Improving knowledge, fibre and textile quality, and communications

This is a technical report summarising activities to improve the knowledge about rare natural animal fibres in Australia, including aspects of their production, fibre quality, and textiles made from these fibres. It summarises results of Australian investment on these subjects, and makes recommendations about future investment. This is important, as there is limited scientific understanding of how to improve productivity, quality and financial returns from these industries in Australia.

Securitising participation in the Philippines: KALAHI and community-driven participation

Participatory approaches to development have been implemented increasingly. One form is the World Bank’s community-driven development (CDD) programme. Participation has, also, become increasingly securitised since 2001. One instance of these trends was the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (KALAHI) project in the Philippines. This paper examines the implementation of CDD and the problems of its securitisation, using the Philippines as a case study. A composite conceptual framework is advanced that draws upon the international analyses of development. Adapting the concepts of securitisation and de-politicisation, it argues that a new hegemonic-development framework has appeared: the Securitised-Washington consensus. The analysis assesses these trends through the examples of KALAHI and Philippine politics and economics. It suggests that securitised CDD projects result in token efforts at political reform and poverty alleviation that often are contradicted by counter-trends towards development decline and militarisation. Unless these deep-rooted problems are confronted, localised participation is likely to remain ineffectual.

Inulin and maltodextrin can replace fat in baked savoury legume snacks

A baked yellow split pea cracker was developed with fat replacement (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) using inulin, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and maltodextrin. Effects of fat replacement on physical (water activity, moisture content, colour and hardness), nutritional properties and consumer acceptance (nine-point hedonic rating) of snacks were investigated. Water activity (0.15-0.32) and moisture (1.28-3.16%) readings were consistent, and products were considered shelf stable. High levels of fat replacement (100%) were detrimental to snack colour and hardness. Snacks with 75% fat replacement using inulin and maltodextrin received similar mean overall acceptability scores (6.40 ± 1.36 and 6.26 ± 1.37, respectively) to the control and a similar commercial product. These snacks were eligible to claim that they were a 'good source' of protein (requirement; ≥10 g per serve) and an 'excellent source' of dietary fibre (requirement; ≥7 g per serve) while providing 'reduced' fat content (≤25% than reference food) based on the Australian Food Standards Code.

Future directions for pharmacotherapies for treatment-resistant bipolar disorder

Current pharmacological treatments for bipolar disorder (BD) are limited and efficacy has historically been discovered through serendipity. There is now scope for new drug development, focused on the underlying biology of BD that is not targeted by current therapies. The need for novel treatments is urgent when considering treatment resistant BD, where current therapies have failed. While established drugs targeting the monoamine systems continue to be worthwhile, new biological targets including inflammatory and oxidative an nitrosative pathways, apoptotic and neurotrophic pathways, mitochondrial pathways, the N-methyl-Daspartate (NMDA)-receptor complex, the purinergic system, neuropeptide system, cholinergic system and melatonin pathways are all being identified as potential anchors for the discovery of new agents. Many agents are experimental and efficacy data is limited, however further investigation may provide a new line for drug discovery, previously stalled by lack of corporate interest.

Identifying emerging hotel preferences using emerging pattern mining technique

Hotel managers continue to find ways to understand traveler preferences, with the aim of improving their strategic planning, marketing, and product development. Traveler preference is unpredictable for example, hotel guests used to prefer having a telephone in the room, but now favor fast Internet connection. Changes in preference influence the performance of hotel businesses, thus creating the need to identify and address the demands of their guests. Most existing studies focus on current demand attributes and not on emerging ones. Thus, hotel managers may find it difficult to make appropriate decisions in response to changes in travelers' concerns. To address these challenges, this paper adopts Emerging Pattern Mining technique to identify emergent hotel features of interest to international travelers. Data are derived from 118,000 records of online reviews. The methods and findings can help hotel managers gain insights into travelers' interests, enabling the former to gain a better understanding of the rapid changes in tourist preferences.

Lab-on-a-chip or chip-in-a-lab: challenges of commercialization lost in translation

Lab-on-a-chip technology has been long envisaged to have tremendous commercial potential, owing to the ability of such devices to encapsulate a full range of laboratory processes in a single instrument and operate in a portable manner, rapidly and at low cost. Devices are believed to have potential in fields ranging across medical diagnostics, environmental sampling and a range of consumer products, however, to date very few devices have attained commercial success. This review examines the challenges relating to the commercialization of lab-on-a-chip technology from fundamental research to mass manufacturing and aims to provide insight to both academics and product development specialists the perceived hindrances to commercialization and a strategy by which future work could be translated into commercial success.