Mechanisms of chronic infection, immunotolerance and coevolution in avian circovirus infections. This project will generate fundamental new knowledge into the pathogenesis of persistent, chronic viral diseases in a wide range of animal hosts. Furthermore, beak and feather disease virus is listed as a Key Threatening Process under the Endangered Species Protection Act (1992) to at least sixteen endangered Australian bird species. Very little is known about the host-virus interactions that occur d ....Mechanisms of chronic infection, immunotolerance and coevolution in avian circovirus infections. This project will generate fundamental new knowledge into the pathogenesis of persistent, chronic viral diseases in a wide range of animal hosts. Furthermore, beak and feather disease virus is listed as a Key Threatening Process under the Endangered Species Protection Act (1992) to at least sixteen endangered Australian bird species. Very little is known about the host-virus interactions that occur during the early stages of infection or why some birds recover yet others develop full blown disease. This project will provide new knowledge that can be used to counteract its effects on current and future endangered species recovery program.Read moreRead less
Microparticles as effectors of microvascular alterations in brain inflammation. Cerebral malaria (CM) kills many children worldwide, but we do not understand why their small blood vessels in the brain become obstructed. We found that tiny elements detached from cell membranes, called microparticles (MP), are dramatically elevated in the blood during CM. Our results strongly suggest that these MP are important in CM development. We have found that some drugs block the release of MP and the stick ....Microparticles as effectors of microvascular alterations in brain inflammation. Cerebral malaria (CM) kills many children worldwide, but we do not understand why their small blood vessels in the brain become obstructed. We found that tiny elements detached from cell membranes, called microparticles (MP), are dramatically elevated in the blood during CM. Our results strongly suggest that these MP are important in CM development. We have found that some drugs block the release of MP and the stickiness of malaria parasites to blood vessels. Our project will tackle the conditions of MP production and define new drugs to prevent it. It also will explain how the brain becomes affected by high numbers of MP. Our results will cast new light on why the brain functions abnormally when its blood vessels become modified.Read moreRead less
Topological order and anyons: quantum engineering of emergent physics. Australia is recognized as one of the world leaders in the area of quantum information and computation. As a frontier technology with tremendous potential but engineering challenges it is vital we expand our theoretical landscape to better steer experimental development. A promising new paradigm is topological quantum computation which uses particles with exotic statistics called anyons that do not exist naturally in three d ....Topological order and anyons: quantum engineering of emergent physics. Australia is recognized as one of the world leaders in the area of quantum information and computation. As a frontier technology with tremendous potential but engineering challenges it is vital we expand our theoretical landscape to better steer experimental development. A promising new paradigm is topological quantum computation which uses particles with exotic statistics called anyons that do not exist naturally in three dimensions but can be engineered to emerge in two dimensional spin lattices. Our bottom up research program would help place Australia at the forefront of these ideas. As a field which combines tools from mathematics, computer science, and physics this project will provide world class training to young researchers.Read moreRead less
Atomic tests of unification theories. Although the standard model of particle physics has withstood decades of intensive experimental tests, it is widely believed to be merely a low-energy manifestation of a "true" theory that unifies the four forces of nature. While some searches for new physics beyond the standard model are performed at high-energy particle accelerators, a very sensitive probe can be done at low energies in atomic and molecular measurements of weak interaction effects. This pr ....Atomic tests of unification theories. Although the standard model of particle physics has withstood decades of intensive experimental tests, it is widely believed to be merely a low-energy manifestation of a "true" theory that unifies the four forces of nature. While some searches for new physics beyond the standard model are performed at high-energy particle accelerators, a very sensitive probe can be done at low energies in atomic and molecular measurements of weak interaction effects. This project is devoted to a theoretical investigation of weak interaction effects in atoms, molecules, and nuclei. It will provide improved tests of unified theories.Read moreRead less
Violation of fundamental symmetries in atoms, molecules and nuclei. This theoretical project aims to predict enhanced effects of parity (P), time reversal (T), CP and Lorentz invariance violation, which may be measured using atomic spectroscopy and nuclear physics methods. This project expects to contribute to search for physics beyond standard model, including standard model extensions predicting axion, dark matter and T,P-violating electric dipole moments. Expected outcomes include predictions ....Violation of fundamental symmetries in atoms, molecules and nuclei. This theoretical project aims to predict enhanced effects of parity (P), time reversal (T), CP and Lorentz invariance violation, which may be measured using atomic spectroscopy and nuclear physics methods. This project expects to contribute to search for physics beyond standard model, including standard model extensions predicting axion, dark matter and T,P-violating electric dipole moments. Expected outcomes include predictions of new enhanced effects in nuclei, atoms and molecules. By-products and benefits include development of high precision computer codes for atomic calculations, which are expected to have numerous applications including photon and electron processes, properties of superheavy elements and atomic clocks.Read moreRead less
