Transitioning to low carbon communities - from behaviour change to systemic change: Lessons from Australia

Transitioning to low carbon communities requires an understanding of community practices and resultant emissions, as well as the technologies, infrastructures and institutions associated with and accessed by communities. Moreover, it requires an understanding of the connections between these integrated system components, its dynamics, a defined transition and potential 'levers' involved in 'transitioning'. This paper accepts the notion that 'levers' include programmes designed to achieve practice or behaviour change in households which result in less carbon intensive lifestyles, and focuses on the factors that shape human behaviour and influence householder energy consumption. Research to date by the authors and others indicates that a comprehensive socio-technical framework that considers both individual psychological factors as well as the systems, standards and norms under which individuals operate is fundamental to the development of successful strategies to shift towards low carbon communities. A database has been compiled of over one hundred local programmes aimed at realising carbon neutral communities across Australia largely through approaches to behaviour change. This paper presents the findings of an analysis of these programmes, particularly with regard to the extent to which they take account of a socio-technical framework or understanding of domestic consumption behaviours and whether they are aware of or aim to influence changing standards and expectations around consumption practices within the home. While a number of exemplary community-based programmes adopt an integrated approach to addressing both technical and behavioural dimensions in the shift to low carbon communities, it was found that most fail to take sufficient account of the systems, standards and norms shaping consumption. Conclusions include directions for policy and programme design based on the study findings

Participatory futures methods: towards adaptability and resilience in climate-vulnerable communities

This paper points to the value of broadening the palette of approaches to climate change futures beyond the dominant methods of empiricist predictive trends and expert scenarios. The first half of the paper contextualizes the climate change discourse within the field of futures studies and explores potential points of dialogue between a number of futures approaches and the most prominent of the climate protection work. The second half of the paper introduces a case study of community based participatory approaches involving community scenario writing and community visioning, which enacts a collaborative engagement between futures researchers and climate-vulnerable communities. However, any participatory futures method chosen to facilitate climate change adaptation must be context aware in both its design and implementation if it is to facilitate adaptability and resilience in climate-vulnerable communitie

Pilot service evaluation of a brief psychological therapy for self-harm in an emergency department: Hospital Outpatient Psychotherapy Engagement Service

© 2020 The Authors. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society Background: Brief psychological therapies may be helpful for people who have recently self-harmed. The current paper reports on a service evaluation of a novel brief therapy service based within an Emergency Department, Hospital Outpatient Psychotherapy Engagement (HOPE) Service. This service combines elements of psychodynamic interpersonal and cognitive analytic therapy to help people who present with self-harm-related difficulties. The primary aim of this service evaluation was to ascertain the feasibility of HOPE in terms of attendance rates. The study also examined variables associated with engagement, and change over time in psychological distress for those attending the service. Method: The HOPE service was evaluated over a ten-month period. Consenting patients completed measures of psychological distress and working alliance across four therapy sessions and one follow-up session. Measures of emotion regulation style and self-harm function were also completed at the point of referral. Results: Eight-nine patients were referred to the service (83 eligible referrals). Fifty-three (64%) attended at least one therapy session. Baseline variables did not distinguish people who attended and people who did not. Psychological distress decreased significantly across the sessions. Most people reported a good working alliance with their therapist. Conclusions: The results of this service evaluation support the feasibility of the HOPE service, demonstrating good engagement rates given the complexity of the population and context. Whilst there was evidence of reductions in distress, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine if HOPE has clinical efficacy. Practitioner points: Rates of engagement with HOPE suggest the service is feasible in an Emergency Department context Working alliance scores were positive for the majority of patients The HOPE service shows promise as a brief intervention for people who self-harm but requires further evaluation Randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the clinical efficacy of the HOPE service

Systemic Inflammation and Reperfusion Injury in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction

Despite early recanalization of an occluded infarct artery, tissue reperfusion remains impaired in more than one-third of the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients owing to a process of reperfusion injury. The role of systemic inflammation in triggering this phenomenon is unknown. Proinflammatory factors (hs-CRP, TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory mediators (IL-1 receptor antagonist, IL-10) were measured in 65 patients during the acute phase of a myocardial infarction as well as in 11 healthy control subjects. Myocardial reperfusion injury was defined as the presence of persistent ST-segment elevation despite successful coronary intervention (≥ 50% of the initial value) and was observed in 28 patients. Systemic proinflammatory mediators (particularly hs-CRP and leukocytes) were higher in AMI patients compared to control subjects. Within the group of AMI patients, only serum TNF-α differed significantly between patients with versus without reperfusion injury: a median value of 25 versus 13 pg/mL was observed, respectively. Logistic regression analysis identified a high level of TNF-α as the most important independent determinant of reperfusion injury (P = .001), beyond total ischemic time (P = .01) and extent of jeopardized myocardium (P = .08). There was no correlation between the TNF-α level and the total ischemic time (P = .8) or the extent of jeopardized myocardium (P = .6). Systemic inflammation, in particular high levels of TNF-α, is strongly associated with the occurrence of reperfusion injury after successful recanalization. Our findings suggest that TNF-α is involved in the triggering and/or amplification of local inflammatory responses related to ischemia-reperfusion injury

