Regulating dogs, goats, companions and their humans 1898-1998: modern to post-modern pets?

Franklin and White (2001) present the results of a content analysis on animal-related stories in the Tasmanian newspaper, The Mercury, over the period 1949-1998. The research was designed to test the thesis presented in Franklin\u27s (1999) earlier publication. In summary, Franklin (1999) links the characteristics of a post or late-modern society, ontological insecurity, misanthropy and risk-reflexivity with their manifestations in animal-human relations. Based on Franklin\u27s, and others, research pet owners are creating much more specific sentimental connections with their dogs and cats. This contrasts with how dogs and cats are regulated increasingly as a threat in need of control. In NSW pets, now \u27companion animals\u27, are regulated via many prohibitions on where they can be and what they can do in a given area. Using the characteristics of post -modern human-animal relations described by Franklin, as Franklin and White (2001) did, this paper examines the changes in the legislative regulation in New South Wales, over the period 1898-1998, of pets and their humans to see if they indicate a shift to a post-modern society. The acts to be considered are the Dog and Goat Act (NSW) 1898, the Dog Act (NSW) 1966 and the Companion Animal Act (NSW) 1998

The impact of the European Construction Products Directive on UK construction product manufacturers

The research is based on the European Directive aimed at harmonising standards for construction products. Harmonised standards remove technical barriers to trade allowing manufacturers to sell their products anywhere in the European Economic Area (EEA) provided the product complies with the standard and has affixed the CE marking. This should lead to greater competition in all EEA markets. A review of relevant literature covered three distinct areas; developments of the European Union and the Construction Products Directive (CPD), the UK construction industry and materials sector and strategic management concentrating on market barriers and entry strategies. The research combined these areas together by investigating the impact of the CPD on the UK construction product manufacturers specifically considering the strategic decisions of the UK brick industry. As there was little previous empirical research into this area, data was generated through exploratory interviews with manufacturers and bodies involved with the UK implementation of the Directive, through a self-completion postal questionnaire survey with manufacturers from six product groups and by a case study approach used to examine the UK brick industry. The research demonstrated that the Directive is having little impact to date on the strategic decisions of UK construction product manufacturers. Also, there are a disturbing number of producers that were not aware of the Directive and its possible implications. By applying previous research findings to the UK brick industry, conclusions were drawn highlighting the specific nature of this industry and identifying specific characteristics that influence its competitiveness. The Directive and the UK brick industry have never previously been examined in such a manner and areas for further research have been suggested

Analysing Delay Impact from Potential Risk Factors on Project Delivery of Oil and Gas Pipeline: A Case Study in Iraq

The aim of this paper is to present the design and specifications of an integrated Delay Analysis Framework (DAF), which could be used to quantify the delay caused by the Risk Factors (RFs) in Oil and Gas Pipelines (OGPs) projects in a simple and systematic way. The main inputs of the DAF are (i) the potential list of RFs in the projects and their impact levels on the projects and the estimated maximum and minimum duration of each task. Monte Carlo Simulation integrated within @Risk simulator was the key process algorithm that used to quantify the impact of delay caused by the associated RFs. The key output of the DAF is the amount of potential delay caused by RFs in the OGP project. The functionalities of the developed DAF were evaluated using a case study of newly developed OGP project, in the south of Iraq. It is found that the case study project might have delayed by 45 days if neglected the consideration of the RFs associated with the project at the construction stage. The paper concludes that identifying the associated RFs and analysing the potential delay in advance will help in reducing the construction delay and improving the effectiveness of the project delivery by taking suitable risk mitigation measures. 

Analyzing Stakeholders' Perceptions of the Critical Risk Factors in Oil and Gas Pipeline Projects

Currently, there are enormous Risk Factors (RFs) threating the safety of Oil and Gas Pipelines (OGPs) at all stages of projects. However, there is a lack of information about the root causes of pipeline failures and an absence of trusted data about the "probability and severity" levels of the RFs; this hinders the risk management in such projects. To improve the safety level of OGPs, this paper aims to explore stakeholders' perceptions about pipeline failures issues to analyze the RFs and recommend effective Risk Mitigation Methods (RMMs). Due to the lack of trusted data about the RFs and RMMs, this paper started with extensive investigations to identify the critical RFs and the applied RMMs in OGP projects in different circumstances. The findings of these investigations were used to design a questionnaire survey, which was distributed to analyze the "probability and severity" levels of the RFs and evaluate the "usability and effectiveness" degrees of the suggested RMMs. The survey results revealed that RFs related to Third-Party Disruption (TPD) including sabotage and terrorism, corruption and insecure areas are the most severe RFs. Additionally, based on the survey some RMMs such as anti-corrosion efforts, laying the pipelines underground and using technologically advanced risk-monitoring systems were found to be effective RMMs. These results were found to be varied based on the stakeholders' occupation in the projects; for example, the overall survey results indicated that terrorism and sabotage is the most critical RF, while the planners and the researchers identified corruption as the most critical one. It was also observed that using anti-corrosion measures such as isolation and cathodic protection would be the most effective RMM, while the other stakeholders have different perceptions like moving the pipelines underground an advanced risk-monitoring system are the most effective RMMs as indicated by the consultant, planner or designer and researches respectively

