Closing the loop: A systems thinking led sustainable sanitation project in Australia

This paper will explain a research project being carried out in Sydney, Australia at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) highlighting the systems thinking principles and action research methodology being adopted in this project. UTS is set to participate in an Australia-first research project, led by the Institute of Sustainable Futures (ISF), exploring the use of innovative urine diverting toilets in an institutional setting. A UTS Challenge Grant (an internal grant scheme to promote innovative collaborative research) has been awarded to the project which will enable safe nutrient capture and reuse from urine diverting toilets installed on campus for a trial period. The Challenge Grant has some enthusiastic industry partners including the local water utility Sydney Water; the sanitaryware manufacturer CaromaDorf; the Nursery and Garden Industry Association; government partners (NSW Department of Health, and City of Sydney) and the UTS Facilities Management Unit. Researchers from the University of Western Sydney and University of New South Wales in Australia as well as Linkoping University in Sweden are collaborators in this research

Tracing potential soil contamination in the historical Solvay soda ash plant area, Jaworzno, Southern Poland

This study of soil conditions was carried out on 30 meadow soil (podzol) samples from the vicinity of the soda ash heap in Jaworzno, supplemented by analyses of 18 samples of waste deposited on the heap. In all samples, the total content of macroelements (Ca and Na) and heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) as well as pH were analysed. The element concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The materials examined were neutral to ultra-alkaline. Total accumulations (mg kg(−1)) of chemical elements in the soil vary from 130.24 to 14076.67 for Ca, 41.40–926.23 for Na, 0.03–3.34 for Cd, 0.94–103.62 for Cr, 0.94–35.89 for Ni, 3.51–76.47 for Pb and 12.05–279.13 for Zn, whereas quantities of the same elements in the waste samples vary from 171705.13 to 360487.94 for Ca, 517.64–3152.82 for Na, 0.2–9.89 for Cd, 1.16–20.40 for Cr, 1.08–9.79 for Ni, 0.1–146.05 for Pb and 10.26–552.35 for Zn. The vertical distribution of the metals was determined in each soil profile. Despite enrichment of heavy metals in the uppermost horizon on the top of the heap, the results lead to the conclusion that the relation of historical production of soda ash in Jaworzno to current contamination of the local soil environment is insignificant

Российский консенсус по профилактике, диагностике и лечению рака желудка

The Russian consensus on prevention, diagnostic and treatment of gastric cancer was prepared on the initiative of the Moscow clinical scientific center named after A. S. Loginov according to the Delphi method. Its aim was to clarify and consolidate the opinions of specialists on the most relevant issues of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of gastric cancer. An interdisciplinary approach was provided by the participation of leading gastroenterologists, oncologists and surgeons.Российский консенсус по профилактике, диагностике и лечению рака желудка подготовлен по инициативе Московского клинического научного центра им А. С. Логинова ДЗМ по Дельфийской системе. Его целью явилась консолидация мнений отечественных специалистов по наиболее актуальным вопросам профилактики, скрининга, диагностики и лечения рака желудка. Междисциплинарный подход обеспечен участием ведущих гастроэнтерологов, онкологов и хирургов.Цель статьи: представить положения Российского консенсуса по профилактике, диагностике и лечению рака желудка

X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ni-K edge in Stackhousia tryonii Bailey hyperaccumulator

Young plants of Stackhousia tryonii Bailey were exposed to 34 mM Ni kg-1 in the form of NiSO4- 6H2O solution and grown under controlled glasshouse conditions for a period of 20 days. Fresh leaf, stem and root samples were analysed in vivo by micro x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ni-K edge. Both x-ray absorption near edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra were analysed, and the resulting spectra were compared with spectra obtained from nine biologically important Ni-containing model compounds. The results revealed that themajority of leaf, stem and root Ni in the hyperaccumulator was chelated by citrate.Our results also suggest that in leavesNi is complexed by phosphate and histidine, and in stems and roots, phytate and histidine. The XAS results provide an important physiological insight into transport, detoxification and storage of Ni in S. tryonii plants

X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ni-K edge in Stackhousia tryonii Bailey hyperaccumulator

Young plants of Stackhousia tryonii Bailey were exposed to 34 mM Ni kg-1 in the form of NiSO4- 6H2O solution and grown under controlled glasshouse conditions for a period of 20 days. Fresh leaf, stem and root samples were analysed in vivo by micro x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Ni-K edge. Both x-ray absorption near edge structure and extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectra were analysed, and the resulting spectra were compared with spectra obtained from nine biologically important Ni-containing model compounds. The results revealed that themajority of leaf, stem and root Ni in the hyperaccumulator was chelated by citrate.Our results also suggest that in leavesNi is complexed by phosphate and histidine, and in stems and roots, phytate and histidine. The XAS results provide an important physiological insight into transport, detoxification and storage of Ni in S. tryonii plants

Mellow Yellow: Taking a Systems Thinking Approach to Designing Research on Transitioning to More Sustainable Sewage Management

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This paper will explain how a framework derived from systems thinking, including soft systems methodology and the use of action research as a methodology, shaped a research project addressing an area of application (sustainable sanitation). The research used F (intellectual framework) M (methodology for using F) to address A (area of application) for understanding rational intervention in human affairs proposed by Peter Checkland in the 1980s. This Australia-first research project was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of collaborators from academia, industry and government that included researchers, practitioners and students. It explored the use of innovative urine-diverting toilets in an institutional setting. The paper is focussed on the initial stages of the project—the project design and early investigative phase, and demonstrates how systems thinking and a transdisciplinary research approach were used to structure a complex problem related to sustainability, a problem that infringed on social and cultural issues. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd