Sustainable Development Goal Disclosures within Australian Superannuation Funds: An Exploratory Study

The financial reporting landscape is continuing to expand with both regulated and voluntary disclosures making their way into various reporting frameworks. This increased attention to disclosures is being pursued by professional bodies, governments, companies and other organisations given the changing demands by stakeholders for sustainability disclosures. The Australian superannuation industry is a compulsory system developed to ensure a comfortable retirement income for members. It is now a trillion-dollar business and therefore, has significant influence on the investment decisions that it makes on behalf of its members. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are increasingly being used as a signal to the market that an organisation is meeting the demands of stakeholders. The objective of this study is exploratory in nature, investigating the types of SDG disclosures made by the largest superannuation funds in Australia. Data was collected through a content analysis of the annual and/or supplementary reports produced by Australian superannuation funds. The findings suggest that Australian superannuation funds currently disclose a minimal level information in accordance with the SDGs in different reporting formats and the SDGs tends to prevail where superannuation managers believe they can have the most impact. Our results have implications for SDG reporting, policy and management practice. Future research that helps explain how managers choose which SDGs to report would be a useful contribution in the context of superannuation

Paper Session III-C - Advanced Mechanisms For Space Applications

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is currently engaged in developing and demonstrating several advanced spacecraft and launch vehicle mechanism technologies. A variety of mechanisms are required to accomplish spacecraft and launch vehicle functions such as deployment, articulation, positioning, and isolation. Current off-the-shelf mechanisms such as pyrotechnics, gimbals, paraffin actuators, and electro-mechanical devices may not be able to meet future satellite requirements. For this reason, advanced technologies are needed that will increase mechanism efficiency in terms of cost, weight, reliability/survivability, and power consumption. In addition to developing these technologies, it is necessary to prove them in flight demonstrations in order to make technology transition feasible. This paper summarizes the status of several space-related programs being conducted by AFRL for developing and demonstrating new technology to support future DoD space requirements. One of these flight programs will fly the first whole-spacecraft isolation system on a Taurus launch vehicle in January 1998 and another will demonstrate the first solar array with overall array specific power greater than 150W/Kg in the fall of 2002. This solar array is being developed for flight on the third New Millennium Program technology demonstration flight

Sustainable development goal disclosures within Australian superannuation funds: an exploratory study

The financial reporting landscape is continuing to expand with both regulated and voluntary disclosures making their way into various reporting frameworks. This increased attention to disclosures is being pursued by professional bodies, governments, companies and other organisations given the changing demands by stakeholders for sustainability disclosures. The Australian superannuation industry is a compulsory system developed to ensure a comfortable retirement income for members. It is now a trillion-dollar business and therefore, has significant influence on the investment decisions that it makes on behalf of its members. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are increasingly being used as a signal to the market that an organisation is meeting the demands of stakeholders. The objective of this study is exploratory in nature, investigating the types of SDG disclosures made by the largest superannuation funds in Australia. Data was collected through a content analysis of the annual and/or supplementary reports produced by Australian superannuation funds. The findings suggest that Australian superannuation funds currently disclose a minimal level information in accordance with the SDGs in different reporting formats and the SDGs tends to prevail where superannuation managers believe they can have the most impact. Our results have implications for SDG reporting, policy and management practice. Future research that helps explain how managers choose which SDGs to report would be a useful contribution in the context of superannuation

Measurement of inclusive D*+- and associated dijet cross sections in photoproduction at HERA

Inclusive photoproduction of D*+- mesons has been measured for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 280 GeV and a photon virtuality Q^2 < 1 GeV^2. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb^-1. Total and differential cross sections as functions of the D* transverse momentum and pseudorapidity are presented in restricted kinematical regions and the data are compared with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD calculations using the "massive charm" and "massless charm" schemes. The measured cross sections are generally above the NLO calculations, in particular in the forward (proton) direction. The large data sample also allows the study of dijet production associated with charm. A significant resolved as well as a direct photon component contribute to the cross section. Leading order QCD Monte Carlo calculations indicate that the resolved contribution arises from a significant charm component in the photon. A massive charm NLO parton level calculation yields lower cross sections compared to the measured results in a kinematic region where the resolved photon contribution is significant.Comment: 32 pages including 6 figure

Measurement of event shapes in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb^-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass. The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q^2 < 20,480 GeV^2 and 6.10^-4 < x < 0.6, where Q^2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative corrections (`power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.Comment: 7+25 pages, 6 figure

Measurement of Jet Shapes in Photoproduction at HERA

The shape of jets produced in quasi-real photon-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies in the range $134-277$ GeV has been measured using the hadronic energy flow. The measurement was done with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Jets are identified using a cone algorithm in the $\eta - \phi$ plane with a cone radius of one unit. Measured jet shapes both in inclusive jet and dijet production with transverse energies $E^{jet}_T>14$ GeV are presented. The jet shape broadens as the jet pseudorapidity ($\eta^{jet}$) increases and narrows as $E^{jet}_T$ increases. In dijet photoproduction, the jet shapes have been measured separately for samples dominated by resolved and by direct processes. Leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo calculations of resolved and direct processes describe well the measured jet shapes except for the inclusive production of jets with high $\eta^{jet}$ and low $E^{jet}_T$. The observed broadening of the jet shape as $\eta^{jet}$ increases is consistent with the predicted increase in the fraction of final state gluon jets.Comment: 29 pages including 9 figure

