"Smart Food" - The fulcrum in the energy balance equation. The overall aim of the project is to establish how nutrients best promote an increase in energy expenditure and therefore weight loss. The experiments will be performed in rats using sophisticated technologies to introduce specific combinations of fats, carbohydrates or proteins directly into the stomach and then measure energy expenditure in a specialised type of energy burning rather than energy storing fat called brown adipose tissue. ...."Smart Food" - The fulcrum in the energy balance equation. The overall aim of the project is to establish how nutrients best promote an increase in energy expenditure and therefore weight loss. The experiments will be performed in rats using sophisticated technologies to introduce specific combinations of fats, carbohydrates or proteins directly into the stomach and then measure energy expenditure in a specialised type of energy burning rather than energy storing fat called brown adipose tissue. These experiments will uncover the mechanisms that relate nutrients in the stomach and activation of brown adipose tissue. They will provide a framework on which this project can build a knowledge of smart diets that will allow the effective control of body weight through modulation of energy expenditure. Read moreRead less
Plasticity of gastrointestinal vagal afferents. The aim of this project is to identify how leptin modulates specific subtypes of vagal afferent within the gut and the plasticity of this system under different dietary conditions. This proposed project will substantially increase understanding of the interactions between leptin, known to influence food intake, and vagal afferent satiety signals. It will also increase understanding of how these interactions alter in obesity and ultimately provide t ....Plasticity of gastrointestinal vagal afferents. The aim of this project is to identify how leptin modulates specific subtypes of vagal afferent within the gut and the plasticity of this system under different dietary conditions. This proposed project will substantially increase understanding of the interactions between leptin, known to influence food intake, and vagal afferent satiety signals. It will also increase understanding of how these interactions alter in obesity and ultimately provide targets and/or concepts for the pharmacotherapy of obesity.Read moreRead less
Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include ....Automatic detection and modelling of acoustic markers of speech timing. This project aims to create new automatic sensing, analysis and assessment of cognitive, affective, mental and physical state from voice for mobile and computing devices. This project expects to generate new understanding of the effects of these states on detailed timing indicators of speech motor control, and new signal processing and machine learning methods that best exploit it. Expected outcomes from this project include a new and accurate deep neural network framework for learning, analysing and detecting human states from speech automatically using articulatory timing markers. This should provide significant benefits, such as individually-tailored, frequent and low-cost automatic detection, monitoring and analytics for adverse states.Read moreRead less
The role of the other in self-regulation: Who, when, where, how, and why. We assume that some individuals, because of the role they have (e.g., parents), are significant others. Moreover, we assume that significant others influence our emotions, motivation, and behaviour. These assumptions have not been systematically tested using a self-regulatory framework. Also no coherent model, detailing how and why individuals come to be significant and the mechanisms by which they have an influence, ha ....The role of the other in self-regulation: Who, when, where, how, and why. We assume that some individuals, because of the role they have (e.g., parents), are significant others. Moreover, we assume that significant others influence our emotions, motivation, and behaviour. These assumptions have not been systematically tested using a self-regulatory framework. Also no coherent model, detailing how and why individuals come to be significant and the mechanisms by which they have an influence, has been proposed. We present a theoretical model to be tested in a sequence of 10 studies. The results will provide understanding of the role of significant others that will have applications in clinical settings and in organisational contexts.Read moreRead less
Socioeconomic status and health in Australia: An econometric investigation into causality and pathways. This project aims to provide new policy-relevant research focusing on the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in determining health outcomes for children and adults in Australia, and in reducing health-related inequalities. This project will use high-quality Australian longitudinal data and the most advanced econometric models to provide new insights into the pathways underlying the SES gradien ....Socioeconomic status and health in Australia: An econometric investigation into causality and pathways. This project aims to provide new policy-relevant research focusing on the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in determining health outcomes for children and adults in Australia, and in reducing health-related inequalities. This project will use high-quality Australian longitudinal data and the most advanced econometric models to provide new insights into the pathways underlying the SES gradient. The project will also use similar data for Britain as a valuable comparison point. The research will contribute to a better understanding of health outcomes relating to a healthy start to life and strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
