ENV-608: A FEASIBILITY STUDY ON SULFOLANE DEGRADATION IN GROUNDWATER USING NEUTRAL FENTON CATALYSTS

In this paper, degradation of sufolane in an acidic or near neutral pH using Fenton or modified Fenton catalysts was investigated. The catalysts included nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) iron complex and several commercially available products marketed as neutral pH catalysts. The experiments were conducted both in lab synthetic water and sulfolane contaminated groundwater. Our results showed that more than 99% of sulfolane can be removed by the classic Fenton-like reagent in acidic condition. At near neutral pH, 60% of sulfolane reduction in groundwater was achieved by adding NTA/Fe(III)/H2O2. Among the four commercially available products investigated, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelated iron showed the most positive result in sulfolane degradation in the groundwater. Fifty percent of sulfolane in groundwater degraded when EDTA chelated iron was used with hydrogen peroxide. The decomplexation of chelated iron during reaction caused iron to precipitate and led to the cessation of the reaction

Momentum dynamics of one dimensional quantum walks

We derive the momentum space dynamic equations and state functions for one dimensional quantum walks by using linear systems and Lie group theory. The momentum space provides an analytic capability similar to that contributed by the z transform in discrete systems theory. The state functions at each time step are expressed as a simple sum of three Chebyshev polynomials. The functions provide an analytic expression for the development of the walks with time.Ian Fuss, Langord B. White, Peter J. Sherman, Sanjeev Naguleswara

Novel Approach to Managing Technological Entrepreneurship Using a Model-Based Systems Approach to Develop Low Cost Earth Orbiting Satellites

The ability to send low cost satellites into space has changed the satellite industry and vastly opened up the use of satellites to transform data into information for individuals, organizations, commercial companies, and governments. This information can be corroborated with other sources of data to evaluate the availability of precious resources, e.g., potable water, agriculture; to forecast upcoming famines or diseases; and to perform mapping, communications, and competitive analyses. The cost of owning a satellite is less than 100,000(usingcommercialparts)to1,000 (built by school kids). Launch costs are tens of thousands of dollars, which can be eliminated through subsidies. Compare these costs to 200millionto1 billion costs for similar functionality, higher performance and greater durability-an interesting trade space that favors multiple low cost flights versus significantly higher costs for permanent satellites for an increasing number of applications. The challenge is to form and manage a development team of unskilled professionals, high school students, or university students to meet deadlines and flight-standards. These team members are likely highly motivated and unskilled. This paper describes the technical management strategy and techniques used to develop the 10 cm, 6-sided CubeSats

Techno-economic assessment of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production from methane - the case for thermophilic bioprocessing

A major obstacle preventing the large scale production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) has been the lack of a reliable, low cost, large volume feedstock. The abundance and relatively low price of methane therefore marks it as a substrate of interest. This paper presents a techno-economic assessment of the production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) from methane. ASPEN Plus was used for process design and simulation. The design and economic evaluation is presented for production of 100,000 t/a PHB through methanotrophic fermentation and acetone-water solvent extraction. Production costs were estimated at $4.1-$6.8/kg PHA, which compares against a median price of $7.5/kg from other studies. Raw material costs are reduced from 30 to 50$3.2-5.4/kg PHA; it is noted that PHB producing thermophilic methanotrophs are yet to be isolated. Energy consumption for air compression and biomass drying were also identified as significant capital and operating costs and therefore optimisation of bioreactor height and pressure and biomass moisture content should be considered in future research

On-chip low loss heralded source of pure single photons

A key obstacle to the experimental realization of many photonic quantum-enhanced technologies is the lack of low-loss sources of single photons in pure quantum states. We demonstrate a promising solution: generation of heralded single photons in a silica photonic chip by spontaneous four-wave mixing. A heralding efficiency of 40%, corresponding to a preparation efficiency of 80% accounting for detector performance, is achieved due to efficient coupling of the low-loss source to optical fibers. A single photon purity of 0.86 is measured from the source number statistics without filtering, and confirmed by direct measurement of the joint spectral intensity. We calculate that similar high-heralded-purity output can be obtained from visible to telecom spectral regions using this approach. On-chip silica sources can have immediate application in a wide range of single-photon quantum optics applications which employ silica photonics.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Health First: An evidence-based alcohol strategy for the UK

