42,008 research outputs found
A Report Focussing on Teaching Academic Careers at Griffith
No full textThis project examined the developmental needs and perceptions of Griffith academics with a teaching emphasis (>50% teaching allocation) with the aim of further strengthening their contribution and success as university educators and leaders in learning and teaching.
This report summarises trends in teaching-focused academic careers in the Australian Higher Education sector, presents institutional data on the nature and distribution of teaching emphasis academics at Griffith and reports the perceptions of a range of key stakeholders (including senior leaders (Deans (L&T), Deans (Academic)), HR Managers, Heads of Schools and Deputy Heads of Schools, plus teaching emphasis academics) on issues affecting the careers of teaching emphasis academics.Full Tex
Playing with Fire: Understanding the Sunni-Shi'a Sectarian Lifecycle
No full textThis article discusses the ingrained impediments which are likely to stifle India's rise and growth - a phenomenon which has figured prominently in scholarly and official assessments, in India and outside, for over a decade now. Intriguingly India's rise as a global power has already been adjudged a certainty in these assessments, but the author contends that there exists an apparent disjuncture between how the world sees India and the prevailing internal impediments. Therefore, any assessment of India as a global power without incorporating these impediments would be incomplete, misplaced and hyperbolic. Of late, in the light of India's growing internal and external socio-economic and political difficulties, more and more writings and proclamations by Indian and international experts indicate emerging scepticism over India's potential as a global power. This paper takes a rollcall of India's internal impediments including, human development, institutional and security challenges which according to the author have already begun restraining India's global ascent.Griffith Business School, Griffith Asia InstituteFull Tex
Chronic Inflammation: A Link Between Cardiometabolic and Mood Disorders?
No full textWe live in an age of 'multimorbidity', yet have a rather poor understanding of the impacts of this phenomenon from cellular to organ and system levels. Bi-directional relationships are observed between cardiometabolic (diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease) and mood disorders (major depressive disorder), each increasing disease risk and frequently co-existing. This cardiometabolic-mood interaction may reflect an under-appreciated commonality of underlying mechanisms across these pathologies. Importantly, comorbid development of these disorders exacerbates the already profound burdens of these individual chronic disorders. Further, psychosocial stress and ageing – increasingly prevalent features of modern societies - may promote these conditions and worsen outcomes. In assessing the intersections of these inter-related disorders, chronic low-grade inflammation is often highlighted and implicated as a common early substrate in cardiometabolic and mood disorders, linking these dominant diseases. Nonetheless, how immunoinflammatory dysregulation drives multimorbidity, and influences 'multifinality' (diverse disease outcomes from common risks/causes), are unclear. Whether immunoinflammatory changes in metabolic vs mood disorders are unique or involve common motifs, and how these interact in dictating cardiometabolic and mental health, remains to be established. Dysregulation of toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling has been specifically implicated in these diseases, potentially presenting a mechanistic nexus in comorbid development of cardiometabolic and mood disorders.
The doctoral work presented in this thesis was designed to address the broad concept of mechanistic intersections contributing to rising multimorbidity. In order to practicably achieve this at a systems level, four major tissues impacted by and contributing to aspects of metabolic and mood disorders were studied: the brain, heart, liver and blood (circulating serum). The brain is an overarching and critical organ, regulating both mood and metabolic homeostasis, and influencing all other organ systems. Cardiac tissue is assessed as it is particularly impacted by type 2 diabetes (T2D); the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is markedly elevated in T2D patients and is the lead cause of death in these patients. Further, CVD is an independent risk factor for both depression and T2D. The liver is fundamental to metabolic homeostasis (the central organ maintaining homeostasis across fed and fasted states via oxidisable substrate storage and release), links the gut to the periphery (gut-liver axis) and contains specialised macrophages which are front-line responders to gut-derived lipopolysaccharides (LPS) (arising with gut permeability changes). Finally, serum was assessed as it is the primary medium for transport of macronutrients, hormones and immunoinflammatory molecules throughout the body.
