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Inside the ‘secret’ Defence Science and Technology Group laboratories

You’re invited to take a look inside the ‘secret’ Defence Science and Technology Group laboratories in Fishermans Bend tomorrow and Thursday.

Access will be tightly controlled so it will take a bit of planning. This isn’t your regular media call where you can just turn up. This is Defence…. there will be forms, you’ll need ID, serial numbers of your kit and other complications.

But we have stories for your consideration: some for now, some for later. [Read more…] about Inside the ‘secret’ Defence Science and Technology Group laboratories

Australia is number 12 in high quality global research in Nature Index

Press release from Springer Nature

Group of Eight jostle for high-quality scientific research leadership in Australia

Australia is placed 12th globally for its contribution to high-quality scientific research papers, according to the Nature Index Tables released together today.

Australia is just ahead of India and three places behind South Korea. The US leads the index, followed by China, Germany, the UK and Japan.

Movers and shakers in the world of high-quality scientific research

Press release from Springer Nature

The US is the world’s largest contributor to high-quality scientific research papers, followed by China and Germany, according to the Nature Index 2016 Tables. Of the top ten countries in the Nature Index, only China has shown double-digit compound annual growth between 2012 and 2015 with some of its universities growing their contribution to the index as fast as 25% annually. US contributions have declined 2.8% in the same period from a very high base.

The Nature Index Tables, which show Nature Index calendar year outputs for the last four years, are released together today for the first time. The Nature Index is built on a country or institution’s contribution to about 60,000 high-quality papers each year, and counts both the total number of papers and the relative contribution to each paper. (See notes for editors for full definitions of measures.)

Harvard University, US, has the highest 2015 contribution of any university in the world. Stanford University (second), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (fourth), University of California, Berkeley (seventh), University of California, San Diego (ninth) and University of Michigan (tenth) — all from the US — occupy top ten positions. The University of Tokyo, Japan, is placed third, the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, UK, are fifth and sixth, respectively, and ETH Zurich, Switzerland, is placed eighth.

University of Otago is New Zealand’s top high quality research contributor in the Nature Index

Press release from Springer Nature

Otago at 303 in global index of thousands of universities, ahead of Auckland at 386

New Zealand is 30^th globally for its contribution to high-quality scientific research papers, according to the Nature Index Tables released together today. That puts it just behind Ireland, but ahead of Saudi Arabia, Chile, and Argentina.

The US remains the world’s largest contributor to high-quality scientific research papers, followed by China and Germany, according to the Nature Index 2016 Tables. Australia is 12^th.

The University of Otago is New Zealand’s leading research university in the index, placed 303 in the world ahead of the University of Auckland at 386.

Singapore: a regional research power in Nature Index

Press release from Springer Nature

NTU at 32 in global index of universities with NUS at 40

Singapore is 17th globally for its contribution to high-quality scientific research papers, according to the 2016 Nature Index Tables released together today. That puts it behind Australia (in 12th place) but in front of Taiwan (18) and Russia (19).

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) appears as Singapore’s leading research university in the index, placed 32 in the world among universities ahead of National University of Singapore (NUS) at 40. Both are well in front of Seoul National University and of Australia’s top universities.

Indonesian and Australian scientists test new TB vaccine targets for the TB fight in Indonesia and Australia

World TB Day on March 24 reminds us of the growing TB threat

Scientists available for interview in English and Bahasa Indonesia for World TB Day. Read the release in Bahasa Indonesia.
More images below.

Better vaccines are needed for the global fight against tuberculosis (TB). The Global Fund reports an estimated nine million new cases globally per year of TB, which is second only to AIDS as the world’s most deadly infectious disease. Indonesia had more than 320,000 reported cases in 2014 according to the World Health Organization, while Australia’s reported cases were just over 1,000. But the rise of drug-resistant TB poses a threat to all countries.

Two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium have shown promising results in investigations in mice for a new vaccine. Scientists from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney, with colleagues at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, have found that the injected proteins can prime the immune system to induce protection against TB in mice.

The team has established a laboratory and immunological techniques to test if the two proteins from the tuberculosis bacterium can be used as the basis for a vaccine. Credit: Centenary Institute

Target-target baru untuk vaksin tuberkulosis

Hari TB Sedunia (25 Maret) mengingatkan kita mengenai ancaman TB yang terus meningkat

Vaksin-vaksin yang lebih baik dibutuhkan agar dapat melawan TB di tingkat global. Global Fund melaporkan sekitar 9 juta kasus TB baru muncul setiap tahunnya, menempati posisi kedua sebagai penyakit menular paling mematikan di dunia setelah AIDS. Menurut Badan Kesehatan Dunia (WHO), lebih dari 320.000 kasus TB dilaporkan di Indonesia pada 2014. Sementara, hanya lebih dari 1.000 kasus TB yang dilaporkan di Australia. Namun, munculnya penyakit TB yang bersifat resistan terhadap obat menimbulkan ancaman bagi seluruh dunia.

Can sunshine help prevent pneumonia?

Scientists available for interview in Bahasa Indonesia and English.

Background information here.

Photos here. Read the release in Bahasa Indonesia.

The possibility of a link between vitamin D deficiency and pneumonia is being investigated in two studies by Indonesian and Australian scientists in Indonesia.

They’re tracking the incidence and severity in early childhood of respiratory tract infections, including the common cold, asthma, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis, in hospitals and the community, in the hope of providing more information for treatment and management for respiratory diseases.

#TB and pneumonia - iStock — Researchers are investigating a possible link between pneumonia and a lack of vitamin D.

Pneumonia is the number one killer of children under five in the country, and around six million young Indonesians suffer from it each year, according to a 2008 study. This collaboration is going to update those 2008 figures, and hopefully lower them – while trying to find the causes of it and other respiratory tract infections. [Read more…] about Can sunshine help prevent pneumonia?

Can sunshine help prevent pneumonia – background

Read in Bahasa Indonesia.

In 2008, a study funded by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation estimated that Indonesia was among the top six countries in the world for the number of new cases of pneumonia in children under five, says University of Melbourne PhD student and physician, Dr Vicka Oktaria of Gadjah Mada University.

She is coordinating collaborative research with scientists from Australia and Indonesia, to see if there’s a link between vitamin D deficiency and pneumonia in Indonesian children.

“But that estimate was based on an epidemiological model and most of the data is now 10 years old.”

Latar belakang – Dapatkah sinar matahari membantu mencegah pneumonia?

Pada tahun 2008, sebuah penelitian yang didanai oleh World Health Organisation, UNICEF, dan Gates Foundation memperkirakan bahwa Indonesia berada di antara enam negara teratas di dunia untuk jumlah kasus baru pneumonia (radang paru-paru) pada balita, kata mahasiswa PhD di University of Melbourne yang juga seorang dokter, Vicka Oktaria dari Universitas Gadjah Mada.

Vicka tengah mengoordinasi penelitian gabungan antara para ilmuwan dari Australia dan Indonesia, untuk mengetahui apakah kekurangan vitamin D terkait dengan pneumonia pada anak-anak di Indonesia.

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The possibility of a link between vitamin D deficiency and pneumonia is being investigated in two studies by Indonesian and Australian scientists in Indonesia.

They’re tracking the incidence and severity in early childhood of respiratory tract infections, including the common cold, asthma, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis, in hospitals and the community, in the hope of providing more information for treatment and management for respiratory diseases.

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