Sodium and Water Fluxes in Free-Living Crocodylus Porosus in Marine and Brackish Conditions

Radioactive sodium and water were used to determine total body water (TBW), exchangeable sodium (ExNa) and water and sodium fluxes in free-living Crocodylus porosus in marine (hyperosmotic; salinity = 250/00-350/00) and brackish (hypoosmotic; salinity = 20/00-7.50/00) sections of the Tomkinson River in northern Australia. At capture, size-corrected TBW and ExNa pools in 62 crocodiles (hatchlings, juveniles, and subadults; weight, 0.108-54.4 kg) were independent of salinity history. To determine fluxes, all animals were released at their capture sites and left undisturbed until recapture. Thirty-seven were recaptured after 7-18 days. Fifteen of the 17 hatchlings recaptured from both salinity categories grew and maintained their condition and hydration status. In contrast, all 20 juveniles and subadults lost weight in the same period, and juveniles in hyperosmotic conditions showed significantly lower hydration and condition factors. Water effluxes in hatchlings were ~80 and ~160 ml kg-0.63 day-1 in marine and brackish conditions, respectively. Comparable sodium effluxes were 7.5 and 4.4 mmol kg-0.63 day1. All crocodiles in hyperosmotic conditions had consistently lower water effluxes (~ X0.5) and higher sodium effluxes (~ X 1.6) than did crocodiles in brackish water. In both salinity categories, hatchlings had greater water turnover (~ X 1.3, X 1.6) and sodium turnover (~ X 1.5, X 1.25) than did juveniles and subadults. Interpretation of the field data is complicated by integumentary exchange of sodium and water, a size-related aphagia apparently induced by disturbance, and difficulties of adjusting for allometric differences across a wide range of sizes. Nevertheless, it is clear that C. porosus is able to effect considerable economies of water turnover in hyperosmotic salt water and that the secretory capacity of the lingual glands, as measured in the laboratory, is more than enough to account for the highest sodium effluxes that we measured in C. porosus in the field

Outdoor air pollution and near-fatal/fatal asthma attacks in children: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Globally, observational studies have demonstrated an association between high levels of air pollution and asthma attacks in children. It remains unclear whether and to what extent exposure may be associated with increased near-fatal/fatal attacks. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the evidence for an association between ambient outdoor air pollution and fatal and/or near-fatal asthma (NFA). METHODS: Following Cochrane methodology, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Open Grey electronic databases for studies reporting the association of fatal/NFA and air pollution (particulate matter [PM], sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, black carbon and ozone [O3 ]) in children. NFA was defined as requiring intensive care unit (ICU) management. RESULTS: Two reviewers independently screened 1358 papers. A total of 276 studies identified asthma attacks related to air pollution, 272 did not meet inclusion criteria after full-text review. Four observational studies described fatal/NFA, of which three addressed NFA. PM2.5 (per 12.5 µg/m3 increase) and O3 (per 22 ppb increase) were associated with NFA in one study (PM2.5, relative risk: 1.26, confidence interval [CI] [1.10-1.44]), O3  (1.19 [1.01-1.40]). PM10 was associated with ICU admission in the context of thunderstorm asthma. Elemental carbon was associated equally with NFA that did not require an ICU admission (p = 0.67). Studies of fatal asthma including children did not demarcate age within the analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Ozone and PM2.5 have been associated with NFA in children but synthesis is limited by the paucity of studies and methodological heterogeneity. Poor reporting of severities of asthma attacks hinders the assessment of whether outdoor air pollution is associated with an increased number of NFA/fatal attacks in children

On the Use of Inertial Sensors in Educational Engagement Activities

Wearable sensors have been successfully used for a few decades in different sporting applications and its use has been constrained mostly to research projects. However, its positive impact has been recently adding other directions towards education, commercial and servicing. The establishment of Sports Engineering as a discipline is playing an important role in Australian universities where relevant material and emerging technologies are required to be taught and in certain circumstances developed. Some of these technologies include the adoption of inertial sensors (accelerometers and gyroscopes). This paper shares the impact of inertial sensors in building engagement in different educational activities at secondary level, with the purpose of engaging them into Sports Engineering disciplines, and at tertiary level through teaching undergraduate and post-graduate programs

