Legumes or nitrification inhibitors to reduce N2O emissions from subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols?

The DAYCENT biogeochemical model was used to investigate how the use of fertilizers coated with nitrification inhibitors and the introduction of legumes in the crop rotation can affect subtropical cereal production and N2O emissions. The model was validated using comprehensive multi-seasonal, high-frequency dataset from two field investigations conducted on an Oxisol, which is the most common soil type in subtropical regions. Different N fertilizer rates were tested for each N management strategy and simulated under varying weather conditions. DAYCENT was able to reliably predict soil N dynamics, seasonal N2O emissions and crop production, although some discrepancies were observed in the treatments with low or no added N inputs and in the simulation of daily N2O fluxes. Simulations highlighted that the high clay content and the relatively low C levels of the Oxisol analyzed in this study limit the chances for significant amounts of N to be lost via deep leaching or denitrification. The application of urea coated with a nitrification inhibitor was the most effective strategy to minimize N2O emissions. This strategy however did not increase yields since the nitrification inhibitor did not substantially decrease overall N losses compared to conventional urea. Simulations indicated that replacing part of crop N requirements with N mineralized by legume residues is the most effective strategy to reduce N2O emissions and support cereal productivity. The results of this study show that legumes have significant potential to enhance the sustainable and profitable intensification of subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols.

Effect of added nitrogen on plant litter decomposition depends on initial soil carbon and nitrogen stoichiometry

Increasing organic carbon inputs to agricultural soils through the use of pastures or crop residues has been suggested as a means of restoring soil organic carbon lost via anthropogenic activities, such as land use change. However, the decomposition and retention of different plant residues in soil, and how these processes are affected by soil properties and nitrogen fertiliser application, is not fully understood. We evaluated the rate and extent of decomposition of 13C-pulse labelled plant material in response to nitrogen addition in four pasture soils of varying physico-chemical characteristics. Microbial respiration of buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) residues was monitored over 365-days. A double exponential model fitted to the data suggested that microbial respiration occurred as an early rapid and a late slow stage. A weighted three-compartment mixing model estimated the decomposition of both soluble and insoluble plant 13C (mg C kg−1 soil). Total plant material decomposition followed the alkyl C: O-alkyl C ratio of plant material, as determined by solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Urea-N addition increased the decomposition of insoluble plant 13C in some soils (≤0.1% total nitrogen) but not others (0.3% total nitrogen). Principal components regression analysis indicated that 26% of the variability of plant material decomposition was explained by soil physico-chemical characteristics (P = 0.001), which was primarily described by the C:N ratio. We conclude that plant species with increasing alkyl C: O-alkyl C ratio are better retained as soil organic matter, and that the C:N stoichiometry of soils determines whether N addition leads to increases in soil organic carbon stocks.

A data fusion approach of multiple maintenance data sources for real-world reliability modelling

A central tenet in the theory of reliability modelling is the quantification of the probability of asset failure. In general, reliability depends on asset age and the maintenance policy applied. Usually, failure and maintenance times are the primary inputs to reliability models. However, for many organisations, different aspects of these data are often recorded in different databases (e.g. work order notifications, event logs, condition monitoring data, and process control data). These recorded data cannot be interpreted individually, since they typically do not have all the information necessary to ascertain failure and preventive maintenance times. This paper presents a methodology for the extraction of failure and preventive maintenance times using commonly-available, real-world data sources. A text-mining approach is employed to extract keywords indicative of the source of the maintenance event. Using these keywords, a Naïve Bayes classifier is then applied to attribute each machine stoppage to one of two classes: failure or preventive. The accuracy of the algorithm is assessed and the classified failure time data are then presented. The applicability of the methodology is demonstrated on a maintenance data set from an Australian electricity company.

Cointegration and causal relationships between energy consumption and output: Assessing the evidence from Australia

In this paper, we describe our investigation of the cointegration and causal relationships between energy consumption and economic output in Australia over a period of five decades. The framework used in this paper is the single-sector aggregate production function, which is the first comprehensive approach used in an Australian study of this type to include energy, capital and labour as separate inputs of production. The empirical evidence points to a cointegration relationship between energy and output and implies that energy is an important variable in the cointegration space, as are conventional inputs capital and labour. We also find some evidence of bidirectional causality between GDP and energy use. Although the evidence of causality from energy use to GDP was relatively weak when using the thermal aggregate of energy use, once energy consumption was adjusted for energy quality, we found strong evidence of Granger causality from energy use to GDP in Australia over the investigated period. The results are robust, irrespective of the assumptions of linear trends in the cointegration models, and are applicable for different econometric approaches.

