What's On at UWA

The aim of this course is to introduce you to basic statistics. It will cover descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations); data exploration; basic categorical data analysis; simple linear regression and basic analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Subsidised rates are available for UWA Graduate Research Students.

Please register online.

The Seminar: For over more than a decade the research on BARD1 was a side-product of the research on the breast cancer gene and protein BRCA1. Co-expression of both proteins in most tissues, their similar structure, the same phenotypes in knock-out mice, and the hetero-dimeric complex formation of BRCA1 and BARD1 supported the commonly accepted few of BARD1 as an accessory protein of BRCA1. Work from my team was initiated with the assumption that BRCA1 and BARD1 proteins and genes might have common and separate functions. In recent years we discovered that differentially spliced forms of BARD1 are heavily overexpressed in many cancers. It appears plausible that BARD1 isoforms of different domain composition may be involved in the same pathways as FL BARD1, yet play a different role or compete for normal BRCA1-BARD1 functions. In my talk I will give an overview of the current state of research on BARD1, and, as far as possible within this given frame, on BRCA1. I will highlight the work from my group and provide the experimental evidence for the tumor promoting roles of aberrant forms of BARD1 that are associated with various types of cancer.

The Speaker: Irmgard IRMINGER-FINGER studied biology and biochemistry in Zurich, where she graduated in molecular biology and biochemistry and obtained a PhD in molecular genetics. After a three year postdoctoral period at the Molecular Cell Biology Department at the Harvard University, she returned to Switzerland and first had a position as independent researcher at the Biochemistry Department of the University of Geneva. In 1997 she moved into oncology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Geneva, having obtained a Swiss federal career development award. In 1998 she started her own research group focusing on the molecular pathways at the aging and cancer interface as part of the Biology of Aging Institute at the same institution. Since 2006 she heads the Molecular Gynecology and Obstetrics Laboratory at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Geneva University Hospitals. The main interest of this laboratory is the function of tumor suppressor genes in normal and cancer cells and their implication in carcinogenesis and cancer progression, in particular the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BARD1. Over the years, Dr. Irmgard Irminger-Finger built up her reputation as expert in the Cancer and Aging field and as expert on the BRCA1 and BARD1 genes, as author of scientific articles, speaker at conferences, organizer of meetings, editorial board member, and member of specific study groups and Task Forces.

You are invited to join us mark the 100th anniversary of the first meeting of the University of Western Australia’s Convocation.

The First meeting was held on March 4th 1913 in St George’s Hall, Hay St near the corner of Irwin Street. The historic façade including the portico, steps and tall white columns were restored when the new Perth District Court was constructed behind it at 500 Hay Street. To celebrate the Centenary of this meeting, a photo-shoot of 100 'graduates' will take place on the steps of the façade at 10am on Monday March 4th 2013.

The UWA Historical Society would be delighted if you could join us.

If you have academic robes, please bring them. If not please come anyway, as having just a few robed members will provide the ‘flavour’. Balloons for a joint release will be provided.

Monday March 4th is a public Holiday (Labour Day). There should be nearby street parking available and there is a public parking station across the road at King’s Hotel.

The UWA Centum will be there

The Seminar: This presentation will introduce you to the resources and expertise iVEC can provide to support your research. iVEC is encouraging the use of supercomputing, large scale data storage and visualisation for WA researchers. This is achieved by making available facilities and expertise to the research, education and industrial communities. Application areas include nanotechnology, radioastronomy, high energy physics, medical and mining training, medical research, mining and petroleum, architecture and construction, multimedia, and urban planning.

The Speakers:

Valerie is the Education Program Leader for iVEC. Valerie is responsible for training in supercomputing and eResearch along with internships and school outreach. She enjoys the challenge of communicating complex concepts to diverse audiences – breaking through the jargon to create a shared understanding. Valerie holds a PhD in Computer Science (SoftwareEngineering) and an honours degree in Computer Science.

Chris is a HPC Application Analyst and Parallel Programmer. He joins iVEC from Paratools, Inc. located in Eugene, Oregon where he was the Principle Investigator in several small business innovative research projects focused on developing HPC tools to support HPC application development and research.

