The implications of resistance training for the control of movement. Resistance training (or weight lifting) is an essential element of comprehensive rehabilitation programs in a wide range of clinical settings. However, because we know little about how the organization of the nervous system is affected by training with high loads, the consequences of resistance training for our ability to control functional movements are unclear. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate basic knowledge ....The implications of resistance training for the control of movement. Resistance training (or weight lifting) is an essential element of comprehensive rehabilitation programs in a wide range of clinical settings. However, because we know little about how the organization of the nervous system is affected by training with high loads, the consequences of resistance training for our ability to control functional movements are unclear. The ultimate goal of this research is to generate basic knowledge about the impact of resistance training on nervous system function. The research will lead to the design of injury prevention and rehabilitation programs that are maximally effective, and provide a genuine benefit to the community.Read moreRead less
Transforming the technologies and modalities of learning: The case of the New Life Sciences in secondary schooling. This project aims to provide theoretical and analytic frameworks for understanding changing intellectual, technological and communicational parameters of contemporary education, but it also aims to make these frameworks accessible enough to become part of the conceptual repertoire of professional practitioners and flexible enough to allow practitioners to maintain currency in evolv ....Transforming the technologies and modalities of learning: The case of the New Life Sciences in secondary schooling. This project aims to provide theoretical and analytic frameworks for understanding changing intellectual, technological and communicational parameters of contemporary education, but it also aims to make these frameworks accessible enough to become part of the conceptual repertoire of professional practitioners and flexible enough to allow practitioners to maintain currency in evolving fields of knowledge in the NLS. As the NLS, and education in this field are both expanding export industries, this study will offer Australian practitioners and authorities evidence and ideas for the growth of the NLS in schools, thereby supporting the maintenance of Australia's prominence in the region as a high-quality, current education provider.Read moreRead less
Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in rel ....Art and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific: The Limits of Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century. The question of human rights is emerging as perhaps the most critical issue of the twenty-first century. This project aims to develop a cross-disciplinary methodology and a set of conceptual frameworks for analysing the interactions between contemporary art and global discourses on human rights in the Asia-Pacific. In the process we address the debate on universality versus cultural specificity in relation to human rights issues, and we seek to place current Australian responses to human rights in the context of the dynamically changing region in which we live.Read moreRead less
Role of the complement system in the healthy and diseased central nervous system. The investigation into the role of the immune system in the central nervous system will increase our understanding of the causes behind the neurodegenerative process in aging individuals. This research will also indicate the potential for new types of anti-inflammatory drugs, to be used to slow the neurodegenerative process occurring naturally in the aging brain. These drugs could also be useful in treating drastic ....Role of the complement system in the healthy and diseased central nervous system. The investigation into the role of the immune system in the central nervous system will increase our understanding of the causes behind the neurodegenerative process in aging individuals. This research will also indicate the potential for new types of anti-inflammatory drugs, to be used to slow the neurodegenerative process occurring naturally in the aging brain. These drugs could also be useful in treating drastic neurodegenerative diseases such as motor neuron disease, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease. Of these, only Parkinson's disease currently has some effective treatments. Community and National benefits would be increased health, decreased stress and major economic savings.Read moreRead less
The biological and pathological functions of TDP-43. The social and economic burden of neurodegenerative such as MND is enormous. A key histopathological hallmark of this and many other related diseases are deposits of the protein TDP-43. Our research aims at understanding its largely unknown functions, for example by generating transgenic animal models. These will form the base for the development for a TDP-43-directed drug treatment. The national benefit of this research is manifold: by deciph ....The biological and pathological functions of TDP-43. The social and economic burden of neurodegenerative such as MND is enormous. A key histopathological hallmark of this and many other related diseases are deposits of the protein TDP-43. Our research aims at understanding its largely unknown functions, for example by generating transgenic animal models. These will form the base for the development for a TDP-43-directed drug treatment. The national benefit of this research is manifold: by deciphering basic biological mechanisms, patenting new data, developing treatment strategies for un-curable and fatal disorders, and expanding links to Australian biotech and international pharmaceutical companies.Read moreRead less
