Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Tangential Sphere Bounds On The Ensemble Performance Of Ml Decoded Gallager Codes Via Their Exact Ensemble Distance Spectrum, Sheng Tong

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

An efficient numerical approach to the exact ensemble distance spectrum of Gallager codes has been developed by evaluating powers of polynomials. With the exact ensemble distance spectrum of Gallager codes, tangential sphere upper bounds on their maximum likelihood (ML) decoding performance over binary input AWGN channels are investigated. Numerical results indicate improved bounds have been obtained, better than Sason and Shamai's results (which are based on Gallager's upper bound on the ensemble distance spectrum), especially in the error floor region. Furthermore, some critical properties of Gallager codes, including typical minimum distance and the performance tradeoff in the waterfall and error …

Study Of The Energy Performance Of Korean Apartment Buildings With Alternative Balcony Configurations, Jo Clarke, Cameron Johnstone, Jaemin Kim, Georgios Kokogiannakis, Paul Strachan, Kyung-Hun Woo, Boo-Sik Kang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the new regulations design changes on heating loads of apartment buildings and identify the construction configurations (e.g. glazing types, thermal properties, window area ratio, etc.) of the new designs that will ensure the energy performance is at least on the same level as those with a traditional balcony configuration.

Performance Analysis Of Multi-Ary Systems With Iterative Linear Minimum-Mean-Square-Error Detection, Li Ping, Jun Tong, Xiaojun Yuan, Qinghua Guo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper is concerned with coded multi-ary systems over linear channels. Based on a semi-analytical evolution technique, the impact of signaling schemes on the performance of low-cost iterative linear minimum-mean-square-error (LMMSE) detection is studied. It is shown that superposition coded modulation (SCM) maximizes the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of LMMSE detectors. Consequently, SCM may potentially outperform other conventional signaling schemes when LMMSE detectors are used. Numerical examples are provided to verify the theoretical analysis. © 2008 IEEE.

Ambitious Angel: Jean Batten And The Performance Of Gender In A Man's Country, Anne A. Collett

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

Sydney has witness similar demonstrations of enthusiasm, but never one that was more spontaneous, wrote one Sydney reportetr of Jean Battens arrivalo in Mascot in October 1936 on completion of her record breaking solo-flight from England to Australia. Batten greeted the crowd that had waited long hours for her arrival, with and apology and the reminder that it was of course a womens prerogative to be a little late.

Arousal And Activation Effects On Physiological And Behavioral Responding During A Continuous Performance Task, Jacqueline A. Rushby, Robert J. Barry, Adam R. Clarke, Mohammad Vaezmousavi

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Based on previous work indicating different neural substrates, two aspects of energetic state, arousal and activation, have been conceptualised separately in our laboratory. Arousal has been defined as the energetic state at any particular time, and task-related activation as the task-related change in state from resting baseline to the task situation. Both are reflected in electrodermal activity and measured by skin conductance level. Our previous studies in this area have indicated that physiological responses to stimuli in a task are dependent on the arousal level at the time of stimulus presentation, rather than the task-related activation. In contrast, performance on …

The Effects Of Employment On Academic Performance Of Australian Accounting Students, Anura De Zoysa, Kathleen M. Rudkin

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study examines factors that impact students engaged in paid employment while studying in a tertiary accounting program in a regional Australian university. It examines the differences in experience of domestic and international students. No direct significant relationship was found between paid employment and academic performance for the overall study sample. There was a positive relationship found between paid employment and academic performance with respect to domestic students. However, in the case of international students a negative relationship between paid employment and academic performance was observed. A significant positive relationship between a shift work pattern of paid employment and academic …

Does Ownership Affect A Firm's Performance And Default Risk In Jordan?, Rami Zeitun, Gary Gang Tian

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Purpose – This paper seeks to examine the impact of ownership structure on firm performance and the default risk of a sample of publicly listed firms.

Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the impact of ownership structure on firm performance and the default risk of a sample of 59 publicly listed firms in Jordan from 1989 to 2002.

