Regional hydrological sensitivity (i.e., precipitation change per degree local surface warming) contributes substantially to the uncertainty in future precipitation projections over tropical oceans. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of relative precipitation (P*, precipitation divided by the basin average precipitation) to local sea surface temperature (SST) change by dissecting it into three components, namely the sensitivity of P* to relative SST (SSTrel, SST minus the tropical mean SST) changes, the sensitivity of P* to surface convergence changes, and the sensitivity of surface convergence to SST gradient changes. We show that the relationships between P* and SSTrel, and between P*, surface convergence, and SST gradients are largely constant during climate change. This allows us to constrain regional hydrological sensitivity based on present-day SST-precipitation relationships. The sensitivity of surface convergence to SST gradient changes is a main source of uncertainty in regional hydrological sensitivity and is likely underestimated in GCMs.

For over a decade virtually all A(H3N2) influenza viruses have been resistant to the adamantane class of antivirals. However, during the 2017 influenza season in Australia, 15/461 (3.3%) adamantane-sensitive A(H3N2) viruses encoding serine at residue 31 of the M2 protein were detected, more than the total number identified globally during the last 6 years. A return to wide circulation of adamantane-sensitive A(H3N2) viruses would revive the option of using these drugs for treatment and prophylaxis.

Waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) contain valuable material resources and hazardous substances, thereby posing a challenge for sustainable resource recovery and environmental protection initiatives. Overcoming this challenge will require mapping the toxic footprint of WPCBs to specific materials and substances used in manufacturing electronic components (ECs). Therefore, this work collected 50 EC specimens from WPCBs in five ubiquitous consumer products, such as television, refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine and computer. The work extracted and analyzed metal contents and used leachability assessments based on tests adopted by the regulatory policies from China and the United States. The work found that copper and iron are the most abundant constituents in ECs, with concentrations ranging 5.90-796.62 g/kg and 0-831.53 g/kg, respectively; whereas abundance of precious metal content is in the order of silver > gold > palladium > platinum, with silver concentration ranging 15-5290 mg/kg. The content of marginally-regulated toxic substance arsenic ranged 0-9700 mg/kg; whereas fully regulated toxic metals such as chromium, lead and mercury did not exceed the thresholds set by China and US standards. The work found new toxic threats from arsenic and selenium leached from 20 of 50 ECs exceeding regulatory standards. These results will aid manufacturers and recyclers in protecting workers' health and environmental quality from arsenic and selenium pollution, and should initiate discussion about regulating these toxic components as part of a comprehensive program to reduce the toxic footprint of electronic products.

In 2017, influenza seasonal activity was high in the southern hemisphere. We present interim influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates from Australia. Adjusted VE was low overall at 33% (95% confidence interval (CI): 17 to 46), 50% (95% CI: 8 to 74) for A(H1)pdm09, 10% (95% CI: -16 to 31) for A(H3) and 57% (95% CI: 41 to 69) for influenza B. For A(H3), VE was poorer for those vaccinated in the current and prior seasons.

BACKGROUND: Influenza circulated at historically low levels during 2020/2021 due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic travel restrictions. In Australia, international arrivals were required to undergo a 14-day hotel quarantine to limit new introduction of SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: We usedtesting data for travelers arriving on repatriation flights to Darwin, Australia, from 3 January 2021 to 11 October 2021 to identify importations of influenza virus into Australia. We used this information to estimate the risk of a case exiting quarantine while still infectious. Influenza-positive samples were sequenced, and cases were followed up to identify transmission clusters. Data on the number of cases and total passengers were used to infer the risk of influenza cases exiting quarantine while infectious. RESULTS: Despite very low circulation of influenza globally, 42 cases were identified among 15 026 returned travelers, of which 30 were A(H3N2), 2 were A(H1N1)pdm09, and 10 were B/Victoria. Virus sequencing data identified potential in-flight transmission, as well as independent infections prior to travel. Under the quarantine strategy in place at the time, the probability that these cases could initiate influenza outbreaks in Australia neared 0. However, this probability rose as quarantine requirements relaxed. CONCLUSIONS: Detection of influenza virus infections in repatriated travelers provided a source of influenza viruses otherwise unavailable and enabled development of the A(H3N2) vaccine seed viruses included in the 2022 Southern Hemisphere influenza vaccine. Failure to test quarantined returned travelers for influenza represents a missed opportunity for enhanced surveillance to better inform public health preparedness.

In 2018, a 15-year-old female adolescent in Australia was infected with swine influenza A(H3N2) variant virus. The virus contained hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes derived from 1990s-like human seasonal viruses and internal protein genes from influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus, highlighting the potential risk that swine influenza A virus poses to human health in Australia.