Chris has also worked at University HPC centres both in the United States and in the United Kingdom as a Parallel Programmer. His career in High Performance Computing started at the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland as an Application Analyst. He has a Masters degree in Scientific Computing at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden; while his undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The “21st century microscope” will not be a single instrument; rather it will be an orchestration of specialised imaging technologies, data storage facilities, and specialised data processing engines. This presentation will detail two complimentary national projects that are creating an integrated computer environment for researchers who work with imaging data. The Multi-modal Australian ScienceS Imaging and Visualisation Environment (MASSIVE – www.massive.org.au) is a specialised high performance computing (HPC) facility for computational imaging and visualisation. This facility provides the hardware, software and expertise to drive research in the biomedical science, materials research, engineering, and geoscience communities, and it stimulates advanced imaging research that will be exploited across a range of imaging modalities, including synchrotron x-ray and infrared imaging, functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging, x-ray computer tomography (CT), electron microscopy and optical microscopy. MASSIVE is a unique Australian facility with a focus on fast data processing, including processing data “in-experiment”, large-scale visualisation, and analysis of large-cohort and longitudinal research studies. The facility runs an instrument integration project to allow researchers to more easily process instrument data, and provides a remote desktop environment for researchers to use desktop tools to process, analyse and visualize their data. A major undertaking under the MASSIVE program, is the NeCTAR-funded Characterisation Virtual Laboratory (CVL), a project that is developing software infrastructure on the cloud to provide easier access to the tools and techniques that researchers use to process, analyse and visualise imaging data. The CVL is developing three exemplar platforms for multi-modal or large-scale imaging in neuroscience, structural biology, and energy materials. This presentation will describe MASSIVE and the CVL, highlight research that is being conducted using these environments, and describe how researchers can access them. Wojtek James Goscinski is the coordinator of the Multimodal Australian ScienceS Imaging and Visualisation Environment (MASSIVE), a specialist Australian high performance computing facility for imaging and visualization, and he is the External Collaborations Manager at the Monash e-Research Centre a role in which he promotes effective and creative applications of technology in research.

UWA Enviro Fest aims to empower UWA students and staff to reduce their environmental impact, and increase their appreciation of the natural environment.

Each year Enviro Fest provides opportunities to indulge your interest in the natural environment and learn more about sustainable initiatives on campus. From gardening workshops, to live animal demonstrations to public discussions of important environmental issues, there’s something for all staff, students and their children. If you'd like to get involved with the Enviro Fest event, by holding an sustainability-related information stall or educational activity contact UWA Sustainable Development or the Guild's Event Manager.

With the added benefit of being held in common lunch hour, Enviro Fest '13 promises to be one of the year's biggest, most diverse, exciting, and unique events.

Image contrast arises in conventional X-ray radiography due the differential absorption of X-rays throughout the sample. Many objects of interest, for example, soft biological tissue, possess weak absorption contrast. Furthermore, by definition, absorption contrast is directly correlated with the radiation dose received by the sample. X-ray phase imaging was developed, initially using synchrotron radiation, in order to overcome the limitation of weak absorption contrast. This technique develops contrast based upon the difference in X-ray propagation times through a sample, which, in general, results in greater contrast than absorption based imaging. In this seminar I will discuss how X-ray phase imaging can be performed using conventional X-ray sources such as those used in clinics and give examples from a variety of fields including mammography, non-destructive testing, security screening and small animal imaging.

The Seminar: The femur of armadillos and their fossil relatives, the glyptodonts is characterised by a large third trochanter projecting from the lateral side of the shaft. The role of this prominent structure and the muscles that attach there is unknown. This presentation looks at the variation in the shape the xenarthran femur and explores the hypothesis that the third trochanter plays a role in regulating coronal plane bending strains in these strange animals.

The Speaker: Nick Milne began his research career in the 1980s looking at the uncinate processes of cervical vertebrae. He was interested in what role they played in the human neck and turned to comparative anatomy and function to try to understand these structures in a broader context. His interest in the comparative structure and function of bones has continued and collaborations with South American palaeontologists led to a fascination with armadillos and their strange glyptodont and ground sloth relatives. Collaborations with Paul O’Higgins in the UK have led to the application geometric morphometric and finite elements analysis techniques to try to understand aspects of xenarthran structure and function.

Unfortunately this event has been cancelled.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the presenter is no longer available to deliver this course.

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This course aims to provide you with an introduction to the facilities available in MS Excel from a statistical point of view. As well as an introduction to Excel, spreadsheet functions and graphics, it concentrates on performing basic statistical methods, producing charts and tables, and discusses the limitations of Excel when it comes to more complex statistical analysis.

Discount fees are available to UWA Postgraduate Research Students.

Book your financial advice appointment on campus at the University of Western Australia with a Unisuper Financial Advisor.Whichever type of advice you choose, your first appointment with UniSuper Advice is complimentary. If you wish to proceed, a fixed quote will be provided at the conclusion of the meeting.Contact Unisuper to make an Appointment

Building on the theme of the UWA Future Farm 2050 Project

The biggest issue facing humanity: how to feed 9 billion people in 2050 without destroying the planet. What science and technology is needed to meet this challenge?

