ALBERT

Description: The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the acute effects of whole body vibration (WBV) on isometric mid-thigh pull force–time curve (FTC) characteristics. Eleven recreationally trained subjects were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions: sham no vibration protocol (T1), vibration protocol 30 Hz 2–4 mm amplitude (T2), and vibration protocol 30 Hz 2–4 mm (T3). After completing a standardized warm-up, the subject stood on a vibration platform with the knee at a 120° angle and performed one of the three interventions. Each treatment condition required the subject to stand on the platform for thirty-second treatments, each separated by thirty seconds of recovery. Five minutes after the completion of the treatment conditions, the subjects performed the isometric mid-thigh pull. All FTCs were analyzed with standardized procedures for peak force (PF) and peak rate of force development (PRFD). A 1 × 3 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the three treatments. Additionally, coefficients of variance (CV), as well as intraclass and interclass correlations, were performed. There were no significant differences (p 〉 0.05) for any of the FTC analyses performed in this investigation. The CV and the 95% confidence interval (CI) indicate that the WBV protocol resulted in trivial changes in PF and beneficial changes in PRFD. A 30 Hz 2–4 mm amplitude WBV does not result in a significant increase in isometric mid-thigh pull performance.

Description: New product development (NPD) is essential for business success and growth. High- to medium-technology manufacturing sectors have introduced standard models. The adaptation of these systematic NPD procedures supported by appropriate decision support tools has provided significant benefits in production cost, product quality and supply chain availability. However, the challenges involved in NPD of food are rapidly increasing due to consumer demand for organic and healthy diets, in particular, more nutritious low-calorie food, and preference for customised and personalised food products. This has resulted in a proliferation of new varieties, types and shapes of food products that are constantly introduced. Most of these new products are developed based on company-specific ad hoc NPD procedures, within small to medium enterprises that form the biggest proportion of food producers in most developed countries. This highlights a need for further research into novel NPD methods and tools in the food sector. This communication provides an overview of the NPD processes, analyses their strengths and shortcomings and outlines critical missing capabilities for food manufacturers in specific.

Description: The reactivity of particle surfaces can be used as a criterion to group nanoforms (NFs) based on similar potential hazard. Since NFs may partially or completely dissolve over the duration of the assays, with the ions themselves inducing a response, reactivity assays commonly measure the additive reactivity of the particles and ions combined. Here, we determine the concentration of ions released over the course of particle testing, and determine the relative contributions of the released ions to the total reactivity measured. We differentiate three classes of reactivity, defined as being A) dominated by particles, B) additive of particles and ions, or C) dominated by ions. We provide examples for each class by analyzing the NF reactivity of Fe2O3, ZnO, CuO, Ag using the ferric reduction ability of serum (FRAS) assay. Furthermore, another two reactivity tests were performed: Dichlorodihydrofluorescin diacetate (DCFH2‑DA) assay and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. We compare assays and demonstrate that the dose‑response may be almost entirely assigned to ions in one assay (CuO in DCFH2‑DA), but to particles in others (CuO in EPR and FRAS). When considering this data, we conclude that one cannot specify the contribution of ions to NF toxicity for a certain NF, but only for a certain NF in a specific assay, medium and dose. The extent of dissolution depends on the buffer used, particle concentration applied, and duration of exposure. This culminates in the DCFH2‑DA, EPR, FRAS assays being performed under different ion‑to‑particle ratios, and differing in their sensitivity towards reactions induced by either ions or particles. If applied for grouping, read‑across, or other concepts based on the similarity of partially soluble NFs, results on reactivity should only be compared if measured by the same assay, incubation time, and dose range.

