Investigating Healing Outcomes In People With Venous Ulcers: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,834.00
Summary
Venous leg ulcers (VLU) are an extremely common, debilitating, costly problem and the burden is expected to rise with the ageing population, obesity and diabetes. Standard best practice treatment includes compression bandaging of the lower leg by tight bandaging. Application of 3 layer (3L) tubular bandage appears to be a promising new treatment according to a pilot study. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial to investigate improvement in healing with 3L and to measure cost-effectivenes ....Venous leg ulcers (VLU) are an extremely common, debilitating, costly problem and the burden is expected to rise with the ageing population, obesity and diabetes. Standard best practice treatment includes compression bandaging of the lower leg by tight bandaging. Application of 3 layer (3L) tubular bandage appears to be a promising new treatment according to a pilot study. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial to investigate improvement in healing with 3L and to measure cost-effectiveness when compared to standard compression.Read moreRead less
Optimising The Efficiency Of Enforcement In Commercial Fisheries
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$233,474.55
Summary
The cost of enforcement in most fisheries is substantial. There has been little research on the effectiveness of enforcement measures or the investigation of alternate enforcement strategies. An understanding of the fisher’s perception of the enforcement program, particularly the perceived level of inspections, and how they will respond to changes in enforcement is required to more effectively and efficiently maintain compliance with the regulations.
Similarly the relationship between ....The cost of enforcement in most fisheries is substantial. There has been little research on the effectiveness of enforcement measures or the investigation of alternate enforcement strategies. An understanding of the fisher’s perception of the enforcement program, particularly the perceived level of inspections, and how they will respond to changes in enforcement is required to more effectively and efficiently maintain compliance with the regulations.
Similarly the relationship between the extent of enforcement effort and the level of compliance is not understood for most fisheries. If the rate of compliance is not overly sensitive to the amount or type of enforcement it may be possible to reduce some elements of the enforcement effort and cost while maintaining an acceptable level of compliance. On the other hand if the rate of compliance is highly sensitive to the amount of enforcement effort it will be possible to determine the amount of effort required to obtain the required level of compliance.
The true nature and extent of non-compliance is required to better direct enforcement effort. Spatial and temporal patterns of non-compliance need to be investigated. A better understanding of the motivation for non-compliance, whether the incentive is financial or otherwise, will be gained by comparing expected gains against the likely penalties and probability of detection. This will enable the effectiveness of penalties as a deterrent to be assessed. This information is needed in a form that will enable managers responsible for enforcement activities to explore the effect of the location, timing and type of enforcement activity on the level of compliance. Objectives: 1. Estimate the level of non-compliance in the Western Australian rock lobster industry. 2. Determine factors such as seasonal, regional and factory, which may affect the level of non-compliance in order to better target the timing of enforcement effort. 3. Develop relationships between enforcement and compliance with the regulations to enable an assessment of increasing or decreasing the level of enforcement on the level of compliance. 4. Determine the reasons and motivations for the non-compliance of commercial fishers with the regulations in terms of the expected gains versus the probability of detection. 5. Ascertain the perceptions of the fishing regulations and enforcement measures including the perceived probability of detection for commercial fishers. 6. Ascertain whether commercial fishers are aware of the full extent and frequency of inspections. Read moreRead less
Susceptibility To Venous Leg Ulceration: Investigation Of The First Genetic Risk Factor
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$291,000.00
Summary
This application aims to confirm our preliminary identification of the first candidate gene as a risk factor for developing venous leg ulceration. Since patients with venous leg ulcers experience pain and psychological consequences including anger and depression, all of which impact negatively on quality of life, active prevention of ulceration will have significant lifestyle and financial benefits. Venous leg ulcers occur in patients who have venous disease, in particular in patients with previ ....This application aims to confirm our preliminary identification of the first candidate gene as a risk factor for developing venous leg ulceration. Since patients with venous leg ulcers experience pain and psychological consequences including anger and depression, all of which impact negatively on quality of life, active prevention of ulceration will have significant lifestyle and financial benefits. Venous leg ulcers occur in patients who have venous disease, in particular in patients with previous deep vein thrombosis. However, not all patients with a deep vein thrombosis or other forms of venous disease will go on to develop a venous ulcer. Our preliminary results show that patients with a venous ulcer have a greater frequency of this gene than healthy controls without venous ulcers, and suggest that patients with the candidate gene have a greater risk of developing venous ulceration. In this study we aim to determine whether the gene itself contributes to ulcer susceptibility or whether it is just a marker of that susceptibility. We can do this by assessing related genes and the levels of the protein produced by this gene. In this study we also aim to assess whether patients with a proven deep vein thrombosis are more likely to develop venous ulceration if they have the candidate gene. These studies have the potential to lead to the development of a diagnostic screening test for use in patients with venous disease, to assess the likelihood of developing leg ulceration. This will enable more active treatment to prevent leg ulceration. If this gene contributes to ulcer susceptibility new specific treatments may be developed for ulcer management and prevention.Read moreRead less
