134125 research outputs found
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Release of microplastics from commonly used plastic containers: Combined meta-analysis and case study
Get PDFDaily ingestion of microplastics (MPs) is a growing public-health concern, partially linked to widespread use of single use of plastic cups and containers. However, the roles of temperature, polymer, container (or cup) material, and soaking time in MP release remain poorly understood. We conducted a meta-analysis of 237 observations from 30 peer-reviewed studies, alongside an experimental case study comparing microplastic release from polyethylene (PE) cups and PE-coated paper cups. The meta-analysis revealed that MP release from products made of PE, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) significantly increased with temperature, though the extent varied significantly, depending on the type of polymer, ranging from hundreds to over eight million particles. Soaking time, by contrast, did not significantly affect MP release. The case study showed that PE-coated paper cups consistently released fewer MPs than PE plastic cups at both 5 °C and 60 °C. Specifically, MP release from PE cups increased by 32.7 % when the temperature rose from 5 °C to 60 °C, a trend not observed in the PE-coated paper cups. Surface analysis revealed that PE cups had higher surface and peak-to-valley roughness, which may account for greater MP shedding. Collectively, the results from both the meta-analysis and case study highlight that temperature-induced physical degradation, especially in polymers with rougher surfaces or lower thermal stability, is a key driver of microplastic release, and that material design plays a critical role in mitigating this effect. These findings offer practical insights for reducing microplastic exposure through material selection and support future regulatory efforts aimed at safer consumer packaging.Full Tex
The functional effect of gape size on intraspecific body condition is variable across trophic groups and resource seasonality
Get PDFGape size is a key functional trait that influences feeding performance and ecological fitness across animal taxa; yet, its role within species remains underexplored, particularly in dynamic environments. We investigated the relationship between relative gape size and condition factor (Kn) across 15 species of tropical freshwater fish from northern Australia, spanning four trophic groups: predators, micro-carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores/detritivores. Using linear mixed-effects modelling, we assessed how this relationship varies across trophic groups and seasonal hydrology. Our results revealed a strong positive association where larger gape sizes were associated with enhanced body condition in predators and, to a lesser extent, micro-carnivores—especially during the mid- and late-dry seasons when resource availability is reduced. In contrast, this relationship was weak or absent in omnivores and herbivores/detritivores, whose diets are less likely to be gape-limited. These findings suggest that the functional benefits of larger gape sizes are context-dependent, conferring greater fitness advantages to carnivorous species under seasonal resource limitation than to other trophic groups. Our study highlights the need to consider both trophic ecology and seasonal variability in resource availability regimes when linking traits to performance and provides empirical support for the context-dependent utility of gape size as a functional trait in ecological research.Full Tex
Skin InteGrity in extreme preterms research NETwork (SIGNET) - improving skin care for the most immature infants
No full textIncreased survival of preterm infants born <28 weeks’ gestation brings new challenges for healthcare teams and families, particularly in the absence of high-quality, population-specific evidence to guide optimal skin care. Skin integrity is critical for preventing infection, reducing pain, and minimizing fluid loss. However, variations in care, delivery models, geographic settings, and clinician expertise continue to influence outcomes—impacting both immediate survival, long-term morbidity and mortality. This review outlines the key challenges associated with delivering safe and effective skin care for extremely preterm infants; identifies priority areas for research and benchmarking, and proposes a collaborative approach to address these gaps. The Skin InteGrity in extreme preterms research NETwork (SIGNET) collaborative seeks to align outcome measures, generate essential physiological data, promote knowledge exchange, and develop practical, evidence-based tools to support consistent, high-quality care for these uniquely vulnerable patients.No Full Tex
DeepCGC: Unveiling the Deep Clustering Mechanism of Fast Graph Condensation
Get PDFGraph condensation (GC) improves the efficiency of GNN training by condensing a large-scale graph into a compact synthetic graph. However, existing GC methods suffer from time-consuming optimization processes, and the underlying mechanisms driving their effectiveness remain unexplored. In this paper, we provide novel insights into the optimization strategies of GC, demonstrating that various methods ultimately converge to the class-level feature matching between the original and condensed graphs. Building on this understanding, we further refine the unified class-to-class matching paradigm into a fine-grained class-to-node paradigm, unveiling that the core mechanism of GC is a class-wise clustering problem in the latent space. Accordingly, we propose Deep Clustering-based Graph Condensation (DeepCGC), an efficient GC framework that integrates a clustering-based optimization objective with an invertible relay model. Extensive experiments show that DeepCGC achieves state-of-the-art efficiency and accuracy. Notably, it condenses the million-scale Ogbn-products graph in around 40 seconds—a 102× to 104× speedup over existing methods—while boosting accuracy by up to 4.6%.Full Tex
Strategic and diversified soil microbes: Unraveling the belowground control of plant multidiversity-productivity relationships across elevation
No full textDespite the growing recognition of the pivotal role played by biodiversity in shaping ecosystem functioning, the mechanisms in which soil microbial diversity and life-history strategies mediate plant biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationships remains poorly understood. Here, we examined how plant and soil microbial multi-dimensional biodiversity—encompassing taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic dimensions—and microbial life-history strategies jointly regulate aboveground biomass (AGB) along an elevational gradient in a temperate montane forest. We quantified bacterial and fungal oligotroph-to-copiotroph (O/C) ratios as indicators of microbial life-history strategies and assessed their interactions with plant diversity metrics. Results showed that plant taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity significantly promoted AGB, particularly at lower elevations where complementarity effects dominated. Conversely, community-weighted mean of wood density and leaf phosphorus concentration showed negative correlations with AGB, especially at higher elevations where selection effects prevailed. Soil bacterial functional and phylogenetic diversity intensified the negative effects of conservative plant traits on AGB at higher elevations, while enhancing positive diversity effects at lower elevations. Moreover, r-strategist bacteria such as Proteobacteria strengthened complementarity at lower elevations and mitigated selection effects at higher elevations. Our findings highlight the central role of plant multi-diversity in ecosystem functioning, while also underscoring the context-dependent moderating role of microbial muti-diversity and life-history strategies across environmental gradients.No Full Tex
