The high road or the low road? Alternatives for Australia's future

The OECD suggests that countries now have a choice. They can focus on development based on either:  competition via investment in technology and innovation - which is important in high knowledge industries and high innovation economies, or  competition via exchange rates and wages - which is important in industries producing standardised, lower-tech goods and services. The first route will maximise higher-skilled, higher-paid employment growth and living standards. Given the lack of control over the exchange rate, the second route requires competition based on wages. It is essential to understand that markets themselves won’t shift a country from one path to the other. These conclusions arise from the OECD’s recognition that technical progress - the creation of new products or the adoption of more efficient methods of production - is the main source of economic growth and enhanced quality of life. Technological change is, the OECD suggests, ...also the engine for job creation as higher wages and profits resulting from technology-induced productivity gains and lower prices lead to increased demand for new products from existing as well as new industries (1997: 4).Further, Competitiveness in high-technology industries is mainly driven by technology factors and much less by wage and exchange rate movements, while the reverse is true in low-technology industries (OECD 1996e: 12). The OECD has shown that sound macroeconomic conditions, such as the low inflation and reduced public sector debt visible in almost all member countries in the 1990s, are not enough to deal with high levels of unemployment and the need to increase levels of income: If economic performance is to improve, additional structural reform, which can increase innovation and the diffusion of technologies within and among national economies, seems necessary (OECD 1997: 4 Emphasis added).

Summary report : the high road or the low road? Alternatives for Australia's future

This document is a summary of the findings of the inaugural study commissioned by the Australian Business Foundation Limited. It was conducted by Professor Jane Marceau, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) at the University of Western Sydney Macarthur, Dr Karen Manley, Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Western Sydney Macarthur and Mr Derek Sicklen, Managing Director of Australian Economic Analysis Pty Limited. The full report is available from the Australian Business Foundation. The Australian Business Foundation Limited is a recently formed independent economic and industry policy think-tank. It has been established and sponsored by Australian Business Limited, a pre-eminent and long-standing industry association and business services network. The report is in three parts. The first reviews the key findings of contemporary international economic and innovation-oriented analyses of the characteristics of high growth economies. The second assesses the shape, structure and dynamics of Australian industry as these compare with the characteristics for successful economic development suggested in the literature. Finally, the report indicates the nature of urgently required policy directions.

Direct instruction in mathematics : issues for schools with high Indigenous enrolments : a literature review

Direct instruction, an approach that is becoming familiar to Queensland schools that have high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations, has been gaining substantial political and popular support in the United States of America [USA], England and Australia. Recent examples include the No Child Left Behind policy in the USA, the British National Numeracy Strategy and in Australia, Effective Third Wave Intervention Strategies. Direct instruction, stems directly from the model created in the 1960s under a Project Follow Through grant. It has been defined as a comprehensive system of education involving all aspects of instruction. Now in its third decade of influencing curriculum, instruction and research, direct instruction is also into its third decade of controversy because of its focus on explicit and highly directed instruction for learning. Characteristics of direct instruction are critiqued and discussed to identify implications for teaching and learning for Indigenous students.

Calibration and operational analysis of variable speed limits for high flow condition

Variable Speed Limits (VSL) is a control tool of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) which can enhance traffic safety and which has the potential to contribute to traffic efficiency. This study presents the results of a calibration and operational analysis of a candidate VSL algorithm for high flow conditions on an urban motorway of Queensland, Australia. The analysis was done using a framework consisting of a microscopic simulation model combined with runtime API and a proposed efficiency index. The operational analysis includes impacts on speed-flow curve, travel time, speed deviation, fuel consumption and emission.

High-pressure Raman spectroscopic and other structural studies of hydrotalcites containing intercalated dicarboxylic acid anions

The results of pressure-tuning Raman spectroscopic, X-ray powder diffraction and solid-state 13C-NMR studies of selected dicarboxylate anions intercalated in a Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (talcite) lattice are reported. The pressure dependences of the vibrational modes are linear for pressures up to 4.6 GPa indicating that no phase transitions occur. The interlayer spacings show that the oxalate, malonate and succinate dianions are oriented perpendicular to the layers, but the glutarate and adipate are tilted. The solid-state 13C-NMR spectra of these materials show full chemical shift anisotropy and, therefore, the anions are not mobile at room temperature.

Assessment of corneal dynamics with high-speed swept source optical coherence tomography combined with an air puff system

We present a novel method and instrument for in vivo imaging and measurement of the human corneal dynamics during an air puff. The instrument is based on high-speed swept source optical coherence tomography (ssOCT) combined with a custom adapted air puff chamber from a non-contact tonometer, which uses an air stream to deform the cornea in a non-invasive manner. During the short period of time that the deformation takes place, the ssOCT acquires multiple A-scans in time (M-scan) at the center of the air puff, allowing observation of the dynamics of the anterior and posterior corneal surfaces as well as the anterior lens surface. The dynamics of the measurement are driven by the biomechanical properties of the human eye as well as its intraocular pressure. Thus, the analysis of the M-scan may provide useful information about the biomechanical behavior of the anterior segment during the applanation caused by the air puff. An initial set of controlled clinical experiments are shown to comprehend the performance of the instrument and its potential applicability to further understand the eye biomechanics and intraocular pressure measurements. Limitations and possibilities of the new apparatus are discussed.

Diagnosing dry eye with dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy

Dry eye syndrome is one of the most commonly reported eye health conditions. Dynamic-area highspeed videokeratoscopy (DA-HSV) represents a promising alternative to the most invasive clinical methods for the assessment of the tear film surface quality (TFSQ), particularly as Placido-disk videokeratoscopy is both relatively inexpensive and widely used for corneal topography assessment. Hence, improving this technique to diagnose dry eye is of clinical significance and the aim of this work. First, a novel ray-tracing model is proposed that simulates the formation of a Placido image. This model shows the relationship between tear film topography changes and the obtained Placido image and serves as a benchmark for the assessment of indicators of the ring’s regularity. Further, a novel block-feature TFSQ indicator is proposed for detecting dry eye from a series of DA-HSV measurements. The results of the new indicator evaluated on data from a retrospective clinical study, which contains 22 normal and 12 dry eyes, have shown a substantial improvement of the proposed technique to discriminate dry eye from normal tear film subjects. The best discrimination was obtained under suppressed blinking conditions. In conclusion,this work highlights the potential of the DA-HSV as a clinical tool to diagnose dry eye syndrome.