Time: 1:00pm – 5:15pm followed by refreshments

Cost $40 + GST - RSVP for catering purposes by 2 April 2013 purchase tickets online at http://www.ioa.uwa.edu.au/industry-forum/

****************Program**************

1.00pm Welcome: W/Professor Kadambot Siddique, AM FTSE, Hackett Professor of Agriculture Chair, Director,The UWA Institute of Agriculture (IOA), UWA

1.10pm Why are we here?: Mr Graham Laitt, Managing Director, Milne Agrigroup Pty Ltd

1.28pm Future Food and Health: W/Professor Peter Leedman, Deputy Director, Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)

1:40pm Food Security or Food Quality for Australia?: Professor William Erskine, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA), UWA

1.53pm CGE animal food production: W/Professor Graeme Martin, Head, School of Animal Biology, Deputy Director,Chair of Animal Science, The UWA Institute of Agriculture

2.05pm Farming and Biodiversity: Mr Chris Curnow, Program Manager – Southwest Australia Land Manager Engagement WWF-Australia

2.17pm Energy Independence: W/Professor Dongke Zhang, Director, UWA Centre for Energy

2.30pm Valuing Water: Asst/Professor Nik Callow, School of Earth and Environment, UWA

2.43pm Soils alive and productive: W/Professor Andrew Whiteley, School of Earth and Environment, UWA

2.55pm Afternoon Tea

3:22pm Food provenance: W/Professor John Watling, Centre for Forensic Science, UWA

3:35pm Instant monitoring of food quality: W/Professor Laurie Faraone, School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering, UWA 3.48pm People/Rural Communities: Professor Matthew Tonts, Head, School of Earth and Environment, UWA

4:00pm Farmhouse Design for the Regions: Asst/Professor Patrick Beale, Chair of Architecture, School of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts, UWA

4.12pm Rural Enterprises: W/Professor Tim Mazzarol, UWA Business School

4.25pm Financial World View

4.38pm The Oxford Example and US Examples: Dr Annie Kerr, 3E Farming; Catherine Marriott, Influential Women,2012 WA RIRDC Rural Women’s Award recipient and the National Runner-up

4.50pm Summing Up and Discussion: W/Professor Peter Davies, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)

5:10pm Refreshments

This presentation combines the Retirement Planning seminar with an additional presentation from a Centrelink representative. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from both UniSuper and Centrelink experts on key retirement planning and Centrelink issues. Members wishing to attend the seminar must register with UniSuper refer web site link.

This event is open to both new and more seasoned staff who would like to gain a wider perspective on the joys and challenges of supervision from an Education perspective.

Topics include: Supervising at a distance/Supervising international students; and Balancing the fine line between supervision and intervention.

BYO lunch, tea and coffee will be provided.

The Graduate Education Officers will outline the UWA rules on formatting your thesis as a series of papers. The advantages and disadvantages of this format will also be discussed.

The Seminar: Cyril will present data of the first field study looking at how energy balance and foraging efficiency vary as a function of various socio-ecological factors (dominance rank, group size, reproductive state, habitat etc.) in a folivorous/herbivorous primate. Energy balance of individual females in a wild population of mountain gorillas in Rwanda was measured using observational data of food intake and travel distances as well as measurements of urinary C-peptide concentrations. He also tentatively explores how gorillas respond to and cope with toxins in their diet.

The Speaker: Cyril completed his PhD degree in biological anthropology in 2009 at the University of Zurich/Switzerland, supervised by Prof. Carel van Schaik. His research was aimed at understanding the evolutionary determinants of multilevel societies in primates and included 20 months of observations of wild snub-nosed monkeys in China, complemented with comparative cross-species analyses. Subsequently he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig/Germany and conducted a field study on the feeding ecology of mountain gorillas in Rwanda between 2009 and 2010 in collaboration with the Karisoke Research Center. In April 2011, he took up a position as an Assistant Professor in the School of Anatomy, Physiology & Human Biology, UWA.

His primary research interests include the evolution of primate sociality and the mechanisms that maintain social cohesion. His particular interests revolve around the evolution of “super-” or “ultra-sociality” which describes cases in which individuals of different social units interact and collaborate to varying degrees and in some cases form higher-level groupings such as multilevel societies. He is currently involved in ongoing projects on snub-nosed monkeys in China.

Special talk during Honey Week 2013

The Seminar: Advances in scanning geometries, detectors and computer vision are providing increasing detail in medical imaging, including dynamic 3-dimensional (3D) rendering allowing the user to view 3D structures of interest on a monitor. However, the interface between computer vision and pattern recognition by the brain has limitations. For example, when examining tactile objects rapid changes in orientation in respect to a light source provides multiple images for the visual cortex to ‘render’ for pattern recognition. The capacity to handle an object also provides tactile information. These limitations to computer vision are well known and considerable effort is being directed at developing virtual reality systems where the operator is immersed in the computer image in attempt to provide enhanced perception. These systems are cumbersome, slow and expensive. An alternative is to construct an accurate tactile model of the structures of interest. This is now possible with the development of rapid protypying systems where volumes rendered from 3D medical images can be processed into tactile models. Models are portable, can be sterilised, and mechanically altered. These attributes make them most useful as surgical aides providing detailed diagnostic anatomical information, as a means to assist with surgical navigation and trialling surgical procedures. For these reasons the Cranio-Maxillo-Facial unit at Princess Margaret Hospital obtained a rapid prototyping technology since 2002. This technology coupled with 3D surface scanners, reverse engineering software and haptic virtual clay tools provides a comprehensive surgical planning facility. This facility is now providing planning support for complex craniofacial reconstructive procedures for both paediatric and adult patients. This presentation will outline some of the in-house developments and workflows employed from diagnostic imaging, virtual surgical planning through to intra-operative navigation illustrated by case studies.

