Supported Treadmill Training To Establish Walking In Non-ambulatory Patients Early After Stroke
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$341,349.00
Summary
This project will improve the health and well being of people affected by stroke. Stroke is the most common disabling neurological condition in adults and consumes up to 5% of health care expenditure in developed countries, estimated by the National Stroke Foundation at $1-2 billion per year in Australia. Some 48,000 people suffer a stroke each year in Australia, with approximately one third of these people requiring inpatient rehabilitation and 70% of them are unable to walk on admission to reh ....This project will improve the health and well being of people affected by stroke. Stroke is the most common disabling neurological condition in adults and consumes up to 5% of health care expenditure in developed countries, estimated by the National Stroke Foundation at $1-2 billion per year in Australia. Some 48,000 people suffer a stroke each year in Australia, with approximately one third of these people requiring inpatient rehabilitation and 70% of them are unable to walk on admission to rehabilitation. This randomised controlled trial will investigate whether treadmill walking with partial weight support via an overhead harness is effective at establishing independent walking (i) more often, (ii) earlier and (iii) with a better quality of walking, than current treatment for stroke patients who cannot walk. We will measure (i) whether patients achieve independent walking and (ii) the time taken to achieve independent walking. We will also measure parameters of walking such as speed, step length and step width to evaluate the effect of treadmill training on the quality of walking. Furthermore, by measuring participation in the community at 6 months, we will evaluate the long-term effect of this innovative treatment. Given that independence in walking is a major factor in the decision to discharge patients from inpatient care, earlier independent walking should result in a reduction in length of hospital stay which will save about $800 per patient per day in a teaching hospital setting. Identifying rehabilitation strategies which enhance walking outcome will not only improve quality of life of both stroke patients and their carers by reducing disability and handicap but also reduce the cost of rehabilitation.Read moreRead less
Conjugate natural convection boundary layers. Conjugate natural convection systems occur when a conducting vertical wall separates fluids at different temperatures (that is at a window separating the interior of a room from the outside or when a container of fluid is placed in a refrigerator). This project will provide accurate predictions of such flows together with scaling relations.
Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes incl ....Enhancing passive cooling using flexible baffles. The project aims to develop a novel passive strategy using fluid-structure-thermal interactions to enhance passive cooling by natural convection and improve the energy efficiency of engineering systems. Comparing to the existing strategies, the new strategy does not require driving fan or pump and is quiet, reliable, self-adaptive and economical. The Multiphysics embodied in the proposal is at the leading edge of the field. Expected outcomes include advanced understanding of the complex Multiphysics and design rules for enhancing passive cooling by natural convection using flexible baffles. The research is expected to bring direct economic benefit to relevant industry and significant environmental and social benefit to the general public.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE180100203
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$956,700.00
Summary
Novel diagnostics capabilities in reacting, particle-laden flows. This project aims to establish innovative capabilities for advanced diagnostics techniques to be applied in reacting, particle-laden flows over a range of pressures. The complementary measurements are expected to provide an unprecedented understanding of the dynamics of liquid fragments and solid particles in flames. The resulting data, and improved knowledge, will set the framework for more effective predictive methods that assis ....Novel diagnostics capabilities in reacting, particle-laden flows. This project aims to establish innovative capabilities for advanced diagnostics techniques to be applied in reacting, particle-laden flows over a range of pressures. The complementary measurements are expected to provide an unprecedented understanding of the dynamics of liquid fragments and solid particles in flames. The resulting data, and improved knowledge, will set the framework for more effective predictive methods that assist in the design of cleaner and efficient processes that benefit a range of applications, from engine design to the generation of new fuels, and the flame synthesis of novel materials.Read moreRead less
Large Scale Natural Convection Boundary Layers with Non-Boussinesq Effects. This proposal aims to understand and predict heat transfer by turbulent natural convection in two scenarios, firstly at very large environmental scales, such as occur on melting Antarctic ice sheets, and secondly convection involving very large temperature differences such as occur in solar thermal power plants and industrial processes. These natural convection flow regimes are incredibly difficult to investigate directl ....Large Scale Natural Convection Boundary Layers with Non-Boussinesq Effects. This proposal aims to understand and predict heat transfer by turbulent natural convection in two scenarios, firstly at very large environmental scales, such as occur on melting Antarctic ice sheets, and secondly convection involving very large temperature differences such as occur in solar thermal power plants and industrial processes. These natural convection flow regimes are incredibly difficult to investigate directly but by focusing on the fundamental dynamics of the turbulent flows using large scale numerical simulations and innovative experiments, the project is expected to develop better analytical and computational models which will underpin improvements in
