LIMITATIONS OF PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS: THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLAINT AS AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY IN PRACTICE AND LAW

Even though the conduct of fair proceedings is very important, it does not necessarily lead to a fair outcome of the given proceedings. Thus, fair proceedings must be complemented by a fair substantive outcome in order to render basic rights practical and effective. The reason for such a shortcoming of procedural fairness might be manifold, but it essentially boils down to the mechanical application of the law, excessive formalism in the application and interpretation of the law, and a failure to go beyond mere appearances and assess the realities of the situation complained of. In this paper, I expound on the role of the constitutional complaint as an effective remedy pertinent to individuals who have an arguable claim regarding a violation of their substantive rights guaranteed by the ECHR and the Constitution alike. This paper analyses a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo where it found a violation of the right to privacy and family life and the right to an effective remedy, notwithstanding the fair conduct of the proceedings. I will also show the impact of the relevant case law of the European Court on the approach and rationale of the Constitutional Court

LIMITATIONS OF PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS: THE CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLAINT AS AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY IN PRACTICE AND LAW

Even though the conduct of fair proceedings is very important, it does not necessarily lead to a fair outcome of the given proceedings. Thus, fair proceedings must be complemented by a fair substantive outcome in order to render basic rights practical and effective. The reason for such a shortcoming of procedural fairness might be manifold, but it essentially boils down to the mechanical application of the law, excessive formalism in the application and interpretation of the law, and a failure to go beyond mere appearances and assess the realities of the situation complained of. In this paper, I expound on the role of the constitutional complaint as an effective remedy pertinent to individuals who have an arguable claim regarding a violation of their substantive rights guaranteed by the ECHR and the Constitution alike. This paper analyses a ruling of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo where it found a violation of the right to privacy and family life and the right to an effective remedy, notwithstanding the fair conduct of the proceedings. I will also show the impact of the relevant case law of the European Court on the approach and rationale of the Constitutional Court

POSTHARVEST DISEASE CONTROL OF MELONS USING SYSTEMIC ACQUIRED RESISTANCE AND OTHER

The goal of this research was to test commercially viable alternative methods to fungicides for controlling storage diseases of melons that are safe for human health and the environment. Initially, experiments were conducted on melons to develop a protocol for optimum conditions of disease development during storage for different pathogens and for different stages of fruit maturity. For all pathogens tested, the study found that humidity greater than 90% and temperatures above 20° C support infection and rapid growth of disease. Differences in the rate of infection and extent of disease development after the inoculation of different storage pathogens was observed between rockmelon and honeydew melons, indicating differences in host pathogen interactions. Among the tested pathogens, Alternaria spp. was the least aggressive in infection and disease severity, growing considerably slower than Fusarium acuminatum which was moderately aggressive and Rhizopus spp. which was very aggressive, in comparison. Green half-slip melons showed greater resistance to pathogen attack than green full-slip fruit, while yellow full-slip melons were highly susceptible to pathogen attack. Therefore, the laboratory experiments for postharvest treatments of rockmelons were performed using green full-slip fruit challenged with F. acuminatum. Evaluation of physical and safe chemical methods of postharvest treatment to control postharvest diseases of melons showed that none of the treatments alone was as effective as the commercially available fungicide. Hot water solutions of safe compounds considerably increase their efficacy against postharvest rots, however, symptoms of phytotoxicity on the rind after dipping made their use unacceptable. Iodine was the only safe chemical tested which did not cause any phytotoxicity on melons. When combined with hot water, iodine showed the best control of storage rots and was as good as the fungicides carbendazim or guazatine. Hot water iodine dipping of fruit also delayed ripening and fruit were firmer during storage for a longer period of time. Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) was evaluated as a method of controlling powdery mildew in glasshouse grown rockmelon seedlings by treating with the activators 2,6-dichloroisonicotinic acid (INA) or benzothiadiazole (BTH) or water. Increased resistance due to application of INA or BTH, was observed by the reduction of powdery mildew on pre-inoculated detached leaves and also on intact leaves from natural infections. Heightened resistance due to spraying with elicitors of SAR, was further evident by the increased activities of the pathogenesis related proteins (PR proteins), peroxidase and accumulation of phenolics or antifungal compounds during and after challenge inoculation. Field grown rockmelons were treated with INA or BTH or BABA (β-aminobutyric acid) or water at various stages of plant growth and evaluated for increased resistance against pre and postharvest diseases. Both powdery mildew and downy mildew were significantly less on the SAR elicitor treated plants. Preharvest treatment with SAR elicitors also reduced storage diseases of the harvested rockmelon fruit. The reduction in postharvest disease was similar whether plants were treated once, three weeks before harvest, or given four sprays during the growing season beginning at anthesis. A further postharvest dip with 500 ppm of guazatine gave substantial reduction of storage rots of melons. Enhanced activities of chitinase and peroxidase, two major PR-proteins, compared to the control, indicated induction of defence had occurred in the foliage and fruit as a result of SAR. Over the course of four field and one glasshouse experiments slight phytotoxicity was observed in plants frequently sprayed with INA or BTH, but no phytotoxicity was seen after a single spray during the late stages of fruit development. The combination of SAR elicitor treatment and use of a safe postharvest dip provided substantial control of storage rots of rockmelons. The best treatment for control of storage rots involved application of BTH (50 ppm) two weeks before harvest, combined with a hot iodine dip (55° C) of fruit, achieving equivalent or better disease control than use of guazatine fungicide dip