Women’s experiences of transfer from primary maternity unit to tertiary hospital in New Zealand: part of the prospective cohort Evaluating Maternity Units study

BACKGROUND: There is worldwide debate regarding the appropriateness and safety of different birthplaces for well women. The Evaluating Maternity Units (EMU) study’s primary objective was to compare clinical outcomes for well women intending to give birth in either a tertiary level maternity hospital or a freestanding primary level maternity unit. Little is known about how women experience having to change their birthplace plans during the antenatal period or before admission to a primary unit, or transfer following admission. This paper describes and explores women’s experience of these changes-a secondary aim of the EMU study. METHODS: This paper utilised the six week postpartum survey data, from the 174 women from the primary unit cohort affected by birthplace plan change or transfer (response rate 73 %). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The study was undertaken in Christchurch, New Zealand, which has an obstetric-led tertiary maternity hospital and four freestanding midwife-led primary maternity units (2010–2012). The 702 study participants were well, pregnant women booked to give birth in one of these facilities, all of whom received continuity of midwifery care, regardless of their intended or actual birthplace. RESULTS: Of the women who had to change their planned place of birth or transfer the greatest proportion of women rated themselves on a Likert scale as unbothered by the move (38.6 %); 8.8 % were ‘very unhappy’ and 7.6 % ‘very happy’ (quantitative analysis). Four themes were identified, using thematic analysis, from the open ended survey responses of those who experienced transfer: ‘not to plan’, control, communication and ‘my midwife’. An interplay between the themes created a cumulatively positive or negative effect on their experience. Women’s experience of transfer in labour was generally positive, and none expressed stress or trauma with transfer. CONCLUSIONS: The women knew of the potential for change or transfer, although it was not wanted or planned. When they maintained a sense control, experienced effective communication with caregivers, and support and information from their midwife, the transfer did not appear to be experienced negatively. The model of continuity of midwifery care in New Zealand appeared to mitigate the negative aspects of women’s experience of transfer and facilitate positive birth experiences

Improved Efficiency of Miscible CO^2 Floods and Enhanced Prospects for CO^2 Flooding Heterogeneous Reservoirs: Annual Report, June 1, 1997--May 31, 1998

The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency of miscible CO{sub 2} floods and enhance the prospects for flooding heterogeneous reservoirs. This report provides results of the first year of the three-year project that will be exploring three principle areas: (1) Fluid and matrix interactions (understanding the problems): interfacial tension (IFT), phase behavior, miscibility, capillary number, injectivity, wettability, and gravity drainage; (2) Conformance control/sweep efficiency (solving the problems): reduction of mobility using foam, diversion by selective mobility reduction (SMR) using foam, improved injectivity, alternating water and gas injection, and using horizontal wells; and (3) Reservoir simulation for improved oil recovery (predicting results): gravity drainage, SMR, CO{sub 2}-foam flooding, interfacial tension, injectivity profile, horizontal wells, and naturally fractured reservoirs. Studies of surfactant foam quality were performed during this first year. Simulation studies on a foam pilot area resulted in an acceptable history match model. The results confirm that the communication path between the foam injection well and a production well had a strong impact on the production performance. A laboratory study to aid in the development of a gravity drainage reservoir was undertaken on the Wellman Unit. Experiments were begun meant to duplicate situations of injectivity loss in WAG flooding and identify factors affecting the injectivity loss. The preliminary results indicate that for a given rock the injectivity loss depends on oil saturation in the core during WAG flooding. The injectivity loss is higher in cores with high in-situ oil saturations during WAG flooding. This effect is being verified by more experimental data

