Learning Software Security Analysers with Imperfect Data. This project aims to systematically investigate next-generation learning-based software security analysis to detect vulnerabilities in real-world large-scale software. The expected learning-based foundation will support the handling of imperfect data in order to provide a precise, scalable and adaptive security analysis of the critical software components, thus capturing important security vulnerabilities missed by existing approaches. Th ....Learning Software Security Analysers with Imperfect Data. This project aims to systematically investigate next-generation learning-based software security analysis to detect vulnerabilities in real-world large-scale software. The expected learning-based foundation will support the handling of imperfect data in order to provide a precise, scalable and adaptive security analysis of the critical software components, thus capturing important security vulnerabilities missed by existing approaches. The success of this project will further enhance the international competitiveness of Australian research in this important field and will benefit any Australian industry and business where software systems are deeply-rooted, such as transportation, smart homes, medical devices, defence and finance.Read moreRead less
Exploring The Occurrence And Potential Associated Risk Factors For Pilchard Orthomyxovirus (POMV) In Tasmanian Farmed Atlantic Salmon
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$209,295.62
Summary
Following basic epidemiology principles, no infectious disease occurs ‘randomly’ and its occurrence follow logical and predictable patterns. The presence of an infectious agent is unlikely sufficient to explain these patterns and most aquatic diseases result from the complex interaction between the agent, the host and its environment. Therefore, the targeted outcome for a POMV control plan is threefold: 1. Decrease transmission between infected and susceptible fish groups – this requires ide ....Following basic epidemiology principles, no infectious disease occurs ‘randomly’ and its occurrence follow logical and predictable patterns. The presence of an infectious agent is unlikely sufficient to explain these patterns and most aquatic diseases result from the complex interaction between the agent, the host and its environment. Therefore, the targeted outcome for a POMV control plan is threefold: 1. Decrease transmission between infected and susceptible fish groups – this requires identifying risk factors associated with the introduction, spread, and maintenance of the pathogen within the industry; 2. Decrease the number of susceptible fish – this mainly requires identifying risk factors associated with the susceptibility of the host (e.g. husbandry-related stress) and the development of a safe and effective prophylaxis; 3. Decrease the amount of virus in the environment - this requires detecting infected fish cage(s) early to implement timely control strategies. Diagnostic capacity to confirmed POMV outbreak has been developed and is currently used in routine by the industry. A vaccine against POMV is currently under development at the Tasmanian Aquatic Animal Health and Vaccines Centre of Excellence and will be available in the future. However, little is known about risk factors specific to POMV and about its full economic impact. We define as a ‘risk factor’ any attribute of the agent, the host or its environment that increases the risk and intensity of a disease outbreak. Most of the environmental risk factors (including farming practices) facilitate the introduction, transmission, or maintenance of the pathogen; while the host risk factors affect the susceptibility of the host and its capacity to become diseased. Like the closely related ISAv, the magnitude and occurrence of POMV outbreaks appeared to be highly variable. This supports the existence of additional factors other than the POMV infection that contribute to the intensity of an outbreak. It is anticipated that by identifying and intervening on some of the manageable risk factors, the frequency and the severity of POMV outbreaks can be reduced. Objectives: 1. Describe the occurrence of POMV outbreaks in the Tasmanian salmon industry 2. Quantify the direct financial impact of POMV mortality to the Tasmanian salmon industry 3. Identify potential management, environmental and stock risk factors directly or indirectly increasing the risk and intensity of a POMV outbreaks Read moreRead less
The Establishment Of An Australian Wide Monthly Periodical (the Fisheries Software Register) For The Dissemination And Standardization Of Computer Software In Fisheries And Related Sciences
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Summary
Objectives: 1. Develop a fisheries software register through which fisheries scientists can advertise the existence of, or the need for, a particular computer program
Viral Endemiology Of Selected Australian Commercial Fish Species And Their Susceptibility To Viral Diseases
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Summary
Objectives: 1. Expand the Australian viral endemiology testing facility to include certified continuous cell lines derived from commercially important Australian fish species, 2. enabling the viral endemiology and susceptibility of these fish to be studied
Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture Subprogram: Molecular Genetic Tools For The Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon Industry – Development And Application
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$461,796.00
Summary
The efficiency and effectiveness of selective breeding programs can be greatly enhanced through the use of DNA technology. The application of such technology will be used for pedigree information and identification of markers for economic traits leading to marker-assisted selection. Although various international laboratories and CSIRO have developed a bank of molecular markers for Atlantic salmon, the potential of these and other nuclear DNA markers such as AFLPs need evaluating.
