Microglia and the inflammation spectrum - not just good or bad. Cell-mediated tissue clearance following brain injury is a universal mechanism. However, our understanding of the cells that perform these tasks is very limited. Our project will characterise this inflammatory response at a single-cell level using the zebrafish spinal cord as a versatile experimental model. The project is expected to strongly contribute to the molecular understanding of the mechanisms underlying debris removal and w ....Microglia and the inflammation spectrum - not just good or bad. Cell-mediated tissue clearance following brain injury is a universal mechanism. However, our understanding of the cells that perform these tasks is very limited. Our project will characterise this inflammatory response at a single-cell level using the zebrafish spinal cord as a versatile experimental model. The project is expected to strongly contribute to the molecular understanding of the mechanisms underlying debris removal and will advance innovative technologies that facilitate intellectual progress in neuroscience. It will produce new insights into the process of neuronal degeneration, promote Australia’s growing reputation as a global leader in neuroscience, and provide high quality training for early career researchers.Read moreRead less
Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), ....Beyond Neuroinflammation: The Role of Microglia in Synaptic Plasticity. Microglia are the immune cells of the brain and are known to respond to infectious and non-infectious insults to the nervous system. This project aims to use the transparent and genetically amenable brain of the zebrafish, to explore new functions of microglia at the single cell level in the intact, behaving animal, through visualization of cellular components of the brain (neurons, glia, microglia, blood vessels, synapses), and through the genetic manipulation of synaptic density, and real time observation of microglia in the process.Read moreRead less
Decoding neuronal populations for visually-guided decision and action. This project aims to investigate how the cerebral decodes visual information in order to guide sensory-guided actions. Using a high resolution technique, capable of monitoring the activity of many cells in real time, it will study how sensory signals about the motion of visual patterns interact with noise (fluctuations in neuronal activity that are not directly related to the sensation being encoded) in order to determine dec ....Decoding neuronal populations for visually-guided decision and action. This project aims to investigate how the cerebral decodes visual information in order to guide sensory-guided actions. Using a high resolution technique, capable of monitoring the activity of many cells in real time, it will study how sensory signals about the motion of visual patterns interact with noise (fluctuations in neuronal activity that are not directly related to the sensation being encoded) in order to determine decisions made by an animal. Expected outcomes include new knowledge about the cellular circuits responsible for vision, and new technologies for decoding brain activity from physiological measurements, which may in the future guide the development of improved bionic devices such as brain-computer interfaces. Read moreRead less
Secure Crowdsourcing Classification with Privacy Protection against Servers. This project aims to enable comprehensive quality data classification via secure crowdsourcing. The quality of a data-intensive process, such as a Machine Learning algorithm, depends on the input data quality. By using a crowdsourcing classification, the project expects to overcome the painstaking and costly process of humans correctly annotating extensive input data from diverse real information. The expected outcomes ....Secure Crowdsourcing Classification with Privacy Protection against Servers. This project aims to enable comprehensive quality data classification via secure crowdsourcing. The quality of a data-intensive process, such as a Machine Learning algorithm, depends on the input data quality. By using a crowdsourcing classification, the project expects to overcome the painstaking and costly process of humans correctly annotating extensive input data from diverse real information. The expected outcomes are innovative technologies, guaranteeing accuracy and confidentiality of annotation results whilst protecting the privacy of data classification results. It enhances data-intensive outputs quality, which will benefit large data-intensive applications, such as cybersecurity protections via intrusion detection.Read moreRead less
Efficient Multi-key Homomorphic Encryption and Its Applications. Multi-key homomorphic encryption (MKHE) is a key technology that functions to allow multiple users to supply their private input for collaboration in the cloud while keeping the user data confidential. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to obtain efficient MKHEs. This project aims to overcome this challenge by enabling novel efficient MKHEs. The expected outcomes of this project are to develop innovative cryptographic technologies ....Efficient Multi-key Homomorphic Encryption and Its Applications. Multi-key homomorphic encryption (MKHE) is a key technology that functions to allow multiple users to supply their private input for collaboration in the cloud while keeping the user data confidential. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to obtain efficient MKHEs. This project aims to overcome this challenge by enabling novel efficient MKHEs. The expected outcomes of this project are to develop innovative cryptographic technologies which realise efficient MKHEs, together with their cryptographic libraries and practical applications in solving industry problems. This will provide direct economic benefits to Australian industry through the enablement of advanced technologies and low-cost business solutions which are developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The e ....Enabling Anonymity and Privacy for Blockchain Technology in a Quantum World. Blockchain is a promising technology in the digital world today. However, existing approaches for enabling blockchain applications, particularly with privacy protection and anonymity, are vulnerable to quantum computer attacks. This project aims to enable novel cryptographic mechanisms together with their cryptographic libraries for protecting blockchain in the quantum world, hence, post-quantum secure blockchain. The expected outcomes of this project include innovative technologies, as well as secure and practical post-quantum protocols for protecting future blockchain applications. This will provide economic and social benefits to Australian industry through the enablement of advanced technologies which are developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
A Scalable and Adaptive-Resilient Blockchain. This project aims to address the security and scalability challenges that limit blockchain adoption. Existing blockchains do not scale and are vulnerable to attacks (e.g. with a total loss of over US$1 billion in 2019). This project expects to improve security by adaptively enforcing the currently broken security assumptions, and to improve scalability by designing blockchains with high concurrency via relaxed criteria on the ordering of transactions ....A Scalable and Adaptive-Resilient Blockchain. This project aims to address the security and scalability challenges that limit blockchain adoption. Existing blockchains do not scale and are vulnerable to attacks (e.g. with a total loss of over US$1 billion in 2019). This project expects to improve security by adaptively enforcing the currently broken security assumptions, and to improve scalability by designing blockchains with high concurrency via relaxed criteria on the ordering of transactions. The expected outcomes include foundations and practical solutions for self-adaptive, secure and scalable blockchains. The benefits of this would be improved confidence in and capacity for building blockchain applications, which have a predicted value of over US$3.1 trillion by 2030.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101091
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$402,160.00
Summary
Data-Driven Code Reviews for Cost-Effective Software Quality Assurance. This DECRA project aims to create advanced techniques that will enable software engineers to effectively assure the highest quality of software systems with minimal cost through data-driven recommendations. The current standard practices in software quality assurance involve the manual and tedious process of code review, which can lead to high costs and cause severe delays in software development. The expected outcomes of th ....Data-Driven Code Reviews for Cost-Effective Software Quality Assurance. This DECRA project aims to create advanced techniques that will enable software engineers to effectively assure the highest quality of software systems with minimal cost through data-driven recommendations. The current standard practices in software quality assurance involve the manual and tedious process of code review, which can lead to high costs and cause severe delays in software development. The expected outcomes of this project include new theories, techniques, and an automated system that provides insightful feedback, suitable reviewer recommendations, and fine-grained effort prioritisation. Significant benefits are expected to improve the production of Australia's software and the quality of safety-critical software systems.Read moreRead less
Engineering better sprays for leaf coating: from drop impact to retention. This proposal aims to understand the performance of a unique rheological modifier that can enable an order of magnitude increase in coating efficiency for aerosol sprays while not affecting the quality of droplet formation during spraying. The effect occurs via a dispersed network of fibrous particles in water, providing a weak but useful ability to coat surfaces by responsively adjusting its structure. The material is ex ....Engineering better sprays for leaf coating: from drop impact to retention. This proposal aims to understand the performance of a unique rheological modifier that can enable an order of magnitude increase in coating efficiency for aerosol sprays while not affecting the quality of droplet formation during spraying. The effect occurs via a dispersed network of fibrous particles in water, providing a weak but useful ability to coat surfaces by responsively adjusting its structure. The material is expected to enable a broad array of applications, from agricultural treatments to nasal sprays, by exhibiting responsive behaviour at concentrations much lower than conventional modifiers require. The project will study the responsiveness of the system in single droplet, spray, and coating form as well as an active delivery system.Read moreRead less