Oral Health Research Connect - July 2025 - Guest Speaker: Dr Padma Gadiyar & Dr Shalinie King

AI-Driven Innovation in Oral Health: Advancing Early Assessment, Access, and Triage Pathways - Dr Padma Gadiyar Dr Gadiyar will introduce Smilo.ai - an AI-powered digital health platform designed to transform dental care through virtual checkups, smile simulations, remote monitoring, and a 24/7 AI voice receptionist. She will walk through the core product features, the communities Smilo.ai serves, and the impact it has made so far. Dr Gadiyar will also share the team's goals for the future and explore opportunities for collaboration with the University of Sydney -particularly in clinical validation and co-developing innovative solutions to improve patient care, reduce waiting times, and enhance the efficiency of the oral healthcare system. Oral Health Research at WARC - Dr Shalinie King The Westmead Applied Research Centre (WARC) was established by the University of Sydney in collaboration with the Western Sydney Local Health District to create and apply innovation to addressing chronic health conditions. WARC brings together multidisciplinary experts to co-design, evaluate and translate innovative solutions into healthcare and prevention. It partners with industry, government, not-for-profit organisations. As programme lead for oral health research at WARC Dr King will provide an overview of the oral health related research activity at WARC and discuss opportunities for engagement and collaboration with the Dental School

Performance of Byzantine Fault Tolerant Blockchains

Blockchains have garnered significant attention, leading to a proliferation of systems available for adoption. However, choosing the right blockchain for a specific application remains challenging due to a lack of comparative analyses of core metrics such as throughput, latency, and scalability. While several studies have focused on performance evaluation, few address blockchains that are both efficient—avoiding complex Proof-of-Work cryptographic puzzles—and secure, achieving deterministic consensus despite Byzantine failures. This thesis evaluates the performance of three blockchains designed to handle such adversarial behaviors: Burrow, Quorum, and Red Belly Blockchain. For this purpose, we modified the Hyperledger Caliper benchmarking tool by addressing three key limitations: unnecessary overheads, online cryptographic signatures, and centralized clients. Our findings reveal the maximum send rate that Burrow and Quorum can sustain, and demonstrate that Red Belly Blockchain achieves up to 8 times higher throughput than the other blockchains

Musculoskeletal Pain in Children and Adolescents: Insights into Risk and Prognosis

Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is common in children and adolescents, with many experiencing persistent symptoms into adulthood. Despite advances in MSK research in adults, understanding of risk and prognosis in younger populations remains limited, impeding effective intervention development. Spinal pain, a subset of MSK pain, is thought to arise from interactions between biomechanical, psychological, and social factors. This thesis investigated sedentary behaviour as a potential predictor of spinal pain through three studies: a systematic review with meta-analysis, a cross-sectional analysis of adolescents with spinal pain, and a longitudinal causal analysis of adolescents who developed chronic spinal pain. These studies found only weak associations and no causal relationship between sedentary behaviour and spinal pain, with low certainty of evidence. The findings challenge the assumption that sedentary behaviour is a major contributor to spinal pain in adolescents and suggest that interventions targeting sedentary time alone are unlikely to be effective. Effective interventions require a thorough understanding of MSK pain prognosis to identify and target children and adolescents at higher risk of developing chronic, high-impact pain. This thesis also conducted a Cochrane review on MSK pain prognosis and a feasibility study tracking the clinical course of spinal pain in adolescents. The prognosis of MSK pain in youth is poorly understood, with substantial variability in recovery and persistence. Limited high-quality evidence highlights the need for robust longitudinal research. Weekly tracking of spinal pain progression in adolescents via SMS is highly feasible, with strong response and retention rates. However, recruitment challenges suggest future studies should expand clinician participation and explore alternative recruitment strategies. Future research should prioritise longitudinal studies addressing the complex biopsychosocial contributors to MSK pain in youth

Data from: Differences in government support for private sector climate change adaptation in developing versus developed countries

This data publications contains the dataset used in the journal manuscript tentatively titled as "Differences in government support for private sector climate change adaptation in developing versus developed countries".Our study focused on coral reef tourism operators across the Asia-Pacific region that have been severely affected by either coral bleaching or tropical cyclone impacts. In our survey we asked reef tourism operators whether they received helpful support from specific government support types. We also followed up with an open question that asked, “What kind of government action could have helped you respond and adapt more effectively to the coral bleaching / cyclone impacts?

