Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in thei ....Effectiveness of social skills training for children with autism. Our industry partner, Aspect Australia, is one of the world's largest providers of educational and other services for people with autism. The demonstration of effectiveness of the program in Aspect classes will likely lead to widespread use and benefit of the program in the education sector nationally and internationally. This in turn would lead to potential lessening of disability in children with autism with improvements in their mental health and significant cost savings to the community.Read moreRead less
Developing A Smart Farming Oriented Secure Data Infrastructure. Smart farming is the future of agriculture. However, recently the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a
warning that the lack of data privacy and cyber security mechanisms in the field runs a high risk of disaster. This
project aims to establish an innovative secure data infrastructure for smart farming including secure and automated smart farming supply-chain management. The deliverables of this project will include the cutt ....Developing A Smart Farming Oriented Secure Data Infrastructure. Smart farming is the future of agriculture. However, recently the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a
warning that the lack of data privacy and cyber security mechanisms in the field runs a high risk of disaster. This
project aims to establish an innovative secure data infrastructure for smart farming including secure and automated smart farming supply-chain management. The deliverables of this project will include the cutting-edge Blockchain based secure IoT data management and privacy-preserving smart contracts for smart farming supply-chain management. This data infrastructure will be the first of its kind which will lay a solid foundation for smart farming technology.Read moreRead less
Identifying genes that influence clinical course and susceptibility in multiple sclerosis. This project aims to identify the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common neurologic disease in young Australian adults. MS urgently needs research to identify predisposition, aid early diagnosis and provide bona fide molecular targets for new therapies. This will benefit people with MS and those susceptible to it. Crucial new knowledge identified will benefit other major areas of MS rese ....Identifying genes that influence clinical course and susceptibility in multiple sclerosis. This project aims to identify the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common neurologic disease in young Australian adults. MS urgently needs research to identify predisposition, aid early diagnosis and provide bona fide molecular targets for new therapies. This will benefit people with MS and those susceptible to it. Crucial new knowledge identified will benefit other major areas of MS research including epidemiology, immunology and neurobiology. Collaboration of 8 major Australian institutions is also important for this project and future studies. The team will have access to a new national MS GeneBank (platform) with samples from 2240 patients that should generate findings important to world-wide MS genetic knowledge.Read moreRead less
Efficacy profiling innovation in novel pain therapeutics discovery. The purpose of this project is to bring innovation into the methods used for selecting novel compounds with high potential for progression into development as highly effective pain-killers for improving the relief of chronic pain. This will result in new pain-killers that are highly effective without producing unpleasant side-effects.
Crop improvement using peptide regulators of growth and N demand signalling. This project aims to reduce reliance on nitrogen fertilisers without reducing crop yield. Global food security relies on using high-yielding grain varieties and nitrogen-based fertilisers. Since 1950, fertiliser use has increased 20-fold but the yield benefits of this use are declining. Crops only absorb 30–50 per cent of the applied fertiliser and the unused nitrogen causes environmental damage which is costly to mitig ....Crop improvement using peptide regulators of growth and N demand signalling. This project aims to reduce reliance on nitrogen fertilisers without reducing crop yield. Global food security relies on using high-yielding grain varieties and nitrogen-based fertilisers. Since 1950, fertiliser use has increased 20-fold but the yield benefits of this use are declining. Crops only absorb 30–50 per cent of the applied fertiliser and the unused nitrogen causes environmental damage which is costly to mitigate. The novel technology platform of the project aims to develop new crops with more expansive root systems that use applied nitrogen fertiliser more efficiently and new legume varieties that symbiotically fix more nitrogen in an ecologically-sustainable way.Read moreRead less
