Healthy eating campaigns: perceptions of the message and messenger. This project will be a means to evaluate the likely effectiveness of some of the resolutions of the NSW Childhood Obesity Summit aimed at the commercial food industry and the media. The project will provide information for the food industry on consumers' perceptions of their credibility as a source of information about healthy eating. This will inform the development of communication campaigns, as well as provide guidance on de ....Healthy eating campaigns: perceptions of the message and messenger. This project will be a means to evaluate the likely effectiveness of some of the resolutions of the NSW Childhood Obesity Summit aimed at the commercial food industry and the media. The project will provide information for the food industry on consumers' perceptions of their credibility as a source of information about healthy eating. This will inform the development of communication campaigns, as well as provide guidance on development and marketing of 'healthier' brand extensions. The project will also have considerable benefit for public health. The findings will be relevant to government and non-government health promotion organisations considering the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns in association with food companies.Read moreRead less
Accuracy and cost-effectiveness of technology-assisted dietary assessment. This project aims to compare leading methods for technology-assisted dietary assessment. Excessive cost and questionable accuracy limit the routine use of dietary assessment and undermine decision making in Australia. This project intends to compare three technology methods of assessing diet with the current standard recall method used in population surveys in order to confirm if the use of food images and automated metho ....Accuracy and cost-effectiveness of technology-assisted dietary assessment. This project aims to compare leading methods for technology-assisted dietary assessment. Excessive cost and questionable accuracy limit the routine use of dietary assessment and undermine decision making in Australia. This project intends to compare three technology methods of assessing diet with the current standard recall method used in population surveys in order to confirm if the use of food images and automated methods provide new approaches to improve accuracy and consumer acceptability. Expected outcomes of this project include more accurate and acceptable methods of assessing dietary intake. These findings will inform decision making for researchers, policy makers and practitioners in Australia, and potentially lead to more regular population surveillance.Read moreRead less
A taxonomy of Australian consumers' food and health knowledge. Identification and measurement of the basic dimensions of food knowledge of consumers will inform new education curricula and community communication programs. The findings will enable better targeting of community and industry education by policy planners, education authorities, and the food industry. They will also enable monitoring and evaluation of food communication programs. In the longer term, this research may also enable cit ....A taxonomy of Australian consumers' food and health knowledge. Identification and measurement of the basic dimensions of food knowledge of consumers will inform new education curricula and community communication programs. The findings will enable better targeting of community and industry education by policy planners, education authorities, and the food industry. They will also enable monitoring and evaluation of food communication programs. In the longer term, this research may also enable citizens to deal with the changes caused by climate change, metabolic disease and increasing longevity; help educate more literate food industry workers; enhance communications between citizens, industry and government; and generate greater demand for higher quality food products.
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Strengthening food systems governance at the local level. This project aims to investigate the role of law, policy, and regulation in enabling local governments and communities to contribute to healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems. The project will analyse policies and initiatives developed by local governments and communities in New South Wales and Victoria, including how law assists or prevents local-level action. The knowledge created by this project will inform recommendations fo ....Strengthening food systems governance at the local level. This project aims to investigate the role of law, policy, and regulation in enabling local governments and communities to contribute to healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems. The project will analyse policies and initiatives developed by local governments and communities in New South Wales and Victoria, including how law assists or prevents local-level action. The knowledge created by this project will inform recommendations for policy and legislative reforms that will empower local governments and communities to respond to food system challenges.Read moreRead less
Trade policy: maximising benefits for nutrition, food security, human health, and the economy. Depending on how it is done, trade can be good or bad for peoples' health and social well-being. This study will provide evidence to support the development of trade policy which combines economic as well as social and health goals. This will help improve global food security and human health, reduce poverty and support good international relations.
