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Cold and cough medicines that won’t harm the environmentPosted by: Victoria University on 26/11/2008 10:19:25 PM Victoria University (VU) researchers have patented a new environmentally friendly way to make ephedrine.
Used in the manufacture of many of the world’s cold, cough, asthma, and hay fever medicines, ephedrine is a pharmaceutical with the fourth largest global production after paracetamol, ibuprofen and amoxicillin.
But while the global industry is worth billions of dollars traditional manufacturing is energy intensive and polluting.
Associate Professors Andrew Smallridge and Maurie Trewhella from VU have spent 12 years developing the new process, which they say is clean, green, and promises to be cheaper.
In the conventional process, ephedrine is made by a yeast fermentation that uses large volumes of water followed by substantial quantities of organic solvents, which are highly toxic and expensive. The fermentation reaction needs to be kept at a constant temperature and continually stirred, both operations requiring vast amounts of energy.
Trewhella says: “Instead, our process is a continuous system that replaces water with smaller amounts of high pressure (supercritical) carbon dioxide and recycles all of the chemicals it uses, which means there is minimal waste.”
“Each year ephedrine factories produce thousands of kilos of product. Converting to a less energy intensive process that uses less power would mean fewer emissions and help the industry meet its obligations in terms of climate change.”
Smallridge says: “Another significant environmental benefit is that the new process swaps organic solvents for naturally occurring supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2), which is completely non-toxic.”
Conducting chemical reactions in SC-CO2 also results in an important chemical benefit – the suppression of side reactions that lead to unwanted impurities.
To address manufacturer’s financial concerns, the new process uses common baker’s yeast as the core ingredient in the reaction, which the researchers say ensures their method is sustainable and cheap.
Most of the world’s ephedrine is manufactured in India, China, and Germany. Although it occurs naturally in the plant ephedra, it is difficult to grow in large quantities, and analysts predict synthetic ephedrine will dominate the industry in less than a decade.
The researchers say the next stage for their project is to begin working with commercial partners to produce commercial quantities of the product.
Victoria University has protected the process internationally with four suites of patents.
Linda Brown appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (TAFE)Posted by: Swinburne University of Technology on 24/11/2008 8:44:03 PM Professor Ian Young, Vice-Chancellor of Swinburne University of Technology today announced the appointment of Ms Linda Brown as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (TAFE). Ms Brown will commence in the position in February 2009.
Linda Brown is presently Director of Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) in Brisbane, one of the largest institutes in Queensland. Prior to joining MSIT, Ms Brown gained extensive experience in vocational and technical education in the UK.
Professor Young commented that Ms Brown had an outstanding record of leadership within the VET sector at a national level and had played an instrumental role in developing MSIT as one of the country’s leading TAFE providers.
“Recent changes to training and skills provision within Victoria means the sector is entering an exciting time of growth, where innovation will be critically important,” Professor Young said.
“Linda Brown has an outstanding record of innovative and dynamic leadership and her appointment will allow Swinburne to build on its already impressive achievements as a high quality TAFE provider.”
As Director of MSIT, Ms Brown heads an organisation similar in size to Swinburne TAFE with over 1,000 staff responsible for delivering more than 400 programs to 40,000 clients across 10 campuses, offsite and online.
“I am enormously excited by the opportunities presented by Swinburne and the high quality of vocational education and training within the university,” she said.
“The national agenda is clearly blurring the lines between TAFE and Higher Education and a dual-sector institution like Swinburne is ideally placed to prosper in the current environment.”
Ms Brown has over 30 years education and business experience in areas such as small business, stock broking and as CEO of large corporations in Australia and overseas. She has a degree in public policy and business, a post graduate qualification in management, a master in Education Management and is a qualified teacher (Postgraduate Certificate in Education).
In her three years in Australia she has been recognised at state and national levels as an innovative strategic thinker with leadership skills to drive exceptional business performance. In 2007 alone MSIT won three prestigious business awards and was named as a finalist in three others.
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Media Contact: Lea Kivivali 0410 569 311
Monash University appoint new Vice-ChancellorPosted by: Monash University on 21/11/2008 4:16:50 PM The Monash University Council has appointed Professor Edward Byrne AO as the eighth Vice-Chancellor of Monash University. He will commence his position on 1 July 2009.
More information available here. Acting Prime Minister opens University of Western Sydney’s $47.5 million School of Medicine facilityPosted by: University of Western Sydney on 17/11/2008 9:38:35 PM Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Education Julia Gillard officially opened the University of Western Sydney’s $47.5 million School of Medicine building – a world-class medical education and research centre that is training much needed home-grown doctors for one of Australia’s fastest growing and diverse regions.
More information available here. Internet changes the rules for researchersPosted by: Swinburne University of Technology on 17/11/2008 1:48:04 PM With social scientists increasingly using the internet for research and observation, new methodological guidelines need to be developed according to Emma Beddows from Swinburne University of Technology.
