were rising, but it was in truth the £ falling in value; no longer so easily changed. Most thinking Continentals had only a sneer for “decadent England”. Kinsmen from overseas wanted to think well of us but simply could not understand what was happening.

IN a few months' time the Safety Representative Regulations will become law. We wonder how many firms, especially the small to medium ones are ready for them; and we wonder what was the real reason for them being put on the Statute Book in the first place.

Through a survey of 200 employees working in five of the thirty establishments analysed in previous research about the microeconomic effects of reducing the working time (Cahier 25), the consequences on employees of such a reduction can be assessed; and relevant attitudes and aspirations better known.

Hugh Africa returned to South Africa in July 1994 after an absence of 30 years. His deep involvement at all levels of education – from basic to university – covers almost four decades. After obtaining the B.A. and B.A. (Hons) degrees from the University of Natal, he completed the M.A. degree at the University of Leeds and received his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto. He also holds a Natal Teacher's Diploma.

This paper addresses the current lack of solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption by Australian apartment dwellers by proposing a conceptual model that identifies and integrates the factors influencing owners' attitudes towards PV adoption.

The conceptual model, which this paper terms the apartment-based solar adoption (ASA) model, is developed by applying motivation–opportunity–ability (MOA) theory to relevant findings in property development, green energy and strata governance literature.

The ASA model demonstrates the process by which an apartment-owning consumer may progress from considering solar PV adoption to recommending the action to their strata property's Owners' Committee (OC). It incorporates three motivational drivers (pragmatic considerations, perceived values and perceived social norms), three conditional mediators (location accessibility, resource availability and decision-making conditions) and three requirements from the consumer (actual and perceived knowledge, the ability to participate in decision-making and social connections and status).

This article contributes originality to research on two counts. Firstly, it provides a conceptual framework of specific relevance to issues concerning solar PV adoption, and secondly, it offers a systematic means for research into strata governance decision-making. Further research is required to develop the means with which to utilise the model prescriptively and measure longitudinal effects, such as ongoing trends in apartment owners' motivations. Further research is also recommended into how the ASA model may be utilised to identify generalisable consumer typologies among apartment owners.

The ASA model may assist building maintenance providers in developing and marketing solar PV services tailored to apartment residents' requirements and enhance strata managers' ability to inform and guide apartment owners. In turn, property developers would be able to review apartment-based solar projects, measure their increased value and decreased energy costs and incorporate this information when planning future developments.

The ASA model may provide a template for apartment owners and owners' corporations considering solar PV for their property. Public policymakers could also refer to the model to incentivise apartment-based solar PV adoption, whether through designing local information campaigns, developing financial incentives or mitigating identified regulatory barriers. By facilitating solar PV adoption in Australian apartment housing, the model may ensure sustainable post-carbon energy consumption for Australia's housing stock and act as an example for high-density housing development internationally.

The ASA model addresses the many drivers and barriers known to affect solar PV adoption by apartment owners, presenting a framework on which to arrange these factors and outline their causal relationships. This framework may inform strata properties' future solar PV adoption initiatives by incorporating their specific physical characteristics, stakeholder dynamics and institutional structure. It also consolidates and provides generalisability to the concepts established in current literature.

This paper aims to deal with the development of a novel lower limb exoskeleton to assist disabled people in stair ascending.

For this purpose, a novel design of a mixture of motors and cables has been proposed for users to wear them easily and show the application of the system in stair climbing.

One of the prominences of this study is the provided robot design where four joints are actuated with only two motors; each motor actuates either the knees or ankles. Another advantage of the designed system is that with motors placed in a backpack, the knee braces can be worn under clothes to be concealed. Finally, the system performance is evaluated using electromyography (EMG) signals showing 28 per cent reduction in energy consumption of related muscles.

This investigation deals with the development of a novel lower limb exoskeleton to assist disabled people in stair ascending.

Individuals with fewer resources often receive more punitive treatment in the justice system than those who are more privileged. This situation is frequently justified with reference to societal preferences. To test the accuracy of this justification, the purpose of this study is to report on the extent to which the different treatments of tax evaders and welfare fraudsters in the Australian and New Zealand justice systems reflect the views of these societies.

Attitudes are captured in a survey with 3,000 respondents in Australia and New Zealand.

When asked directly, the majority of respondents (58 per cent) perceive no difference in people committing welfare fraud or tax evasion. However, responses to presented scenarios on tax evasion and welfare fraud show different tolerances for each crime. When provided with scenarios including crimes and criminals, results show that survey respondents see tax evasion as a less serious crime. However, when asked about their own propensity to commit the same offence, respondents indicate that they are more likely to engage in welfare fraud than tax evasion. The authors also report on factors that have an impact on individual’s attitudes towards tax evasion and welfare fraud.

The survey results do not clearly show more punitive attitudes towards tax evasion or welfare fraud. Thus, the authors do not find support for the suggestion that the harsher treatment of welfare fraud can be justified with reference to society’s views.

The study reports on original survey research.