Coupling tropical cyclone and climate physics with ocean waves. It is argued that without accounting for the wave effects directly, the physics of large-scale air-sea interactions is inaccurate and incomplete. The project will introduce explicit coupling of large-scale atmospheric and oceanic phenomena with the physics of surface waves which should lead to improved predictions of tropical cyclones and climate.
Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves: fundamental, but unknown. This project aims to determine when and to what extent the air inside leaves becomes unsaturated with water vapour. All current interpretation and modelling of leaf gas exchange assumes saturation under all circumstances. Compelling evidence has been obtained that suggests this is not true under moderate air vapour pressure deficits. A novel technique will be employed to assess the water vapour concentration of the air insi ....Unsaturation of vapour pressure inside leaves: fundamental, but unknown. This project aims to determine when and to what extent the air inside leaves becomes unsaturated with water vapour. All current interpretation and modelling of leaf gas exchange assumes saturation under all circumstances. Compelling evidence has been obtained that suggests this is not true under moderate air vapour pressure deficits. A novel technique will be employed to assess the water vapour concentration of the air inside leaves based on stable isotope analysis of carbon dioxide and water vapour exchanged between leaves and air. The project is expected to provide fundamental knowledge about how stomata regulate photosynthesis and water use, with significant implications for modelling vegetation function and for improving the performance of crop plants.Read moreRead less
Modelling Hidden Processes which Drive Economic and Financial Systems. The ability to forecast complex economic systems is crucial to benefit from peak performance, and to prepare for and safeguard against downturn. This project aims to make significant discoveries concerning hidden processes which drive such systems, using rigorous, cutting-edge, flexible econometric methods. Resulting outcomes will be improved understanding of - and ability to forecast - important economic phenomena such as vo ....Modelling Hidden Processes which Drive Economic and Financial Systems. The ability to forecast complex economic systems is crucial to benefit from peak performance, and to prepare for and safeguard against downturn. This project aims to make significant discoveries concerning hidden processes which drive such systems, using rigorous, cutting-edge, flexible econometric methods. Resulting outcomes will be improved understanding of - and ability to forecast - important economic phenomena such as volatility in price series, extremal (risky) behaviour of financial systems, and turning points of the business cycle. Discoveries will be disseminated through published papers and presentations at a major international conference. Ongoing e-research links with France will also be established.Read moreRead less
Metal injection moulding of aluminium. The aim of this project is to develop a metal injection moulding (MIM) system for aluminium by employing point defect engineering to enhance the solid state sintering of aluminium. This study will also incorporate an econometric analysis of the potential for specific aluminium MIM parts. Using this novel, multidisciplinary approach, the market definition and the technology development will occur concurrently. The outcome will be an aluminium MIM system and ....Metal injection moulding of aluminium. The aim of this project is to develop a metal injection moulding (MIM) system for aluminium by employing point defect engineering to enhance the solid state sintering of aluminium. This study will also incorporate an econometric analysis of the potential for specific aluminium MIM parts. Using this novel, multidisciplinary approach, the market definition and the technology development will occur concurrently. The outcome will be an aluminium MIM system and a new business opportunity for a Queensland manufacturing company in a market that is growing at 10-25% per year and is expected to exceed $US1 billion in 2003.Read moreRead less
Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessmen ....Financing aged care in Australia: Mitigating fiscal gaps and maintaining intergenerational equity. Aged care has been identified as a significant contributor to the growing fiscal problems predicted for Australian government finances during the next 10 to 20 years. This project will develop the cutting-edge modelling tools needed to allow Australia to make informed decisions about possible reforms in aged care financing. It will create significant national benefits by allowing detailed assessment of the distributional impact of a wide range of possible reforms, including how the outcomes of any policy change will affect disadvantaged sections of our society, whether different generations will be fairly treated, and the impact by gender.Read moreRead less
Nonlinear Econometric Modelling: A Complex Systems Perspective. It is becoming increasingly accepted that economic systems are both complex and adaptive. However, this introduces a range of problems in constructing, estimating and testing economic models using time series data. In this project, this problem will be addressed through the formulation and implementation of a new methodology and associated techniques. These techniques will allow a researcher to use information obtained from a set o ....Nonlinear Econometric Modelling: A Complex Systems Perspective. It is becoming increasingly accepted that economic systems are both complex and adaptive. However, this introduces a range of problems in constructing, estimating and testing economic models using time series data. In this project, this problem will be addressed through the formulation and implementation of a new methodology and associated techniques. These techniques will allow a researcher to use information obtained from a set of nonlinearity tests to determine which type of nonlinear model provides the best representation of a data generating mechanism. Selected high frequency financial and macroeconomic data (for the US and Australia) will be used in the study. This research is intended to change the direction and emphasis of econometric modelling and promises to have a fundamental impact on forecasting and policy evaluation methods.