How the EAT-Lancet commission report 'Food in the Anthropocene' influenced discourse and research on food systems: a systematic review covering the first two years post-publication

In 2019, the EAT–Lancet Commission's report on food in the Anthropocene presented a planetary heath diet to improve health while reducing the environmental effect of food systems globally. We assessed EAT–Lancet's immediate influence on academic research and debate by conducting a systematic review of articles citing the Commission and others published from January, 2019, to April, 2021. The Commission influenced methods, results, or discourse for 192 (7·5%) of 2560 citing articles, stimulating cross-disciplinary research and debate across life sciences (47%), health and medical sciences (42%), and social sciences (11%). Sentiment analysis of 76 critiquing articles indicated that opinions were, on average, more positive than negative. Positive sentiments centred on benefits for informing policy, public health, and raising public awareness. Negative sentiments included insufficient attention to socioeconomic dimensions, feasibility, and environmental effects other than emissions. Empirical articles predominantly evaluated the effects of changed diets or food production on the environment and wellbeing (29%), compared current diets with EAT–Lancet recommendations (12%), or informed future policy and research agendas (20%). Despite limitations in EAT–Lancet's method, scope, and implementation feasibility, the academic community supported these recommendations. A broad suite of research needs was identified focusing on the effects of food processing, socioeconomic and political drivers of diet and health, and optimising consumption or production for environment and health

Integrated farm management for sustainable agriculture:lessons for knowledge exchange and policy

As a response to the environmentally and socially destructive practices of post-war mechanization and intensification, the concept of sustainable agriculture has become prominent in research, policy, and practice. Sustainable agriculture aims to balance the economic, environmental, and social aspects of farming, creating a resilient farming system in the long-term. Over the last few decades, various concepts have been used in research and policy to encourage the adoption of sustainable practices. Within such a congested space, this paper assesses the value of ‘integrated farm management’ as a concept for the promotion of sustainable agriculture. The concept is the subject of renewed policy interest in England and Wales and it is also being promoted in Europe. Previous research, however, has suggested that integrated farm management may not be well understood or widely practised. There are also criticisms that it can be impractical and poorly differentiated from similar ideas. As such, renewed insights are required into how useful the concept might be for encouraging sustainable agriculture. Using a mixed methods approach, we gathered the views of farmers, farm advisors, and industry representatives about integrated farm management in England and Wales, and interpreted these through a theoretical framework to judge the strength of the concept. Overall, the general principles of Integrated Farm Management were found to be coherent and familiar to most of our respondents. However, the concept performed poorly in terms of its resonance, simplicity of message, differentiation from other similar terms and theoretical utility. We reflect on our findings in the context of other ways to promote sustainable agriculture, drawing out messages for policy and knowledge exchange in England and Wales, as well as elsewhere.This research was funded as part of Defra's Sustainable Intensification Platform (Project Code LM0201). In addition, WJS was funded by Arcadia, LVD was funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council partly under the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service Sustainability (BESS) programme, grant codes NE/K015419/1 and NE/N014472/1

A Mammalian Target of Rapamycin-Perilipin 3 (mTORC1-Plin3) Pathway is essential to Activate Lipophagy and Protects Against Hepatosteatosis

[Background and Aims] NAFLD is the most common hepatic pathology in western countries and no treatment is currently available. NAFLD is characterized by the aberrant hepatocellular accumulation of fatty acids in the form of lipid droplets (LDs). Recently, it was shown that liver LD degradation occurs through a process termed lipophagy, a form of autophagy. However, the molecular mechanisms governing liver lipophagy are elusive. Here, we aimed to ascertain the key molecular players that regulate hepatic lipophagy and their importance in NAFLD.[Approach and Results] We analyzed the formation and degradation of LD in vitro (fibroblasts and primary mouse hepatocytes), in vivo and ex vivo (mouse and human liver slices) and focused on the role of the autophagy master regulator mammalian target of rapamycin complex (mTORC) 1 and the LD coating protein perilipin (Plin) 3 in these processes. We show that the autophagy machinery is recruited to the LD on hepatic overload of oleic acid in all experimental settings. This led to activation of lipophagy, a process that was abolished by Plin3 knockdown using RNA interference. Furthermore, Plin3 directly interacted with the autophagy proteins focal adhesion interaction protein 200 KDa and autophagy-related 16L, suggesting that Plin3 functions as a docking protein or is involved in autophagosome formation to activate lipophagy. Finally, we show that mTORC1 phosphorylated Plin3 to promote LD degradation.[Conclusions] These results reveal that mTORC1 regulates liver lipophagy through a mechanism dependent on Plin3 phosphorylation. We propose that stimulating this pathway can enhance lipophagy in hepatocytes to help protect the liver from lipid-mediated toxicity, thus offering a therapeutic strategy in NAFLD.Supported by C0120R3166, C0245R4032, and BH182173 from Newcastle University. M. G.-M. is a Sara Borrell Postdoctoral fellow (CD18/00203) from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain). J. P. B. is funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, grants PID2019-105699RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and RED2018-102576-T, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CB16/10/00282), Junta de Castilla y León (Escalera de Excelencia CLU-2017-03), Ayudas Equipos Investigación Biomedicina 2017 Fundación BBVA, and Fundación Ramón Areces. V. I. K. acknowledges support from Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/M023389/1, BB/R008167/1, BBPeer reviewe

