Macquarie University

About: Macquarie University is a education organization based out in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Laser. The organization has 14075 authors who have published 47673 publications receiving 1416184 citations. The organization is also known as: Macquarie uni.

Predictability of biomass burning in response to climate changes

Abstract: Climate is an important control on biomass burning, but the sensitivity of fire to changes in temperature and moisture balance has not been quantified. We analyze sedimentary charcoal records to show that the changes in fire regime over the past 21,000 yrs are predictable from changes in regional climates. Analyses of paleo- fire data show that fire increases monotonically with changes in temperature and peaks at intermediate moisture levels, and that temperature is quantitatively the most important driver of changes in biomass burning over the past 21,000 yrs. Given that a similar relationship between climate drivers and fire emerges from analyses of the interannual variability in biomass burning shown by remote-sensing observations of month-by-month burnt area between 1996 and 2008, our results signal a serious cause for concern in the face of continuing global warming.

The costs of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse to Australian society in 2004/05

Abstract: This monograph (monograph no. 64) estimates the total social costs of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use to the Australian community in 2004-05.

Cross-cultural research in management control systems design: a review of the current state

Abstract: This paper reviews cross-cultural research in management control systems (MCS) appearing in English-language journals over the past 15 years. The objectives are to examine these studies for their convergence or otherwise with respect to the state of our understanding of cultural effects on MCS design, and to analyse their theoretical and methodological strengths and weaknesses to guide future research. The review identifies four major weaknesses seen to apply collectively to this research: (i) a failure to consider the totality of the cultural domain in theoretical exposition; (ii) a tendency to not consider explicitly the differential intensity of cultural norms and values across nations; (iii) a tendency to treat culture simplistically both in the form of its representation as a limited set of aggregate dimensions, and in the assumption of a uniformity and unidimensionality of those dimensions; and (iv) an excessive reliance on the value dimensional conceptualization of culture, which has produced a highly restricted conception and focus on culture, and placed critical limits on the extent of understanding derived from the research to date. ©

Voluntary disclosure of segment information by australian diversified companies

Abstract: This paper reports an examination of economic incentives motivating listed diversified companies in Australia to voluntarily disclose segment information. The study is based on a sample of 65 listed diversified companies. Support is found for ownership diffusion, the level of minority interest in subsidiaries, firm size and industry membership as factors influencing the voluntary disclosure of segment information. No support is found for leverage or diversification into related versus unrelated industries.

Morphological and ecological complexity in early eukaryotic ecosystems

Abstract: Molecular phylogeny and biogeochemistry indicate that eukaryotes differentiated early in Earth history. Sequence comparisons of small-subunit ribosomal RNA genes suggest a deep evolutionary divergence of Eukarya and Archaea1; C27–C29 steranes (derived from sterols synthesized by eukaryotes) and strong depletion of 13C (a biogeochemical signature of methanogenic Archaea) in 2,700 Myr old kerogens independently place a minimum age on this split2,3. Steranes, large spheroidal microfossils, and rare macrofossils of possible eukaryotic origin occur in Palaeoproterozoic rocks4,5,6. Until now, however, evidence for morphological and taxonomic diversification within the domain has generally been restricted to very late Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic successions7. Here we show that the cytoskeletal and ecological prerequisites for eukaryotic diversification were already established in eukaryotic microorganisms fossilized nearly 1,500 Myr ago in shales of the early Mesoproterozoic Roper Group in northern Australia.