http://hdl.handle.net/2440/10824 Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:50:28 GMT 2021-01-25T20:50:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129631 Title: Ambient soil cation exchange capacity inversely associates with infectious and parasitic disease risk in regional Australia Author: Liddicoat, C.; Bi, P.; Waycott, M.; Glover, J.; Breed, M.F.; Weinstein, P. Abstract: Human contact with soil may be important for building and maintaining normal healthy immune defence mechanisms, however this idea remains untested at the population-level. In this continent-wide, cross-sectional study we examine the possible public health benefit of ambient exposures to soil of high cation exchange capacity (CEC), a surrogate for potential immunomodulatory soil microbial diversity. We compare distributions of normalized mean 2011/12–2012/13 age-standardized public hospital admission rates (cumulative incidence) for infectious and parasitic diseases across regional Australia (representing an average of 29,516 patients/year in 228 local government areas), within tertiles of socioeconomic status and soil exposure. To test the significance of soil CEC, we use probabilistic individual-level environmental exposure data (with or without soil), and group-level variables, in robust non-parametric multilevel modelling to predict disease rates in unseen groups. Our results show that in socioeconomically-deprived areas with high CEC soils, rates of infectious and parasitic disease are significantly lower than areas with low CEC soils. Also, health inequality (relative risk) due to socioeconomic status is significantly lower in areas with high CEC soils compared to low CEC soils (Δ relative risk = 0.47; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.82). Including soil exposure when modelling rates of infectious and parasitic disease significantly improves prediction performance, explaining an additional 7.5% (Δ r2 = 0.075; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.10) of variation in disease risk, in local government areas that were not used for model building. Our findings suggest that exposure to high CEC soils (typically high soil biodiversity) associates with reduced risk of infectious and parasitic diseases, particularly in lower socioeconomic areas. Mon, 01 Jan 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129631 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129548 Title: Activation of peroxydisulfate on carbon nanotubes: electron-transfer mechanism Author: Ren, W.; Xiong, L.; Yuan, X.; Yu, Z.; Zhang, H.; Duan, X.; Wang, S. Abstract: This study proposed an electrochemical technique for investigating the mechanism of nonradical oxidation of organics with peroxydisulfate (PDS) activated by carbon nanotubes (CNT). The electrochemical property of twelve phenolic compounds (PCs) was evaluated by their half-wave potentials, which were then correlated to their kinetic rate constants in the PDS/CNT system. Integrated with quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and radical scavenging tests, the nature of nonradical pathways of phenolic compound oxidation was unveiled to be an electron-transfer regime other than a singlet oxygenation process. The QSARs were established according to their standard electrode potentials, activation energy, and pre-exponential factor. A facile electrochemical analysis method (chronopotentiometry combined with chronoamperometry) was also employed to probe the mechanism, suggesting that PDS was catalyzed initially by CNT to form a CNT surface-confined and -activated PDS (CNT-PDS*) complex with a high redox potential. Then, the CNT-PDS* complex selectively abstracted electrons from the co-adsorbed PCs to initiate the oxidation. Finally, a comparison of PDS/CNT and graphite anodic oxidation under constant potentials was comprehensively analyzed to unveil the relative activity of the nonradical CNT-PDS* complex toward the oxidation of different PCs, which was found to be dependent on the oxidative potentials of the CNT-PDS* complex and the adsorbed organics. Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129548 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129463 Title: Representation and complementarity of the long-term coral monitoring on the Great Barrier Reef Author: Mellin, C.; Peterson, E.E.; Puotinen, M.; Schaffelke, B. Abstract: Effective environmental management hinges on efficient and targeted monitoring, which in turn should adapt to increasing disturbance regimes that now characterize most ecosystems. Habitats and biodiversity of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, are in declining condition, prompting a review of the effectiveness of existing coral monitoring programs. Applying a regional model of coral cover (i.e., the most widely used proxy for coral reef condition globally) within major benthic communities, we assess the representation and complementarity of existing long-term coral reef monitoring programs on the GBR. We show that existing monitoring has captured up to 45% of the environmental diversity on the GBR, while some geographic areas (including major hotspots of cyclone activity over the last 30 yr) have remained unmonitored. Further, we identified complementary groups of reefs characterized by similar benthic community composition and similar coral cover trajectories since 1996. The mosaic of their distribution across the GBR reflects spatial variation in the cumulative impact of multiple acute disturbances, as well as spatial gradients in coral recovery potential. Representation and complementarity, in combination with other performance assessment criteria, can inform the cost-effective design and stratification of future surveys. Based on these results, we formulate recommendations to assist with the design of future long-term coral reef monitoring programs. Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129463 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129352 Title: Australia Author: Lacey, S. Abstract: This chapter provides an in-depth discussion of both the history and current practice of antidumping in Australia. It explains how the Australian antidumping authorities interpret and apply both the substantive and procedurual requirements of an antidumping investigation under Australian implementing legislation of the WTO Agreement on Anti-dumping. Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2440/129352 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z