Mechanical Factors In Normal Human Colonic Motility
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,023.00
Summary
Abnormal human colonic contractions cause significant medical, societal and financial burdens. Diagnosis and treatment of motility disorders requires an understanding of normal colonic contractility against which to measure dysfunction. Through state-of-the-art recording and analytical techniques, developed by the applicants, this project will provide the first clear description of normal human colonic motor patterns and how they are generated.
Benchmarking the neurophysiology of human cortex models in vitro. This project aims to improve human brain models in vitro by developing an analytical tool benchmarking biophysical similarities to the adult human cortex. This project expects to generate new knowledge by testing for the first time the theory that integrating sensory-like inputs and awake/sleep-like cycles of electrical activity in vitro may complete the maturation of human brain organoid models. It will also generate new methods ....Benchmarking the neurophysiology of human cortex models in vitro. This project aims to improve human brain models in vitro by developing an analytical tool benchmarking biophysical similarities to the adult human cortex. This project expects to generate new knowledge by testing for the first time the theory that integrating sensory-like inputs and awake/sleep-like cycles of electrical activity in vitro may complete the maturation of human brain organoid models. It will also generate new methods to simplify the analysis of multimodal path-clamping data (Patch-seq). Expected outcomes will facilitate research collaboration and the reproducibility of accurate experimental replicates of the human brain. This will provide significant benefits in the global race to understand human brain computation mechanisms.Read moreRead less
Brain Repair Following Stroke: The Role Of Npas4, A Neural-specific Transcription Factor
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$611,053.00
Summary
Stroke is the #1 cause of adult disability in Australia and #2 cause of death. About 60,000 Australians suffer a stroke each year while about 250,000 live with the disabilities of stroke, costing over $2B/year. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and University of Adelaide will study why the Npas4 gene switches on after stroke and the role it plays in brain repair. Future health benefits may be tests to help improve stroke outcome in patients and therapy to decrease loss of brain cells after stroke.
Bio-inspired Computing for Problems with Dynamically Changing Constraints. The aim of this project is to design bio-inspired computing methods for dynamically changing environments. Dynamic problems arise frequently in the areas of engineering, logistics, and manufacturing. Such problems are usually subject to a large set of constraints that change over time due to changes in resources. Algorithms that can deal with such dynamic changes would benefit decision-makers. The project aims to provide ....Bio-inspired Computing for Problems with Dynamically Changing Constraints. The aim of this project is to design bio-inspired computing methods for dynamically changing environments. Dynamic problems arise frequently in the areas of engineering, logistics, and manufacturing. Such problems are usually subject to a large set of constraints that change over time due to changes in resources. Algorithms that can deal with such dynamic changes would benefit decision-makers. The project aims to provide a foundational theory as the basis for the design of bio-inspired algorithms dealing with dynamically changing constraints and provide approaches for dealing with important industrial problems.Read moreRead less
Computational Intelligence Methods for Financial Applications. Complex financial problems can be better addressed with software that can learn from available data and adapt to environmental changes. It is therefore essential to develop technologies that enable prediction and optimisation in constrained and dynamic environments. There are currently some limitations in existing business decision support systems despite their ubiquity providing an opportunity for Australia to be at the forefront as ....Computational Intelligence Methods for Financial Applications. Complex financial problems can be better addressed with software that can learn from available data and adapt to environmental changes. It is therefore essential to develop technologies that enable prediction and optimisation in constrained and dynamic environments. There are currently some limitations in existing business decision support systems despite their ubiquity providing an opportunity for Australia to be at the forefront as new standards in the field are developed. Furthermore, the fund management industry (particularly superannuation) is significant to the Australian economy and development of this technology has the potential to enhance its performance and reputation.Read moreRead less
Bio-inspired Computing for Problems with Chance Constraints. Bio-inspired algorithms have successfully been applied to a wide range of optimisation problems. Uncertainties in real-world applications can lead to critical failures of production schedules or safe critical systems. Chance constraints model such uncertainties and allow to limit the possibility of such failures. This future fellowship builds up the area of bio-inspired computing for problems with chance constraints. It develops high ....Bio-inspired Computing for Problems with Chance Constraints. Bio-inspired algorithms have successfully been applied to a wide range of optimisation problems. Uncertainties in real-world applications can lead to critical failures of production schedules or safe critical systems. Chance constraints model such uncertainties and allow to limit the possibility of such failures. This future fellowship builds up the area of bio-inspired computing for problems with chance constraints. It develops high performing bio-inspired algorithms for stochastic problems where the constraints can only be violated with a small probability. The outcomes will lead to more effective and reliable optimisation methods for complex planning processes in areas of national priority such as mining and manufacturing.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary diversity optimisation. This project aims to build up and establish the area of evolutionary diversity optimisation. The project will cover the design and application of evolutionary diversity optimisation methods to complex problems of significance and high national economic benefit and build up the theoretical foundations of these methods. The project is expected benefit decision makers by providing them a diverse set of high quality alternatives to choose from. This project will ....Evolutionary diversity optimisation. This project aims to build up and establish the area of evolutionary diversity optimisation. The project will cover the design and application of evolutionary diversity optimisation methods to complex problems of significance and high national economic benefit and build up the theoretical foundations of these methods. The project is expected benefit decision makers by providing them a diverse set of high quality alternatives to choose from. This project will allow them to make highly informed decisions and lead to more reliable solutions for optimisation problems, in areas of high economic impact such as manufacturing and supply chain management.Read moreRead less
Defining The Role Of The Ubiquitin Protein Ligase Nedd4 In Vascular Development.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$702,166.00
Summary
Blood and lymphatic vessels are vital components of the cardiovascular system. Abnormalities in the growth and development of these vessels are associated with human disorders including cancer and cardiovascular disease. The focus of this application is to characterise the role of the ubiquitin protein ligase Nedd4 in vascular development, with the aim of identifying targets to which novel therapeutics for the treatment of blood and lymphatic vascular diseases could be generated.
The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural ne ....The Analog Mind: Connectionism, Consciousness and Mental Representation. The aim of our project is to explore novel conjectures about the way information is coded and processed in the brain, and the manner in which the brain manufactures consciousness. This work may eventually pay rich dividends by reducing the incidence of mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, that disturb conscious experience. It may also lead to the development of more powerful forms of computation in artificial neural networks. This will have a significant impact on the artificial intelligence industry, with obvious economic benefits for Australia.
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A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli an ....A unified theory of performance in absolute identification tasks. The ability to identify stimuli is fundamentally important in human cognition and is studied in absolute identification tasks, where people must identify one out of a number of stimuli, varying on a single dimension, with an appropriate label. A remarkable finding is that people cannot reliably identify more than about seven different stimuli. This limit imposes severe practical restrictions on our ability to categorise stimuli and constitutes a perplexing problem for cognitive theory. This project involves an international collaborative effort by five leading researchers in mathematical psychology to develop a comprehensive, integrative model of human performance in absolute identification tasks.
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