Decision Making in Multi-jurisdictional River Basins

Abstract

In the Murray-Darling basin in Australia, a management framework has been adopted to permit the different states that control this basin to manage it cooperatively. This framework consists of joint bodies at both the political and technical level. Similar frameworks have been adopted in other multi-jurisdictional river basins, such as the Mekong in southeast Asia. Analysis of a number of case study decisions in the Murray-Darling Basin Initiative reveals a variety of bases upon which decisions may be made, with the process being led by those from both higher up and lower down the decision making hierarchy and that a semi-rational process is generally followed. By establishing a political body to title the co-operative framework, some sort of balance between political and technical considerations is achieved in an environment, which otherwise would risk being dominated by the individual political concerns of the different jurisdictions.     

Colour appeal in website design within and across cultures: A multi-method evaluation

Colour has the potential to elicit emotions or behaviors, yet there is little research in which colour treatments in website design are systematically tested. Little is known about how colour affects trust or satisfaction on the part of the viewer. Although the Internet is increasingly global, few systematic studies have been undertaken in which the impact of colour on culturally diverse viewers is investigated in website design. In this research three website colour treatments are tested across three culturally distinct viewer groups for their impact on user trust, satisfaction, and e-loyalty. To gather data, a rich multi-method approach is used including eye-tracking, a survey, and interviews. Results reveal that website colour appeal is a significant determinant for website trust and satisfaction with differences noted across cultures. The findings have practical value for web marketers and interface designers concerning effective colour use in website development.     

First-principles prediction of yield stress for basal slip in Mg–Al alloys

The finite-temperature yield stress of Mg–Al alloys undergoing basal slip is investigated using a recently developed parameter-free solute strengthening model. The model takes input from first-principles calculations of the dislocation/solute interaction energy and evaluates the solute strengthening due to fluctuations in solute concentration, taking into account the correlation of these fluctuations as a function of dislocation roughening. Due to the wide partial separation of the Mg basal edge dislocation, a smaller roughening is required to decorrelate the solute fluctuations in the partials compared to that required to decorrelate the fluctuations in the “far field”. As a consequence, the dislocation has two stable configurations in the random field of solutes, corresponding to “short-range” and “long-range” solute interactions. The configuration of the “short-range” interactions control the strength at low temperatures or high stress, whereas the “long-range” interactions control the strength at higher temperatures or lower stresses. Predictions of the model are in very good agreement with experiments over a wide range of solute concentrations and temperature. In particular, the model naturally predicts the “plateau stress” observed at high temperatures, which is attributable to the “long-range” solute interactions.     

New approach to gas pressure profile prediction for high temperature AA5083 sheet forming

A new theoretical approach to the prediction of gas pressure profiles that vary smoothly with time in high temperature forming of fine-grained AA5083 sheet is presented. The required pressure-flow stress relationship, which couples the gas pressure profile and the material constitutive model, was implemented in ABAQUS implicit. Forming of a rectangular pan in a die with variable entry radii was simulated with a single creep mechanism model that accounts for hardening/softening in AA5083. Predicted sheet thickness and thinning in a die entry radius region at the end of forming are examined in detail. Results are compared with those from two additional gas pressure schemes. One of these is taken directly from experiments and the other is based upon an algorithm that is internal to ABAQUS. The effect of friction on forming time is explored in the absence of a stability criterion for necking.     

Thermodynamic and mechanical properties of lanthanum-magnesium phases from density functional theory

Thermodynamic and mechanical properties of the six known phases in the La-Mg phase diagram, viz. LaMg, LaMg₂, LaMg₃, La₅Mg₄₁, La₂Mg₁₇, and LaMg₁₂, and their elemental antecedents, Mg and La, are computed with density functional theory (DFT) using the PBE and PBEsol exchange-correlation functionals. Phase stability analyses show that both LaMg₂ and La₅Mg₄₁ are metastable at low temperatures which is consistent with experiments and vibrational spectra. We generalize an existing approach for computing the crystallographic dependence of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, which is presently limited to cubic systems, to address any space group symmetry using 0 K elasticity tensor components (C_ij) from DFT. Isothermal and isentropic C_ij(T) are computed with the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA) as are the linear thermal expansion of the cubic compounds, the average linear thermal expansion for the non-cubic compounds, the bulk modulus, and the constant pressure heat capacity. A critical comparison of theoretical results from the PBE and PBEsol functionals is made with available experimental data.     