Initialisation flaws in the A5-GMR-1 satphone encryption algorithm

A5-GMR-1 is a synchronous stream cipher used to provide confidentiality for communications between satellite phones and satellites. The keystream generator may be considered as a finite state machine, with an internal state of 81 bits. The design is based on four linear feedback shift registers, three of which are irregularly clocked. The keystream generator takes a 64-bit secret key and 19-bit frame number as inputs, and produces an output keystream of length between $2^8$ and $2^{10}$ bits. Analysis of the initialisation process for the keystream generator reveals serious flaws which significantly reduce the number of distinct keystreams that the generator can produce. Multiple (key, frame number) pairs produce the same keystream, and the relationship between the various pairs is easy to determine. Additionally, many of the keystream sequences produced are phase shifted versions of each other, for very small phase shifts. These features increase the effectiveness of generic time-memory tradeoff attacks on the cipher, making such attacks feasible.

Legumes or nitrification inhibitors to reduce {N2O} emissions from subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols?

The DAYCENT biogeochemical model was used to investigate how the use of fertilizers coated with nitrification inhibitors and the introduction of legumes in the crop rotation can affect subtropical cereal production and {N2O} emissions. The model was validated using comprehensive multi-seasonal, high-frequency dataset from two field investigations conducted on an Oxisol, which is the most common soil type in subtropical regions. Different N fertilizer rates were tested for each N management strategy and simulated under varying weather conditions. DAYCENT was able to reliably predict soil N dynamics, seasonal {N2O} emissions and crop production, although some discrepancies were observed in the treatments with low or no added N inputs and in the simulation of daily {N2O} fluxes. Simulations highlighted that the high clay content and the relatively low C levels of the Oxisol analyzed in this study limit the chances for significant amounts of N to be lost via deep leaching or denitrification. The application of urea coated with a nitrification inhibitor was the most effective strategy to minimize {N2O} emissions. This strategy however did not increase yields since the nitrification inhibitor did not substantially decrease overall N losses compared to conventional urea. Simulations indicated that replacing part of crop N requirements with N mineralized by legume residues is the most effective strategy to reduce {N2O} emissions and support cereal productivity. The results of this study show that legumes have significant potential to enhance the sustainable and profitable intensification of subtropical cereal cropping systems in Oxisols.

Legume pastures can reduce N2O emissions intensity in subtropical cereal cropping systems

Alternative sources of N are required to bolster subtropical cereal production without increasing N2O emissions from these agro-ecosystems. The reintroduction of legumes in cereal cropping systems is a possible strategy to reduce synthetic N inputs but elevated N2O losses have sometimes been observed after the incorporation of legume residues. However, the magnitude of these losses is highly dependent on local conditions and very little data are available for subtropical regions. The aim of this study was to assess whether, under subtropical conditions, the N mineralised from legume residues can substantially decrease the synthetic N input required by the subsequent cereal crop and reduce overall N2O emissions during the cereal cropping phase. Using a fully automated measuring system, N2O emissions were monitored in a cereal crop (sorghum) following a legume pasture and compared to the same crop in rotation with a grass pasture. Each crop rotation included a nil and a fertilised treatment to assess the N availability of the residues. The incorporation of legumes provided enough readily available N to effectively support crop development but the low labile C left by these residues is likely to have limited denitrification and therefore N2O emissions. As a result, N2O emissions intensities (kg N2O-N yield−1 ha−1) were considerably lower in the legume histories than in the grass. Overall, these findings indicate that the C supplied by the crop residue can be more important than the soil NO3− content in stimulating denitrification and that introducing a legume pasture in a subtropical cereal cropping system is a sustainable practice from both environmental and agronomic perspectives.

