Visualisation of latent DNA. This project aims to deliver a proof-of-concept that allows visualisation of invisible DNA (latent DNA) into a quick, inexpensive and practical DNA collection method that will lead to DNA evidence being available in more cases. It will build upon a proof-of-concept method ready for transferal to forensic casework. This will allow DNA evidence recovery technicians to improve their hit rate in recovering latent DNA from real crime items, leading to more informative DNA ....Visualisation of latent DNA. This project aims to deliver a proof-of-concept that allows visualisation of invisible DNA (latent DNA) into a quick, inexpensive and practical DNA collection method that will lead to DNA evidence being available in more cases. It will build upon a proof-of-concept method ready for transferal to forensic casework. This will allow DNA evidence recovery technicians to improve their hit rate in recovering latent DNA from real crime items, leading to more informative DNA profiles. Crime items that currently yield no genetic information will now be informative, assisting investigations of serious crimes or terrorist incidents.Read moreRead less
Modelling mean and dispersion using fixed and random effects. The aims of the project are to develop methods for joint mean and dispersion modelling using fixed and random effects, in the generalized linear models context and for Gaussian longitudinal data. The significance is the more efficient, precise and appropriate analysis of data arising from many areas of application. The expected outcomes are therefore better methods of analysis, software to carry the analyses out, and potentially impor ....Modelling mean and dispersion using fixed and random effects. The aims of the project are to develop methods for joint mean and dispersion modelling using fixed and random effects, in the generalized linear models context and for Gaussian longitudinal data. The significance is the more efficient, precise and appropriate analysis of data arising from many areas of application. The expected outcomes are therefore better methods of analysis, software to carry the analyses out, and potentially important results in applications.Read moreRead less
The effective treatment of drug using offenders: the impact of treatment modality, coercion and treatment readiness on criminal recidivism. Drug use is associated with significant health, social, and economic costs. Given the established drug-crime connection and the high rate of relapse among drug-using offenders, the outcomes of this research will assist policymakers in identifying clinically and cost effective approaches to service delivery. Moreover, in view of the debate that surrounds the ....The effective treatment of drug using offenders: the impact of treatment modality, coercion and treatment readiness on criminal recidivism. Drug use is associated with significant health, social, and economic costs. Given the established drug-crime connection and the high rate of relapse among drug-using offenders, the outcomes of this research will assist policymakers in identifying clinically and cost effective approaches to service delivery. Moreover, in view of the debate that surrounds the efficacy of coerced treatment, and the extent to which Australia should follow the United States of America’s lead of mandating treatment for all substance using offenders, the project will test the proposition that compulsory treatment has positive outcomes in terms of reductions in recidivism.Read moreRead less
Classification methods for providing personalised and class decisions. This project provides a novel approach to the clustering of multivariate samples on entities in a class that automatically matches the sample clusters across the entities, allowing for inter-sample variation between the samples in a class. The project aims to develop a widely applicable, mixture-model-based framework for the simultaneous clustering of multivariate samples with inter-sample variation in a class and for the mat ....Classification methods for providing personalised and class decisions. This project provides a novel approach to the clustering of multivariate samples on entities in a class that automatically matches the sample clusters across the entities, allowing for inter-sample variation between the samples in a class. The project aims to develop a widely applicable, mixture-model-based framework for the simultaneous clustering of multivariate samples with inter-sample variation in a class and for the matching of the clusters across the entities in the class. The project will use a statistical approach to automatically match the clusters, since the overall mixture model provides a template for the class. It will provide a basis for discriminating between different classes in addition to the identification of atypical data points within a sample and of anomalous samples within a class. Key applications include biological image analysis and the analysis of data in flow cytometry which is one of the fundamental research tools for the life scientist.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101565
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$330,000.00
Summary
