Wishart variate generators

Subroutine WSHRT for generating matrix of variances and covariances of Wishart distributio

Optimum incomplete multinormal samples

Optimum incomplete multinormal sample

Diplomacy

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The Adelaide VHF radar: Capabilities and future plans

The VHF radar at Buckland Park, South Australia commenced operation in January, 1984. The radar is located adjacent to the 2-MHz ionospheric radar. The routine method for measuring horizontal wind velocity is the space antenna technique (SA) while the Doppler technique is used to measure vertical velocities. It is possible to swing the transmitting beam in the east-west plane, allowing Doppler measurements of the EW wind component

Hydrodynamic theory of de-wetting

A prototypical problem in the study of wetting phenomena is that of a solid plunging into or being withdrawn from a liquid bath. In the latter, de-wetting case, a critical speed exists above which a stationary contact line is no longer sustainable and a liquid film is being deposited on the solid. Demonstrating this behavior to be a hydrodynamic instability close to the contact line, we provide the first theoretical explanation of a classical prediction due to Derjaguin and Levi: instability occurs when the outer, static meniscus approaches the shape corresponding to a perfectly wetting fluid

Chlamydia trachomatis and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, babies who are born small for gestational age, and stillbirth: A population-based cohort study

Background: Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the most commonly diagnosed sexually transmitted infections worldwide, but reports in the medical literature of an association between genital chlamydia infection and adverse obstetric outcomes are inconsistent. Methods: The Western Australia Data Linkage Branch created a cohort of women of reproductive age by linking records of birth registrations with the electoral roll for women in Western Australia who were born from 1974 to 1995. The cohort was then linked to both chlamydia testing records and the state perinatal registry for data on preterm births and other adverse obstetric outcomes. We determined associations between chlamydia testing, test positivity, and adverse obstetric outcomes using multivariate logistic regression analyses. Findings: From 2001 to 2012, 101558 women aged 15 to 38 years had a singleton birth. Of these women, 3921 (3·9%) had a spontaneous preterm birth, 9762 (9·6% of 101371 women with available data) had a baby who was small for gestational age, and 682 (0·7%) had a stillbirth. During their pregnancy, 21267 (20·9%) of these women had at least one chlamydia test record, and 1365 (6·4%) of those tested were positive. Before pregnancy, 19157 (18·9%) of these women were tested for chlamydia, of whom 1595 (8·3%) tested positive for chlamydia. Among all women with a test record, after adjusting for age, ethnicity, maternal smoking, and history of other infections, we found no significant association between a positive test for chlamydia and spontaneous preterm birth (adjusted odds ratio 1·08 [95% CI 0·91–1·28]; p=0·37), a baby who was small for gestational age (0·95 [0·85–1·07]; p=0·39), or stillbirth (0·93 [0·61–1·42]; p=0·74). Interpretation: A genital chlamydia infection that is diagnosed and, presumably, treated either during or before pregnancy does not substantially increase a woman’s risk of having a spontaneous preterm birth, having a baby who is small for gestational age, or having a stillbirth. Funding: Australian National Health and Medical Research Counci

Quantitative trait loci for bone traits segregating independently of those for growth in an F-2 broiler X layer cross

An F broiler-layer cross was phenotyped for 18 skeletal traits at 6, 7 and 9 weeks of age and genotyped with 120 microsatellite markers. Interval mapping identified 61 suggestive and significant QTL on 16 of the 25 linkage groups for 16 traits. Thirty-six additional QTL were identified when the assumption that QTL were fixed in the grandparent lines was relaxed. QTL with large effects on the lengths of the tarsometatarsus, tibia and femur, and the weights of the tibia and femur were identified on GGA4 between 217 and 249 cM. Six QTL for skeletal traits were identified that did not co-locate with genome wide significant QTL for body weight and two body weight QTL did not coincide with skeletal trait QTL. Significant evidence of imprinting was found in ten of the QTL and QTL x sex interactions were identified for 22 traits. Six alleles from the broiler line for weight- and size-related skeletal QTL were positive. Negative alleles for bone quality traits such as tibial dyschondroplasia, leg bowing and tibia twisting generally originated from the layer line suggesting that the allele inherited from the broiler is more protective than the allele originating from the layer

The Use of Reaction Kinetics in Classifying Alkali Silica Reactivity Potential of Aggregates

The Australian Standard accelerated mortar bar test (AMBT) method, AS 1141.60.1, adopts the expansion limits at two exposure periods to classify the alkali silica reactivity (ASR) of aggregate. This was a first step toward the use of ‘reaction kinetics’ or ‘rate of reaction’ to detect and classify alkali silica reactivity. The AS 1141.60.2 concrete prism test (CPT), on the other hand, uses a single expansion limit at one year to classify ASR. This paper examines the validity of the use of reaction kinetics, evaluated from the AMBT expansion data, to gauge and classify the reactivity. This may enable a better quantification of the degrees of reactivity and a more fundamental approach to ASR mitigatio