Novel role of RNA methylation in neuronal homeostasis. This proposal is aimed at understanding the RNA signalling that takes place in neuronal homeostatic response. The crucial role of neuronal homeostasis for normal brain function is evidenced throughout the nervous system; however, the precise underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. The proposed research will utilise high-throughput sequencing approaches coupled with biochemical, molecular and cell biological assays to provide mec ....Novel role of RNA methylation in neuronal homeostasis. This proposal is aimed at understanding the RNA signalling that takes place in neuronal homeostatic response. The crucial role of neuronal homeostasis for normal brain function is evidenced throughout the nervous system; however, the precise underlying mechanisms are still not well understood. The proposed research will utilise high-throughput sequencing approaches coupled with biochemical, molecular and cell biological assays to provide mechanistic insights into the molecular processes that control neuronal homeostatic responses. This will elucidate how neural plasticity and network stability are maintained, a process that is critical for our understanding of sensory processing, learning and memory throughout life.Read moreRead less
Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while pres ....Privacy-preserving data processing on the cloud. This project aims to address the current lack of privacy of user data processed by common cloud computing web servers, including email, business data, and confidential files. This project aims to develop new techniques in cryptography. The anticipated outcome is a suite of practical tools enabling common cloud computing processing operations such as search, statistical analysis, and multi-user access control, to be performed efficiently while preserving the data privacy. These tools should provide significant benefits to the privacy of cloud users, as well as financial and reputation benefits to the IT industry, by significantly reducing the likelihood of massive user data privacy breaches in the event of a cyber-hacking attack on the cloud server.Read moreRead less
How brains become lateralised. This project aims to understand how the left and right sides of the brain become specialised for different cognitive functions, a phenomenon called lateralisation. Lateralisation is one of the least understood organisational principles of the brain, yet is crucial to the way we think and behave. Manifested most clearly as handedness, the brain is lateralised for many cognitive tasks such as language, reasoning, memory and emotion. However, the developmental origin ....How brains become lateralised. This project aims to understand how the left and right sides of the brain become specialised for different cognitive functions, a phenomenon called lateralisation. Lateralisation is one of the least understood organisational principles of the brain, yet is crucial to the way we think and behave. Manifested most clearly as handedness, the brain is lateralised for many cognitive tasks such as language, reasoning, memory and emotion. However, the developmental origin and anatomical substrate of most cognitive asymmetries are unknown. This project will use a chick model of brain lateralisation to quantify and localise to specific brain circuits the patterns of differential gene expression that give rise to anatomical and functional asymmetries.Read moreRead less
Development of Advanced Wear Debris Analysis Techniques for Osteoarthritis Study. Wear and tear of joints is the common cause of osteoarthritis, costing $19.25 billion/year. With this cost on the increase, and no cure to date, comes a need to develop effective methods for its diagnosis. This study will provide new knowledge on osteoarthritis progression by allowing strategic use of national health resources. A fuzzy expert system, to be developed utilising the diagnostic/prognostic techniques of ....Development of Advanced Wear Debris Analysis Techniques for Osteoarthritis Study. Wear and tear of joints is the common cause of osteoarthritis, costing $19.25 billion/year. With this cost on the increase, and no cure to date, comes a need to develop effective methods for its diagnosis. This study will provide new knowledge on osteoarthritis progression by allowing strategic use of national health resources. A fuzzy expert system, to be developed utilising the diagnostic/prognostic techniques of this study will significantly reduce cost and time. The project will contribute to the National Strategy by helping older Australians; the major group of osteoarthritis sufferers, to retain their health, independence and productivity.Read moreRead less
Symbolic synthesis of knowledge-based program implementations. Systems with concurrent streams of activity are ubiquitous in computer hardware and software designs, but are conceptually complex, and fraught with faults and inefficiency. The project aims to address these difficulties by automating aspects of system design, to relieve the designer of the need to reason about complex patterns of information flow.