Curtin University

About: Curtin University is a education organization based out in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Zircon. The organization has 14257 authors who have published 48997 publications receiving 1336531 citations. The organization is also known as: WAIT & Western Australian Institute of Technology.

One-Step synthesis of highly luminescent carbon dots in noncoordinating solvents

Abstract: A novel one-step approach for synthesizing highly luminescent oil soluble carbon dots (quantum yield: 53%) and water-soluble carbon dots is introduced. The superior luminescence efficiency, together with the simple, rapid, and reproducible synthesis method will facilitate fundamental studies and promising practical applications of these carbon-based quantum dots.

Protective effect of green tea against prostate cancer: a case-control study in southeast China.

Abstract: To investigate whether green tea consumption has an etiological association with prostate cancer, a case-control study was conducted in Hangzhou, southeast China during 2001-2002. The cases were 130 incident patients with histologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate. The controls were 274 hospital inpatients without prostate cancer or any other malignant diseases, and matched to the age of cases. Information on duration, quantity and frequency of usual tea consumption, as well as the number of new batches brewed per day, were collected by face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The risk of prostate cancer for tea consumption was assessed using multivariate logistic regression adjusting for age, locality, education, income, body mass index, physical activity, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, total fat intake, marital status, age at marriage, number of children, history of vasectomy and family history of prostate cancer. Among the cases, 55.4% were tea drinkers compared to 79.9% for the controls. Almost all the tea consumed was green tea. The prostate cancer risk declined with increasing frequency, duration and quantity of green tea consumption. The adjusted odds ratio (OR), relative to non-tea drinkers, were 0.28 (95% CI = 0.17-0.47) for tea drinking, 0.12 (95% CI = 0.06-0.26) for drinking tea over 40 years, 0.09 (95% CI = 0.04-0.21) for those consuming more than 1.5 kg of tea leaves yearly, and 0.27 (95% CI = 0.15-0.48) for those drinking more than 3 cups (1 litre) daily. The dose response relationships were also significant, suggesting that green tea is protective against prostate cancer.

Neural-Network-Based Models for Short-Term Traffic Flow Forecasting Using a Hybrid Exponential Smoothing and Levenberg–Marquardt Algorithm

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel neural network (NN) training method that employs the hybrid exponential smoothing method and the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) algorithm, which aims to improve the generalization capabilities of previously used methods for training NNs for short-term traffic flow forecasting. The approach uses exponential smoothing to preprocess traffic flow data by removing the lumpiness from collected traffic flow data, before employing a variant of the LM algorithm to train the NN weights of an NN model. This approach aids NN training, as the preprocessed traffic flow data are more smooth and continuous than the original unprocessed traffic flow data. The proposed method was evaluated by forecasting short-term traffic flow conditions on the Mitchell freeway in Western Australia. With regard to the generalization capabilities for short-term traffic flow forecasting, the NN models developed using the proposed approach outperform those that are developed based on the alternative tested algorithms, which are particularly designed either for short-term traffic flow forecasting or for enhancing generalization capabilities of NNs.

Does Board Structure in Banks Really Affect Their Performance

Abstract: We study whether board structure (board size, independence and gender diversity) in banks relates to performance. Using a broad panel of large US bank holding companies over the period 1997–2011, we find that both board size and independent directors decrease bank performance. Although gender diversity improves bank performance in the pre-Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) period (1997–2002), the positive effect of gender diminishes in both the post-SOX (2003–2006) and the crisis periods (2007–2011). Finally, we show that board structure is particularly relevant for banks with low market power, if they are immune to the threat of external takeover and/or they are small. Our two-step system generalised method of moments estimation accounts for endogeneity concerns (simultaneity, reverse causality and unobserved heterogeneity). The findings are robust to a wide range of other sensitivity checks including alternative proxies for bank performance.