Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely ....Improving water quality modelling by better understanding solute transport. Poor stream water quality is a critical problem in Australia and globally. Stream water quality depends directly on pathways and time taken for water to transport pollutants through catchments. Predicting these pathways is highly challenging and currently requires specialised data. This project aims to better model the movement of water from rainfall to streams, enable greatly improved use of water quality data routinely collected in Australia's catchments and thereby better predict water quality behaviour. Proposed field studies aim to support this development. The outcomes sought are improved planning and management of water quality in our rivers, lakes and estuaries, improved health of these water bodies and improved water supplies.Read moreRead less
Protecting Australia’s brand assets and stakeholder interests. International accounting standards have recently been harmonised to allow firms to recognise the value of purchased brands on their balance sheets, subject to an annual test to verify that value has not been impaired. There are no widely accepted methodologies with which to undertake such tests, despite the requirement for the balance sheet to provide a true and fair view of financial position. This research will develop three approa ....Protecting Australia’s brand assets and stakeholder interests. International accounting standards have recently been harmonised to allow firms to recognise the value of purchased brands on their balance sheets, subject to an annual test to verify that value has not been impaired. There are no widely accepted methodologies with which to undertake such tests, despite the requirement for the balance sheet to provide a true and fair view of financial position. This research will develop three approaches to calibrate brand impairment and draw lessons from applying them over a three year period. The outputs are twofold: first, a suite of detailed methods for accountants, auditors and financial analysts to measure and diagnose brand value; second, several key indicators that can be used to monitor signs of brand impairment.Read moreRead less
Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies an ....Understanding multi-scale dynamics of eddies in the East Australian Current. This project aims to provide the first rigorous quantification of the complex dynamics of rotating eddies (the weather systems of the ocean) and fronts on scales ranging from metres to 100s of kilometres and hours to weeks in the East Australian Current System. This project is at the frontier of oceanographic research and will provide significant new understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of eddies and their interactions across multiple spatio-temporal scales, revealing their impacts on productivity along Australia’s most populous coastline. This will provide significant benefits such as improved ocean forecasting and sustainable management of Australian marine industries and seafood sector, supporting economic growth. Read moreRead less
Seasonal adjustment using disaggregated short time span data. Seasonally adjusted economic and social times series are vital information used by governments and businesses in decision making. This project will develop statistical methods to estimate and remove seasonal factors from economic and social time series using finely disaggregated data for a relatively small number of time periods. This will enable better and quicker estimation of seasonal factors when new series are introduced or there ....Seasonal adjustment using disaggregated short time span data. Seasonally adjusted economic and social times series are vital information used by governments and businesses in decision making. This project will develop statistical methods to estimate and remove seasonal factors from economic and social time series using finely disaggregated data for a relatively small number of time periods. This will enable better and quicker estimation of seasonal factors when new series are introduced or there a major changes to existing series, improving the analysis of such series and the decisions based on them.Read moreRead less
Synthesis and Analysis of Canine Anabolic Steroid Metabolites. The Australian racing industry is a major driver of economic activity. In NSW, racing is estimated to contribute $1,000 million to GDP, $151 million to Government revenue and provide 50,000 jobs. The future security and prosperity of the racing industry depends on maintaining the highest standards of integrity in the public eye, and this in turn depends on the enforcement of regulations relating to illicit substances. The outcome of ....Synthesis and Analysis of Canine Anabolic Steroid Metabolites. The Australian racing industry is a major driver of economic activity. In NSW, racing is estimated to contribute $1,000 million to GDP, $151 million to Government revenue and provide 50,000 jobs. The future security and prosperity of the racing industry depends on maintaining the highest standards of integrity in the public eye, and this in turn depends on the enforcement of regulations relating to illicit substances. The outcome of this project will be the introduction of robust methods of analysis for potential drug abuse in greyhound racing that will position Australia as a world leader in the field.Read moreRead less
