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,

Development of a Robust Setup for the Study of Wetting Characteristics of Low Melting Point Metals

• Energy use is very inefficient • Approx. 60% rejected mostly in the form of waste heat • Low melting point metals are promising for applications in thermal energy management, conversion, and storag

Development of a Robust Setup for the Study of Wetting Characteristics of Low Melting Point Metals

• Energy use is very inefficient • Approx. 60% rejected mostly in the form of waste heat • Low melting point metals are promising for applications in thermal energy management, conversion, and storag

Structured total least norm and approximate GCDs of inexact polynomials

The determination of an approximate greatest common divisor (GCD) of two inexact polynomials f=f(y) and g=g(y) arises in several applications, including signal processing and control. This approximate GCD can be obtained by computing a structured low rank approximation S*(f,g) of the Sylvester resultant matrix S(f,g). In this paper, the method of structured total least norm (STLN) is used to compute a low rank approximation of S(f,g), and it is shown that important issues that have a considerable effect on the approximate GCD have not been considered. For example, the established works only yield one matrix S*(f,g), and therefore one approximate GCD, but it is shown in this paper that a family of structured low rank approximations can be computed, each member of which yields a different approximate GCD. Examples that illustrate the importance of these and other issues are presented

Process for Enhancing the Activity of Amyloid β Peptides

A novel process for enhancing activity of an oligopeptide or polypeptide comprising the steps of: providing an oligopeptide or polypeptide, dissolving the oligopeptide or polypeptide in an organic solvent, heating, removing the solvent, and recovering an oligopeptide or polypeptide with enhanced activity is disclosed. Also disclosed are novel oligopeptides and polypeptides enhanced by the process according the invention

Thermal Wave Characterization of Semiconductors and Superconductors

Thermal wave technology has proven to be a very effective means for investigating the near surface region of several different materials. Although there are many methods for generating and detecting thermal waves the most desirable for quantitative NDE are the noncontact and nondamaging laser methods. When a material is excited with an intensity-modulated laser pump beam a thermal wave is generated within the near surface of the sample. Since the complex refractive index of most materials depends on temperature, the laser pump induced modulations in the local temperature of the sample will induce a corresponding modulation in the local refractive index. This variation in refractive index can in turn be detected through the modulation in the reflectance of a laser probe beam from the surface of the material [1,2]. This method is not only a highly effective method for generating and detecting thermal waves, but also permits thermal wave measurements to be performed with micron scale spatial resolution by utilizing highly focused pump and probe laser beams

Incidence and clinical characteristics of group A rotavirus infections among children admitted to hospital in Kilifi, Kenya

Background Rotavirus, predominantly of group A, is a major cause of severe diarrhoea worldwide, with the greatest burden falling on young children living in less-developed countries. Vaccines directed against this virus have shown promise in recent trials, and are undergoing effectiveness evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa. In this region limited childhood data are available on the incidence and clinical characteristics of severe group A rotavirus disease. Advocacy for vaccine intervention and interpretation of effectiveness following implementation will benefit from accurate base-line estimates of the incidence and severity of rotavirus paediatric admissions in relevant populations. The study objective was to accurately define the incidence and severity of group A rotavirus disease in a resource-poor setting necessary to make informed decisions on the need for vaccine prevention. Methods and Findings Between 2002 and 2004 we conducted prospective surveillance for group A rotavirus infection at Kilifi District Hospital in coastal Kenya. Children < 13 y of age were eligible as "cases" if admitted with diarrhoea, and "controls" if admitted without diarrhoea. We calculated the incidence of hospital admission with group A rotavirus using data from a demographic surveillance study of 220,000 people in Kilifi District. Of 15,347 childhood admissions 3,296 (22%) had diarrhoea, 2,039 were tested for group A rotavirus antigen and, of these, 588 (29%) were positive. 372 (63%) rotavirus-positive cases were infants. Of 620 controls 19 (3.1%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–4.7) were rotavirus positive. The annual incidence (per 100,000 children) of rotavirus-positive admissions was 1,431 (95% CI 1,275–1,600) in infants and 478 (437–521) in under-5-y-olds, and highest proximal to the hospital. Compared to children with rotavirus-negative diarrhoea, rotavirus-positive cases were less likely to have coexisting illnesses and more likely to have acidosis (46% versus 17%) and severe electrolyte imbalance except hyponatraemia. In-hospital case fatality was 2% among rotavirus-positive and 9% among rotavirus-negative children. Conclusions In Kilifi > 2% of children are admitted to hospital with group A rotavirus diarrhoea in the first 5 y of life. This translates into over 28,000 vaccine-preventable hospitalisations per year across Kenya, and is likely to be a considerable underestimate. Group A rotavirus diarrhoea is associated with acute life-threatening metabolic derangement in otherwise healthy children. Although mortality is low in this clinical research setting this may not be generally true in African hospitals lacking rapid and appropriate management