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An Investigative Study on Mixed Waste Feedstock-Derived Biochar as Active Electrode Material for Supercapacitor Applications
Get PDFThis work demonstrates the feasibility of using biochars derived from a variety of waste feedstocks, such as food organics and garden organics (FOGOs), garden organics (GOs), and biosolids (BSs), provided by Barwon Water (BW) and South East Water (SEW), as active electrode material for supercapacitor application. Four different biochars were produced by the co-pyrolysis of pre-treated mixed waste feedstocks, which were fabricated into a two-electrode symmetric supercapacitor set-up to evaluate their energy storage potential. Two different approaches, (i) carbon nanoparticle coating/modification and (ii) thermochemical activation, were employed to improve the electrochemical properties of the biochars. Potassium hydroxide-activated biochar derived from BW’s triple waste feedstock mixture (comprising 70% GOs, 20% FOGOs, and 10% BSs) demonstrated the highest specific capacitance (30.33 F/g at 0.1 A/g), energy density (4.21 Wh/kg), and power density (2.15 kW/kg) among the tested samples. Such waste-derived biochar offers several benefits for energy storage, including cost-efficiency and sustainable alternatives to traditional electrode materials. The biochar’s electrochemical performance can be further improved by improving the feedstock quality by different pre-treatments
Genomic Characterisation of the Relationship and Causal Links Between Vascular Calcification, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Cognitive Traits
Get PDFBackground/Objectives: Observational studies suggest a link between vascular calcification and dementia or cognitive decline, but the evidence is conflicting, and the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigate the shared genetic and causal relationships of vascular calcification—coronary artery calcification (CAC) and abdominal aortic calcification (AAC)—with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and five cognitive traits. Methods: We analyse large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) summary statistics, using well-regarded methods, including linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC), Mendelian randomisation (MR), pairwise GWAS (GWAS-PW), and gene-based association analysis. Results: Our findings reveal a nominally significant positive genome-wide genetic correlation between CAC and AD, which becomes non-significant after excluding the APOE region. CAC and AAC demonstrate significant negative correlations with cognitive performance and educational attainment. MR found no causal association between CAC or AAC and AD or cognitive traits, except for a bidirectional borderline-significant association between AAC and fluid intelligence scores. Pairwise-GWAS analysis identifies no shared causal SNPs (posterior probability of association [PPA]3 0.9), particularly on chromosome 19, with gene association analyses revealing significant genes in shared regions, including APOE, TOMM40, NECTIN2, and APOC1. Moreover, we identify suggestively significant loci (PPA4 > 0.5) on chromosomes 1, 6, 7, 9 and 19, implicating pleiotropic genes, including NAV1, IPO9, PHACTR1, UFL1, FHL5, and FOCAD. Conclusions: Current findings reveal limited genetic correlation and no significant causal associations of CAC and AAC with AD or cognitive traits. However, significant pleiotropic loci, particularly at the APOE region, highlight the complex interplay between vascular calcification and neurodegenerative processes. Given APOE’s roles in lipid metabolism, neuroinflammation, and vascular integrity, its involvement may link vascular and neurodegenerative disorders, pointing to potential targets for further investigation
Examining Extinction in Evaluative Conditioning
Get PDFEvaluative conditioning involves the learning of attitudes and preferences. These attitudes and preferences can be unlearnt via extinction; however, recent research has shown that attitudes and preferences can relapse. The investigation examined whether presenting positive and negative stimuli alone during extinction would reduce relapse in evaluative conditioning. Across three experiment presenting additional stimuli did not reduce relapse
Overconfident Male CEOs and Corporate Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Female CFOs
Get PDFThis paper investigates the moderating role of female CFOs on overconfident male CEOs’ behaviors, focusing on cash holdings, investment efficiency, and analysts’ forecast optimism. Analyzing a sample of Malaysian firms from 2016 to 2020, we find that overconfident male CEOs are associated with lower cash holdings, higher investment efficiency, and more optimistic analyst forecasts. Female CFOs moderate overinvestment tendencies, leading to more disciplined capital allocation, but their influence on cash holdings and forecast optimism is limited, likely due to organizational power dynamics and career constraints. Institutional factors further shape these dynamics — Bumiputera-dominated boards promote financial conservatism with higher cash reserves and forecast optimism but may limit female CFOs’ authority, while family firms exhibit reduced investment efficiency under overconfident leadership, reflecting a governance-control misalignment. These findings, robust to endogeneity concerns, highlight how leadership diversity and institutional structures interact to influence corporate financial outcomes
How does Experiential Marketing Influence Consumer Behaviour?
Get PDFExperiential marketing (XM) has seen a rapid rise to prominence over the last two decades, however, research suggests that XM is still poorly understood by both academics and practitioners. The present thesis presents a much-needed conceptualisation of XM which is then tested and validated through two rounds of experimentally designed research. The resulting conceptual model significantly extends the conceptual and empirical understanding of XM for both sides of the academic/practitioner dyad
(Re)thinking education for sustainable development: A capability approach
No full textEducation for sustainable development (ESD) should be taken as a ‘capability’ for
facilitating and enhancing further learning rather than simply utilised as a topic of
learning.
• Sen’s capability approach (Sen, 1999) suggests that ESD is in itself a capability that can
be used by educators in the development of sustainability education.
• Developing the capacity for ESD is a crucial component of sustainability learning that
must address the relational complexity that is inherent in sustainability decision making
and the trade-offs often encountered.
• Wider frames of reference and perspectives are important in sustainability thinking in
managing public debate and democratic engagement and acceptance.
• Sustainability education needs to create an ‘evaluative space’ in order to consider how
one set of actions in a particular domain impacts upon other domains in order to generate
greater consensus in the solving of complex sustainability problems, which can play
an important role in influencing and recalibrating these spaces.
• An ‘evaluative space’ provides an important forum for critical thinking development and
helps develop the competencies required for independent, creative and critical thinking
in sustainability education in both business schools and across other disciplines
Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) for sustainable extraction of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants: Recent advances, challenges, and future directions
No full textSanseito forces Japan to confront its quiet divisions
No full textJapan’s 20 July 2025 Upper House election saw the nationalist Sanseito secure 14 new seats, turning long-ignored voters into a political force. Mobilising the politically disengaged, especially the economically insecure ‘employment ice age’ generation, Sanseito leveraged social media and nationalist rhetoric to amplify Japan’s social and economic divisions. While Japan remains far from US-style polarisation, this breakthrough exposes growing fractures and raises questions about whether Sanseito will follow a moderate European populist path or a more confrontational far-right trajectory
Release and transformation of Zn species during waste tyre pyrolysis under various conditions
No full textPyrolysis is a favourable method for the eco-friendly disposal of waste tyre, while the abundance of Zn in waste tyre needs to be considered carefully, as the uncontrolled Zn release has been reported to pose environmental risks. However, tyre-derived Zn-rich carbon black also exhibits excellent adsorption and catalytic performances. Therefore, it is of great importance to comprehensively understand Zn fate during waste tyre pyrolysis for developing a sustainable waste tyre disposal process