339 resultados para Therapeutic climate


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The chapter examines the current emission reduction obligations within the climate regime. It looks at the formation and rise of the BASIC negotiation group within the international climate COP negotiations and examines the role that BASIC nations are now playing shaping international mitigation policy.

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The Australian region spans some 60° of latitude and 50° of longitude and displays considerable regional climate variability both today and during the Late Quaternary. A synthesis of marine and terrestrial climate records, combining findings from the Southern Ocean, temperate, tropical and arid zones, identifies a complex response of climate proxies to a background of changing boundary conditions over the last 35,000 years. Climate drivers include the seasonal timing of insolation, greenhouse gas content of the atmosphere, sea level rise and ocean and atmospheric circulation changes. Our compilation finds few climatic events that could be used to construct a climate event stratigraphy for the entire region, limiting the usefulness of this approach. Instead we have taken a spatial approach, looking to discern the patterns of change across the continent. The data identify the clearest and most synchronous climatic response at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (21 ± 3 ka), with unambiguous cooling recorded in the ocean, and evidence of glaciation in the highlands of tropical New Guinea, southeast Australia and Tasmania. Many terrestrial records suggest drier conditions, but with the timing of inferred snowmelt, and changes to the rainfall/runoff relationships, driving higher river discharge at the LGM. In contrast, the deglaciation is a time of considerable south-east to north-west variation across the region. Warming was underway in all regions by 17 ka. Post-glacial sea level rise and its associated regional impacts have played an important role in determining the magnitude and timing of climate response in the north-west of the continent in contrast to the southern latitudes. No evidence for cooling during the Younger Dryas chronozone is evident in the region, but the Antarctic cold reversal clearly occurs south of Australia. The Holocene period is a time of considerable climate variability associated with an intense monsoon in the tropics early in the Holocene, giving way to a weakened monsoon and an increasingly El Niño-dominated ENSO to the present. The influence of ENSO is evident throughout the southeast of Australia, but not the southwest. This climate history provides a template from which to assess the regionality of climate events across Australia and make comparisons beyond our region. The data identify the clearest and most synchronous climatic response at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (21 ± 3 ka), with unambiguous cooling recorded in the ocean, and evidence of glaciation in the highlands of tropical New Guinea, southeast Australia and Tasmania. Many terrestrial records suggest drier conditions, but with the timing of inferred snowmelt, and changes to the rainfall/runoff relationships, driving higher river discharge at the LGM. In contrast, the deglaciation is a time of considerable south-east to north-west variation across the region. Warming was underway in all regions by 17 ka. Post-glacial sea level rise and its associated regional impacts have played an important role in determining the magnitude and timing of climate response in the north-west of the continent in contrast to the southern latitudes. No evidence for cooling during the Younger Dryas chronozone is evident in the region, but the Antarctic cold reversal clearly occurs south of Australia. The Holocene period is a time of considerable climate variability associated with an intense monsoon in the tropics early in the Holocene, giving way to a weakened monsoon and an increasingly El Niño-dominated ENSO to the present. The influence of ENSO is evident throughout the southeast of Australia, but not the southwest. This climate history provides a template from which to assess the regionality of climate events across Australia and make comparisons beyond our region.

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The encapsulation and release of bioactive molecules from polymeric vehicles represents the holy grail of drug and growth factor delivery therapies, whereby sustained and controlled release is crucial in eliciting a positive therapeutic effect. To this end, electrospraying is rapidly emerging as a popular technology for the production of polymeric particles containing bioactive molecules. Compared with traditional emulsion fabrication techniques, electrospraying has the potential to reduce denaturation of protein drugs and affords tighter regulation over particle size distribution and morphology. In this article, we review the importance of the electrospraying parameters that enable reproducible tailoring of the particles' physical and in vitro drug release characteristics, along with discussion of existing in vivo data. Controlled morphology and monodispersity of particles can be achieved with electrospraying, with high encapsulation efficiencies and without unfavorable denaturation of bioactive molecules throughout the process. Finally, the combination of electrospraying with electrospun scaffolds, with an emphasis on tissue regeneration is reviewed, depicting a technique in its relative infancy but holding great promise for the future of regenerative medicine.