Non-invasive Electrical Nerve Stimulation To Improve Healing Of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$206,210.00
Summary
Chronic venous leg ulcers are common in the elderly. They often last for many months or years, causing much suffering and expense (currently around $600,000,000 per year in Australia). As more and more Australians live into advanced age, more and more people will be troubled by leg ulcers, particularly as the likelihood of having a leg ulcer increases markedly in the very old. We have developed a painless, cheap treatment that improves wound healing. The treatment consists of electrical stimulat ....Chronic venous leg ulcers are common in the elderly. They often last for many months or years, causing much suffering and expense (currently around $600,000,000 per year in Australia). As more and more Australians live into advanced age, more and more people will be troubled by leg ulcers, particularly as the likelihood of having a leg ulcer increases markedly in the very old. We have developed a painless, cheap treatment that improves wound healing. The treatment consists of electrical stimulation of nerves that supply the wound. Low frequency current is passed through the skin from small battery powered stimulators. We have tested this technique in laboratory animals and in just a few older people with diabetes and have shown it is remarkably effective. We now plan to test this technique properly in a large study in older adults. If successful, the electrical stimulation could result in healing of wounds in relatively few weeks that otherwise would not heal for many months. Much suffering and expense would be avoided. As people age, nerve function deteriotes. Another part of the project will explore whether electrical nerve stimulation can improve damaged nerves themselves. This will provide interesting scientific insight about nerve repair and could lead to treatments for peripheral neuropathy that occurs in diabetes and other medical conditions. Australia needs to act on this now because the number of people aged over 65 will increase from around 2.3 million at present to over 6 million in the next half century. The increase in those over 85 will be even more marked with numbers increasing four fold to over one million people. Many of these people will experience severe impairment of their quality of life from leg ulcers that could be avoided, or at least minimized if a successful treatment is developed and made available to them. Similarly, much unnecessary expense could be avoided.Read moreRead less
Establishment Of A Fish Marketing Technical Advisory Service To Fishermen, Processors And Merchants
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Summary
Objectives: 1. Educate fishermen & co-ops on improving quality of catches through better handling methods. 2. Educate processors, wholesalers & retailers on care, storage & presentation of fish & crustaceans. 3. Print information leaflets, posters on handling; promote Aust spp, especially new
Application Of Molecular Genetics To The Australian Abalone Fisheries: Forensic Protocols For Species Identification And Blacklip Stock Structure
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$353,888.00
Summary
The state of molecular genetic technology in abalone is underdeveloped and in need of some basic research to develop molecular protocols that can be applied to various management and compliance issues; microsatellite markers are likely to have the most utility, and other abalone fisheries will benefit from Australian research (Sweijd 1997 - External review FRDC 98/126).
Abalone populations elsewhere in the world have crashed catastrophically. Australian abalone resources are in a relat ....The state of molecular genetic technology in abalone is underdeveloped and in need of some basic research to develop molecular protocols that can be applied to various management and compliance issues; microsatellite markers are likely to have the most utility, and other abalone fisheries will benefit from Australian research (Sweijd 1997 - External review FRDC 98/126).
Abalone populations elsewhere in the world have crashed catastrophically. Australian abalone resources are in a relatively good condition, but are under heavy pressure from many external factors, including poaching, that could cause irreversible damage. In addition, some sections of the industry are excited by the potential of translocation or reseeding for stock enhancement, but without fully understanding the genetic variability in a population this represents a high conservation risk. Understanding genetic variation in abalone at both the species and stock level is vital to the long-term sustainability of these valuable fisheries, as well as for genetic conservation.
Compliance is not only a major issue in the draft 1998 review of wild abalone R&D needs in Australia, but is also an international issue. There are currently no forensic tools available in Australia to assist authorities identify abalone products and force compliance.
The application of molecular genetics in this study will provide managers with: • forensic tests for species identification • estimation of rates of gene flow between selected locations (i.e. stock identification).
Stock identification is needed not only for managing the commercial and recreational catch, but also for assessing the risks of translocation and reseeding projects, and land-based or sea-based aquaculture industries.
This study will build on a pilot project that developed the basis for an abalone forensic protocol, and will also provide a comprehensive assessment of the use of microsatellite markers for abalone stock identification. These goals are of both national and international interest. Objectives: 1. To refine, and where necessary establish, abalone species identification protocols to forensic standards suitable for required fisheries compliance. 2. To define the stock structure of blacklip abalone (Haliotis rubra) around Tasmania, using polymorphic nuclear DNA microsatellite markers. 3. To determine a suitable sampling and analysis regime for other temperate Australian abalone fisheries. 4. To determine the possible effects of harvesting on the genetic conservation of the blacklip abalone (H. rubra), by comparing the allozyme variation of two areas of the Tasmanian fishery with results obtained from the same areas in the late 1980s. Read moreRead less