Titanium Nitride Thin Film Based Low-Redox-Interference Potentiometric pH Sensing Electrodes.

In this work, a solid-state potentiometric pH sensor is designed by incorporating a thin film of Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtered (RFMS) Titanium Nitride (TiN) working electrode and a commercial Ag|AgCl|KCl double junction reference electrode. The sensor shows a linear pH slope of -59.1 mV/pH, R = 0.

Application-Specific Oxide-Based and Metal-Dielectric Thin-Film Materials Prepared by Radio Frequency Magnetron Sputtering.

We report on the development of several different thin-film functional material systems prepared by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at Edith Cowan University nanofabrication labs. While focusing on the RF sputtering process optimizations for new or the previously underexplored material compositions and multilayer structures, we disclose several unforeseen material properties and behaviours. Among these are an unconventional magnetic hysteresis loop with an intermediate saturation state observed in garnet trilayers, and an ultrasensitive magnetic switching behaviour in garnet-oxide composites (GOC).

Application of all solid-state 3D printed pH sensor to beverage samples using matrix matched standard.

In this work, an all solid-state potentiometric pH sensor is developed, which employs a thin-film sputter deposited RuO working electrode, a polyvinylbutyral-SiO modified RuO reference electrode and 3D printed electrode housing. The developed sensor exhibits linear pH response (- 55.7 mV/pH, R = 0.

Manufacture and application of RuO solid-state metal-oxide pH sensor to common beverages.

A new reproducible solid-state metal-oxide pH sensor for beverage quality monitoring is developed and characterised. The working electrode of the developed pH sensor is based on the use of laser-etched sputter-deposited RuO on AlO substrate, modified with thin layers of sputter-deposited TaO and drop-cast Nafion for minimisation of redox interference. The reference electrode is manufactured by further modifying a working electrode with a porous polyvinyl butyral layer loaded with fumed SiO.

Similarities and Differences in Barriers and Opportunities Affecting Climate Change Adaptation Action in Four North American Landscapes.

Climate change presents a complex set of challenges for natural resource managers across North America. Despite recognition that climate change poses serious threats to species, ecosystems, and human communities, implementation of adaptation measures is not yet happening on a broad scale. Among different regions, a range of climate change trajectories, varying political contexts, and diverse social and ecological systems generate a myriad of factors that can affect progress on climate change adaptation implementation.

RuO₂ pH Sensor with Super-Glue-Inspired Reference Electrode.

A pH-sensitive RuO₂ electrode coated in a commercial cyanoacrylate adhesive typically exhibits very low pH sensitivity, and could be paired with a RuO₂ working electrode as a differential type pH sensor. However, such sensors display poor performance in real sample matrices. A pH sensor employing a RuO₂ pH-sensitive working electrode and a SiO₂-PVB junction-modified RuO₂ reference electrode is developed as an alternative high-performance solution.

Effect of ordered mesoporous carbon contact layer on the sensing performance of sputtered RuO thin film pH sensor.

The effect of contact layer on the pH sensing performance of a sputtered RuO thin film pH sensor is investigated. The response of pH sensors employing RuO thin film electrodes on screen-printed Pt, carbon and ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) contact layers are measured over a pH range from 4 to 10. Working electrodes with OMC contact layer are found to have Nernstian pH sensitivity (-58.

A Rosetta Stone for nature's benefits to people.

After a long incubation period, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is now underway. Underpinning all its activities is the IPBES Conceptual Framework (CF), a simplified model of the interactions between nature and people. Drawing on the legacy of previous large-scale environmental assessments, the CF goes further in explicitly embracing different disciplines and knowledge systems (including indigenous and local knowledge) in the co-construction of assessments of the state of the world's biodiversity and the benefits it provides to humans.

Biosecurity and yield improvement technologies are strategic complements in the fight against food insecurity.

The delivery of food security via continued crop yield improvement alone is not an effective food security strategy, and must be supported by pre- and post-border biosecurity policies to guard against perverse outcomes. In the wake of the green revolution, yield gains have been in steady decline, while post-harvest crop losses have increased as a result of insufficiently resourced and uncoordinated efforts to control spoilage throughout global transport and storage networks. This paper focuses on the role that biosecurity is set to play in future food security by preventing both pre- and post-harvest losses, thereby protecting crop yield.

Adaptive approaches to biosecurity governance.

This article discusses institutional changes that may facilitate an adaptive approach to biosecurity risk management where governance is viewed as a multidisciplinary, interactive experiment acknowledging uncertainty. Using the principles of adaptive governance, evolved from institutional theory, we explore how the concepts of lateral information flows, incentive alignment, and policy experimentation might shape Australia's invasive species defense mechanisms. We suggest design principles for biosecurity policies emphasizing overlapping complementary response capabilities and the sharing of invasive species risks via a polycentric system of governance.

Identifying hazards in complex ecological systems. Part 3: Hierarchical Holographic Model for herbicide tolerant oilseed rape.

This paper is the third in a series designed to demonstrate the application of rigorous, systematic hazard identification techniques to ecological systems. Here we use Hierarchical Holographic Modelling to identify the potential ecological hazards associated with the commercial release of herbicide tolerant oilseed rape. Hierarchical Holographic Models decompose complex systems into a series of sub-systems and consider interactions between the components and processes of these sub-systems in order to identify hazards.

Tiller dynamics and self-thinning in grassland habitats.

The tiller dynamics and weight-density relationships of grasses were investigated in sown monocultures and in an established grassland both in full light and under shade. Monocultures of Festuca pratensis and Lolium perenne sown at high densities conformed to the-3/2 Power Law during establishment, but once the maximum standing had been reached the trajectory of the thinning line switched to a slope of approximately-1 when weight was plotted against density on logarithmic scales. Subsequently the populations showed a cyclical pattern of tiller weight and density bound by a line related to the maximum standing crop but also close to the-3/2 thinning line.

A neighbourhood approach to self-thinning.

The fate of individual plants of Helianthus annuus was monitored in populations sown at a density of 650 seeds m. Ninety six percent of the seeds germinated but only fifty two percent of the seedlings survived to the end of the experiment due to self-thinning. Whilst the seedlings emerged over only four days the cotyledons then took up to eight days to emerge from the seed case and open fully.