Nitrification (DMPP) and urease (NBPT) inhibitors had no effect on pasture yield, nitrous oxide emissions nor nitrate leaching under irrigation in a hot-dry climate

Modern dairy farming in Australia relies on substantial inputs of fertiliser nitrogen (N) to underpin economic production. However, N lost from dairy systems represents an opportunity cost and can pose a number of environmental risks. Nitrogen cycle inhibitors can be co-applied with N fertilisers to slow the conversion of urea to NH4+ to reduce losses via volatilisation, and slow the conversion of NH4+ to NO3- to minimize leaching of NO3- and gaseous losses via nitrification and denitrification. In a field campaign in a high input ryegrass-kikuyu pasture system we compared the soil N pools, losses and pasture production between a) urea coated with the nitrification inhibitor (3,4-dimethyl pyrazole phosphate - DMPP) b) urea coated with the urease inhibitor (N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide - NBPT) and c) standard urea. There was no treatment effect (P>0.05) on soil mineral N, pasture yield, N2O flux nor leaching of NO3- cf. standard urea. We hypothesise that at our site, because gaseous losses were highly episodic (rainfall was erratic and displayed no seasonal rainfall nor soil wetting pattern) that there was a lack of coincidence of N application and conditions conducive to gaseous losses, thus the effectiveness of the inhibitor products was minimal and did not result in an increase in pasture yield. There remains a paucity of knowledge on N cycle inhibitors in relation to their effective use in field system to increase N use efficiency. Further research is required to define under what field conditions inhibitor products are effective in order to be able to provide accurate advice to managers of nitrogen in production systems.

Effect of soil variability on the bearing capacity of clay and in slope stability problems

Site-specific geotechnical data are always random and variable in space. In the present study, a procedure for quantifying the variability in geotechnical characterization and design parameters is discussed using the site-specific cone tip resistance data (qc) obtained from static cone penetration test (SCPT). The parameters for the spatial variability modeling of geotechnical parameters i.e. (i) existing trend function in the in situ qc data; (ii) second moment statistics i.e. analysis of mean, variance, and auto-correlation structure of the soil strength and stiffness parameters; and (iii) inputs from the spatial correlation analysis, are utilized in the numerical modeling procedures using the finite difference numerical code FLAC 5.0. The influence of consideration of spatially variable soil parameters on the reliability-based geotechnical deign is studied for the two cases i.e. (a) bearing capacity analysis of a shallow foundation resting on a clayey soil, and (b) analysis of stability and deformation pattern of a cohesive-frictional soil slope. The study highlights the procedure for conducting a site-specific study using field test data such as SCPT in geotechnical analysis and demonstrates that a few additional computations involving soil variability provide a better insight into the role of variability in designs.

ANC schemes for the enhancement of EEG signals in the presence of EOG artifacts

One of the most important applications of adaptive systems is in noise cancellation using adaptive filters. Ln this paper, we propose adaptive noise cancellation schemes for the enhancement of EEG signals in the presence of EOG artifacts. The effect of two reference inputs is studied on simulated as well as recorded EEG signals and it is found that one reference input is enough to get sufficient minimization of EOG artifacts. This has been verified through correlation analysis also. We use signal to noise ratio and linear prediction spectra, along with time plots, for comparing the performance of the proposed schemes for minimizing EOG artifacts from contaminated EEG signals. Results show that the proposed schemes are very effective (especially the one which employs Newton's method) in minimizing the EOG artifacts from contaminated EEG signals.

Regulation of Osteoblast Differentiation and Gene Expression by Phosphodiesterases and Bioactive Peptides