Regional Comparisons of Prices, Income and Growth in Australia. We will measure how much the cost of living and rates of inflation differ across the eight capital cities in Australia, and then test whether real per capita income levels across cities are converging or diverging over time. To make such comparisons, the ABS's databases on each capital city must first be harmonized. While doing this we will review the ABS's current procedures for data construction and quality assessment. A further a ....Regional Comparisons of Prices, Income and Growth in Australia. We will measure how much the cost of living and rates of inflation differ across the eight capital cities in Australia, and then test whether real per capita income levels across cities are converging or diverging over time. To make such comparisons, the ABS's databases on each capital city must first be harmonized. While doing this we will review the ABS's current procedures for data construction and quality assessment. A further aim is to show how statistical modelling using spanning-tree methods can resolve the conflict that arises for price indexes constructed on panel data sets between temporal and spatial consistency.Read moreRead less
Can Electronic Point-of-Sale (POS) Data Improve the Australian Consumer Price Index? This project will investigate how new sources of data can be used to improve the accuracy of price indexes that are used in policy formation, such as the consumer price index. The adoption of bar-code labelling for products has provided statistical agencies with an information-rich source of 'scanner data' on prices and quantities of purchased goods. In collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, thi ....Can Electronic Point-of-Sale (POS) Data Improve the Australian Consumer Price Index? This project will investigate how new sources of data can be used to improve the accuracy of price indexes that are used in policy formation, such as the consumer price index. The adoption of bar-code labelling for products has provided statistical agencies with an information-rich source of 'scanner data' on prices and quantities of purchased goods. In collaboration with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this project will develop mathematical and statistical methods for exploiting this new data source. The findings will contribute to the improvement of price indexes, and subsequently the many government policies that depend on these indexes.Read moreRead less
Scanner Data in the Consumer Price Index: How to expand and improve their use. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used in a variety of policy contexts, such as setting interest rates and determining the level of welfare payments, as well as by private industry for determining wages. The CPI is aggregate measure of price changes. It is typically constructed using survey data, which is a small sample of all the goods purchased. Electronic recording of sales, using scanned product bar codes, provide ....Scanner Data in the Consumer Price Index: How to expand and improve their use. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used in a variety of policy contexts, such as setting interest rates and determining the level of welfare payments, as well as by private industry for determining wages. The CPI is aggregate measure of price changes. It is typically constructed using survey data, which is a small sample of all the goods purchased. Electronic recording of sales, using scanned product bar codes, provides a huge amount of price and quantity information that potentially can be used to construct an improved CPI, and hence improved policies. The project includes the collaboration of the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bureau of Statistics (The Netherlands).Read moreRead less
Quantum noise limited molecular spectrometry. This project will develop a new technology for chemical analysis using lasers. The research will produce more accurate instruments for analysing samples containing carbon dioxide and water. This technology has a surprisingly wide array of applications. For example, sensitive analysis of carbon dioxide will help law enforcement agencies identify the location of illicit drug manufacturing, test for performance enhancing drug use by elite athletes, and ....Quantum noise limited molecular spectrometry. This project will develop a new technology for chemical analysis using lasers. The research will produce more accurate instruments for analysing samples containing carbon dioxide and water. This technology has a surprisingly wide array of applications. For example, sensitive analysis of carbon dioxide will help law enforcement agencies identify the location of illicit drug manufacturing, test for performance enhancing drug use by elite athletes, and monitor greenhouse gases. The instrument for analysing water will improve water resource management in Australia. This program will result in commercial instruments that are sensitive, portable and affordable.Read moreRead less
Changing your mind by changing your brain: An interventionist perspective on cognitive neuroscience. Functional neuroimaging provides a tremendous amount of information about the brain, but what it shows about the mind is less clear. Addressing this fundamental philosophical question requires developing a detailed account of theory-testing in cognitive neuroscience. This project aims to connect neuroimaging to theories of explanation that focus on the way one variable can make a difference to an ....Changing your mind by changing your brain: An interventionist perspective on cognitive neuroscience. Functional neuroimaging provides a tremendous amount of information about the brain, but what it shows about the mind is less clear. Addressing this fundamental philosophical question requires developing a detailed account of theory-testing in cognitive neuroscience. This project aims to connect neuroimaging to theories of explanation that focus on the way one variable can make a difference to another. By linking neuroimaging to facts about manipulable relationships between the brain and the mind, it will also provide a bridge between neuroimaging and complementary technologies for directly intervening on the brain. This, in turn, will provide a platform from which to explore the theoretical and ethical consequences of direct brain manipulation.Read moreRead less