Description: Reproducible preparation of lithium tetraborate fused beads for XRF analysis of glass and mineral samples is of paramount importance for analytical repeatability. However, as with all glass melting processes, losses due to volatilisation must be taken into account and their effects are not negligible. Here the effects of fused bead melting time have been studied for four Certified Reference Materials (CRM’s: three feldspars, one silicate glass), in terms of their effects on analytical variability and volatilisation losses arising from fused bead preparation. At melting temperatures of 1065 °C, and for feldspar samples, fused bead melting times shorter than approximately 25 min generally gave rise to a greater deviation of the XRF-analysed composition from the certified composition. This variation might be due to incomplete fusion and/or fused bead inhomogeneity but further research is needed. In contrast, the shortest fused bead melting time for the silicate glass CRM gave an XRF-analysed composition closer to the certified values than longer melting times. This may suggest a faster rate of glass-in-glass dissolution and homogenization during fused bead preparation. For all samples, longer melting times gave rise to greater volatilisation losses (including sulphates and halides) during fusion. This was demonstrated by a linear relationship between SO3 mass loss and time1/2, as predicted by a simple diffusion-based model. Iodine volatilisation displays a more complex relationship, suggestive of diffusion plus additional mechanisms. This conclusion may have implications for vitrification of iodine-bearing radioactive wastes. Our research demonstrates that the nature of the sample material impacts on the most appropriate fusion times. For feldspars no less than ~25 min and no more than ~60 min of fusion at 1065 °C, using Li2B4O7 as the fusion medium and in the context of feldspar samples and the automatic fusion equipment used here, strikes an acceptable (albeit non-ideal) balance between the competing factors of fused bead quality, analytical consistency and mitigating volatilisation losses. Conversely, for the silicate glass sample, shorter fusion times of less than ~30 min under the same conditions provided more accurate analyses whilst limiting volatile losses.

Description: The development of the Australian Community Climate Earth-System Simulator-Seasonal version 1 (ACCESS-S1) prediction system signifies a major step in addressing predictive limitations in multi-week to seasonal forecasting. It is anticipated that ACCESS-S1 will provide greater skill in its prediction of the wet season onset and intensity, which are crucial to the viability of cattle grazing across northern Australia. We evaluate the hindcast skill of the ACCESS-S1 for the northern rainfall onset, defined as the date when 50 mm of precipitation has accumulated at a given location from the 1st of September, heralding the start of the seasonal dry-to-wet transition over northern Australia. We show that the raw ACCESS-S1 hindcasts, regridded to a 5 km observed grid, capture the broad-scale features of the median onset, including an early October onset over the western Top End and southeast Queensland. However, the hindcasts fail to capture the later December onsets over central Australia. The greatest improvement in onset skill comes from first calibrating the hindcasts using observations, which outperform the raw model and bias corrected hindcasts over central Australia and the far west in the Pilbara-Gascoyne basin. Based on its simulation of realistic northern rainfall onset dates and variability alone, ACCESS-S1’s prediction performance can be considered an improvement over the older predictive system. As the real-time onset forecasts have were issued using ACCESS-S1 in July 2019, it is expected that the calibrated predictions will help improve the resilience of cattle producers and graziers to drought across northern Australia.

Description: In this short communication, the erosion process of the fine, cohesive sediment collected from the upper River Taw in South West England was studied in a rotating annular flume located in the National Water Research Institute in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. This study is part of a research project that is underway to model the transport of fine sediment and the associated nutrients in that river system. The erosion experimental data show that the critical shear stress for erosion of the upper River Taw sediment is about 0.09 Pa and it did not depend on the age of sediment deposit. The eroded sediment was transported in a flocculated form and the agent of flocculation for the upper River Taw sediment may be due to the presence of fibrils from microorganisms and organic material in the system. The experimental data were analysed using a curve fitting approach of Krone and a mathematical model of cohesive sediment transport in rotating circular flumes developed by Krishnappan. The modelled and measured data were in good agreement. An evaluation of the physical significance of Krone’s fitting coefficients is presented. Variability of the fitting coefficients as a function of bed shear stress and age of sediment deposit indicate the key role these two factors play in the erosion process of fluvial cohesive sediment.

Description: We present a detailed study of dynamic switching instability and static reliability of a Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor High-Electron-Mobility-Transistor (MIS-HEMT) based cascode switch under off-state (negative bias) Gate bias stress (VGS, OFF). We have investigated drain channel current (IDS, Max) collapse/degradation and turn-on and rise-time (tR) delay, on-state resistance (RDS-ON) and maximum transconductance (Gm, max) degradation and threshold voltage (VTH) shift for pulsed and prolonged off-state gate bias stress VGS, OFF. We have found that as stress voltage magnitude and stress duration increases, similarly IDS, Max and RDS-ON degradation, VTH shift and turn-on/rise time (tR) delay, and Gm, max degradation increases. In a pulsed off-state VGS, OFF stress experiment, the device instabilities and degradation with electron trapping effects are studied through two regimes of stress voltages. Under low stress, VTH shift, IDS collapse, RDS-ON degradation has very minimal changes, which is a result of a recoverable surface state trapping effect. For high-stress voltages, there is an increased and permanent VTH shift and high IDS, Max and RDS-ON degradation in pulsed VGS, Stress and increased rise-time and turn-on delay. In addition to this, a positive VTH shift and Gm, max degradation were observed in prolonged stress experiments for selected high-stress voltages, which is consistent with interface state generation. These findings provide a path to understand the failure mechanisms under room temperature and also to accelerate the developments of emerging GaN cascode technologies.

