Recent trends in nanomaterials immobilised enzymes for biofuel production

Application of nanomaterials as novel supporting materials for enzyme immobilisation has generated incredible interest in the biotechnology community. These robust nanostructured forms, such as nanoparticles, nanofibres, nanotubes, nanoporous, nanosheets, and nanocomposites, possess a high surface area to volume ratios that can cause a high enzyme loading and facilitate reaction kinetics, thus improving biocatalytic efficiency for industrial applications. In this article, we discuss research opportunities of nanoscale materials in enzyme biotechnology and highlight recent developments in biofuel production using advanced material supports for enzyme immobilisation and stabilisation. Synthesis and functionalisation of nanomaterial forms using different methods are highlighted. Various simple and effective strategies designed to result in a stable, as well as functional protein-nanomaterial conjugates are also discussed. Analytical techniques confirming enzyme loading on nanomaterials and assessing post-immobilisation changes are discussed. The current status of versatile nanomaterial support for biofuel production employing cellulases and lipases is described in details. This report concludes with a discussion on the likely outcome that nanomaterials will become an integral part of sustainable bioenergy production.

Dealing with alcohol-related problems in the night-time economy: a study protocol for mapping trends in harm and stakeholder views surrounding local community level interventions

This project will provide a comprehensive investigation into the prevalence of alcohol-related harms and community attitudes in the context of community-based interventions being implemented to reduce harm in two regional centres of Australia. While considerable experimentation and innovation to address these harms has occurred in both Geelong and Newcastle, only limited ad-hoc documentation and analysis has been conducted on changes in the prevalence of harm as a consequence, leaving a considerable gap in terms of a systematic, evidence-based analysis of changes in harm over time and the need for further intervention. Similarly, little evidence has been reported regarding the views of key stakeholder groups, industry, government agencies, patrons or community regarding the need for, and the acceptability of, interventions to reduce harms. This project will aim to provide evidence regarding the impact and acceptability of local initiatives aimed at reducing alcohol-related harms.

Determining trends and environmental drivers from long-term marine mammal and seabird data : examples from Southern Australia

Climate change is acknowledged as an emerging threat for top-order marine predators, yet obtaining evidence of impacts is often difficult. In south-eastern Australia, a marine global warming hotspot, evidence suggests that climate change will profoundly affect pinnipeds and seabirds. Long-term data series are available to assess some species' responses to climate. Researchers have measured a variety of chronological and population variables, such as laying dates, chick or pup production, colony-specific abundance and breeding success. Here, we consider the challenges in accurately assessing trends in marine predator data, using long-term data series that were originally collected for other purposes, and how these may be driven by environmental change and variability. In the past, many studies of temporal changes and environmental drivers used linear analyses and we demonstrate the (theoretical) relationship between the magnitude of a trend, its variability, and the duration of a data series required to detect a linear trend. However, species may respond to environmental change in a nonlinear manner and, based on analysis of time-series from south-eastern Australia, it appears that the assumptions of a linear model are often violated, particularly for measures of population size. The commonly measured demographic variables exhibit different degrees of variation, which influences the ability to detect climate signals. Due to their generally lower year-to-year variability, we illustrate that monitoring of variables such as mass and breeding chronology should allow detection of temporal trends earlier in a monitoring programme than observations of breeding success and population size. Thus, establishing temporal changes with respect to climate change from a monitoring programme over a relatively short time period requires careful a priori choice of biological variables. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Trends in body mass index according to educational attainment for urban Australian adults between 1980 and 2007

BackgroundWe have previously demonstrated that between the years 1980 and 2000, the mean body mass index (BMI) of the urban Australian population increased, with greater increases observed with increasing BMI. The current study aimed to quantify trends over time in BMI according to education between 1980 and 2007.MethodsWe compared data from the 1980, 1983 and 1989 National Heart Foundation Risk Factor Prevalence Studies, 1995 National Nutrition Survey, 2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study and the 2007 National Health Survey. For survey comparability, analyses were restricted to urban Australian residents aged 25-64 years. BMI was calculated from measured height and weight. The education variable was dichotomised at completion of secondary school. Four age-standardised BMI indicators were compared over time by sex and education: mean BMI, mean BMI of the top five percent of the BMI distribution, prevalence of obesity (BMI⩾30 kg/m(2)), prevalence of class II(+) obesity (BMI⩾35 kg/m(2)).ResultsBetween 1980 and 2007, the mean BMI among men increased by 2.5 kg/m(2) and 1.7 kg/m(2) for those with low and high education levels, respectively, corresponding to increases in obesity prevalence of 20(from 12% to 32%) and 11(10% to 21%) %-points. Among women mean BMI increased by 2.9 kg/m(2) and 2.4 kg/m(2) for those with low and high education levels respectively, corresponding to increases in obesity prevalence of 16(12% to 28%) and 12(7% to 19%) %-points. The prevalence of class II(+) obesity among men increased by 9(1% to 10%) and 4(1% to 5%) %-points for those with low and high education levels, and among women increased by 8(4% to 12%) and 4(2% to 6%) %-points. Absolute and relative differences between education groups generally increased over time.ConclusionsEducational differences in BMI have persisted among urban Australian adults since 1980 without improvement. Obesity prevention policies will need to be effective in those with greatest socio-economic disadvantage if we are to equitably and effectively address the population burden of obesity and its corollaries.International Journal of Obesity accepted article preview online, 16 March 2015. doi:10.1038/ijo.2015.27.