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Endotoxins can significantly affect the air quality in school environments. However, there is currently no reliable method for the measurement of endotoxins and there is a lack of reference values for endotoxin concentrations to aid in the interpretation of measurement results in school settings. We benchmarked the “baseline” range of endotoxin concentration in indoor air, together with endotoxin load in floor dust, and evaluated the correlation between endotoxin levels in indoor air and settled dust, as well as the effects of temperature and humidity on these levels in subtropical school settings. Bayesian hierarchical modeling indicated that the concentration in indoor air and the load in floor dust were generally (<95th percentile) < 13 EU/m3 and < 24,570 EU/m2, respectively. Exceeding these levels would indicate abnormal sources of endotoxins in the school environment, and the need for further investigation. Metaregression indicated no relationship between endotoxin concentration and load, which points to the necessity for measuring endotoxin levels in both the air and settled dust. Temperature increases were associated with lower concentrations in indoor air and higher loads in floor dust. Higher levels of humidity may be associated with lower airborne endotoxin concentrations.

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In this paper we argue that rationalist ‘predict then act’ approaches to disaster risk management (DRM) policy promote unrealistic public expectations of DRM provisions, the avoidance of decision making by political elites, an over-reliance on technical expertise and engineering solutions to reducing exposure to natural events, and a reactive approach to DRM overall. We propose an alternative incrementalist approach that focuses on managing uncertainties rather than reducing them and building resilience not simply through the reduction of hazard exposure, but also through the ongoing reduction of community vulnerability, the explicit consideration of normative priorities, and more effective community engagement in climate risk debates.

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Injured bone initiates the healing process by forming a blood clot at the damaged site. However, in severe damage, synthetic bone implants are used to provide structural integrity and restore the healing process. The implant unavoidably comes into direct contact with whole blood, leading to a blood clot formation on its surface. Despite this, most research in bone tissue engineering virtually ignores the important role of a blood clot in supporting healing. Surface chemistry of a biomaterial is a crucial property in mediating blood-biomaterials interactions, and hence the formation of the resultant blood clot. Surfaces presenting mixtures of functional groups carboxyl (–COOH) and methyl (–CH3) have been shown to enhance platelet response and coagulation activation, leading to the formation of fibrin fibres. In addition, it has been shown that varying the compositions of these functional groups and the length of alkyl groups further modulate the immune complement response. In this study, we hypothesised that a biomaterial surface with mixture of –COOH/–CH3(methyl), –CH2CH3 (ethyl) or –(CH2)3CH3 (butyl) groups at different ratios would modulate blood coagulation and complement activation, and eventually tailor the structural and functional properties of the blood clot formed on the surface, which subsequently impacts new bone formation. Firstly, we synthesised a series of materials composed of acrylic acid (AA), and methyl (MMA), ethyl (EMA) or butyl methacrylates (BMA) at different ratios and coated on the inner surfaces of incubation vials. Our surface analysis showed that the amount of –COOH groups on the surface coatings was lower than the ratios of AA prepared in the materials even though the surface content of –COOH groups increased with increasing in AA ratios. It was indicated that the surface hydrophobicity increased with increasing alkyl chain length: –CH 3 > –CH2CH3 > –(CH2)3CH3, and decreased with increasing –COOH groups. No significant differences in surface hydrophobicity was found on surfaces with –CH3 and –CH2CH3 groups in the presence of –COOH groups. The material coating was as smooth as uncoated glass and without any major flaws. The average roughness of material-coated surface (3.99 ± 0.54 nm) was slightly higher than that of uncoated glass surface (2.22 ± 0.29 nm). However, no significant differences in surface average roughness was found among surfaces with the same functionalities at different –COOH ratios nor among surfaces with different alkyl groups but the same –COOH ratios. These suggested that the surface functional groups and their compositions had a combined effect on modulating surface hydrophobicity but not surface roughness. The second part of our study was to investigate the effect of surface functional groups and their compositions on blood cascade activation and structural properties of the formed clots. It was found that surfaces with –COOH/–(CH2)3CH3 induced a faster coagulation activation than those with –COOH/–CH3 and –CH2CH3, regardless of the –COOH ratios. An increase in –COOH ratios on –COOH/–CH3 and –CH2CH3 surfaces decreased the rate of activation. Moreover, all material-coated surfaces markedly reduced the complement activation compared to uncoated glass surfaces, and the pattern of complement activation was entirely similar to that of surface-induced coagulation, suggesting there is an interaction between two cascades. The clots formed on material-coated surfaces had thicker fibrin with a tighter network at the exterior when compared to uncoated glass surfaces. Compared to the clot exteriors, thicker fibrins with a loose network were found in clot interiors. Coated surfaces resulted in more rigid clots with a significantly slower fibrinolysis after 1 h of lysis when compared to uncoated glass surfaces. Significant differences in fibrinolysis after 1 h of lysis among clots on material-coated surfaces correlated well with the differences in fibrin thickness and density at clot exterior. In addition, more growth factors were released during clot formation than during clot lysis. From an intact clot, there was a correlation between the amount of PDGF-AB release and fibrin density. Highest amount of PDGF-AB was released from clots formed on surfaces with 40% –COOH/60% –CH 3 (i.e. 65MMA). During clot lysis, the release of PDGF-AB also correlated with the fibrinolytic rate while the release of TGF-â1 was influenced by the fibrin thickness. This suggested that different clot structures led to different release profiles of growth factors in clot intact and degrading stages. We further validated whether the clots formed on material-coatings provide the microenvironment for improved bone healing by using a rabbit femoral defect model. In this pilot study, the implantation of clots formed on 65MMA coatings significantly increased new bone formation with enhanced chondrogenesis, osteoblasts activity and vascularisation, but decreased inflammatory macrophage number at the defects after 4 weeks when compared to commercial bone grafts ChronOSTM â-TCP granules. Empty defects were observed when blood clot formation was inhibited. In summary, our study demonstrated that surface functional groups and their relative ratios on material coatings synergistically modulate activation of blood cascades, resultant fibrin architecture, rigidity, susceptibility to fibrinolysis as well as growth factor release of the formed clots, which ultimately alter the healing microenvironment of injured bones.