The structure and content of self-knowledge: When and how are implicit and explicit measures related and what do they tell us? Research has found clear links between individuals' beliefs about themselves and emotion, motivation, and behaviour. These beliefs also play a role in the development of and recovery from psychological illness. However, understanding has been limited by the use of explicit measures, which rely on our ability to 'know' everything about ourselves, and our willingness to di ....The structure and content of self-knowledge: When and how are implicit and explicit measures related and what do they tell us? Research has found clear links between individuals' beliefs about themselves and emotion, motivation, and behaviour. These beliefs also play a role in the development of and recovery from psychological illness. However, understanding has been limited by the use of explicit measures, which rely on our ability to 'know' everything about ourselves, and our willingness to disclose. We investigate how explicitly and implicitly measured self-knowledge affect emotion, motivation, and behaviour. As a result, we redress a major criticism of this research, and facilitate a greater understanding of the role of self-knowledge, including aspects that we are not able to articulate, in psychological well-being.Read moreRead less
Role of ferroxidases in intestinal iron transport. This project will investigate the mechanism by which the body absorbs the essential nutrient iron from the diet. These studies will enhance our knowledge of an important nutritional pathway and improve our capacity to treat diseases where iron absorption is defective, such as the iron loading disorder haemochromatosis.
Founders and survivors: Australian lifecourses in historical context. This project will create one of the world's outstanding longitudinal studies of human health and resilience. It will contribute to the historical understanding of European migration, settler colonialism, forced labour and human health under stress, long-run family formation and falling fertility, household economy, and the social determinants of health. It will contribute to debate both nationally and internationally on the lo ....Founders and survivors: Australian lifecourses in historical context. This project will create one of the world's outstanding longitudinal studies of human health and resilience. It will contribute to the historical understanding of European migration, settler colonialism, forced labour and human health under stress, long-run family formation and falling fertility, household economy, and the social determinants of health. It will contribute to debate both nationally and internationally on the long-run effects of social and biomedical interventions and of investment in human capital. It will tell the grassroots history of the Australian penal and colonial experiments and it will form a scholarly coalition with the great community of family historians. Read moreRead less
Taste and Place: the transglobal production and consumption of food and drink. This project will explore the challenges and potentials that the transformations in production and consumption of food and drink pose to Australia. We have an enviable reputation for our wine and the quality of our food produce. But we have stiff competition from around the world. This is exacerbated by economic and cultural trends, which are changing the face of how and what we eat and drink. The homogenisation of ma ....Taste and Place: the transglobal production and consumption of food and drink. This project will explore the challenges and potentials that the transformations in production and consumption of food and drink pose to Australia. We have an enviable reputation for our wine and the quality of our food produce. But we have stiff competition from around the world. This is exacerbated by economic and cultural trends, which are changing the face of how and what we eat and drink. The homogenisation of mass-market consumption is producing a widespread dissatisfaction with our diet, and obesity. This cross-cultural project will result in important information about how we can best respond to these challenges.Read moreRead less
Ultradian rhythms in basal metabolism; relationship to thermoregulation, cardiovascular function and behavioural arousal. Results from this project will be of basic theoretical biological importance, and may well provide a foundation for understanding basal metabolic regulation and its link with cardiovascular function. Our findings may provide a new foundation for discovering strategies that alter basal metabolic rate in a manner that improves health and reduces the incidence of obesity related ....Ultradian rhythms in basal metabolism; relationship to thermoregulation, cardiovascular function and behavioural arousal. Results from this project will be of basic theoretical biological importance, and may well provide a foundation for understanding basal metabolic regulation and its link with cardiovascular function. Our findings may provide a new foundation for discovering strategies that alter basal metabolic rate in a manner that improves health and reduces the incidence of obesity related disease such as heart attack and stroke. Thus this research proposal is of special relevance to National Research Priority 2: Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. Obesity and obesity-related medical conditions particularly affect older people, so that our research is also highly relevant to National Research Priority 2 sub-areas: Ageing well, Ageing productively.Read moreRead less