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Today's date is Thursday, March 28, 2024
School of Human Sciences
 August 2021
Tuesday 10
13:00 - SEMINAR - Wake up to sleep: Current research at the Centre for Sleep Science : School of Human Sciences Seminar Series Website | More Information
Abstract Insufficient sleep is known to have detrimental impacts on mental and physical health and productivity. Alongside nutrition and exercise, sleep is increasingly being advocated as the third pillar of health. Yet, at least 4 in 10 Australians, and 6 in 10 over the age of 65, are regularly experiencing poor sleep with the sleep disorders insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea being the most common causes. The team at the Centre for Sleep Science are working on a number trials to treat these sleep disorders and improve sleep. Jen Walsh and Kath Maddison will discuss some of their current trials and present some data from recently completed trials including the use of medicinal cannabis to treat insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea and hypoglossal nerve stimulation to treat obstructive sleep apnoea.

 September 2021
Tuesday 21
13:00 - SEMINAR - Exploring the limits of human performance and environmental stress More Information
Abstract - Reduced locomotor performance generally occurs in hot and/or hypoxic compared to cool/normoxic conditions, especially when exercise is performed to the limit of tolerance (i.e., repeated ‘all out’ efforts). Such impaired exercise capacity with thermal and hypoxemic strains is largely determined by increased challenges placed on multiple regulatory systems to maintain homeostasis. Using a holistic approach, this presentation first aims to discuss lessons I have learned regarding performance regulation and associated physiological and neuromechanical consequences during exhaustive exercise in challenging environments. This will include examples taken from locomotor exercises performed in a lab-based environment (e.g., repeated sprint exercise in hot/hypoxic conditions) but also in the real world (i.e., when playing tennis or football in the heat). Historically, altitude training emerged in the 1960s and was limited to the “Live High Train High” method for the endurance athletes looking for increasing their oxygen transport. This “classical” method was completed in 1990s by the “Live High Train Low” method where athletes benefit from the higher intensity of training at low altitude. The panorama of the hypoxic/altitude training methods is now wider than in the past. This presentation also aims to present the recent updates on altitude/hypoxic training, targeting team sports in particular, to improve various aspects of sport performance. This will include innovative “Live Low Train High” methods (i.e., repeated sprint training in hypoxia) or the newly developed “Live High Train Low and High” intervention, presumably with molecular adaptations postponing muscle fatigue. Practical recommendations for implementation of these new altitude/hypoxic training methods and how to potentially combine them with heat stress training, in professional rugby for instance, will be discussed. Finally, the promises of heat therapy and hypoxic conditioning in clinical populations to improve therapeutic outcome beyond what is obtained today in rehabilitation settings will briefly be evoked
Tuesday 28
13:00 - SEMINAR - Unravelling the molecular and cell-mediated pathways in fibrosis More Information
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic and progressive form of interstitial lung disease (ILD) of unknown aetiology. Analysis of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying IPF have led to the discovery that gp130-mediated Jak/STAT signalling potentiates fibrosis in response to Blm-induced damage. Using knockout and mutant mouse models, with heightened Jak/STAT signalling but deficient in B and T cells we have implicated immune cells in the development of fibrosis. Our current research in human cells and tissues has demonstrated that IPF is associated with prominent lymphoid aggregates of CD3+ T cells and CD20+ B cells within the lung tissue located near sites of active fibrosis. We have examined peripheral blood and lung tissue samples from a cohort of clinically diagnosed IPF patients and aged match healthy controls to examine B cell populations and the presence of chemokines and auto antibodies. A subset of IPF patients displayed elevated levels of CXCL13 and BAFF in serum, and auto antibodies to nuclear antigens (30%), dsDNA (13%) and/or anti Rheumatoid factor Abs (30%). The presence of circulating autoantibodies suggests that these IPF patients have experienced a breakdown in self- tolerance to systemic antigens a finding consistent with other ILDs. Immunophenotyping of peripheral blood samples has revealed differences in immune cell subsets and this may be helpful in the future to better stratify patients to identify those who may benefit from targeted immunotherapy to arrest disease progression.

 October 2021
Tuesday 19
13:00 - SEMINAR - Diaphragm function during development and disease More Information
The diaphragm is the major component of the respiratory muscle pump and is rhythmically active throughout life, from the moment of birth until our final breath. So the functional capacity of the diaphragm is critically important for achieving its life-sustaining role in ventilation. Appropriate in utero development of the diaphragm is essential for the establishment of spontaneous breathing at birth; respiratory capacity can be a limiting factor for exhaustive exercise; and respiratory muscle weakness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. In this seminar I will present an overview of our research investigating diaphragm contractile function during development and disease. Using an ovine model of preterm birth, and rodent models of diaphragm immaturity, we have identified unique activation properties of the neonatal diaphragm, characterized the rapid adaptation of the diaphragm immediately after birth, and established the impact of common, clinically relevant in utero exposures on the functional integrity of the diaphragm. I will also present some of our recent work characterising the vulnerability of the diaphragm to contractile dysfunction in several animal models of human diseases. These studies highlight the important contribution of diaphragm dysfunction to respiratory disorders and provide insight into potential treatment strategies that aim to preserve diaphragmatic function.


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