global ocean models and improve energy efficiency.Read moreRead less
Reducing the energy consumed by lighting with gaze-dependent illumination. Lighting consumes approximately 18% of electricity, but only a fraction of the light emitted into buildings actually supports occupants’ vision – the rest is wasted. This research aims to reduce the energy consumed by lighting by developing strategies for illuminating only the portions of architectural environments that are visible to occupants, thereby reducing unnecessary light. The impacts of gaze-dependent lighting on ....Reducing the energy consumed by lighting with gaze-dependent illumination. Lighting consumes approximately 18% of electricity, but only a fraction of the light emitted into buildings actually supports occupants’ vision – the rest is wasted. This research aims to reduce the energy consumed by lighting by developing strategies for illuminating only the portions of architectural environments that are visible to occupants, thereby reducing unnecessary light. The impacts of gaze-dependent lighting on energy consumption and the visual environment will be characterized and design guidelines will be generated to facilitate the development of innovative lighting systems that consume less energy by producing less light, without negatively impacting the visual experiences of building occupants.Read moreRead less
An Innovative Powertrain Architecture and Optimal Energy Management for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies will significantly reduce the dependence of vehicles on fossil fuels, thereby reducing their emissions of carbon and other pollutants. The project will produce new knowledge in automotive engineering, software tools for vehicle design and a novel powertrain architecture with key components almost ready for commercial application. The research will ....An Innovative Powertrain Architecture and Optimal Energy Management for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies will significantly reduce the dependence of vehicles on fossil fuels, thereby reducing their emissions of carbon and other pollutants. The project will produce new knowledge in automotive engineering, software tools for vehicle design and a novel powertrain architecture with key components almost ready for commercial application. The research will directly contribute to the use of green energy and the reduction of vehicles' harmful environmental impacts. The nation will benefit from new economic activity, such as increased exports of automotive parts and components, and from strengthening its position as a world leader in reducing carbon emissions.Read moreRead less
Entrainment and Mixing in Turbulent Negatively Buoyant Jets and Fountains. The project intends to develop tools to accurate predict fountain flows. Volcanic eruptions, building ventilation and brine discharge from desalination plants are all examples of turbulent fountains and negatively buoyant jets. The project aims to conduct an investigation into the turbulent structure of fountains and negatively buoyant jets using numerical simulation and laboratory experiments, and to assess the accuracy ....Entrainment and Mixing in Turbulent Negatively Buoyant Jets and Fountains. The project intends to develop tools to accurate predict fountain flows. Volcanic eruptions, building ventilation and brine discharge from desalination plants are all examples of turbulent fountains and negatively buoyant jets. The project aims to conduct an investigation into the turbulent structure of fountains and negatively buoyant jets using numerical simulation and laboratory experiments, and to assess the accuracy of the commonly used integral models and test the effect of the use of more accurate entrainment relations. This may have a range of applications – enabling better prediction of environmental impacts, reduction of the adverse effects of the discharge of pollutants, and reduction in energy consumption in building ventilation and other industrial applications.Read moreRead less
Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical d ....Beyond Phononic Crystals-Building New Concepts to Enhance Thermoelectricity. Waste heat, which is discharged into the environment from industrial plants and vehicle exhausts, represents a huge amount of lost energy and is a major contributor to global warming. Thermoelectric materials, which can generate electricity from the waste heat, could play an important role in a global sustainable energy solution while reducing greenhouse emissions. This program is aimed at experimental and theoretical development of new concepts to engineer the interfaces with various atomic stacking sequence of two complex oxides and also the three-dimensional binary nanocube superlattices to enhance the energy conversion efficiency of oxide based thermoelectric materials by several times over today's state-of-the-art.Read moreRead less
High-speed interior permanent magnet synchronous machines. This project aims to develop a permanent magnet machine for high speed operation (more than 50,000 rpm). A high-speed interior permanent magnet machine will solve some of the complex constructional and sensor-less control issues related to high-speed drive systems. This project will develop permanent magnet machines with simple constructional features, reduced use of costly rare earth materials, inherent sensor-less control capability an ....High-speed interior permanent magnet synchronous machines. This project aims to develop a permanent magnet machine for high speed operation (more than 50,000 rpm). A high-speed interior permanent magnet machine will solve some of the complex constructional and sensor-less control issues related to high-speed drive systems. This project will develop permanent magnet machines with simple constructional features, reduced use of costly rare earth materials, inherent sensor-less control capability and flux-weakening. These machines are expected to be used in many global growth sectors including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, energy generation and storage.Read moreRead less