Combining Time Bands and Teleo-Reactive Programs for Advanced Dependable Real-Time Systems. Society is becoming increasingly reliant on sophisticated real-time computer systems in applications ranging from car stability control to critical infrastructure, such as railway signalling systems. Further, there is a demand for ever greater automation and sophistication in the software controlling these systems. The research challenge in this project is to provide robust implementations of these system ....Combining Time Bands and Teleo-Reactive Programs for Advanced Dependable Real-Time Systems. Society is becoming increasingly reliant on sophisticated real-time computer systems in applications ranging from car stability control to critical infrastructure, such as railway signalling systems. Further, there is a demand for ever greater automation and sophistication in the software controlling these systems. The research challenge in this project is to provide robust implementations of these systems in a way that allows one assess their dependability.
Australia industry is actively working in these areas through companies like Ansaldo Australia, in automated railway systems, and Boeing Australia, in the defence sector.Read moreRead less
Derivation and timing analysis of concurrent real-time software. Safety-critical computer systems are commonly controlled by concurrent real-time software. Assurance of such systems requires rigorous methods for deriving the software and verifying its logical and timing correctness. This project will directly address this problem via a new paradigm for real-time programming that is based on a machine-independent concurrent real-time programming language, that explicitly represents timing deadlin ....Derivation and timing analysis of concurrent real-time software. Safety-critical computer systems are commonly controlled by concurrent real-time software. Assurance of such systems requires rigorous methods for deriving the software and verifying its logical and timing correctness. This project will directly address this problem via a new paradigm for real-time programming that is based on a machine-independent concurrent real-time programming language, that explicitly represents timing deadlines within programs. This allows a partitioning of the development process into a machine-independent phase that derives a program to meet a high-level specification, and a machine-dependent phase that checks that the timing deadlines within the generated machine code are guaranteed to be met.Read moreRead less
Compilation of Specifications. Computer software now controls critical systems worldwide. International standards require such programs to be produced from mathematically-precise specifications, but the techniques and tools involved are highly complex and unfamiliar to most programmers. This project will show how a tool already used by software developers, the program compiler, can be extended to undertake much of the task automatically. This will be done by devising a compilation strategy, b ....Compilation of Specifications. Computer software now controls critical systems worldwide. International standards require such programs to be produced from mathematically-precise specifications, but the techniques and tools involved are highly complex and unfamiliar to most programmers. This project will show how a tool already used by software developers, the program compiler, can be extended to undertake much of the task automatically. This will be done by devising a compilation strategy, based on program refinement theory, that automatically translates specification statements in programs into executable code. Such an outcome will ultimately improve the speed, accuracy and cost-effectiveness of critical software development.Read moreRead less
A Formal Approach to Resource Allocation in Service Oriented Marketplaces. There was a strong opinion at the 2004 World Economic Forum that interorganisational computing was a major factor in productivity improvements underpinning continuing economic growth in the developed world, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. The results of the proposed research are directed to advanced systems of this type, and will add momentum to Australia's Information Technology research community. ....A Formal Approach to Resource Allocation in Service Oriented Marketplaces. There was a strong opinion at the 2004 World Economic Forum that interorganisational computing was a major factor in productivity improvements underpinning continuing economic growth in the developed world, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. The results of the proposed research are directed to advanced systems of this type, and will add momentum to Australia's Information Technology research community. Increased international recognition will positively impact on future interactions with the service composition research groups in Europe and the USA.Read moreRead less
Combining modal logics for dynamic and multi-agent systems. Modern computer software systems are required to operate in complex dynamic environments and to handle functioning of highly sensitive (security and safety-critical) organizations in government and commerce. Typical applications include air-traffic control systems, telecommunication networks, and banking systems. To ensure robustness, computationally predictable behaviour and trustworthiness of these systems, their designs and implement ....Combining modal logics for dynamic and multi-agent systems. Modern computer software systems are required to operate in complex dynamic environments and to handle functioning of highly sensitive (security and safety-critical) organizations in government and commerce. Typical applications include air-traffic control systems, telecommunication networks, and banking systems. To ensure robustness, computationally predictable behaviour and trustworthiness of these systems, their designs and implementations must be formally well grounded. This is an important but difficult challenge. This project will systematically develop a framework by combining modal-logics to adequately capture and reason about temporal, epistemic and social aspects of dynamic and multi-agent systems. The combined logics would be evaluated on practical applications.
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Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of ma ....Selling The Punt: An interdisciplinary analysis of the extent and impact of sports wagering marketing strategies in Australia. Sports wagering is the fastest growing segment of the gambling market in Australia. Despite widespread concern about the impact of marketing strategies on the risky consumption of wagering products by young men and adolescents, research and policy has failed to keep up with this rapidly growing industry. This study will provide: detailed information about the range of marketing strategies used to sell sports wagering in Australia; important qualitative insights into the impact of these marketing strategies on gambling behaviours; and, recommendations for a comprehensive public health approach to help counter the potential long and short term risks associated with sports wagering marketing.Read moreRead less
Beyond psychopathology: Pathways to suicide in mentally well young adult males. Increased knowledge of risk factors for suicide among mentally well males can lead to better informed preventive health policies, earlier intervention and community education. The tragic impacts of suicide lead to long-term societal problems which result in disconnection and alienation, particularly for those who are left behind; findings from this study will assist development of initiatives aimed at increasing soci ....Beyond psychopathology: Pathways to suicide in mentally well young adult males. Increased knowledge of risk factors for suicide among mentally well males can lead to better informed preventive health policies, earlier intervention and community education. The tragic impacts of suicide lead to long-term societal problems which result in disconnection and alienation, particularly for those who are left behind; findings from this study will assist development of initiatives aimed at increasing social connectedness and awareness. Also, males compose the predominant workforce in Australia and the costs saved as a result of effective prevention initiatives may be enormous, given that economic costs to suicide are estimated at 900 million dollars annually. Read moreRead less
Popping the Bubblewrap, Unleashing the Power of Play. The long-term costs of childhood obesity, bullying and poor mental health are staggering. Despite the investment of billions of dollars for prevention and intervention, the statistics continue to worsen. We offer a simple, sustainable, cost-effective programme of prevention aimed at important national priorities within health and research. We expect to demonstrate a significant effect on children's activity levels, coping and social skills th ....Popping the Bubblewrap, Unleashing the Power of Play. The long-term costs of childhood obesity, bullying and poor mental health are staggering. Despite the investment of billions of dollars for prevention and intervention, the statistics continue to worsen. We offer a simple, sustainable, cost-effective programme of prevention aimed at important national priorities within health and research. We expect to demonstrate a significant effect on children's activity levels, coping and social skills through strategies that are replicable in every school playground in the nation and to contribute to policy regarding play, health, and education.Read moreRead less
Retirement activity planning: a randomised controlled trial. Retirement is a life transition where people must rethink the way they use their time, but little thought is given to planning for this. This project will assess the effect of systematic pre-retirement activity planning on use of time after retirement, with an emphasis on physical activity and sedentary behaviours.
Transition to adulthood: the wellbeing of young women and men in Australia. How do young Australians make the transition from adolescence to adulthood in the 21st century, and is it different for women and men? This project seeks to understand the life transitions, plans, and emotional wellbeing of young Australians, providing evidence to underlie policy that supports the wellbeing of all emerging adults.