How do our 'quicks' generate pace? A cross sectional analysis of the Cricket Australia pace pathway

Technique and physical contributions to ball delivery speed in fast bowling have been popular research topics in sports science. However, a common limiting factor of this work is the level of expertise of participants and lack of within bowler investigations (Salter et al., 2007). The relationship between technique, anthropometry and ball speed has not been comprehensively investigated among elite fast bowlers. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between technique, anthropometric variables and ball speed using both within- and betweenbowler analyses in a cross section of the Cricket Australia high performance pace pathway.

Use of virtual index for measuring efficiency of innovation systems : a cross-country study

In this study we propose a virtual index for measuring the relative innovativeness of countries. Using a multistage virtual benchmarking process, the best and rational benchmark is extracted for inefficient ISs. Furthermore, Tobit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models are used to investigate the likelihood of changes in inefficiencies by investigating country-specific factors. The empirical results relating to the virtual benchmarking process suggest that the OLS regression model would better explain changes in the performance of innovation- inefficient countries.

The role of cross-functional teams on the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness

Organisations are increasingly investing in complex technological innovations, such as enterprise information systems, with the aim of improving the operation of the business, and in this way gaining competitive advantage. However, the implementation of technological innovations tends to have an excessive focus on either technology innovation effectiveness, or the resulting operational effectiveness. Focusing on either one of them is detrimental to long-term performance. Cross-functional teams have been used by many organisations as a way of involving expertise from different functional areas in the implementation of technologies. The role of boundary spanning actors is discussed as they bring a common language to the cross-functional teams. Multiple regression analysis has been used to identify the structural relationships and provide an explanation for the influence of cross-functional teams, technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness in the continuous improvement of operational performance. The findings indicate that cross functional teams have an indirect influence on continuous improvement of operational performance through the alignment between technology innovation effectiveness and operational effectiveness.

An analysis of the nature and effectiveness of corporate governance in smaller listed Australian companies

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the corporate governance attributes of smaller listed Australian firms. This study is motivated by evidence that these firms are associated with more regulatory concerns, the introduction of ASX Corporate Governance Recommendations in 2004, and a paucity of research to guide regulators and stakeholders of smaller firms. While there is an extensive body of literature examining the effectiveness of corporate governance, the literature principally focuses on larger companies, resulting in a deficiency in the understanding of the nature and effectiveness of corporate governance in smaller firms. Based on a review of agency theory literature, a theoretical model is developed that posits that agency costs are mitigated by internal governance mechanisms and transparency. The model includes external governance factors but in many smaller firms these factors are potentially absent, increasing the reliance on the internal governance mechanisms of the firm. Based on the model, the observed greater regulatory intervention in smaller companies may be due to sub-optimal internal governance practices. Accordingly, this study addresses four broad research questions (RQs). First, what is the extent and nature of the ASX Recommendations that have been adopted by smaller firms (RQ1)? Second, what firm characteristics explain differences in the recommendations adopted by smaller listed firms (RQ2), and third, what firm characteristics explain changes in the governance of smaller firms over time (RQ3)? Fourth, how effective are the corporate governance attributes of smaller firms (RQ4)? Six hypotheses are developed to address the RQs. The first two hypotheses explore the extent and nature of corporate governance, while the remaining hypotheses evaluate its effectiveness. A time-series, cross-sectional approach is used to evaluate the effectiveness of governance. Three models, based on individual governance attributes, an index of six items derived from the literature, and an index based on the full list of ASX Recommendations, are developed and tested using a sample of 298 smaller firms with annual observations over a five-year period (2002-2006) before and after the introduction of the ASX Recommendations in 2004. With respect to (RQ1) the results reveal that the overall adoption of the recommendations increased from 66 per cent in 2004 to 74 per cent in 2006. Interestingly, the adoption rate for recommendations regarding the structure of the board and formation of committees is significantly lower than the rates for other categories of recommendations. With respect to (RQ2) the results reveal that variations in rates of adoption are explained by key firm differences including, firm size, profitability, board size, audit quality, and ownership dispersion, while the results for (RQ3) were inconclusive. With respect to (RQ4), the results provide support for the association between better governance and superior accounting-based performance. In particular, the results highlight the importance of the independence of both the board and audit committee chairs, and of greater accounting-based expertise on the audit committee. In contrast, while there is little evidence that a majority independent board is associated with superior outcomes, there is evidence linking board independence with adverse audit opinion outcomes. These results suggest that board and chair independence are substitutes; in the presence of an independent chair a majority independent board may be an unnecessary and costly investment for smaller firms. The findings make several important contributions. First, the findings contribute to the literature by providing evidence on the extent, nature and effectiveness of governance in smaller firms. The findings also contribute to the policy debate regarding future development of Australia’s corporate governance code. The findings regarding board and chair independence, and audit committee characteristics, suggest that policy-makers could consider providing additional guidance for smaller companies. In general, the findings offer support for the “if not, why not?” approach of the ASX, rather than a prescriptive rules-based approach.