Improving CO2 Efficiency for Recovering Oil in Heterogeneous Reservoirs

This document is the First Annual Report for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract No., a three-year contract entitled: ''Improving CO{sub 2} Efficiency for Recovering Oil in Heterogeneous Reservoirs.'' The research improved our knowledge and understanding of CO{sub 2} flooding and includes work in the areas of injectivity and mobility control. The bulk of this work has been performed by the New Mexico Petroleum Recovery Research Center, a research division of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. This report covers the reporting period of September 28, 2001 and September 27, 2002. Injectivity continues to be a concern to the industry. During this period we have contacted most of the CO{sub 2} operators in the Permian Basin and talked again about their problems in this area. This report has a summary of what we found. It is a given that carbonate mineral dissolution and deposition occur in a formation in geologic time and are expected to some degree in carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) floods. Water-alternating-gas (WAG) core flood experiments conducted on limestone and dolomite core plugs confirm that these processes can occur over relatively short time periods (hours to days) and in close proximity to each other. Results from laboratory CO{sub 2}-brine flow experiments performed in rock core were used to calibrate a reactive transport simulator. The calibrated model is being used to estimate in situ effects of a range of possible sequestration options in depleted oil/gas reservoirs. The code applied in this study is a combination of the well known TOUGH2 simulator, for coupled groundwater/brine and heat flow, with the chemistry code TRANS for chemically reactive transport. Variability in response among rock types suggests that CO{sub 2} injection will induce ranges of transient and spatially dependent changes in intrinsic rock permeability and porosity. Determining the effect of matrix changes on CO{sub 2} mobility is crucial in evaluating the efficacy and potential environmental implications of storing CO{sub 2} in the subsurface. Chemical cost reductions are identified that are derived from the synergistic effects of cosurfactant systems using a good foaming agent and a less expensive poor foaming agent. The required good foaming agent is reduced by at least 75%. Also the effect on injectivity is reduced by as much as 50% using the cosurfactant system, compared to a previously used surfactant system. Mobility control of injected CO{sub 2} for improved oil recovery can be achieved with significant reduction in the chemical cost of SAG, improved injectivity of SAG, and improved economics of CO{sub 2} injection project when compared to reported systems. Our past work has identified a number of mobility control agents to use for CO{sub 2}-foam flooding. In particular the combination of the good foaming agent CD 1045 and a sacrificial agent and cosurfactant lignosulfonate. This work scrutinizes the methods that we are using to determine the efficiency of the sacrificial agents and cosurfactant systems. These have required concentration determinations and reusing core samples. Here, we report some of the problems that have been found and some interesting effects that must be considered

Conservatism of lizard thermal tolerances and body temperatures across evolutionary history and geography

Species may exhibit similar thermal tolerances via either common ancestry or environmental filtering and local adaptation, if the species inhabit similar environments. We ask whether upper and lower thermal limits (critical thermal maxima and minima) and body temperatures are more strongly conserved across evolutionary history or geography for lizard populations distributed globally. We find that critical thermal maxima are highly conserved with location accounting for a higher proportion of the variation than phylogeny. Notably, thermal tolerance breadth is conserved across the phylogeny despite critical thermal minima showing little niche conservatism. Body temperatures observed during activity in the field show the greatest degree of conservatism, with phylogeny accounting for most of the variation. This suggests that propensities for thermoregulatory behaviour, which can buffer body temperatures from environmental variation, are similar within lineages. Phylogeny and geography constrain thermal tolerances similarly within continents, but variably within clades. Conservatism of thermal tolerances across lineages suggests that the potential for local adaptation to alleviate the impacts of climate change on lizards may be limited

Improved Efficiency of Miscible CO2 Floods and Enhanced Prospects for CO2 Flooding Heterogeneous Reservoirs

The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency of miscible CO2 floods and enhance the prospects for flooding heterogeneous reservoirs. This report provides results of the second year of the three-year project that will be exploring three principles: (1) Fluid and matrix interactions (understanding the problems). (2) Conformance control/sweep efficiency (solving the problems. 3) Reservoir simulation for improved oil recovery (predicting results)