Carbon Storage and Emissions from Forest Products in Australian Landfills

Approximately 3.1 Mt of forest products are discarded in Australian landfills annually, with only limited knowledge on the extent of decay for the various products. As organic materials decay in landfills they release methane and carbon dioxide. The main aim of this study was to improve understanding of the extent of decomposition of wood and paper products in landfills in Australia, based on the analysis of carbon dynamics in forest products excavated from landfills in New South Wales and Queensland, and investigations of the fate of carbon in forest products under controlled laboratory conditions designed to optimise anaerobic decay. There was typically little or no decay in the wood samples from the landfills in Sydney. Although there was significant decay in rainforest wood excavated from Cairns, decay levels for other wood types found both in Cairns and Sydney landfills were lower (0.7-9.0%). Climate did not influence decay in wood and engineered wood products (EWP). Microscopic analyses revealed that most decay patterns in wood analysed from Sydney MSW landfills were consistent with aerobic fungal decay. Estimated carbon loss ranged from 0.6 to 9.0% for EWPs and 0 to 58.9% for paper. Papers produced from mechanical pulp had lower carbon loss than those produced via chemical processes. Climate impacted on decay levels for papers made from chemical pulp. Lower carbon losses were observed for EWP and paper excavated from the C&D landfill compared with MSW landfills. Decay factors for paper should therefore reflect pulp type, climate and landfill type. Carbon losses ranged from 0.2-3.8% for wood species tested in the reactor studies. The suggested factor for carbon loss for wood in landfills in Australia is 1.4%. Microscopy analyses in the wood revealed evidence of bacterial attack only. Addition of copy paper did not increase carbon loss for the wood species tested. Carbon losses for particleboard and MDF ranged from 0.7-1.6%. Carbon losses for bamboo (11.4%) were significantly higher than for EWPs. Carbon losses for the three types of copy paper ranged from 72.4 – to 82.5 %, and were significantly higher than for cardboard (43.8%). Differences in carbon loss between paper types were statistically significant. A decay factor for combined EWPs and wood in landfills in Australia of 1.3% and for paper products of 47.7% is proposed. The new suggested decay factors represent a significant reduction from factors currently used for forest products, with substantial impacts on greenhouse gas estimation from landfills

learning@home Wil Initiative Evaluation

The learning@home Work Integrated Learning (WiL) Initiative (hereafter WiL Initiative) was introduced as an alternative to graduate stage Professional Experience (PEx) placements for final year Initial Teacher Education (ITE) students during April 2020. The WiL Initiative was introduced due to the COVID-19 restrictions which interrupted PEx placements in schools. Five Queensland Universities and a total of 211 ITE students engaged in the WiL Initiative comprising: Griffith University (105 students), Australian Catholic University (54), University of the Sunshine Coast (23), James Cook University (20), and Central Queensland University (9)

Review of Transformational Ethics of Film, by Martin P. Rossouw

In Transformational Ethics of Film, Martin P. Rossouw airs an implicit claim from the history of film philosophy: that some manner of ethically "good" personal transformation is made possible through cinema. Ethics in film philosophy, he argues, tends to rely upon a notional spectator who will be transformed in encountering a film's conceptual tapestry in the approach laid out by the theorist. Rossouw nominates such a transformation a "cinemakeover," and the endeavor is edifying because there is something important in the silent argument his predecessors have rehearsed. Films can meaningfully transform the way we see the world--its causality, our place within it, and ergo its ethics. Yet there are already so many heteronomous links to this causal chain that it is practically begging for the scrutiny of philosophers, and the most salient moral point to these transformations is so often lost in pursuit of their rationalization: how do we affect other people and living things after transformative change

Selecting physiological features for predicting bidding behavior in electronic auctions

Affective processes play an important role in determining human behavior in auctions. While previous research has shown that physiological measurements provide insights into these processes, it remains unclear which of the many features that can be computed from physiological data are particularly useful in predicting human behavior. Identifying these features is important for gaining a better understanding of affective processes in electronic auctions and for building biofeedback systems. In this study, we propose a new approach to identify physiological features for predicting auction behavior. We apply an Evolutionary Algorithm in combination with either the Multiple Linear Regression or Artificial Neural Network models to select physiological features and assess their predictive power. To test the approach, we use a unique dataset of participants' auction decisions and their synchronously recorded electrocardiography data. Our results show that the approach is able to identify subsets of physiological features that consistently outperform other physiological features

Optimising the job-shop scheduling problem using a multi-objective Jaya algorithm

This paper presents an effective multi-objective Jaya (EMOJaya) algorithm to solve a multi-objective job-shop scheduling problem, aiming to simultaneously minimise the makespan, total flow time and mean tardiness. A strategy based on grey entropy parallel analysis (GEPA) is developed to assess and select solutions during the search process. To obtain a high-quality reference sequence for GEPA, an opposition-based learning (OBL) strategy is used in parallel. Additionally, the OBL strategy is incorporated into Jaya's search operation and external archive to enhance the search ability and convergence rate of the algorithm. Computational experiments based on 30 benchmark instances with different scales confirm that GEPA and OBL can significantly improve the performance of our proposed EMOJaya. Experimental results also show that EMOJaya is able to outperform three state-of-the-art multi-objective algorithms in solving the problem at hand in terms of convergence, diversity and distribution. Further, EMOJaya can obtain more high-quality scheduling schemes, which provide more and better options for decision makers