Background

Vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates provide important post-marketing assessment of how well seasonal influenza vaccines prevent medically attended influenza disease. We present VE estimates for primary care in Australia for the 2017-2019 seasons.

Methods

The study used a test-negative design. Influenza VE was estimated from adjusted logistic regression models comparing the odds of vaccination among influenza-test-positive cases and test-negative non-cases. Estimates were made overall and separately by influenza type, subtype, lineage and clade and stratified by age group. Antigenic similarity of influenza viruses to vaccine strains was assessed using the haemagglutination inhibition assay, and phylogenetic analysis was performed on sequenced viruses.

Results

The study included 2879, 1973 and 3371 general practice patients with swabs collected during 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively. Influenza A(H3N2) was predominant in 2017 and 2019, while influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 predominated in 2018. VE was estimated at 37% (95% CI 22, 48) for the 2017 season, 53% (95% CI 33, 67) for 2018 and 50% (95% CI 40, 58) for 2019. In general, estimates were higher against A(H1N1)pdm09 and influenza B viruses and lower against A(H3N2) viruses. Across the three seasons, antigenic data identified a greater proportion of A(H1N1)pdm09 and influenza B viruses than A(H3N2) viruses as antigenically similar to the cell-propagated reference viruses. VE estimates by clade generally indicated higher VE among viruses in the same clade as the vaccine viruses.

Conclusions

Influenza VE varied across influenza seasons and by influenza type/subtype. Given the ongoing evolution of circulating influenza viruses, vaccine improvements are needed, especially for influenza A(H3N2).

The fornix is the primary subcortical output fiber system of the hippocampal formation. In children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS), hippocampal volume reduction has been commonly reported, but few studies as yet have evaluated the integrity of the fornix. Therefore, we investigated the fornix of 45 school-aged children with 22q11.2DS and 38 matched typically developing (TD) children. Probabilistic diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography was used to reconstruct the body of the fornix in each child׳s brain native space. Compared with children, significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher radial diffusivity (RD) was observed bilaterally in the body of the fornix in children with 22q11.2DS. Irregularities were especially prominent in the posterior aspect of the fornix where it emerges from the hippocampus. Smaller volumes of the hippocampal formations were also found in the 22q11.2DS group. The reduced hippocampal volumes were correlated with lower fornix FA and higher fornix RD in the right hemisphere. Our findings provide neuroanatomical evidence of disrupted hippocampal connectivity in children with 22q11.2DS, which may help to further understand the biological basis of spatial impairments, affective regulation, and other factors related to the ultra-high risk for schizophrenia in this population.

Production of healthy gametes requires a reductional meiosis I division in which replicated sister chromatids comigrate, rather than separate as in mitosis or meiosis II. Fusion of sister kinetochores during meiosis I may underlie sister chromatid comigration in diverse organisms, but direct evidence for such fusion has been lacking. We used laser trapping and quantitative fluorescence microscopy to study native kinetochore particles isolated from yeast. Meiosis I kinetochores formed stronger attachments and carried more microtubule-binding elements than kinetochores isolated from cells in mitosis or meiosis II. The meiosis I-specific monopolin complex was both necessary and sufficient to drive these modifications. Thus, kinetochore fusion directs sister chromatid comigration, a conserved feature of meiosis that is fundamental to Mendelian inheritance.

BackgroundInterseasonal influenza outbreaks are not unusual in countries with temperate climates and well-defined influenza seasons. Usually, these are small and diminish before the main influenza season begins. However, the 2018/19 summer-autumn interseasonal influenza period in Australia saw unprecedented large and widespread influenza outbreaks.AimOur objective was to determine the extent of the intense 2018/19 interseasonal influenza outbreaks in Australia epidemiologically and examine the genetic, antigenic and structural properties of the viruses responsible for these outbreaks.MethodsThis observational study combined the epidemiological and virological surveillance data obtained from the Australian Government Department of Health, the New South Wales Ministry of Health, sentinel outpatient surveillance, public health laboratories and data generated by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne and the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research.ResultsThere was a record number of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases during the interseasonal period November 2018 to May 2019 (n= 85,286; 5 times the previous 3-year average) and also more institutional outbreaks, hospitalisations and deaths, than what is normally seen.ConclusionsThe unusually large interseasonal influenza outbreaks in 2018/19 followed a mild 2018 influenza season and resulted in a very early start to the 2019 influenza season across Australia. The reasons for this unusual event have yet to be fully elucidated but are likely to be a complex mix of climatic, virological and host immunity-related factors. These outbreaks reinforce the need for year-round surveillance of influenza, even in temperate climates with strong seasonality patterns.