Writing in the latest edition of Swinburne’s International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, Beddows examines some of the unique issues associated with internet-based research, and calls for renewed guidelines to address these concerns.
According to Beddows, some of the advantages of internet-based research include “the ease with which researchers can recruit and communicate with potential participants, and the inexpensive and practical means through which they can manage complex research scenarios.”
However the internet as a research tool has also proven problematic on a number of fronts, including concerns about the accuracy of data obtained, and the ethics surrounding its collection.
One of the main issues that has arisen is that it is difficult for researchers to generalise from an internet sample to a wider population - as internet users may not accurately represent the desired demographic.
“For example, individuals in lower socio-economic demographics are not generally regular internet users. Researchers conducting internet-based research should consider that this may affect, or skew demographic representation,” says Beddows.
The ease with which participants can mislead others about their geographical location, gender or age also makes it difficult for researchers to effectively characterise their sample audience.
According to Beddows, qualitative research that involves computer-mediated interaction between participants and researchers also introduces unique issues. “Non-verbal cues such as subtle nuances of tone, gesture and body language contribute significantly to the richness and depth of communication. Online, one is unable to interpret these subtle cues,” she says.
It is also a requirement of all social research to ensure the protection of participants, particularly in relation to privacy. In internet-based research this can become a concern, as the line between public and private experiences is often blurred.
In traditional research, informed consent is not required when an individual can reasonably expect to be observed in a public setting - however consent is required when research takes place in private.
“Online this distinction is not clear,” says Beddows. “Cybersex for example, the most private of all computer-mediated messages is broadcast on public media.”
While Beddows acknowledges that the internet has presented huge advantages in social research, she believes it is vital that Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) catch up with technology. IRBs are responsible for formulating and approving ethical and methodogical guidelines with which researchers should align their practice.
“The concern for internet research is that regulations are firmly rooted in face-to-face settings and the literature culture of paper and print,” Beddows says. “In order to relieve the problems associated with online research, there needs to be an effort made to develop methodological guidelines that take into account both the unique nature of the internet, and its relationship to the physical world.”
To view the full article, the latest edition of the International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society can be accessed at www.swinburne.edu.au/ijets
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Media Contact: Crystal Ladiges (03) 9214 5064 or 0416 174 880
VU Researcher says industry must prove pokies are safePosted by: Victoria University on 4/11/2008 9:01:12 AM Victoria University’s Jennifer Borrell has developed a new framework for looking at problem gambling linked with Electronic Gambling Machines (EGMs), better known as the pokies.
Borrell says: “We need to take a holistic approach to problem gaming and see that it is not just about people with a pathological addiction to the pokies, there is a whole system that encourages this to happen. The harm starts with the pokies machines themselves.”
“The more you research this area the more you realise how harmful these machines are. They incorporate features designed to keep people playing and maximise profits, which we know leads to problem gambling”, she says.
Such features include: creating the illusion that players are always close to winning, even when they’re not; offering little rewards that encourage continuous play; making the machines financially accessible by taking small change as well as much larger bets; branded games that exploit the popularity of TV shows and films.
“We know that continuous gambling is a precursor to gambling addiction, so machines that encourage this need to be tested to ensure they are safe. This isn’t happening”, she says.
Borrell says increased profits for the gambling industry equate to a rise in problem gambling.
“The Government’s own research clearly shows that most of the industry’s profits come from the losses experienced by problem gamblers”, she says. The profits also come from people and communities who can least afford it.
A study commissioned by the Victorian Government in 2005 found only 31.1 per cent of 418 EGM gamblers were non-problem gamblers, while 27 per cent were problem gamblers, with moderate gamblers (25.4 per cent) and low risk gamblers (16.5 per cent) forming the majority. The study was carried out by specialist psychological services company, Caraniche Pty Ltd.
Borrell says the industry is free to use cutting-edge technology to maximise profits without any meaningful regulation by state or federal government.
In Victoria the gambling duopoly of Tattersalls and Tabcorp uses a Central Monitoring System to monitor each of their machines in real time. Borrell says this information is used to identify how profitable machines are operating, and ultimately get players to part with more money.
She says that the machines are designed and placed to get players to spend as much money as possible, in as short a timeframe as possible.
“People who become addicted to pokies typically have no prior history of gambling and exhibit dramatic changes in behaviour, such as spending their lives savings on these machines”, she says.
Borrell says that if the Government wanted to address the issue of problem gambling it would put the onus on industry to prove the machines are safe.
“Look at the pharmaceutical industry. You wouldn’t put a pill on the market until it was tested for side effects, so why isn’t this happening with gambling machines that are causing people to ruin their lives, and those of their families?” says Borrell.
Borrell’s research shows that problem EGM gambling has effects beyond the individuals involved, extending to families, friends, businesses and local communities. People already living on the margins are particularly vulnerable to the seduction of the venues and the machines. When people get into trouble it is welfare services that often pick up the pieces.