Measurement of the Diffractive Cross Section in Deep Inelastic Scattering using ZEUS 1994 Data

The DIS diffractive cross section, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^* p \to XN}/dM_X$, has been measured in the mass range $M_X < 15$ GeV for $\gamma^*p$ c.m. energies $60 < W < 200$ GeV and photon virtualities $Q^2 = 7$ to 140 GeV$^2$. For fixed $Q^2$ and $M_X$, the diffractive cross section rises rapidly with $W$, $d\sigma^{diff}_{\gamma^*p \to XN}(M_X,W,Q^2)/dM_X \propto W^{a^{diff}}$ with $a^{diff} = 0.507 \pm 0.034 (stat)^{+0.155}_{-0.046}(syst)$ corresponding to a $t$-averaged pomeron trajectory of \bar{\alphapom} = 1.127 \pm 0.009 (stat)^{+0.039}_{-0.012} (syst) which is larger than \bar{\alphapom} observed in hadron-hadron scattering. The $W$ dependence of the diffractive cross section is found to be the same as that of the total cross section for scattering of virtual photons on protons. The data are consistent with the assumption that the diffractive structure function $F^{D(3)}_2$ factorizes according to \xpom F^{D(3)}_2 (\xpom,\beta,Q^2) = (x_0/ \xpom)^n F^{D(2)}_2(\beta,Q^2). They are also consistent with QCD based models which incorporate factorization breaking. The rise of \xpom F^{D(3)}_2 with decreasing \xpom and the weak dependence of $F^{D(2)}_2$ on $Q^2$ suggest a substantial contribution from partonic interactions

Measurement of the F2 structure function in deep inelastic e+^{+}p scattering using 1994 data from the ZEUS detector at HERA

We present measurements of the structure function \Ft\ in e^+p scattering at HERA in the range 3.5\;\Gevsq < \qsd < 5000\;\Gevsq. A new reconstruction method has allowed a significant improvement in the resolution of the kinematic variables and an extension of the kinematic region covered by the experiment. At \qsd < 35 \;\Gevsq the range in x now spans 6.3\cdot 10^{-5} < x < 0.08 providing overlap with measurements from fixed target experiments. At values of Q^2 above 1000 GeV^2 the x range extends to 0.5. Systematic errors below 5\perc\ have been achieved for most of the kinematic urray, W

Measurement of Elastic ϕ\phi Photoproduction at HERA

The production of $\phi$ mesons in the reaction $e^{+}p \rightarrow e^{+} \phi p$ ($\phi \rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}$) at a median $Q^{2}$ of $10^{-4} \ \rm{GeV^2}$has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The differential$\phi$photoproduction cross section$d\sigma/dt$has an exponential shape and has been determined in the kinematic range$0.1<|t|<0.5 \ \rm{GeV^2}$and$60 < W < 80 \ \rm{GeV}$. An integrated cross section of$\sigma_{\gamma p \rightarrow \phi p} = 0.96 \pm 0.19^{+0.21}_{-0.18}$$\rm{\mu b}$has been obtained by extrapolating to {\it t} = 0. When compared to lower energy data, the results show a weak energy dependence of both$\sigma_{\gamma p \rightarrow \phi p}$and the slope of the$t$distribution. The$\phi$decay angular distributions are consistent with$s$-channel helicity conservation. From lower energies to HERA energies, the features of$\phi$ photoproduction are compatible with those of a soft diffractive process.Comment: 23 pages, including 6 post script figure

Comparison of ZEUS data with standard model predictions for e+p→e+Xe^+ p \rightarrow e^+ X scattering at high xx and Q2Q^2

Using the ZEUS detector at HERA, we have studied the reaction e(+)p --> e(+)X for Q(2) > 5000 GeV2 with a 20.1 pb(-1) data sample collected during the years 1993 to 1996. For Q(2) below 15000 GeV2, the data are in good agreement with Standard Model expectations. For Q(2) > 35000 GeV2. two events are observed while 0.145 +/- 0.013 events are expected, A statistical analysis of a large ensemble of simulated Standard Model experiments indicates that with probability 6.0%, an excess at least as unlikely as that observed would occur above some Q(2) cut. For x > 0.55 and y > 0.75, four events are observed where 0.91 +/- 0.08 events are expected, A statistical analysis of the two-dimensional distribution of the events in x and y yields a probability of 0.72% for the region x > 0.55 and y > 0.25 and a probability of 7.8% for the entire Q(2) > 5000 GeV2 data sample. The observed excess above Standard Model expectations is particularly interesting because it occurs in a previously unexplored kinematic region