Evaluating drug law enforcement interventions directed towards methamphetamine in Australia

This report presents a preliminary analysis comparing the costs and impacts different types of law enforcement have on methamphetamine use. Methamphetamine belongs in the class of stimulant drugs referred to as Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS). The category of ATS includes ecstasy, amphetamine and methamphetamine. This research project concerned itself with the amphetamine and methamphetamine class and excluded ecstasy (and henceforth we use the generic term methamphetamine). In Australia, methamphetamine is available in three forms—powder, base and crystal. Methamphetamine is associated with significant harms and is an important drug policy priority. The National Amphetamine-Type Stimulants Strategy (2008–2011) articulates the following priority areas in relation to methamphetamine: improve community awareness and understanding of amphetamine-type stimulant use and related problems; reduce the supply of amphetamine-type stimulants; develop specific strategies to prevent and reduce amphetamine type stimulant use; and develop organisational and system capacity to prevent and respond to amphetamine-type stimulant problems This research concerns the second priority area—reducing the supply of methamphetamine. The specific aims of the research were twofold: to provide a rich description of the Australian methamphetamine supply chains in order to inform drug law enforcement interventions; and to conduct an initial economic evaluation comparing law enforcement interventions directed at the methamphetamine market. The work focused on the methamphetamine market(s) and supply chains in Australia above the retail level. Previous research has examined retail methamphetamine markets in Australia. Governments and policymakers are interested in determining which interventions are more or less effective than others, such that the scarce funding resources can be allocated in the most efficient manner possible. There is scant research available to law enforcement to guide such decisions. The main impediments to such research are the fundamental methodological challenges inherent in such an undertaking. This project is an attempt to conduct a preliminary analysis comparing the costs and impacts of different types of law enforcement. It is a ground-breaking study as this has not been previously attempted and it should be seen as the initial development of a methodological approach that can be improved upon with subsequent research. The project aimed to determine the relative cost-to-impact ratios of different law enforcement strategies aimed at reducing methamphetamine production and distribution. In an environment focused on efficiency in resource allocation, it is hoped that this research will provide the impetus for further research on the effectiveness of drug law enforcement. As the results of such research accumulate, it is hoped that policymakers will be able to use the information to improve decision making on law enforcement investment

Valuing the benefits from preserving threatened native fauna and flora from invasive animal pests

Invasive animal pests inflict many kinds of damage on the environment, and threaten native fauna and flora. We attempt to value the benefits from the extra biodiversity that is protected if these threats were removed. The NSW Rural Lands Protection Board is a major agency that undertakes pest control, and is organised into 48 districts across the state. A cross-sectional set of data on Board expenditures, pest abundance, and environmental and climatic characteristics, was compiled by district and analysed. The number of threatened native plant and animal species increases with pest abundance and with the total number of native species present in the district. But the number of threatened species decreases as Board expenditures on pest control increase. The value of preserving an extra species is derived from these changes in expenditure, following conventional economic principles. Then the potential gain in economic surplus is estimated if the threats to biodiversity were removed. The results so far suggest that the value of the total benefit of protecting an extra species is at least $44,250 per year, and the potential gain in surplus for New South Wales if the threats were removed is at least$132m per year. This change in surplus is also the total economic loss because invasive pests threaten native flora and fauna. If only half the native species could be protected, the avoidable economic loss is at least $95.7m per year. The assumptions and limitations of these estimates are discussed.Invasive animal pests, unpriced values, biodiversity gains, native flora and fauna, Environmental Economics and Policy, Political Economy,

Multifactor analysis of specific storage estimates and implications for transient groundwater modelling

Specific storage (S$_S$) has considerable predictive importance in the modelling of groundwater systems, yet little is known about its statistical distribution and dependency on other hydrogeological characteristics. This study provides a comprehensive overview and compiles 430 values of S$_S$ from 183 individual studies, along with complementary hydrogeological information such as estimation methods, lithology, porosity, and formation compressibility. Further evaluation of different approaches to determine and utilize S$_S$ values for numerical groundwater modelling, along with the scale and source of uncertainty of different measurement methods, was carried out. Overall, S$_S$ values range across six orders of magnitude (from 3.2 × 10$^{–9}$ to 6 × 10$^{–3}$ m$^{–1}$) with a geometric mean of 1.1 × 10$^{–5}$ m$^{–1}$ and the majority (> 67%) of values are in the order of 10$^{–5}$ and 10$^{–6}$ m$^{–1}$. High S$_S$ values of ~10$^{–4}$ m$^{–1}$ were reported for glacial till and sandy lithologies, particularly for shallow and thin strata where leakage may obscure the estimation of S$_S$. A parallel assessment of 45 transient regional-scale groundwater models reveals a disconnect between findings of this study and the way S$_S$ is treated in practice, and that there is a lack of foundational S$_S$ data to conduct quantitative uncertainty analysis. This study provides the first probability density functions of S$_S$ for a variety of lithology types based on the field and laboratory tests collated from the literature. Log transformed S$_S$ values follow a Gaussian/normal distribution which can be applied to evaluate uncertainties of modelling results and therefore enhance confidence in the groundwater models that support decision making

Applying laboratory thermal desorption data in an interstellar context: sublimation of methanol thin films