Findings – The main findings were: ownership structure has significant effects on the accounting measure of performance return on assets (ROE); government shares are significantly negatively related to the firm's performance ROE; defaulted firms have a high concentration ownership compared with non-defaulted firms …

Macroeconomic Determinants Of Corporate Performance And Failure: Evidence From An Emerging Market The Case Of Jordan, Rami Zeitun, Gary Tian, Steve Keen

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study investigates the impact of aggregate economic risk on a company’s performance and failure in a panel estimation using 167 Jordanian companies during 1989-2003. Our finding shows that unanticipated changes in interest rate negatively and significantly affect firms’ performance measured by ROA, which suggests that an interest rate rise increases the cost of borrowing and then further negatively affects a firm’s profit. We also found that both the production manufacturing index and Islamic credit facilities positively and significantly affect a firm’s performance. The positive and significant impact of Islamic credit facilities reflects the importance and the significance of the …

Performance Comparison Of Subtractive Resistive Readout With Conventional Resistive Readout For A High-Resolution Compact Gamma Camera, Y J. Qi, M J. Zhang, C L. Zhao, R F. Wojcik

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The purpose of this study was to investigate an optimal readout for a high-resolution compact gamma camera with maximum performance in crystal element identifications. The compact camera is based on a pixellated Nal(Tl) crystal with 1.2 mm pixel size coupled to a 5" Hamamatsu R3292 PSPMT. A conventional resistive-chain readout was initially developed for the camera. Then a novel subtractive resistive readout developed was utilized to optimize the performance of the camera. The performance of the camera was evaluated by raw flood images of a 137Cs source. The results show that the conventional resistive readout results in a significant shrinkage …

On The Performance Of Short Forward Error-Correcting Codes, Sheng Tong, Dengsheng Lin, Aleksandar Kavcic, Li Ping, Baoming Bai

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This letter investigates the performance of short forward error-correcting (FEC) codes. Reed-Solomon (RS) codes and concatenated zigzag codes are chosen as representatives of classical algebraic codes and modern simple iteratively decodable codes, respectively. Additionally, random binary linear codes are used as a baseline reference. Our main results (demonstrated by simulations and ensemble distance spectrum analysis) are as follows: 1) Short RS codes are as good as random binary linear codes; 2) Carefully designed short low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are almost as good as random binary linear codes; 3) Low complexity belief propagation decoders incur considerable performance loss at short coding …

An Application Of A Psychometric Personality Type Inventory To Improve Team Development And Performance, Terence J. Froggatt, Nathan J. Bibby

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The issue of individual type preferences and how they relate to learning and human resource management are explored. Team learning, knowledge transfer, characteristics of leadership and trust and trusting in the context of team development and performance, are analyzed through the use of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. The research is conducted with a semi professional Australian Rules football team. The team consists of a culturally diverse group. Predominantly, Australian men between the ages of 18 and 35 years. The men are university educated, trades professionals or blue collar workers, who volunteered to complete the Myers Briggs Type Indicator with …

An Assessment Of The Research Performance Of Commerce Faculties In Australia, Abbas Valadkhani, Simon Ville

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

There is a growing policy focus in Australian higher education on quantitative research performance assessment. However, most of the analysis has addressed aggregate performance at the institutional level, an approach inconsistent with recent policy emphasis on diversity among universities, and one that ignores performance variations across disciplines. We use cluster analysis to classify one of the ten broad fields of education, that is, management and commerce. Using averaged and available data for 2000-2004 on various research measures, partial rankings are provided. Factor analysis is utilised to generate full-multidimensional rankings within the resulting clusters. Our results show that low total research …

A Comparative Study Of Public Domain Supervised Classifier Performance On The Uci Database, Peter W. Eklund, A Hoang

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper surveys three classes of public domain supervised learning algorihms and performs comparative analysis of their performance against 29 of the University California Irvine machine learning datasets.

