March 2010 - Swinburne University of Technology

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www.swinburne.edu.au ISSUE 9 | MARCH 2010 swinburne March 2010 Contents Issue 9 | March 2010 Bacteria surface surprise P3 Cultural pride’s education role P8 Vaccine hope for childhood virus P18 08 14 Knowledge being IS Centre draws on Indigenous wisdom Swin_1003_p01.indd 1 26/02/10 3:48 PM Upfront 2 social inclusion bridging the gap Australia is home to the world’s oldest living culture. Our Indigenous culture and history is one of our most precious cultural assets. However, the Australian community’s knowledge of its Indigenous background is scant; the depth of tradition and history unique to this country, barely scratched. This wide gulf in awareness and understanding is one of the reasons why most non-Indigenous Australians remain unaware of the enormous challenges that so many Indigenous Australians face on a daily basis. The representations of Indigenous Australians in our mainstream media continues to perpetuate the false perception that ‘real’ Indigenous culture exists only in remote Australia. The reality is that everyone in this land is standing on what was once Indigenous land. Indigenous Australian history is all around us – not just in the Red Centre and Top End … the Kimberley, Arnhem Land and Uluru. It is in our CBDs, along the corridors of urban sprawl, and woven intrinsically through the mountains and coastlines that backdrop our lives in our towns and cities. For most Australians the ripple effects of the colonial era and ethos have been left behind in history, but they have been felt every day for more than 220 years by Indigenous Australians. An understanding of this and how it still affects people’s lives is critical to bridging the cultural gap that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Our increasingly multicultural society has placed even greater pressures on the need to understand and alleviate the continuing effects of the attitudes, beliefs and legalism entrenched by our colonial origins. Prime Minister Rudd’s 2008 apology (on behalf of the Australian Government) articulated how important this is. Education, clearly, has a major role and responsibility. Swinburne is taking important steps to bridge this gap in understanding. Through programs and innovations at both higher education and TAFE level (some of which are outlined in this issue), the university is proactively linking contemporary Australia, education, Indigenous culture and community development. Utilising Swinburne’s geographical location on traditional Wurundjeri land and our cross-sector, multi-campus advantage, these programs are reaching out to Indigenous communities and gradually to the wider Australian community. It is a new, creative approach that is broadening the delivery and lengthening the reach of education. Critically, it is strengthening Indigenous education – allowing ‘the bridge’ to be built from both sides of the cultural divide. Andrew Peters Wurundjeri / Yorta Yorta descendant, Lecturer, Indigenous Studies and Tourism, Swinburne University of Technology cover story 06 Centre to tap knowledge as a way of being A new centre for Indigenous knowledge and design anthropology is set to shape the way knowledge is shared in Western universities Features Karin Derkley 03 ‘Clingy’ bacteria surprise comes to the surface Diny slamet 04 video on the moment our immune system fails Sometimes the human immune system fails, betrayed by its own defenders. Scientists have found a way to witness this ‘cellular warfare’ to, hopefully, identify what goes wrong Graeme O’Neill 08 cultural pride helps education start making sense A Swinburne TAFE program run in partnership with Victorian Aboriginal organisations is creating some stability for disadvantaged Indigenous youths karin derkley 10 colourful, creative and fighting to stay local Indigenous community television plays an important role in remote communities, but faces an uncertain future with Australia’s imminent conversion to digital television Karin Derkley 12 the ultimate wave By observing pulsars, researchers hope to discover space’s most elusive waves and thus gain new insights into the universe julian cribb 14 An Australian tissue engineer in paris dr gio Braidotti 16 human antennae tuned t0 the future The future can both excite and terrify. Helping people master this forward journey is the role of ‘strategic foresight’ dr gio Braidotti 18 Synthetic vaccine hope in fight against polio successor Researchers are working on synthetic vaccines, which are potentially safer, cheaper and more practical than conventional biological vaccines Julian cribb 20 Continuous system check could release data-processing ‘brake’ david adams 21 i phone, i shop … nutrition at your fingertips tim treadgold 22 greyfields revisited Australian cities’ ageing residential tracts – ‘greyfields’ – offer environmental and economic solutions to Australia’s hunger for city housing Professor Peter Newton •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• 18 21 Published by Swinburne University of Technology Editor: Dorothy Albrecht, Director, Marketing Services Deputy editor: Julianne Camerotto, Communications Manager (Research and Industry), Marketing Services, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne The information in this publication was correct at the time of going to press, March 2010. The views expressed by contributors in this publication are not necessarily those of Swinburne University of Technology. Written, edited, designed and produced on behalf of Swinburne University of Technology by Coretext, www.coretext.com.au, +61 3 9670 1168 Swinburne University of Technology John Street (PO Box 218), Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia Enquiries: +61 3 9214 8000 Website: www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine Email: magazine@swinburne.edu.au eSubscribe to Swinburne magazine: www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine/subscribe CRICOS provider Code 00111D ISSN 1835-6516 (Print) ISSN 1835-6524 (Online) Cover photo: Paul Jones