The Speaker: Mark is a graduate of the School of Anatomy and Human Biology obtaining BSc (Hons) and MSc by research. His primary research focus is bone biology with particular emphasis on craniofacial dental-skeletal dynamics. For the past decade he has been establishing computer assisted surgical planning facility in the Cranio-Maxillo-Facial and Cleft Lip &Palate Units at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. This facility is equipped with a range of 3-dimensional scanners; laser and optical stereophotogrammetry systems; haptic devices; 3D printer and polygon editing facilities. In consultation with oral-maxillo-facial and plastic & reconstructive surgeons Mark has developed workflows utilising these technologies to provide a comprehensive surgical planning facility that can render and fuse 3D medical images of different modalities to reverse engineer a 3D virtual patient, produce anatomical models, plan surgeries, design and manufacture patient specific surgical navigational aids. Most recently this facility has been developing spatially dense geometric morphometric synthesis of 3D faces that now can provide a statistical 3D rendering of normalisation of patient faces to be incorporated into the virtual patient environment to assist surgical planning.

The Seminar: The Vice Chancellor has called for “a full review of pedagogic purpose and practice in 2013, with the aim of introducing new pedagogies from the beginning of 2015” this aim was subsequently approved by the Academic Board. Unfortunately the primary driver for such change is often how we can do more with less. To plan for the future we need to investigate as many possible new ways of teaching as we can, in an attempt to maintain “pedagogical excellence” in a time of shrinking budgets. In some cases it is to explore new and exciting teaching methods, in others to “know the enemy” and understand the real costs and deficits of alternative teaching methods.

I will be describing the advantages and disadvantages of the strange 3D world that is “Second Life”; its transition from a den of iniquity where fortunes were made and lost on gambling, prostitution and dodgy banking deals (just like real life really) to a mature Web 2.0 environment used for educational and social purposes. I will cover the pros and cons of the environment for teaching, the implications of “virtual IP” and a “virtual economy” our plans for the “Virtual School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology” being built by Jay Jay Jegathesan and his team, and our links with the online medical school run by the University of Kentucky.

Participants are encouraged to attend in real life or, if they cannot attend through geographical or time constraints, to attend as their avatars in Second Life at Slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/13/9/28

The Speaker: Stuart Bunt is one of the last Professorial Fellows, Teaching and Learning left on campus. With Neville Bruce he introduced digitisation to histology, (taken so much further by Geoff Meyer) founded (with Miranda Grounds and Sarah Dunlop) the Image Analysis lab in APHB and (with Oron Catts and Miranda Grounds), SymbioticA, where he was scientific director for nearly a decade, he is CEO of the spin-off company Paradigm Diagnostics. A believer in universities as a catalyst for social justice and independent thought, Stuart is WA Division President of the NTEU, Vice president of UWAASA and was a senate member for 12 years. His research revolves around medical imaging, bioengineering and neuroscience with occasional forays into the theory and practice of bioart, pioneering, with the SymbioticA research group, the integration of “wetware” (fish neurons) with “hardware” (circuitry) to produce a prototype drawing cyborg known as “Fish and Chips”.

Through the UWA Health & Rehabiliation Clinic a variety of Clinical Pilates options are now available to staff and general public!

Clinical Pilates is a form of physical exercise that focuses on posture, balance, control, strength, flexibility, and breathing. It incorporates mat and equipment based exercises to optimise function, improve fitness and aid the management or rehabilitation following pain or injury. Using the experitse of Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology trained staff to tailor exercises, Clinical Pilates is able to ensure optimal gains whilst minimising risk of injury or aggravation.

Initial assessment may be required prior to starting classes. Sessions are available Mon-Fri at various times between 6am-6pm. Private Health Rebates May Apply.

Statistical meta-analysis deals with a variety of sophisticated statistical methods to efficiently combine the results of several studies that have a common target. In this course, we will describe the basic concepts of effect size for continuous measurements as well as qualitative attributes, combination of tests and estimates of effect size, tests for homogeneity of effect sizes, fixed versus random effects model of meta-analysis, combination of Gallup polls, meta-analysis of binary data, meta-regression, and publication bias.