Bone is a mineralized tissue that enables multiple mechanical and metabolic functions to be carried out in the skeleton. Bone contains distinct cell types: osteoblasts (bone-forming cells), osteocytes (mature osteoblast that embedded in mineralized bone matrix) and the osteoclasts (bone-resorbing cells). Remodelling of bone begins early in foetal life, and once the skeleton is fully formed in young adults, almost all of the metabolic activity is in this form. Bone is constantly destroyed or resorbed by osteoclasts and then replaced by osteoblasts. Many bone diseases, i.e. osteoporosis, also known as bone loss, typically reflect an imbalance in skeletal turnover. The cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and the cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) are second messengers involved in a variety of cellular responses to such extracellular agents as hormones and neurotransmitters. In the hormonal regulation of bone metabolism, i.e. via parathyroid hormone (PTH), parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrp) and prostaglandin E2 signal via cAMP. cAMP and cGMP are formed by adenylate and guanylate cyclases and are degraded by phosphodiesterases (PDEs). PDEs determine the amplitudes of cyclic nucleotide-mediated hormonal responses and modulate the duration of the signal. The activities of the PDEs are regulated by multiple inputs from other signalling systems and are crucial points of cross-talk between the pathways. Food-derived bioactive peptides are reported to express a variety of functions in vivo. The angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACEs) are involved in the regulation of the specific maturation or degradation of a number of mammalian bioactive peptides. The bioactive peptides offer also a nutriceutical and a nutrigenomic aspect to bone cell biology. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of PDEs and bioactive peptides on the activation and the differentiation of human osteoblast cells. The profile of PDEs in human osteoblast-like cells and the effect of glucocorticoids on the function of cAMP PDEs, were investigated at the mRNA and enzyme levels. The effects of PDEs on bone formation and osteoblast gene expression were determined with chemical inhibitors and siRNAs (short interfering RNAs). The influence of bioactive peptides on osteoblast gene expression and proliferation was studied at the mRNA and cellular levels. This work provides information on how PDEs are involved in the function and the differentiation of osteoblasts. The findings illustrate that gene-specific silencing with an RNA interference (RNAi) method is useful in inhibiting, the gene expression of specific PDEs and further, PDE7 inhibition upregulates several osteogenic genes and increases bALP activity and mineralization in human mesenchymal stem cells-derived osteoblasts. PDEs appear to be involved in a mechanism by which glucocorticoids affect cAMP signaling. This may provide a potential route in the formation of glucocorticoid-induced bone loss, involving the down-regulation of cAMP-PDE. PDEs may play an important role in the regulation of osteoblastic differentiation. Isoleucine-proline-proline (IPP), a bioactive peptide, possesses the potential to increase osteoblast proliferation, differentiation and signalling.

Shrinking Violets

Description of the work Shrinking Violets is comprised of two half scale garments in laser cut silk organza, developed with a knotting device to allow for disassembly and reassembly. The first is a jacket in layered red organza including black storm flap details. The second is a vest in jade organza with circles of pink organza attached through a pattern of knots. Research Background This practice-led fashion design research sits within the field of Design for Sustainability (DfS) in fashion that seeks to mitigate the environmental and ethical impacts of fashion consumption and production. The research explores new systems of garment construction for DfS, and examines how these systems may involve ‘designing’ new user interactions with the garments. The garments’ construction system allows them to be disassembled and recycled or reassembled by users to form a new garment. Conventional garment design follows a set process of cutting and construction, with pattern pieces permanently machine-stitched together. Garments typically contain multiple fibre types; for example a jacket may be constructed from a shell of wool/polyester, an acetate lining, fusible interlinings, and plastic buttons. These complex inputs mean that textile recycling is highly labour intensive, first to separate the garment pieces and second to sort the multiple fibre types. This difficulty results in poor quality ‘shoddy’ comprised of many fibre types and unsuitable for new apparel, or in large quantities of recyclable textile waste sent to landfill (Hawley 2011). Design-led approaches that consider the garment’s end of life in the design process are a way of addressing this problem. In Gulich’s (2006) analysis, use of single materials is the most effective way to ensure ease of recycling, with multiple materials that can be detached next in effectiveness. Given the low rate of technological innovation in most apparel manufacturing (Ruiz 2011), a challenge for effective recycling is how to develop new manufacturing methods that allow for garments to be more easily disassembled at end-of-life. Research Contribution This project addresses the research question: How can design for disassembly be considered within the fashion design process? I have employed a practice-led methodology in which my design process leads the research, making use of methods of fashion design practice including garment and construction research, fabric and colour research, textile experimentation, drape, patternmaking, and illustration as well as more recent methods such as laser cutting. Interrogating the traditional approaches to garment construction is necessarily a technical process; however fashion design is as much about the aesthetic and desirability of a garment as it is about the garment’s pragmatics or utility. This requires a balance between the technical demands of designing for disassembly with the aesthetic demands of fashion. This led to the selection of luxurious, semi-transparent fabrics in bold floral colours that could be layered to create multiple visual effects, as well as the experimentation with laser cutting for new forms of finishing and fastening the fabrics together. Shrinking Violets makes two contributions to new knowledge in the area of design for sustainability within fashion. The first is in the technical development of apparel modularity through the system of laser cut holes and knots that also become a patterning device. The second contribution lies in the design of a system for users to engage with the garment through its ability to be easily reconstructed into a new form. Research Significance Shrinking Violets was exhibited at the State Library of Queensland’s Asia Pacific Design Library, 1-5 November 2015, as part of The International Association of Societies of Design Research’s (IASDR) biannual design conference. The work was chosen for display by a panel of experts, based on the criteria of design innovation and contribution to new knowledge in design. References Gulich, B. (2006). Designing textile products that are easy to recycle. In Y. Wang (Ed.), Recycling in Textiles (pp. 25-37). London: Woodhead. Hawley, J. M. (2011). Textile recycling options: exploring what could be. In A. Gwilt & T. Rissanen (Eds.), Shaping Sustainable Fashion: Changing the way we make and use clothes (pp. 143 - 155). London: Earthscan. Ruiz, B. (2014). Global Apparel Manufacturing. Retrieved 10 August 2014, from http://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/gl/industry/default.aspx?entid=470