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Australian governments face the twin challenges of dealing with extreme weather-related disasters (such as floods and bushfires) and adapting to the impacts of climate change. These challenges are connected, so any response would benefit from a more integrated approach across and between the different levels of government.This report summarises the findings of an NCCARF-funded project that addresses this problem. The project undertook a three-way comparative case study of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods. It collected data from the official inquiry reports into each of these events, and conducted new interviews and workshops with key stakeholders. The findings of this project included recommendations that range from the conceptual to the practical. First, it was argued that a reconceptualization of terms such as ‘community’ and ‘resilience’ was necessary to allow for more tailored responses to varying circumstances. Second, it was suggested that the high level of uncertainty inherent in disaster risk management and climate change adaptation requires a more iterative approach to policymaking and planning. Third, some specific institutional reforms were proposed that included: 1) a new funding mechanism that would encourage collaboration between and across different levels of government, as well as promoting partnerships with business and the community; 2) improving community engagement through new resilience grants run by local councils; 3) embedding climate change researchers within disaster risk management agencies to promote institutional learning, and; 4) creating an inter-agency network that encourages collaboration between organisations.

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Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of government because of three main factors. First, Australia is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly through the increasing frequency, duration and/or intensity of disasters such as floods and bushfires. Second, the system of government that divides powers by function and level can often act as a barrier to a well-integrated response. Third, policymaking processes struggle to cope with such complex inter-jurisdictional issues. This paper discusses these factors and explores the nature of the challenge for Australian governments. Investigations into the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods offer an indication of the challenges ahead and it is argued that there is a need to: improve community engagement and communication; refocus attention on resilience; improve interagency communication and collaboration; and, develop institutional arrangements that support continual improvement and policy learning. These findings offer an opportunity for improving responses as well as a starting point for integrating disaster risk management and climate change adaptation policies. The paper is based on the preliminary findings of an NCCARF funded research project: The Right Tool for the Job: Achieving climate change adaptation outcomes through improved disaster management policies, planning and risk management strategies involving Griffith University and RMIT. It should be noted from the outset that the purpose of this research project is not to criticise the actions of emergency service workers and volunteers who do an incredible job under extreme circumstances, often risking their own lives in the process. The aim is simply to offer emergency management agencies the opportunity to step back and rethink their overall approach to the challenge they face in the light of the impacts of climate change.