To avoid the pitfalls of reliance upon gene-modified animal models, non-genetic murine models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes development in early adulthood were studied in Chapter 2 to explore potential changes in TLR-related signalling at the gene level. Somewhat unexpectedly, there was little evidence of shifts in TLR signalling in central nervous system (CNS), hepatic or cardiac tissues in these two conditions. Moreover, while modest elevations in circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) are observed in T2D animals, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) levels remained unchanged across models. Together with further analysis of gene expression, these data indicate that the T2D model does not develop an overtly pro-inflammatory phenotype, despite clear evidence of metabolic dysregulation. Given that a well-developed diabetic phenotype was observed (increased body weight, moderate hyperglycaemia, insulin resistance), this work called into question the essential role of TLR4 in the pathogenesis of T2D. Data does reveal marked changes in circulating adipokines and catecholamines, suggesting these endocrine systems may be key to disease progression, independent of inflammation. Surprisingly, assessment of circulating LPS revealed serum levels were decreased (although not significantly) in T2D animals, which casts doubt on whether 12 weeks of feeding with a ‘Western diet’ (30% of total calories from fat) is sufficient to disturb gut physiology and trigger the systemic innate immune response. The majority of animal models employ much higher fat percentages (45-60% calories from fat) in their diabetogenic diets, despite such high fat levels vastly exceeding those in a Western diet (~30%) and raising questions of pathophysiological relevance. Given that little evidence of TLR dysregulation was detected at a physiologically relevant fat percentage, a more chronic model (21-week dietary modification) with an intermediate fat content (43% calories from fat) was developed for subsequent experimentation.
Studies in Chapter 3 demonstrate that a more profound weight gain is achieved with a higher fat content, which still remains below the extreme 60% levels often studied in animal models: this new feeding regime resulted in significantly greater body weight gain although fasting insulin and glucose levels were not altered when compared with the T2D model assessed in Chapter 2. Nonetheless, despite this more pronounced phenotype, limited TLR4-related gene changes were observed in the model. Selective changes to total cellular nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) protein expression were observed in hepatic tissue, although analysis of the nuclear compartment revealed no changes in response to T2D. Thus, while a greater pool of this critical pro-inflammatory factor was evident, this was not necessarily associated with increased nuclear interaction and thus transcriptional control. These data suggest dysregulation of transcriptional control by NF-κB (particularly TLR4 pathway elements) may not be essential in the evolution of T2D in these animals.
Examining a dietary intervention with an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA), α-linolenic acid (ALA), which has been linked to anti-inflammatory outcomes in some chronic disorders, revealed no improvements in the systemic sequalae of T2D. This is consistent with evidence PUFA supplementation may (somewhat paradoxically) have greater influences on metabolic homeostasis in healthy rather than diseased subjects. Unexpected elevations in key inflammatory transcripts were noted with ALA supplementation, potentially reflecting the highly pleiotropic actions of PUFAs. Proteomic profiling of cardiac tissue revealed that a number of inflammatory and related factors beyond TLR-related signalling were impacted by T2D (Serpin-1/PAI-1, leptin, resistin) and/or are sensitive to ALA (IL-10, CD40, VEGF). Data also suggest animal age may be a complicating factor in the protracted disease model, producing apparent independent effects on leptin/insulin expression levels, in turn complicating interpretation of these data. Finally, specific investigation of CNS changes in the model - via analysis of frontal cortex (FC) leptin receptor expression - indicates a sensitivity of central leptin signalling to T2D, which may not only participate in metabolic dysregulation but behavioural outcomes (as suggested in the pathogenesis of depression, for example). This highlights the likely importance of central control and behavioural determinants of disease outcomes.
