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Since 2016, UOW Library staff have been engaged in developing a culture of agility, strong digital literacy, and experimental exploration as part of the Future-Ready Library and the Thriving Digital Library strategies. This culture enabled the trial and implementation of a proactive chat widget at University of Wollongong Library prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative and quantitative data show how valuable proactive chat was to the students and staff at UOW during a period of high uncertainty. Pro-active chat achieved the goal of equitable provision of resources to library users at a time when visitor and travel rules restricted physical access to UOW Library buildings and on-site staff. The pandemic has been declared over, however, UOW Library continues to utilise proactive chat and to build upon and expand its functionality. The lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that to withstand and succeed in the face of continued change to the provision of services in the GLAM sector, the attributes of agility and flexibility as well as strong and ongoing growth in digital literacy skills are vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to evaluate biomarkers of biological effect and physiological assessments related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) among adult male cigarette smokers (SMK), moist snuff consumers (MSC) and non-consumers of tobacco (NTC). Additionally, biomarkers of tobacco and tobacco smoke exposure (BoE) were measured in spot urines and are reported here. Except for the BoE to nicotine and NNK, BoE were generally greater in SMK compared with MSC, and BoE were generally not different in comparisons of MSC and NTC. Results demonstrated that MSC had lower systemic exposures to many harmful and potentially harmful constituents than SMK, which is consistent with epidemiological data that indicate a differential in CVD risk between these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global output of cottonseed contains ∼10.8 trillion grams of protein that can meet the basic protein requirements of ∼590 million people at a rate of 50 g/day. However, gossypol, a toxic terpenoid present in seed glands, renders cottonseed unfit as food for human consumption or as feed for nonruminants. RNAi, under the control of a seed-specific promoter, was used to selectively silence δ-cadinene synthase gene to reduce gossypol levels in the seed by 97% without affecting the levels of gossypol and related terpenoids in rest of the plant where they are needed for defense against insects and diseases. The resulting Ultra-low Gossypol Cottonseed (ULGCS) is considered safe as food or as feed for more efficient (both, in terms of feed conversion ratio and protein conversion ratio) monogastric animals. Field trials conducted over multiple years in multiple states confirm the stability and heritability of the trait with no diminution of fiber/seed yield, quality or agronomic performance. A ULGCS event, TAM66274, was deregulated by USDA-APHIS in October 2018 and FDA concluded its food safety consultation in September 2019 and concurred with our determination of its safety. Global adoption of TAM66274, with more efficient and expanded usage of its protein, has the potential to significantly improve nutrition security and boost farmers' income without requiring additional inputs or acreage under cultivation, thus making cotton farming more sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]