Notes on the diet of the northern masked owl Tyto novaehollandiae kimberli in North Queensland

Volume: 52Start Page: 148End Page: 14

Diet of powerful owls Ninox strenua in inner city Melbourne parks, Victoria

Most dietary studies of Powerful Owls Ninox strenua have been from forested habitats or partially disturbed habitats on the urban fringe. The diets of single Powerful Owls roosting in two inner city parks in Melbourne, Victoria, in 2008 and 2009 were analysed. Common Brushtail Possum Trichosurus vulpecula and Common Ringtail Possum Pseudocheirus peregrinus were the only prey species recorded in the Fitzroy Gardens (occurring in equal numbers in the Owl’s diet), whereas Common Brushtail Possums and Black Rats Rattus rattus were recorded in the diet of the Flagstaff Gardens bird. This is a less diverse prey selection than recorded in the only other inner city dietary analysis for this species

The effect of cylinder liner operating temperature on frictional loss and engine emissions in piston ring conjunction

Despite extensive research into alternative methods, the internal combustion engine is expected to remain as the primary source of vehicular propulsion for the foreseeable future. There are still significant opportunities for improving fuel efficiency, thus directly reducing the harmful emissions. Consequently, mitigation of thermal and frictional losses has gradually become a priority. The piston-cylinder system accounts for the major share of all the losses as well as emissions. Therefore, the need for an integrated approach, particularly of a predictive nature is essential. This paper addresses this issue, particularly the role of cylinder liner temperature, which affects both thermal and frictional performance of the piston-cylinder system. The study focuses on the top compression ring whose critical sealing function makes it a major source of frictional power loss and a critical component in guarding against further blow-by of harmful gasses. Such an integrated approach has not hitherto been reported in literature. The study shows that the cylinder liner temperature is critical in mitigating power loss as well as reducing Hydrocarbon (HC) and Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions from the compression ring – cylinder liner conjunction. The results imply the existence of an optimum range for liner working temperature, independent of engine speed (at least in the studied cases) to minimise frictional losses. Combined with the study of NOx and HC emissions, the control of liner temperature can help to mitigate frictional power loss and reduce emissions

Household Responses to Information on Child Nutrition: Experimental Evidence from Malawi

Incorrect knowledge of the health production function may lead to inefficient household choices, and thereby to the production of suboptimal levels of health. This paper studies the effects of a randomized intervention in rural Malawi which, over a six-month period, provided mothers of young infants with information on child nutrition without supplying any monetary or in-kind resources. A simple model first investigates theoretically how nutrition and other household choices including labor supply may change in response to the improved nutrition knowledge observed in the intervention areas. We then show empirically that the intervention improved child nutrition, household food consumption and consequently health. We find evidence that labor supply increased, which might have contributed to partially fund the increase in food consumption. This paper is the first to establish that non-health choices, particularly parental labor supply, are affected by parents’ knowledge of the child health production function

The impact of maternal employment on children's weight: Evidence from the UK

Previous research shows that maternal employment is associated with higher children's body mass index (BMI). Using a large UK longitudinal birth cohort study of almost 20,000 children, we examine the effect of maternal employment during childhood (to age 14) on children's weight. We address the endogeneity of maternal employment by estimating household fixed effects models. We find that maternal employment has a positive effect on children's BMI and therefore on excess weight, and this is particularly the case for single mothers. We investigate potential pathways, including children's sedentary behavior and healthy eating behaviors, and find evidence of more sedentary behavior and poorer eating habits amongst children whose mothers are in employment. This is consistent with higher BMI levels amongst these children

The geochronological framework of the Irumide Belt: A prolonged crustal history along the margin of the Bangweulu Craton.

