Mechanism of action of an anti-inflammatory compound which targets alternatively activated macrophages. The project will study the mechanism by which a novel anti-inflammatory compound, developed by our commercial partner, suppresses the activity of a population of cells known as alternatively activated macrophages. These cells play a key role in driving allergic inflammation, including the inflammation associated with asthma.
Identifying genes that influence clinical course and susceptibility in multiple sclerosis. This project aims to identify the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common neurologic disease in young Australian adults. MS urgently needs research to identify predisposition, aid early diagnosis and provide bona fide molecular targets for new therapies. This will benefit people with MS and those susceptible to it. Crucial new knowledge identified will benefit other major areas of MS rese ....Identifying genes that influence clinical course and susceptibility in multiple sclerosis. This project aims to identify the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS), the most common neurologic disease in young Australian adults. MS urgently needs research to identify predisposition, aid early diagnosis and provide bona fide molecular targets for new therapies. This will benefit people with MS and those susceptible to it. Crucial new knowledge identified will benefit other major areas of MS research including epidemiology, immunology and neurobiology. Collaboration of 8 major Australian institutions is also important for this project and future studies. The team will have access to a new national MS GeneBank (platform) with samples from 2240 patients that should generate findings important to world-wide MS genetic knowledge.Read moreRead less
Novel audio watermarking techniques for tracing multimedia piracy. This project aims to develop inaudible, high-capacity audio watermarking techniques to trace the illegal copying and distribution of multimedia data containing a sound component, such as audios and sound videos. With the rapid growth of communication networks and the use of advanced multimedia technology, digital multimedia data can be easily copied, manipulated and distributed. This has led to strong demand for new techniques to ....Novel audio watermarking techniques for tracing multimedia piracy. This project aims to develop inaudible, high-capacity audio watermarking techniques to trace the illegal copying and distribution of multimedia data containing a sound component, such as audios and sound videos. With the rapid growth of communication networks and the use of advanced multimedia technology, digital multimedia data can be easily copied, manipulated and distributed. This has led to strong demand for new techniques to prevent illegal use of copyrighted data. The project is expected to advance the theory of audio watermarking and enhance Australia's international competitiveness in this field.
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A provable privacy-preserving data sharing system for the cloud environment. This project aims to develop an innovative data sharing system, with a mathematically provable privacy guarantee, in a cloud environment. This will be adopted by Australian Education Management Group’s (AEMG) cloud campus to exchange data in a restricted privacy manner between partner institutions. It will be commercialised as a middleware that can be plugged into existing cloud environments to maintain required privacy ....A provable privacy-preserving data sharing system for the cloud environment. This project aims to develop an innovative data sharing system, with a mathematically provable privacy guarantee, in a cloud environment. This will be adopted by Australian Education Management Group’s (AEMG) cloud campus to exchange data in a restricted privacy manner between partner institutions. It will be commercialised as a middleware that can be plugged into existing cloud environments to maintain required privacy even when the cloud crosses various jurisdictions with different privacy policies. The outcomes will benefit educational organisations, and lay the foundations for data sharing in other communities such as the government, banks, and other industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Molecular response to interferon beta treatment in multiple sclerosis. Inteferon beta (IFNb) is the frontline drug for treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, in many patients this expensive drug provides no benefit, resulting in unnecessary, uncontrolled disease progression, and in a waste of many millions of dollars each year. A common explanation for this treatment failure is the development of neutralising antibodies (NABs). We will establish the prevalence and effects of NABs in Austra ....Molecular response to interferon beta treatment in multiple sclerosis. Inteferon beta (IFNb) is the frontline drug for treatment of multiple sclerosis. However, in many patients this expensive drug provides no benefit, resulting in unnecessary, uncontrolled disease progression, and in a waste of many millions of dollars each year. A common explanation for this treatment failure is the development of neutralising antibodies (NABs). We will establish the prevalence and effects of NABs in Australian patients, use novel techniques to identify biomarkers for IFNb response, evaluate the diagnostic and therapeutic value of the biomarkers, and develop a new test for NABs. Tailored use of this drug, and possible new therapeutic targets, will result, benefiting the patient and community.Read moreRead less
Developing an active defence system to identify malicious domains and websites. This project aims to develop an innovative active defence system to effectively identify malicious Internet domains and websites. It can secure the cyberspace that is essential to the daily work of Australian people, thus addresses a fundamental problem in safeguarding Australia from cyber crime and terrorism.
New Imaging Agents for Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors. Recent advances in medical imaging technology such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) have radically improved the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases. The aim of this project is to discover novel radio-ligands that selectively bind to neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These ligands will have great potential for the imaging, diagnosis and study of neurodegenerat ....New Imaging Agents for Neuronal Nicotinic Receptors. Recent advances in medical imaging technology such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) have radically improved the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases. The aim of this project is to discover novel radio-ligands that selectively bind to neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These ligands will have great potential for the imaging, diagnosis and study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Read moreRead less
Non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure by means of transcranial doppler blood flow and central aortic pressure. The investigation will produce a device that will aid doctors measuring brain pressure without drilling holes through the skull. The device will use the technology of an Australian company that has the only patented system to deduce the pressure in the brain by measuring pressure close to the heart and the brain and by recording the pressure pulse wave at the wrist. The comm ....Non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure by means of transcranial doppler blood flow and central aortic pressure. The investigation will produce a device that will aid doctors measuring brain pressure without drilling holes through the skull. The device will use the technology of an Australian company that has the only patented system to deduce the pressure in the brain by measuring pressure close to the heart and the brain and by recording the pressure pulse wave at the wrist. The community benefit will be in terms of the safety and ease with which changes in pressure in the brain can be detected. It will also advance the world renowned Australian technology in a new area of application.Read moreRead less
Miniature lithium ion battery for implantable medical device applications. This project addresses National Research Priorities in the areas of breakthrough science, frontier technologies and promoting and maintaining good health. Substantial national benefit could be derived from this project: (i) Australia will innovate in an important and intensely active area in which the results will have long-lasting significance in implantable rechargeable battery development; (ii)The development of new sc ....Miniature lithium ion battery for implantable medical device applications. This project addresses National Research Priorities in the areas of breakthrough science, frontier technologies and promoting and maintaining good health. Substantial national benefit could be derived from this project: (i) Australia will innovate in an important and intensely active area in which the results will have long-lasting significance in implantable rechargeable battery development; (ii)The development of new scientific knowledge related to this project will place Australia at the forefront of an emerging domain of research body batteries; (iii) In the long term, the successful outcome of this research will lead to more reliable batteries for implantable devices, thereby promoting health care.Read moreRead less
Improving the Performance, Scalability and Reliability of the Linux Operating System. This project aims to improve the scalability of the Linux operating system to large systems without loss of performance on small, embedded, systems. It will improve Linux robustness and security by de-privileging particularly error-prone code, such as device drivers, without undue impact on performance. It will improve configurability and ease tuning by making critical components, such as processor, disk and me ....Improving the Performance, Scalability and Reliability of the Linux Operating System. This project aims to improve the scalability of the Linux operating system to large systems without loss of performance on small, embedded, systems. It will improve Linux robustness and security by de-privileging particularly error-prone code, such as device drivers, without undue impact on performance. It will improve configurability and ease tuning by making critical components, such as processor, disk and memory schedulers, pluggable and their policies controllable at user level. It will investigate the feasibility and benefits of user-level file systems and processor and memory scheduling and will demonstrate that these can improve system reliability without undermining performance.Read moreRead less