Groundwater surface mapping informs sources of catchment baseflow

This work is funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project scheme through project DP120100253. We greatly appreciate the provision of groundwater chemistry data and introduction to the Gellibrand catchment by Alex Atkinson and Ian Cartwright from Monash University. We thank two anonymous reviewers and Ian Cartwright for their insightful and constructive reviews that helped improve this paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Relating Trends in Streamflow to Anthropogenic Influences: A Case Study of Himayat Sagar Catchment, India

Catchment development has been identified as a potentially major cause of streamflow change in many river basins in India. This research aims to understand changes in the Himayat Sagar catchment (HSC), India, where significant reductions in streamflow have been observed. Rainfall and streamflow trend analysis for 1980–2004 shows a decline in streamflow without significant changes in rainfall. A regression model was used to quantify changes in the rainfall-runoff relationship over the study period. We relate these streamflow trends to anthropogenic changes in land use, groundwater abstraction and watershed development that lead to increased ET (Evapotranspiration) in the catchment. Streamflow has declined at a rate of 3.6 mm/y. Various estimates of changes in evapotranspiration/irrigation water use were made. Well inventories suggested an increase of 7.2 mm/y in groundwater extractions whereas typical irrigation practices suggests applied water increased by 9.0 mm/y, while estimates of evapotranspiration using remote sensing data showed an increasing rate of 4.1 mm/y. Surface water storage capacity of various small watershed development structures increased by 2 mm over 7 years. It is concluded that the dominant hydrological process responsible for streamflow reduction is the increase in evapotranspiration associated with irrigation development, however, most of the anthropogenic changes examined are interrelated and occurred simultaneously, making separating out individual impacts very difficult

Einstein A Coefficients and Oscillator Strengths for the A 2Π-X2Σ+ (Red) and B 2Σ+-X2Σ+ (Violet) Systems and Rovibrational Transitions in the X2Σ+ State of CN

Line strengths have been calculated in the form of Einstein A coefficients and f-values for a large number of bands of the A 2Π-X 2Σ+ and B 2Σ+-X 2Σ+ systems and rovibrational transitions within the X 2Σ+ state of CN using Western\u27s PGOPHER program. The J dependence of the transition dipole moment matrix elements (the Herman-Wallis effect) has been taken into account. Rydberg-Klein-Rees potential energy functions for the A 2Π, B 2Σ+ , and X 2Σ+ states were computed using spectroscopic constants from the A 2Π-X 2Σ+ and B 2Σ+-X 2Σ+ transitions. New electronic transition dipole moment functions for these systems and a dipole moment function for the X 2Σ+ state were generated from high level ab initio calculations and have been used in Le Roy\u27s LEVEL program to produce transition dipole moment matrix elements (including their J dependence) for a large number of vibrational bands. The program PGOPHER was used to calculate Einstein A coefficients, and a line list was generated containing the observed and calculated wavenumbers, Einstein A coefficients and f-values for 290 bands of the A 2Π-X 2Σ + transition with v′ = 0-22, v″ = 0-15, 250 bands of the B 2Σ+-X 2Σ+ transition with v′ = 0-15, v″ = 0-15 and 120 bands of the rovibrational transitions within the X 2Σ+ state with v = 0-15. The Einstein A coefficients have been used to compute radiative lifetimes of several vibrational levels of the A 2Π and B 2Σ + states and the values compared with those available from previous experimental and theoretical studies. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society

The Chicken Yolk Sac IgY Receptor, a Mammalian Mannose Receptor Family Member, Transcytoses IgY across Polarized Epithelial Cells

In mammals the transfer of passive immunity from mother to young is mediated by the MHC-related receptor FcRn, which transports maternal IgG across epithelial cell barriers. In birds, maternal IgY in egg yolk is transferred across the yolk sac to passively immunize chicks during gestation and early independent life. The chicken yolk sac IgY receptor (FcRY) is the ortholog of the mammalian phospholipase A2 receptor, a mannose receptor family member, rather than an FcRn or MHC homolog. FcRn and FcRY both exhibit ligand binding at the acidic pH of endosomes and ligand release at the slightly basic pH of blood. Here we show that FcRY expressed in polarized mammalian epithelial cells functioned in endocytosis, bidirectional transcytosis, and recycling of chicken FcY/IgY. Confocal immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that IgY binding and endocytosis occurred at acidic but not basic pH, mimicking pH-dependent uptake of IgG by FcRn. Colocalization studies showed FcRY-mediated internalization via clathrin-coated pits and transport involving early and recycling endosomes. Disruption of microtubules partially inhibited apical-to-basolateral and basolateral-to-apical transcytosis, but not recycling, suggesting the use of different trafficking machinery. Our results represent the first cell biological evidence of functional equivalence between FcRY and FcRn and provide an intriguing example of how evolution can give rise to systems in which similar biological requirements in different species are satisfied utilizing distinct protein folds

Automated Detection of Pipe Bursts and other Events in Water Distribution Systems

Copyright 2012 by the American Society of Civil EngineersThis paper presents a new methodology for the automated near real-time detection of pipe bursts and other events which induce similar abnormal pressure/flow variations (e.g., unauthorised consumptions) at the District Metered Area (DMA) level. The new methodology makes synergistic use of several self-learning Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques and statistical data analysis tools including wavelets for de-noising of the recorded pressure/flow signals, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for the short-term forecasting of pressure/flow signal values, Statistical Process Control (SPC) techniques for short and long term analysis of the pipe burst/other event-induced pressure/flow variations, and Bayesian Inference Systems (BISs) for inferring the probability of a pipe burst/other event occurrence and raising corresponding detection alarms. The methodology presented here is tested and verified on a case study involving several DMAs in the United Kingdom (UK) with both real-life pipe burst/other events and engineered (i.e., simulated by opening fire hydrants) pipe burst events. The results obtained illustrate that it can successfully identify these events in a fast and reliable manner with a low false alarm rate

Condensational symbols in British press coverage of Boko Haram

This study of British press coverage of Boko Haram, a militant group in Nigeria, concentrates on condensational symbols in news reports of one of its major acts of terrorism, the bombing of the United Nations House in Abuja, the country’s capital city, in August 2011. The study examines the visibility of Boko Haram in British newspapers before and after the attack. It identifies the condensational symbols that dominated the coverage and how these provided a particular trajectory that could have shaped newspaper readers’ understanding of the event. The study argues that the symbolic terms that journalists used in their reports were not only easily identifiable but were specifically chosen to simplify a complex story for audiences that were perhaps uninformed about the group and its activities. The terms also reflect the repertoire of news frames that journalists mine to reconstruct reality for their audiences