Low And High Trait Impulsiveness In The Stop-Signal Task: Underlying Differences In Erps But Not Performance, Aneta Dimoska, Stuart J. Johnstone

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Network Measures And Simulation For Knowledge Intensive Work Performance, Kon Shing Kenneth Chung, Liaquat Hossain, Joseph Davis

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We describe the process of designing a reliable and valid instrument for collecting network and attribute data. Here, we explore the relationship between social networks structure, information and communication technologies (ICT) use and attitude towards performance in knowledge intensive work. We first develop a model for exploring the inherent relationship between the three concepts based on existing literature. We then develop appropriate item sets for measuring different independent (network structure, ICT use) and dependent variables (performance). We use the reliable item sets along with justifications to construct different phases of our instrument. In doing so, we introduce a simulation approach …

The Design Of A Performance Measurement Model For Small Firms Within The Service Sector, Vicki Baard, Edmund W. Watts

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The role of small business, as part of the value adding chain in any economy, should never be understated. In Australia small business represents 96% of all private sector business, accounts for 47% of all private sector employment and the majority fail within three to five years of establishment. Despite this contribution the small business sector, and in particular the service sector component, appear to be underrepresented in the development of specific performance measurement models, which, within the academic and professional literature appear to focus on their larger firm counterparts. Given the unique position of small business service organisations the …

The Interaction Of Transcutaneous Heating And Helicopter Flight Simulation Performance, Joanne N. Caldwell, Mark J. Patterson, Nigel A.S Taylor

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

It is well known that elevations in body temperature can impair both physical and cognitive performance. For helicopter pilots, the major heat source during flight originates from solar radiation. However, when nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) protective clothing is worn, metabolic heat generated during the pre-flight period, and during the mission, is trapped, exacerbating thermal strain. In this project, the hypothesis that elevations in body heat content would degrade flight performance was tested. Helicopter pilots completed three, two-hour flight simulations under three levels of thermal strain, administered in a balanced order. Thermal strain was induced using a water-perfusion gannent, worn …

Appraising Performance In Public Sector Organisations: Critical Discourse Perspectives, Christa Wood

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper examines the performance appraisal system that has been implemented in some public service organisations in line with the changes to a more commercialized structure. In an effort to change the behaviours and attitudes of public servants, performance appraisal systems have incorporated the new values and desired behaviours. Although a myriad of studies exist in regards to the new public management and on the topic of performance appraisal systems, there are few critical management studies of the implementation and operation of performance appraisal in the public sector. To date, most critical studies of performance appraisal have concentrated on the …

Introduction: The Role Of Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises In Achieving And Sustaining Growth And Performance, Charles Harvie, Boon-Chye Lee

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This volume is the third in a series on small and medium sized enterprises in East Asia, defined broadly to include the countries along the western rim of the Pacific from Japan and China in the north to Australia and New Zealand in the south, taking in the ASEAN countries along the way.

A Test Of Transformational And Transactional Leadership Styles On Employees' Satisfaction And Performance In The Uae Banking Sector, Raed Awamleh, John Evans, Ashraf Mahate

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study tested the transformational leadership theory among managers at functional levels in United Arab Emirates (UAE) banks. The UAE banking sector was chosen due to its importance in the U.A.E. economy and its significant contribution to the Emirates GDP. The paper examines the effects of both transformational and transactional leadership styles of bank managers/supervisors on employees’ satisfaction and self-perceived performance. Self-esteem and leadership disposition (Romance of Leadership) of employees were hypothesized to act as moderators. Data was collected from employees working in national and international banks operating in the UAE. A multiple regression analysis indicated that transformational leadership style …

The Development Of An Industry Specific Performance Measurement Model For Service Organisations Within The Small Business Sector, Vicki Baard, Edmund W. Watts

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The role of small business, as part of the value adding chain in any economy, should never be understated. In Australia small business represents 96% of all private sector business, accounts for 47% of all private sector employment and the majority fail within three to five years of establishment. Despite this contribution the small business sector, and in particular the service sector component, appear to be underrepresented in the development of specific performance measurement models, which, within the academic and professional literature appear to focus on their larger firm counterparts. Given the unique position of small business service organisations the …

The Impact Of Owner/Manager's Mentality On The Financial Performance Of Smcs: The Case Of Sri Lanka, Hema Wijewardena, Anura De Zoysa

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Several studies have examined how different personality characteristics of owner/managers affect financial performance in small and medium enterprises. However, despite the fact that the mentality of owner/managers is an important aspect of their personality characteristics no prior study has made any attempt to examine its possible impact on enterprise performance. Moreover, even the studies that focused on the relationship between personality characteristics and enterprise performance have confined their investigations to a single period of time. Nevertheless, the literature shows that usually financial performance of enterprises varies dramatically during different stages of growth. Therefore, our study attempted to shed some light …

