Use of 3D printed materials as tissue-equivalent phantoms

This study used the specific example of 3D printing with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) as a means to investigate the potential usefulness of benchtop rapid prototyping as a technique for producing patient specific phantoms for radiotherapy dosimetry. Three small cylinders and one model of a human lung were produced via in-house 3D printing with ABS, using 90%, 50%, 30% and 10% ABS infill densities. These phantom samples were evaluated in terms of their geometric accuracy, tissue equivalence and radiation hardness, when irradiated using a range of clinical radiotherapy beams. The measured dimensions of the small cylindrical phantoms all matched their planned dimensions, within 1mm. The lung phantom was less accurately matched to the lung geometry on which it was based, due to simplifications introduced during the phantom design process. The mass densities, electron densities and linear attenuation coefficients identified using CT data, as well as the results of film measurements made using megavoltage photon and electron beams, indicated that phantoms printed with ABS, using infill densities of 30% or more, are potentially useful as lung- and tissue-equivalent phantoms for patient-specific radiotherapy dosimetry. All cylindrical 3D printed phantom samples were found to be unaffected by prolonged radiation and to accurately match their design specifications. However, care should be taken to avoid oversimplifying anatomical structures when printing more complex phantoms.

Environmental efficiency of energy, materials, and emissions

This study estimates the environmental efficiency of international listed firms in 10 worldwide sectors from 2007 to 2013 by applying an order-m method, a non-parametric approach based on free disposal hull with subsampling bootstrapping. Using a conventional output of gross profit and two conventional inputs of labor and capital, this study examines the order-m environmental efficiency accounting for the presence of each of 10 undesirable inputs/outputs and measures the shadow prices of each undesirable input and output. The results show that there is greater potential for the reduction of undesirable inputs rather than bad outputs. On average, total energy, electricity, or water usage has the potential to be reduced by 50%. The median shadow prices of undesirable inputs, however, are much higher than the surveyed representative market prices. Approximately 10% of the firms in the sample appear to be potential sellers or production reducers in terms of undesirable inputs/outputs, which implies that the price of each item at the current level has little impact on most of the firms. Moreover, this study shows that the environmental, social, and governance activities of a firm do not considerably affect environmental efficiency.

Miami heat: Patent law, informed consent and benefit-sharing

This article considers whether the granting of patents in respect of biomedical genetic research should be conditional upon the informed consent of research participants. It focuses upon several case studies. In Moore v the Regents of the University Of California, a patient sued his physician for breach of fiduciary duty and lack of informed consent, because the doctor had obtained a patent on the patient's cell line, without the patient's authorisation. In Greenberg v Miami Children's Hospital, the research participants, the Greenbergs, the National Tay Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, and Dor Yeshorim brought a legal action against the geneticist Reubon Matalon and the Miami Children's Hospital over a patent obtained on a gene related to the Canavan disease and accompany genetic diagnostic test. PXE International entered into a joint venture with Charles Boyd and the University of Hawaii, and obtained a patent together for ‘methods for diagnosing Pseudoxanthoma elasticum’. In light of such case studies, it is contended that there is a need to reform patent law, so as to recognise the bioethical principles of informed consent and benefit-sharing. The 2005 UNESCO Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights provides a model for future case law and policy-making.

Hampson type heat-exchanger technology and economic evaluation for LNG re- gasification and power generation At LNG receiving terminals

The system for high utilization of LNG cold energy is proposed by use of process simulator. The proposed design is a closed loop system, and composed by a Hampson type heat exchanger, turbines, pumps and advanced humid air turbine (AHAT) or Gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC). Its heat sources are Boil-off gas and cooling water for AHAT or GTCC. The higher cold exergy recovery to power can be about 38 to 56% as compared to the existing cold power generation of about 20% with a Rankine cycle of a single component. The advantage of the proposed system is to reduce the number of heat exchangers. Furthermore, the environmental impact is minimized because the proposed design is a closed loop system. A life cycle comparative cost is calculated to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed design. The development of the Hampson type exchangers is expected to meet the key functional requirements and will result in much higher LNG cold exergy recovery and the overall system performance i.e. re-gasification. Additionally, the proposed design is expected to provide flexibility to meet different gas pressure suited for the deregulation of energy system in Japan and higher reliability for an integrated boil-off gas system.

A review of benchmarking in carbon labelling schemes for building materials

As one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the building and construction sector is facing increasing pressure to reduce its life cycle GHG emissions. One central issue in striving towards reduced carbon emissions in the building and construction sector is to develop a practical and meaningful yardstick to assess and communicate GHG results through carbon labelling. The idea of carbon labelling schemes for building materials is to trigger a transition to a low carbon future by switching consumer-purchasing habits to low-carbon alternatives. As such, failing to change purchasing pattern and behaviour can be disastrous to carbon labelling schemes. One useful tool to assist customers to change their purchasing behaviour is benchmarking, which has been very commonly used in ecolabelling schemes. This paper analyses the definition and scope of benchmarking in the carbon labelling schemes for building materials. The benchmarking process has been examined within the context of carbon labelling. Four practical issues for the successful implementation of benchmarking, including the availability of benchmarks and databases, the usefulness of different types of benchmarks and the selection of labelling practices have also been clarified.