Investigating central control mechanisms and behaviour in more detail, studies presented in Chapter 4 revealed that the T2D phenotype involves induction of anxiety-related behaviours without impacting on hedonic behaviour. Further, despite evidence from other studies of the benefits of PUFA supplementation in mood disorders, ALA supplementation did not reverse anxiety-related behaviours, though increased locomotion in both healthy and T2D animals. Interestingly, analysis suggests ALA supplementation may confer benefits to locomotive activity independently of disease state, although outcomes are better in healthy controls. Examining elements of central reward pathways, neurotransmission, endocrine and inflammatory control in FC and hippocampus revealed select changes with T2D, including elevated Drd2 (dopamine D2 receptor) and reduced Htr1a (serotonin receptor 1A) in the FC, together with shifts in leptin receptor expression. Surprisingly, hippocampal Il1b gene expression remained similar between groups, though this is consistent with no change in hedonic behaviour. Circulating dopamine and leptin were also sensitive to T2D, with hippocampal dopamine levels selectively elevated in T2D animals supplemented with ALA (although the relevance of this finding is not clear). Overall, these data point to dysregulation of central dopamine and leptin signalling, which may contribute to behavioural disruption in T2D, in turn influencing disease development and outcomes.
In the final studies, CNS responses were explored in greater detail via RNA-sequencing (Chapter 5), more broadly testing whether metabolic and mood disorders share common nervous system changes. Analyses of transcriptome profiles in the FC of the T2D model assessed in Chapter 5 together with a model of chronic social stress (SS) known to induce anxiety/depressive behaviours again provided limited support for an overarching immunoinflammatory dysregulation as a key driver of behavioural changes. These analyses reveal both distinct and common processes (beyond TLR-signalling) that are dysregulated in disease. Comparison between T2D and SS models reveal commonalities in CNS leptin and insulin receptor changes, congruent with evidence of insulin and leptin resistance in the T2D model and their implication in both human major depressive disorder (MDD) and T2D. A majority of over-represented genes were related to cell/tissue development, cell migration and proliferation, suggesting a dominant role for CNS 'remodelling' with both metabolic and mood disorders. Interestingly, down-regulation of ATP metabolic processes and mitochondrial genes was evident in the SS model but not T2D, supporting a more dominant effect of stress on energy production.
Taken together, the findings presented in this doctoral project raise questions regarding the role of dysregulated TLR-signalling in T2D (and stress-related disorders). Despite a clear diabetic phenotype and shifts in behavioural profiles of T2D animals, findings challenge whether TLR-related dysregulation (reported by others) may be a consequence rather than causative factor in disease pathogenesis. Importantly, evidence is presented that insulin, leptin and dopamine signalling (together with other metabolic mediators) may be important linkages between metabolic and mood disorders, and underlie behavioural detriment in T2D. In terms of limiting the development or impacts of disease, n-3 PUFA supplementation resulted in selective benefits in T2D, though these appear unrelated to the metabolic profile of these animals. Finally, shared and unique CNS changes were identified in models of T2D and chronic social stress, supporting structural sensitivity and plasticity with inter-related metabolic and mood disorders.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)School of Medical ScienceGriffith HealthFull Tex
The Piezoresistive Effect of p-type Single Crystalline 3C-SiC for Mechanical Sensors
No full textSilicon carbide (SiC) is a promising material for electronic devices operating at high temperatures, thanks to its large energy band gap, superior mechanical prop- erties and excellent chemical inertness. Among various poly types of SiC, cubic single crystalline silicon carbide (3C-SiC) is considered to be the most suitable poly type for MEMS applications, as it can be grown on a Si substrate which is com- patible with the conventional MEMS process and reduces the cost of SiC wafers. Studies on the piezoresistive effect of 3C-SiC are of great interest for developing mechanical sensors such as pressure sensors and strain sensors used for controlling combustion and deep well drilling. This research aims to experimentally charac- terize and theoretically analyze the piezoresistive effect of p-type single crystalline 3C-SiC grown on a large scale Si substrate. The gauge factor, the piezoresistive coefficients in two-terminal and four-terminal resistors, the comparison between single crystalline and nano crystalline SiC, as well as the temperature dependence of the piezoresistive effect in p-type 3C-SiC are also addressed. The large gauge factors of the p-type 3C-SiC at both room temperature and high temperatures found in this study indicated that this poly type is feasible for the development of mechanical sensing transducers used in harsh environments with high temperatures.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith School of EngineeringScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
Canyons and Ice: The Wilderness Travel of Dick Griffith
No full textDick Griffith journeyed across Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and the American West. According to Jon Krakauer, "Griffith is simply afflicted with an irresistible inclination to attempt what others say can't be done. When asked what possesses a man to repeatedly strike out alone across hundreds of miles of rugged, lonely country, he replies, 'Every so often, it's just time to walk.'" Kaylene Johnson is author of five books about Alaska including her memoir A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My Son in Alaska
Teaching Indigenous Australian Studies in Contemporary Settings: Are Pre-service Teachers Prepared?