Hrm At The Coalface: Employee Responses To Performance Appraisal At An Underground Coalmine, Peter D. Mclean, James Reveley

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Based on a four year empirical study investigating employee responses to the implementation of a performance appraisal (PA) process in an underground coal mine, this paper contributes to the small but growing body of literature that examines employee responses to HRM interventions. The paper is constructed around seven key research questions recentring the employee as the discursive subject of HRM. A careful interrogation of employee responses to having their performance appraised indicates that this individuating HRM process occasions considerable disruption to miners’ occupational selves and leads to unintended consequences for the miners, for their working relationships, and for their contributions …

Viewpoint Dependent Performance For Faces Rotated About Pitch And Yaw Axes, Simone K. Favelle, Stephen A. Palmisano, Ryan T. Maloney

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Cracks In The Egg: Improving Performance Measures In Business Incubator Research, Barbara Cornelius, Rekha Bhabra-Remedios

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Early research into business incubators focused on describing how they were operated and what activities were undertaken to assist in the survival of tenant firms. The only measures of effective operation were based upon the economic agenda of those sponsoring the incubators, that is, whether jobs were created and firms successfully developed beyond the protected incubator environment. The theoretical considerations used by researchers were, as a consequence, limited largely to either economic or fmancial models of performance. Much can be learned, however, from the management literature, which examines performance through organisational theory. It is suggested that further research into incubator …

Integrating Tertiary Literacy Into The Curriculum: Effects On Performance And Retention, Gregory R. Hampton, Janice Skillen, Alice W. Russell, Sharon A. Robinson, Louise Rodgerson, Neil Trivitt

Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Papers

Tertiary literacy instruction and assessment were introduced into two first year biology subjects as part of a collaboration between Biological Sciences and Learning Development staff at the University of Wollongong. In both subjects, the project focussed on scientific report assessment items based on aspects of the practical curriculum. The project involved production and use of a web site giving instruction in report writing and general guidance on scientific writing, marking schemes using explicit criteria including literacy based criteria, a peer marking tutorial, and marking and feedback using the schemes. The results from assessments in the second subject, which included the …

Performance, Anxiety: The Video Games Arcade And Urban Space, Jason Wilson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

In a recent gaming anthology, Henry Jenkins cannot help contrasting his son's cramped, urban, media-saturated existence with his own idyllic, semi-rural childhood. After describing his own Huck Finn meanderings over "the spaces of my boyhood" including the imaginary kingdoms of Jungleoca and Freedonia, Jenkins relates his version of his son's experiences:

My son, Henry, now 16 has never had a backyard He has grown up in various apartment complexes, surrounded by asphalt parking lots with, perhaps, a small grass buffer from the street… Once or twice, when I became exasperated by my son's constant presence around the house I would …

Project Report On The Impact Of Planning And Control Sophistication On Financial Performance Of Small And Medium Manufacturing Enterprises In Australia, Hema Wijewardena, Anura De Zoysa

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Although there has been a limited amount of prior research on the relationship between planning sophistication and small enterprise perfonnance, no attention has been given to the control aspect of planning and its possible impact on financial performance. This points to a major limitation of prior research on planning and perfonnance. It is common knowledge that effective control is often necessary for achieving the maximum results from a predetermined plan of action in any organisation. Even an excellent plan may not produce the results as expected due to numerous unforseen circumstances which are internal or external to the fInn. Therefore, …

Performance Indicators: Just How Do You Weight Them?, John Hattie, Jim S. Tognolini

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The development and use of performance indicators in higher education has become a major topic for research and discussion throughout the world. Research efforts and resources are being channeled into improving their use. These efforts include extending the range (including developing indicators of quality) and objectivity of indicators; improving the procedures for measuring weighting and combining performance indicators; and refining procedures for linking funding and resource allocation to performance indicators. This paper uses a questionnaire and a sample of responses to demonstrate a methodology for making explicit the weightings experts ascribe to individual performance indicators used in the process of …