Design guidance for blast-resistant glazing

This paper reviews current design standards and test methods for blast-resistant glazing design and compares a typical design outcome with that from comprehensive finite-element (FE) analysis. Design standards are conservative and are limited to the design of relatively small glazed panels. Standard test methods are expensive, create environmental pollution, and can classify the hazard ratings of only smaller glazed panels. Here the design of a laminated glass (LG) panel is carried out according to an existing design standard, and then its performance is examined using comprehensive FE modeling and analysis. Finite-element results indicate that both glass panes crack, the interlayer yields with little damage, and the sealant joints do not fail for the designed blast load. This failure pattern satisfies some of the requirements for minimal hazard rating in the design standard. It is evident that interlayer thickness and material properties are important during the post-crack stage of an LG panel, but they are not accounted for in the design standards. The new information generated in this paper will contribute toward an enhanced blast design of LG panels.

BPMVM Evaluation Experiment Materials

All the materials used for our two experimental studies for evaluating the BPMVM modeller.

Australian Consumer Law Commentary and Materials [5th Ed.]

"The Australian Consumer Law came into operation on 1 January 2011 as a single national law. It replaced 17 different pieces of Commonwealth, State and Territory legislation relating to consumer protection. Its introduction meant that for the first time, consumers throughout Australia had the same rights and remedies and correspondingly, businesses had the same obligations and responsibilities towards consumers without the barrier of confusing and expensive local variations in the law. Australian Consumer Law: Commentary and Materials contains up-to-date material on the Australian Consumer Law, and in particular the fifth edition incorporates: a revised treatment of unconscionability, taking account of the changes to Part 2-2 of the ACL that became effective in 2012; other State and Federal provisions relating to unfair terms and cases such as Kakavas v Crown Melbourne, ACCC v Lux Distributors, Director of Consumer Affairs v Scully and PT Ltd v Spuds Surf; a comprehensive treatment of the impact of Google v ACCC, Forrest v ASIC and ACCC v TPG – the trilogy of decisions that provide the most recent insights into the High Court’s thinking on aspects of the prohibitions of misleading conduct in the ACL and the Corporations Act 2001; numerous decisions of note; and the possible impact of the Harper Review."--publisher website

Re-valuing construction materials and components through design for disassembly

The construction industry accounts for a significant portion of the material consumption of our industrialised societies. That material consumption comes at an environmental cost, and when buildings and infrastructure projects are demolished and discarded, after their useful lifespan, that environmental cost remains largely unrecovered. The expected operational lifespan of modern buildings has become disturbingly short as buildings are replaced for reasons of changing cultural expectations, style, serviceability, locational obsolescence and economic viability. The same buildings however are not always physically or structurally obsolete; the materials and components within them are very often still completely serviceable. While there is some activity in the area of recycling of selected construction materials, such as steel and concrete, this is almost always in the form of down cycling or reprocessing. Very little of this material and component resource is reuse in a way that more effectively captures its potential. One significant impediment to such reuse is that buildings are not designed in a way that facilitates easy recovery of materials and components; they are designed and built for speed of construction and quick economic returns, with little or no consideration of the longer term consequences of their physical matter. This research project explores the potential for the recovery of materials and components if buildings were designed for such future recovery; a strategy of design for disassembly. This is not a new design philosophy; design for disassembly is well understood in product design and industrial design. There are also some architectural examples of design for disassembly; however these are specialist examples and there is no significant attempt to implement the strategy in the main stream construction industry. This paper presents research into the analysis of the embodied energy in buildings, highlighting its significance in comparison with operational energy. Analysis at material, component, and whole-of-building levels shows the potential benefits of strategically designing buildings for future disassembly to recover this embodied energy. Careful consideration at the early design stage can result in the deconstruction of significant portions of buildings and the recovery of their potential through higher order reuse and upcycling.