Ion microprobe U-Th-Pb analyses of zircon from 40 granitoid rocks collected from the late Mesoproterozoic Irumide Belt in Central Southern Africa, along the southern margin of the Archean to Paleoproterozoic Bangweulu Block, provide a comprehensive set of age data for this complex orogen. The data indicate that the Irumide Belt is constructed on a basement of principally Paleoproterozoic (ca. 2.05–1.93 Ga) age with a subordinate Neoarchean (ca. 2.73 Ga) component, which is overlain by a platformal quartzite-pelite succession known as the Muva Supergroup. Previously published U-Pb detrital zircon data for the Paleoproterozoic Muva Supergroup, which show age populations that match all of the pre-1.9 Ga basement components identified within the Irumide Belt, suggest that the pre-Muva basement was assembled as a coherent block by ~1.8 Ga, which we refer to as the Bangweulu Craton. The southern margin of the Bangweulu Craton was then intruded by a previously unrecognized suite of biotite-bearing granitoid rocks between 1.66 and 1.55 Ga, not recorded elsewhere in the region, and was later the site of emplacement of voluminous granitoid magmatism during the Irumide Orogeny at between 1.05 and 1.00 Ga. Hf isotopic data from zircon in these suites indicate variable influence from cryptic Archean rocks in the lower crustal melting zone of the Bangweulu Block. U-Pb analyses of inherited zircon cores in magmatic zircon in these granitoid rocks, directly confirm the presence of this reworked cryptic Archean basement of the Bangweulu Craton.The age data confirm previously proposed tectonic models for the Mesoproterozoic evolution of central Africa, refuting the presence of a continent-spanning Grenvillian-aged Orogen, including the Kibaran Belt, Irumide Belt and Choma-Kalomo Block of central Africa and connecting with Mesoproterozoic terranes further south along the margins of the Kalahari Craton. The data clearly show that the Proterozoic tectonic evolution of the Bangweulu Craton, which became attached to the southern margin of the larger Congo Craton during the Mesoproterozoic, involved a series of distinct convergent orogenic episodes affecting and reworking its southern (passive) margin. The mismatch in timing of Mesoproterozoic orogenic activity along the Bangweulu Craton, compared to that on the margins of the Kalahari, is compatible with the notion that these continental fragments were not juxtaposed along these Mesoproterozoic belts and in their present-day relative positions at the time. Whether either of these central and southern African cratons did form part of Rodinia, however, remains a matter for debate

The E-ELT Multi-Object Spectrograph: latest news from MOSAIC

There are 8000 galaxies, including 1600 at z larger than 1.6, which could be simultaneously observed in an E-ELT field of view of 40 sq. arcmin. A considerable fraction of astrophysical discoveries require large statistical samples, which can only be obtained with multi-object spectrographs (MOS). MOSAIC will provide a vast discovery space, enabled by a multiplex of 200 and spectral resolving powers of R=5000 and 20000. MOSAIC will also offer the unique capability of more than 10 "high-definition" (multi-object adaptive optics, MOAO) integral-field units, optimised to investigate the physics of the sources of reionization. The combination of these modes will make MOSAIC the world-leading MOS facility, contributing to all fields of contemporary astronomy, from extra-solar planets, to the study of the halo of the Milky Way and its satellites, and from resolved stellar populations in nearby galaxies out to observations of the earliest "first-light" structures in the Universe. It will also study the distribution of the dark and ordinary matter at all scales and epochs of the Universe. Recent studies of critical technical issues such as sky-background subtraction and MOAO have demonstrated that such a MOS is feasible with state-of-the-art technology and techniques. Current studies of the MOSAIC team include further trade-offs on the wavelength coverage, a solution for compensating for the non-telecentric new design of the telescope, and tests of the saturation of skylines especially in the near-IR bands. In the 2020s the E-ELT will become the world's largest optical/IR telescope, and we argue that it has to be equipped as soon as possible with a MOS to provide the most efficient, and likely the best way to follow-up on James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 Figures, in Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI, 2016, Proc. SPI

Influence of childhood socioeconomic position and ability on mid-life cognitive function:Evidence from three British birth cohorts

Background: Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) is robustly associated with cognitive function later in life. However, it is unclear whether this reflects a direct relationship, or an indirect association via modifiable factors such as educational attainment and occupation. We sought to clarify these associations using retrospectively harmonised data from three ongoing British birth cohorts. Methods: We analysed data from the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development (n=2283), the 1958 National Child Development Study (n=9385) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (n=7631). Retrospective harmonisation was used to derive equivalent indicators of cognition, SEP, education and occupation across the three cohorts. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the association between childhood SEP and mid-life cognitive function, via childhood cognitive ability, educational attainment and mid-life occupation. Results: Across all three cohorts, no direct pathways were observed between childhood SEP and mid-life cognitive function. Rather, this association was indirect via the three temporally ordered mediators. In addition, the direct pathway between childhood cognition and adult cognitive function was weaker in the two younger studies. Conclusions: Across three British birth cohorts, we found that the association between early life SEP and mid-life cognitive function was fully mediated by childhood cognitive ability, educational attainment and occupational status. Furthermore, the association between early cognitive ability and mid-life cognitive function has decreased in younger generations. Therefore, cognitive function in adulthood may be influenced by modifiable factors and societal change