Early stress experiences and stress resilience in pigs. Animal stress has substantial implications on animal productivity, health and welfare of farm animals and thus farm profitability. This project aims to examine the stress resilience in pigs. Modern pig farming is a major source of food, providing substantial nutritional, social and economic benefits in Australia and worldwide. Animal welfare is of increasing concern to the public, consumers and pork producers, and stress vulnerability is an ....Early stress experiences and stress resilience in pigs. Animal stress has substantial implications on animal productivity, health and welfare of farm animals and thus farm profitability. This project aims to examine the stress resilience in pigs. Modern pig farming is a major source of food, providing substantial nutritional, social and economic benefits in Australia and worldwide. Animal welfare is of increasing concern to the public, consumers and pork producers, and stress vulnerability is an animal health and production problem in the life of the commercial pig. This project will generate new knowledge on early life management to endow stress resilience in pigs, with expected benefits for animal welfare, farm productivity and profitability.Read moreRead less
Sexual And Reproductive Health And Behaviours Of Young Offenders (14-18 Years) In NSW & Qld
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$869,730.00
Summary
Young Indigenous and non-Indigenous offenders in Australia aged 14 and 15 years have never been systematically surveyed regarding their sexual and reproductive health in Australia. Thus we have little information on which to base education and policy initiatives. To address this knowledge gap we will systematically survey young people in contact with the juvenile justice system aged 14-18 years to provide a comprehensive picture of their sexual and reproductive behaviours and needs.
Australian Seasonal Workers Programme and well-being impacts in Timor-Leste. This research aims to investigate the impacts of Australia’s Seasonal Workers Programme and South Korea’s Employment Permit System on the well-being of migrant workers and their families in Timor-Leste (East Timor). The contribution of this research to scholarship would be the creation of a sound method to measure the impact of temporary labour migration on well-being across various aspects of life that can be used by r ....Australian Seasonal Workers Programme and well-being impacts in Timor-Leste. This research aims to investigate the impacts of Australia’s Seasonal Workers Programme and South Korea’s Employment Permit System on the well-being of migrant workers and their families in Timor-Leste (East Timor). The contribution of this research to scholarship would be the creation of a sound method to measure the impact of temporary labour migration on well-being across various aspects of life that can be used by researchers in Timor-Leste and elsewhere to evaluate the development impacts of such migration schemes. The data will inform evidence-based policies to improve temporary labour migration schemes, meet urgent development priorities in Timor-Leste, and maximise the benefits of Australian aid funded labour migration schemes.Read moreRead less
The NSW child development study. Research shows that a child's development predicts health and social outcomes later in life. This Australian project will be the first to identify risk and protective factors associated with these outcomes in 87,000 children from birth to 10 years. The results will help inform governments to improve our children's health and educational achievements.