march 2010 swinburne ‘Clingy’ bacteria surprise comes to the surface story by Diny Slamet Improving the success rate of artificial implants. Reducing the risk of dangerous Staphylococcus outbreaks in hospitals. Dramatically reducing the amount of fuel oil burned by the world’s merchant shipping fleet. It is a disparate list, but nonetheless it is the set of research goals that a Swinburne University of Technology research team has begun to pursue. The issues all stem from bacterial activity, in particular the way bacteria adhere to surfaces by creating a ‘biofilm’ that protects the bacteria from the usual sterilisation treatments. The Swinburne team, working with specialists from Monash University, combines the skills of scientists of different specialisations – microbiology, nanotechnology, engineering and industrial sciences – to seek remedies that cannot be achieved by one discipline alone. The team is led by microbiologist Professor Elena Ivanova and includes surface chemist Professor Russell Crawford – who is also Dean of Swinburne’s Faculty of Life and Social Sciences – and physical metallurgists Professor Yuri Estrin and Dr Rimma Lapavok from Monash University. The problems caused by bacteria cost industries such as healthcare, hospitality and shipping billions of dollars each year. The rewards to individuals and society for solving the more intractable problems, such as hospital-borne infections, are immense. One of the most troublesome issues of modern medicine is infection-related implant failures. According to Professor Ivanova, up to 67 per cent of implants are troubled by bacterial problems. Despite thorough sterilisation processes, this high percentage of medical implants (commonly hips and knees) fail because some types of bacteria attach to the implant as a biofilm, from which they cause further infection. The only solution is to remove the infected implant and replace it. The research team has already made great strides by disproving a common hypothesis that had previously led researchers down a blind alley. While not a great deal is known about the forces that attract bacteria to solid surfaces, the common hypothesis was that bacteria attach more easily to rougher surfaces because the microscopic valleys on that surface provide shelter from commonly used disinfection processes. Some implant manufacturers are even going down the road of making their products ‘nano-smooth’ so the bacteria cannot find protection from sterilisation processes. But the scientists have made a surprising discovery. Working with nano-smooth titanium and a range of microbiological analysis techniques, the researchers have found that rather than making it harder for bacteria to adhere to, smooth surfaces seem to be more attractive to some problematic bacteria, with a higher degree of bacterial colonisation on smooth surfaces than on rough. “The way bacteria attach to nanosmooth surfaces is different to the way they adhere to rough surfaces,” explains Professor Crawford. “The bacteria adhere to these surfaces by secreting an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), which is a combination of sugars and proteins. This is the first time it has been shown that the EPS is produced in much greater quantities when bacteria come into contact with nanosmooth surfaces, causing a greater amount of bacterial attachment.” The research suggests that hospitals may have to rethink their disinfection techniques and that manufacturers may have to develop new disinfectants. “Many bacterial disinfectants used today are based on positively charged (or cationic) surfactants. These attach to the negatively charged bacteria, causing their cell wall to rupture and killing the bacteria. This new research has highlighted the need for disinfectant manufacturers to formulate new products that attack both the EPS and the bacterial cells, and not just the bacterial cells alone,” Professor Crawford says. Shipping is another industry where the Swinburne research may contribute to a big increase in efficiency. Scientists estimate that a biofilm (or bacterial build-up) the thickness of just a human hair on a ship’s hull can add US$400 an hour to fuel costs because it affects the ship’s drag, causing greater fuel consumption. Most of the techniques used to limit the build-up of biofilm on ships’ hulls work for Photo: iStockphoto / Malcolm Fife Swinburne research will help to develop surface coatings that reduce the ability of bacteria to build a film on ships’ hulls. This could save the global shipping industry millions of tonnes of oil a year because the ships will be able to move through the water more easily. a limited time and have a severe ecological downside, with toxic chemicals being used in most marine paints. The Swinburne research is adding to the body of knowledge that will lead to the development of surface coatings that can reduce the ability of bacteria to build a film on ships’ hulls. This could save the global shipping industry millions of tonnes of oil a year because the ships will be able to move through the water more easily. The work of the Swinburne scientists is still at the early research stage. “We are really looking at what causes biofilms to form and how well they form on a range of different surfaces. Once we publish our results we hope they will be used by companies to produce more effective disinfection processes and surface coatings,” Professor Crawford says. •• Contact. . Swinburne University of Technology 1300 275 788 magazine@swinburne.edu.au www.swinburne.edu.au/magazine Key points The way bacteria adhere to surfaces – by creating a ‘biofilm’ that protects them from the usual sterilisation treatments – is being investigated The Swinburne research team, working with specialists from Monash University, combines skills in microbiology, nanotechnology, engineering and industrial sciences The work could improve the success rate of artificial implants, reduce the risk of Staphylococcus outbreaks in hospitals and reduce the fuel consumption of ships surface science 3
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March 2010 - Swinburne University of Technology

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