Life Expectancy among Disease-Diagnosed. This project aims to improve methodological tools for calculating life expectancy for populations with mental or physical disorders in Australia as well as to determine gains and losses in terms of excess mortality. To achieve this goal innovative measures, which solve methodological previous shortcoming regarding different age at diagnosis will be applied. The expected outcomes of the project include precise figures of excess mortality related to mental ....Life Expectancy among Disease-Diagnosed. This project aims to improve methodological tools for calculating life expectancy for populations with mental or physical disorders in Australia as well as to determine gains and losses in terms of excess mortality. To achieve this goal innovative measures, which solve methodological previous shortcoming regarding different age at diagnosis will be applied. The expected outcomes of the project include precise figures of excess mortality related to mental and physical disorders. Significant benefits for future public policy-making will be gained by analysing excess mortality among individuals diagnosed mental or physical disorders, and cross-country comparisons using national linkage data. Read moreRead less
Cascades of Violence and Nonviolence. Why did the Arab Spring spread so fast? Why did so many communist regimes collapse so quickly in 1989? This project explains why tactics of violence and of nonviolence cause contagion. It develops a new evidence-based theory of how to contain cascades of violence and accelerate contagions of nonviolence to create a less violent world.
Molecular and genetic analysis of epigenetic components in a model plant. Australia is a major exporter of agricultural food crops thus producers must maintain their competitive advantage in order to compete on the world stage. Food crops unfortunately have large, complex genomes that are not sequenced and a generation time of months that makes research outcomes slow to achieve. This project proposes to utilise a model plant that has a small completely sequenced genome and a short generation tim ....Molecular and genetic analysis of epigenetic components in a model plant. Australia is a major exporter of agricultural food crops thus producers must maintain their competitive advantage in order to compete on the world stage. Food crops unfortunately have large, complex genomes that are not sequenced and a generation time of months that makes research outcomes slow to achieve. This project proposes to utilise a model plant that has a small completely sequenced genome and a short generation time making it ideal to study the fundamental biological process of RNA silencing. Discoveries and outcomes from this project may have the potential to benefit Australian crops, ecosystems and human health.Read moreRead less
Automated internet warnings to prevent viewing of minor-adult sex images. Since the advent of the internet and digital cameras, the market for child exploitation material (CEM) has boomed. This project aims to explore how the visual appearance of warning messages influences internet users. It plans to conduct a randomised controlled experiment with naïve participants on a real-life website to test the effectiveness of messages designed to discourage viewers of legal ‘barely legal’ pornography. I ....Automated internet warnings to prevent viewing of minor-adult sex images. Since the advent of the internet and digital cameras, the market for child exploitation material (CEM) has boomed. This project aims to explore how the visual appearance of warning messages influences internet users. It plans to conduct a randomised controlled experiment with naïve participants on a real-life website to test the effectiveness of messages designed to discourage viewers of legal ‘barely legal’ pornography. It is anticipated that results will assist policing efforts by indicating whether warnings can be used to dissuade first-time CEM viewers and whether differences exist between harm or deterrent-focused messages.Read moreRead less
Preventing gendered violence: lessons from the global south. This project aims to study the establishment of police stations for women in Argentina as a key element to preventing gendered violence. This project aims to discover the extent to which the Argentinian interventions prevent the occurrence of gendered violence, and identify aspects that could inform the development of new approaches to preventing gendered violence in Australia. Anticipated outcomes include knowledge critical to develo ....Preventing gendered violence: lessons from the global south. This project aims to study the establishment of police stations for women in Argentina as a key element to preventing gendered violence. This project aims to discover the extent to which the Argentinian interventions prevent the occurrence of gendered violence, and identify aspects that could inform the development of new approaches to preventing gendered violence in Australia. Anticipated outcomes include knowledge critical to developing and implementing new ways to prevent gendered violence, with long-term benefits for national health, wellbeing and productivity.Read moreRead less
Geological sequestration of carbon dioxide in deep saline aquifers: coupled flow-mechanical considerations. Deep saline aquifers have been routinely proposed as sites for long-term, large-scale storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, as an option to assist the abatement of global warming. This project investigates expected engineering behaviour of deep saline aquifer reservoirs and their stability following CO2 sequestration.
Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant i ....Promoting Plant Innovation in Australia: maximising the benefits of intellectual property for Australian agriculture. The development of new plant varieties is crucial to the ongoing competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture. It also has wider social, cultural and economic consequences. Intellectual property laws have the potential to promote and hinder the developments of new plant varieties. In recent years there has been a shift towards the use of patents to protect plant innovations: a trend which has the potential to transform existing research and development arrangements and industry practices in Australia. By providing policy-makers and stakeholders with recommendations on how to respond to and manage these changes, the project will promote plant breeding in Australia and also enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Comparative Biophysical Studies on Photosystem II of Higher Plants and Cyanobacteria. Photosystem II (PS-II) is one of two light trapping protein assemblies involved in the conversion of light into metabolic energy in all plants and algae. The manganese containing active site of PS-II is responsible for oxygen formation from water. The organisation and functioning of this centre and the detailed mechanism of photochemical energy conversion are not understood. This project will employ a combinati ....Comparative Biophysical Studies on Photosystem II of Higher Plants and Cyanobacteria. Photosystem II (PS-II) is one of two light trapping protein assemblies involved in the conversion of light into metabolic energy in all plants and algae. The manganese containing active site of PS-II is responsible for oxygen formation from water. The organisation and functioning of this centre and the detailed mechanism of photochemical energy conversion are not understood. This project will employ a combination of powerful biophysical techniques to probe the structure and mechanism of PS-II as a knowledge base for eventual genetic manipulation of plants and stategies for artificial photosynthesis.Read moreRead less
Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will ....Temperature sensitivity of soil respiration and its components. This project aims to demonstrate how temperate evergreen forests could buffer against climate change. Soil respiration returns around half the carbon taken up by forests to the atmosphere. This project will characterise and quantify how microbes and roots in soils depend on temperature and substrate supply, and so predict how rising temperatures and drought will affect forests as natural carbon sequestration sinks. This project will resolve the roles of environmental drivers of soil respiration across forests; integrate mechanistic understanding of differing plant and microbial responses to temperature within a common modelling framework; and evaluate the implications of this knowledge in predictions of climatic impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling.Read moreRead less
Development of Viable Geopolymer. This project aims to improve the manufacture of geopolymer. Geopolymer (‘green cement’) is produced by alkali activation of fly ash and is a sustainable, low carbon dioxide alternative to conventional cement. Evaluation of raw materials and ensuring reliable performance are critical issues in geopolymer manufacture. The project aims to understand the geopolymerisation process and the behaviour of fly ash and activator in the process. It plans to establish a reac ....Development of Viable Geopolymer. This project aims to improve the manufacture of geopolymer. Geopolymer (‘green cement’) is produced by alkali activation of fly ash and is a sustainable, low carbon dioxide alternative to conventional cement. Evaluation of raw materials and ensuring reliable performance are critical issues in geopolymer manufacture. The project aims to understand the geopolymerisation process and the behaviour of fly ash and activator in the process. It plans to establish a reactivity index to quantitatively evaluate fly ash and match it with activator to achieve efficient activation with predictable properties. The project is expected to result in a scientific tool to assess fly ash suitability and a method to design and produce viable geopolymers.Read moreRead less