Throu ....The efficiency and effectiveness of selective breeding programs can be greatly enhanced through the use of DNA technology. The application of such technology will be used for pedigree information and identification of markers for economic traits leading to marker-assisted selection. Although various international laboratories and CSIRO have developed a bank of molecular markers for Atlantic salmon, the potential of these and other nuclear DNA markers such as AFLPs need evaluating.
Through this project we would be able to formally collaborate on an international mapping project for salmonids. This would give the local industry access to far more markers and genetic information than would be possible if we worked in isolation.
The extent of genetic variation within the Tasmanian population with respect to overseas endemic populations remains unclear. In time it may be considered advantageous to import new genetic material to enhance various characteristics of the local population. However, at present that is unlikely and the genetic status of the population, and of the effectiveness of breeding protocols, needs to be better understood. Significant progress was made with this and the search for sex differences (project 96/347), but funding is required to further the research. Objectives: 1. To further develop and apply molecular markers for use in industry breeding programs. 2. To genotype selected broodstock with a suite of microsatellite markers to enable efficient pedigree analysis of progeny. 3. To compare microsatellite DNA variation from archival scale samples from the progenitor Canadian population with past and current cohorts of the Tasmanian population. Read moreRead less
SCRC: Seafood CRC: A Review Of Predictive And Rapid Diagnostic Technologies Relevant To The Australian Seafood Industry
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Summary
AS an input to Business Plan development by the Australian Seafood CRC for the Product Quality and Integrity Research Program, conduct a review of predictive and rapid diagnostic technologies relevant to the Australian Seafood Industry
Objectives: 1. To develop a software program (called Abalone Management System) for use by Australian abalone farm managers to monitor all animals and events on a farm.
The Development Of SAFS, FishNames, FRDC, FishFiles And Seafood Standards Websites And Web Database
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$1,009,770.00
Summary
To get around the above issue the majority of the data (content) should be consolidated in one database. This will provide considerable savings in management, and allow for far greater integration in how the data is translated into communication products. The external sites for which the FRDC has acquired responsibility are located outside on a number of disparate hosting services on different systems. Maintenance and management of these sites remains costly and fragmented.
To get around the above issue the majority of the data (content) should be consolidated in one database. This will provide considerable savings in management, and allow for far greater integration in how the data is translated into communication products. The external sites for which the FRDC has acquired responsibility are located outside on a number of disparate hosting services on different systems. Maintenance and management of these sites remains costly and fragmented.
Objectives: 1. Create a single, scalable, trusted source of truth: an authoritative source of data and rich information base for the fisheries and aquaculture in Australia. 2. The systems allow for collection (input) of data from external parties and sharing (output) of the information in different formats including aggregated data for use in communication products. 3. Enhance the web system to allow for greater use and integration of data across the sites Read moreRead less
Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Development Of Improved Molecular Diagnostic Tests For Perkinsus Olseni In Australian Molluscs
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$305,561.00
Summary
Improved diagnostic methods for endemic and exotic pathogens of aquatic animals have been identified as a Key Research Area in the 2009-12 FRDC AAHS R&D plan (6.2.3 Endemic and exotic aquatic animal disease diagnostics).
Since Perkinsus olseni was first described in Australian abalone by Lester and Davies in 1981, histology and culture in Ray’s medium have been the most commonly applied diagnostic procedures for detection of Perkinsus sp.. Although these tests are relatively straight f ....Improved diagnostic methods for endemic and exotic pathogens of aquatic animals have been identified as a Key Research Area in the 2009-12 FRDC AAHS R&D plan (6.2.3 Endemic and exotic aquatic animal disease diagnostics).
Since Perkinsus olseni was first described in Australian abalone by Lester and Davies in 1981, histology and culture in Ray’s medium have been the most commonly applied diagnostic procedures for detection of Perkinsus sp.. Although these tests are relatively straight forward and practical, they are general in nature and neither identifies or differentiates specific species of Perkinsus. Despite a well developed framework for the molecular characterization of Perkinsus and modern PCR based molecular tests for some of the more commercially important Perkinsus species, these have rarely been applied in Australia. The first attempts to apply molecular methods to a small number (n=40) of Perkinsus infected abalone from disease outbreaks in NSW have already revealed a new variant which probably represents a new previously unrecognized species in Australia (Reece et al. 2010). This fact and the apparent variation in pathogenicity observed with Perkinsus in different areas, has raised several questions about which Perkinsus sp. are present in commercial mollusc populations.