Methods by which experimental measurements of thermal desorption can be applied in astrophysical environments have been developed, using the sublimation of solid methanol as an example. The temperature programmed desorption of methanol from graphitic, amorphous silica and polycrystalline gold substrates was compared, with the kinetic parameters of desorption extracted by either a leading edge analysis or by fitting using a stochastic integration method. At low coverages, the desorption shows a substrate-dependent fractional order. However, at higher coverages methanol desorption is zeroth order with kinetic parameters independent of substrate. Using a kinetic model based on the stochastic integration analyses, desorption under astrophysically relevant conditions can be simulated. We find that the chemical and morphological nature of the substrate has relatively little impact on the desorption temperature of solid methanol, and that the substrate independent zeroth-order kinetics can provide a satisfactory model for desorption in astrophysical environments. Uncertainties in the heating rate and the distribution of grain sizes will have the largest influence on the range of desorption temperature. These conclusions are likely to be generally applicable to all species in dust grain ice mantles

Hepatocyte Growth Factor Modulates Interleukin-6 Production in Bone Marrow Derived Macrophages: Implications for Inflammatory Mediated Diseases

The generation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1β fuel the acute phase response (APR). To maintain body homeostasis, the increase of inflammatory proteins is resolved by acute phase proteins via presently unknown mechanisms. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is transcribed in response to IL-6. Since IL-6 production promotes the generation of HGF and induces the APR, we posited that accumulating HGF might be a likely candidate for quelling excess inflammation under non-pathological conditions. We sought to assess the role of HGF and how it influences the regulation of inflammation utilizing a well-defined model of inflammatory activation, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulation of bone marrow derived macrophages (BMM). BMM were isolated from C57BL6 mice and were stimulated with LPS in the presence or absence of HGF. When HGF was present, there was a decrease in production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6, along with an increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Altered cytokine production correlated with an increase in phosphorylated GSK3β, increased retention of the phosphorylated NFκB p65 subunit in the cytoplasm, and an enhanced interaction between CBP and phospho-CREB. These changes were a direct result of signaling through the HGF receptor, MET, as effects were reversed in the presence of a selective inhibitor of MET (SU11274) or when using BMM from macrophage-specific conditional MET knockout mice. Combined, these data provide compelling evidence that under normal circumstances, HGF acts to suppress the inflammatory response

Identifying a Safe and Just Corridor for People and the Planet

Keeping the Earth system in a stable and resilient state, to safeguard Earth's life support systems while ensuring that Earth's benefits, risks, and related responsibilities are equitably shared, constitutes the grand challenge for human development in the Anthropocene. Here, we describe a framework that the recently formed Earth Commission will use to define and quantify target ranges for a “safe and just corridor” that meets these goals. Although “safe” and “just” Earth system targets are interrelated, we see safe as primarily referring to a stable Earth system and just targets as being associated with meeting human needs and reducing exposure to risks. To align safe and just dimensions, we propose to address the equity dimensions of each safe target for Earth system regulating systems and processes. The more stringent of the safe or just target ranges then defines the corridor. Identifying levers of social transformation aimed at meeting the safe and just targets and challenges associated with translating the corridor to actors at multiple scales present scope for future work

Identifying a Safe and Just Corridor for People and the Planet

Keeping the Earth system in a stable and resilient state, to safeguard Earth's life support systems while ensuring that Earth's benefits, risks, and related responsibilities are equitably shared, constitutes the grand challenge for human development in the Anthropocene. Here, we describe a framework that the recently formed Earth Commission will use to define and quantify target ranges for a “safe and just corridor” that meets these goals. Although “safe” and “just” Earth system targets are interrelated, we see safe as primarily referring to a stable Earth system and just targets as being associated with meeting human needs and reducing exposure to risks. To align safe and just dimensions, we propose to address the equity dimensions of each safe target for Earth system regulating systems and processes. The more stringent of the safe or just target ranges then defines the corridor. Identifying levers of social transformation aimed at meeting the safe and just targets and challenges associated with translating the corridor to actors at multiple scales present scope for future work

A new view of electrochemistry at highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Major new insights on electrochemical processes at graphite electrodes are reported, following extensive investigations of two of the most studied redox couples, Fe(CN)64–/3– and Ru(NH3)63+/2+. Experiments have been carried out on five different grades of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) that vary in step-edge height and surface coverage. Significantly, the same electrochemical characteristic is observed on all surfaces, independent of surface quality: initial cyclic voltammetry (CV) is close to reversible on freshly cleaved surfaces (>400 measurements for Fe(CN)64–/3– and >100 for Ru(NH3)63+/2+), in marked contrast to previous studies that have found very slow electron transfer (ET) kinetics, with an interpretation that ET only occurs at step edges. Significantly, high spatial resolution electrochemical imaging with scanning electrochemical cell microscopy, on the highest quality mechanically cleaved HOPG, demonstrates definitively that the pristine basal surface supports fast ET, and that ET is not confined to step edges. However, the history of the HOPG surface strongly influences the electrochemical behavior. Thus, Fe(CN)64–/3– shows markedly diminished ET kinetics with either extended exposure of the HOPG surface to the ambient environment or repeated CV measurements. In situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the deterioration in apparent ET kinetics is coupled with the deposition of material on the HOPG electrode, while conducting-AFM highlights that, after cleaving, the local surface conductivity of HOPG deteriorates significantly with time. These observations and new insights are not only important for graphite, but have significant implications for electrochemistry at related carbon materials such as graphene and carbon nanotubes

Functional Consequences of the Human Leptin Receptor ( LEPR ) Q223R Transversion

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93715/1/oby.2008.489.pd