Waste avoidance and reuse strategies for residential buildings in Australia

Introduction The Beyond Waste Fund is an initiative managed by Sustainability Victoria to help businesses avoid waste sent to landfill. The fund supports innovations that focus on waste avoidance, reduction and reuse, leading to improved resource management, and better environmental outcomes. As part of the Beyond Waste Fund, a partnership between Burbank Australia, the Housing Industry Association (HIA), and the Centre for Design at RMIT University was established to conduct a research study aiming at reducing the waste generated in the construction phase of building by the volume residential building sector in Australia. The major steps in this project were to: 1.    Establish a waste audit methodology 2.    Undertake and assess an initial waste audit on a typical volume-built house 3.    Develop waste avoidance strategies 4.    Assess the efficacy of waste avoidance strategies by undertaking a final waste audit on a typical volume build-house, which utilises the identified strategies. This report presents the final outcomes of this study, outlining the goal and scope of the study, the waste audit methodology and initial audit results, waste avoidance strategies, final audit results and an assessment on the efficacy and implementation of waste avoidance strategies

A critical analysis of Iranian buy-back transactions in the context of international petroleum contractual systems

This research critically examines the Iranian petroleum contractual system from its birth to the present, and considers its future evolution. Initially, it reviews the development of oil contracts, from the early concessions until the annulment of all obligations as the result of two major events; the Nationalisation Movement and the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The constant policy struggle between the need for foreign funding and technology in the oil industry on one hand and the desire to avoid foreign exploitation on the other is analysed in terms of its impact on the current stance towards foreign investment and the formation of the present contractual model. The embodiment of this complex struggle is the buy-back contractual model that has found widespread use in Iranian petroleum transactions since 1989. This scheme is best described as a short term risk service agreement, whereby the foreign investor provides the funds for petroleum Exploration and Exploitation in exchange for a pre-defined, volume-based quantum of remuneration in case of successful production that serves to both compensate and reward the contractor. The adoption of this system is a compromise solution between the need for foreign capital, expertise and services on one hand and wariness of foreign involvement in natural resources on the other, as evident from the Constitutional limitations discussed later in this study. A crucial element of this arrangement is the transfer of the field's operation back to the National Iranian Oil Company following conclusion of the contract; a legal step which distinguishes buyback contracts from alternative systems that may be contrary to the Constitution. Both the structure and the comparative advantages of the buy-back have been discussed at length, with particular attention to the enabling laws and their flaws. Detailed analysis is devoted to the other major international contractual models, including a comparative evaluation of these alternative systems and their suitability for the Iranian oil industry, given the limitations of the Constitution. The buy-back system is scrutinised from both the foreign and the domestic perspective and the issue of whether revision of its terms or an alternative model would be more appropriate considering the grievances of all the participants. The extent to which the Iranian oil industry was and will be affected by increasing international pressure, particularly as the result of US Sanctions, was considered extensively. It appears that Iran is not yielding to such pressure but rather orienting itself towards alternative allies and continuing to sign contracts based on the buy-back. Particularly stringent examination of specific terms and conditions of buy-back has been conducted through a review of various oil fields so as to determine if the model's perceived flaws manifest themselves in reality. The finding of the analysis described above is that the buy-back contract as implemented in Iran is flawed on basis of the limiting nature of its provisions rather than by virtue of the model itself. A number of provisions, such as maximum contract length and method of remuneration, which are needlessly restrictive, are highlighted and the importance of modernising them in light of the current economic environment is noted. Based on the facts and findings throughout the study, the conclusion arises that evolutionary rather than revolutionary reforms are both required and viable, without undermining the current legal framework. Lastly, the study yields a practical recommendation as to the reforms most crucial to the preservation of Iran's attractiveness to investors, in light of the current economic, political and legal environment

Relationship between PI3K Mutation and Sodium-Iodide Symporter in Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma

The sodium-iodide symporter is a transmembrane protein that has important role in radio-iodide therapy in various cancers such as anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is a rare undifferentiated thyroid tumor, but highly aggressive and lethal malignancy. Usually it is resistant to radio-iodide therapy and a cause of this appearance knows through dysfunction of the sodium-iodide symporter. Some genomic mutations, like PI3K gene mutations, can affect on sodium-iodide symporter functions. This review article explains briefly about PI3K signaling pathway and survey its gene mutations in carcinomas especially in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma and its influence on sodium-iodide symporter and iodide uptake

BRAF Mutation and its effects on Radioiodine Uptake in Patients with Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer

Context: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) is poorly differentiated subtype of thyroid cancer which either resistant to radioactive iodine (RAI) therapy or conventional chemotherapy. Each process of the biological characteristics in normal thyroid cells, including iodide uptake by sodium-iodide symporter (NIS), synthesis of thyroglobulin (Tg), expression of thyroid peroxidase (TPO) and receptor for thyrotropin (TSHR), can be an onset stage for emerging thyroid carcinoma. Decrease or absence of NIS mRNA in thyroid carcinomas has well described for resistant to RAI therapy in these patients. Evidence Acquisition: The original articles related to the role of the BRAF mutations on the sodium-iodide symporter functions and radioiodine uptake in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma were found by a search in Scopus, PubMed, Science direct, Springer and some else with an emphasis on literature published in the recent years.Results: The related studies disclosed that mutations in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway happen in more than 90% of thyroid cancer. Also serine/threonine-protein kinase BRAF is an important component of the MAPK pathway. Its mutations cause reduction of NIS mRNA compared to tumors with other mutations

Association of adiponectin rs17300539 gene polymorphism with a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in an Iranian population

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a chronic liver disorder, resulting from exceeding fat cumulating in the liver .Adiponectin, a protein secreted from the adipose tissue, reduces liver inflammation. In this study, the relationship between adiponectin rs17300539 gene polymorphism and a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was investigated. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 80 subjects with NAFLD and 80 healthy subjects. The determination of polymorphism rs17300539 of adiponectin gene was performed by the PCR-RFLP method and electrophoresis technique. The plasma levels of adiponectin and insulin hormones were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference in allele frequencies between the two groups of the case and control (P>0.05). The body mass index (BMI) in genotype GA carriers was higher than that of genotype GG carriers (P<0.05). Moreover, the diastolic blood pressure in the male patients carrying the genotype GA was higher than that in the genotype GG carriers (P<0.05). In the female patients carrying the genotype GA, the AST and triglyceride levels were higher than the GG female carriers (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems that the allele G can be beneficial in reducing the side-effects of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Tunable Plasmonic Metamaterial

Plasmonic metamaterials are artificial materials typically composed of noble metals in which the features of photonics and electronics are linked by coupling photons to conduction electrons of metal (known as surface plasmon). These rationally designed structures have spurred interest noticeably since they demonstrate some fascinating properties which are unattainable with naturally occurring materials. Complete absorption of light is one of the recent exotic properties of plasmonic metamaterials which has broadened its application area considerably. However, up to date all of the applied methods (perforated metallic films, grating structured systems, and conventional metamaterials) are costly and suffer from a lack of flexibility. Furthermore, their absorbance is mainly limited to a narrow spectral range or their fabrication is costly. So, such drawbacks make their vast application almost impossible. Here, in this dissertation, we design, fabricate and characterize a novel perfect absorbers based on nanocomposites whose total thickness is only a few tens of nanometers and its absorption band is broad, tunable and insensitive to the angle of incidence. The nanocomposites consist of metal nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric matrix with a high filling factor close to the percolation threshold. The filling factor can be tailored by vapor phase co-deposition of the metallic and dielectric components. Accordingly, three types of metals (gold, silver and copper) as the inclusions of the nanocomposite and four different mirrors (gold, silver, copper and aluminum) are used as the base layer. The high absorption of these metamaterials are originated from the huge absorption capability of the metallic nanoparticles (smaller than 5 nanometer in diameter) via localized plasmon resonance, confinement of the light within the tiny gap between nanoparticles as well as interference of the light by reflection through the layers. To functionalize the system, polymer-photoswitchable molecules were added as the top or spacer layer which enable us to demonstrate a photodriven perfect absorber in which the absorption band can be broadened or narrowed by ultraviolet or visible light illumination, respectively. In this approach, the absorption tuning is originated from the bond-breakage of the molecules which can be activated by irradiation. Due to the strong interaction of the molecules and metal mirror, plasmon-exciton coupling happens which not only enhances the absorption but also shifts or splits the absorption band. Also as the specific highlight of the idea, we show that a thin plasmonic nanocomposite film on a silicon wafer covered by a silicon dioxide film would diminish the reflection in a broad range of frequency and make a new class of plasmonic anti-reflection coating. Our novel concept (called hybrid ARC) combines two possible arrangements for the layers in an anti-reflection coating into a single structure; albeit at two different wavelengths. Its performance originates from the strong dispersive nature of the nanocomposite. Furthermore, we show that the current metamaterial on a metal reflector can be used for visualization of different colorations as a plasmonic rainbow despite its sub-wavelength thickness

Multifunctional waveguide interferometer sensor: simultaneous detection of refraction and absorption with size-exclusion function

A waveguide Young interferometer is presented with simultaneous detection of complex refractive index of a liquid sample. The real part of the refractive index change (refraction) is detected by tracing phase shifts of the interferogram generated by a sensing and reference waveguide. The imaginary part of the refractive index (absorption) is determined by the attenuation of the transmitted signal at certain wavelength. Furthermore, nano-filters are fabricated atop the sensing waveguide, which enables size-exclusion filtering of species to the evanescent field. It shows capability of distinguishing small and large particles from 100 nm to 500 nm in diameter, which is further confirmed by fluorescent excitation experiments. The present sensor could find broad application in optical characterization of complex turbid media with regard to their complex refractive index

Effect of conjugated linoleic acid and vitamin E on glycemic control, body composition, and inflammatory markers in overweight type2 diabetics

BACKGROUND: The healthy properties of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) such as weight loss, reducing cardiovascular risk factors and inflammation have been reported. The trans-10, cis-12 CLA isomer is related to increasing insulin resistance, but the effects of cis-9, trans-11 isomer is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of CLA with and without Vitamin E on body weight, body composition, glycemic index, inflammatory and coagulation factors, lipid profile, serum leptin and adiponectin, malondialdehyde (MDA), and blood pressure in type2 diabetes. METHODS: 56 patients with type2 diabetes were included in 8 week double-blind control trial that used metformin. They randomly divided into three groups: CLA + VitE, CLA + VitE placebo, CLA placebo + VitE placebo. All variables, anthropometric measurements, and body composition were evaluated at the beginning and the end of study. Statistical analysis and analysis of dietary data were performed using SPSS and nutritionist IV software, respectively. RESULTS: There were not any significant differences in variable changes among three groups. However, there was a trend to increase in MDA and decrease in apoB100 among CLA consumers. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that administration of CLA supplementation for 8 weeks does not affect any indicators of metabolic control in overweight type2 diabetic patients

RET Proto-Oncogene Mutations: Impact on Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis of MTC

Variants of MTC result from different mutations in exons of the RET gene. RET proto-oncogene is activated by a DNA rearrangement and it is one of the first tyrosine kinase receptor (RTK) proteins found to play a role in neoplasia. Early detection using genetic screening has become the gold standard of therapy, followed by prophylactic thyroidectomy. RET-kinase inhibitors have been developed recently for the treatment of MTC and are currently at various phases of pre- and clinical trials. Numerous autosomal dominantly inherited mutations have been demonstrated to activate RET constitutively. These mutations in separate populations are believed to be correlated with a rather heterogeneous prototype across countries. As such, one objective of this study was to demonstrate a geographical pattern of RET mutations in various populations. Advances in RET genetic screening have facilitated for the rapid recognition of hereditary MTCs and prophylactic thyroidectomy for relatives who may not show signs of the disease. In this chapter, we will discuss oncogenic RET signaling, RET inhibitors and the major RET mutations found in MTC and the necessity of RET genetic screening for the early diagnosis of MTC patients, using American Thyroid Association guidelines and genotype-phenotype correlation