New antiparasitics to protect Australian livestock. There is an urgent need for new antiparasitics to treat multi-drug resistant livestock infections. This project aims to explore the bacteria and fungi present in the microbiomes of heavily infected sheep faeces and pastures, challenging them with environmental cues, including those from associated parasites, to stimulate production of defensive chemicals hidden deep within their genomes. Enabled by an integrated pipeline of high throughput anal ....New antiparasitics to protect Australian livestock. There is an urgent need for new antiparasitics to treat multi-drug resistant livestock infections. This project aims to explore the bacteria and fungi present in the microbiomes of heavily infected sheep faeces and pastures, challenging them with environmental cues, including those from associated parasites, to stimulate production of defensive chemicals hidden deep within their genomes. Enabled by an integrated pipeline of high throughput analytical cultivation, molecular networking, and chemical and biological analyses, expected outcomes include an enhanced ability to explore and exploit valuable chemistry hidden within microbial genomes, leading to the discovery of new classes of natural antiparasitic to safeguard livestock.
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Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia And Thrombosis: Better Understanding Of Pathogenesis And Improving Diagnosis And Treatment
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$653,137.00
Summary
Heparin, a widely used drug, can cause an adverse effect which results in a fall of the platelet count and the development of serious thrombosis. This drug complication is mediated by an immune mechanism. This proposal aims to provide a better understanding of the disease mechanism. It also aims to develop a new test that will improve the diagnosis, and to produce a novel drug that will effectively suppress the immune reaction and improve the treatment.
Porous Mineral Formulations for Controlled-Release Applications. The controlled release of biologically active agents from host materials is a process that is used routinely in pharmaceuticals delivery but has received only limited attention in large-scale, low-cost areas such as the agrochemicals industry. Here we identify a number of rare tubular mineral phases as having great potential for low-cost controlled release. These little-studied minerals, for which high quality deposits exist in Aus ....Porous Mineral Formulations for Controlled-Release Applications. The controlled release of biologically active agents from host materials is a process that is used routinely in pharmaceuticals delivery but has received only limited attention in large-scale, low-cost areas such as the agrochemicals industry. Here we identify a number of rare tubular mineral phases as having great potential for low-cost controlled release. These little-studied minerals, for which high quality deposits exist in Australia, consist of hollow tubules of nanoscale dimension. This project involves the first ever studies of the kinetics of guest release from these fascinating hosts, and promises to generate important new technologies in agrochemical delivery.Read moreRead less
STudy Of Risk Assessment To Reduce Complications In Patients Following Noncardiac SurgerY (STRATIFY)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$436,000.00
Summary
Cardiac problems account for many complications in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery, and even apparently minor cardiac damage is a marker of high risk for subsequent adverse events. Unfortunately, while money and effort is expended on identifying patients at risk, the appropriate response to this risk is quite unclear. The performance of bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty in order to treat the underlying coronary disease of at-risk patients is used in other situations, and reduce ....Cardiac problems account for many complications in patients undergoing major non-cardiac surgery, and even apparently minor cardiac damage is a marker of high risk for subsequent adverse events. Unfortunately, while money and effort is expended on identifying patients at risk, the appropriate response to this risk is quite unclear. The performance of bypass surgery or balloon angioplasty in order to treat the underlying coronary disease of at-risk patients is used in other situations, and reduces longterm risk. However, in many patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery, this approach may be inappropriately aggressive, as these patients are often elderly, have other diseases that make heart operations more difficult and risky than usual, and in any case may have a reduced life expectancy from the disease necessitating the operation. As the most critical issue is to ensure that patients undergo their surgery uneventfully, an alternative is the use of intensive medical therapy to protect the heart. This multicentre study, based at Brisbane hospitals that perform large numbers of major operations, will follow up patients for complications, and outcome (including quality of life) will be assessed six months after the operation. We will address two important questions about the efficacy and cost of risk reduction strategies. First, in patients at higher levels of risk and with a positive stress test, could a combination of medical therapy designed to protect the heart be as effective as current approaches, which include the performance of bypass surgery or coronary balloon angioplasty? Second, in patients identified as being at some risk - but low risk - are drugs sufficiently effective to avoid the need for further testing to quantify risk? As the population continues to age, the numbers of at risk patients undergoing major surgery will increase, and answers to these questions will provide important information to guide their management.Read moreRead less
Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to ....Innovation in agricultural sector Green House Gas abatement in NSW. This project aims to develop a land sector greenhouse gas abatement, food production and environmental economics model for NSW. We expect to identify innovation in carbon payment policy and brokerage business models to achieve agricultural GHG abatement, while simultaneously improving sustainability. Expected outcomes include evaluation of the innovations of expert landholders, related businesses and governments to find ways to influence land use decisions. This should provide significant benefits to landholders, governments involved in land management and the public through increased productivity, profitability, biodiversity and ecosystem health in the context of future climate, agricultural commodity and carbon market uncertainties.Read moreRead less
Development of environmentally-friendly bioinsecticides for control of Australian crop pests. Insect pests cause over $3 billion of damage each year to Australian crops. Current insecticides are becoming less effective, and they often have adverse environmental impacts. This project aims to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly insecticides that can be used to control insect pests on farms and around the home and garden.
