Changes to the distribution of Posidonia seagrass communities of James Point, in response to the development of Cockburn Sound, Western Australia

Australia’s oceans provide many economic and environmental benefits both nationally and regionally, and are of particular social, recreational and cultural importance. Western Australia\u27s most intensively used marine embayment is Cockburn Sound, is Cockburn Sound, it supports one of the most extensive Posidoni seagrass communities in Western Australia. The protected coastal waters off the southern metropolitan coastline of Perth arc utilised intensively for industrial, commercial and recreational purposes. Over the past 50 years, wastes have been routinely discharged into Cockburn Sound causing extensive phytoplankton and epiphyte blooms, particularly during the 1960\u27s and 1970\u27s. The development of industrial and naval facilities and the intensification of landuses in the surrounding catchments over the past 50 years have together contributed to major losses of seagrass meadows in Cockburn Sound. Along with the contamination of biota, sediments and water, raising many concerns particularly for the future uses of the area. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has expressed the view that industrial developments should not be considered in isolation, either from each other or existing activities but should be integrated in Cockburn Sound. Since the late 1970\u27s, there have been reductions in the quantities of wastes discharged, however continued monitoring and the implementation of environmentally sustainable policies must continue, as Cockburn Sound remains in a delicate state of ecological balance. This study involved a detailed examination of the industrial development of Cockburn Sound since it began in 1953, and how this development significantly reduced Posidonia seagrass meadows. Original aerial photographs of Cockburn Sound in 5 year intervals since 1948 were used, and the study area of James Point was mapped to establish spatial and temporal patterns in Posidonia seagrass meadows. These patterns were further defined by grouping them into 5 distinct 10 year periods. These 5 periods grouped spatial and temporal patterns which were found to be most pronounced between 1960 and 1975 This destructive period accounted for 85 % of seagrass loss in Cockburn Sound, mainly from the combined physical (man-made) and chemical effects. These losses immediately commenced with the industrialisation of Kwinana in 1953, and as a consequence the physical destruction of large inshore seagrass meadows for the construction of groynes, jetties and marina\u27s resulted. The 1960\u27s and 1970\u27s decades are characterised by the chemical (particularly nutrient) discharges into Cockburn Sound as a result of heavy industries which had been established in the Kwinana lndustrial Area during the 1950\u27s. Large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous entered the Sound from the slow release of sediments and heavily impacted upon seagrass meadows. From this study Posidoni seagrass meadows were found to be lost due to the destructive effects of the industrialisation, and that by the end of the 1970\u27s almost all seagrass meadows had been effected. Dramatic seagrass movements occurred and the expanding industrial and residential sectors greatly impacted upon their distributions. The further loss of whatever seagrass meadows that still occur in Cockburn Sound may seem inevitable, but once meadows have been lost they do not easily recolonise, if at all. Therefore incorporating ecologically sustainable development measures should be an immediate priority in such an already heavily degraded marine environment

Photodegradation of FD&C Red No. 40 Dye in Synthetic Hummingbird Nectar

It is common among many homeowners and bird enthusiasts alike to provide supplemental nutrition for Hummingbirds through nectar feeder set-ups. Often commercially available nectar powders and concentrates contain a variety of red dyes solely to make the nectar look more appealing for the customer. Based on the lack of information regarding the safety of the dyes for the birds, investigation into how FD&C red #40 (the most common red dye) degrades in a sucrose solution exposed to sunlight is warranted. Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chromatography and mass spectrometry were used to identify the chemical structure of FD&C Red #40 and determine ideal ppm concentrations for best analysis of potential metabolites. Ultimately, degradation of dye in the presence of controlled artificial sunlight in a sucrose solution (~25% sucrose) and subsequent analysis will help to determine the degraded metabolites that arise and gain insight into their potential harm to hummingbirds.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cures_posters/1008/thumbnail.jp

