Membrane-associated structure and the effect of metals on Abeta peptide from Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5% of Australians over 65, and will triple by year 2050 without an effective therapy. Much research to understand the causes of the disease has focused on the distinctive amyloid deposits found in patients' cerebral tissue. Recent evidence suggests that nerve cell death is actually directly caused by soluble forms of the protein fragments and metals that form th ....Membrane-associated structure and the effect of metals on Abeta peptide from Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5% of Australians over 65, and will triple by year 2050 without an effective therapy. Much research to understand the causes of the disease has focused on the distinctive amyloid deposits found in patients' cerebral tissue. Recent evidence suggests that nerve cell death is actually directly caused by soluble forms of the protein fragments and metals that form these deposits. We will investigate the specific molecular structure of these fragments with metals in relation to vesicles which mimic the nerve cell surface. This information may facilitate future biomedical efforts work to develop therapies, as well as develop general techniques to study similar structural problems.Read moreRead less
Torres Strait Islander History: Sport, Culture and Identity. This project aims to investigate sport as a means of understanding the cultures, identities and history of Torres Strait Islanders. Through a community-centred approach, and a project team including Torres Strait Islanders, the project challenges versions of Australian history that marginalise the Strait or conflate Islanders with Aboriginal people. Expected outcomes of this project include a more nuanced history of Indigenous Australi ....Torres Strait Islander History: Sport, Culture and Identity. This project aims to investigate sport as a means of understanding the cultures, identities and history of Torres Strait Islanders. Through a community-centred approach, and a project team including Torres Strait Islanders, the project challenges versions of Australian history that marginalise the Strait or conflate Islanders with Aboriginal people. Expected outcomes of this project include a more nuanced history of Indigenous Australia, a significant body of repatriated resources on Islander sport and increased involvement of Islander communities in the history-making process. Anticipated benefits include a multifaceted contribution to reconciliation and better understanding of our unique and complex national identity.Read moreRead less
Interrogating diarylquinoline toxicity with targeted organic synthesis. Bedaquiline is the only new first-line treatment with a new mechanism of action to treat TB in the last 40 years, approved by the FDA on 31 December 2012. Alarmingly, this compound, has significant toxicities. The hypothesis tested in this project is that decreasing lipophilicity and basicity in this class of compounds while retaining target affinity will decrease toxicity but retain anti-TB activity. The project aims to: sy ....Interrogating diarylquinoline toxicity with targeted organic synthesis. Bedaquiline is the only new first-line treatment with a new mechanism of action to treat TB in the last 40 years, approved by the FDA on 31 December 2012. Alarmingly, this compound, has significant toxicities. The hypothesis tested in this project is that decreasing lipophilicity and basicity in this class of compounds while retaining target affinity will decrease toxicity but retain anti-TB activity. The project aims to: synthesise novel heteroarylalkylamines distinct from bedaquiline and designed to be more polar, less basic, and metabolically more stable; and, test all successfully synthesised target compounds for mechanism-based anti-tuberculosis activity, hERG-mediated cardiotoxicity, metabolic instability, and phospholipidosis.Read moreRead less
The Effect of Fuel Type on Health and Environmental Risks Caused by Motor Vehicle Emissions. Motor vehicles constitute one of the most significant sources of air pollutants but the state of knowledge on the quantity of some of these does not permit for projection of the risk they create. This project aims at quantification of emissions of pollutants contributing to deterioration of health, ozone formation, global warming and acid rain as a function of fuel type, using a novel on-road sampling m ....The Effect of Fuel Type on Health and Environmental Risks Caused by Motor Vehicle Emissions. Motor vehicles constitute one of the most significant sources of air pollutants but the state of knowledge on the quantity of some of these does not permit for projection of the risk they create. This project aims at quantification of emissions of pollutants contributing to deterioration of health, ozone formation, global warming and acid rain as a function of fuel type, using a novel on-road sampling method. Resultantly, a holistic picture of integrated health and environmental risk will be developed that will build a scientific foundation for future fuel,transport and land use to protect the community and the environment.Read moreRead less
A novel granular stress sensor for soil exploration. The project aims to develop a novel way to measure the state of soils and improve the perception of soft ground robots by combining advances in sensor development with granular physics. The project expects to produce new insights in geotechnical engineering by utilising innovative sensors compliant with the surrounding medium, thus improving measurements across broader deformation conditions than existing technologies. Expected outcomes includ ....A novel granular stress sensor for soil exploration. The project aims to develop a novel way to measure the state of soils and improve the perception of soft ground robots by combining advances in sensor development with granular physics. The project expects to produce new insights in geotechnical engineering by utilising innovative sensors compliant with the surrounding medium, thus improving measurements across broader deformation conditions than existing technologies. Expected outcomes include an increased ability to prevent soil failures by utilising these sensors to monitor stress levels underground. This should provide significant benefits for saving critical infrastructure from environmental and geotechnical failures, including landslides, tunnel collapses, and tailings dam damages.Read moreRead less
