Toward ubiquitous environmental gas sensors—capitalizing on the promise of graphene

Atomically thin sheets of carbon known as “graphene” have captured the imagination of much of the scientific world during the past few years. Although these single sheets of graphite were under our noses for years—within technologies ranging from the humble pencil, which has been around since at least 1565 (Petroski, H. The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance; Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1993), to modern nuclear reactors—graphene was merely considered as part of graphite’s crystal structure until 2004, when Novoselov, Geim, and colleagues (Science 2004, 306, 666−669) first presented some of the surprising electrical properties of graphene layers they had isolated by mechanically peeling sheets off graphite crystals. Today, graphene’s unique electronic structures and properties, bolstered by other intriguing properties discovered in the intervening years, threaten the dominance of carbon nanotubes, a more mature allotrope of carbon, in potential applications from electronics to sensors. In this review, we will consider the promise of graphene for producing small-scale gas sensors for environmental monitoring.

From policy to practice: the development of an integrated health promotion plan for children's services at Plenty Valley Community Health Inc.

Current changes in the funding of health promotion in community health in Victoria require community health agencies to integrate health promotion with service delivery. This provides both opportunities and challenges for community health staff. Members of the Children’s Service Team at Plenty Valley Community Health Inc. addressed these changes by developing an integrated health promotion plan. The approach used involved identifying client pathways and then integrating opportunities for health promotion interventions into these pathways. Staff perceptions of the process involved in developing the plan were examined. The use of client pathways to integrate health promotion into everyday practice proved a successful approach for members of the Children’s Services Team, and provides a useful model for health promotion planning in community health that helps staff to see the relevance of health promotion to their practice, and engages staff in the planning process. Members of the Children’s Services Team reported that the process involved in developing their integrated health promotion plan was a very worthwhile experience that allowed them a strong sense of ownership of the plan.

Bust of Alfred Deakin

This replica was made by Peter J. Morley from an original, by Web Gilbert, held by Melbourne Grammar School. Similar busts are held in the Library of the Parliament of Victoria, Parliament House (Canberra) and the Avenue of Prime Ministers in Ballarat. The busts were originally commissioned in 1922 by Alfred Deakins daughter, Mrs. Ivy Brookes.

Ivy Brookes presenting the Alfred Deakin papers to the National Library of Australia

Alfred Deakin's daughters seated in the foreground from left to right: Lady Vera White, Lady Stella Rivett and Ivy Brookes; Professor J. La Nauze (Deakin's biographer) is the standing gentleman, second from the left; the Hon. Robert G. Menzies is standing on the far right next to the desk