Non-intrusive human activity sensing with radio signals. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework for sensing and detecting human activities based on wireless radio signals. The framework advances the state-of-the-art by discovering the fundamental theory, and defining a set of principles to guide practical system design. The framework will be validated and its scientific merit demonstrated through building several applications such as contactless human activity detection and vital s ....Non-intrusive human activity sensing with radio signals. This project aims to develop a theoretical framework for sensing and detecting human activities based on wireless radio signals. The framework advances the state-of-the-art by discovering the fundamental theory, and defining a set of principles to guide practical system design. The framework will be validated and its scientific merit demonstrated through building several applications such as contactless human activity detection and vital signs monitoring. This should benefit existing hospital and clinical patient services and promote home-care and self-care services at nationwide.Read moreRead less
How parents manage climate anxiety: coping and hoping for the whole family. This project studies how Australian parents manage climate anxiety for themselves and their families. Using mixed-methods/mixed-media approaches, it examines whether an increase in climate disasters is accelerating the spread of collective anxiety amongst families, how parents manage this anxiety for their children and partners, and if there are associated mental health burdens and gendered inequities in this management. ....How parents manage climate anxiety: coping and hoping for the whole family. This project studies how Australian parents manage climate anxiety for themselves and their families. Using mixed-methods/mixed-media approaches, it examines whether an increase in climate disasters is accelerating the spread of collective anxiety amongst families, how parents manage this anxiety for their children and partners, and if there are associated mental health burdens and gendered inequities in this management. It also looks at climate anxiety management across generations and climate histories, drawing out pessimistic/optimistic narratives about the future to enable action, resilience, and hope. It will produce an evidence base and photo-voice/documentary resources to help parents and support organisations combat climate anxiety.Read moreRead less
Online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency. This project will explore whether there exists a relationship between adolescents' social networks (both online and offline) and one important aspect of healthy sexual development - the development of sexual agency - and if so, it will investigate the nature of that relationship. The longitudinal mixed methods study proposed here aims to capture the development of sexual behaviours and the online and offline interactions ad ....Online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency. This project will explore whether there exists a relationship between adolescents' social networks (both online and offline) and one important aspect of healthy sexual development - the development of sexual agency - and if so, it will investigate the nature of that relationship. The longitudinal mixed methods study proposed here aims to capture the development of sexual behaviours and the online and offline interactions adolescents engage in. This project aims to determine: whether there is a relationship between adolescents' online and offline social networks and the development of sexual agency; if such a relationship exists, what is its nature? And, if the relationship exists, to what extent is the relationship moderated by online social media use?Read moreRead less
How do cells survive nutrient stress? Insight into mechanisms. This project studies cell survival under nutrient stress in eukaryotes. Building on extensive preliminary data that identifies novel TOR (Target of Rapamycin) Complex 2 (TORC2) control points it expects to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of stress control of macroautophagy that ensures cell survival. It uses interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to validate and characterize nutrient-stress dependent si ....How do cells survive nutrient stress? Insight into mechanisms. This project studies cell survival under nutrient stress in eukaryotes. Building on extensive preliminary data that identifies novel TOR (Target of Rapamycin) Complex 2 (TORC2) control points it expects to generate new knowledge of critical and conserved features of stress control of macroautophagy that ensures cell survival. It uses interdisciplinary and innovative approaches to validate and characterize nutrient-stress dependent signaling. Expected outcomes include novel insights into environmental control of cell proliferation and forging cross institutional collaborations. This knowledge benefits basic and applied biology and is relevant to industries/projects utilizing living cells as nutrient supports cell survival and proliferation.Read moreRead less
Symbiotic transport proteins in legumes. Some plants form a symbiosis with soil bacteria (rhizobia) that convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia which is then supplied to the plant. This enables legumes to grow without application of nitrogen-based fertilizer, avoiding environmental problems such as run-off and land degradation, thereby contributing to sustainable agriculture practise. We will investigate the interactions between plant and rhizobia, focusing on identifying genes and proteins wh ....Symbiotic transport proteins in legumes. Some plants form a symbiosis with soil bacteria (rhizobia) that convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia which is then supplied to the plant. This enables legumes to grow without application of nitrogen-based fertilizer, avoiding environmental problems such as run-off and land degradation, thereby contributing to sustainable agriculture practise. We will investigate the interactions between plant and rhizobia, focusing on identifying genes and proteins which govern nutrient exchange between the partners and development of the special structures in the roots that house the bacteria. Subsequent manipulation of these genes and proteins may allow us to identify control points and enhance nitrogen fixation.
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