On the self-consistent response of tokamak microinstabilities to plasma profile evolution

Operating with an edge transport barrier (ETB) is central to ITER's goal of attaining a fusion energy gain of ten. The evolution and stability of this ETB is governed through the interplay of MHD modes and microinstabilities. The ballooning formalism is a mathematical framework that can be utilised to understand the characteristics of these modes in the linear regime. When applied to toroidal drift microinstabilities (e.g. ITG), the ballooning formalism predicts two distinct classes of global eigenmodes: the strongly growing Isolated Mode (IM) that exists under special conditions, and the relatively benign General Mode (GM) that is more generally accessible. Here we present findings from a new initial-value code, developed to study the dynamics of these linear branches in the presence of a time-evolving equilibrium toroidal flow-shear. The code has been further extended to incorporate the (quasi-linear) effect of intrinsic flow generated by these global structures on the modes themselves. The IM/GM dynamics could provide physical insights into understanding small-ELM regimes and intrinsic rotation - two unresolved physics issues that are of great significance to ITER. Firstly, the IM is seen to form more rapidly than the GM. For our chosen fluid-ITG model, even though both structures are likely to form deep into the nonlinear regime, there is indication that close to marginal stability, these global modes might form much sooner to subsequently influence the nonlinear evolution. Secondly, in the presence of a critical flow-shear, a GM-IM-GM transition can take place to trigger a burst in the growth rate as the IM is accessed. These dynamics can occur on the right time-scale and form the basis of a new model for small-ELMs outlined in this work. Transient bursts are seen in the linear growth rate at high flow-shears, which may provide an alternative trigger for small-ELMs. Certain other seemingly robust features are reported, which could guide experimental efforts to test this theory. Finally, allowing for the feedback of the intrinsic flow on the mode structure, the IM seems to be a stable equilibrium when the external flow-shear is weak, whereas when strong equilibrium flow-shears dominate over the intrinsic flow, the GM solution is more likely. An approach to model the intrinsic flow profile from these global structures is suggested

Phytochemical Investigation of Traditional Bangladeshi Medicinal Plants

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.This project aimed to identify novel antidiabetic compound/s or novel antidiabetic activities of known compounds isolated from Andrographis paniculata (A. paniculata) and Clerodendrum viscosum (C. viscosum). A. paniculata crude extract was fractioned into acidic (APFA), basic (APFB), and neutral fractions (APFN). Two known (andrographolide (A1) and 14-deoxyandrographolide (D1)), and new (3S),(4R),(5S),(9R),(10R)-14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide (D2) were isolated from APFN. Insulin-mediated glucose uptake by 3T3-L1 adipocytes showed APFA at 25 µg/ml, APFB and APFN at 10 and 100 µg/ml significantly enhanced glucose uptake. Of the three pure compounds, A1 significantly enhanced the glucose uptake by approximately 38% at 1 µM. Both D1 and D2 enhanced glucose uptake by almost 45% and 65% at 1 and 10 µM, respectively. The lipid accumulation study by Oil Red O staining reflected three fractions significantly increased lipids in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. A1 increased lipids by increasing the size of adipocytes at 10 µM. Increasing the number of new small adipocytes and adiponectin might increase lipid accumulation and increase glucose uptake. The three fractions and A1 might increase glucose uptake following this mechanism. At 1 and 10 µM, D1 decreased lipids by decreasing the size of adipocytes and the number of LDs, and D2 decreased lipids by decreasing the size of adipocytes and the diameter of LDs. The decrease of lipids by D1 and D2 might increase glucose uptake by decreasing the level of free fatty acids, triglycerides, and adiponectin. The acidic (CVFA), basic (CVFB), and neutral fractions (CVFN) of C. viscosum were subjected to glucose uptake assay. Here, CVFN improved glucose uptake slightly better than two other fractions. The CVFN significantly improved glucose uptake by 56% and 52% at 10 and 100 µg/ml, respectively. The lipid accumulation study showed CVFA significantly reduced LDs diameter at 10, and 100 µg/ml and CVFN significantly increased the number of LDs at 10 µg/ml. However, CVFB failed to show any significant effect on lipid accumulation. CVFA might increase glucose uptake by decreasing lipid accumulation, and CVFN might increase glucose uptake by increasing lipid accumulation. No pure compounds were separated from either of the three fractions of C. viscosum. A novel and two known compounds have been isolated from A. paniculata. These compounds could serve as a novel treatment against Type 2 Diabetes. Especially, D1 and D2 could be better therapy as they may control blood glucose levels by increasing glucose uptake and decreasing lipid accumulation