Tourism in the Pluriverse: Bridging theory and practice for regenerative futures in the Pacific
Get PDFPacific Islanders have long been grappling with tourism as a livelihood strategy, yet environmental and cultural sustainability challenges persist. Envisioning a better future in which tourism delivers profound and lasting wellbeing outcomes for local people benefits from integrating diverse perspectives. Drawing on collective input from a Community of Practice, made up of Pacific Island experts and researchers, the Three Horizons approach was used to engage in transformational thinking and connect metatheorising with lived practice. Exploring innovations that support the transition from the declining tourism system of the present to a ‘fitter’ system in the future was central to the approach. Drawing on regenerative, sustainable, and livelihood frameworks, the emerging future tourism model proactively addresses systemic tensions and proposes eight bridging mechanisms for tourism transformation.Full Tex
Patriarchy in a Postdigital Era: How Australian News Media (Re)Position Women in Domestic Violence Cases
Get PDFAs traditional news platforms—such as newspapers—have long served as sites for the reproduction of gendered discourses, the digital space appears to be no different. Although we might expect digital platforms to challenge or transform these entrenched narratives, after long decades of feminist activities, transformation is not always consistent, visible, or long-lasting. In this article, we analyse the portrayal of women in Australian domestic violence cases reported through digital news media. Drawing on a postdigital feminist perspective, we consider how digital news reporting on domestic violence interacts with, and contributes to, real-life intimate relations and everyday practices. While the topic of domestic violence in the media is not new, our contribution lies in extending the analysis by using postdigital concepts as both a lens and a thinking tool. This framework enables a more nuanced examination that foregrounds performativity and precarity as central concepts. We draw on Butler’s concepts of gender performativity and precarity to illuminate the gendered roles articulated in digital news reports of domestic violence. Our dataset comprises domestic violence cases reported in 2024 by the seven most popular Australian digital news outlets providing national coverage. To analyse the evaluative language and positioning of women in these accounts, we use Martin and White’s appraisal framework. We argue that Australian online news continues to reproduce conditions of precarity, sustaining a heteropatriarchal moral order that shapes and regulates gendered performances within intimate relationships.Full Tex
Critical Factors Influencing the Contract Award Criteria in Public Construction Projects: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach
No full textThe award criteria serve as the cornerstone for procuring authorities to select the optimal bid and award contracts. Award criteria in public construction procurement are twofold which are the bid price criteria and the most economically advantageous tender criteria. The right selection of awarding criteria for a project produces more benefits including increasing the chances of project success. However, a notable gap persists in the literature regarding how to select the most suitable award criteria for specific projects. Addressing this gap, this study examines critical factors influencing the selection of contract award criteria for public construction projects in Sri Lanka, addressing a gap in literature, particularly for developing countries. Adopting a positivist stance and quantitative approach, the research analyzes data using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and factor analysis. Findings identify 15 out of 19 factors as critical, grouped into 4 main constructs using the factor analysis known as bid competitiveness and reliability, tendering risk governance, value-driven project quality, and evaluation process integrity. These constructs develop a measurement model to determine the appropriate contract award criteria. The study also provides a solid theoretical foundation for selecting contract award criteria for developing countries, especially for Sri Lanka. By providing empirical insights, the research aids procurement professionals in enhancing transparency and efficiency during contract award processes in Sri Lanka's public construction sector. The findings may also be applicable to other developing countries with similar procurement challenges.No Full Tex
The value of Q-methodology for optimising tourism priorities
No full textThis research aims to examine the value of Q-methodology in engaging communities in reshaping tourism futures. Drawing on systems thinking and the concept of system goals, we explore community priorities on the future outcomes tourism may deliver. Five Q-methodology studies were conducted with participants from Pacific island-destinations in Fiji and the Cook Islands, including destinations in early development phases. Together, 16 destination-specific discourses were identified, three to four per island. Island specific discourses are briefly presented and then qualitatively compared. While priorities vary, economic outcomes were important for participants across all islands. Findings suggest that priorities were influenced by participants’ experience with tourism rather than the degree of tourism development in their island. Q-methodology was an interactive and inclusive approach to engaging communities in tourism planning. To deliver on varying priority outcomes, the need for holistic planning and management approaches is raised and examples of achieving such outcomes are discussed.No Full Tex
Long-Lived Flexible Silicon Carbide Electronics for Cell Recording and In Situ Hyperthermia
No full textThis work presents a flexible, long-lived silicon carbide (SiC) electrode system for cell sensing and hyperthermia induction. Leveraging the superior chemical stability of SiC, mechanical robustness, and biocompatibility, the electrode demonstrates robust performance in both sensing and stimulation, while maintaining structural and functional integrity under physiological conditions. We assess the performance of the electrode system in the electrical measurements of breast cancer cells and its efficiency in eliminating the cells via in situ hyperthermia treatment at controlled temperatures. The longevity of our electrode system was examined via accelerated aging tests in phosphate-buffered saline (1× PBS) at elevated temperatures. Experimental results confirm the long-term stability of electrical signals, highly efficient heat generation and transfer, and sustained biocompatibility, indicating the potential for long-lived implanted bioelectronic interfaces.No Full Tex