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Problem-solving courts appear to achieve outcomes that are not common in mainstream courts. There are increasing calls for the adoption of more therapeutic and problem-solving practices by mainstream judges in civil and criminal courts in a number of jurisdictions, most notably in the United States and Australia. Currently, a judge who sets out to exercise a significant therapeutic function is likely to be doing so in a specialist court or jurisdiction, outside the mainstream court system, and arguably, outside the adversarial paradigm itself. To some extent, this work is tolerated but marginalised. However, do therapeutic and problem-solving functions have the potential to help define, rather than simply complement, the role of judicial officers? The core question addressed in this thesis is whether the judicial role could evolve to be not just less adversarial, but fundamentally non-adversarial. In other words, could we see—or are we seeing—a juristic paradigm shift not just in the colloquial, casual sense of the word, but in the strong, worldview changing sense meant by Thomas Kuhn? This thesis examines the current relationship between adversarialism and therapeutic jurisprudence in the context of Kuhn’s conception of the transition from periods of ‘normal science’, through periods of anomaly and disciplinary crises to paradigm shifts. It considers whether therapeutic jurisprudence and adversarialism are incommensurable in the Kuhnian sense, and if so, what this means for the relationship between the two, and for the agenda to mainstream therapeutic jurisprudence. The thesis asserts that Kuhnian incommensurability is, in fact, a characteristic of the relationship between adversarialism and therapeutic jurisprudence, but that the possibility of a therapeutic paradigm shift in law can be reconciled with many adversarial and due process principles by relating this incommensurability to a broader disciplinary matrix.

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Public policymakers are caught in a dilemma : there is a growing list of urgent issues to address, at the same time that public expenditure is being cut. Adding to this dilemma is a system of government designed in the 19th century and competing theories of policymaking dating back to the 1950s. The interlinked problems of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation are cases in point. As the climate changes, there will be more frequent, intense and/or prolonged disasters such as floods and bushfires. Clearly a well integrated whole of government response is needed, but how might this be achieved? Further, how could academic research contribute to resolving this dilemma in a way that would produce something of theoretical interest as well as practical outcomes for policymakers? These are the questions addressed by our research via a comparative analysis of the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods. Our findings suggest that there is a need to: improve community engagement and communication; refocus attention on resilience; improve interagency communication and collaboration; and, develop institutional arrangements that support continual improvement and policy learning. These findings have implications for all areas of public policy theory and practice.

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Emergency management and climate change adaptation will increasingly challenge all levels of government because of three main factors. First, Australia is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, particularly through the increasing frequency and/or intensity of disasters such as floods and bushfires. Second, the system of government that divides powers by function and level can often act as a barrier to a well-integrated response. Third, policymaking processes struggle to cope with such complex inter-jurisdictional issues. This paper discusses these factors and explores the nature of the challenge for Australian governments. Investigations into the 2009 Victorian bushfires, the 2011 Perth Hills bushfires, and the 2011 Brisbane floods offer an indication of the challenges ahead and it is argued that there is a need to: improve community engagement and communication; refocus attention on resilience; improve interagency communication and collaboration; and, develop institutional arrangements that support continual improvement and policy learning. These findings offer an opportunity for improving responses as well as a starting point for integrating disaster risk management and climate change adaptation policies. The paper is based on the preliminary findings of an NCCARF funded research project: The Right Tool for the Job – Achieving climate change adaptation outcomes through improved disaster management policies, planning and risk management strategies involving Griffith University and RMIT.