Grafting of N‐vinyl caprolactam and methacrylic acid onto silicone rubber films for drug‐eluting products

Silicone rubber (SR), a material widely used in the biomedical field, was modified with stimuli‐responsive poly(N‐vinyl caprolactam) (PVCL) and poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) with the aim of improving its ability to host drug molecules. The grafting of PVCL and PMAA onto SR was carried out by means of a γ‐ray preirradiation method, and the dependence of the grafting yield on the comonomer concentration, preirradiation dose, temperature, and reaction time was evaluated. Modified SR films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and swelling studies to confirm the grafting of the copolymer. The SR‐g‐[vinyl caprolactam (VCL)/methacrylic acid (MAA)] copolymers showed a sensitivity to the temperature and pH, high hemocompatibility, and low affinity to bovine serum albumin and fibrinogen proteins. Moreover, the SR‐g‐(VCL/MAA) copolymers were able to host some nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, such as diclofenac and ibuprofen, and the antifungal agent nystatin. The graft copolymer was shown to be useful for providing sustained release for several hours; this indicates that the modified SR is a promising material for drug‐eluting medical devices. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41855.     

Impact of analytical bias in metabonomic studies of human blood serum and plasma

Concurrent with the explosion in the number of publications reporting biomarker discovery by profiling technologies, such as proteomics and pattern recognition, has been the increase in evidence highlighting the susceptibility of these approaches to analytical and experimental bias. The work presented here addresses these timely issues by delivering a detailed characterization of the effect of common sources of bias in clinical studies on serum and plasma profiles generated by a key technology in metabonomics, NMR spectroscopy. Specifically, differences in composition when blood samples were collected onto and in the absence of ice, over a series of serum-clot contact times, the stability of NMR-prepared samples over time and the effect on the metabolic profile of freeze-thawing were examined. While differences between individuals were far greater than variation from any other experimental factor, each of the conditions examined did cause slight alterations to the NMR profile that could produce a systematic bias. Variation due to clotting time caused changes in energy metabolites, which were delayed by ice with no other spectral effects. Room-temperature stability and hence NMR spectral repeatability were high (<1% intrasample variation). Higher molecular weight species such as lipoproteins were more susceptible to the variations present in the examined factors. These observations have implications for profiling study design, and hence, our results form a new and valuable resource for those attempting clinical metabolic profiling, for regulatory agencies involved in the licensing of clinical tests and in the generation of international reporting standards for metabonomics.     

Effects of 17β-estradiol, and its metabolite, 4-hydroxyestradiol on fertilization, embryo development and oxidative DNA damage in sand dollar (Dendraster excentricus) sperm

Oxidative compounds have been demonstrated to decrease the fertilization capability and viability of offspring of treated spermatozoa. As estrogen and its hydroxylated metabolites readily undergo redox cycling, this study was undertaken to determine if estrogens and other oxidants could damage DNA and impair sperm function. Sperm was preexposed to either 17β-estradiol (E2), 4-hydroxyestradiol (4OHE2) or the oxidant t-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH), and allowed to fertilize untreated eggs. The fertilization rates and development of the larvae were assessed, as well as the amount of 8-oxodeoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) as an indication of oxidative DNA damage. All compounds caused significant decreases in fertilization and increases in pathological abnormalities in offspring, with 4OHE2 being the most toxic. Treatment with 4OHE2 caused a significant increase of 8-oxodG, but E2 failed to show any effect. Pathological abnormalities were significantly correlated (r² = 0.44, p ≤ 0.05) with 8-oxodG levels in sperm treated with t-BOOH and 4OHE2, but not E2. 8-OxodG levels also were somewhat weakly correlated with impaired fertilization in 4OHE2-treated sperm (r² = 0.33, p ≤ 0.05). The results indicate that biotransformation of E2 to 4OHE2 enhances oxidative damage of DNA in sperm, which can reduce fertilization and impair embryonic development, but other mechanisms of action may also contribute to these effects.     

Characterization of the alumina–zirconia ceramic system by ultrasonic velocity measurements

In this work an alumina–zirconia ceramic composites have been prepared with α-Al₂O₃ contents from 10 to 95 wt.%. The alumina–zirconia ceramic system was characterized by means of precise ultrasonic velocity measurements. In order to find out the factors affecting the variation in wave velocity, the ceramic composite have been examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and (SEM) scanning electron microscopy. It was found that the ultrasonic velocity measurements changed considerably with respect to the ceramic composite composition. In particular, we studied the behavior of the physical material property hardness, an important parameter of the ceramic composite mechanical properties, with respect to the variation in the longitudinal and shear wave velocities. Shear wave velocities exhibited a stronger interaction with microstructural and sub-structural features as compared to that of longitudinal waves. In particular, this phenomena was observed for the highest α-Al₂O₃ content composite. Interestingly, an excellent correlation between ultrasonic velocity measurements and ceramic composite hardness was observed.