The objectives of the Snowy Precipitation Enhancement Research Project are to determine the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of augmenting snowfalls in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales. The project commenced during 2004, following proclamation of special enabling legislation, the Snowy Mountains Cloud Seeding Trial Act 2004 (NSW). Amongst other things, the legislat...

A gradient of novel silver nanostructures with widely varying sizes and morphologies is fabricated on a single conducting polyaniline-graphite (P-G) membrane with the assistance of an external electric field. It is believed that the formation of such a silver gradient is a synergetic consequence of the generation of a silver ion concentration gradient along with an electrokinetic flow of silver...

Silver-enhanced fluorescence was coupled with a bio-barcode assay to facilitate a dual amplification assay to demonstrate a non-enzymatic approach for simple and sensitive detection of DNA. In the assay design, magnetic nanoparticles seeded with silver nanoparticles were modified with the capture DNA, and silver nanoparticles were modified with the binding of ssDNA and the fluorescently labeled...

We demonstrate the amplified detection of a target DNA based on the enzymatic deposition of silver. In this method, the target DNA and a biotinylated detection DNA probe hybridize to a capture DNA probe tethered onto a gold electrode. Neutravidin-conjugated alkaline phosphatase binds to the biotin of the detection probe on the electrode surface and converts the nonelectroactive substrate of the...

A novel impedance-based thermoplastic flow-through immunosensor is presented which integrates a porous polymer monolith capture element with an interdigitated electrode array (IDA). The technique employs a volumetric impedance sensing zone and a direct assay with secondary antibody labeled gold nanoparticles (Ab-AuNP). The captured gold nanoparticles are silver enhanced causing an impedance dro...

Silver nanoparticles offer a possible means of fighting antibacterial resistance. Most of their antibacterial properties are attributed to their silver ions. In the present work, we study the actions of positively charged silver nanoparticles against both methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. We use aberration-corrected transmission electro...

A high flux thin-film nanocomposite membrane epoxy/ zeolite NaA nanocomposite films prepared by using ultrasonic mixing and spin coating. The synthesized nanocomposites film was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), and FTIR spectroscopy. Water softener and water flux characteristics of the epoxy/ zeolite NaA nanocomposite ...

Human beings are often infected by microorganisms such as bacteria, molds, yeasts, and viruses present in their living environments. Because of the emergence and increase in the number of multiple antibiotic-resistant microorganisms and the continuing emphasis on health-care costs, many scientists have researched methods to develop new effective antimicrobial agents that overcome the resistance...

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging biosensor based on silver substrates was investigated to demonstrate that silver could be used as a substrate material for sensitive detection of biomolecular interactions, despite its poor chemical stability. The calculation results showed that oxidation of silver film may lead to a decrease in the sensitivity due to a variation in SPR characteristics ...