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State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised b ....State-contingent analysis of productivity, efficiency and innovation. Productivity growth is a fundamental precondition for sustainable improvements in living standards. The main drivers of productivity growth are technological innovation and improvements in the efficiency of resource use. Effective public policy in this area requires identification of these components. This project develops improved productivity measurement methods that are applicable in economic environments characterised by production and/or demand uncertainty. The methods will be used to obtain improved estimates of rates of innovation and changes in the relative efficiency of selected Australian enterprises. The empirical results will inform National Competition Policy and the process of microeconomic reform.Read moreRead less
Understanding And Influencing Physical Activity To Improve Population Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,668,376.00
Summary
Three of Australia's leading researchers on physical activity and population health will use new NHMRC program grant funding to consolidate and extend their already internationally-recognised studies. Doing regular physical activity is very important for maintaining good health. It helps to prevent weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breast and colon cancer. Unfortunately, most Australian adults are not active enough for health benefits. Rates of overweight and obesity are increasing ....Three of Australia's leading researchers on physical activity and population health will use new NHMRC program grant funding to consolidate and extend their already internationally-recognised studies. Doing regular physical activity is very important for maintaining good health. It helps to prevent weight gain, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and breast and colon cancer. Unfortunately, most Australian adults are not active enough for health benefits. Rates of overweight and obesity are increasing rapidly; more than 50% of Australian adults are above the healthy weight range. Rates of type 2 diabetes have doubled in the past 20 years. New ideas and practical tools are therefore needed to tackle these serious ‘diseases of inactivity’. To this end, Professors Neville Owen, Adrian Bauman and Wendy Brown will bring together innovative and practically useful scientific approaches drawn from psychology, epidemiology and exercise physiology. The approach is interdisciplinary – it combines theories and methods from their individual disciplines in an innovative manner, within a public health framework. Their research to date has developed better methods for measuring people’s exercise habits and has provided new insights into how personal, social and environmental circumstances can make people less active. They have also shown how to design and deliver wide-reaching programs for different social groups and evaluated their effectiveness. Their new research program will build on and significantly extend these ideas and approaches into new areas.For example, they will develop new measures of incidental physical activity and sedentary behaviour and will develop and test new, complex community interventions.Their new program will involve in-depth study of some of the most challenging researchproblems in an important and under-researched area of public health. They will further combine their disciplines and the skills of their research team in new, creative and practical ways, to answer important research questions about physical activity and population health. These ideas and approaches will be used to identify practical ways to help more people to be more physically active.Read moreRead less
Hedgehog Signalling In Limb And Craniofacial Development And Disease
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$494,544.00
Summary
Anomalies of the face and limbs are amongst the most common features of human birth defects, and their frequent association suggests that the same genes are involved in governing the development of the limbs and face during embryogenesis. We have used a genomics-based approach to identify genes involved in limb development based on their alteration in a mouse model which develops extra fingers and toes. Defects in this mouse result from changes in Gli3, a gene which is known to be important in b ....Anomalies of the face and limbs are amongst the most common features of human birth defects, and their frequent association suggests that the same genes are involved in governing the development of the limbs and face during embryogenesis. We have used a genomics-based approach to identify genes involved in limb development based on their alteration in a mouse model which develops extra fingers and toes. Defects in this mouse result from changes in Gli3, a gene which is known to be important in both limb and face development. Based on the organs in which our genes of interest are active, we believe that they will also play key roles in embryonic development of the limbs, face and other organs. We now plan to investigate the regulation of a subset of these genes based on analysis in mouse models of limb and face development. In addition, we have chosen to further analyse the function of a completely novel gene we have identified which our preliminary studies suggest may play a role in the normal development of the lip and palate. These studies have the potential to shed light on the processes governing how organs develop, as well as on the molecular basis of common birth defects such as polydactyly (extra fingers and toes) and cleft palate.Read moreRead less
Defend or retreat? Adapting to the impacts of sea level rise as a result of rapid climate change.
. Rapid sea level rise has been identified as a major threat to coastal Australia, where most of the Australian population lives. Our understanding and ability to respond to this threat is extremely limited at this point. This project will directly benefit Australian communities and businesses, specifically those in southeast Queensland by bringing together a team of distinguished, multidiscipli ....Defend or retreat? Adapting to the impacts of sea level rise as a result of rapid climate change.
. Rapid sea level rise has been identified as a major threat to coastal Australia, where most of the Australian population lives. Our understanding and ability to respond to this threat is extremely limited at this point. This project will directly benefit Australian communities and businesses, specifically those in southeast Queensland by bringing together a team of distinguished, multidisciplinary researchers and Super Science Fellows to explore the threats and challenges posed by rapidly rising sea levels. By building capacity and answering many urgent and difficult questions related to the legal, environmental and planning ramifications of sea level rise, this project will prepare communities and policymakers for the difficult times ahead.Read moreRead less