Cross-comparison, Validation And Performance Of Computerised Neuropsychological Assessment Devices In The Evaluation Of Mild Cognitive Impairment And Dementia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$700,482.00
Summary
With an ageing population and associated increase in dementia there will be increased demand for neuropsychological assessment, with insufficient trained personnel and resources to meet this demand. Computerised tests offer excellent opportunities for large scale implementation of cognitive screening and monitoring of older adults. This is the first study to systematically evaluate and compare several popular computerised neuropsychological assessment devices in elders with and without dementia.
Media Formulations To Enhance Embryo Formation In Assisted Reproduction
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$660,133.00
Summary
The increasing age of parenthood has led to an explosion in the demand for assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF). This procedure has a poor success rate and is limited by the ability of fertilised eggs to mature into early embryos in the lab prior to being transferred into women. We will develop new compounds that improve embryo growth in the clinic, which will improve IVF success rates.
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+)-raising Agents For Improving Oocyte Quality
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$445,827.00
Summary
Many women cannot have children because of suboptimal egg quality, often due to aging. Currently, the only option is to use better quality eggs donated from another woman. This project will use pharmacological agents to promote recently discovered pathways in eggs central to determining quality. Importantly, we will investigate a simple and practical approach that can be used in clinics for augmenting these pathways to improve oocyte quality for the first time.
Efficient Signal Transmission Techniques for Future Wireless Communications Systems. The project aims at developing efficient signal transmission techniques that enable advanced telecommunication services to achieve high quality and cover greater geographic areas with low cost and minimal infrastructure. The outcomes of the project will enable high performance, high data rate and cost-effective wireless communications in Australia. The outcomes can be directly applied to current and future wirel ....Efficient Signal Transmission Techniques for Future Wireless Communications Systems. The project aims at developing efficient signal transmission techniques that enable advanced telecommunication services to achieve high quality and cover greater geographic areas with low cost and minimal infrastructure. The outcomes of the project will enable high performance, high data rate and cost-effective wireless communications in Australia. The outcomes can be directly applied to current and future wireless LAN, cellular mobile networks, WiMax systems, WiFi and other wireless networks. In addition, it will support and enhance the social and economic benefit of wireless access to broadband networks in rural and regional Australia.Read moreRead less
In vitro prediction tests of fertility of frozen semen of sheep and cattle. Variation in fertility after artificial insemination (AI) of frozen semen is high and leads to economic loss. Routine assessment of the quality of frozen semen relies on crude, simple tests of motility and morphology of sperm. More sophisticated sperm ultrastructural and function tests have recently been developed, but it is not known how these tests relate to fertility in the field. In this project we will test a ran ....In vitro prediction tests of fertility of frozen semen of sheep and cattle. Variation in fertility after artificial insemination (AI) of frozen semen is high and leads to economic loss. Routine assessment of the quality of frozen semen relies on crude, simple tests of motility and morphology of sperm. More sophisticated sperm ultrastructural and function tests have recently been developed, but it is not known how these tests relate to fertility in the field. In this project we will test a range of in vitro methods of assessment of motility and morphology of sperm and compare them with fertility of frozen semen samples after AI, leading to more objective methods of semen analysis.Read moreRead less
Female Reproductive Health Preservation By Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) And Sirtuin2 (SIRT2)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,983.00
Summary
Cancer treatment can be severely toxic to women’s eggs. Increasing numbers of women who survive cancer therefore become infertile and prematurely deprived of hormonal support whilst still in their reproductive years. This project will use state-of-the-art techniques to interrogate newly uncovered pathways that can protect eggs from treatment-induced injury thereby greatly improving the quality of life for female cancer survivors.
Processing and Compression of Digital Video in Immersive Environments. This project will have significant economic and social benefits, both in terms of the technologies developed and the new applications in training and entertainment supported by them. This project supports the national research priority "Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries", supporting media and creative industries and assisting organisations to collaborate across large distances. These be ....Processing and Compression of Digital Video in Immersive Environments. This project will have significant economic and social benefits, both in terms of the technologies developed and the new applications in training and entertainment supported by them. This project supports the national research priority "Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries", supporting media and creative industries and assisting organisations to collaborate across large distances. These benefits will be realised in both urban and remote areas. The collaboration between the CIs and the iCinema Centre will lead to the application of advanced technology to real-world problems.Read moreRead less
Advanced Space-Time Coded Multiuser Wireless Communications via Test-bed Development. Meeting the global demand for mobile and wireless communications depends critically on reliable and high rate data transfer. Unfortunately, communications medium idiosyncrasies pose formidable challenges. Very recently, in combatting this, major breakthroughs have been achieved whereby the use of multiple antennas allows for drastic data-rate increases. These advances use sophisticated Space-Time coding metho ....Advanced Space-Time Coded Multiuser Wireless Communications via Test-bed Development. Meeting the global demand for mobile and wireless communications depends critically on reliable and high rate data transfer. Unfortunately, communications medium idiosyncrasies pose formidable challenges. Very recently, in combatting this, major breakthroughs have been achieved whereby the use of multiple antennas allows for drastic data-rate increases. These advances use sophisticated Space-Time coding methods, and while they are causing great excitement in terms of their simulation performance, it is not clear how they will perform in practice, or in fact how they are to be realistically implemented. This project will address this issue by building a world-first testbed that implements a high rate wireless communications system using Space-Time and other coding methods.Read moreRead less
Object-based Video Compression for Delay-Insensitive Services. Digital television is now big business worldwide. Techniques that can lead to improved compression of audiovisual services will always be of interest both to international standards bodies and to industry. The development of more efficient transmission techniques for audiovisual services will be of considerable benefit to all regions of Australia and in particular to remote regions. It can be expected that the development of this tec ....Object-based Video Compression for Delay-Insensitive Services. Digital television is now big business worldwide. Techniques that can lead to improved compression of audiovisual services will always be of interest both to international standards bodies and to industry. The development of more efficient transmission techniques for audiovisual services will be of considerable benefit to all regions of Australia and in particular to remote regions. It can be expected that the development of this technology will significantly improve service quality in these areas without the need for upgrading the existing telecommunications infrastructure. This will allow, for example, pay and free-to-air operators to provide additional services within their current bandwidth limitations.Read moreRead less
Sex preselection of stallion spermatozoa. This study will develop novel techniques that will maintain and optimise the fertility of sex-sorted stallion semen before and after processing through a flow cytometer. Ultimately, spermatozoa obtained from ejaculation or from the testes sperm storage site (epididymes) at the time of castration will be sorted into X- (female) or Y- (male) populations and used to inseminate mares and thus, enable horse breeders to predetermine the sex of their foal at th ....Sex preselection of stallion spermatozoa. This study will develop novel techniques that will maintain and optimise the fertility of sex-sorted stallion semen before and after processing through a flow cytometer. Ultimately, spermatozoa obtained from ejaculation or from the testes sperm storage site (epididymes) at the time of castration will be sorted into X- (female) or Y- (male) populations and used to inseminate mares and thus, enable horse breeders to predetermine the sex of their foal at the time of insemination. The introduction of sex-sorted semen into the Australian horse industry (worth some $6.2 billion) will ensure that Australia leads the world in equine reproductive technology.Read moreRead less