Book Review: The Rights of Refugees Under International Law

This article is a book review of James C Hathaway The Rights of Refugees Under International Law (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2005) (1200 pages) NZ$155. In the belief that a comprehensive text on the position of refugees under international law was lacking, Hathaway has produced a book seeking to explore the nexus between human rights and refugee rights at international law, and to argue for a dynamic and purposive interpretation of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Sims praises the book's accessibility, although it is conceded by Hathaway that the book will quickly be out of date due to the area of law undergoing rapid change. Nonetheless, Sims concludes that the book is comprehensive and remains a good place to start research. By linking refugee rights to international human rights law, Hathaway provides a stronger normative basis for arguing for the continued protection of refugees under international law.&nbsp

A Chemo-enzymatic Route Towards Nucleoside Triphosphate Synthesis

Nucleoside 5’-triphosphates (NTPs) are ubiquitous throughout the natural world. As such investigations into their interactions within organisms is essential. Cur- rently, commercially available NTPs are expensive due to the synthetic challenges associated with the formation of phosphoanhydride bonds. Chemo-enzymatic approaches to NTP synthesis are readily applicable to natu- rally occuring NTPs, as such these methods have gained traction over recent years. We have investigated a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK H122G) mediated chemo-enzymatic method for the phosphorylation of nucleoside- 5’-diphosphates (NDPs), using phosphoimidazole as a phosphoryl donor. We developed a synthetic route and a purification procedure, which allowed for the production and partial purification of phosphoimidazole using inexpensive chemical precursors. The opti- misation investigations undertaken during the development of the phosphoimidazole synthetic protocol resulted in an increase in phosphoimidazole production from 45% to 55% in the crude reaction solution. Optimisation of the purification procedure led to the production of phosphoimidazole of 98% purity. NDPK H122G catalysed phosphorylation reactions of adenosine 5’-diphosphate (ADP), were investigated over a range of conditions. The effect of both acetoni- trile and imidazole impurities on the total conversion of ADP to adenosine 5’- triphosphate (ATP) was investigated. It was found that both acetonitrile and imi- dazole impurities prompted a decrease in the % conversion to ATP of 17% and 22%, respectively. The effect of phosphoimidazole concentration on the initial rate of phosphorylation and total % conversion after 24 h was also investigated. The initial rate of phosphorylation and the % conversion to ATP after 24 h, were both found to increase with the initial concentration of phosphoimidazole. Initial phosphoimi- dazole concentrations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 mM were investigated; total % conversion to ATP after 24 h was found to be 12%, 14%, 30% and 43%, the initial rate of phosphorylation was 0.752 × 108, 1.263 × 108, 1.627 × 108 and 2.588 × 108 M s−1, respectively. The kinetics of the NDP phosphorylation reactions were monitored using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Phosphorylation of ADP was moni- tored on a SUPELCOSIL-LC-18-T reversed-phase analytical column, while GDP phosphorylation was monitored on a SIELC-Primesep SB mixed mode analytical column. Protocols were developed for both of the columns to ensure that the nu- cleotides had significant retentions times and the peaks were well separated with little tailing

Looking back at the IGC-ISI India development policy conference

The IGC Growth Week is due to take place at the London School of Economics 23rd-25th September and will feature research on India and South Asia. To give an insight into the work of the IGC’s India Central programme, India At LSE rounds up some of the research presentations at last month’s IGC-ISI India Development Policy Conference in Delhi

The polypill: An effective approach to increasing adherence and reducing cardiovascular event risk

Background Despite a wide range of medications being available for the prevention of cardiovascular events such as stroke, myocardial infarction and mortality in both a primary and secondary setting, patient adherence to complex therapy regimens involving different drug classes remains low worldwide. Combining antiplatelet, antihypertensive, lipid-lowering and potentially further drugs into one ‘polypill’ has the potential to increase adherence, thereby reducing risk factors to a greater extent and for a longer duration. The World Health Organization has recently highlighted increased adherence as a key development need for reducing cardiovascular disease. Methods Recent clinical trial data regarding adherence, reductions in cardiovascular risk and outcomes, safety and tolerability and the cost-effectiveness of the polypill approach are summarised and reviewed. In addition, ongoing trials and the questions they intend to answer are considered. References were retrieved from a PubMed literature search (date range 1990–2016) using the terms ‘polypill’, ‘cardiovascular events’ and ‘adherence’, and selected based on relevance. The website www.clinicaltrials.gov was also consulted for the identification of ongoing trials. Conclusions To date, the polypill approach has been conclusively shown to increase adherence relative to usual care in all patients, with those in a primary care setting or with poor baseline adherence potentially standing to benefit most. Concomitant risk factor reductions have also been suggested. However, whether this translates into a reduction in cardiovascular events and generates good cost-effectiveness in a given healthcare environment is currently under further investigation

