Queensland rainfall decline

Queensland rainfall has been declining over much of the state in recent decades and is more regionally extensive than the winter rainfall decline that has been well described from southwestern Western Australia (SWWA). The SWWA rainfall decline has been attributed to a number of factors, but the rainfall decline in Queensland has only been recently documented and no major attributes identified. Correlation analysis of rainfall with a number of factors including seas surface temperatures and sea level pressure is presented and some of the key elements discussed that have a major role in the rainfall decline observed from this region

Electromagnetic compatibility performance of large area flexible printed circuit automotive harness

Electrical interconnection is increasingly important to the functionality of modern vehicles. At the same time the drive within the industry to reduce costs and improve fuel efficiency requires the reduction of the weight of vehicles wherever possible. It is in this context that the possibility of using large-area flexible printed circuits (FPCs) in place of wiring harnesses is receiving strong interest from manufacturers. An FPC harness offers a substantial weight reduction over wire, improved reliability and quality control, and enhanced functionality. Since good electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) design and performance is necessary for the safe and proper functioning of a vehicle, it is important to know if the EMC performance of a vehicle is likely to be compromised by the incorporation of an FPC harness. This question is addressed in this work by comparing the performance of wire and FPC structures in a standard EMC test. The cost implications of anti-interference measures for mass production of FPC harnesses are also assessed. It is found that relatively cheap and simple to implement track structures can significantly reduce the amount of coupling to a large-area FPC automotive harness from an external electromagnetic field

Design and construction of large-area flexible printed-circuit automotive electrical interconnection harnesses

The replacement of automotive wiring harnesses with large-area flexible printed circuits (FPCs) would help to reduce the vehicle weight and emissions. To help clarify what a future large-area FPC interconnection harness should be capable of, a detailed design exercise to meet the engineering specification of the instrument panel wiring harness of a specific midrange passenger car was carried out. To demonstrate the added value of using an FPC, intelligence in the form of active circuitry was incorporated in the designs. Two generic architectural concepts were pursued. The first, a single large-area FPC, supported the wire harness geometry, all point-to-point interconnections, and current ratings up to 4 A. However, the panel size was too large to be manufactured on existing automotive FPC process lines. The second, intended to be a collection of smaller FPCs that could be manufactured on existing automotive FPC process lines, was found not to be practical as originally conceived. A physical implementation of the single large-area FPC design was made in stages at different company sites using various pieces of equipment, some of which are not normally used for FPC or electrical circuit manufacture. Modified versions of the equipment could be used to create a large-area automotive FPC manufacturing line

Minimally manipulative method for the expansion of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to treat osseous defects

Copyright © 2019 Hamerly, Tweedell, Hritzo, Nyasembe, Tekwani, Nanayakkara, Walker and Dinglasan. Malaria is a major global health threat, with nearly half the world\u27s population at risk of infection. Given the recently described delayed clearance of parasites by artemisinincombined therapies, new antimalarials are needed to facilitate the global effort toward elimination and eradication. NPC1161 is an 8-aminoquinoline that is derived from primaquine with an improved therapeutic profile compared to the parent compound. The (R)-(-) enantiomer (NPC1161B) has a lower effective dose that results in decreased toxic side effects such as hemolysis compared to the (S)-(+)-enantiomer, making it a promising compound for consideration for clinical development. We explored the effect of NPC1161B on Plasmodium falciparum oocyst and sporozoite development to evaluate its potential transmission-blocking activity viz. its ability to cure mosquitoes of an ongoing infection. When mosquitoes were fed NPC1161B 4 days after P. falciparum infection, we observed that total oocyst numbers were not affected by NPC1161B treatment. However, the sporozoite production capacity of the oocysts was impaired, and salivary gland sporozoite infections were completely blocked, rendering the mosquitoes non-infectious. Importantly, NPC1161B did not require prior liver metabolism for its efficacy as is required in mammalian systems, suggesting that an alternative metabolite is produced in the mosquito that is active against the parasite. We performed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS analysis of methanol extracts from the midguts of mosquitoes fed on an NPC1161B (434.15 m/z)-treated blood meal and identified a compound with a mass of 520.2 m/z, likely a conjugate of NPC1161B or an oxidized metabolite. These findings establish NPC1161B, and potentially its metabolites, as transmission-blocking candidates for the treatment of P. falciparum

The landscape model: a model for exploring trade-offs between agricultural production and the environment

We describe a model framework that simulates spatial and temporal interactions in agricultural landscapes and that can be used to explore trade-offs between production and environment so helping to determine solutions to the problems of sustainable food production. Here we focus on models of agricultural production, water movement and nutrient flow in a landscape. We validate these models against data from two long-term experiments, (the first a continuous wheat experiment and the other a permanent grass-land experiment) and an experiment where water and nutrient flow are measured from isolated catchments. The model simulated wheat yield (RMSE 20.3–28.6%), grain N (RMSE 21.3–42.5%) and P (RMSE 20.2–29% excluding the nil N plots), and total soil organic carbon particularly well (RMSE 3.1 − 13.8 %), the simulations of water flow were also reasonable (RMSE 180.36 and 226.02%). We illustrate the use of our model framework to explore trade-offs between production and nutrient losses