On the computation and interpretation of auto- and cross-trispectra

This paper discusses the principal domains of auto- and cross-trispectra. It is shown that the cumulant and moment based trispectra are identical except on certain planes in trifrequency space. If these planes are avoided, their principal domains can be derived by considering the regions of symmetry of the fourth order spectral moment. The fourth order averaged periodogram will then serve as an estimate for both cumulant and moment trispectra. Statistics of estimates of normalised trispectra or tricoherence are also discussed.

Simulations of the effect of waveguide cross-section on quantum dot – plasmon coupling

Quantum dot - plasmon waveguide systems are of interest for the active control of plasmon propagation, and consequently, the development of active nanophotonic devices such as nano-sized optical transistors. This paper is concerned with how varying aspect ratio of the waveguide crosssection affects the quantum dot - plasmon coupling. We compare a stripe waveguide with an equivalent nanowire, illustrating that both waveguides have a similar coupling strength to a nearby quantum dot for small waveguide cross-section, thereby indicating that stripe lithographic waveguides have strong potential use in quantum dot –plasmon waveguide systems. We also demonstrate that changing the aspect ratio of both stripe and wire waveguides can increase the spontaneous emission rate of the quantum dot into the plasmon mode, by up to a factor of five. The results of this paper will contribute to the optimisation of quantum dot - plasmon waveguide systems and help pave the way for the development of active nanophotonics devices.

Cross likelihood ratio based speaker clustering using eigenvoice models

This paper proposes the use of eigenvoice modeling techniques with the Cross Likelihood Ratio (CLR) as a criterion for speaker clustering within a speaker diarization system. The CLR has previously been shown to be a robust decision criterion for speaker clustering using Gaussian Mixture Models. Recently, eigenvoice modeling techniques have become increasingly popular, due to its ability to adequately represent a speaker based on sparse training data, as well as an improved capture of differences in speaker characteristics. This paper hence proposes that it would be beneficial to capitalize on the advantages of eigenvoice modeling in a CLR framework. Results obtained on the 2002 Rich Transcription (RT-02) Evaluation dataset show an improved clustering performance, resulting in a 35.1% relative improvement in the overall Diarization Error Rate (DER) compared to the baseline system.

Subjective and Objective Indicators of Recovery in Severe Mental Illness: a Cross-Sectional Study

Background: This study aimed to determine whether subjective dimensions of recovery such as empowerment are associated with self-report of more objective indicators such as level of participation in the community and income from employment. A secondary aim was to investigate the extent to which diagnosis or other consumer characteristics mediated any relationship between these variables. Methods: The Community Integration Measure, the Empowerment Scale, the Recovery Assessment Scale, and the Camberwell Assessment of Needs Short Appraisal Schedule were administered to a convenience sample of 161 consumers with severe mental illness. Results: The majority of participants had a primary diagnosis of schizophreniform, anxiety/depression or bipolar affective disorder. The Empowerment Scale was quite strongly correlated with the Recovery Assessment Scale and the Community Integration Measure. Participants with a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder had signifi cantly higher recovery and empowerment scores than participants with schizophrenia or depression. Both empowerment and recovery scores were significantly higher for people engaged in paid employment than for those receiving social security benefits. Conclusions: The measurement of subjective dimensions of recovery such as empowerment has validity in evaluation of global recovery for people with severe mental illness. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder is associated with higher scores on subjective and objective indicators of recovery.