Atomic clocks, space-time variation of fundamental constants, violation of fundamental symmetries and tests of unification theories. The project will help to establish Australia among the leaders in important areas of modern science: tests of theories unifying all physical forces and cosmology, search for variation of the fundamental forces of Nature and making super precise atomic clocks. The atomic clocks are used in all navigation (current GPS and future Galileo) systems and many other import ....Atomic clocks, space-time variation of fundamental constants, violation of fundamental symmetries and tests of unification theories. The project will help to establish Australia among the leaders in important areas of modern science: tests of theories unifying all physical forces and cosmology, search for variation of the fundamental forces of Nature and making super precise atomic clocks. The atomic clocks are used in all navigation (current GPS and future Galileo) systems and many other important applications. The training of students and researchers combined with a rich international collaborative program will insure that Australia is well placed to prepare for the approaching revolution in physics and cosmology.Read moreRead less
Violation of fundamental symmetries and test of unification models. This project is devoted to a theoretical investigation of the atomic and nuclear effects of parity and time invariance violation. Measurements of these effects provide accurate tests of unification theories of elementary particles. Effects of weak interactions are normally very small, and we want to look for possibilities to enhance these effects. We also plan to search for new effects and tests of the unification theories an ....Violation of fundamental symmetries and test of unification models. This project is devoted to a theoretical investigation of the atomic and nuclear effects of parity and time invariance violation. Measurements of these effects provide accurate tests of unification theories of elementary particles. Effects of weak interactions are normally very small, and we want to look for possibilities to enhance these effects. We also plan to search for new effects and tests of the unification theories and develop accurate method of atomic calculations.Read moreRead less
Test of unification theories in atomic and nuclear phenomena. This project will help to establish Australia among the leaders in important areas of modern science: tests of models unifying all physical forces and search for variation of fundamental constants of Nature. It may help to create new theory unifying physics and cosmology, and may reveal hypothetical extra dimensions in our Universe, or many different sub-Universes. The training of students and researchers combined with a rich interna ....Test of unification theories in atomic and nuclear phenomena. This project will help to establish Australia among the leaders in important areas of modern science: tests of models unifying all physical forces and search for variation of fundamental constants of Nature. It may help to create new theory unifying physics and cosmology, and may reveal hypothetical extra dimensions in our Universe, or many different sub-Universes. The training of students and researchers combined with a rich international collaborative program will ensure that Australia is well-placed to prepare for the approaching revolution in physics and cosmology. Read moreRead less
Monotreme immune system provides insights into their evolutionary relationships. Genes of immunological importance will be cloned and characterised from the short-beaked echidna with the purpose of investigating the immune system in monotremes, gaining insights into the timing and order of evolutionary separation of the three extant mammalian groups:- the Prototherians (monotremes), the Metatherians (marsupials) and Eutherians (placentals), increasing understanding of the evolution of the verteb ....Monotreme immune system provides insights into their evolutionary relationships. Genes of immunological importance will be cloned and characterised from the short-beaked echidna with the purpose of investigating the immune system in monotremes, gaining insights into the timing and order of evolutionary separation of the three extant mammalian groups:- the Prototherians (monotremes), the Metatherians (marsupials) and Eutherians (placentals), increasing understanding of the evolution of the vertebrate immune system and providing the basis for making immunological reagents which are necessary for studying monotreme diseases (as a precautionary conservation strategy).Read moreRead less
Violation of fundamental symmetries in atomic phenomena. Violation of the fundamental symmetries is predicted by unification theories of elementary particles. The aim of this project is to propose new enhanced effects of parity, time reversal and Lorentz invariance violations and perform their calculations needed to test unification theories in atomic and nuclear phenomena. By-products of this project include development of high precision computer codes for atomic calculations and theory of pro ....Violation of fundamental symmetries in atomic phenomena. Violation of the fundamental symmetries is predicted by unification theories of elementary particles. The aim of this project is to propose new enhanced effects of parity, time reversal and Lorentz invariance violations and perform their calculations needed to test unification theories in atomic and nuclear phenomena. By-products of this project include development of high precision computer codes for atomic calculations and theory of processes involving atoms and nuclei in chaotic excited states. These codes and theory are expected to have numerous applications (e.g. search for Dark Matter and atomic spectra of superheavy elements, atomic clocks and electron and photon processes).
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