On the self-consistent response of tokamak microinstabilities to plasma profile evolution

Operating with an edge transport barrier (ETB) is central to ITER's goal of attaining a fusion energy gain of ten. The evolution and stability of this ETB is governed through the interplay of MHD modes and microinstabilities. The ballooning formalism is a mathematical framework that can be utilised to understand the characteristics of these modes in the linear regime. When applied to toroidal drift microinstabilities (e.g. ITG), the ballooning formalism predicts two distinct classes of global eigenmodes: the strongly growing Isolated Mode (IM) that exists under special conditions, and the relatively benign General Mode (GM) that is more generally accessible. Here we present findings from a new initial-value code, developed to study the dynamics of these linear branches in the presence of a time-evolving equilibrium toroidal flow-shear. The code has been further extended to incorporate the (quasi-linear) effect of intrinsic flow generated by these global structures on the modes themselves. The IM/GM dynamics could provide physical insights into understanding small-ELM regimes and intrinsic rotation - two unresolved physics issues that are of great significance to ITER. Firstly, the IM is seen to form more rapidly than the GM. For our chosen fluid-ITG model, even though both structures are likely to form deep into the nonlinear regime, there is indication that close to marginal stability, these global modes might form much sooner to subsequently influence the nonlinear evolution. Secondly, in the presence of a critical flow-shear, a GM-IM-GM transition can take place to trigger a burst in the growth rate as the IM is accessed. These dynamics can occur on the right time-scale and form the basis of a new model for small-ELMs outlined in this work. Transient bursts are seen in the linear growth rate at high flow-shears, which may provide an alternative trigger for small-ELMs. Certain other seemingly robust features are reported, which could guide experimental efforts to test this theory. Finally, allowing for the feedback of the intrinsic flow on the mode structure, the IM seems to be a stable equilibrium when the external flow-shear is weak, whereas when strong equilibrium flow-shears dominate over the intrinsic flow, the GM solution is more likely. An approach to model the intrinsic flow profile from these global structures is suggested

LEARNING HORTICULTURE WITH TAKE HOME MUSHROOM KITS DURING THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

PROBLEM Pre-COVID-19 lockdown (2019), we usually organise a mushroom growing practical in the laboratory (lab). After a lab demonstration, students practice culturing mushroom mycelium, spawn and compost preparation. The compost mixed with spawn in plastic bags are incubated in the Mushroom Research Unit for 2 weeks. Once established, students take the compost bags back home to harvest mushrooms. During the COVID-19 lockdown (2020), face to face laboratory mushroom practicals were no longer possible with social distancing requirements (4 sqm per person). We had to live-stream the practical sessions on Zoom to the students from the lab. We were not satisfied with just live-streaming practicals as the students did not get hands-on experience with growing the mushrooms. PLAN During the COVID-19 lockdown, the first author was invited to speak on Nick Kilvert’s ABC Urban Castaway series and was interviewed by ABC Radio National and ABC News online about self-sufficiency and people’s ability to hunt, forage and live off the local land. In the ABC Urban Castaway series (Week 3), there was a feature on growing our own mushrooms to be self-sufficient and how this could be an educational experience during the lockdown. Hence, at the end of May 2020, mushroom kits, with established mycelial colony in compost were provided to the students with instructions for care so that they could have hands-on learning experience of growing and eating their own mushrooms at home. ACTION We provided the students with a mushroom kit each so that they could practice growing mushrooms as well as a food subsistence during the lockdown. They could also practice time-lapse photography on the mushroom growth stages (from pinning, button and mature stages). If they did a good job, they could get 2 or 3 flushes of mushrooms (usually three flushes are harvested commercially). REFLECTION The students learnt how to grow their own mushrooms during the lockdown and post-lockdown as this is a life skill that they can use in the future. Live-streamed practicals provided useful information on how students can collect the spores and produce spawn to grow more of their own mushrooms in the future, becoming potentially self-sufficient in mushrooms! In addition to learning the theory of mushroom production, students gain the life skills to produce their own mushrooms at home

The response of toroidal drift modes to profile evolution : A model for small-ELMs in tokamak plasmas?

