Diagnosing ENSO and global warming tropical precipitation shifts using surface relative humidity and temperature

This is the final version of the article. Available from American Meteorological Society via the DOI in this recordLarge uncertainty remains in future projections of tropical precipitation change under global warming. A simplified method for diagnosing tropical precipitation change is tested here on present day El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) precipitation shifts. This method, based on the weak temperature gradient approximation, assumes precipitation is associated with local surface relative humidity (RH) and air temperature (SAT), relative to the tropical mean. Observed and simulated changes in RH and SAT are subsequently used to diagnose changes in precipitation. Present day ENSO precipitation shifts are successfully diagnosed using observations (r = 0:69), and an ensemble of atmosphere-only (0:51 ≤ r ≤ 0:8) and coupled (0:5 ≤ r ≤ 0:87) climate model simulations. RH (r = 0:56) is much more influential than SAT (r = 0:27) in determining ENSO precipitation shifts for observations and climate model simulations over both land and ocean. Using inter-model differences, a significant relationship is demonstrated between method performance over ocean for present day ENSO and projected global warming (r = 0:68). As a caveat, we note that mechanisms leading to ENSO-related precipitation changes are not a direct analogue for global warming-related precipitation changes. The diagnosis method presented here demonstrates plausible mechanisms which relate changes in precipitation, RH and SAT under different climate perturbations. Therefore, uncertainty in future tropical precipitation changes may be linked with uncertainty in future RH and SAT changes.AT was supported by a NERC studentship NE/M009599/1 and CASE funding from the Met Office. FHL was part supported by the UK-China Research and Innovation Partnership Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership (CSSP) China as part of the Newton Fund. RC was supported by the Newton Fund through the Met Office Climate Science for Service Partnership Brazil (CSSP Brazil)

Comparative Study of RP-HPLC and UV Spectrophotometric Techniques for the Simultaneous Determination of Amoxicillin and Cloxacillin in Capsules

Reversed-phase HPLC and UV spectrophotometric techniques using water as solvent have been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of amoxicillin and cloxacillin in capsules. For both techniques, the linearity range of 60.073x2013;140.0 µg/mL was studied. The spectrophotometric data show that non-derivative techniques, such as absorbance ratio and compensation, and ratio spectra first-order derivative could be successfully used for the co-assay of amoxicillin and cloxacillin. Based on the statistical comparison of spectrophotometric and chromatographic data, the interchangeability between HPLC and UV spectrophotometric techniques has been suggested for the routine analysis

The impact of a uniform ocean warming on the West African monsoon

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer via the DOI in this recordAvailability of data and materials: CMIP6 data was accessed from the ESGF CEDA data node https://esgf-index1.ceda.ac.uk/search/cmip6-ceda/. Data from the HadGEM2-A spin-up experiments are archived at the Met Office and available from the authors on request for research purposes.Projections of West African Monsoon (WAM) precipitation are uncertain. To address this, an improved understanding of the mechanisms driving WAM precipitation change is needed to shed light on inter-model differences and aid model development. The full forcing of increased CO2 can be decomposed into different components such as the impact of ocean warming, or the direct radiative effect of increased CO2. This paper investigates such a decomposition, analysing the effect of a uniform 4K ocean warming whilst keeping atmospheric CO2 concentrations constant. The analysis highlights several mechanisms acting to decrease WAM precipitation over a range of timescales, from days after the abrupt ocean warming, to the long-term equilibrium response. The initial decrease in WAM precipitation is caused by warming and enhanced convection over the ocean, stabilising the atmosphere inland and disrupting the monsoon inflow at low levels. Later in the response (after about 5 days), the WAM precipitation is reduced through a strengthening of the shallow circulation over West Africa, associated with changes in the large-scale temperature gradients and a local warming of the atmosphere related to a soil moisture feedback mechanism over the Sahel. Finally, from around 20 days after the SST increase, the WAM precipitation is also reduced through changes in specific humidity gradients that lead to increased potency of dry air advection into the monsoon rainband. The analysis concludes by demonstrating that the processes affecting precipitation in the early stages of the response are also relevant to the long-term equilibrium response.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)UK-China Research & Innovation Partnership Fund

