Evaluation Of Internet-based, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy For The Treatment Of Anxiety Disorders In Adolescents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$570,750.00
Summary
Anxiety disorders affect around 5-10% of adolescents and are associated with a range of adverse consequences if left untreated. The majority of young people with anxiety disorders do not seek nor receive treatment. This may be due partly to the perceived stigma of attending a mental health clinic and logistic problems of attending therapy. A challenge is to identify ways in which treatment can be made more accessible to adolescents in need, particularly those in rural and remote areas. Contrary ....Anxiety disorders affect around 5-10% of adolescents and are associated with a range of adverse consequences if left untreated. The majority of young people with anxiety disorders do not seek nor receive treatment. This may be due partly to the perceived stigma of attending a mental health clinic and logistic problems of attending therapy. A challenge is to identify ways in which treatment can be made more accessible to adolescents in need, particularly those in rural and remote areas. Contrary to original beliefs, evidence shows that the internet can be used to deliver effective psychological therapies for a range of mental health problems, including anxiety disorders. So far this research has focused on adults, but adolescents may be in a particularly strong position to benefit from these forms of therapy, being experienced users of internet resources. This research investigates the effectiveness of internet-based cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) in the treatment for anxiety disorders in adolescents. Recently we have piloted CBT for anxious children that combines clinic and internet therapy, with half the therapy sessions in the clinic and half over the internet. Pilot data show that clinic + internet therapy produced significant reductions in anxiety and is almost as effective full clinic-based therapy. The proposed research builds on our pilot work by evaluating the effectiveness of a more extensive internet-based therapy in which all sessions are completed using the internet and with an older age group. The research also examines the factors that predict which young people will respond most positively to the intervention so that the treatment can be matched to those most likely to benefit from it in the future. The aim is to develop an effective internet-based treatment for adolescents with anxiety disorders that is easily accessed and suitable for use in rural and remote populations, requiring minimal face-to-face therapist contact.Read moreRead less
Improving the efficiency of bovine oocyte maturation in vitro. For the dairy and beef industries, the hundreds of eggs (oocytes) in a high value cow's ovary that fail to produce a pregnancy are a wasted genetic resource. A key technology to unlocking this resource is in vitro maturation of oocytes, but the process is inefficient. One possible cause is that the current approaches to maturing oocytes in vitro do not adequately mimic the natural process in vivo. We will design new systems to matu ....Improving the efficiency of bovine oocyte maturation in vitro. For the dairy and beef industries, the hundreds of eggs (oocytes) in a high value cow's ovary that fail to produce a pregnancy are a wasted genetic resource. A key technology to unlocking this resource is in vitro maturation of oocytes, but the process is inefficient. One possible cause is that the current approaches to maturing oocytes in vitro do not adequately mimic the natural process in vivo. We will design new systems to mature cow oocytes in vitro by altering the chemical composition of maturation medium, thus improving the efficiency of laboratory embryo production and related technologies.Read moreRead less
An investigation of the underlying mechanisms that control gender and fertility in the Moreton Bay Bug, Thenus orientalis. To date there is no available information on the underlying biochemical and genetic mechanisms that control gender and fertility in Thenus spp. Understanding how gender and fertility are controlled in this lobster species will allow development of technologies to exploit desired commercial traits such as reproductive sterility (for genetic protection). Such technologies wil ....An investigation of the underlying mechanisms that control gender and fertility in the Moreton Bay Bug, Thenus orientalis. To date there is no available information on the underlying biochemical and genetic mechanisms that control gender and fertility in Thenus spp. Understanding how gender and fertility are controlled in this lobster species will allow development of technologies to exploit desired commercial traits such as reproductive sterility (for genetic protection). Such technologies will facilitate rapid uptake of commercial culture of this high-value species in Australia and establishment of international markets. Read moreRead less
Accurate Location Service for 3G Cellular Networks. The project aims to improve the accuracy of automatic location identification of GPS enabled handsets in third-generation cellular networks via a modified Differential GPS method. The proposed sub-metre location ability will be a value-added service of the network providers and will appeal to a wide sector of users. The challenge is to develop a cost effective solution by utilising existing network infrastructure. We propose to use the GPS timi ....Accurate Location Service for 3G Cellular Networks. The project aims to improve the accuracy of automatic location identification of GPS enabled handsets in third-generation cellular networks via a modified Differential GPS method. The proposed sub-metre location ability will be a value-added service of the network providers and will appeal to a wide sector of users. The challenge is to develop a cost effective solution by utilising existing network infrastructure. We propose to use the GPS timing units in 3G networks for deriving local GPS position corrections; and to transfer these corrections to the users via the 3G data bursts of the beacons or other user data broadcasts.Read moreRead less
Improving dairy cow fertility: targeting exosome-responsive cell pathways. . This project aims to assist the dairy industry to achieve its goal of increasing the six-week in-calf pregnancy rate in dairy cows by at least 10 per cent within five years via the identification of circulating exosomal biomarkers of improved fertility that will be used to develop superior breeding stock to deliver higher industry productivity. The impact of novel biomarkers will permit the Australian and New Zealand da ....Improving dairy cow fertility: targeting exosome-responsive cell pathways. . This project aims to assist the dairy industry to achieve its goal of increasing the six-week in-calf pregnancy rate in dairy cows by at least 10 per cent within five years via the identification of circulating exosomal biomarkers of improved fertility that will be used to develop superior breeding stock to deliver higher industry productivity. The impact of novel biomarkers will permit the Australian and New Zealand dairy industries to meet their targets and provide economic benefit to the respective industries, whilst ensuring availability of low cost milk to Australian citizens.Read moreRead less
