Role of plant host factors in the replication and pathogenesis of Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV). Geminivirus infection is an emerging problem in the Australian tomato growing industry which is currently worth ca.A$200m annually. Knowledge gained from this research will have direct benefit in safeguarding this industry by providing an insight into geminivirus replication and identifying molecular targets for virus control. More generally, the technology developed through this study will contribu ....Role of plant host factors in the replication and pathogenesis of Tomato leaf curl virus (TLCV). Geminivirus infection is an emerging problem in the Australian tomato growing industry which is currently worth ca.A$200m annually. Knowledge gained from this research will have direct benefit in safeguarding this industry by providing an insight into geminivirus replication and identifying molecular targets for virus control. More generally, the technology developed through this study will contribute to our basic understanding of virus replication in plants with a view to controlling virus diseases by direct molecular intervention with specifically engineered tools. We foresee potential industrial applications. Read moreRead less
Quantifying the impact of wind farm noise on rural communities. This project is directed at quantifying the level and character of wind farm noise experienced by rural communities, to gain an understanding of the likelihood of the emitted sound causing the medical symptoms experienced by these communities. The outcome will be an accurate prediction model that covers infrasound, the audio range and modulation.
Use of mitochondrial electron transport chain mutants to evaluate how non-phosphorylating respiration influences plant metabolite profiles and stress tolerance. This project uses transgenic plant technology to elucidate how mitochondrial function impacts on the profile of metabolites in plant cell and tissues and whether altering these profiles influences a plant's ability tog row in harsh conditions. It will contribute to our fundamental knowledge of plant metabolism using a metabolomic anaylsi ....Use of mitochondrial electron transport chain mutants to evaluate how non-phosphorylating respiration influences plant metabolite profiles and stress tolerance. This project uses transgenic plant technology to elucidate how mitochondrial function impacts on the profile of metabolites in plant cell and tissues and whether altering these profiles influences a plant's ability tog row in harsh conditions. It will contribute to our fundamental knowledge of plant metabolism using a metabolomic anaylsis of plant stress response. This will be achieved using new high-throughput technologies, allowing reliable qualitative and quantitative analysis of large numbers of samples. This approach will compliment existing genomic and proteomic analyses of plants exposed to abiotic stress.Read moreRead less
Target Of Rapamycin control of nutrient uptake. This project aims to study nutrient uptake in eukaryotes. It is expected to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of environmental and Target Of Rapamycin (TOR)-mediated control of nutrient uptake, specifically endocytosis, building on novel preliminary data that identifies novel TOR control points. The expected outcomes include new insights into mechanisms controlling nutrient uptake and fostering institutional collaboration. T ....Target Of Rapamycin control of nutrient uptake. This project aims to study nutrient uptake in eukaryotes. It is expected to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of environmental and Target Of Rapamycin (TOR)-mediated control of nutrient uptake, specifically endocytosis, building on novel preliminary data that identifies novel TOR control points. The expected outcomes include new insights into mechanisms controlling nutrient uptake and fostering institutional collaboration. This knowledge is highly relevant to any industry or research project utilising living organisms, as nutrient availability supports survival, cell growth and proliferation.Read moreRead less
G-expectation and its applications to nonlinear risk management. This project will develop novel theories and methods for nonlinear risk management based on nonlinear expectations and Backward Stochastic Differential Equations. The expected outcomes of the project will place Australia in the forefront and the leading position of these fields.
Resolving the mechanics of wind turbine noise production. This project will investigate how wind turbines produce noise. It will do this by developing the most sophisticated wind turbine noise experiment in the world, which will allow the construction of better designed wind farms, better public policy and new noise control technologies.
Combating fungal biofilm growth on surfaces. This project aims to establish a scientific basis for the design and development of thin coatings, for use on biomedical devices, that can resist the attachment of fungal cells and the ensuing formation of infectious fungal biofilms on their surfaces. Advancing mechanistic understanding of how physico-chemical properties of materials surfaces influence fungal attachment will enable rational development and optimisation of coating chemistries and struc ....Combating fungal biofilm growth on surfaces. This project aims to establish a scientific basis for the design and development of thin coatings, for use on biomedical devices, that can resist the attachment of fungal cells and the ensuing formation of infectious fungal biofilms on their surfaces. Advancing mechanistic understanding of how physico-chemical properties of materials surfaces influence fungal attachment will enable rational development and optimisation of coating chemistries and structures. Tethered antifungal compounds will be added to polymer surfaces by controlled polymerisation methods to provide active deterrence; factors such as conformational flexibility will be studied to optimise coatings, which may will prevent life-threatening infections and reduce healthcare costs.Read moreRead less
Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed r ....Understanding and preventing gun violence: A qualitative study. Gun violence causes significant harm across Australian communities. Excluding sexual assault, firearms feature in nearly one in 10 violent crimes. The annual costs of gun violence run into tens of millions of dollars. This project aims to make an original qualitative contribution to understanding and preventing gun violence in three contexts: drug dealing/trafficking, other organised crime activity, and armed robbery. The proposed research would be the first study nationally - and one of the very few internationally - to interview convicted gun crime users about the acquisition and use of firearms in criminal life. Project results are expected to have direct implications for reducing the impact of gun violence in Australia.Read moreRead less
Investigation of the audio spotlight for active noise control. The focus of this project is to investigate a new technology - the audio spotlight - with the aim of developing an active noise control (ANC) system that incorporates the audio spotlight as a control source. The audio spotlight offers the potential to overcome or significantly modify the fundamental physical constraints that limit the performance of ANC systems that use conventional loudspeakers as control sources. Just as audio spot ....Investigation of the audio spotlight for active noise control. The focus of this project is to investigate a new technology - the audio spotlight - with the aim of developing an active noise control (ANC) system that incorporates the audio spotlight as a control source. The audio spotlight offers the potential to overcome or significantly modify the fundamental physical constraints that limit the performance of ANC systems that use conventional loudspeakers as control sources. Just as audio spotlights may be the most radical technological development in acoustics since the invention of the coil loudspeaker, successful incorporation of an audio spotlight into an active noise control system will revolutionise active noise control.Read moreRead less
Multiscale Singularly Perturbed Control Systems. We propose to develop a unified averaging technique to analyse deterministic and stochastic multiscale singularly perturbed control systems. Such systems arise as mathematical models of real-world dynamical systems in which state variables can change their values with the rates of different orders of magnitude. The technique is based on the assumption that the system, which would describe the dynamics of the fast state variables if slow ones were ....Multiscale Singularly Perturbed Control Systems. We propose to develop a unified averaging technique to analyse deterministic and stochastic multiscale singularly perturbed control systems. Such systems arise as mathematical models of real-world dynamical systems in which state variables can change their values with the rates of different orders of magnitude. The technique is based on the assumption that the system, which would describe the dynamics of the fast state variables if slow ones were frozen, possesses certain ergodicity properties expressed in the existence of its limit occupational measures set. Conditions for the existence of such a set will be studied and its structure will be described.Read moreRead less