Rapid synthesis of TiC–Fe3C composite by electric discharge assisted mechanical milling of ilmenite (FeTiO3) with graphite

Carbo-thermic reduction of ilmenite (FeTiO₃) to TiO₂ and/or TiC is traditionally carried out by a high temperature annealing treatment at  _~1500 °C. In this work, electric discharge assisted mechanical milling (EDAMM) has been used to synthesise TiC + Fe₃C from FeTiO₃ in 5 min. In this study we report of the reduction of FeTiO₃ with C that does not require an additional high temperature annealing treatment.

Rapid synthesis of Bi and Sb sulfides using electric discharge assisted mechanical milling

Group V–VI binary sulfides are semiconductors, and find application in a number of commercial devices. Synthesis of these metal sulfides is problematic, and traditional synthesis techniques utilizing thermal and chemical means have disadvantages such as a long process time, contamination, and the use of toxic substances. In this work, the novel synthesis technique of electric discharge assisted mechanical milling (EDAMM) has been used to rapidly synthesize Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ powders from elemental S and Sb/Bi powders. This technique is shown to be both rapid and successful, and produces crystalline metal sulfide powders with a particle size of approximately 2 μm.

Ein Blick Down Under. Selbstmanagementinitiativen und Patientenschulungen in Australien

The growing burden of chronic disease and the current nature of healthcare systems which are structurally ill-equipped to cater to the complex needs of patients with chronic conditions has led to governments and healthcare providers seeking alternative ways to improve patients own capacity to actively self-manage their chronic condition. In Australia, there has been a focus on patient education and self-management programs within the healthcare system to achieve this. These programs aim to empower patients through providing information and teaching skills and techniques to improve self-care and doctor-patient interaction with the ultimate goal of improving quality of life. Patient education and self-management programs have been supported through several national government initiatives and implemented within the healthcare setting. This paper describes the current position of patient education and self-management within the Australian healthcare system. It further describes a new collaboration project between an Australian and a German research team which aims at translating an assessment questionnaire used in Australia for the evaluation of self-management programs, the “Health Education Impact Questionnaire” (“heiQ”); this instrument is expected to be of significant use in the German rehabilitative system.

Offender rehabilitation down under

In this paper we offer an overview of reintegration policies in both Australia and New Zealand. We describe the rehabilitative practices of both countries, and their basis in the Risk—Needs—Responsivity model of offender rehabilitation, before outlining the recently developed Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation. Our conclusion is that the model has much to offer the future development of reintegration programmes in Australasia (and elsewhere), given its ability to conceptualise the change process, and accommodate those cultural and contextual factors that are so important to the correctional population in these countries.

Symptoms, ill-health and quality of life of the members of a Porton Down veterans' support group

Background There has been a Human Volunteer Programme at the British chemical weapons research facility at Porton Down since the First World War, in which some of the participants were exposed to chemical warfare agents.

Aim To identify any striking specific morbidity patterns in members of the Porton Down Veterans Support Group (PDVSG).

Methods A self-completed postal questionnaire was prepared including health immediately after the visits to Porton Down, subsequent diagnoses and hospital admissions, symptoms in, and after, the first 5 years after the visits, fatigue symptoms and current quality of life, measured using the SF-36.

Results Responses were received from 289 of 436 (66%). Results reported here relate to 269 male respondents of mean age 66.8 years. Sixty-six per cent reported their first visit to Porton Down in the 1950s. The most common diagnoses or hospital admissions reported were diseases of the circulatory system. In the first 5 years after their visits the most common symptoms were headache, irritability or outbursts of anger and feeling un-refreshed after sleep. In the later period, most common symptoms were fatigue, feeling un-refreshed after sleep and sleeping difficulties. Sixty-five per cent met the definition for a case of ‘fatigue’. Current quality of life dimensions were consistently lower than age-specific estimates from general population samples.

Conclusions Members of the PDVSG responding to this survey reported poorer quality of life than the general population. Despite there being no clear pattern of specific morbidities, we cannot rule out ill-health being potentially associated with past experience at Porton Down

Small rural emergency departments are not simply cut-down large urban emergency departments

 It is important to understand how small rural emergency departments work. They are a significant fraction of a state’s medical system. Although they each see only a few thousand patients a year, as a group they are likely to treat more emergency patients than the largest city hospital. It is a myth that they only deal with minor ailments. 

e-Chatter : breaking down the languge barrier

The e-Chatter environment will provide a transformative bilingual environment that aims to facilitate the development of mother-tongue and bilingual expertise through its ability to do simultaneous bi-directional translation.

