Establishing drug utilisation research in regional North Queensland.

[Extract] Quality Use of Medicines includes the safe and effective use of medicines, and is a core objective of the National Medicines Policy in Australia. Dispensing data are collected by a government agency (Medicare) for administrative purposes, for reimbursement of the pharmacy where the medicine was supplied. Prior to April 2012, dispensing data were limited to prescription medicines which exceeded the patient co-payment cost. A proof-of-concept was initiated by the primary author (Kairuz) to develop a comprehensive dataset of local dispensing records. Collaboration with Pudmenzky and Rossato led to the development of software to extract and de-identify dispensing data. A pilot study was conducted in collaboration with Fredericks in metropolitan South Queensland (Ethical approval UQ 2012000078)

Wet season rainfall onset and flash drought: The case of the northern Australian wet season

In this paper, we report on the frequency of false onsets of wet season rainfall in the case of the Northern Australian wet season and investigate the role of large-scale tropical climate processes such as the El Nino–Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Madden–Julian Oscillation. A false onset occurs when a wet season rainfall onset criterion is met, but follow-up rainfall is not received for weeks or months later. Our analysis of wet season rainfall data from 1950 through 2020 shows a false onset occurs, on average, between 20 and 30% of wet seasons across all of northern Australia. This increases at a regional and local level such as at Darwin, the Northern Territory (NT), and parts of Queensland's north coast to over 50%. Seasonal climate influences, such as a La Niña pattern and a negative IOD that typically expedite the wet season rainfall onset, also increase the likelihood of a false onset over northern Australia. Our analysis also finds that periods of false onsets can sometimes, but not always, coincide with periods of rapid soil moisture depletion. The false rainfall onsets that develop into flash drought can be potentially disruptive and costly and are of potential significance for agriculture and fire management in northern Australia, and in other monsoonal climates that also typically experience a slow build-up to the seasonal monsoon. In conclusion, effective rainfall indicates that many seasons experience ‘false onsets’ with dry conditions after early rainfall. We propose that false onsets are a physical characteristic of the climate of northern Australia which occurs with relatively high frequency. In addition, these false onsets may sometimes co-occur with a flash drought

An Evaluation of the Performance of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis Version 3

The performance of a new historical reanalysis, the NOAA–CIRES–DOE Twentieth Century Reanalysis version 3 (20CRv3), is evaluated via comparisons with other reanalyses and independent observations. This dataset provides global, 3-hourly estimates of the atmosphere from 1806 to 2015 by assimilating only surface pressure observations and prescribing sea surface temperature, sea ice concentration, and radiative forcings. Comparisons with independent observations, other reanalyses, and satellite products suggest that 20CRv3 can reliably produce atmospheric estimates on scales ranging from weather events to long-term climatic trends. Not only does 20CRv3 recreate a “best estimate” of the weather, including extreme events, it also provides an estimate of its confidence through the use of an ensemble. Surface pressure statistics suggest that these confidence estimates are reliable. Comparisons with independent upper-air observations in the Northern Hemisphere demonstrate that 20CRv3 has skill throughout the twentieth century. Upper-air fields from 20CRv3 in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century correlate well with full-input reanalyses, and the correlation is predicted by the confidence fields from 20CRv3. The skill of analyzed 500-hPa geopotential heights from 20CRv3 for 1979–2015 is comparable to that of modern operational 3–4-day forecasts. Finally, 20CRv3 performs well on climate time scales. Long time series and multidecadal averages of mass, circulation, and precipitation fields agree well with modern reanalyses and station- and satellite-based products. 20CRv3 is also able to capture trends in tropospheric-layer temperatures that correlate well with independent products in the twentieth century, placing recent trends in a longer historical context

Towards a more reliable historical reanalysis: improvements for version 3 of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis system

