Managing macropods without poisoning ecosystems

A recent review of the management of hyperabundant macropods in Australia proposed that expanded professional shooting is likely to lead to better biodiversity and animal welfare outcomes. While the tenets of this general argument are sound, it overlooks one important issue for biodiversity and animal health and welfare: reliance on toxic lead-based ammunition. Lead poisoning poses a major threat to Australia's wildlife scavengers. Current proposals to expand professional macropod shooting would see tons of an extremely toxic and persistent heavy metal continue to be introduced into Australian environments. This contrasts with trends in many other countries, where lead ammunition is, through legislation or voluntary programs, being phased out. Fortunately, there are alternatives to lead ammunition that could be investigated and adopted for improved macropod management. A transition to lead-free ammunition would allow the broad environmental and animal welfare goals desired from macropod management to be pursued without secondarily and unintentionally poisoning scavengers. Through this article, we hope to increase awareness of this issue and encourage discussion of this potential change.publishedVersio

Aerodynamic investigations of ventilated brake discs.

The heat dissipation and performance of a ventilated brake disc strongly depends on the aerodynamic characteristics of the flow through the rotor passages. The aim of this investigation was to provide an improved understanding of ventilated brake rotor flow phenomena, with a view to improving heat dissipation, as well as providing a measurement data set for validation of computational fluid dynamics methods. The flow fields at the exit of four different brake rotor geometries, rotated in free air, were measured using a five-hole pressure probe and a hot-wire anemometry system. The principal measurements were taken using two-component hot-wire techniques and were used to determine mean and unsteady flow characteristics at the exit of the brake rotors. Using phase-locked data processing, it was possible to reveal the spatial and temporal flow variation within individual rotor passages. The effects of disc geometry and rotational speed on the mean flow, passage turbulence intensity, and mass flow were determined. The rotor exit jet and wake flow were clearly observed as characterized by the passage geometry as well as definite regions of high and low turbulence. The aerodynamic flow characteristics were found to be reasonably independent of rotational speed but highly dependent upon rotor geometry

Demand for Zn2+ in Acid-Secreting Gastric Mucosa and Its Requirement for Intracellular Ca2+

Recent work has suggested that Zn(2+) plays a critical role in regulating acidity within the secretory compartments of isolated gastric glands. Here, we investigate the content, distribution and demand for Zn(2+) in gastric mucosa under baseline conditions and its regulation during secretory stimulation.Content and distribution of zinc were evaluated in sections of whole gastric mucosa using X-ray fluorescence microscopy. Significant stores of Zn(2+) were identified in neural elements of the muscularis, glandular areas enriched in parietal cells, and apical regions of the surface epithelium. In in vivo studies, extraction of the low abundance isotope, (70)Zn(2+), from the circulation was demonstrated in samples of mucosal tissue 24 hours or 72 hours after infusion (250 µg/kg). In in vitro studies, uptake of (70)Zn(2+) from media was demonstrated in isolated rabbit gastric glands following exposure to concentrations as low as 10 nM. In additional studies, demand of individual gastric parietal cells for Zn(2+) was monitored using the fluorescent zinc reporter, fluozin-3, by measuring increases in free intracellular concentrations of Zn(2+) {[Zn(2+)](i)} during exposure to standard extracellular concentrations of Zn(2+) (10 µM) for standard intervals of time. Under resting conditions, demand for extracellular Zn(2+) increased with exposure to secretagogues (forskolin, carbachol/histamine) and under conditions associated with increased intracellular Ca(2+) {[Ca(2+)](i)}. Uptake of Zn(2+) was abolished following removal of extracellular Ca(2+) or depletion of intracellular Ca(2+) stores, suggesting that demand for extracellular Zn(2+) increases and depends on influx of extracellular Ca(2+).This study is the first to characterize the content and distribution of Zn(2+) in an organ of the gastrointestinal tract. Our findings offer the novel interpretation, that Ca(2+) integrates basolateral demand for Zn(2+) with stimulation of secretion of HCl into the lumen of the gastric gland. Similar connections may be detectable in other secretory cells and tissues

Affective design and consumer response

Not all products are able to induce a strong affect that can influence a consumer to make a purchase. Only products that highly involve customers in the purchase process are likely to elicit strong emotions, such as expensive and highly personalized items. Consumers usually take time and effort buying these products and consider several factors in decision making, including product semantics. © 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

The effect of color attributes on affective experiences in selected consumer products

Product developers are turning to new ways of capturing customers. In recent years, researchers have emphasized the importance of considering emotion in product design. The aim of this project was to investigate the effects of the independent variables; color hue, saturation and brightness of consumer products on emotions and validate the results of previous studies done on the effect of color on emotional responses. Two consumer products that may indicate the consumer\u27s personalities were selected (cars and t-shirts) and emotional reactions to independent variables were investigated using eight emotions selected from Russell\u27s Circumplex model of Affect. Different color stimuli were presented using a laptop computer. The resulting emotional responses demonstrated high correlation for both cars and t-shirts, but the significance of color attributes was only observed in cars. Emotional responses due to brightness cause positive emotions to be experienced more intensely while lower brightness produce the reverse effect. Saturation, on the other hand, only proved to be significant in feeling of sadness. Lower saturation resulted in higher intensity of sadness. On the other hand, hue was only significant on the feeling of calmness. Blue caused greater feelings of calmness as compared to red

Effect of Product Structure on Manual Assembly Performance

Using Maynard\u27s description, an assembly task may be divided into various task elements like reach, select, grasp, move, position, and assemble (Ghosh and Helander, 1985). Activities such as “reach” and “move” are governed by biomechanics of body motions including human factors principles such as Fitt\u27s law. This research investigated the effect of the structure of the assembly and the type of assembly instructions on performance. Two different product structures were used — a vertical assembly, built bottom-up, and a hierarchical assembly, consisting of several subassemblies. Two different instruction strategies were used: 1. top-down sequential instructions 2. No Instructions. The research showed that vertical products were easier for manual assembly, when provided with instructions. For all three dependant measures, there was no interaction effect between the two factors, namely product structure and instructions. Average time for completion was significant for both factors i.e. product structures (F(1, 20) = 4.417, p \u3c 0.0485) and instructions (F(1, 20) = 5.886, p \u3c 0.0248). However, time for learning was significant only for product structure factor (F(1, 20) = 5.239, p \u3c 0.033). Also, trials to learn was significant only for product structure factor (F(1, 20) = 4.449, p \u3c 0.047)

A Cognitive Perspective on Manual Assembly

Trends in manufacturing suggest that manual assembly will change from routine assembly line work to small-batch, non-routine work involving teams and incorporating quality control. The changing role of manual assembly in manufacturing reinforces the long-standing need to understand the properties of work that are compatible with human capabilities and limitations. Although methods engineering and principles for economizing human motion provide helpful approaches to the characterization of physical work demands, they provide limited insight into the properties of manual assembly work affecting the information processing and learning so important in non-routine work. In this paper several alternative task description models are reviewed and applied to an assembly task to illustrate its cognitive properties. The authors focus on a symbolic, computational representation of assembly task knowledge to suggest that current trends towards small-batch manufacturing place demands on workers to extend their existing assembly knowledge well beyond its original purpose, with implications for training, continuous quality improvement and the effectiveness of cell manufacturing