Cytokine mRNA expression and IFN-γ production of immunised nematode resistant and susceptible lambs against natural poly-generic challenge

IL-2, IL-4 and IFN-γ mRNA expression, and production of IFN-γ was examined in mesenteric lymph node cells (MLNC) and CD4+ enriched T cell populations of nematode resistant (R) and susceptible (S) line lambs by use of RT-PCR and ELISA. Five R and S line lambs that were immunised by repeated oxfendazole-abbreviated infections and 5 non-immunised R and S line lambs were used. All lambs grazed nematode infected pasture for 107 days. Immunisation enhanced the resistant status in both R and S lambs. MLNC obtained from slaughtered animals were stimulated with Con A or T. colubriformis specific antigen. Non-stimulated MLNC of immunised lambs expressed higher levels of IL-4 mRNA and lower levels of IL-2 mRNA than non-immunised lambs. MLNC of immunised R and S line lambs stimulated with antigen for 24 h expressed detectable amounts of IL-4 mRNA that was not seen in non-immunised controls. CD4+ T cell enriched cell populations of immunised R and S lambs and non-immunised R lambs expressed moderate to high levels of IL-4 mRNA. Con A stimulated MLNC of immunised R and S lambs expressed high levels IFN-γ mRNA and produced high amounts of IFN-γ. Lower levels were present in non-immunised controls. The results indicate that R line lambs and immunised S line lambs respond to natural nematode challenge with a predominating IL-4 cytokine response when compared to non-immunised S lambs.

Transition to an unsteady flow induced by a fin on the sidewall of a differentially heated air-filled square cavity and heat transfer

The transition from a steady to an unsteady flow induced by an adiabatic fin on the sidewall of a differentially heated air-filled cavity is numerically investigated. Numerical simulations have been performed over the range of Rayleigh numbers from Ra = 105–109. The temporal development and spatial structures of natural convection flows in the cavity with a fin are described. It has been demonstrated that the fin may induce the transition to an unsteady flow and the critical Rayleigh number for the occurrence of the transition is between 3.72 × 106 and 3.73 × 106. Furthermore, the peak frequencies of the oscillations triggered by different mechanisms are obtained through spectral analysis. It has been found that the flow rate through the cavity with a fin is larger than that without a fin under the unsteady flow, indicating that the fin may improve the unsteady flow in the cavity.

Targeting drug-resistant prostate cancer with dual PI3K/mTOR inhibition

The phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mTOR pathway is one of the most frequently activated signaling pathways in prostate cancer cells, and loss of the tumor suppressor PTEN and amplification of PIK3CA are the two most commonly detected mechanisms for the activation of these pathways. Aberrant activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR has been implicated not only in the survival and metastasis of prostate cancer cells but also in the development of drug resistance. As such, selective inactivation of this pathway may provide opportunities to attack prostate cancer from all fronts. However, while preclinical studies examining specific inhibitors of PI3K or mTOR have yielded promising results, the evidence from clinical trials is less convincing. Emerging evidence from the analyses of some solid tumors suggests that a class of dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitors, which bind to and inactivate both PI3K and mTOR, may achieve better anti-cancer outcomes. In this review, we will summarize the mechanisms of action of these inhibitors, their effectiveness when used alone or in combination with other chemotherapeutic compounds, and their potential to serve as the next generation therapies for prostate cancer patients, particularly those who are resistant to the frontline chemotherapeutic drugs.

Uniform surface growth of copper oxide nanowires in radiofrequency plasma discharge and limiting factors

The uniform growth of copper oxide nanowires on the top of copper plate has been investigated during the exposure to radiofrequency plasma discharge in respect to plasma properties and its localization. The copper samples of 10 mm radius and 1 mm in thickness were exposed to argon-oxygen plasma created at discharge power of 150 W. After 10 min, almost uniform growth of nanowires was achieved over large surface. There were significant distortions in nanowire length and shape near the edges. Based on the experimental results, we developed a theoretical model, which took into account a balance in heat released at the flow of the current to the nanowire and rejected from the nanowire. This model established a dependence of the maximal length of the nanowire at dependence on the plasma parameters, where the limiting factor for nanowire growth and distortions in distribution are ballistic effects of ions and their local fluxes. In contrast, the plasma heating by potential interactions of species has very little influence on the length and smaller deviations in flux are allowed for uniformity of growth

Analysis of solar desalination system using heat pump

This paper investigates a pilot desalination system which consists of a direct expansion solar assisted heat pump (DXSAHP) coupled to a single-effect evaporator unit. The working fluid used is R134a and distillate is obtained via falling film evaporation and flashing in the unit. Experiments have been conducted in both day and night meteorological conditions in Singapore and the effects of solar irradiation and compressor speed have been studied against the system performance. From the experiments, the Performance Ratio (PR) obtained ranges from 0.43 to 0.88, the average Coefficient of Performance (COP) was 8 and the highest distillate production recorded was 1.38 kg/h

SnO2 decorated graphene nanocomposite anode materials prepared via an up-scalable wet-mechanochemical process for sodium ion batteries

A facile and up-scalable wet-mechanochemical process is designed for fabricating ultra-fine SnO2 nanoparticles anchored on graphene networks for use as anode materials for sodium ion batteries. A hierarchical structure of the SnO2@graphene composite is obtained from the process. The resultant rechargeable SIBs achieved high rate capability and good cycling stability.