Baseline survey of the Port of Darwin for introduced marine species

In 1997, the Northern Territory Government recognised that with development of Darwin as a major commercial shipping hub, there was a need to provide information upon which assessment could be made of the status of the Port of Darwin as regards introduced marine pests, and committed significant funding (approximately $340,000) for a major baseline study of the port to be carried out under National Port Survey Program guidelines over two years (1998-1999)..

Clinch River - Environmental Restoration Program (CR-ERP) study, ambient water toxicity

Clinch River - Environmental Restoration Program (CR-ERP) personnel and Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) personnel conducted a study during the week of July 22-29, 1993, as described in the Statement of Work (SOW) document. The organisms specified for testing were larval fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas, and the daphnid, Ceriodaphnia dubia. Surface water samples were collected by TVA Field Engineering personnel from Clinch River Mile 19.0 and Mile 22.0 on July 21, 23, and 26. Samples were split and provided to the CR-ERP and TVA toxicology laboratories for testing. Exposure of test organisms to these samples resulted in no toxicity (survival, growth, or reproduction) to either species in testing conducted by TVA

Efficacy of increased resistant starch consumption in human type 2 diabetes

Resistant starch (RS) has been shown to beneficially affect insulin sensitivity in healthy individuals and those with metabolic syndrome, but its effects on human type 2 diabetes (T2DM) are unknown. This study aimed to determine the effects of increased RS consumption on insulin sensitivity and glucose control and changes in postprandial metabolites and body fat in T2DM. Seventeen individuals with well-controlled T2DM (HbA1c 46.6±2 mmol/mol) consumed, in a random order, either 40 g of type 2 RS (HAM-RS2) or a placebo, daily for 12 weeks with a 12-week washout period in between. At the end of each intervention period, participants attended for three metabolic investigations: a two-step euglycemic–hyperinsulinemic clamp combined with an infusion of [6,6-2H2] glucose, a meal tolerance test (MTT) with arterio-venous sampling across the forearm, and whole-body imaging. HAM-RS2 resulted in significantly lower postprandial glucose concentrations (P=0.045) and a trend for greater glucose uptake across the forearm muscle (P=0.077); however, there was no effect of HAM-RS2 on hepatic or peripheral insulin sensitivity, or on HbA1c. Fasting non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) concentrations were significantly lower (P=0.004) and NEFA suppression was greater during the clamp with HAM-RS2 (P=0.001). Fasting triglyceride (TG) concentrations and soleus intramuscular TG concentrations were significantly higher following the consumption of HAM-RS2 (P=0.039 and P=0.027 respectively). Although fasting GLP1 concentrations were significantly lower following HAM-RS2 consumption (P=0.049), postprandial GLP1 excursions during the MTT were significantly greater (P=0.009). HAM-RS2 did not improve tissue insulin sensitivity in well-controlled T2DM, but demonstrated beneficial effects on meal handling, possibly due to higher postprandial GLP1

Agent-based performance assessment tool for general aviation operations under free flight

The objective of this research is to design and demonstrate an agent-based modeling and analysis tool for evaluating General Aviation (GA) pilot situation awareness under free flight air traffic management (ATM). A computational tool is developed to assess free flight's potential effect on GA operators, by combining an agent-based representation of the overall pilot/vehicle/ATM system with quantitative modelbased metrics of pilot SA. The model's performance is demonstrated in a set of simulation trials designed to measure the pilot agent's ability to recognize and correctly assess protected zone conflicts in free flight ATM, using information available from a hypothetical cockpit display of traffic information. A set of simulations is presented to examine the effect of sensor accuracy and attention allocation on pilot awareness of protected zone conflict hazards posed by intruder aircraft. The results show that reducing sensor accuracy leads to an increase in overall SA error, and that the pilot agent divides its attention over multiple traffic hazards in proportion to each intruder's hazard potential. This attention-sharing varies dynamically as the conflict situation changes, in a manner that is consistent with intuitive expectations

Measurement of adsorption of a single component from the liquid phase : modelling investigation and sensitivity analysis

In this work, we consider an alternative approach for the measurement of adsorption from the liquid phase. Consider a mixture consisting of a non-adsorbed component (B) and an adsorbed component (A) present at some low concentration. Initially, a feed of component B only flows through a column packed with an adsorbent. Then, the feed is switched to the mixture of A and B. As soon as the mixture enters the column, there will be a reduction in the outlet flow rate as component A leaves the liquid phase and passes into the adsorbed phase. There are three stages to this work. The first is to develop overall and component balances to show how the amount adsorbed of component A can be determined from the variation in the column outlet flow rate. The second is to determine the actual variation in the column outlet flow rate for both plug flow and axial-dispersed plug flow. The final stage is to consider the suitability of a gravity-fed system to deliver the feed to the column. An analysis of the results shows that the experimental arrangement should be able to accurately monitor adsorption from the liquid phase where the mass fraction of the solute is of the order of 1%: the limiting experimental factor is how constant the volumetric flow rate of the liquid feed can be maintained

Daily Parent-Adolescent Digital Exchanges

The present study tracked adolescents via mobile phones to describe how parents and their adolescent children are using digital technologies in daily life (i.e. facilitating warmth and behavioral control), and whether these uses are associated with the quality of offline parent-adolescent interactions and with adolescents’ mental health. A sample of young adolescents (N = 388; mean age 13.37) completed a 14-day ecological momentary assessment in 2016- 2017, reporting on their daily digital contact and offline interactions with their parents and their mental health. Adolescents reported using texting and calling to communicate somewhat infrequently with their parents (i.e., on 29% of days), but days with more digital contacts (for both warmth and behavioral control) were also more likely to be characterized by more positive offline interactions with parents. Furthermore, adolescents struggling with mental health symptoms across the study period reported using texts/calls more frequently to seek out parent support, and parents were more likely to do text/call “check ins” on young people who were experiencing more behavioral problems. Results highlight the potential for digital communication devices to be used as tools in fostering parent-adolescent connection, support provision, and behavioral control in the digital era

Herbivorous turtle ants obtain essential nutrients from a conserved nitrogen-recycling gut microbiome.

Nitrogen acquisition is a major challenge for herbivorous animals, and the repeated origins of herbivory across the ants have raised expectations that nutritional symbionts have shaped their diversification. Direct evidence for N provisioning by internally housed symbionts is rare in animals; among the ants, it has been documented for just one lineage. In this study we dissect functional contributions by bacteria from a conserved, multi-partite gut symbiosis in herbivorous Cephalotes ants through in vivo experiments, metagenomics, and in vitro assays. Gut bacteria recycle urea, and likely uric acid, using recycled N to synthesize essential amino acids that are acquired by hosts in substantial quantities. Specialized core symbionts of 17 studied Cephalotes species encode the pathways directing these activities, and several recycle N in vitro. These findings point to a highly efficient N economy, and a nutritional mutualism preserved for millions of years through the derived behaviors and gut anatomy of Cephalotes ants