Australian water consumer outlook 2015

Executive Summary Do we think and talk about water only when we are in drought? Do we complain about the price of water, but are happy to pay $3 a bottle for it at the shop? Do urban residents think differently about water to people living in rural and regional areas? Do consumers know enough about our water resources to understand if governments and industry are protecting our water supply in the future? These questions and more are explored in the Australian Water Consumer Outlook. As the driest inhabited continent on earth, it’s critical we engage with and understand the attitudes of water consumers, water industry and government, and make water policy a priority. Although many utilities undertake customer satisfaction surveys they often don’t ask broader questions to gain an understanding of the consumer make-up and leadership of the industry. Further, each of these surveys is conducted independently of each other, making it difficult to identify trends and variances of perceptions nationally. The Australian Water Consumer Outlook presents the findings of the Australian Water Consumer Survey. The Survey was conducted online between 27 July and 3 September 2015 and received 3948 responses. The data gathered for the Australian Water Consumer Outlook provides a basis for further community-informed policy debate. • State based reports are also available at AWA\u27s websit

Radical Relatives: Facile Oxidation of Hetero-Diarylmethene Anions to Neutral Radicals

Furan and thiophene diarylmethenes are potential redox-active ligands for metal centers that could be exploited in the development of nontraditional, stoichiometric, and catalytic redox reactions. As such, we describe here the selective <i>meso</i>-deprotonations of dithiophene, difuran, and diimine–difuran diarylmethanes to form the π-conjugated anions, for which only the diimino–difuryl anion is truly isolable and studied by X-ray crystallography. In all cases, facile one-electron oxidation of these anions occurs, which allows the isolation of the neutral dithienyl and diimino–difuryl radicals. UV–Visible and time-dependent density functional theory studies reveal that the oxidation of the dithienyl anion to its radical is associated with an increase in the highest (singly) occupied molecular orbital–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gap, evident through a hypsochromic shift of the main absorption band in the electronic spectrum, whereas oxidation of the diimino–difuryl anion causes only minor spectroscopic changes. Electrochemical studies support the stability of the radicals with respect to the anion, showing strongly negative oxidation potentials. The control of the redox activity of these diarylmethene carbanions through variation of the nature of the substituents, donor-atom, and the conjugated π-system and their potential as ligands for redox-inert metal centers makes them intriguing candidates as noninnocent partners for redox reactions

Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Antibody in Patients With Sexually Transmitted Diseases Attending a Harrisburg, PA, STD Clinic

Objective: The prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic population was studied, along with the prevalence of various STD agents, in an attempt to identify possible STD markers for the hepatitis C virus and help delineate the role of hepatitis C as an STD. The hepatitis C antibody rates found in the STD clinic were also compared with those found among patients attending a local OB/GYN clinic and those enrolled in a blood donor program, all from the same geographical area

The protein and contrast agent-specific influence of pathological plasma-protein concentration levels on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to measure the protein-specific response of r1 and r2 relaxivities of commercially available gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents to variation of plasma-protein concentrations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this in vitro study, contrast agent (gadofosveset trisodium, gadoxetate disodium, gadobutrol, and gadoterate meglumine) dilution series (0-2.5 mmol Gd/L) were prepared with plasma-protein (human serum albumin [HSA] and immunoglobulin G [IgG]) concentrations at physiological (42 and 10 g/L HSA and IgG, respectively, Normal) and at 3 pathological levels with HSA/IgG concentrations of 10/10 (solution Alb low), 42/50 (IgG mild), and 42/70 (IgG severe) g/L. Contrast-agent molar relaxivities and relaxivity-enhancing protein-contrast-agent interaction coefficients were determined on the basis of inversion-recovery and spin-echo data acquired at 1.5 and 3.0 T at 37°C. Protein-induced magnetic resonance imaging signal changes were calculated. RESULTS: The effective r1 and r2 molar relaxivities consistently increased with albumin and IgG concentrations. At 1.5 T, the r1 values increased by 10.2 (gadofosveset), 4.3 (gadoxetate), 1.3 (gadobutrol), and 1.1 L s mmol (gadoterate), respectively, from the Alb low to the IgG severe solution. At 3.0 T, the r1 values increased by 2.9 (gadofosveset), 2.3 (gadoxetate), 0.7 (gadobutrol), and 0.9 (gadoterate) L s mmol, respectively. An excess of IgG most strongly increased the r1 of gadoxetate (+40 and +19% at 1.5 and 3.0 T, respectively, from Normal to IgG severe). An albumin deficiency most strongly decreased the r1 of gadofosveset (-44% and -20% at 1.5 and 3.0 T, respectively, from Normal to Alb low). The modeling confirmed a strong gadofosveset r1 enhancement by albumin and suggested stronger IgG than albumin effects on the apparent molar relaxivity of the other agents per protein mass concentration at 1.5 T. CONCLUSIONS: Pathological deviations from normal plasma-protein concentrations in aqueous solutions result in changes of effective r1 and r2 contrast-agent relaxivities and projected signal enhancements that depend on the contrast agent, the blood-serum protein profile, and the field strength