The institutional shaping of management: in the tracks of English individualism

Globalisation raises important questions about the shaping of economic action by cultural factors. This article explores the formation of what is seen by some as a prime influence on the formation of British management: individualism. Drawing on a range of historical sources, it argues for a comparative approach. In this case, the primary comparison drawn is between England and Scotland. The contention is that there is a systemic approach to authority in Scotland that can be contrasted to a personal approach in England. An examination of the careers of a number of Scottish pioneers of management suggests the roots of this systemic approach in practices of church governance. Ultimately this systemic approach was to take a secondary role to the personal approach engendered by institutions like the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but it found more success in the different institutional context of the USA. The complexities of dealing with historical evidence are stressed, as is the value of taking a comparative approach. In this case this indicates a need to take religious practice as seriously as religious belief as a source of transferable practice. The article suggests that management should not be seen as a simple response to economic imperatives, but as shaped by the social and cultural context from which it emerges

Crop Updates 2010 - Weeds

This session covers eighteen papers from different authors: Herbicides 1. Herbicide control of slender iceplant, Lorinda Hunt, and Andrew Blake Department of Agriculture and Food 2. Herbicide tolerance of saltbush and bluebush, Lorinda Hunt, and Andrew Blake Department of Agriculture and Food 3. Chemical control of windmill grass, Catherine Borger, Glen Riethmuller and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Use high water rates when applying pre-seeding herbicides to fields with high stubble density, Catherine Borger and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 5. Herbicide tolerance of lupins – influence of soil type and rainfall, Harmohinder Dhammu and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. Response of new barley varieties to herbicides, Harmohinder Dhammu, Vince Lambert and Russell Quartermaine, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Herbicide tolerance of new wheat varieties, Harmohinder Dhammu and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture and Food Herbicide Resistance 8. Use of below label rate can lead to evolution of herbicide resistant weeds, Roberto Busi , Todd Gaines, Sudheesh Manalil and Stephen Powles, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia 9. Herbicide mixtures can effectively kill herbicide-resistant weeds, Aik Cheam and Siew Lee, Department of Agriculture and Food 10. Selective spray-topping: Does it abort seed production of herbicide-resistant radish? Aik Cheam and Siew Lee, Department of Agriculture and Food 11. The search for a new lupin herbicide, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food Integrated Weed Management 12. Colonisation of agricultural regions in Western Australia by flaxleaf fleabane, Catherine Borger, Greg Doncon and Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture and Food 13. Weed suppression by crop competition in barley, canola and wheat, Abul Hashem and Catherine Borger, Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Mouldboard plough continues to kick goals, Peter Newman and Dr Steve Davies, Department of Agriculture and Food 15. The answer my friend is to burn in light wind, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food, and Michael Walsh, Weeds Researcher, University of Melbourne 16. Using image analysis to detect three-horned bedstraw seed in grain samples, John Moore, Department of Agriculture and Food, Murray Gillespie, Lygil Holdings, Albany 17. Can we manage brome and barley grass in cereals? Sally Peltzer, Abul Hashem and Alex Douglas, Department of Agriculture and Food 18. Control of mature fleabane, Sally Peltzer, Department of Agriculture and Foo

Function of hyperekplexia-causing alpha(1)R271Q/L glycine receptors is restored by shifting the affected residue out of the allosteric signaling pathway

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Glycine receptor a1 subunit R271Q and R271L (a1R271Q/L) mutations cause the neuromotor disorder, hereditary hyperekplexia. Studies suggest that the 271 residue is located within the allosteric signalling pathway linking the agonist binding site to the channel gate. The present study aimed to investigate a possible mechanism for restoring the function of the a1R271Q/L glycine receptor

Impact of ageing and a synbiotic on the immune response to seasonal influenza vaccination; a randomised controlled trial

