Engineering

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  • (2022) Cao, Jun
    Thesis
    This thesis focuses on the development and applications of magnetic resonance electrical properties tomography (MREPT), which is an emerging imaging modality to noninvasively obtain the electrical properties of tissues, such as conductivity and permittivity. Chapter 2 describes the general information about human research ethics, MRI scanner, MR sequence and the method of phase-based MREPT implemented in this thesis. Chapter 3 examines the repeatability of phase-based MREPT in the brain conductivity measurement using balanced fast field echo (bFFE) and turbo spin echo (TSE) sequences, and investigate the effects of compressed SENSE, whole-head B_1 shimming and video watching during scan on the measurement precision. Chapter 4 investigates the conductivity signal in response to short-duration visual stimulus, compares the signal and functional activation pathway with that of BOLD, and tests the consistency of functional conductivity imaging (funCI) with visual stimulation across participants. Chapter 5 extends the use of functional conductivity imaging to somatosensory stimulation and trigeminal nerve stimulation to evaluate the consistency of functional conductivity activation across different types of stimuli. In addition, visual adaptation experiment is performed to test if the repetition suppression effect can be observed using funCI. Chapter 6 explores if resting state conductivity networks can be reliably constructed using resting state funCI, evaluates the consistency of persistent homology architectures, and compares the links between nodes in the whole brain. Chapter 7 investigates the feasibility of prostate conductivity imaging using MREPT, and distinctive features in the conductivity distribution between healthy participants and participants with suspected abnormalities.

  • (2023) Zillur Rahman, Kazi Mohammad
    Thesis
    Current healthcare infection surveillance rarely monitors the distribution of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in bacteria beyond clinical settings in Australia and overseas. This results in a significant gap in our ability to fully understand and manage the spread of AMR in the general community. This thesis explores whether wastewater-based monitoring could reveal geospatial-temporal and demographic trends of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the urban area of Greater Sydney, Australia. Untreated wastewater from 25 wastewater treatment plants sampled between 2017 and 2019 consistently contained extended-spectrum β-lactamases-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) isolates, suggesting its endemicity in the community. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates were occasionally detected. Demographic and healthcare infection-related factors correlated with the ESBL-E load, and demographic variables influenced the VRE load. In contrast, the healthcare infection-related factor mainly drove the CRE load. These findings demonstrate the potential of wastewater-based surveillance to understand the factors driving AMR distribution in the community. The subsequent thesis work covers the genomic characterisation of selected ESBL-E and CRE wastewater isolates to reveal their nature, origin, and underlying resistance mechanisms. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Escherichia coli isolates were related to high-risk human-associated pandemic clones and non-human-associated clones. The Klebsiella pneumoniae and K. variicola isolates were related to globally disseminated and emerging human-associated clones, and some were detected for the first time in Australia. Genomic analysis also indicated novel resistance mechanisms against nitrofurantoin in E. coli, and against piperacillin/tazobactam and ticarcillin/clavulanic acid in Klebsiella isolates. The virulence gene content indicated that some E. coli and Klebsiella isolates were likely associated with infections, while the asymptomatic carriage was suggested for other isolates. These results demonstrate a clear potential for wastewater-based surveillance to monitor the emergence and dissemination of resistance in non-clinical isolates, and in particular, isolates from the community and non-human sources. The findings of this study can complement healthcare infection surveillance to inform management strategies to mitigate the emergence and dissemination of AMR and important human pathogens in the general community.