Historical reanalyses that span more than a century are needed for a wide range of studies, from understanding large‐scale climate trends to diagnosing the impacts of individual historical extreme weather events. The Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) Project is an effort to fill this need. It is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is facilitated by collaboration with the international Atmospheric Circulation Reconstructions over the Earth initiative. 20CR is the first ensemble of sub‐daily global atmospheric conditions spanning over 100 years. This provides a best estimate of the weather at any given place and time as well as an estimate of its confidence and uncertainty. While extremely useful, version 2c of this dataset (20CRv2c) has several significant issues, including inaccurate estimates of confidence and a global sea level pressure bias in the mid‐19th century. These and other issues can reduce its effectiveness for studies at many spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, the 20CR system underwent a series of developments to generate a significant new version of the reanalysis. The version 3 system (NOAA‐CIRES‐DOE 20CRv3) uses upgraded data assimilation methods including an adaptive inflation algorithm; has a newer, higher‐resolution forecast model that specifies dry air mass; and assimilates a larger set of pressure observations. These changes have improved the ensemble‐based estimates of confidence, removed spin‐up effects in the precipitation fields, and diminished the sea‐level pressure bias. Other improvements include more accurate representations of storm intensity, smaller errors, and large‐scale reductions in model bias. The 20CRv3 system is comprehensively reviewed, focusing on the aspects that have ameliorated issues in 20CRv2c. Despite the many improvements, some challenges remain, including a systematic bias in tropical precipitation and time‐varying biases in southern high‐latitude pressure fields

Assessing germination characteristics of Australian native plant species in metal/metalloid solution

This study investigated tolerance of Australian native grass species Astrebla lappacea, Themeda australis, and Austrostipa scabra and a tree species Acacia harpophylla to different concentrations of arsenic As(V) (13.34–667.36 μM), Cu (0.5–200 μM), Zn (9–500 μM), Mn (8–10240 μM) and Pb (240–9600 μM) in single solutions in germination experiments. Metal/loid tolerance indicators used were maximum germination percentage (G), mean germination time (MGT), radicle and shoot tolerance indexes (RTI & STI). Radicle tolerance index was the most sensitive indicator of metal tolerance in germinating seeds. All native species were highly tolerant to the metal/loids tested, however, they showed different metal toxicity thresholds and levels of tolerance based on RTI as a metal tolerance indicator during germination. Overall, all four species could be classified as metallophytes, confirming their current suitability for and established use in mine site rehabilitation. This work may also serve as a basis for future studies on metal/loid tolerance of other plant species during germination

Micron-size metal-binding hydrogel particles improve germination and radicle elongation of Australian metallophyte grasses in mine waste rock and tailings

Metal contamination of landscapes as a result of mining and other industrial activities is a pervasive problem worldwide. Metal contaminated soils often lack effective vegetation cover and are prone to contaminant leaching and dispersion through erosion, leading to contamination of the environment. Metal-binding hydrogel particle amendments could ameliorate mine wastes prior to planting and enhance seedling emergence. In this study, micron-size thiol functional cross-linked acrylamide polymer hydrogel particles (X3) were synthesised and tested in laboratory-scale experiments on phytotoxic mine wastes to determine their capacity to: (i) increase substrate water holding capacity (WHC); (ii) reduce metal availability to plants to below the phytotoxicity threshold; and (iii) enhance germination characteristics and early radicle development of two Australian metallophyte grasses under limiting and non-limiting water conditions

Climatology and Variability of the Evaporative Stress Index and its suitability as a tool to monitor Australian drought

The seasonal cycle of the Evaporative Stress Index (ESI) over Australia, and its relationship to observed rainfall and temperature, is examined. The ESI is defined as the standardized anomaly of the ratio of actual evapotranspiration to potential evapotranspiration, and as such, is a measure of vegetation moisture stress associated with agricultural or ecological drought. The ESI is computed using the daily output of version 6 of the Bureau of Meteorology's landscape water balance model (AWRA-L v6) on a 5 km horizontal grid over a 45-year period (1975-2019). Here we show that the ESI exhibits marked spatial and seasonal variability and can be used to accurately monitor drought across Australia. Values less than negative one indicate drought. While the ESI is highly correlated with rainfall as expected, its relationship with temperature only becomes significant during the warmer seasons, suggesting a threshold above which temperature may affect vegetation stress. Our analysis also shows that the ESI tends to be strongly negative (i.e. indicating drought) during El Niño and positive phases of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), when conditions tend to be anomalously hot and dry. A negative phase of the Southern Annular Mode also tends to drive negative ESI values during austral spring with a one-month delay