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
Experimental Demonstrations of New Theorems of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics. In the last decade, two theorems have been proposed to revolutionise the field of thermodynamics. These theorems lift the restriction of the thermodynamic limit, allowing thermodynamic concepts to be applied to small systems such as nanomachines, and characterise systems that may be far-from-equilibrium. These theorems are at odds with a traditional understanding of 19th century thermodynamics where equilibrium is cent ....Experimental Demonstrations of New Theorems of Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics. In the last decade, two theorems have been proposed to revolutionise the field of thermodynamics. These theorems lift the restriction of the thermodynamic limit, allowing thermodynamic concepts to be applied to small systems such as nanomachines, and characterise systems that may be far-from-equilibrium. These theorems are at odds with a traditional understanding of 19th century thermodynamics where equilibrium is central and the Second Law inviolate. However they are critical to the application of thermodynamic concepts to modern systems of the 21st century. Using Optical Tweezers, we will experimentally demonstrate these theorems, present irrefutable evidence of their validity, and demonstrate their application in modern systems.Read moreRead less
Experimental Demonstrations of Violations of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Inventors and engineers strive to scale-down machines, devices and engines to nanometre sizes for a range of technological purposes and scientists investigate protein motors to understand their operation in hopes of modifying their biological behaviour. However, according to a new theorem in Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics, there is a fundamental limit to this scaling-down of engines: such nanomachines, includi ....Experimental Demonstrations of Violations of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Inventors and engineers strive to scale-down machines, devices and engines to nanometre sizes for a range of technological purposes and scientists investigate protein motors to understand their operation in hopes of modifying their biological behaviour. However, according to a new theorem in Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics, there is a fundamental limit to this scaling-down of engines: such nanomachines, including protein motors, will run in "reverse" for appreciable amounts of time and in violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We propose to demonstrate this inescapable, operational limit in nanotechnology with experiments using an Optical Tweezers apparatus.Read moreRead less
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
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
Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss ....Assessing the national productivity impacts of chronic ill health. The project aims to address one of the biggest gaps in health and productivity research by designing a novel composite national metric that will rank lost productivity due to chronic illness The project brings together tax/transfer modelling, health modelling and epidemiological modelling specialists to develop a highly innovative microsimulation model: Health&WorkMOD to then quantify the costs of health-related productivity loss. The proposed model, an international first, will be a powerful tool to comprehensively model the cost impacts of illness and simulate policy options related to health and productivity. This will provide answers to critical policy questions for government with potential significant economic benefits.Read moreRead less
Sparse grid approximations and fitting using generalised combination techniques. Sparse grid techniques provide an effective tool to deal with the
computational curse of dimensionality which is a constant challenge in
modelling complex data. The proposed research is aimed at the
development and analysis of algorithms for data fitting with sparse
grids using variants of the combination technique. The outcome of the
research is a theory which will provide insights in the applicability,
limit ....Sparse grid approximations and fitting using generalised combination techniques. Sparse grid techniques provide an effective tool to deal with the
computational curse of dimensionality which is a constant challenge in
modelling complex data. The proposed research is aimed at the
development and analysis of algorithms for data fitting with sparse
grids using variants of the combination technique. The outcome of the
research is a theory which will provide insights in the applicability,
limitations and the convergence properties of the proposed
algorithms. The outcomes will be widely applicable in modelling of
large scale and complex data as is encountered in areas of
bioinformatics, physics and experimental studies of complex systems.
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The economics of mothers milk and the market for infant food. Breastfeeding is increasingly recognized as an important public health issue, but is rarely viewed from an economic perspective. However, feminist critiques of mainstream economics have helped draw attention to the value of breastmilk and the significance of economic and commercial factors in women's decisions about infant feeding. This project aims to provide the economic analysis and social research relevant to effective public heal ....The economics of mothers milk and the market for infant food. Breastfeeding is increasingly recognized as an important public health issue, but is rarely viewed from an economic perspective. However, feminist critiques of mainstream economics have helped draw attention to the value of breastmilk and the significance of economic and commercial factors in women's decisions about infant feeding. This project aims to provide the economic analysis and social research relevant to effective public health policies on breastfeeding. The primary output will be a book manuscript.Read moreRead less
Econometric modelling of housing prices and their relationship to climate adaptation issues. The path to climate adaptation in urban communities is directly related to housing infrastructure. The project develops improved and new econometric methods for the prediction of property prices and their components, land and structure, and it will provide estimates of the interplay between flooding risk and property values.
Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this stud ....Resolving patients' complaints about hospitals: Responsive regulation by health ombudsmen. Ombudsmen help ensure integrity and accountability in societal institutions. This study of patients' complaints about hospitals to health ombudsmen in two states, and the responses of hospitals, will produce evidence on strategies for making hospitals more responsive to the public and more accountable for the quality of their care. Australia was a world leader in establishing health ombudsmen and this study will explore their impact upon the hospital system. Evidence-based strategies are needed to improve the accountability of service providers and regulators. Social and economic benefits flow from empowering patients and from improving hospital performance.Read moreRead less