Background & Aims Ageing increases risk of respiratory infections and impairs the response to influenza vaccination. Pre- and probiotics offer an opportunity to modulate anti-viral defenses and the response to vaccination via alteration of the gut microbiota. This study investigated the effect of a novel probiotic, Bifidobacterium longum bv. infantis CCUG 52486, combined with a prebiotic, gluco-oligosaccharide, on the B and T cell response to seasonal influenza vaccination in young and older subjects. Methods In a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 58 young (18-35y) and 54 older (60-85y) subjects were supplemented with the synbiotic for 8 weeks. At 4 weeks they were administered with a seasonal influenza vaccine. B and T cell phenotype and responsiveness to in vitro re-stimulation with the vaccine were assessed at baseline, 4, 6 and 8 weeks. Results B and T cell profiles differed markedly between young and older subjects. Vaccination increased numbers of memory, IgA+ memory, IgG+ memory and total IgG+ B cells in young subjects, but failed to do so in older subjects and did not significantly alter T cell subsets. Seroconversion to the H1N1 subunit in the older subjects was associated with higher post-vaccination numbers of plasma B cells, but seroconversion was less consistently associated with T cell phenotype. B and T cell subsets from both young and older subjects demonstrated a strong antigen-specific recall challenge, and although not influenced by age, responsiveness to the recall challenge was associated with seroconversion. In older subjects, CMV seropositivity was associated with a significantly lower recall response to the vaccine, but the synbiotic did not affect the responsiveness of B or T cells to re-stimulation with influenza vaccine. Conclusions Antigen-specific B and T cell activation following an in vitro recall challenge with the influenza vaccine was influenced by CMV seropositivity, but not by a synbiotic

Reading comprehension and immersion schooling: evidence from component skills

Version of record online: 29 December 2016The present research aims to assess literacy acquisition in children becoming bilingual via second language immersion in school. We adopt a cognitive components approach, assessing text-level reading comprehension, a complex literacy skill, as well as underlying cognitive and linguistic components in 144 children aged 7 to 14 (72 immersion bilinguals, 72 controls). Using principal component analysis, a nuanced pattern of results was observed: although emergent bilinguals lag behind their monolingual counterparts on measures of linguistic processing, they showed enhanced performance on a memory and reasoning component. For reading comprehension, no between-group differences were evident, suggesting that selective benefits compensate costs at the level of underlying cognitive components. Overall, the results seem to indicate that literacy skills may be modulated by emerging bilingualism even when no between-group differences are evident at the level of complex skill, and the detection of such differences may depend on the focus and selectivity of the task battery used.This research was partially supported by doctoral research grant AP2010-3434 from the Spanish Ministry of Education to Laura Birke Hansen, grant CSD2008- 00048 to all authors, postdoctoral research grant cofinanced by the Andalusian Government and FEDER funds from the European Union to Julia Morales, grant PSI2012-32287 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to Pedro Macizo, grant PSI2012- 33625 from the Spanish Ministry of Education, and grants CTS 2369 from the Andalusian Government, and APCIN. NSF-PIRE to M. Teresa Bajo

Getting to the point: An experimental approach to improving the identification of penetrating projectile trauma to bone caused by medieval arrows.

The bow and arrow were an important part of medieval warfare, and the study of projectile injuries in skeletal assemblages has the potential to give valuable insight into the nature of conflict in this period. Projectile injuries are often overlooked in favour of sharp force trauma, and as of yet there have been no experiments looking at skeletal trauma caused by different types of medieval arrows, although several studies have examined prehistoric impact marks. The current study addresses this deficiency by examining the lesions left by three kinds of medieval arrowheads: leaf-shaped broadheads, armour-piercing bodkins, and barbed hunting broadheads, when fired from a longbow into cattle scapulae. The results show that the vast majority of impacts are puncture lesions with shapes that roughly conform to the cross-section of the heads used, and many of the defects perforate the bone entirely and have internal bevelling. Based mostly on wound shape, it is relatively straightforward to distinguish between bodkin and broadhead punctures, while the different types of broadheads leave more similar, yet distinctive, marks. Further experiments are required in order to assess the extent to which it is possible to distinguish between projectile trauma and penetrating trauma made by other types of medieval weapons