No full textThis research study critically explores the attitudes of Griffith University (Griffith) pre-service teachers in relation to teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages in education contexts. Educational policy from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) - Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (National Teaching Standards), in particular AITSL Graduate Standard 2.4 provides the framework for this study. At a graduate level, this standard requires graduates to “Demonstrate broad knowledge of, understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages” (AITSL, 2011, p. 11). Research participants were Bachelor of Education students who completed an Indigenous education course 3030EDN Studies of Indigenous Australia (3030EDN) prior to participation in this study.
In order to explore this research topic, a case study methodology was employed. Within the case study, data collection methods included an on-line survey of 82 pre-service teachers, followed by extended interviews with four pre-service teachers, who identified themselves as being willing to participate in a yarning session. Moreover, an analysis of the course materials from 3030EDN as well as AITSL Graduate Standard 2.4 was undertaken. The collated data then formed the basis for a critical analysis framed by Indigenous standpoint theory (Nakata, 2007a).Thesis (Masters)Master of Education and Professional Studies Research (MEdProfStRes)School of Education and Professional StudiesArts, Education and LawFull Tex
Prediction of Wave-Induced Seabed Maximum Liquefaction Depth Using Artificial Neural Network Model
No full textIn the last few decades, considerable effort has been devoted to the phenomenon of wave-induced liquefaction. In deed, it is one of the most important factors used in analysing
the seabed stability and in designing marine structures. As waves propagate and fluctuate
over the ocean surface, energy is carried within the medium of the water particles. When
this energy is transmitted into the seabed, the results are a rather complex mechanism of
soil behaviours that significantly affect the stability of the seabed.
The prediction of wave-induced seabed liquefaction has been recognised by coastal
geotechnical engineers as an important factor when considering the design of marine
structures. All existing prediction of wave-induced seabed liquefaction models have been
based on conventional approaches of engineering mechanics, with limited laboratory work.
Previous studies have involved complicated procedures and complex mathematical methods.
The present meticulous study has been based on the existing poro-elastic wave-induced
seabed liquefaction solution, and has adopted Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to
predict maximum wave-induced seabed liquefaction. The author has proposed an alternative
approach for prediction of the maximum liquefaction depth, based on the Artificial
Neural Network (ANN). Unlike previous engineering mechanical approaches, the various
proposed ANN models are based on data learning knowledge, rather than on the knowledge
of the mechanisms. The author has concluded that ANN models can be applicable
to such engineering exercise at least this study.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)Griffith School of EngineeringScience, Environment, Engineering and TechnologyFull Tex
Reflections on transgender immigration
No full textRecently, the Human Rights Commission of New Zealand has conducted an inquiry that has officially documented ‘the obstacles to dignity, equality and security for trans people’. The Australian Human Rights Commission has also recently conducted a sex and gender diversity project, and in 2006 the Equalities Review in the United Kingdom commissioned the largest research project ever untaken globally on trans people’s lives, reported in Engendered Penalties: Transgender and Transsexual People’s Experiences of Inequality and Discrimination. This article reflects on the implications of the issues raised by these recent reports and research for transgendered people immigrating to and from New Zealand. It also raises some parallel issues for Australia
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Oral History Interview with Dotty Griffith, November 21, 2014
No full textInterview with Dotty Griffith, journalist and author from Dallas, Texas. The interview includes discussion of her youth, education, and career in journalism and as an author
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