Priorities and Principles for Investment in Aquaculture Research by NSW Department of Primary Industries

This review examined the characteristics of the main aquaculture industries in NSW with respect to current impediments to growth, market development and future opportunities. Within this context, it examined the nature, funding and impacts of the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ current and proposed investments in aquaculture R&D and industry development, as well as its alignment with DPI and industry priorities.aquaculture, research evaluation, public good, Agribusiness, Livestock Production/Industries, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Q160,

Integration of Motion Sensing intoMobile Learning Applications

The use of mobile devices in education has greatly increased during the last decade. At the same time, technology advances have opened new spaces and possibilities for the field of mobile-based education in the form of entertainment—where learners can achieve their learning goals whilst having fun. Games on mobile phones have also become an important part of education experienced by young people. With the advancement in technology, utilizing motion-sensors in mobile learning systems have started to evolve. Research indicates that the potential of using motion-sensors in game-based learning could achieve maximum benefits from mobile technology in game-based learning activities, as well as improving this form of e-learning entertainment technology. This paper discusses our ongoing research that aims to improve current learning mobile technologies by integrating a new innovative motion-sensing feature. These advancements are reviewed and evaluated for integration and use in a motion-sensing edutainment mobile application

Differential classroom interactions by ethnicity: a quantitative approach

Concerns regarding differentials in classroom experience and academic attainment by ethnicity have been expressed for some time. This study explores, from a quantitative viewpoint based on fieldwork in 10 London schools, one particular aspect of this, namely classroom interactions between teachers and pupils from different ethnic origins. It was found that African Caribbean children were interacting with teachers at a greater rate than other children, mostly for disciplinary and administrative purposes, and to a much lesser extent for teaching purposes. Asian children, conversely, were interacting less with the teacher overall, but relatively highly for teaching purposes. Whilst these patterns were broadly consistent across schools, rates of interaction varied considerably from school to school. In respect of differential classroom interactions, better equality of opportunities is more likely to be achieved as a result of whole school processes than if it is targeted directly

The Potential of Pyrolytic Biomass as a Sustainable Biofiller for Styrene-Butadiene Rubber

This chapter explains the significant potential of the pyrolytic biomass char for use as a sustainable carbon black replacement filler for rubber materials. The manufacture of rubber filler is not only energy-consuming, contributing significantly to global CO2 emissions, but uses nonrenewable feedstock in production making it unsustainable. Ongoing work focused upon the development of carbonaceous rubber fillers based on coconut shell, a sustainable and renewable source, is presented in this chapter. A comparison between coconut char and commercial carbon black N772 demonstrates the profound potential of the pyrolytic coconut char to be used as filler. The char filler obtained was mixed with SBR and the resulting rubber product was evaluated for their technological performance, exhibiting high surface area and good tensile strength

Synthesis and thermoelectric properties of Ce(Ru_(0.67)Rh_(0.33)_4Sb_(12)

Exotic filled skutterudite compositions show promise for thermoelectric applications. Current work was undertaken with a nominal composition of Ce(Ru_(0.67)Rh_(0.33))_4Sb_(12) to experimentally verify its potential as an n-type thermoelectric material. Nominal electroneutrality was expected at 0.89 cerium filling and fully filled materials were expected to be strongly n-type. Filled precursors of the nominal composition were synthesized using straightforward solid state reaction techniques, but standard synthesis routes failed to produce a fully-filled homogenous phase. Instead, the filled thermoelectric Ce(Ru_(0.67)Rh_(0.33))_4Sb_(12) was synthesized using a combination of solid state reaction of elemental constituents and high pressure hot pressing. A range of pressure-temperature conditions was explored; the upper temperature limit of filled skutterudite in this system decreases with increasing pressure and disappears by 12 GPa. The optimal synthesis was performed in multi-anvil devices at 4–6 GPa pressure and dwell temperatures of 350–700 °C. rutheniumThe result of this work, a Ce(Ru_(0.67)Rh_(0.33))_4Sb_(12) fully filled skutterudite material, exhibited unexpected p-type conductivity and an electrical resistance of 1.755 mΩ-cm that increased with temperature. Thermal conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and resistivity were measured on single phase samples. In this paper, we report the details of the synthesis routeand measured thermoelectric properties, speculate on the deviation from expected carrier charge balance, and discuss implications for other filled skutterudite systems

Herschel Observations and Updated Spectral Energy Distributions of Five Sunlike Stars with Debris Disks

Observations from the Herschel Space Observatory have more than doubled the number of wide debris disks orbiting Sunlike stars to include over 30 systems with R > 100 AU. Here we present new Herschel PACS and re-analyzed Spitzer MIPS photometry of five Sunlike stars with wide debris disks, from Kuiper belt size to R > 150 AU. The disk surrounding HD 105211 is well resolved, with an angular extent of >14" along the major axis, and the disks of HD 33636, HD 50554, and HD 52265 are extended beyond the PACS PSF size (50% of energy enclosed within radius 4.23"). HD 105211 also has a 24-micron infrared excess that was previously overlooked because of a poorly constrained photospheric model. Archival Spitzer IRS observations indicate that the disks have small grains of minimum radius ~3 microns, though the minimum grain gradius is larger than the radiation pressure blowout size in all systems. If modeled as single-temperature blackbodies, the disk temperatures would all be <60 K. Our radiative transfer models predict actual disk radii approximately twice the radius of model blackbody disks. We find that the Herschel photometry traces dust near the source population of planetesimals. The disk luminosities are in the range 0.00002 <= L/L* <= 0.0002, consistent with collisions in icy planetesimal belts stirred by Pluto-size dwarf planets.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 18 pages, including 10 figures and 3 table

Nano-Kelvin thermometry and temperature control: beyond the thermal noise limit

We demonstrate thermometry with a resolution of 80 $\mathrm{nK} / \sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ using an isotropic crystalline whispering-gallery mode resonator based on a dichroic dual-mode technique. We simultaneously excite two modes that have a mode frequency ratio very close to two ($\pm0.3$ppm). The wavelength- and temperature-dependence of the refractive index means that the frequency difference between these modes is an ultra-sensitive proxy of the resonator temperature. This approach to temperature sensing automatically suppresses sensitivity to thermal expansion and vibrationally induced changes of the resonator. We also demonstrate active suppression of temperature fluctuations in the resonator by controlling the intensity of the driving laser. The residual temperature fluctuations are shown to be below the limits set by fundamental thermodynamic fluctuations of the resonator material