Androgen receptor: A master regulator of lipid metabolism. This project aims to understand how male sex hormones, or androgens, affect the amount and metabolism of fats in normal body tissues. By integrating our multi-disciplinary expertise in androgen action, molecular biology, metabolism and bioinformatics with novel techniques and instrumentation, this collaboration expects to generate the first detailed picture of how fat metabolism is controlled by androgens in humans, and how closely this ....Androgen receptor: A master regulator of lipid metabolism. This project aims to understand how male sex hormones, or androgens, affect the amount and metabolism of fats in normal body tissues. By integrating our multi-disciplinary expertise in androgen action, molecular biology, metabolism and bioinformatics with novel techniques and instrumentation, this collaboration expects to generate the first detailed picture of how fat metabolism is controlled by androgens in humans, and how closely this relates to mice. Expected outcomes and benefits will be a new understanding of which aspects of fat metabolism are most influenced by androgens, and an ability to anticipate potential metabolic impacts of natural or pharmacological fluctuations in androgen levels in humans, laboratory animals and livestock.Read moreRead less
Modelling, Measurement and Control of the Internet. The demands made of modern high-speed data networks, such as those that make up the Internet, are increasing rapidly in terms of both the quantity and quality of service required.
So that these demands can be satisfied, it is necessary that network operators, or even the network itself, take measurements and make control decisions. Depending on the service, there is a need to do this over very short timescales (fractions of a second), or lon ....Modelling, Measurement and Control of the Internet. The demands made of modern high-speed data networks, such as those that make up the Internet, are increasing rapidly in terms of both the quantity and quality of service required.
So that these demands can be satisfied, it is necessary that network operators, or even the network itself, take measurements and make control decisions. Depending on the service, there is a need to do this over very short timescales (fractions of a second), or longer
timescales (minutes or even weeks).
By developing innovative mathematical models of network behaviour,
this project will deliver improved methods for measurement and
control of the Internet.Read moreRead less
A network perspective for ecosystem responses to plant invasion. Invasive species are key drivers of global change, yet, our understanding of their negative impacts on ecosystems is limited within many contexts. This project will provide the first large-scale test for interactions between plants and microbes, via network analyses, as yardsticks for invasive species impacts on ecosystems. Using innovative approaches that link interactions network properties with ecosystem functioning, the fundame ....A network perspective for ecosystem responses to plant invasion. Invasive species are key drivers of global change, yet, our understanding of their negative impacts on ecosystems is limited within many contexts. This project will provide the first large-scale test for interactions between plants and microbes, via network analyses, as yardsticks for invasive species impacts on ecosystems. Using innovative approaches that link interactions network properties with ecosystem functioning, the fundamental data generated in this study will answer unsolved theoretical questions, providing evidence for the use of networks to predict and mitigate invader impacts. These benefits are not only crucial for biodiversity managers but also for those responsible for sustainable crop development under future climates.Read moreRead less
Optical Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Communication Systems. Optical multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems exploit a simple yet powerful principle of diversity to improve the capacity and robustness of optical networks. This proposal focuses on making the most use of two polarisation modes intrinsic to the fiber by applying MIMO techniques to the optical communication systems. This project can potentially create many commercial opportunities in Australia in the area of integrated photon ....Optical Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Communication Systems. Optical multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems exploit a simple yet powerful principle of diversity to improve the capacity and robustness of optical networks. This proposal focuses on making the most use of two polarisation modes intrinsic to the fiber by applying MIMO techniques to the optical communication systems. This project can potentially create many commercial opportunities in Australia in the area of integrated photonic circuits and high-speed digital signal processing. The funding support of these research activities will further enhance Australia's international ICT reputation in this emerging field.Read moreRead less
Delivering guaranteed quality of service over IP networks. The next revolution in the Internet will be to offer end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees, in the form of maximum delay, delay variation and probability of packet loss, or minimum throughput. There are no existing techniques capable of delivering end-to-end QoS guarantees. This project will develop credit-based controls, instead of the usual rate-based controls, that can deliver these required QoS guarantees. These QoS guarante ....Delivering guaranteed quality of service over IP networks. The next revolution in the Internet will be to offer end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees, in the form of maximum delay, delay variation and probability of packet loss, or minimum throughput. There are no existing techniques capable of delivering end-to-end QoS guarantees. This project will develop credit-based controls, instead of the usual rate-based controls, that can deliver these required QoS guarantees. These QoS guarantees will enable the development and deployment of entirely new services on the Internet. This project will give Australian industry the opportunity to create the next generation Internet. Therefore this project represents a Frontier Technology.Read moreRead less
Injecting Drug Users: Social Networks And Molecular Epidemiology Of The Hepatitis C Virus
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$543,868.00
