Informing the future of Australian mining through climate change scenarios

Abstract: Mining value chains are vulnerable to a changing climate mainly due to the likelihood of increases in the incidence of extreme weather events. As such events will potentially become more frequent and more intense, the associated impacts such as infrastructure damage, production delays and downtime may damage mine profitability, staff safety, company reputation, regional 'liveability' and government revenues. Mining adaptation strategies to better deal with such impacts can be developed but the options available cannot simply be applied 'across the board' at all mines and in all situations. Various types of mining in Australia occur across 11 main geographic areas, each with its own processes and needs, its own climate signature and its own extreme-event profile. To provide some context for the likely changes in future climate, CSIRO has developed mining region-specific scenarios in association with the OzClim Climate Change Scenario Generator. OzClim generates climate change scenarios using pattern scaling where the change at a particular grid point is normalised by the mean global warming produced by the model for a doubled CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere. The patterns of change are produced for each of the 23 global climate models and for the purposes of the Australian mining regions, we have expressed changes consistent with an historical baseline in order to make the projection information as contextually relevant as possible. To bridge the gap between scenarios and users, CSIRO facilitated workshop events in mining regions. Representatives of a cross-section of the mining chain (including energy, mining, transport, research, water and community stakeholders) were invited to attend, some of whom were first interviewed by facilitators to gain an insight into their operations, understandings, and needs with regard to the workshop. The attendees were presented with future regional climate scenarios, additional information from other studies and climate location analogues helping to further 'set the scene' for the future and helping to facilitate discussion around potential impacts and adaptation needs. Discussions at the workshops provided the means for the scenarios to be placed in their local context, whilst hearing how others in the chain may be directly and indirectly impacted and how they may adapt. Mines and their related infrastructure are frequently long-term investments for all concerned. Therefore, future climate scenarios are valuable for mining value chains and the decision-makers to envisage and plan the future, including adaptation at established sites, alternative processes at new sites and contingency plans that accommodate new levels of variability. Utilising workshops to link future climate scenarios to the value chain and its operational components assisted the end-users to visualise, conceptualise and engage with adaptation decision-making scenarios. The event also brought together participants from different parts of the mining chain who were able to share knowledge and discuss needs that may in the future aid adaptation and avoid maladaptation

Long-term surveillance study of rituximab originator treated patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA)

Lay Summary: What does this mean for patients? Rituximab is used to treat active disease and to prevent relapses in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV). Serious complications, including infections, low natural antibody levels, cancers, low white blood cell levels, heart disease and blood clots are common in AAV patients in general. Whether these complications are more or less common with rituximab is unclear. This study assessed the frequency of serious complications and compared time to first serious complications between patients, either treated with or without rituximab. Over 40% of the patients in this study experienced at least one serious complication. Overall, first serious complication occurred earlier and higher risk of serious infection was seen in rituximab patients. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution as the rituximab patients had been diagnosed with vasculitis for longer and had received a greater amount of immunosuppression in the past, compared with the patients who had not been treated with rituximab

Structural Diversity in Bacterial Ribosomes: Mycobacterial 70S Ribosome Structure Reveals Novel Features

Here we present analysis of a 3D cryo-EM map of the 70S ribosome from Mycobacterium smegmatis, a saprophytic cousin of the etiological agent of tuberculosis in humans, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In comparison with the 3D structures of other prokaryotic ribosomes, the density map of the M. smegmatis 70S ribosome reveals unique structural features and their relative orientations in the ribosome. Dramatic changes in the periphery due to additional rRNA segments and extra domains of some of the peripheral ribosomal proteins like S3, S5, S16, L17, L25, are evident. One of the most notable features appears in the large subunit near L1 stalk as a long helical structure next to helix 54 of the 23S rRNA. The sharp upper end of this structure is located in the vicinity of the mRNA exit channel. Although the M. smegmatis 70S ribosome possesses conserved core structure of bacterial ribosome, the new structural features, unveiled in this study, demonstrates diversity in the 3D architecture of bacterial ribosomes. We postulate that the prominent helical structure related to the 23S rRNA actively participates in the mechanisms of translation in mycobacteria

Replication of sub 100 nm structures using h and s PDMS composite stamps

Soft UV NIL as replication technique was used to replicate sub 100 nm structures. The aim of this work is the stamp production and the replication of structures with dimensions smaller than 100 nm in a simple manner. Composite stamps composed of two layers, a thin hard PDMS h PDMS layer supported by a thick soft PDMS s PDMS layer are compared to common s PDMS stamps regarding the resolution by using a Siemens star star burst pattern as test structure. The master is fabricated by Electron Beam Lithography EBL in a 140 nm thick PMMA resist layer. The stamp is molded directly from the structured resist, without any additional anti sticking treatment. Therefore the resist thickness determines the aspect ratio, which is 1.5 at the resolution limit. The replication is done in a UV curing cycloaliphatic epoxy material. The employed test structure provides good comparability, the resolution limit at a glance, and it integrates a smooth transition from micro to nanostructures. Therefore it is a capable structure to characterize the UV NI

Understanding Agency culture: Findings from the Engaged Government Project, Queensland, Australia

Abstract: Government agencies in Western societies are being required to be more responsive to public demands for enhanced service delivery. Under neo-liberal settings, however, there has been a general contraction of funding to agencies-at the very time their operations are coming under scrutiny in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. This places them under increasing pressure to deliver services in new ways, including 'joined up' and 'whole-of-government' modes. The question being raised is 'how might government agencies work more collaboratively in the delivery of public services'? In 2004 a major, threeyear, interdisciplinary research project commenced in Central Queensland, Australia, to examine how government agencies in the region could enhance public sector outcomes through collaboration. Known as the Engaged Government Project, the research involved the Australian Research Council, the Queensland Government, the Local Government Association of Queensland, and social scientists and postgraduate students from four universities. One of the findings of the study was that the 'cultures' of particular agencies strongly influenced the extent to which their interaction, through collaborative ventures, produced favourable outcomes. The study also suggested ways that their collaborative performance could be enhanced. This paper will present empirical findings from the study, identifying the elements of agency culture that both supported, and hindered, cross-agency collaboration. It will discuss the settings that can promote positive interactions between agencies. Finally, it will briefly describe a decision-making tool that was created as a direct result of the project. This can be used by agencies to help decide, in an objective fashion, if and when inter-agency collaboration should be attempted. This tool-the Issue, Context and Stakeholder Analysis (ICASA) system-has stimulated worldwide interest