Development of Nanostructured TiO2 Electrodes for Photoelectrocatalytic Degradation of Organic and Microbial Pollutants in Wastewater. Australia is one of the driest continents and re-use of water/wastewater has been an urgent issue. Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation processes based on nanostructured TiO2 electrode are able to mineralize common aquatic organic and microbial pollutants. The proposed technology has the advantages of strong oxidation power and cheap production cost, and it is chemi ....Development of Nanostructured TiO2 Electrodes for Photoelectrocatalytic Degradation of Organic and Microbial Pollutants in Wastewater. Australia is one of the driest continents and re-use of water/wastewater has been an urgent issue. Photoelectrocatalytic oxidation processes based on nanostructured TiO2 electrode are able to mineralize common aquatic organic and microbial pollutants. The proposed technology has the advantages of strong oxidation power and cheap production cost, and it is chemically stable, robust under UV illumination, and most importantly, environmentally friendly. The success of the project can place Australia in a leading position of developing cutting-edge TiO2 nano-material-based photoelectrochemical technologies for environmental wastewater treatment and drinking water disinfection. Read moreRead less
Neural mechanisms of vestibular perception in zebrafish. This project aims to understand vestibular processing by removing physical movement. The vestibular system allows us to perceive gravity and movement, but it is not understood how the brain processes information from vestibular sensors in the inner ear. This project will exert forces on the zebrafish’s inner ear with a laser, stimulating the vestibular sense. This means that the animal will experience vestibular stimuli while stationary, a ....Neural mechanisms of vestibular perception in zebrafish. This project aims to understand vestibular processing by removing physical movement. The vestibular system allows us to perceive gravity and movement, but it is not understood how the brain processes information from vestibular sensors in the inner ear. This project will exert forces on the zebrafish’s inner ear with a laser, stimulating the vestibular sense. This means that the animal will experience vestibular stimuli while stationary, allowing calcium imaging of neurons that respond to vestibular cues and optogenetics to stimulate or silence these neurons. This is expected to reveal which cells and circuits mediate vestibular perception, processing and behaviour.Read moreRead less
External provision of the school curriculum: Local needs to global networks in Health and Physical Education. This project will examine the factors that influence the appeal of and opportunities for external providers of health work (including HPE curricula) in schools at a local, national and international level. It will generate original, global data regarding: the influence of system networks on the creation of health issues; international trends for the external provision of health work prod ....External provision of the school curriculum: Local needs to global networks in Health and Physical Education. This project will examine the factors that influence the appeal of and opportunities for external providers of health work (including HPE curricula) in schools at a local, national and international level. It will generate original, global data regarding: the influence of system networks on the creation of health issues; international trends for the external provision of health work products and services to schools; and, the impact of networked health issues and providers on schooling. The findings will inform: policies related to outsourcing practices across the curriculum; expectations for teachers’ work; and, more broadly, control of young people’s health and the future of schooling. Read moreRead less
A biophotonics-based approach to the study of cell-mechanics. This study will help to promote and maintain good health. There is a connection between diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis and cell mechanics. Our study will provide insight into cell mechanics, thereby helping to understand the pathophysiology of these diseases. The study is relevant to tissue engineering. There is ongoing research on mechanical conditioning of tissue substitutes. Understanding cell mechanics will help to op ....A biophotonics-based approach to the study of cell-mechanics. This study will help to promote and maintain good health. There is a connection between diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis and cell mechanics. Our study will provide insight into cell mechanics, thereby helping to understand the pathophysiology of these diseases. The study is relevant to tissue engineering. There is ongoing research on mechanical conditioning of tissue substitutes. Understanding cell mechanics will help to optimise conditioning protocols, thereby improving the properties of engineered tissue.
During this study we will develop optical tools that have applications in the life sciences, in the development of advanced materials and in nanotechnology. Our project will promote Australian research in these fields.
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A hybrid magnetic resonance imaging: linear accelerator (Magnetic resonance imaging-Linac) for highly accurate radiotherapy cancer treatment. Radiotherapy is often used to treat cancer, however it is very difficult to ensure the radiation doses the tumour properly as the tumour moves during treatment due to breathing. This project will produce an image-guidance system that will allow much better targeting of the treatment and thus produce better outcomes.