Sustaining Development Through Biodiversity Offsets

Biodiversity offsets, also called “environmental offsets”, are actions used to compensate for the loss of biodiversity and social values associated with development projects. They are commonly used by governments to contribute to ecologically sustainable development (ESD); however, offsets have been criticised for inappropriate use, poor implementation, and inadequate monitoring, reporting and enforcement. Regardless, use of offsets is likely to increase due to regulatory convenience in easing community discomfort with development impacts. This thesis investigated how biodiversity offsets in Australia can be enhanced to align with ESD principles. Analyses of peer-reviewed journal articles, published reports, media articles and legislative instruments for biodiversity offsets across Australian jurisdictions was used to determine requirements, similarities, equity, effectiveness and transparency in application. These analyses were then used to develop a model for biodiversity offsets that balances the three key aspects of ESD (environmental, social, economic). A comparison of policy and legislation in Australian jurisdictions found inconsistency and gaps in equity, transparency, measurability and effectiveness. Furthermore, Australian Commonwealth offset requirements were not improved (mature) after implementation of a biodiversity offset policy in October 2012. These learnings and further review were used to identify that cost and risk considerations, and use of strategic planning frameworks, bonds and advanced offsets, were key to improving offset use for ESD. Inclusion of conservation trust funds to deliver biodiversity offsets aligned with ESD principles, made the offsets model developed in this thesis suitable in areas with a paucity of available land. Finally, assignment of responsibilities, coupled with interchangeability of roles and a focus on collaboration, was found to be important for ensuring offsets are efficient, ethical, robust and strategic. While this research has been developed in an Australian context, the findings have broader applicability globally, with the ability to address nature positive requirements and international commitments to protect biodiversity and minimise climate change

Biodiversity offsets can be a valuable tool in achieving sustainable development: Developing a holistic model for biodiversity offsets that incorporates environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development

The interpretation and use of biodiversity offsets in planning and development is a contentious issue because they rarely encompass each of the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. While currently agreed best practice for biodiversity offsets includes consideration of scope, scale, location, timing and duration, and monitoring, current literature on these components does not consider all aspects of sustainable development. Furthermore, much of the current agreed best practice focusses on the design of biodiversity offsets, without consideration of ongoing management or end-of-life. This manuscript reviews current best practice for biodiversity offsets, giving consideration to the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. In particular, we report that consideration of cost and risk is key and the use of planning frameworks, bonds and advanced offsets could mitigate these risks and allow for long-term success. Following this approach, a holistic model for design, implementation and ongoing management of direct biodiversity offsets that balances all aspects of sustainable development is presented

The expression of brown fat associated proteins in colorectal cancer and the relationship of uncoupling protein 1 with prognosis

© 2019 UICC Funding Innovate UK, NHS Grampian endowment funds and Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd. Acknowledgements The immunohistochemistry was performed with the support of the Grampian Biorepository (www.biorepository.nhsgrampian.org/). The antibodies were developed in collaboration with Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd (www.vertebrateantibodies.com) from whom they are now available commercially.Peer reviewedPostprin

The impact of interactions, bars, bulges, and AGN on star formation efficiency in local massive galaxies

Using observations from the GASS and COLD GASS surveys and complementary data from SDSS and GALEX, we investigate the nature of variations in gas depletion time observed across the local massive galaxy population. The large and unbiased COLD GASS sample allows us to assess the relative importance of galaxy interactions, bar instabilities, morphologies and the presence of AGN in regulating star formation efficiency. Both the H2 mass fraction and depletion time vary as a function of the distance of a galaxy from the main sequence in the SFR-M* plane. The longest gas depletion times are found in below-main sequence bulge-dominated galaxies that are either gas-poor, or else on average less efficient than disk-dominated galaxy at converting into stars any cold gas they may have. We find no link between AGN and these long depletion times. The galaxies undergoing mergers or showing signs of morphological disruptions have the shortest molecular gas depletion times, while those hosting strong stellar bars have only marginally higher global star formation efficiencies as compared to matched control samples. Our interpretation is that depletion time variations are caused by changes in the ratio between the gas mass traced by the CO(1-0) observations, and the gas mass in high density star-forming cores, with interactions, mergers and bar instabilities able to locally increase pressure and raise the ratio of efficiently star-forming gas to CO-detected gas. Building a sample representative of the local massive galaxy population, we derive a global Kennicutt-Schmidt relation of slope 1.18+/-0.24, and observe structure within the scatter around this relation, with galaxies having low (high) stellar mass surface densities lying systematically above (below) the mean relation, suggesting that gas surface density is not the only parameter driving the global star formation ability of a galaxy.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

COLD GASS, an IRAM legacy survey of molecular gas in massive galaxies: I. Relations between H2, HI, stellar content and structural properties