In effect, the lack of Government regulation of the industry is a failure to look after community interests while safeguarding income derived from gambling taxation.
“The Commonwealth provides incentive for state governments to protect their gambling taxes by matching this revenue through Commonwealth State funding agreements. If the Commonwealth was serious about reducing the harm caused by problem gambling then it would take away this financial incentive and find ways to penalise the excessive profits, which we know come from the losses of problem gamblers”, says Borrell.
Borrell graduated from Victoria University on Friday 21 October.
Coffee alert: researchers get the measure of drowsinessPosted by: Swinburne University of Technology on 30/10/2008 9:32:33 PM The eyes have it, say researchers at Swinburne University of Technology after using a new type of optical instrument to measure the effects of caffeine on reducing drowsiness.
Natalie Michael and Dr John Patterson of Swinburne’s Sensory Neuroscience Laboratory set out to resolve the question: Does drinking coffee provide a reliable lift in alertness that can be measured scientifically and consistently?
The Swinburne team collaborated with Dr Murray Johns at Sleep Diagnostics Pty Ltd, and Dr Caroline Owen who is now based at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Research Division.
Over the years there have been a range of recommendations for staying alert on long drives. These have included stopping for a brisk walk, taking a power nap, and drinking coffee.
“However, road safety authorities were faced with conflicting evidence on the benefits of drinking coffee,” Dr Patterson said.
“Some research showed heightened alertness after caffeine administration, whereas other studies did not.
“In our project we used the Australian-designed OptalertTM, which measures drowsiness by observing total duration of eye blinks and the ratio of amplitude and velocity of eye closure during blinking. Even in our well-rested subjects, the Optalert detected repeatable increases in alertness,” he said.
The subjects in the Swinburne project were aged between 18 and 29, a primary target age group for road safety authorities because of their over-representation in drowsy driving incidents.
Test subjects were given either a placebo or a capsule containing 200 mg of caffeine, which is roughly equivalent to two cups of coffee.
Those given the caffeine also showed improved reaction times, which like the improved alertness measured by the Optalert, persisted for about three hours.
The Optalert resembles a set of spectacle frames without lenses. Low intensity infra-red light is directed at the eyes. The infra-red is reflected back and detected by sensors in the frames. The pattern of light reaching the sensors changes as the eyes move and the subject blinks.
The Optalert is available commercially for use as a drowsiness warning system for long-distance professional drivers.
The study was published in the journal Psychopharmacology in October 2008.
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Media Contact: Lea Kivivali, 0410 569 311
Victoria University and Linfox Australia Pty Ltd - Collaboration Agreement
Posted by: Victoria University on 29/10/2008 7:22:01 PM Victoria University’s (VU) Institute for Logistics & Supply Chain Management (ILSCM) has signed an agreement to collaborate with Linfox Australia to provide logistics and supply chain management education and associated research.
This collaboration gives Linfox access to logistics education from a vocational level through to Master’s degree level and both organisations will work together on relevant research projects.
Dr Pieter Nagel Director of ILSCM said: “The Institute’s vision is to become the ‘knowledge centre of choice’ for logistics and supply chain management in the Asia Pacific area. With Linfox operating throughout this region, this collaboration will go a long way towards achieving this vision.”
“Victoria University and Linfox are working together to improve and enhance the skills of people working in logistics and supply chain management.”
Peter Fox, Linfox Chairman said, “Linfox is pleased to be associated with the Institute and is confident that this collaboration will lead to further ventures in education and research and other joint activities throughout Australia and Asia Pacific.”
“Linfox is committed to educating its people and already conducts a vast range of in-house programs through our own Linfox College. This agreement extends our commitment to educating our people at all levels of the supply chain industry.”
Photos of agreement signing are available on request
Media Contacts:
Ms Christine White, Media Manager,
Marketing & Communications Department, Victoria University
Ph: (03) 9919 4322; mobile: 0434 602 884
Mr Gary Max
Linfox Communications Team
Ph: (03) 9856 6492; mobile: 0411 833823
FLINDERS APPOINTS DEPUTY VICE-CHANCELLOR (ACADEMIC)Posted by: Flinders University on 22/10/2008 7:02:11 PM Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Barber, has announced that Professor Andrew Parkin has been appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at Flinders University.
'Creative Scholarship' - a forum on creative writing in the academyPosted by: University of Western Sydney on 19/10/2008 10:04:01 AM On Wednesday 22 October 2008, The Writing and Society Research Group at the University of Western Sydney will hold a Creative Scholarship forum in response to the popularity of creative writing programs in Australian universities. The forum will examine the legitimacy of creative writing postgraduate degrees and their scholarly and public uses.
Media are invited to attend the event, which will include presentations by Bill Manhire, John Dale, Hazel Smith, Marcelle Freiman, Kim Cheng Boey and Catherine Cole.
For more information please contact Danielle Roddick on 0414 308 701 or d.roddick@uws.edu.au.
More information available here. |