Alcohol is taken for granted in the UK today. It is easy to get hold of, increasingly affordable, advertised everywhere and accepted by many as an integral part of daily life. Yet, despite this, the great majority of the population recognise the harm that alcohol causes. They believe that drinking damages health, drives anti social behaviour, harms children and families and creates huge costs for the NHS and the Police. They are right. Every year in the UK, there are thousands of deaths and over a million hospital admissions related to drinking. More than two in five (44%) violent crimes are committed under the influence of alcohol, as are 37% of domesti c violence incidents. One fifth of all violent crime occurs in or near pubs and clubs and 45% of adults avoid town centres at night because of drunken behaviour. The personal, social and economic cost of alcohol has been estimated to be up to £55bn for England and £7.5bn for Scotland. None of this should be taken for granted. The impact of drinking on public health and community safety is so great that radical steps are needed to change our relationship with alcohol. We need to imagine a society where low or no alcohol consumpti on is the norm, drunkenness is socially unacceptable and town centres are safe and welcoming places for everyone to use. Our vision is for a safer, healthier and happier world where the harm caused by alcohol is minimised. This vision is achievable. But only if we tackle the primary drivers of alcohol consumption. The evidence is clear: the most effective way to reduce the harm from alcohol is to reduce the affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol products. It is not enough to limit the damage once people are drunk, dependent, ill or dying. We need to intervene earlier in order to reduce consumption across the entire population. The tools are available. The ‘four Ps' of the marketing mix - price, product, promotion and place - are used by alcohol producers and retailers to increase their sales of alcohol. They can also be used by government to reduce alcohol sales, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm. Alcohol taxes are an effective public health measure as they raise prices and suppress demand. However, if they do not keep pace with both inflation and incomes, alcohol products will become more affordable over time. This has been the case in the UK. Deep discounting by retailers has also driven down the price of alcohol and encouraged heavy drinkers to maintain dangerous levels of consumption. These problems need to be tackled by a combinati on of more effective fiscal policy and controls on pricing and discounting. Alcohol products are an extraordinary anomaly. Unlike most food products, they are both remarkably harmful and excepti onally lightly regulated. As with other toxic products, the product label ought to communicate the content of the product and the risks of its consumpti on. Regulation should drive out products that appeal to young people while also incentivising the development and sale of lower strength products. The pervasive marketing of alcohol products in the UK is indefensible. Current restrictions are woefully inadequate: children and young people are regularly exposed to alcohol adverti sing in both old and new media. Only a complete ban on all alcohol advertising and sponsorship will make a lasting diff erence. Licensing practice in the UK is out of date. The focus on pubs and bars has allowed shops and supermarkets to become the dominant players in alcohol sales. Consequently, alcohol is now more available than it has ever been. This has driven pre-loading: getting drunk on cheap, shop-bought alcohol before heading out to late-opening night life. Licensing must focus on public health and seek to control the overall availability of alcohol as well as the effects of drunkenness. Beyond these populati on-level approaches, many more targeted measures are needed to reduce alcohol-related harm. Early interventi on by health and social care professionals is an important and underexploited opportunity to prevent problems developing. Stronger drink driving measures are also required. All these measures are needed. Together, they provide a template for an integrated and comprehensive strategy to tackle the harm from alcohol in the UK.Additional co-authors: Gerry McElwee, Dr Kieran Moriarty CBE, Dr Robin Purshouse, Dr Peter Rice, Alison Rogers, George Roycroft , Chit Selvarajah, Don Shenker, Eric Appleby, Dr Nick Sheron, and Colin Shevill