Neurophysiology of insects using microelectrode arrays: Current trends and future prospects

Simple to complex behaviors are directed by the brain, which possess nervous cells, called neurons. Mammals have billions of neurons, organized in networks, making their study difficult. Although methods have well evolved since the last century, studying a simpler model is the key to resolving neuronal communication. In this review, we demonstrate that insects are an excellent model and tool to understand neural mechanisms. Moreover, new technology, such as Microelectrodes Arrays (MEAs), is an innovative method which opens the possibility to study neuron clusters, rather than individual cells. A combined method of an insect model and MEAs technology may lead to great discoveries in neurophysiology, advancing progress in pharmacology, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases, agriculture maintenance and robotics.

Randomised controlled trials in child health in developing countries: trends and lessons over 11 years.

Using a uniform systematic approach annually, we reviewed 1553 publications from randomised controlled trials in child health in developing countries published between July 2002 and June 2013. There were annual increases in such publications, from 38 in the 12 months to July 2003 to over 200 in each of 2012 and 2013. These trials involved children in 76 developing countries. Studies of nutrition (366 publications, 23.6%) and malaria (336 publications, 21%) predominated. 79% of nutrition trials have been of micronutrients (288 publications), with comparatively few publications related to macronutrient interventions or complimentary feeding (48 publications) or measures to improve breast feeding (20 publications). Trials of malaria have involved a comprehensive range of treatment and preventive strategies and have heralded the implementation of new interventions as routine health strategies, and reductions in malaria in each affected country in the world in the last decade. There have been a relatively small number of trials of interventions for treatment or prevention of acute respiratory infection (98 publications, 6.3%), neonatal health (64 publications, 4.1%) and tuberculosis in children (26 publications, 1.7%). In the last 5 years there has been increasing focus on non-communicable diseases such as asthma and allergy, obesity, diabetes and cardiac disease, and behavioural-developmental disorders. Mental health conditions have received little attention (21 publications, 1.4% of publications). There is increasing research activity and capacity in child health in developing countries. Some areas have been the subject of a large amount of research, and have led to the design and implementation of effective public health interventions and reduced disease burdens, while in other areas comprehensive approaches and the systematic application of research findings have been lacking.

A simple test for nonstationarity in mixed panels with incidental trends

Ng (2008) shows how the cross-sectional variance of the observed panel data can be used to construct a simple test for the proportion of non-stationary units. However, in the case with incidental trends the test is distorted. The present note shows how the distortions can be substantially reduced by the use of bias-adjustment. It also investigates the local power of the bias-adjusted test, which is shown to suffer from the same incidental trends problem previously only documented for conventional t-tests.

Panel cointegration tests with deterministic trends and structural breaks

This paper proposes Lagrange multiplier (LM) based tests for the null hypothesis of no cointegration in panel data. The tests are general enough to allow for heteroskedastic and serially correlated errors, individual specific time trends, and a single structural break
in both the intercept and slope of each regression, which may be located different dates for different individuals. The limiting distributions of the test statistics are derived, and are found to be standard normal and free of nuisance parameters under the null. In
particular, the distributions are found to be invariant not only withrespect to trend and structural break, but also with respect to the presence of stochastic regressors. A small Monte Carlo study is also conducted to investigate the small-sample properties of the tests. The results reveal that the tests have small size distortions and good power even in very small samples.

Trends in US contact lens prescribing 2002 to 2014

Purpose To document contact lens prescribing patterns in the United States between 2002 and 2014. Methods A survey of contact lens prescribing trends was conducted each year between 2002 and 2014, inclusive. Randomly selected contact lens practitioners were asked to provide information relating to 10 consecutive contact lens fits between January and March each year. Results Over the 13-year survey period, 1650 survey forms were received from US practitioners representing details of 7702 contact lens fits. The mean (±SD) age of lens wearers was 33.6 (±15.2) years, of whom 65.2% were female. Rigid lens new fits decreased from 13.0% in 2002 to 9.4% in 2014. Across this period, silicone hydrogels have replaced mid water contact lens hydrogels as the soft lens material of choice. Toric lenses represented about 25 to 30% of all soft lens fits. Multifocal soft lenses are generally preferred to monovision. Daily disposable lens fits have recently increased, and in 2014, they represented 27.1% of all soft lens fits. Most lenses are prescribed on 1 to 2 weekly or monthly lens replacement regimen. Extended wear remains a minority lens wearing modality. The vast majority of those wearing reusable lenses use multipurpose lens care solutions. Lenses are mostly worn 7 d/wk. Conclusions This survey has revealed prescribing trends and preferences in the United States over the past 13 years.

New trends in the making of international commercial law

This paper analyzes trends in the making of international commercial law including the impetus for generating conventions, the growth of regional conventions, and soft law.There has never been a better time to be an international commercial law scholar. After decades of being held hostage to state-centered ideas, international commercial law has finally broken through to become more solution oriented. Increasingly, nation states are becoming less important in the creation of international commercial law with the growth of regional organizations, non-state actors, and international arbitration. This is spurred on by the march of globalization and the need for international commercial law. The term "harmonization will be used as a surrogate to discuss the creation of international commercial law as it is the primary means by which international commercial law is created. This article seeks to explore two preponderant trends that have become visible in the making of international commercial law. In Part I, I shall describe the background. In Parts II and III, I will highlight the growing role of regional endeavors at harmonization, and the rise of non-binding instruments.