Adverse effects of sopite syndrome on occupants in wind-excited buildings. Current building motion design guidelines focus primarily on motion perception and complaint rates. However, wind-induced building motion can cause sopite syndrome or early onset motion sickness which adversely affects occupant wellbeing and work performance. This research aims to advance the understanding of the physiology of sopite syndrome, quantify the motion dosage that causes sopite syndrome and determine its advers ....Adverse effects of sopite syndrome on occupants in wind-excited buildings. Current building motion design guidelines focus primarily on motion perception and complaint rates. However, wind-induced building motion can cause sopite syndrome or early onset motion sickness which adversely affects occupant wellbeing and work performance. This research aims to advance the understanding of the physiology of sopite syndrome, quantify the motion dosage that causes sopite syndrome and determine its adverse effects on building occupants in real-world motion environments. This knowledge is expected to guide the formulation of building motion acceptability criteria based on safe motion exposure duration to facilitate the design of tall building that promotes population health and wellbeing and lifts work performance and productivity.Read moreRead less
Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaire ....Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. Diagnosing river health using invertebrate traits and DNA barcodes. This project aims to develop indices that link change in invertebrate communities to specific environmental stressors, and combine these indices with innovative, low cost molecular approaches to species identification to rapidly identify the causes of decline. River health assessment methods, usually based on aquatic invertebrates, identify if rivers are impaired but must be developed to identify the causes of decline. The intended outcomes are improved sustainable water resource management within and among states, and improved natural resource policy development.Read moreRead less
Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a ....Bushfire smoke and the relationship between human and landscape health. A team of landscape ecologists, environmental chemists and public health specialists will determine the ecological causes and adverse health effects of different levels of bushfire smoke in Darwin. Darwin is an ideal setting for this research because the only source of air pollution is the high incidence of controlled and uncontrolled bushfires during the dry season causing variable air quality: a preliminary study found a link between smoke pollution levels and asthma. The findings of the proposed research will contribute to improved fire management practices to reduce injurious smoke pollution events and contribute to setting appropriate national air quality standards.Read moreRead less
Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the parti ....Cross-cultural management of freshwater on resource-constrained islands. This project aims to develop a methodology for community-led adaptive water management on resource-constrained islands and will involve Indigenous communities in the development of predictive groundwater models. The project plans to apply three-dimensional participatory mapping, a stakeholder engagement process led and owned by the local communities, on Milingimbi Island in the Northern Territory. The extension of the participatory mapping with a subsurface component will then support the conceptualisation and development of a numerical model of the island's groundwater system. The predictive model and community engagement processes are expected to provide a more robust methodology for evaluating future water management plans. The project outcomes will contribute to solving water supply problems in remote communities in Australia, and overseas.Read moreRead less
Mathematical Modelling Of Bacterial Carriage In Children
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$421,746.00
Summary
Children exposed to larger numbers of other children are at risk of persistent bacterial infections. Such circumstances explain the high rates of ear and chest infections, and skin sores seen in children in historical times. Changing social circumstances (smaller families, better housing, nutrition and hygiene), as well as the introduction of antibiotics, explain the decline of such infections in affluent communities since the early 20th century. However, even today, in affluent countries, child ....Children exposed to larger numbers of other children are at risk of persistent bacterial infections. Such circumstances explain the high rates of ear and chest infections, and skin sores seen in children in historical times. Changing social circumstances (smaller families, better housing, nutrition and hygiene), as well as the introduction of antibiotics, explain the decline of such infections in affluent communities since the early 20th century. However, even today, in affluent countries, children attending group child care are at high risk of ear infections. As many bacteria are resistant, antibiotics are now much less effective than when they were first introduced. Furthermore, there is a continuing load of infection for children in Aboriginal communities, in PNG and other developing countries, causing hearing loss, chronic respiratory problems, and heart disease and renal disease in later life. Using data previously collected from other studies in Indigenous communities and children in child care, mathematical models allow us to ask what if?, and answer important public health questions: 1. What environmental and public health measures can reduce the cycle of cross-infection in child-care and high-risk populations? 2. What coverage rates with pneumococcal vaccine will eliminate the vaccine-specific bacteria from child care centres, from the wider community, and from high risk populations? 3. Will infections with bacteria not covered by vaccine then increase? 4. Will the resistant bacteria tend to disappear if antibiotic use is restricted? 5. Under what circumstances will antibiotics help to control infection? The modelling will promote understanding of the social and health costs of bacterial infection in Aboriginal communities and child care and use educational scenarios to promote uptake of the most cost-effective and socially acceptable interventions.Read moreRead less