An adaptive drug delivery design using neural networks for effective treatment of infectious diseases: A simulation study

An adaptive drug delivery design is presented in this paper using neural networks for effective treatment of infectious diseases. The generic mathematical model used describes the coupled evolution of concentration of pathogens, plasma cells, antibodies and a numerical value that indicates the relative characteristic of a damaged organ due to the disease under the influence of external drugs. From a system theoretic point of view, the external drugs can be interpreted as control inputs, which can be designed based on control theoretic concepts. In this study, assuming a set of nominal parameters in the mathematical model, first a nonlinear controller (drug administration) is designed based on the principle of dynamic inversion. This nominal drug administration plan was found to be effective in curing "nominal model patients" (patients whose immunological dynamics conform to the mathematical model used for the control design exactly. However, it was found to be ineffective in curing "realistic model patients" (patients whose immunological dynamics may have off-nominal parameter values and possibly unwanted inputs) in general. Hence, to make the drug delivery dosage design more effective for realistic model patients, a model-following adaptive control design is carried out next by taking the help of neural networks, that are trained online. Simulation studies indicate that the adaptive controller proposed in this paper holds promise in killing the invading pathogens and healing the damaged organ even in the presence of parameter uncertainties and continued pathogen attack. Note that the computational requirements for computing the control are very minimal and all associated computations (including the training of neural networks) can be carried out online. However it assumes that the required diagnosis process can be carried out at a sufficient faster rate so that all the states are available for control computation.

The impact of the public library as a creative place in the community: A contextual review

This review examines recent literature on the public library as a creative place and the ways in which socio-cultural impact is being measured in assessments of cultural value. Inputs such as funding and staffing are frequently measured against outputs such as visitor numbers and lending frequencies, but qualitative measures (outcomes and impacts) are minimal in the literature because of the lack of persuasive evaluative frameworks and the difficulty of designing and facilitating the evaluations at local and national levels. Nevertheless, when combined with data about outputs and outcomes, the impact on individuals and their communities can be measured effectively and reported persuasively (Poll 2012, p.124). This contextual review provides an overview of current thinking about public libraries and creative spaces with particular attention paid to the rise of so-called makerspaces and Fab Labs. This includes discussion on the types of creative activities that are occurring in the public library context, and an outline of the rhetoric and reality of the public library as a community space. These outlines are reconsidered in a discussion of the evaluative frameworks that have been employed by libraries in the past, followed by an account of some prominent creative spaces that have been formally evaluated. The existence of creative spaces in public libraries is in a state of constant flux, and the development and redevelopment of evaluative frameworks will ensure that published reports will continue to appear throughout 2015 and beyond. This review provides a brief snapshot of the state of the field as it is in the first quarter of 2015.

Mechanical response of the tympanal membranes of the tree cricket Oecanthus henryi

Crickets have two tympanal membranes on the tibiae of each foreleg. Among several field cricket species of the genus Gryllus (Gryllinae), the posterior tympanal membrane (PTM) is significantly larger than the anterior membrane (ATM). Laser Doppler vibrometric measurements have shown that the smaller ATM does not respond as much as the PTM to sound. Hence the PTM has been suggested to be the principal tympanal acoustic input to the auditory organ. In tree crickets (Oecanthinae), the ATM is slightly larger than the PTM. Both membranes are structurally complex, presenting a series of transverse folds on their surface, which are more pronounced on the ATM than on the PTM. The mechanical response of both membranes to acoustic stimulation was investigated using microscanning laser Doppler vibrometry. Only a small portion of the membrane surface deflects in response to sound. Both membranes exhibit similar frequency responses, and move out of phase with each other, producing compressions and rarefactions of the tracheal volume backing the tympanum. Therefore, unlike field crickets, tree crickets may have four instead of two functional tympanal membranes. This is interesting in the context of the outstanding question of the role of spiracular inputs in the auditory system of tree crickets.