cRel expression regulates distinct transcriptional and functional profiles driving fibroblast matrix production in systemic sclerosis

Objectives: NF-κB regulates genes that control inflammation, cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. Dysregulated NF-κB signalling alters normal skin physiology and deletion of cRel limits bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis. This study investigates the role of cRel in modulating fibroblast phenotype in the context of SSc. Methods: Fibrosis was assessed histologically in mice challenged with bleomycin to induce lung or skin fibrosis. RNA sequencing and pathway analysis was performed on wild type and Rel-/- murine lung and dermal fibroblasts. Functional assays examined fibroblast proliferation, migration and matrix production. cRel overexpression was investigated in human dermal fibroblasts. cRel immunostaining was performed on lung and skin tissue sections from SSc patients and non-fibrotic controls. Results: cRel expression was elevated in murine lung and skin fibrosis models. Rel-/- mice were protected from developing pulmonary fibrosis. Soluble collagen production was significantly decreased in fibroblasts lacking cRel while proliferation and migration of these cells was significantly increased. cRel regulates genes involved in extracellular structure and matrix organization. Positive cRel staining was observed in fibroblasts in human SSc skin and lung tissue. Overexpression of constitutively active cRel in human dermal fibroblasts increased expression of matrix genes. An NF-κB gene signature was identified in diffuse SSc skin and nuclear cRel expression was elevated in SSc skin fibroblasts. Conclusion: cRel regulates a pro-fibrogenic transcriptional programme in fibroblasts that may contribute to disease pathology. Targeting cRel signalling in fibroblasts of SSc patients could provide a novel therapeutic avenue to limit scar formation in this disease

Sulfatase-2 from Cancer Associated Fibroblasts: An Environmental Target for Hepatocellular Carcinoma?

Introduction: Heparin sulphate proteoglycans in the liver tumour microenvironment (TME) are key regulators of cell signalling, modulated by sulfatase-2 (SULF2). SULF2 overexpression occurs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our aims were to define the nature and impact of SULF2 in the HCC TME. Methods: In liver biopsies from 60 patients with HCC, expression and localization of SULF2 were analysed associated with clinical parameters and outcome. Functional and mechanistic impacts were assessed with immunohistochemistry (IHC), in silico using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TGCA), in primary isolated cancer activated fibroblasts, in monocultures, in 3D spheroids, and in an independent cohort of 20 patients referred for sorafenib. IHC targets included αSMA, glypican-3, β-catenin, RelA-P-ser536, CD4, CD8, CD66b, CD45, CD68, and CD163. SULF2 impact of peripheral blood mononuclear cells was assessed by migration assays, with characterization of immune cell phenotype using fluorescent activated cell sorting. Results: We report that while SULF2 was expressed in tumour cells in 15% (9/60) of cases, associated with advanced tumour stage and type 2 diabetes, SULF2 was more commonly expressed in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) (52%) and independently associated with shorter survival (7.2 vs. 29.2 months, p = 0.003). Stromal SULF2 modulated glypican-3/β-catenin signalling in vitro, although in vivo associations suggested additional mechanisms underlying the CAF-SULF2 impact on prognosis. Stromal SULF2 was released by CAFS isolated from human HCC. It was induced by TGFβ1, promoted HCC proliferation and sorafenib resistance, with CAF-SULF2 linked to TGFβ1 and immune exhaustion in TGCA HCC patients. Autocrine activation of PDGFRβ/STAT3 signalling was evident in stromal cells, with the release of the potent monocyte/macrophage chemoattractant CCL2 in vitro. In human PBMCs, SULF2 preferentially induced the migration of macrophage precursors (monocytes), inducing a phenotypic change consistent with immune exhaustion. In human HCC tissues, CAF-SULF2 was associated with increased macrophage recruitment, with tumouroid studies showing stromal-derived SULF2-induced paracrine activation of the IKKβ/NF-κB pathway, tumour cell proliferation, invasion, and sorafenib resistance. Conclusion: SULF2 derived from CAFs modulates glypican-3/β-catenin signalling but also the HCC immune TME, associated with tumour progression and therapy resistance via activation of the TAK1/IKKβ/NF-κB pathway. It is an attractive target for combination therapies for patients with HCC