Modelling and control of mosquito-borne diseases in Darwin using long-term monitoring. Management of mosquito populations is a high public health priority because these insects can spread diseases such as malaria, dengue, Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and Kunjin/West Nile virus. Our research into the effectiveness of mosquito control programs in Darwin is of immediate national relevance and priority given the need to Safeguard Australia ....Modelling and control of mosquito-borne diseases in Darwin using long-term monitoring. Management of mosquito populations is a high public health priority because these insects can spread diseases such as malaria, dengue, Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus, Murray Valley encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and Kunjin/West Nile virus. Our research into the effectiveness of mosquito control programs in Darwin is of immediate national relevance and priority given the need to Safeguard Australia from invasive diseases. There is an urgency to undertake our research because global environmental change and increasing movements of people (particularly military personnel) from overseas regions where these diseases are endemic is increasing the vulnerability of northern Australia to the (re)establishment of mosquito borne diseases.Read moreRead less
Traditional knowledge and intellectual property: A comparison of current approaches in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The concepts of 'indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights' and 'traditional resource rights' have sparked a debate between resource-rich developing countries and technology rich industrialised nations, because of their importance for biotechnology and pharmaceutical research. This comparative study combines legal analysis and fieldwork to critically examine ....Traditional knowledge and intellectual property: A comparison of current approaches in Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The concepts of 'indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights' and 'traditional resource rights' have sparked a debate between resource-rich developing countries and technology rich industrialised nations, because of their importance for biotechnology and pharmaceutical research. This comparative study combines legal analysis and fieldwork to critically examine cultural assumptions about the relationship of indigenous communities to their symbols and their environment. The examination will extend to Southeast Asia to discover different concepts of 'indigenous' and different mechanisms for the interaction between state and customary law. Asian experiences with legislation in this field will provide useful insights for legislators in Australia.Read moreRead less
Diseases caused by the pneumococcus represent the largest cause of vaccine preventable death in the world today, mainly pneumonia and meningitis. In 2011, 16 developing countries will introduce pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, none in east Asia. Lack of research has been a major barrier to their use in the region. We have established an international centre of excellence in the field and we seek support to extend the capacity of this group and to transfer the technology to Vietnam.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989804
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A Universal Nano Tribometer for Surface and Thin Film Characterisation. The proposed infrastructure will be of major benefit to a large number of ARC funded research projects involving chracterisation of materials at four universities UOW,QUT, UNSW and CDU. The project will extend the research capability of the participating researchers and facilitate innovative projects and new research direction in advanced materials processing in the nano/micro scale. This in turn will lead to improved intern ....A Universal Nano Tribometer for Surface and Thin Film Characterisation. The proposed infrastructure will be of major benefit to a large number of ARC funded research projects involving chracterisation of materials at four universities UOW,QUT, UNSW and CDU. The project will extend the research capability of the participating researchers and facilitate innovative projects and new research direction in advanced materials processing in the nano/micro scale. This in turn will lead to improved international competitiveness of Australian industry.Read moreRead less
ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to deter ....ARC Research Network for Understanding and Managing Australian Biodiversity. Biodiversity research is strong in Australia but is highly uncoordinated and, along with recent major breakthroughs in both theory and techniques, has highlighted the need for a Network to properly integrate research and focus it on the most appropriate scale. This Network aims to bring together a diverse spectrum of highly experienced and early career researchers to pool their ideas and expertise to allow them to determine how best to describe Australia's current biodiversity and the biological and environmental history leading up to the present. A major outcome will be the ability to predict the impacts of environmental change on biodiversity to assist management decisions across Australia, with lessons of global importance.Read moreRead less