Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanopart ....Early-Stage Medical Diagnostics by Plasmon-Mediated Gas Sensing. This project will investigate the use plasmonic absorption of light in metal nanostructures to activate the selective oxidation/reduction of a gas molecule on a semiconductor nanoparticle. This concept will be used with the aim of developing a sensing technique capable of measuring ultra-low concentrations (ppb) of breath markers for lung cancer detection. It is expected that porous sensing films of semiconductor and metal nanoparticles with well-defined light absorption properties will be fabricated. Superior selectivity will be achieved by matching the wavelength of the absorbed light with the required activation energy for oxidation/reduction. Successful outcomes will enable multi-analyte fingerprint identification by on-chip devices with applications ranging from portable medical diagnostics to national security.Read moreRead less
Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include ....Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include a new and accurate deep neural network framework for learning, analysing and detecting human states from speech automatically using articulatory timing markers. This should provide significant benefits, such as individually-tailored, frequent and low-cost automatic detection, monitoring and analytics for adverse states.Read moreRead less
The role of the other in self-regulation: Who, when, where, how, and why. We assume that some individuals, because of the role they have (e.g., parents), are significant others. Moreover, we assume that significant others influence our emotions, motivation, and behaviour. These assumptions have not been systematically tested using a self-regulatory framework. Also no coherent model, detailing how and why individuals come to be significant and the mechanisms by which they have an influence, ha ....The role of the other in self-regulation: Who, when, where, how, and why. We assume that some individuals, because of the role they have (e.g., parents), are significant others. Moreover, we assume that significant others influence our emotions, motivation, and behaviour. These assumptions have not been systematically tested using a self-regulatory framework. Also no coherent model, detailing how and why individuals come to be significant and the mechanisms by which they have an influence, has been proposed. We present a theoretical model to be tested in a sequence of 10 studies. The results will provide understanding of the role of significant others that will have applications in clinical settings and in organisational contexts.Read moreRead less
Structure and states of operator-algebraic dynamical systems. This project is in the general area of functional analysis, and more specifically operator theory, an area in which the University of Wollongong has an active research group and a strong international reputation. The investigators will study dynamical systems arising in combinatorial and number-theoretic situations, where the analogue of the "dynamics'' is provided by an action of the real line on an operator algebra. Thus the project ....Structure and states of operator-algebraic dynamical systems. This project is in the general area of functional analysis, and more specifically operator theory, an area in which the University of Wollongong has an active research group and a strong international reputation. The investigators will study dynamical systems arising in combinatorial and number-theoretic situations, where the analogue of the "dynamics'' is provided by an action of the real line on an operator algebra. Thus the project will involve ideas and techniques from a wide range of mathematical disciplines, and will help to broaden Australia's expertise across these disciplines.Read moreRead less
Endomorphisms, transfer operators and Hilbert modules. This project is in the general area of functional analysis, an area where both Newcastle University and the University of New South Wales have strong international reputations. The aim of the project is to study irreversible dynamics in the presence of transfer operators, as recently introduced by Professor Exel. The motivation comes from a variety of examples arising in different areas of mathematics, including number theory and graph theor ....Endomorphisms, transfer operators and Hilbert modules. This project is in the general area of functional analysis, an area where both Newcastle University and the University of New South Wales have strong international reputations. The aim of the project is to study irreversible dynamics in the presence of transfer operators, as recently introduced by Professor Exel. The motivation comes from a variety of examples arising in different areas of mathematics, including number theory and graph theory. It is hoped that the results will give new understanding of the algebraic and analytic structure underlying the multi-resolution analyses used in approximation theory and Fourier analysis. This project will help ensure that Australia has a strong foundation in mathematics which will foster innovation.Read moreRead less
Operator algebras associated to semigroups and graphs. This project aims to unify ideas from two highly topical areas of mathematics in which one studies discrete objects by representing them as families of linear transformations. In the first area, one represents the semigroups which model irreversible dynamics as isometries (that is, distance-preserving transformations); in the second, one represents networks by families of partially defined isometries in a way which reflects the behaviour of ....Operator algebras associated to semigroups and graphs. This project aims to unify ideas from two highly topical areas of mathematics in which one studies discrete objects by representing them as families of linear transformations. In the first area, one represents the semigroups which model irreversible dynamics as isometries (that is, distance-preserving transformations); in the second, one represents networks by families of partially defined isometries in a way which reflects the behaviour of paths in the network. The link will be achieved by viewing the operator algebras they generate as semidirect products which have been twisted by a noncommutative cocycle.Read moreRead less
Operator algebras associated to groupoids. Australian researchers have a strong reputation for excellence and innovation in the field of operator algebras. Operator algebras associated to groupoids have been immensely influential in recent decades, both within mathematics and via applications to theoretical physics. This project will develop an innovative approach to groupoid algebras, and will help to maintain the high standing of Australian researchers in this important field.
Co-universal operator algebras. Australian researchers have established themselves at the very forefront of research into operator algebras associated to graphs. The proposed research will make an important impact, at a fundamental level, on the way that researchers around the world view these operator algebras. This will help to further strengthen Australia's reputation in this field. The proposed program will also train two PhD students in a very active area of mathematics and put them in cont ....Co-universal operator algebras. Australian researchers have established themselves at the very forefront of research into operator algebras associated to graphs. The proposed research will make an important impact, at a fundamental level, on the way that researchers around the world view these operator algebras. This will help to further strengthen Australia's reputation in this field. The proposed program will also train two PhD students in a very active area of mathematics and put them in contact with a vibrant research community. This will help contribute to the strong future of pure mathematics in Australia.Read moreRead less
New Directions in Noncommutative Geometry. A. Connes' noncommutative geometry has recently become important in topology, geometry and physics. The central geometric objects in noncommutative geometry are called spectral triples. Spectral triples also provide the framework for studying some important classes of equations. This project will extend the definitions of spectral triples to cover additional important examples. This extension will provide the tools to study a broad class of boundary val ....New Directions in Noncommutative Geometry. A. Connes' noncommutative geometry has recently become important in topology, geometry and physics. The central geometric objects in noncommutative geometry are called spectral triples. Spectral triples also provide the framework for studying some important classes of equations. This project will extend the definitions of spectral triples to cover additional important examples. This extension will provide the tools to study a broad class of boundary value problems in the theory of equations. Such problems occur in several areas of modern physics. In addition, results obtained will be useful for studying the structure of the most important spectral triples, called noncommutative manifolds.Read moreRead less
Socioeconomic status and health in Australia: An econometric investigation into causality and pathways. This project aims to provide new policy-relevant research focusing on the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in determining health outcomes for children and adults in Australia, and in reducing health-related inequalities. This project will use high-quality Australian longitudinal data and the most advanced econometric models to provide new insights into the pathways underlying the SES gradien ....Socioeconomic status and health in Australia: An econometric investigation into causality and pathways. This project aims to provide new policy-relevant research focusing on the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in determining health outcomes for children and adults in Australia, and in reducing health-related inequalities. This project will use high-quality Australian longitudinal data and the most advanced econometric models to provide new insights into the pathways underlying the SES gradient. The project will also use similar data for Britain as a valuable comparison point. The research will contribute to a better understanding of health outcomes relating to a healthy start to life and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less