The Subsidy Question: Community Theatre and the Integral State

This thesis explores how historical shifts in capitalist accumulation strategies have influenced Australian cultural subsidy. It examines the origins of Australian neoliberalism and its impact on federal arts funding from 1972 to 1997, focusing on the relationship between the state, community arts, and cultural policy. The methodology is historical materialism, guided by Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, which views the state as integral to capitalism. The first half of the thesis traces the evolution of federal arts funding as a Keynesian economic policy, through its transformation under the Whitlam government, to the destabilisation of the arts council model amid economic crises, and examines how these changes shaped Australia’s federal community arts program. The second half analyses how shifts in accumulation strategies are reflected in community arts through four case studies: Art and Working Life (1982-c1995), an arts program jointly funded by the Australia Council and the Australian Council of Trade Unions targeting projects linked to labour culture; Melbourne Workers Theatre (1987-2012), a theatre company dedicated to working exclusively with the labour movement; Creative Nation (1994), Australia’s first federal cultural policy, which entrenched an economic rationalist “creative industries” paradigm into policymaking; and The Essentials (1997), a community theatre production created with emergency services and domestic violence support workers about their experiences under a state-wide restructure by former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett. These case studies are examined in the context of declining organised labour power in Australia, and the rise and consolidation of neoliberalism as the dominant hegemony of advanced capitalism. This thesis finds that the industrial problems of the Australian arts sector result from a structural antagonism between a sector that relies on public funding and the imperatives of the neoliberal state

An improved method of capture and immobilisation for medium to large-size macropods

Macropods are very susceptible to stress during capture. Capture methods for macropods fall into two categories: trapping and darting. Trapping by nets or a triggered trap mechanism is commonly used for small macropods. Darting is most often used for large macropods that are more prone to stress and capture myopathy when caught in traps. Aim. To describe a modified ‘nylon drop-net’ technique for safely capturing medium to large macropods; and post-capture treatments that reduce stress and the potential for myopathy. Methods. We used a drop-net to capture 40 agile wallabies (Notamacropus agilis) (24 females and 16 males), ranging in weight from 6 to 24 kg. For immobilisation, a single dose of intramuscular Diazepam (1 mg/kg) and Richtasol, a multivitamin, was administered to reduce the risk of capture myopathy. The longer-term effects of capture on animal condition were monitored in 34 radio-collared individuals for 2 months. Key results. No deaths occurred during or as a result of capture or in the 8 weeks following capture. Conclusions. Our modified drop-net and handling/treatment regime provides a cost-effective method for capturing medium and small-sized macropod species with very low risk of mortality or morbidity. Implications. Our methods improve the welfare and safety of captured medium-sized macropods

Discovery scenes without a Discovery Space on the Early Modern stage

Dataset of all instances of 'discovery scenes' in Elizabethan, Jacobean and Carolingian plays. The data is searchable in terms of the characteristics of discoveries and the practicalities of staging them with only two entrance-points (one of which houses the discovery). The data is summarised (sheet 3) to elucidate the principal staging patterns.All instances of 'discovery scenes' in Elizabethan, Jacobean and Carolingian plays were analysed for their practical staging implications. Various data columns enable sorting of entries to elucidate staging patterns. Xcel spreadsheet, original texts from EEBO

Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Optimal Network and Market Operations in Active Distribution Networks