Using nonfat milk solids. Part III, Yeast bread and rolls

Cover title

Targeting of Rac GTPases blocks the spread of intact human breast cancer

High expression of Rac small GTPases in invasive breast ductal carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis, but its therapeutic value in human cancers is not clear. The aim of the current study was to determine the response of human primary breast cancers to Rac-based drug treatments ex vivo. Three-dimensional organotypic cultures were used to assess candidate therapeutic avenues in invasive breast cancers. Uniquely, in these primary cultures, the tumour is not disaggregated, with both epithelial and mesenchymal components maintained within a three-dimensional matrix of type I collagen. EHT 1864, a small molecule inhibitor of Rac GTPases, prevents spread of breast cancers in this setting, and also reduces proliferation at the invading edge. Rac1+ epithelial cells in breast tumours also contain high levels of the phosphorylated form of the transcription factor STAT3. The small molecule Stattic inhibits activation of STAT3 and induces effects similar to those seen with EHT 1864. Pan-Rac inhibition of proliferation precedes down-regulation of STAT3 activity, defining it as the last step in Rac activation during human breast cancer invasion. Our data highlights the potential use of Rac and STAT3 inhibition in treatment of invasive human breast cancer and the benefit of studying novel cancer treatments using three-dimensional primary tumour tissue explant cultures

Promoting children\u27s social and emotional wellbeing in childcare centers within low socioeconomic areas: strategies, facilitators and challenges

Althought childcare centres have a vital role to play in the social and emotional development of children, the strategies used to promote children’s wellbeing in such settings are not well researched. This study aimed to identify the strategies, facilitators and key challenges for promoting children’s social and emotional wellbeing as reported by childcare directors and workers during semi-structured interviews. They reported mainly informal strategies with few formalised policies, curricula or strategies. Staff reported frequent difficulties communicating with parents and/or children due to many families speaking little or no English. Lack of staff training and inadequate resources for activities were other key challenges they identified. Perceived facilitators included staff having strong relationships with each other and sharing a common philosophy, as well as having an open door policy for parents. Systematic development of skills to promote children’s social and emotional wellbeing could help leverage childcare staff’s potential to promote children’s wellbeing during a crucial stage of child development

The Iowa Homemaker vol.9, no.8

Home Economics in Great Britain by Marguerite Stotts Hopkins, page 1 Farm and Home Week by Nellie Goethe, Ph. D., page 2 Intelligent Buying by Frances A. Sims, page 3 Miss Vigor’s Journal by Margaret Wichman, page 4 Living on $10 a Month by Thelma Carlson, page 5 4-H Club by Helen Melton, page 6 State Association by Marcia E. Turner, page 8 Editorial News, page 11 Alumnae News by Dorothy B. Anderson, page 1

Proportional contributions to organic chemical mixture effects in groundwater and surface water

Semi-quantitative GC-MS and LC-MS measurements of organic chemicals in groundwater and surface waters were used to assess the overall magnitude and contribution of the most important substances to calculated mixture hazard. Here we use GC-MS and LC-MS measurements taken from two separate national monitoring programs for groundwater and surface water in England, in combination with chronic species sensitivity distribution (SSD) HC50 values published by Posthuma et al. (2019, Environ. Toxicol. Chem, 38, 905–917) to calculate individual substance hazard quotients and mixture effects using a concentration addition approach. The mixture analysis indicated that, as anticipated, there was an increased hazard from the presence of a cocktail of substances at sites compared to the hazard for any single chemical. The magnitude of the difference between the hazard attributed to the most important chemical and the overall mixture effect, however, was not large. Thus, the most toxic chemical contributed ≥ 20% of the calculated mixture effect in >99% of all measured groundwater and surface water samples. On the basis of this analysis, a 5 fold assessment factor placed on the risk identified for any single chemical would offer a high degree of in cases where implementation of a full mixture analysis was not possible. This finding is consistent with previous work that has assessed chemical mixture effects within field monitoring programs and as such provides essential underpinning for future policy and management decisions on how to effectively and proportionately manage mixture risks