Risk for animal and human health related to the presence of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in feed and food

EFSA wishes to thank the Working Group members: Manolis Kogevinas (until 14 September 2016), George Loizou (until 23 January 2017), and the hearing experts: Matteo Bonzini, Jane Burns, Claude Emond, Aleksander Giwercman, Russ Hauser, Lidia Mínguez‐Alarcón and Paolo Mocarelli, for the support provided to this scientific output. The CONTAM Panel acknowledges all European competent institutions and other stakeholders that provided occurrence data on PCDD/Fs and DL‐PCBs in food and feed, and supported the data collection for the Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Queensland rainfall variability in IPCC AR4 model runs

The severe drought that has gripped much of eastern Australia, covering the coastal and inland parts of southern-central Queensland and New South Wales, since mid 1999, is one of the worst since detailed rainfall records started over 115 years ago. It is uncertain how much rainfall changes are related to pattern of natural multi-decadal variability or are already indicators of long-term climatic changes in north eastern Australia. Analyses of recent rainfall observations indicate a late drying trend in the 20th century with increasing temperatures. In order to investigate observed trends, data from a total of about twenty-one global climate models used by the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report (IPCC AR4 due for publication in 2007) is being analysed focusing upon northeast Australia. The simulated data are being compared to observational climatological data. Particular emphasis is upon the model’s ability to represent 20th century climate in this part of the world which will place confidence upon simulated and observed pattern of decadal/multi-decadal variability

Past, present and future rainfall trends in Queensland

Queensland and much of eastern Australia have had significant rainfall declines since ~1951, causing economic hardship on rural and urban communities. However, no significant attempt has been made to identify and understand the physical causes of the rainfall declines over southeast Queensland (SE QLD) and whether they are likely to continue into the 21st century under higher levels of global warming. In this research, climate observations, models and global climate data as well as palaeoclimate information are used to investigate past, present and future rainfall trends in SE QLD. Five global climate models (GCMs) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report (IPCC–AR4) show a significant decrease in rainfall will occur over the SE QLD region during the 21st century. Observations since ~1951 show the mean sea level pressure (MSLP) has been increasing over much of Queensland, indicating the subtropical ridge has been expanding. This study attributes the increase in the MSLP and some of the rainfall decline to changes in the subtropical ridge and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM). Projections show increases in the MSLP over the region are likely to continue during the 21st century associated with the positive polarity of SAM. Land cover changes over SE QLD were investigated using a regional climate model and show rainfall decreases with higher surface albedo values. Finally, a palaeoenvironmental record developed using lake sediments from Lake Broadwater in SE QLD, indicates a gradual rainfall decline has occurred during the last ~3.2 kyr B.P. Hence SE QLD has undergone a slow rainfall decline since the late Holocene and also since ~1951, with these conditions likely to continue and intensify during the 21st century

A detailed proxy rainfall record from Lake Broadwater, Dalby, Southeast Queensland

Lake Broadwater is located in southeast Queensland and the upper reaches of the Murray-Darling Basin and was selected to develop a detailed proxy rainfall record and palaeoenvironmental history for this region. Lake sediments from 0-171 cm were collected and returned to USQ for geological logging, grain size and geochemical analyses as well as lead (210Pb) and carbon (14C) dating. The lake sediments consist mostly of fine dark grey silts and clays with small amounts of fine sands, which increase towards the surface. Detailed particle size analysis (0.05-880μm diameter) using laser diffraction was used to determine grain size distributions. A bimodal population of very fine clays/silts and fine sands occur in most samples, with sand becoming more abundant from 38 cm towards the surface. Multi-element geochemistry using ICP/AES and CNS analyser was completed to determine Fe, Mn, Al, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Sr, Cu, Zn, Pb, C, N and S values. Organic, carbonate and silicate matter percentages were derived from LOI. Elevated C, Ca, Sr, N, Cu and Zn values were identified in the top 1 cm. Ba, Na, Al, Mg, Mn and Fe increase from the surface down the profile whilst siliciclastic % increases. Lead (210Pb) dating was attempted but was unsuccessful. Carbon (14C) dating of the humic acid fraction gave a maximum age of 9470 years (+/-100 years) at 170-171 cm, which is close to the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. This indicates an average rate of sedimentation of ~0.22 mm per year. Lake Broadwater is a mature, eutrophic lake that has had a relatively stable recent past making it ideal for developing a palaeoenvironmental history of the region. Two significant changes in sedimentation occur at 38 cm (~3240 yr B.P) and 16 cm (~2190 yr B.P) indicating a change to drier conditions and the onset of stronger ENSO variability

Changes in MSLP over Queensland and the Southern Hemisphere

The rainfall decline across much of coastal and southeast Queensland has placed extreme pressure on water resources and agriculture in this region for over ten years. We have conducted analyses on mean sea level pressure changes from observations over Queensland and compared these to data from NCEP and IPCC-AR4 for the 20th century. We also present 21st century projections from the IPCC-AR4 models to assess whether the current trends will continue