Understanding influences on physical activity and sedentary behaviour from preschool to preadolescence. While promotion of optimal levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviours during childhood is important for health, much remains unknown in this field. This study will extend an existing cohort of children, recruited at ages three to five years and followed up at six to eight years by reassessing these children at nine to eleven years. Novel additions to the cohort include long term foll ....Understanding influences on physical activity and sedentary behaviour from preschool to preadolescence. While promotion of optimal levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviours during childhood is important for health, much remains unknown in this field. This study will extend an existing cohort of children, recruited at ages three to five years and followed up at six to eight years by reassessing these children at nine to eleven years. Novel additions to the cohort include long term follow-up spanning preschool to preadolescence, application of an ecological framework, and collection of objective neighbourhood data using a Geographical Information System. Findings will provide important information for policy and interventions focused at the individual, family and neighbourhood level, to improve physical activity and sedentary behaviour levels across childhood.Read moreRead less
Biological Role of Contraction-Induced Heat Shock Protein Expression. It is well known that mammalian skeletal muscle increases its expression of a group of highly conserved proteins, the heat shock proteins (HSP) in response to repeated contraction. However, the biological role of this expression is unclear. The aim of this project is to determine the biological role of contraction-induced HSP expression. We expect to show that HSP synthesis in response to exercise has three major roles; 1) to ....Biological Role of Contraction-Induced Heat Shock Protein Expression. It is well known that mammalian skeletal muscle increases its expression of a group of highly conserved proteins, the heat shock proteins (HSP) in response to repeated contraction. However, the biological role of this expression is unclear. The aim of this project is to determine the biological role of contraction-induced HSP expression. We expect to show that HSP synthesis in response to exercise has three major roles; 1) to act to repair damaged proteins in recovery from muscle injury 2) to act as a "molecular motor" to translocate proteins from one region of a muscle cell to another and 3) to be released into the circulation in order to act as a central signal to activate immune cells. Such a project will be significant because it will allow for a fundamental understanding as to why these proteins are produced in response to exercise. We expect to enhance our understanding of fundamental cell biology.Read moreRead less
Discovering the role of pH in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, so as to improve the design of preventative programs aimed at healthy ageing. Mitochondria are essential for life, and maintaining mitochondrial function plays an important role in preventing the progression of many age-related diseases. It has previously been shown that minimising the decrease in muscle pH that occurs during physical activity promotes greater improvements in mitochondrial function. The next step is to discover t ....Discovering the role of pH in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, so as to improve the design of preventative programs aimed at healthy ageing. Mitochondria are essential for life, and maintaining mitochondrial function plays an important role in preventing the progression of many age-related diseases. It has previously been shown that minimising the decrease in muscle pH that occurs during physical activity promotes greater improvements in mitochondrial function. The next step is to discover the effects of altering pH on acute and chronic activity-induced changes in signalling proteins and genes that are involved in the regulation of skeletal muscle mitochondrial biogenesis. These experiments will significantly advance the knowledge base concerning factors regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, and will contribute to optimising the design of preventative programs aimed at healthy aging.Read moreRead less
An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle to ....An autonomously controlled ankle exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation. This project addresses a critical problem in gait rehabilitation; predicting unstable locomotion and designing interventions to augment limb-joint function. The project will develop an autonomous ankle-foot assistive device to actively increase ground clearance when high-risk foot trajectory is detected. Using wearable sensor data, machine learning algorithms will predict high-risk gait and compute an actuator-induced ankle torque to maintain safe foot-ground clearance. A wearable autonomous joint-actuation system will contribute significantly to rehabilitation across a range of gait-impaired populations. The project's scientific and technological innovations will provide the opportunity for future developments in assistive technologies. Read moreRead less