The global energy transition toward decarbonization, decentralisation, and digitalisation is driving rapid growth of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as photovoltaics, battery energy storage, electric vehicles, and flexible loads. Their widespread adoption reshapes electricity distribution networks, enabling higher renewable utilisation, local flexibility, and active prosumer participation. Yet it also introduces new challenges in system coordination, operational reliability, and economic efficiency. To fully capture DER potential, tightly coupled system–market frameworks are urgently needed. Market operations not only guide resource allocation and price formation but also provide a scalable basis for coordinating numerous heterogeneous, agent-based entities at the distribution level. This thesis proposes a layered market design that distinguishes between internal and external markets within virtual power plants (VPPs), enabling hierarchical and flexible energy trading. A carbon-aware market-clearing mechanism is further developed to jointly optimise economic cost and carbon emissions, embedding environmental considerations into operational decision-making. However, advanced market mechanisms create additional technical hurdles, including unbalanced power flow management, constraint satisfaction under decentralised control, and learning under uncertainty. To address these issues, the thesis develops a multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL) suite featuring: safe policy learning to satisfy nonlinear voltage and emission constraints, decentralised training to preserve data privacy, and large language model assistance to enhance robustness against exogenous uncertainties. All proposed mechanisms and algorithms are validated on standard IEEE distribution test systems. Results show that coordinated system and market operations empowered by MARL can significantly improve the scalability, security, and sustainability of next-generation distribution networks

An Investigation on the Lipidomic Profile of a Mouse Model of Dravet Syndrome and the Molecular Action of Cannabinoids

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder marked by recurrent seizures, cognitive and motor impairments, and increased mortality. Around 30% of patients are drug-resistant, making it vital to better understand its mechanisms and develop new treatments. Dravet syndrome, a severe developmental and epileptic encephalopathy beginning in infancy, involves persistent seizures, cognitive and behavioural disabilities, sleep problems, and strong resistance to treatment. About 80% of cases are linked to mutations in the SCN1A gene, but much about its underlying biology remains unclear. Evidence suggests lipid dysregulation may contribute to Dravet syndrome, as lipids regulate neuronal activity and are involved in neuroinflammation and the endocannabinoid system. The effectiveness of cholesterol modulators such as soticlestat, the ketogenic diet, and cannabinoids supports this link. However, more research is needed to understand how lipids influence drug-resistant epilepsy and how lipid-like compounds such as cannabinoids act therapeutically. This thesis investigated the lipid neurochemistry of Dravet syndrome and the pharmacology of cannabinoids. Lipidomic analysis of cortical and hippocampal tissue in Scn1a+/- mouse models revealed lipid profile changes associated with seizure susceptibility. Hexosylceramides emerged as key molecules, showing region- and strain-specific alterations, particularly upregulation in the hippocampus of seizure-prone mice, suggesting disrupted lipid pathways may contribute to seizure vulnerability. Two cannabinoids, CBC and CBCA, were then examined for their interactions with ABC transporters that regulate brain drug access. Results showed CBCA is an ABCB1 substrate while CBC is not, and neither compound inhibited ABCB1 or ABCG2 activity. Molecular docking confirmed CBCA binding sites on ABCB1, offering insights into cannabinoid pharmacology and their potential as next-generation anti-seizure agents

Investigating the psychosocial aspects of lung cancer screening: a focus on smoking-related stigma

Recent landmark trials have demonstrated that lung cancer screening (LCS) using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) can reduce lung cancer mortality by 20–24%. In response, many LCS programs globally are in active design or early implementation, including in Australia where the National Lung Cancer Screening Program (NLCSP) commenced on 1 July 2025. Psychosocial aspects of LCS are important considerations for screening services, both in terms of harm to participants and barriers to appropriate uptake. Current evidence suggests that psychosocial harms for LCS participants are minimal and/or short-term. However, these findings are primarily from clinical effectiveness trials, undertaken in motivated trial participants, and limited to use of standard outcome measures/constructs and measurement timepoints that are not reflective of the entire screening and assessment pathway. Increasingly, qualitative literature and studies outside of clinical trial environments highlight the complexity of psychosocial outcomes in LCS, and the influence of moderating factors. LCS also differs from other types of cancer screening in multiple ways, including its screening modality (LDCT of the chest), presentation and management of lung nodules, and eligibility criteria based on smoking status and history. Smoking-related stigma can create or compound psychosocial harms. While there is a substantial body of work around stigma for those with a diagnosis of lung cancer or other respiratory diseases, there is limited evidence on stigma in the screening context. Recognising these evidence gaps, this thesis synthesised the current literature and took a qualitative and participatory methods approach to investigate the psychosocial impacts and determinants of LCS, with a particular focus on smoking-related stigma. This program of work was conducted alongside development of the Australian NLCSP, offering a unique opportunity to directly impact program design