Quantum teleportation on a photonic chip

Quantum teleportation is a fundamental concept in quantum physics which now finds important applications at the heart of quantum technology including quantum relays, quantum repeaters and linear optics quantum computing (LOQC). Photonic implementations have largely focussed on achieving long distance teleportation due to its suitability for decoherence-free communication. Teleportation also plays a vital role in the scalability of photonic quantum computing, for which large linear optical networks will likely require an integrated architecture. Here we report the first demonstration of quantum teleportation in which all key parts - entanglement preparation, Bell-state analysis and quantum state tomography - are performed on a reconfigurable integrated photonic chip. We also show that a novel element-wise characterisation method is critical to mitigate component errors, a key technique which will become increasingly important as integrated circuits reach higher complexities necessary for quantum enhanced operation.Comment: Originally submitted version - refer to online journal for accepted manuscript; Nature Photonics (2014

The California baseline ozone transport study (CABOTS)

Ozone is one of the six criteria pollutants identified by the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendment of 1970 as particularly harmful to human health. Concentrations have decreased markedly across the United States over the past 50 years in response to regulatory efforts, but continuing research on its deleterious effects have spurred further reductions in the legal threshold. The South Coast and San Joaquin Valley Air Basins of California remain the only two extreme ozone nonattainment areas in the United States. Further reductions of ozone in the West are complicated by significant background concentrations whose relative importance increases as domestic anthropogenic contributions decline and the national standards continue to be lowered. These background concentrations derive largely from uncontrollable sources including stratospheric intrusions, wildfires, and intercontinental transport. Taken together the exogenous sources complicate regulatory strategies and necessitate a much more precise understanding of the timing and magnitude of their contributions to regional air pollution. The California Baseline Ozone Transport Study was a field campaign coordinated across Northern and Central California during spring and summer 2016 aimed at observing daily variations in the ozone columns crossing the North American coastline, as well as the modification of the ozone layering downwind across the mountainous topography of California to better understand the impacts of background ozone on surface air quality in complex terrain

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve

Agribusiness Sheep Updates - 2004 - Part 1

Proceedings of the Agribusiness Sheep Updates - 2004 Forward Dr Mark Dolling Manager, Sheep Industries and Pasture, Department of Agriculture Western Australia Keynotes Australian Wool Innovation Limited DR LEN STEPHENS AUSTRALIAN WOOL INNOVATION LIMITED (AWI) Commercialisation of Sheepmeat Eating Quality Outcomes, David Thomason, General Manger Marketing Meat & livestock Australia Limited PLENARY The Fitness of the Future Merino, Norm Adams and Shimin Liu, CSIRO Livestock Industries Ovine Johne’s Disease – Managing the Disease, Managing the Issues, PETER BUCKMAN, CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WESTERN AUSTRALIA Animal Welfare – Changes in Latitudes Changes in Attitudes, Michael Paton and Dianne Evans, Department of Agriculture Western Australian. Live Sheep Exports, JOHN EDWARDS. CHAIRMAN, WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LIVE SHEEP EXPORTERS ASSOCIATION MeCustomising to the Needs of the Customer – Insights from the New Zealand Merino Experience, DR SCOTT CHAMPION, RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGER, THE NEW ZEALAND MERINO COMPANY LIMITED Agribusiness Sheep Updates Conference -Economic and Financial Market Update Alan Langford, Economist, BankWest Concurrent sessions - Meeting the Market Breeding Wool to Address Consumer Requirements in Fabrics A.C. SCHLINK CSIRO Livestock Industries, J.C. GREEFF AND M. E. LADYMAN Department of Agriculture Western Australia Fibre Contribution to Retail Demand for Knitwear Melanie LadymanA and John StantonAB ADepartment of Agriculture Western Australia and BCurtin University of Technology Sustainable Merino, is this the Future for Merino? Stuart Adams, iZWool International P/L Meeting lamb Market Specs from Crossbred Ewes Dr. Neal Fogarty, NSW Agriculture and the Australian Sheep Industry CRC Use of Serial Body Weight Measurements in Prime Lamb Finishing Systems Matthew Kelly, CSIRO Livestock Industries, James Skerritt, Ian McFarland Department of Agriculture Western Australia, Australian Sheep Industry CR