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The study aimed to examine shiftworkers fatigue and the longitudinal relationships that impact on fatigue such as team climate, work life conflict, control of shifts and shift type in shift working nurses. We used a quantitative survey methodology and analysed data with a moderated hierarchical multiple regression. After matching across two time periods 18 months apart, the sample consisted of 166 nurses from one Australian hospital. Of these nurses, 61 worked two rotating day shifts (morning & afternoon/evening) and 105 were rotating shiftworkers who worked three shifts (morning afternoon/evening and nights). The findings suggest that control over shift scheduling can have significant effects on fatigue for both two-shift and three-shift workers. A significant negative relationship between positive team climate and fatigue was moderated by shift type. At both Time 1 and Time 2, work life conflict was the strongest predictor of concurrent fatigue, but over time it was not.

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OBJECTIVES To determine whether the seroprevalence of antibodies to varicella zoster virus (VZV) in adults is similar to that reported in tropical populations elsewhere. METHODS We measured the seroprevalence of VZV IgG antibodies, using an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in women attending an antenatal clinic in an urban centre in tropical Australia. RESULTS The overall seroprevalence of VZV antibodies in 298 women was 92% (95% CI 88-95), with no difference between women who spent their childhoods in the tropics and colleagues. None of the overseas-born women was seronegative. CONCLUSION The seroprevalence of VZV antibodies in this tropical population in Australia is as high as that reported from temperate regions, suggesting that social and cultural factors and population mobility are more important determinants of age distribution of VZV immunity than tropical climate.

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It is certain that there will be changes in environmental conditions across the globe as a result of climate change. Such changes will require the building of biological, human and infrastructure resilience. In some instances, the building of such resilience will be insufficient to deal with extreme changes in environmental conditions and legal frameworks will be required to provide recognition and support for people relocating as a result of environmental change. International legal frameworks do not currently recognise or assist people displaced as a result of environmental factors. The objective of this chapter is to examine the areas of international law relevant to displacement arising from environmental factors, consider some of the proposed climate displacement instruments and suggest the most suitable international institution to host a program addressing climate displacement. In order to determine the most appropriate institution to address and regulate climate displacement, it is imperative to consider issues of governance. This paper seeks to examine this issue and determine whether it is preferable to place climate displacement programs into existing international legal frameworks, or whether it is necessary to regulate this area in an entirely new institution specifically designed to deal with the complex and cross-cutting issues surrounding the topic...

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Background: Thromboxane synthase (TXS) metabolises prostaglandin H2 into thromboxanes, which are biologically active on cancer cells. TXS over-expression has been reported in a range of cancers, and associated with a poor prognosis. TXS inhibition induces cell death in-vitro, providing a rationale for therapeutic intervention. We aimed to determine the expression profile of TXS in NSCLC and if it is prognostic and/or a survival factor in the disease. Methods: TXS expression was examined in human NSCLC and matched controls by western analysis and IHC. TXS metabolite (TXB 2) levels were measured by EIA. A 204-patient NSCLC TMA was stained for COX-2 and downstream TXS expression. TXS tissue expression was correlated with clinical parameters, including overall survival. Cell proliferation/survival and invasion was examined in NSCLC cells following both selective TXS inhibition and stable TXS over-expression. Results: TXS was over-expressed in human NSCLC samples, relative to matched normal controls. TXS and TXB 2levels were increased in protein (p < 0.05) and plasma (p < 0.01) NSCLC samples respectively. TXS tissue expression was higher in adenocarcinoma (p < 0.001) and female patients (p < 0.05). No significant correlation with patient survival was observed. Selective TXS inhibition significantly reduced tumour cell growth and increased apoptosis, while TXS over-expression stimulated cell proliferation and invasiveness, and was protective against apoptosis. Conclusion: TXS is over-expressed in NSCLC, particularly in the adenocarcinoma subtype. Inhibition of this enzyme inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis. Targeting thromboxane synthase alone, or in combination with conventional chemotherapy is a potential therapeutic strategy for NSCLC. © 2011 Cathcart et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.