Description: This paper uses practical experimentation to analyse the effect of replacing SF6 with pure CO2 in conventional gas insulated transmission line sections by studying partial discharge measurements taken with applied voltages up to 242 kV (rms). The results can also help in understanding the properties of new alternative gas mixtures which can be utilised with a ratio of up to and over 95% CO2. The experiments undertaken involved filling a gas insulated line demonstrator with 3 bars of CO2 and applying voltages up to 242 kV in both clean conditions and particle-contaminated enclosure conditions. The results demonstrate that CO2 can be used to insulate gas equipment without breakdown at high voltage, however, a higher gas-filling pressure may be needed to reduce the partial discharge found in the tests presented in this paper. Another aspect of the work showed that partial discharge (PD) measurements from internal ultra-high frequency (UHF) sensors compared with a direct measurement from a capacitive divider both clearly showed the effect of contaminating particles in CO2. However, the PD divider measurements also showed considerable external PD on the outside of the gas compartment, leading to the conclusion that UHF sensors are still regarded as having the highest sensitivity and noise immunity for gas insulated switchgear (GIS) or gas insulated transmission line (GIL) systems including when the equipment is insulated with CO2.

Description: On-orbit calibration requirements for a space-based climate observing system include long-term sensor response stability and reliable inter-calibration of multiple sensors, both contemporaneous and in succession. The difficulties with achieving these for reflected solar wavelength instruments are well known. The Moon can be considered a diffuse reflector of sunlight, and its exceptional photometric stability has enabled development of a lunar radiometric reference, manifest as a model that is queried for the specific conditions of Moon observations. The lunar irradiance model developed by the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) project has adequate precision for sensor response temporal trending, but a climate-quality lunar reference will require at least an order of magnitude improvement in absolute accuracy. To redevelop the lunar calibration reference with sub-percent uncertainty and SI traceability requires collecting new, high-accuracy Moon characterization measurements. This paper describes specifications for such measurements, along with a conceptual framework for reconstructing the lunar reference using them. Three currently active NASA-sponsored projects have objectives to acquire measurements that can support a climate-quality lunar reference: air-LUSI, dedicated lunar spectral irradiance measurements from the NASA ER-2 high altitude aircraft; ARCSTONE, dedicated lunar spectral reflectance measurements from a small satellite; and Moon viewing opportunities by CLARREO Pathfinder from the International Space Station.

Description: The most common bone disease in humans is osteoporosis (OP). Current therapeutics targeting OP have several negative side effects. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) is a potent growth factor that is known to activate both osteoblasts and osteoclasts. It completes these actions through both SMAD-dependent and SMAD-independent signaling. A novel interaction between the BMP type Ia receptor (BMPRIa) and casein kinase II (CK2) was discovered, and several CK2 phosphorylation sites were identified. A corresponding blocking peptide (named CK2.3) was designed to further elucidate the phosphorylation site’s function. Previously, CK2.3 demonstrated an increased osteoblast activity and decreased osteoclast activity in a variety of animal models, cell lines, and isolated human osteoblasts. It is hypothesized that CK2.3 completes these actions through the BMP signaling pathway. Furthermore, it was recently discovered that BMP2 did not elicit an osteogenic response in osteoblasts from patients diagnosed with OP, while CK2.3 did. In this study, we explore where in the BMP pathway the signaling disparity or defect lies in those diagnosed with OP. We found that osteoblasts isolated from patients diagnosed with OP did not activate SMAD or ERK signaling after BMP2 stimulation. When OP osteoblasts were stimulated with BMP2, both BMPRIa and CK2 expression significantly decreased. This indicates a major disparity within the BMP signaling pathway in patients diagnosed with osteoporosis.