Action selection in insects: how a microbrain knows what to do. Identifying what to do demands integrating sensory information with our current physiological state and memory of past experience to select the best possible action. This is the action selection problem. Our project aims to discover how tiny insect brains solve this fundamental problem. The project combines neural recordings from animals exploring virtual reality, behavioural analyses and computational modelling. The expected outco ....Action selection in insects: how a microbrain knows what to do. Identifying what to do demands integrating sensory information with our current physiological state and memory of past experience to select the best possible action. This is the action selection problem. Our project aims to discover how tiny insect brains solve this fundamental problem. The project combines neural recordings from animals exploring virtual reality, behavioural analyses and computational modelling. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the brain as an effective behavioural control system. This will benefit systems and comparative neuroscience. Our findings may also inspire solutions for robotic systems that must operate autonomously in remote and challenging environments such as disaster relief or exploration.Read moreRead less
Identifying optimal daily levels of movement behaviours in early childhood. This project aims to discover how much physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep young children need each day to best support their development. Through the creation of an international database and the application of innovative analytics, the project seeks to determine the optimal daily balance of these behaviours that results in the best developmental outcomes for young children. The project is expected to infor ....Identifying optimal daily levels of movement behaviours in early childhood. This project aims to discover how much physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep young children need each day to best support their development. Through the creation of an international database and the application of innovative analytics, the project seeks to determine the optimal daily balance of these behaviours that results in the best developmental outcomes for young children. The project is expected to inform national movement behaviour guidelines. The expected benefit for parents and professionals is improved confidence in supporting children’s physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep. The expected benefit for children is positive development, given the broad impacts of these behaviours on health and well-being.Read moreRead less
Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. This project aims to develop a new shark deterrent technology to protect surfers and paddlers. Shark attacks are physically and emotionally devastating for the victims, and make the community disproportionately afraid. Surfers are at most risk of attack, but current surfboard-mounted deterrents are ineffective and not widely used. This project will build on the recent discove ....Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. Bio-inspired camouflage to prevent shark attacks on surfers. This project aims to develop a new shark deterrent technology to protect surfers and paddlers. Shark attacks are physically and emotionally devastating for the victims, and make the community disproportionately afraid. Surfers are at most risk of attack, but current surfboard-mounted deterrents are ineffective and not widely used. This project will build on the recent discovery that white sharks do not attack counter-illuminated (light emitting) seal-shaped decoys, and use new information about shark vision to understand why this ‘camouflage’ is so successful. This will also help to protect threatened shark species by reducing reliance on culling programs to keep people safe in the water.Read moreRead less
Social Impact and Connection Outcomes Associated with Community Sport. Outcomes of social connection from community sport are widely touted and supported to exist. However, we know little about how social infrastructure actually delivers these benefits. It is difficult to understand and develop practices that organisations can use to maximise the outcomes of sport participation. This research aims to investigate how social infrastructure delivers social connection outcomes associated with commun ....Social Impact and Connection Outcomes Associated with Community Sport. Outcomes of social connection from community sport are widely touted and supported to exist. However, we know little about how social infrastructure actually delivers these benefits. It is difficult to understand and develop practices that organisations can use to maximise the outcomes of sport participation. This research aims to investigate how social infrastructure delivers social connection outcomes associated with community sport. Expected outcomes include novel practice based tools and guidance for community groups to enhance social connection outcomes and new understanding about the role of social infrastructure in enhancing community connection. Improved social connection is expected to improve resilience and community wellbeing.
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Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, ....Square Eyes or All Lies? Understanding Children's Exposure to Screens. This project will examine Australian parents’ number one concern about their children’s health and behaviour – their interactions with electronic screens. Current screen time guidelines are based on low-quality evidence and lack the nuance required to address this complex issue. This project will use innovative technology to resolve these weaknesses. Wearable cameras will measure what children are doing on screens, and where, when, and how long they are doing it. The project will also investigate how screen time impacts children’s development and how it is influenced by their environment. This evidence will benefit children by improving screen time guidelines, and help parents understand the impact of screen time on children’s development.
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Life or death decisions: making fast, accurate choices in a complex world. This project aims to understand how hoverflies and honey bees, with tiny brains and sensory systems, excel at making fast and accurate decisions while on the fly in a complex world. The project will combine brain recordings with flight analyses and computational modelling to generate new knowledge on how animals may utilize movements to simplify information sampling. Expected outcomes are a novel, comprehensive understand ....Life or death decisions: making fast, accurate choices in a complex world. This project aims to understand how hoverflies and honey bees, with tiny brains and sensory systems, excel at making fast and accurate decisions while on the fly in a complex world. The project will combine brain recordings with flight analyses and computational modelling to generate new knowledge on how animals may utilize movements to simplify information sampling. Expected outcomes are a novel, comprehensive understanding of how animal movements could enhance decision speed and accuracy. This should provide substantial benefits for neuroscience, and for enhancing performance of autonomous robotic systems operating in challenging environments, such as disaster relief, mining and remote exploration. Read moreRead less