Summary
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) continues to spread among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Australia at a very high rate, despite success in preventing the spread of HIV in the same groups; the complete reasons for this remain unclear. There is an urgent need for the HCV epidemic among IDUs to be contained. To do so, we must better understand the ways in which it is spreading among IDUs. Much is known about risk behaviours of individual IDUs and how they contribute to HCV transmission; much less is kn ....The hepatitis C virus (HCV) continues to spread among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Australia at a very high rate, despite success in preventing the spread of HIV in the same groups; the complete reasons for this remain unclear. There is an urgent need for the HCV epidemic among IDUs to be contained. To do so, we must better understand the ways in which it is spreading among IDUs. Much is known about risk behaviours of individual IDUs and how they contribute to HCV transmission; much less is known about how these behaviours are modified by the influence of the IDUs peer group, especially their immediate and intimate social networks. Despite its importance in influencing attitudes and behaviours, and therefore HCV transmission, this has never been studied in Australia, nor, in relation to HCV, in the world. We hope that by studying social and risk networks of IDUs we shall discover new ways in which control of the HCV epidemic can be achieved in Australia. We intend to do this among two groups of young IDUs, one of Vietnamese ethnicity, located in the one suburb of Melbourne. By using field techniques for gathering information (ethnography), and sophisticated analytic techniques to understand how these networks are formed and influence behaviours, we hope to be able to identify interventions which work at the level of the social group rather than the individual in bringing about the behaviour change necessary to prevent HCV transmission. To ensure that the risk networks we describe are as influential as they appear, and to discover more about the variability of HCV, we will also be investigating the relationship between the various strains of HCV in members of the IDU networks, particularly as another measure of the connectedness of networks and network members. This will be done using sophisticated genetic analysis of the HCV obtained from network members by blood test.Read moreRead less
Assembling the building blocks in the blueprint of the embryonic head. This project aims to profile and impute the genome activity and validate the cellular and molecular mechanism underpinning the generation, in time and space, of diverse types of tissues that constitute the building blocks of the embryonic head. The knowledge gain enriches our understanding of the early steps of head formation during embryogenesis in the context of the niche conditions associated with the acquisition of progen ....Assembling the building blocks in the blueprint of the embryonic head. This project aims to profile and impute the genome activity and validate the cellular and molecular mechanism underpinning the generation, in time and space, of diverse types of tissues that constitute the building blocks of the embryonic head. The knowledge gain enriches our understanding of the early steps of head formation during embryogenesis in the context of the niche conditions associated with the acquisition of progenitor state, enhancement of lineage propensity, and driving early lineage differentiation. Expected outcome of this research on the developmental biology of a model organism provides a framework of the mechanism of establishing a blueprint of development that may be conserved across multiple mammalian species.Read moreRead less
Modelling Human-Body Effects on Indoor Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Channels for Broadband Wireless Systems. Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technologies use a number of antennas to send multiple signals as a way to significantly increase the speed, range and reliability of a wireless network. The upcoming IEEE 802.11n standard, which includes MIMO in its specifications, will offer up to eight times the coverage and up to six times the speed of currently available IEEE 802.11 products. T ....Modelling Human-Body Effects on Indoor Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Channels for Broadband Wireless Systems. Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technologies use a number of antennas to send multiple signals as a way to significantly increase the speed, range and reliability of a wireless network. The upcoming IEEE 802.11n standard, which includes MIMO in its specifications, will offer up to eight times the coverage and up to six times the speed of currently available IEEE 802.11 products. Through comprehensive measurement campaigns, this project will characterise the time-varying human body effect on indoor MIMO systems in populated environments, such as busy industrial and commercial buildings. Results will have a direct impact on future wireless applications, and are valuable from both scientific and economy-enhancement viewpoints.Read moreRead less
Novel Architecture for Next Generation Wireless Relay Networks. The proposed project will provide a diverse range of benefits for the nation, by providing future solutions to address a number of key telecommunication networking requirements in Australia. One such area is the provision of broadband connectivity to rural and remote regions of Australia. It is well known, that wireless relay networks could potentially provide low-cost networking infrastructure for rural and remote communities. The ....Novel Architecture for Next Generation Wireless Relay Networks. The proposed project will provide a diverse range of benefits for the nation, by providing future solutions to address a number of key telecommunication networking requirements in Australia. One such area is the provision of broadband connectivity to rural and remote regions of Australia. It is well known, that wireless relay networks could potentially provide low-cost networking infrastructure for rural and remote communities. The solutions developed in this project will enable a wider deployment of such networks, as they would increase the capacity of these networks both in terms of bandwidth and their coverage. This is of major benefit to Australia, due to our large desert land-mass and sparsely populated remote and rural communities.Read moreRead less