Defensive behaviours elicited by predator odours. Rats display a powerful anxiety responses when confronted with the odours of predators such as cats. This response may occur even though rats have never encountered an actual predator before. This project aims to investigate the nature of this anxiety and the nature of the stimuli that produce it. The outcomes should be a better understanding of the neural basis and pharmacology of anxiety states and the identification of novel chemicals that hav ....Defensive behaviours elicited by predator odours. Rats display a powerful anxiety responses when confronted with the odours of predators such as cats. This response may occur even though rats have never encountered an actual predator before. This project aims to investigate the nature of this anxiety and the nature of the stimuli that produce it. The outcomes should be a better understanding of the neural basis and pharmacology of anxiety states and the identification of novel chemicals that have powerful rodent repellent properties. Such chemicals may be of great use in domestic and agricultural contexts where rodents are pests.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0454050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$312,205.00
Summary
Quarantine bioassay insectory. A climate-controlled, multi unit quarantine greenhouse to be located at the UWS Hawkesbury campus will support investigations into novel strategies for control of agricultural pests, particularly via bioassay. This world-class facility will enable researchers from Universities of Southern Cross, Sydney and Western Sydney to work with contained virulent/resistant strains of agricultural pests, and genetically modified organisms. It will enhance already existing coll ....Quarantine bioassay insectory. A climate-controlled, multi unit quarantine greenhouse to be located at the UWS Hawkesbury campus will support investigations into novel strategies for control of agricultural pests, particularly via bioassay. This world-class facility will enable researchers from Universities of Southern Cross, Sydney and Western Sydney to work with contained virulent/resistant strains of agricultural pests, and genetically modified organisms. It will enhance already existing collaboration between the institutions in the areas of: bioactives of biological origin, novel pesticide action, pesticide resistance management and new crop varieties, and will ensure better utilisation of existing excellent facilities within the consortium.
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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0347262
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
Upgrading of Wind Tunnel Research Facility with Oxford Lasers VisiSizer. Bringing together expertise within five collaborating research Centres in two Universities, an Oxford Lasers VisiSizer will be used to study the atomisation of pesticide sprays and droplet behaviour in moving flow fields. This equipment, in conjunction with the construction of a new working section in a pesticide wind tunnel research facility, will enable the simultaneous measurement of particle size and droplet velocity. T ....Upgrading of Wind Tunnel Research Facility with Oxford Lasers VisiSizer. Bringing together expertise within five collaborating research Centres in two Universities, an Oxford Lasers VisiSizer will be used to study the atomisation of pesticide sprays and droplet behaviour in moving flow fields. This equipment, in conjunction with the construction of a new working section in a pesticide wind tunnel research facility, will enable the simultaneous measurement of particle size and droplet velocity. The VisiSizer will construct images of the atomisation process and enable the interaction of spray droplets and plant canopies to be studied. Data will support modelling of pesticide transport processes and accelerate leading Australian expertise in pesticide science.Read moreRead less
Defining domains within Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae surface proteins that interact with host extracellular matrix: efficacy testing of candidate vaccines in swine. Over 90% of Australian commercial pig production facilities are affected by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, the causative agent of swine enzootic pneumonia. This disease causes economic losses in Australia of over $20 million per annum and up to $1 billion per annum in major swine rearing countries worldwide. This project will determine the p ....Defining domains within Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae surface proteins that interact with host extracellular matrix: efficacy testing of candidate vaccines in swine. Over 90% of Australian commercial pig production facilities are affected by Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, the causative agent of swine enzootic pneumonia. This disease causes economic losses in Australia of over $20 million per annum and up to $1 billion per annum in major swine rearing countries worldwide. This project will determine the protective efficacy of new generation vaccines against M. hyopneumoniae, which aim to block the colonisation process and prevent disease .Read moreRead less