Ode to a Watch in the Night

translated from Spanis

Overview of steam generator tube degradation and integrity issues

The degradation of steam generator tubes in pressurized water nuclear reactors continues to be a serious problem. Primary water stress corrosion cracking is commonly observed at the roll transition zone at U-bends, at tube denting locations, and occasionally in plugs and sleeves. Outer-diameter stress corrosion cracking and intergranular attack commonly occur near the tube support plate crevice, near the tube sheet in crevices or under sludge piles, and occasionally in the free span. A particularly troubling recent trend has been the increasing occurrence of circumferential cracking at the RTZ on both the primary and secondary sides. Segmented axial cracking at the tubes support plate crevices is also becoming more common. Despite recent advances in in-service inspection technology, a clear need still exists for quantifying and improving the reliability of in- service inspection methods with respect to the probability of detection of the various types of flaws and their accurate sizing. Improved inspection technology and the increasing occurrence of such degradation modes as circumferential cracking, intergranular attack, and discontinuous axial cracking have led to the formulation of a new performance-based steam generator rule. This new rule would require the development and implementation of a steam generator management program that monitors tube condition against accepted performance criteria to ensure that the tubes perform the required safety function over the next operating cycle. The new steam generator rule will also be applied to severe accident conditions to determine the continued serviceability of a steam generator with degraded tubes in the event of a severe accident. Preliminary analyses are being performed for a hypothetical severe accident scenario to determine whether failure will occur first in the steam generator tubes, which would lead to containment bypass, or instead in the hot leg nozzle or surge line, which would not

Case Report Haematochezia from a Splenic Artery Pseudoaneurysm Communicating with Transverse Colon: A Case Report and Literature Review

Splenic artery aneurysms (SAA) are the third most common intra-abdominal aneurysm. Complications include invasion into surrounding structures often in association with preexisting pancreatic disease. We describe an 88-year-old female, with no history of pancreatic disease, referred with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. CT angiography showed a splenic artery pseudoaneurysm with associated collection and fistula to the transverse colon at the level of the splenic flexure. The pseudoaneurysm was embolised endovascularly with metallic microcoils. Rectal bleeding ceased. The patient recovered well and follow-up angiography revealed no persistence of the splenic artery pseudoaneurysm. SAA rupture results in 29%-50% mortality. Experienced centres report success with the endovascular approach in haemodynamically unstable patients, as a bridge to surgery, and even on a background of pancreatic disease. This case highlights the importance of prompt CT angiography, if endoscopy fails to identify a cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. Endovascular embolisation provides a safe and effective alternative to surgery, where anatomical considerations and local expertise permit

Multi physics modelling for a hybrid rocket engine with liquefying fuel: a sensitivity analysis on combustion instability

Hybrid rocket engines represent a promising alternative to both solid rocket motors and liquid rocket engines. They have throttling and restart capabilities with performance similar to storable liquids, but are safer and are low-cost. However, some drawbacks, such as low regression rate and combustion instability, are limiting their effective application. Paraffin-based fuels are a solution envisaged to face the low regression rate issue, and the capability to describe and predict combustion instability in the presence of liquefying fuels becomes an enabling step towards the application of hybrid rockets in next-generation space launchers. In this work, a multi physics model for hybrid rocket engines is presented and discussed. The model is based on a network of submodels, in which the chamber gas dynamics is described by a quasi-1D Euler model for reacting flows while thermal diffusion in the grain is described by the 1D heat equation in the radial direction. The need to introduce strong modelling simplifications introduces a significant uncertainty in the predictive capability of the numerical simulation. For this reason, a sensitivity analysis is performed in order to identify the key parameters which have the largest influence on combustion instability. Results are presented on a test case which refers to a paraffin-based grain burnt with hydrogen peroxide

Pain assessment in surgical patients with impaired cognition

Pain is considered the 5th vital sign and its measurement/assessment and records are required and must be systematic. Ineffective pain management involves complications in clinical status of patients, longer hospitalization times and higher costs with health. In the surgical patient with impaired cognition, hetero measurements should be made, based on behavioural and physiological indicators. We used to determine the efficacy and efficiency of the Observer Scale, the Abbey Pain Scale and Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD). Our study is an applied, non-experimental, quantitative, descriptive and analytical research. The data collection instrument consisted of patients’ sociodemographic and clinical data, the Observer Scale, the Abbey Pain Scale (Rodrigues, 2013) and PAINAD (Batalha et al., 2012). We assessed pain at an early phase and 45 minutes after an intervention for its relief. The sample is non-probabilistic for convenience, consisting of 76 surgical patients with impaired cognition, admitted to the surgery services of a central hospital, aged between 38 and 96 years. There was a positive correlation between the results of the three scales, most evident in the initial evaluation. Pain intensity in the same patient is higher when assessed with PAINAD (OM = 2.16) and lower when assessed with the Observer Scale (OM = 1.78). The most effective and efficient scale is PAINAD. Due to the small sample size, we suggest confirmatory studies so that the results can be generalized