We are conducting COLD GASS, a legacy survey for molecular gas in nearby galaxies. Using the IRAM 30m telescope, we measure the CO(1-0) line in a sample of ~350 nearby (D=100-200 Mpc), massive galaxies (log(M*/Msun)>10.0). The sample is selected purely according to stellar mass, and therefore provides an unbiased view of molecular gas in these systems. By combining the IRAM data with SDSS photometry and spectroscopy, GALEX imaging and high-quality Arecibo HI data, we investigate the partition of condensed baryons between stars, atomic gas and molecular gas in 0.1-10L* galaxies. In this paper, we present CO luminosities and molecular hydrogen masses for the first 222 galaxies. The overall CO detection rate is 54%, but our survey also uncovers the existence of sharp thresholds in galaxy structural parameters such as stellar mass surface density and concentration index, below which all galaxies have a measurable cold gas component but above which the detection rate of the CO line drops suddenly. The mean molecular gas fraction MH2/M* of the CO detections is 0.066+/-0.039, and this fraction does not depend on stellar mass, but is a strong function of NUV-r colour. Through stacking, we set a firm upper limit of MH2/M*=0.0016+/-0.0005 for red galaxies with NUV-r>5.0. The average molecular-to-atomic hydrogen ratio in present-day galaxies is 0.3, with significant scatter from one galaxy to the next. The existence of strong detection thresholds in both the HI and CO lines suggests that "quenching" processes have occurred in these systems. Intriguingly, atomic gas strongly dominates in the minority of galaxies with significant cold gas that lie above these thresholds. This suggests that some re-accretion of gas may still be possible following the quenching event.Comment: Accepted for publications in MNRAS. 32 pages, 25 figure

PTF10iya: A short-lived, luminous flare from the nuclear region of a star-forming galaxy

We present the discovery and characterisation of PTF10iya, a short-lived (dt ~ 10 d, with an optical decay rate of ~ 0.3 mag per d), luminous (M_g ~ -21 mag) transient source found by the Palomar Transient Factory. The ultraviolet/optical spectral energy distribution is reasonably well fit by a blackbody with T ~ 1-2 x 10^4 K and peak bolometric luminosity L_BB ~ 1-5 x 10^44 erg per s (depending on the details of the extinction correction). A comparable amount of energy is radiated in the X-ray band that appears to result from a distinct physical process. The location of PTF10iya is consistent with the nucleus of a star-forming galaxy (z = 0.22405 +/- 0.00006) to within 350 mas (99.7 per cent confidence radius), or a projected distance of less than 1.2 kpc. At first glance, these properties appear reminiscent of the characteristic "big blue bump" seen in the near-ultraviolet spectra of many active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, emission-line diagnostics of the host galaxy, along with a historical light curve extending back to 2007, show no evidence for AGN-like activity. We therefore consider whether the tidal disruption of a star by an otherwise quiescent supermassive black hole may account for our observations. Though with limited temporal information, PTF10iya appears broadly consistent with the predictions for the early "super-Eddington" phase of a solar-type star disrupted by a ~ 10^7 M_sun black hole. Regardless of the precise physical origin of the accreting material, the large luminosity and short duration suggest that otherwise quiescent galaxies can transition extremely rapidly to radiate near the Eddington limit; many such outbursts may have been missed by previous surveys lacking sufficient cadence.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; revised following referee's comment

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Convalescent plasma in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised controlled, open-label, platform trial

SummaryBackground Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatoryactions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19.Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospitalwith COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients wererandomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once perday by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatmentgroups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment andwere twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants andlocal study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to theoutcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treatpopulation. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936.Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) wereeligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomlyallocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall,561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days(rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days(rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, nosignificant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilationor death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24).Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or otherprespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restrictedto patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Apples for oranges: Disparities in offset legislation and policy among jurisdictions and its implications for environmental protection and sustainable development in Australia

As a signatory to Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (including the Sustainable Development Goals) and the Convention on Biological Diversity, Australia has an international obligation to ensure sustainable development. Biodiversity offsets are one tool used by Australian regulators to allow development to continue, whilst ensuring international obligations for sustainable development are met. In this study, legislation, policy and published guidelines for the Australian Commonwealth, states and territories were analysed to determine if the application of biodiversity offsets was consistent with the principles of sustainable development (environmentally, socially, economically) and if the allowance of biodiversity offsets in different jurisdictions created gaps in biodiversity and environmental protection across Australia. Regulation of biodiversity offsets was found to be inconsistent between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, with most jurisdictions having less than 50% similarity. This inconsistency in offset policy and legislation between jurisdictions could lead to loss of biodiversity. Additionally, jurisdictions did not adequately consider the social and economic aspects of sustainability in relation to biodiversity offsets, meaning that, through the allowance of biodiversity offsets, Australia may not be meeting their international obligations related to sustainable development. Further legislative development for biodiversity offsets is required in Australia to improve environmental protection and to adequately consider all aspects of sustainability. The Council of Australian Governments is a mechanism that could be used to ensure all jurisdictions consider the aspects of sustainability consistently in relation to biodiversity offsets