Meeting Report for Mobile DNA 2010

An international conference on mobile DNA was held 24-28 April 2010 in Montreal, Canada. Sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology, the conference's goal was to bring together researchers from around the world who study transposition in diverse organisms using multiple experimental approaches. The meeting drew over 190 attendees and most contributed through poster presentations, invited talks and short talks selected from poster abstracts. The talks were organized into eight scientific sessions, which ranged in topic from the evolutionary dynamics of mobile genetic elements to transposition reaction mechanisms. Here we present highlights from the platform sessions with a focus on talks presented by the invited speakers

Metodologia para desenvolvimento de subsistemas de TT&C em CubeSats

The CubeSats concept began in 1999 as a collaboration between California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University, and today it is an accessible and widely used by educational institutions and the private sector for the development of small satellites. As these small satellites are unmanned, the Telemetry Tracking and Remote Control (TT&C) system is one of the most critical to the mission, as their failure results in its premature end. This work presents a study of the main concepts related to the TT&C system, especially with regard to minimum power and transmission speed to ensure correct and complete transmission of payload data. Posteriorly, using the concepts presented, a set of needs is elaborated for its good functioning and good integration with the other systems of a CubeSat

Caracterización general, antecedentes y costo fiscal de eventuales reformas de la AUH

Este módulo tiene por objetivo analizar los problemas de diseño en cuanto a la elegibilidad de los destinatarios de la AUH, de modo de poder identificar las características de la población no cubierta por la AUH sobre la base de las estadísticas disponibles. Se buscará evaluar estrategias para cerrar estas brechas, lo que será complementado con un análisis de la suficiencia de las prestaciones que brinda la AUH, así como la evaluación del costo fiscal vinculado a la ampliación del programa.Fil: Cetrangolo, Oscar Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Curcio, Javier Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Goldschmit, Ariela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Maurizio, Roxana del Luján. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas. Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires; Argentin

Under-ascertainment of Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection in adults due to diagnostic testing limitations:A systematic literature review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Most observational population-based studies identify RSV by nasal/nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR only. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to quantify specimen and diagnostic testing-based under-ascertainment of adult RSV infection. METHODS: EMBASE, PubMed and Web of Science were searched (Jan2000-Dec2021) for studies including adults using/comparing >1 RSV testing approach. We quantified test performance and RSV detection increase associated with using multiple specimen types. RESULTS: Among 8066 references identified, 154 met inclusion. Compared to RT-PCR, other methods were less sensitive: rapid antigen detection (pooled sensitivity, 64%), direct fluorescent antibody (83%), and viral culture (86%). Compared to singleplex PCR, multiplex PCR's sensitivity was lower (93%). Compared to nasal/nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR alone, adding another specimen type increased detection: sputum RT-PCR, 52%; 4-fold rise in paired serology, 44%; and oropharyngeal swab RT-PCR, 28%. Sensitivity was lower in estimates limited to only adults (for RADT, DFA and Viral culture), and detection rate increases were largely comparable. CONCLUSIONS: RT-PCR, particularly singleplex testing, is the most sensitive RSV diagnostic test in adults. Adding additional specimen types to nasopharyngeal swab RT-PCR testing increased RSV detection. Synergistic effects of using ≥3 specimen types should be assessed, as this approach may improve the accuracy of adult RSV burden estimates

Childhood Obesity Associates Haemodynamic and Vascular Changes That Result in Increased Central Aortic Pressure with Augmented Incident and Reflected Wave Components, without Changes in Peripheral Amplification

The aims were to determine if childhood obesity is associated with increased central aortic blood pressure (BP) and to characterize haemodynamic and vascular changes associated with BP changes in obese children and adolescents by means of analyzing changes in cardiac output (stroke volume, SV), arterial stiffness (aortic pulse wave velocity, PWV), peripheral vascular resistances (PVR), and net and relative contributions of reflected waves to the aortic pulse wave amplitude. We included 117 subjects (mean/range age: 10 (5–15) years, 49 females), who were obese (OB) or had normal weight (NW). Peripheral and central aortic BP, PWV, and pulse wave-derived parameters (augmentation index, amplitude of forward and backward components) were measured with tonometry (SphygmoCor) and oscillometry (Mobil-O-Graph). With independence of the presence of dyslipidemia, hypertension, or sedentarism, the aortic systolic and pulse BP were higher in OB than in NW subjects. The increase in central BP could not be explained by the elevation in the relative contribution of reflections to the aortic pressure wave and higher PVR or by an augmented peripheral reflection coefficient. Instead, the rise in central BP could be explained by an increase in the amplitude of both incident and reflect wave components associated to augmented SV and/or PWV