Refinement And Delivery Of Synthetic Compounds That Specifically Alter Muscle Contraction. The project has broad benefits for the nation and the community. Cutting edge research at the molecular level, done within Australia, will benefit Australian scientists and research in general. The discovery of drugs that will be developed by the Australian Pharmaceutical Industry will benefit the Australian Industry sector and will have spin-offs for the racing industry, livestock industry (lean meat) an ....Refinement And Delivery Of Synthetic Compounds That Specifically Alter Muscle Contraction. The project has broad benefits for the nation and the community. Cutting edge research at the molecular level, done within Australia, will benefit Australian scientists and research in general. The discovery of drugs that will be developed by the Australian Pharmaceutical Industry will benefit the Australian Industry sector and will have spin-offs for the racing industry, livestock industry (lean meat) and for rural industry (insecticides). In addition, expansion of the outcomes of the project into preclinical development will strengthen the Australian bioscience sector. Thus the project will eventually benefit the Australian industry sector. The project will have further benefits for education and training. Read moreRead less
Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plant ....Building resilient alpine environments with less snow. In this project, we aim to build resilience into alpine National Parks and Alpine Resorts to counter the effects of ongoing declines in snow. Alpine environments depend on snow to regulate water flows, insulate vegetation, control soil erosion and promote proper ecosystem functioning. How these processes will operate in a snow-free future is unknown. We will determine how and where snow characteristics drive soil water availability for plants and which plant species have the best adaptation and regeneration potential under extreme conditions such as heat, frost and drought. Benefits of the project include innovative land management and rehabilitation solutions, to safeguard Australia's alpine areas under changing environmental conditions.Read moreRead less
Designing Distributed Intrusion Detection Systems for Critical Industrial Infrastructures. SCADA systems are computerized systems that control and monitor industrial and critical infrastructures, such as power grid, gas and water facilities and nuclear power plants. Many cyber-attacks on SCADA systems make such systems vulnerable. Also there is an increasing risk that SCADA vulnerabilities could be exploited by terrorist organizations. The security of SCADA systems of critical infrastructures ha ....Designing Distributed Intrusion Detection Systems for Critical Industrial Infrastructures. SCADA systems are computerized systems that control and monitor industrial and critical infrastructures, such as power grid, gas and water facilities and nuclear power plants. Many cyber-attacks on SCADA systems make such systems vulnerable. Also there is an increasing risk that SCADA vulnerabilities could be exploited by terrorist organizations. The security of SCADA systems of critical infrastructures has enormous and direct impact to our national security, economy and social life because of potential disasters that could happen from natural causes as well as malicious attacks. This project aims to investigate the relevant issues and provide efficient and reliable technological solutions to detect and prevent such problems.Read moreRead less
Discovery and characterisation of novel spider-venom peptides targeting the human sodium ion channel Nav1.7. Drugs that selectively block the human sodium ion channel Nav1.7 are likely to be powerful analgesics for treating a wide variety of pain conditions. However, it has proved difficult to obtain selective blockers of this channel. The aim of this project is to determine whether spider-venoms might provide a source of highly selective Nav1.7 blockers.
Developing smart embedded host-based intrusion detection systems. Computer intrusion is a major concern in many places. It is estimated that cybercrime cost firms US$1 trillion globally in 2008. Many serious cyber attacks, including cyber espionage, do not generate significant network traffic and can easily penetrate network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDS). Such attacks often attempt to compromise individual hosts and hence they are best detected at the host level. We aim to design i ....Developing smart embedded host-based intrusion detection systems. Computer intrusion is a major concern in many places. It is estimated that cybercrime cost firms US$1 trillion globally in 2008. Many serious cyber attacks, including cyber espionage, do not generate significant network traffic and can easily penetrate network-based intrusion detection systems (NIDS). Such attacks often attempt to compromise individual hosts and hence they are best detected at the host level. We aim to design innovative host-based IDS, as a complement to the NIDS, to address this issue. The outcomes of this project will strengthen the national capability to resist attacks by criminals and terrorists on Australian networked critical infrastructures and also enhance the global competitiveness of Australia’s information technology industry.Read moreRead less