The jugular vagal sensory connectome regulating visceral function. Internal body organs have a rich supply of sensory nerve fibres that serve important roles in monitoring the local environment for normal and abnormal sensory stimuli. These nerve fibres have different origins and wire into brain circuits that regulate widely diverse physiological responses. In this study we aim to study the neural circuits and responses mediated by a group of these sensory nerves which has not been investigated ....The jugular vagal sensory connectome regulating visceral function. Internal body organs have a rich supply of sensory nerve fibres that serve important roles in monitoring the local environment for normal and abnormal sensory stimuli. These nerve fibres have different origins and wire into brain circuits that regulate widely diverse physiological responses. In this study we aim to study the neural circuits and responses mediated by a group of these sensory nerves which has not been investigated appreciably in the past. We believe that these sensory neural circuits will reveal important new insights into how internal organs perform their diverse and essential functions to sustain life.Read moreRead less
Preventing sensitive data exfiltration from insiders . Confidential data such as military secrets or intellectual property must never be disclosed outside the organisation; formally protecting data exfiltration from insider attacks is a major challenge. This project aims to develop a pattern matching based systematic methodology for data exfiltration in database systems. We will devise highly accurate detection tools and secure provenance techniques that can effectively protect against insider a ....Preventing sensitive data exfiltration from insiders . Confidential data such as military secrets or intellectual property must never be disclosed outside the organisation; formally protecting data exfiltration from insider attacks is a major challenge. This project aims to develop a pattern matching based systematic methodology for data exfiltration in database systems. We will devise highly accurate detection tools and secure provenance techniques that can effectively protect against insider attacks. The outcomes of the project will incorporate new security constraints and policies raised by emerging technologies to enable better protection of sensitive information. Read moreRead less
Privacy preserving and data utility in outsourced systems. Making the best tradeoff between data privacy and utility is a vital challenge in privacy-preserving outsourcing environments. This project aims to develop a balanced distributed framework to achieve the best utility of outsourced data while protecting private information. The framework consists of general structure of distributed evolutionary algorithms and a predefined topology for high optimization efficiency and a dynamic groupin ....Privacy preserving and data utility in outsourced systems. Making the best tradeoff between data privacy and utility is a vital challenge in privacy-preserving outsourcing environments. This project aims to develop a balanced distributed framework to achieve the best utility of outsourced data while protecting private information. The framework consists of general structure of distributed evolutionary algorithms and a predefined topology for high optimization efficiency and a dynamic grouping recombination model. The project outcomes will be beneficial to applications in the nation as it incorporates new privacy constraints and utility requirements raised by emerging technologies to enable better protection of sensitive information and maximal data utility in outsourced systems. Read moreRead less
MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) ne ....MemberGuard: Protecting Machine Learning Privacy from Membership Inference. Machine Learning has become a core part of many real-world applications. However, machine learning models are vulnerable to membership inference attacks. In these attacks, an adversary can infer if a given data record has been part of the model's training data. In this project, the team aims to develop new techniques that can be used to counter these attacks, such as 1) new analytical models for membership leakage, 2) new methods for susceptibility diagnosis, 3) new defences that leverage privacy and utility. Data-oriented services are estimated to be valuable assets in the future. These techniques can help Australia gain cutting edge advantage in machine learning security and privacy and protect its intellectual property on these services.Read moreRead less
DeepHoney: Automatic Honey Data Generation for Active Cyber Defence . This project aims to enhance the security of networks and information systems by empowering them with intelligent deception techniques to achieve proactive attack detection and defence. In recent times, the fictitious environment – honeypot designed by human experience becomes popular to attract attackers and capture their interactions. However, rules-based construction of honeypots fails in preserving the privacy, boosting th ....DeepHoney: Automatic Honey Data Generation for Active Cyber Defence . This project aims to enhance the security of networks and information systems by empowering them with intelligent deception techniques to achieve proactive attack detection and defence. In recent times, the fictitious environment – honeypot designed by human experience becomes popular to attract attackers and capture their interactions. However, rules-based construction of honeypots fails in preserving the privacy, boosting the attractiveness and evolving the system. The project expects to advance deep learning and yield novel DeepHoney technologies with associated publications and open-source software. This should benefit science, society, and the economy by building the next generation of active cyber defence systems. Read moreRead less