Flexible data modelling via skew mixture models:challenges and applications. This project seeks to explore new models for handling data with non-normal features. Parametric distributions are fundamental to statistical modelling and inference. For centuries, the ‘normal’ distribution has been the dominant model for continuous data. However, real data rarely satisfy the assumption of normality. There is thus a strong demand for more flexible distributions. This project aims to develop new methodol ....Flexible data modelling via skew mixture models:challenges and applications. This project seeks to explore new models for handling data with non-normal features. Parametric distributions are fundamental to statistical modelling and inference. For centuries, the ‘normal’ distribution has been the dominant model for continuous data. However, real data rarely satisfy the assumption of normality. There is thus a strong demand for more flexible distributions. This project aims to develop new methodologies in finite mixture modelling using skew component distributions to provide better models for handling data with non-normal features (such as skewness, heavy/light tails, and multimodality). Applications may include security intrusion detection, clinical diagnosis and prognosis, and flow and mass cytometry.Read moreRead less
Designing microarray experiments. Microarrays are powerful tools for surveying the expression levels of many thousands of genes simultaneously. They belong to the new genomics technologies which have important applications in the biological, pharmaceutical and agricultural sciences. There are many sources of uncertainty in microarray experimentation and good statistical designs are essential for ensuring that the effects of interest to scientists are accurately and precisely measured. This Pr ....Designing microarray experiments. Microarrays are powerful tools for surveying the expression levels of many thousands of genes simultaneously. They belong to the new genomics technologies which have important applications in the biological, pharmaceutical and agricultural sciences. There are many sources of uncertainty in microarray experimentation and good statistical designs are essential for ensuring that the effects of interest to scientists are accurately and precisely measured. This Project will develop novel designs for microarray experiments and focus on the advancement of topics crucial to Australia's success in technological research.
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Universal immunogenic reagents for the detection of latent fingermarks. This project will deliver the first antibody reagents for the routine detection of natural fingermarks. This will assist law enforcement agencies to provide a safer society through improved crime clearance, as they will be able to enhance and detect fingermarks that otherwise remain undetected with current techniques (e.g. fingermarks on human skin).
A model of sex offender registration, monitoring, and risk management. This research will investigate the ways in which sexual offenders are managed in the community and identify the most effective means of preventing further offending, thereby promoting community safety.
WaterLog - A mathematical model to implement recommendations of The Wentworth Group. In 2003, The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists released their 'Blueprint for a national water plan' with the primary objective to 'protect river health and the rights of all Australians to clean usable water'. Currently, there are significant water restrictions in all the Australian mainland capital cities. In January 2007, the Prime Minister of Australia, announced a bold plan to rescue the Murray-Darling ....WaterLog - A mathematical model to implement recommendations of The Wentworth Group. In 2003, The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists released their 'Blueprint for a national water plan' with the primary objective to 'protect river health and the rights of all Australians to clean usable water'. Currently, there are significant water restrictions in all the Australian mainland capital cities. In January 2007, the Prime Minister of Australia, announced a bold plan to rescue the Murray-Darling Basin. The plan incorporates political management changes, and an investment of $10Bn. Now is the time to develop improved techniques for management of water storage systems. This project will develop the fundamental mathematical principles required for this improved management.Read moreRead less
How feedback can impair recognition judgments and undermine border security, criminal investigations, educational testing, and medical screening. If a customs officer learns that they have missed an explosive device while screening luggage, will this affect their judgment? In many scenarios, a person receives feedback about their recognition memory performance and has to try again without having another chance to study the material. Almost no research has examined the effects of feedback on reco ....How feedback can impair recognition judgments and undermine border security, criminal investigations, educational testing, and medical screening. If a customs officer learns that they have missed an explosive device while screening luggage, will this affect their judgment? In many scenarios, a person receives feedback about their recognition memory performance and has to try again without having another chance to study the material. Almost no research has examined the effects of feedback on recognition in the absence of opportunity for further study. This is problematic because many vitally important recognition decisions lack such opportunity. Using various scenarios (face recognition, security screening, multiple-choice testing, and medical screening) this project will demonstrate that feedback affects recognition performance differently depending on the nature of the recognition decision.Read moreRead less