Epigenetic and biomarker approaches to improving dairy cow fertility. The dairy industry will not deliver sustainable higher productivity unless the reproductive performance of dairy cows is significantly improved. This expected outcome will be achieved via the identification of epigenetic and protein biomarkers of improved fertility that will be used to develop superior breeding stock. Caruncular and intercaruncular tissues and blood have been obtained from both fertile (New Zealand Holstein-Fr ....Epigenetic and biomarker approaches to improving dairy cow fertility. The dairy industry will not deliver sustainable higher productivity unless the reproductive performance of dairy cows is significantly improved. This expected outcome will be achieved via the identification of epigenetic and protein biomarkers of improved fertility that will be used to develop superior breeding stock. Caruncular and intercaruncular tissues and blood have been obtained from both fertile (New Zealand Holstein-Friesian) and sub-fertile (North American Holstein-Friesian) cows within pasture-based dairying systems that include seasonal calving and subclinical uterine inflammation (associated with poor reproductive performance). Determinations will be conducted using deep parallel (next generation) sequencing and mass spectrometry.Read moreRead less
Design and analysis of optimum space-frequency-time codes for multi-rate OFDM Systems. This research work contributes to the ones of the major national
research priorities, the frontier ICT technology. It addresses the issues of a frontier ICT technology. Output of the project will place the Australia in the map of 4-th generation mobile and wireless communications research. These results will also influence the implementation aspects of future mobile communication systems and
attract the att ....Design and analysis of optimum space-frequency-time codes for multi-rate OFDM Systems. This research work contributes to the ones of the major national
research priorities, the frontier ICT technology. It addresses the issues of a frontier ICT technology. Output of the project will place the Australia in the map of 4-th generation mobile and wireless communications research. These results will also influence the implementation aspects of future mobile communication systems and
attract the attention of the international community. Other major
national benefit of the project is the training of PhD students
and the production of potential researchers for 4G research.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101687
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,000.00
Summary
Nanostructure Tailoring of Inorganic Membranes by Rapid Thermal Processing. This project aims to produce inorganic membranes with desired nanostructures using a Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technique for gas separation applications. The key concept of the research is that the RTP will be able to achieve thin-film membrane layer with a finer microstructure and pore size control without heat stress-induced cracking. RTP aims to deliver superior membrane performance with less than 10 per cent of ....Nanostructure Tailoring of Inorganic Membranes by Rapid Thermal Processing. This project aims to produce inorganic membranes with desired nanostructures using a Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) technique for gas separation applications. The key concept of the research is that the RTP will be able to achieve thin-film membrane layer with a finer microstructure and pore size control without heat stress-induced cracking. RTP aims to deliver superior membrane performance with less than 10 per cent of the fabrication time compared to normal slow calcination. The outcomes of this new technology aims to make inorganic membranes a commercial reality and maximize the membrane manufacturing capability and productivity of petrochemcial, chemical and clean coal/energy industries.Read moreRead less
A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor. A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor will be created. The system includes two cochleae and targeted processing pathways in the auditory brainstem that aid in solving the Cocktail Party Problem: i.e. foreground-background sound separation, sound localisation, and sound recognition. The VLSI circuits will enable real-time implementation of complex auditory models. As we develop our VLSI binaural ear, we will experiment with afferent (feed forward) and ....A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor. A neuromorphic binaural hearing sensor will be created. The system includes two cochleae and targeted processing pathways in the auditory brainstem that aid in solving the Cocktail Party Problem: i.e. foreground-background sound separation, sound localisation, and sound recognition. The VLSI circuits will enable real-time implementation of complex auditory models. As we develop our VLSI binaural ear, we will experiment with afferent (feed forward) and efferent (feed back) auditory signal processing that is similar to real auditory systems and that demonstrate efficient, effective, and low-power signal processing algorithms for binaural (two-sensor) hearing systems.Read moreRead less
Hydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste using a novel membrane. Solid organic waste is a potentially large, decentralized and sustainable source of hydrogen. The potential hydrogen yield from the anaerobic digestion of solid organic waste in Sydney alone could power over 750,000 passenger vehicles. Hydrogen is always generated in the digestion of organic material, but under natural conditions it is scavenged by methanogens. Recently developed silica membranes are sel ....Hydrogen production from the anaerobic digestion of organic waste using a novel membrane. Solid organic waste is a potentially large, decentralized and sustainable source of hydrogen. The potential hydrogen yield from the anaerobic digestion of solid organic waste in Sydney alone could power over 750,000 passenger vehicles. Hydrogen is always generated in the digestion of organic material, but under natural conditions it is scavenged by methanogens. Recently developed silica membranes are selectively and highly permeable to hydrogen, and these can be used to draw hydrogen from the digester. The digester will be run at high temperatures (>65oC) because this favours organisms that produce hydrogen over methanogens. Anaerobic digesters are well established in Europe and at least 3 municipal plants already exist in Australia.Read moreRead less