Given that a significant depletion of blacklip abalone (Haliotis rubra) stocks in NSW over the last 20 years has been attributed to infection with Perkinsus (FRDC Project 2004/084) and localized areas of infection occur in a number of Australian states, from South Australia to northern Western Australia, the development and implementation of highly sensitive and rapid PCR based molecular methods to identify specific species of Perkinsus is essential. The development and application of such tests is necessarily underpinned by a detailed understanding of the molecular makeup of Perkinsus in these populations which is the subject of this application.
Objectives: 1. Undertake a targeted molecular, histological and cultural examination of known Perkinsus infected wild abalone populations from NSW, SA and WA to compare existing methods of detection. 2. Establish representative axenic (single species) cultures of Perkinsus sp. from infected abalone. 3. Use established PCRs and DNA sequencing methods to confirm the presence of P. olseni and determine the genetic diversity, including other Perkinsus sp. from these populations. 4. Develop and validate qPCR methods for the detection and identification of P. olseni in infected abalone. 5. Compare and evaluate the performance of the Objective 4 qPCR with existing conventional PCR methods for detection of P. olseni. Read moreRead less
Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram: Development Of Diagnostic And Reference Reagents For Epizootic Haematopoietic Necrosis Virus Of Finfish
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$140,124.00
Summary
Relationship to R&D plans and strategies In the May 2000 Budget, the Federal Government announced its Building a National Approach to Animal and Plant Health program to maintain Australia’s status as a source of high quality agricultural produce with work on aquatic animal health to be funded via AFFA through the FRDC Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram. Following stakeholder consultations, seven projects focusing on the development of improved diagnostic methods for diseases of fish, crustacea ....Relationship to R&D plans and strategies In the May 2000 Budget, the Federal Government announced its Building a National Approach to Animal and Plant Health program to maintain Australia’s status as a source of high quality agricultural produce with work on aquatic animal health to be funded via AFFA through the FRDC Aquatic Animal Health Subprogram. Following stakeholder consultations, seven projects focusing on the development of improved diagnostic methods for diseases of fish, crustaceans and molluscs were funded under this Subprogram. The Subprogram recently requested advice from aquatic animal health specialists in Australia on priority suggestions for the remaining uncommitted funds. The ‘Maintenance of reagent stocks for diagnosis of important diseases e.g. EHN’ was identified by this forum as one of a number of high priority issues and subsequently forwarded to the Subprogram. The Subprogram’s Steering Committee and Scientific Advisory Committee supported this and other suggestions because of their national significance. This application is made in response to this need.
Pragmatic need The International Reference Laboratory for EHNV provides research and diagnostic referral services to fish health laboratories in Australia and other countries. Reagents have been supplied upon request for more than 10 years. Research on protocols for improved viral detection and differentiation from related viruses is ongoing, and has been published in high quality journals. These protocols are supplied, together with reference reagents, to any diagnostic laboratory upon request. As many of these original antibody reagents were prepared in 1989-1992, they are deemed likely to be near the end of their shelf life, or stocks of quality-controlled batches are almost exhausted. Furthermore, new protocols have recently been developed using modern tools of molecular biology (Marsh et al 2002 rapid differentiation of Australian, European and American ranaviruses based on variation in major capsid protein gene sequence. Mol.Cell. Probes 16:137-151). For routine use these require development of new reagents, for example standardized DNA solutions.
This project is an operation to replenish stocks of reagents for existing tests and to create stocks for the more newly developed tests and as such is a one-off request. In future we aim to meet costs by charging for supply of reagents, something that OIE Fish Diseases Commission has agreed may be necessary to support reference laboratory activities. Stocks of antibody reagents produced in this project are likely to be viable and sufficient for 15 years assuming freeze drying is successful and current levels of demand, but this will also be dependent on future demand, which is not easily predicted.
Objectives: 1. To provide quality-controlled antibody reagents and protocols to detect EHNV 2. To provide quality controlled DNA reagents and protocols to differentiate EHNV from related viruses including BIV 3. To provide stocks of reference-strain EHNV and fish tissues containing reference-strain EHNV as controls for diagnostic testing 4. To develop and assess new storage conditions, guidelines for reconsitution and shelf life for antibody and DNA reagents Read moreRead less