Understanding multiday cycles underpinning human physiology. We recently discovered long-term rhythms modulating activities of our brains and hearts ranging in duration from 3-60 days. The cause of these longer, ‘multiday cycles’ remain unknown. This project aims to understand; causes of multiday cycles (measuring the nervous and autonomic nervous system), their effects (on cognition, sleep, and stress), and quantify the relationship between coupled cyclical systems. The research outcomes can pr ....Understanding multiday cycles underpinning human physiology. We recently discovered long-term rhythms modulating activities of our brains and hearts ranging in duration from 3-60 days. The cause of these longer, ‘multiday cycles’ remain unknown. This project aims to understand; causes of multiday cycles (measuring the nervous and autonomic nervous system), their effects (on cognition, sleep, and stress), and quantify the relationship between coupled cyclical systems. The research outcomes can provide fundamental new knowledge about cyclic dynamics governing human physiology, leading to improved rigour in life sciences research. Commercial outcomes include technology to optimise individual productivity, learning, health, and wellbeing based on physiological cycles, with diverse benefits to society.Read moreRead less
Microtubule structure in nervous system repair. This Project aims to investigate the role of structural and functional cellular components known as microtubules in nervous system regeneration. This Project aims to use innovative approaches in confocal and electron microscopy, genetics, and cell biology, with the expectation of generating new knowledge into nervous system repair. Expected outcomes of this Project include a comprehensive description of how microtubules are rearranged following ner ....Microtubule structure in nervous system repair. This Project aims to investigate the role of structural and functional cellular components known as microtubules in nervous system regeneration. This Project aims to use innovative approaches in confocal and electron microscopy, genetics, and cell biology, with the expectation of generating new knowledge into nervous system repair. Expected outcomes of this Project include a comprehensive description of how microtubules are rearranged following nervous system injury and the importance of microtubule modifying proteins in promoting regeneration. This should provide significant benefits in our understanding of the cellular mechanisms behind nervous system repair, and offer new approaches for promoting regeneration after injury.Read moreRead less
Intelligent Technologies for Smart Cryptography. This project aims to improve cybersecurity by automating the process of generating cryptographic software for smart devices. The expected outcomes are tools that automatically produce efficient cryptographic software that resists attacks. The main benefit of this project is to reduce the amount of expert labour required when developing secure software.
Creating subject-specific mathematical models to understand the brain. This project aims to develop a mathematical framework that bridges the different scales of brain activities to provide a new tool for understanding the brain. Methods will be developed that unify individual neural activity with large scale brain activity. The approach will be validated by comparing predictions of interconnected models of neural populations (called mean-field models) to experimental data. The creation of subje ....Creating subject-specific mathematical models to understand the brain. This project aims to develop a mathematical framework that bridges the different scales of brain activities to provide a new tool for understanding the brain. Methods will be developed that unify individual neural activity with large scale brain activity. The approach will be validated by comparing predictions of interconnected models of neural populations (called mean-field models) to experimental data. The creation of subject-specific models from data is important, as there is large variability in neural circuits between individuals despite seemingly similar network activity. The intended outcome is new insights into the processes that govern brain function and methods for improving functional imaging of, and interfacing to, the brain.Read moreRead less
How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understandi ....How does timing affect mammalian brain development and evolution? This project aims to generate fundamental knowledge on the origin of diversity in mammalian brain circuits by studying development of marsupials and rodents. The expected outcome is to elucidate how differences in the timing, rate and sequence of development of gene expression, cell differentiation and circuit formation can relate to the origin of key evolutionary innovations in the mammalian brain. The significance of understanding the dynamics of developmental systems that shape complex brain traits includes establishing new developmental paradigms in evolutionary theory, generating new tools to investigate and manipulate brain gene expression in vivo, and the potential discovery of the causes of neurodevelopmental dysfunction.Read moreRead less