Fabrication of ultrafine powder from eri silk through attritor and jet milling

Fibroin protein derived from silk fibres has been extensively studied with exciting outcomes for a number of potential advanced biomaterial applications. However, one of the major challenges in applications lies in engineering fibroin into a  desired form using a convenient production technology. In this paper, fabrication of ultrafine powder from eri silk is reported. The silk cocoons were degummed and the extracted silk fibres were then chopped into snippets prior to attritor and air jet milling. Effects of process control agents, material load and material to water ratio during attritor milling were studied. Compared to dry and dry–wet attritor milling, wet process emerged as the preferred option as it caused less colour change and facilitated easy handling. Ultrafine silk powder with a volume based particle size d(0.5) of around 700 nm could be prepared following the sequence of chopping ➔ wet attritor milling ➔ spray drying ➔ air jet milling. Unlike most reported powder production methods, this method could fabricate silk particles in a short time without any pre-treatment on degummed fibre. Moreover, the size range obtained is much smaller than that previously produced using standard milling devices. Reduction in fibre tenacity either shortened the milling time even further or helped bypassing media milling to produce fine powder directly through jet milling. However, such reduction in fibre strength did not help in increasing the ultimate particle fineness. The study also revealed that particle density and particle morphology could be manipulated through appropriate changes in the degumming process.

Graphical Abstract:  Fabrication of eri silk powder using attritor and jet milling is reported. Volume based particle size d(0.5) of around 700 nm could be prepared following the sequence chopping ➔ wet attritor milling ➔ spray drying ➔ air jet milling. No pre-treatments were used and the particle size range obtained is much smaller than that previously produced using standard milling devices. Particle density morphology could be manipulated through appropriate changes of cocoon degumming conditions.

Role of water and surfactant in the solvent milling of wool

Unlike other fibres, wool felts readily when agitated in the presence of water. For this reason, only the minimum necessary quantity of water is used when the garments are drycleaned. However, wool fibres are often deliberately felted to obtain a warm bulky handle by controlled addition of water to the solvent. This process is known as solvent milling and recently, it has become a popular alternative to the traditional milling in water alone. Although the factors which influence milling in solvent are known, the relationships between them are not well defined. A comprehensive study of the relationship between water distribution and milling shrinkage during agitation of wool in perchloroethylene has been carried out in this thesis. The Karl Fischer method of determination was used throughout to establish the distribution of water between the wool fibre and the solvent liquor. The emphasis was placed on practical production variables. The role of surfactant in affecting milling shrinkage through its effect on the transport of water to the fibre from the solvent was examined. The ability of a suitable surfactant in promoting even and rapid sorption of water by the fibre was related to the colloidal properties of the milling liquor.

Reactive ball milling to produce nanocrystalline ZnO

Ball milling of zinc powders in oxygen atmosphere leads to nanocrystalline ZnO. The average grain size has a value of 9 nm. The zinc oxidation proceeds gradually. It is compared with the combustion oxidation reactions of metals (Zr, Ti, Fe and Sn) reported previously. We propose a new parameter ΔH/C_p(metal) instead of simplified adiabatic temperature to judge if the mechanochemical oxidation of a particular metal happens via gradual or combustion reaction.

Geared equity investments : a case study of tax arbitrage down under

Geared Equity Investment (GEI) contracts are an over-the-counter financial derivative product offered by Macquarie Bank, Ltd. to individual investors in Australia and New Zealand as a managed-risk investment in local shares carrying significant tax shield benefits. Upon issuance, a geared equity contract has three stakeholders: (1) the investor; (2) the issuer; and (3) the national tax authority. We assess the value of these contracts to each stakeholder and their support for tax arbitrage. We find that the national tax authority provides a significant subsidy to GEI contracts via tax shield benefits. These benefits support investor tax arbitrage in certain cases and issuer tax arbitrage in all cases examined.