RMIT University

About: RMIT University is a education organization based out in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 40468 authors who have published 82923 publications receiving 1729499 citations. The organization is also known as: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology & Melbourne Technical College.

Biodiversity offsets in theory and practice

Abstract: Biodiversity offsets are an increasingly popular yet controversial tool in conservation. Their popularity lies in their potential to meet the objectives of biodiversity conservation and of economic development in tandem; the controversy lies in the need to accept ecological losses in return for uncertain gains. The offsetting approach is being widely adopted, even though its methodologies and the overriding conceptual framework are still under development. This review of biodiversity offsetting evaluates implementation to date and synthesizes outstanding theoretical and practical problems. We begin by outlining the criteria that make biodiversity offsets unique and then explore the suite of conceptual challenges arising from these criteria and indicate potential design solutions. We find that biodiversity offset schemes have been inconsistent in meeting conservation objectives because of the challenge of ensuring full compliance and effective monitoring and because of conceptual flaws in the approach itself. Evidence to support this conclusion comes primarily from developed countries, although offsets are increasingly being implemented in the developing world. We are at a critical stage: biodiversity offsets risk becoming responses to immediate development and conservation needs without an overriding conceptual framework to provide guidance and evaluation criteria. We clarify the meaning of the term biodiversity offset and propose a framework that integrates the consideration of theoretical and practical challenges in the offset process. We also propose a research agenda for specific topics around metrics, baselines and uncertainty.

Measurement of the self-intermediate scattering function of suspensions of hard spherical particles near the glass transition

Abstract: Dynamic light-scattering measurements are reported for suspensions at concentrations in the vicinity of the glass transition. In a mixture of identically sized but optically different particles having hard-sphere-like interactions, we project out the incoherent (or self-) intermediate scattering functions by adjusting the refractive index of the suspending liquid until scattering from the structure is suppressed. Due to polydispersity, crystallization is sufficiently slow so that good estimates of ensemble-averaged quantities can be measured for the metastable fluid states. Crystallization of the suspensions is still exploited, however, to set the volume fraction scale in terms of effective hard spheres and to eliminate (coherent) scattering from the structure. The glass-transition volume fraction is identified by the value where large-scale particle motion ceases. The nonequilibrium nature of the glass state is evidenced by the dependence on the waiting time of the long time decay of the relaxation functions. The self-intermediate scattering functions show negligible deviation from Gaussian behavior up to the onset of large-scale diffusion in the fluid or the onset of waiting time effects in the glass.

Efficacy and Safety of a Chinese Herbal Medicine Formula (RCM-104) in the Management of Simple Obesity: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Abstract: Objective. This study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a Chinese herbal medicine formula (RCM-104) for the management of simple obesity. Method. Obese subjects aged between 18 and 60 years were selected for 12-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Subjects were randomly assigned to take 4 capsules of either the RCM-104 formula (n = 59) or placebo (n = 58), 3 times daily for 12 weeks. Measures of BW, BMI and WC, HC, WHR and BF composition were assessed at baseline and once every four weeks during the 12 week treatment period. Results. Of the 117 subjects randomised, 92 were included in the ITT analysis. The weight, BMI and BF in RCM-104 group were reduced by 1.5 kg, 0.6 kg/m(2) and 0.9% and those in the placebo group were increased by 0.5 kg, 0.2 kg/m(2) and 0.1% respectively. There were significant differences in BW and BMI (P < 0.05) between the two groups. Eleven items of the WLQOQ were significantly improved in the RCM-104 group while only 2 items were significantly improved in the placebo group. Adverse events were minor in both groups. Conclusion. RCM-104 treatment appears to be well tolerated and beneficial in reducing BW and BMI in obese subjects.

An Overall Distribution Particle Swarm Optimization MPPT Algorithm for Photovoltaic System Under Partial Shading

Abstract: Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under partial shading conditions (PSCs) have a nonmonotonic P – V characteristic with multiple local maximum power points, which makes the existing maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms unsatisfactory performance for global MPPT, if not invalid. This paper proposes a novel overall distribution (OD) MPPT algorithm to rapidly search the area near the global maximum power points, which is further integrated with the particle swarm optimization (PSO) MPPT algorithm to improve the accuracy of MPPT. Through simulations and experimentations, the higher effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed OD-PSO MPPT algorithm in solar PV systems is demonstrated in comparison to two existing artificial intelligence MPPT algorithms.