We consider a time-dependent linear global electrostatic toroidal fluid ion-temperature gradient (ITG) model to study the evolution of toroidal drift modes in tokamak plasmas as the equilibrium flow-shear varies with time. While we consider the ITG mode as a specific example, the results are expected to be valid for most other toroidal microinstabilities. A key result is that when there is a position in the plasma with a maximum in the instability drive (e.g. ITG), there is a transient burst of stronger growth as the flow-shear evolves through a critical value. This transient burst is expected to drive a filamentary plasma eruption, reminiscent of small-ELMs. The amplitude of the dominant linear mode is initially peaked above or below the outboard midplane, and rotates through it poloidally as the flow-shear passes through the critical value. This theoretical prediction could provide an experimental test of whether this mechanism underlies some classes of small-ELMs

A nonlinear approach to transition in subcritical plasmas with sheared flow

In many plasma systems, introducing a small background shear flow is enough to stabilize the system linearly. The nonlinear dynamics are much less sensitive to sheared flows than the average linear growthrates, and very small amplitude perturbations can lead to sustained turbulence. We explore the general problem of characterizing how and when the transition from near-laminar states to sustained turbulence occurs; a model of the interchange instability being used as a concrete example. These questions are fundamentally nonlinear, and the answers must go beyond the linear transient amplification of small perturbations. Two methods that account for nonlinear interactions are therefore explored here. The first method explored is edge tracking, which identifies the boundary between the basins of attraction of the laminar and turbulent states. Here, the edge is found to be structured around an exact, localized, traveling wave solution; a solution that is qualitatively similar to avalanche-like bursts seen in the turbulent regime. The second method is an application of nonlinear, non-modal stability theory which allows us to identify the smallest disturbances which can trigger turbulence (the minimal seed for the problem) and hence to quantify how stable the laminar regime is. The results obtained from these fully nonlinear methods provides confidence in the derivation of a semi-analytic approximation for the minimal seed

LEARNING AQUAPONICS POST COVID-19 THROUGH START-UP INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS

PROBLEM Pre-COVID-19 lockdowns (2019), we usually organise for our students to visit a commercial aquaponics facility, Green Camel1, which is a start-up company located within The University of Sydney’s Cobbitty campus. Green Camel produces both barramundi (fish) and pesticide-free organic vegetables, such as tomatoes and basil. Effluent from the barramundi is passed through a bioreactor which converts ammonium to nitrate, which is then utilised by the vegetables in a closed-loop system. During the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-21), we had to live-stream and video field visits to remotely located students and international students who are unable to travel to Australia to experience the field visits. We were not very happy with video recording field practicals, since the students did not get a hands-on experience with aquaponics. PLAN After the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, the first author partnered with start-up company, Farmwall2, in its STEM Pilot Program. In this Program, Farmwall provided students with an aquaponic ecosystem classroom kit including a fish tank, plant trays, plants, seeds, gravel and micro-organisms for converting ammonium to nitrate, as well as a separate hydroponics kit. An online education platform was also provided with detailed instructions for setting up the aquaponics kit, as well as step by step video instructions on how to maintain the fish tank and grow the vegetables including microgreens. Teachers and students were able to engage with the step-by-step process of setting up the aquaponics system as well as monitoring the health of the system (e.g., pH, ammonium, nitrate and nitrite levels). ACTION Farmwall provided the students with an aquaponic classroom kit so that they can engage in setting up and maintaining a model aquaponics unit. One of the students also contributed biological filtration, white cloud mountain minnows (Tanichthys micagemmae; fish) and aquatic plants. During the lab practicals, students harvested and tasted the snow pea microgreens grown using the aquaponic classroom unit. Some students were also inspired to convert their home fish tanks into home mini-aquaponic systems. REFLECTION In addition to visiting or watching videos of field visits, students learnt to set up and maintain an aquaponics unit to produce vegetables such as microgreens, which is a life skill that they can use in the post-COVID-19 world. Live-streamed and in person practicals provided useful information on how students could set up and produce vegetables including microgreens, becoming potentially self-sufficient. In addition to learning the theory of aquaponic production, students gained the life skills of a close-loop system to produce their own organic vegetables at home. 1https://greencamel.com.au/ 2https://farmwall.com