Water circulation and impact on water quality in the southwest of Efate Island, Vanuatu.

In Small Island Developing States (SIDS), water pollution is not monitored or assessed frequently enough to fully understand the processes, impacts of water quality issues and what solutions are available This study investigated flushing time in Erakor lagoon and Port Vila Bay, Vanuatu using a numerical model developed in Delft3D. Microbial contamination by Escherichia coli was detected in multiple locations in the lagoon system with counts exceeding thresholds related to human health concerns. Modelling demonstrated a poor flushing time overall with a further decrease as the influence of waves and wind increased, especially in Vila Bay. Sea level rise resulted in an increase in flushing time downstream of the lagoon near the open sea, while with a decrease upstream and in Vila Bay. Based on these results, we recommend long-term continuous monitoring and identification of higher risks areas to prioritise decisions around wastewater management.

Carbon nanofiber electrode for neurochemical monitoring.

The ability to rapidly detect neurotransmitter release has broad implications in the study of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Electrochemical detection methods using carbon nanofiber nanoelectrodes integrated into the Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration Sensing System (WINCS) offer many important advantages including biocompatibility, selectivity, sensitivity, and rapid adsorption kinetics. Carbon nanofiber nanoelectrodes exhibit greater selectivity and sensitivity in the electrochemical detection of neurotransmitters compared to macroelectrodes and are able to resolve a ternary mixture of dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and ascorbic acid as well as to detect individual neurotransmitters in concentrations as low as 50 nM for DA and 100 nM for 5-HT using differential pulse voltammetry. Adsorption kinetics studies and isopropyl alcohol treatments modeled on previous studies on carbon fiber microelectrodes were conducted to investigate the analogous properties on carbon nanofiber electrodes using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry with WINCS and showed analogous results in carbon nanofiber electrodes compared with carbon fiber microelectrodes.

A carbon nanofiber based biosensor for simultaneous detection of dopamine and serotonin in the presence of ascorbic acid.

A biosensor based on an array of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (CNFs) grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition is found to be effective for the simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) in the presence of excess ascorbic acid (AA). The CNF electrode outperforms the conventional glassy carbon electrode (GCE) for both selectivity and sensitivity. Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), three distinct peaks are seen for the CNF electrode at 0.13 V, 0.45 V, and 0.70 V for the ternary mixture of AA, DA, and 5-HT. In contrast, the analytes are indistinguishable in a mixture using a GCE. For the CNF electrode, the detection limits are 50 nM for DA and 250 nM for 5-HT.