A forensic science camp for talented students

In the North West region of New South Wales, a project was initiated in 1993 to address the lack of resources allocated to the talented science student. A four day residential camp resulted, which was held in Armidale. The foci for the program were the scientific procedures and concepts involved in the practice of forensic science

Combining 1,4-dihydroxy quininib with Bevacizumab/FOLFOX alters angiogenic and inflammatory secretions in ex vivo colorectal tumors

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide with one in every five patients diagnosed with metastatic CRC (mCRC). In mCRC cases, the 5-year survival rate remains at approximately 14%, reflecting the lack of effectiveness of currently available treatments such as the anti-VEGF targeting antibody Bevacizumab combined with the chemotherapy folinic acid, fluorouracil and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX). Approximately 60% of patients do not respond to this combined treatment. Furthermore, Bevacizumab inhibits dendritic cell (DC) maturation in poor responders, a key process for tumor eradication. Method: Following drug treatment, secreted expression levels of angiogenic and inflammatory markers in tumor conditioned media generated from human ex vivo colorectal tumors were measured by ELISA. Dendritic cell phenotypic and maturation markers were assessed by flow cytometry. Results: Our novel compound, 1,4-dihydroxy quininib, acts in an alternative pathway compared to the approved therapy Bevacizumab. 1,4-dihydroxy quininib alone, and in combination with Bevacizumab or FOLFOX significantly reduced TIE-2 expression which is involved in the promotion of tumor vascularization. Combination treatment with 1,4-dihydroxy quininib significantly increased the expression level of DC phenotypic and maturation markers. Conclusion: Our results indicate the anti-angiogenic small molecule 1,4-dihydroxy quininib could be an alternative novel treatment in combination therapy for CRC patients

Circulating tumor DNA – Current state of play and future perspectives

Cancer management paradigms are shifting towards a personalized approach thanks to the advent of the -omics technologies. Liquid biopsies, consisting in the sampling of blood and other bodily fluids, are emerging as a valid alternative to circulating tumor biomarkers and tumor tissue biopsies for cancer diagnosis, routine monitoring and prognostication. The content of a liquid biopsy is referred to as the “tumor circulome”. Among its components, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), including both cell-free and exosome-associated DNA, is the most widely characterized element. ctDNA analysis has a tremendous capability in the diagnostic arena. Its potential has been demonstrated at each level of disease staging and management and supported by a recent FDA approval for companion diagnostic, and the investments being made by pharmaceutical companies in this sector are numerous. The approaches available for ctDNA analysis allow both quantitative and qualitative studies and range from PCR and dPCR-mediated single/multiple gene mutational assessment to whole genome next generation sequencing and methylation mapping. Although the principal object of a liquid biopsy is blood, other body fluids such as urine and saliva show potential as complementary DNA sources for tumor analysis. In this review we provide a synopsis on the state of play of current ctDNA application. We discuss the clinical significance of ctDNA analysis and review the state of the art of technologies being currently developed to this aim. We also discuss the current issues limiting ctDNA application and highlight the promising approaches being developed to overcome these

Identifying malicious web domains using machine learning techniques with online credibility and performance data

Malicious web domains represent a big threat to web users' privacy and security. With so much freely available data on the Internet about web domains' popularity and performance, this study investigated the performance of well-known machine learning techniques used in conjunction with this type of online data to identify malicious web domains. Two datasets consisting of malware and phishing domains were collected to build and evaluate the machine learning classifiers. Five single classifiers and four ensemble classifiers were applied to distinguish malicious domains from benign ones. In addition, a binary particle swarm optimisation (BPSO) based feature selection method was used to improve the performance of single classifiers. Experimental results show that, based on the web domains' popularity and performance data features, the examined machine learning techniques can accurately identify malicious domains in different ways. Furthermore, the BPSO-based feature selection procedure is shown to be an effective way to improve the performance of classifiers

Membrane to cytosol redistribution of αII-spectrin drives extracellular vesicle biogenesis in malignant breast cells

Spectrin is a ubiquitous cytoskeletal protein that provides structural stability and supports membrane integrity. In erythrocytes, spectrin proteolysis leads to the biogenesis of plasma membrane extracellular vesicles (EVs). However, its role in non-erythroid or cancer-derived plasma membrane EVs biogenesis is unknown. This study aims to examine the role of αII-spectrin in malignant and non-malignant plasma membrane vesiculation. We developed a custom, automated cell segmentation plugin for the image processor, Fiji, that provides an unbiased assessment of high resolution confocal microscopy images of the subcellular distribution of αII-spectrin. We show that, in low vesiculating non-malignant MBE-F breast cells, prominent cortical spectrin localises to the cell periphery at rest. In comparison, cortical spectrin is diminished in high vesiculating malignant MCF-7 breast cells at rest. A cortical distribution of spectrin correlates with increased biomechanical stiffness as measured by Atomic Force Microscopy. Furthermore, cortical spectrin can be induced in malignant MCF-7 cells by treatment with known vesiculation modulators including the calcium chelator, BAPTA-AM or the calpain inhibitor II (ALLM). These results demonstrate that the subcellular localisation of spectrin is distinctly different in malignant and non-malignant cells at rest and shows that the redistribution of cortical αII-spectrin to the cytoplasm supports plasma membrane-derived EV biogenesis in malignant cells