Infections by Kudoa ciliatae (Myxozoa: Myxosporea) in Indo-Pacific whiting Sillago spp.

Infections by Kudoa ciliatae Lom, Rohde & Dykova, 1992 were detected in 141 (32%) of 444 Indo-Pacific whiting Sillago spp, caught in Moreton Bay, Australia. The parasite was detected in the type host, S. ciliata (in 14% of 73 fish), and from 2 new hosts, S, maculata (46% of 264) and S. analis (9% of 107). Prevalence of infection in S. maculata was greatest in autumn (100%) and lowest in spring (10%), the seasonal differences being positively correlated to host size (more prevalent in larger fish caught in autumn). Intensity of infection ranged from 1 to 45 cysts per fish (mean 7.6) and the cysts measured up to 2.5 mm in length. Most cysts were located on the serosal surface of the intestinal tract extending into the circular smooth muscle layer. The majority were found in the distal third of the intestine, often in groups of 2 to 5 cysts. Parasites were also found for the first time in the pyloric caeca, intestinal mesentery and liver. Calcified cysts were occasionally detected in S, ciliata and S, analis

Dual modal imaging agents based on chromophore-bearing DTPA analogues

Two new DTPA analogues, centrally (L1) and terminally (L2) functionalised with a 1,8-naphthalimide chromophore, have been successfully prepared and fully characterized.</p

Augmenting forearm crutches with wireless sensors for lower limb rehabilitation

Forearm crutches are frequently used in the rehabilitation of an injury to the lower limb. The recovery rate is improved if the patient correctly applies a certain fraction of their body weight (specified by a clinician) through the axis of the crutch, referred to as partial weight bearing (PWB). Incorrect weight bearing has been shown to result in an extended recovery period or even cause further damage to the limb. There is currently no minimally invasive tool for long-term monitoring of a patient's PWB in a home environment. This paper describes the research and development of an instrumented forearm crutch that has been developed to wirelessly and autonomously monitor a patient's weight bearing over the full period of their recovery, including its potential use in a home environment. A pair of standard forearm crutches are augmented with low-cost off-the-shelf wireless sensor nodes and electronic components to provide indicative measurements of the applied weight, crutch tilt and hand position on the grip. Data are wirelessly transmitted between crutches and to a remote computer (where they are processed and visualized in LabVIEW), and the patient receives biofeedback by means of an audible signal when they put too much or too little weight through the crutch. The initial results obtained highlight the capability of the instrumented crutch to support physiotherapists and patients in monitoring usage

Role of life-cycle externalities in the valuation of protic ionic liquids – a case study in biomass pretreatment solvents

Ionic liquids have found their way into many applications where they show a high potential to replace traditional chemicals. But there are concerns over their ecological impacts (toxicity and biodegradability) and high cost, which have limited their use so far. The outcome of existing techno-economic and life-cycle assessments comparing ionic liquids with existing solvents has proven hard to interpret due to the many metrics used and trade-offs between them. For the first time, this paper couples the concept of monetization with detailed process simulation and life-cycle assessment to estimate the true cost of ionic liquids. A comparative case study on four solvents used in lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment is conducted: triethylammonium hydrogen sulfate [TEA][HSO4], 1-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate [HMIM][HSO4], acetone from fossil sources, and glycerol from renewable sources. The results show that the total monetized cost of production accounting for externalities can be more than double the direct costs estimated using conventional economic assessment methods. The ionic liquid [TEA][HSO4] is found to have the lowest total cost, while the renewable solvent glycerol presents the highest total cost. We expect this methodology to provide a starting point for future research and development in sustainable ionic liquid

Investigating the timecourse of accessing conversational implicatures during incremental sentence interpretation

Many contextual inferences in utterance interpretation are explained as following from the nature of conversation and the assumption that participants are rational. Recent psycholinguistic research has focussed on certain of these ‘Gricean’ inferences and have revealed that comprehenders can access them in online interpretation. However there have been mixed results as to the time-course of access. Some results show that Gricean inferences can be accessed very rapidly, as rapidly as any other contextually specified information (Sedivy, 2003; Grodner, Klein, Carbery, & Tanenhaus, 2010); while other studies looking at the same kind of inference suggest that access to Gricean inferences are delayed relative to other aspects of semantic interpretation (Huang & Snedeker, 2009; in press). While previous timecourse research has focussed on Gricean inferences that support the online assignment of reference to definite expressions, the study reported here examines the timecourse of access to scalar implicatures, which enrich the meaning of an utterance beyond the semantic interpretation. Even if access to Gricean inference in support of reference assignment may be rapid, it is still unknown whether genuinely enriching scalar implicatures are delayed. Our results indicate that scalar implicatures are accessed as rapidly as other contextual inferences. The implications of our results are discussed in reference to the architecture of language comprehension

Electrical model of carbon fibre reinforced polymers for the development of electrical protection systems for more-electric aircraft

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRP) are increasingly used for structures on aircraft due to their superior mechanical properties compared to traditional materials, such as aluminium. Additionally, in order to improve aircraft performance, there is a continued trend for electrically driven loads on aircraft, increasing the on-board electrical power generation capacity and complexity of the electrical power system, including a desire to increase voltage levels and move towards DC distribution systems. Central to the reliable operation of an electrical power system is the development of an appropriate protection and fault management strategy. If an electrical earth fault occurs on a composite more-electric aircraft then the CFRP may form part of the route to ground. In order to develop an appropriate protection system and thus to understand the effects on engine generators it is necessary to investigate the fault response of this network. Hence a suitable electrical model of the CFRP material is required, which will enable CFRP to be included in a computationally-intensive systems-level simulation study of a more-electric aircraft (MEA) with fully switching power electronic converter models. This paper presents an experimentally validated impedance model of CFRP at an appropriate level of fidelity for use in systems level simulation platforms, enabling appropriate protection methods to be developed. The validated model considers the impact of the electrical bonding to ground, including the impedance added by a metallic frame that a CFRP panel may be mounted in. The simplicity of the model results in a less complex process to determine the expected impedance of the CFRP material, enabling a focus on the fault response of the system and subsequent development of appropriate protection solutions