Improving the efficacy of selenium fertilizers for wheat biofortification

© 2019, The Author(s). Increasing the selenium (Se) concentration of staple crops by fertilization is a valuable pathway to increase Se in the human diet, thus preventing Se deficiency. A pot trial was set up to investigate whether the application of 3.33 µg kg−1 of Se (equivalent to 10 g ha−1) to wheat can be made more efficient by its co-application with macronutrient carriers, either to the soil or to the leaves. In the soil, Se was applied either on its own (selenate only) or as a granular, Se-enriched macronutrient fertilizer supplying nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium or sulfur. Selenium was also applied to leaves at head emergence with, or without, 2% w/v N fertilizers. With grain Se concentrations varying from 0.13–0.84 mg kg−1, soil application of selenate-only was 2–15 times more effective than granular Se-enriched macronutrient fertilizers in raising grain Se concentrations. Co-application of foliar Se with an N carrier doubled the Se concentration in wheat grains compared to the application of foliar Se on its own, the majority of which was in the highly bioavailable selenomethionine fraction. Results from this study demonstrate the possibility of improving the efficacy of Se fertilizers, which could enrich crops with Se without additional application costs in the field

Post-transplant cholangiopathy:Classification, pathogenesis, and preventive strategies

Biliary complications are the most frequent cause of morbidity, re-transplantation, and even mortality after liver transplantation. In general, biliary leakage and anastomotic and non-anastomotic biliary strictures (NAS) can be recognized. There is no consensus on the exact definition of NAS and different names and criteria have been used in literature. We propose to use the term post-transplant cholangiopathy for the spectrum of abnormalities of large donor bile ducts, that includes NAS, but also intraductal casts and intrahepatic biloma formation, in the presence of a patent hepatic artery. Combinations of these manifestations of cholangiopathy are not infrequently found in the same liver and ischemia-reperfusion injury is generally considered the common underlying mechanism. Other factors that contribute to post-transplant cholangiopathy are biliary injury due to bile salt toxicity and immune-mediated injury. This review provides an overview of the various types of post-transplant cholangiopathy, the presumed pathogenesis, clinical implications, and preventive strategies

A perspective: Regeneration of soft and hard tissues in the oral cavity, from research to clinical practice

Regenerative medicine has gained much attention and has been a hot topic in all medical fields since its inception, and dentistry is no exception. However, innovations and developments in basic research are sometimes disconnected from daily clinical practice. This existing gap between basic research and clinical practice can only be addressed with improved communication between clinicians, academicians, industry, and researchers to facilitate the advance of evidence-based therapies and procedures and to direct research to areas of clinical need. In this perspective, six participants with strong clinical and research interests debated five previously conceived questions. These questions covered current methods and procedures for soft and hard tissue regeneration in the oral cavity with predictable outcomes, limitations of their respective protocols, and needs for future development of regenerative materials and technologies

Effect of soil properties on time-dependent fixation (ageing) of selenate

© 2020 Elsevier B.V. Previous biofortification studies have established that the residual effect of added selenium (Se) fertilisers on second-season crops is minimal. To explore the fate of exogenous Se in soil, chemical and biological methods were employed to assess the change in Se bioavailability with time. Eight soils varying in physicochemical properties were spiked with sodium selenate (0.5 mg kg−1 Se) and incubated at 25 °C for different periods (1, 30, 60, 90 and 300 d). At the end of the incubation, soil Se was fractionated by a sequential extraction procedure into ‘soluble’, ‘adsorbed’ and ‘organically-bound’ Se fractions. Simultaneously, wheat was grown in the Se-aged soils, under controlled conditions for six weeks, and uptake was determined. A general decrease in Se solubility over time was observed, but the rate of decrease varied depending on soil type. A reversible first order model fitted the Se ageing kinetics well, except in an Oxisol. The most pronounced ageing was observed in calcareous soils. Concentrations of Se in the shoots of wheat grown in freshly spiked soils ranged from 71.8 ± 17.5 mg kg−1 in calcareous soils to 110 ± 31.6 mg kg−1 in non-calcareous, low-OM soils. With ageing, shoot Se concentrations decreased t

Using 77Se-Labelled Foliar Fertilisers to Determine How Se Transfers Within Wheat Over Time

Foliar selenium (Se) fertilisation has been shown to be more efficient than soil-applied fertilisation, but the dynamics of absorption and translocation have not yet been explored. An experiment was undertaken to investigate time-dependent changes in the absorption, transformation, and distribution of Se in wheat when 77Se-enriched sodium selenate (Sefert) was applied to the leaves at a rate of 3.33 μg Se per kg soil (equivalent to 10 g ha−1) and two growth stages, namely stem elongation, Zadoks stage 31/32 (GS1), and heading stage, Zadoks stage 57 (GS2). The effect of urea inclusion in foliar Se fertilisers on the penetration rates of Se was also investigated. Wheat was harvested at 3, 10, and 17 days and 3, 10, and 34 days after Se applications at GS1 and GS2, respectively. Applying foliar Se, irrespective of the formulation, brought grain Se concentration to a level high enough to be considered adequate for biofortification. Inclusion of N in the foliar Se solution applied at an early growth stage increased recoveries in the plants, likely due to improved absorption of applied Se through the young leaves. At a later growth stage, the inclusion of N in foliar Se solutions was also beneficial as it improved the assimilation of applied inorganic Se into bioavailable selenomethionine, which was then rapidly translocated to the grain. The practical knowledge gained about the optimisation of Se fertiliser formulation, method, and timing of application will be of importance in refining biofortification programs across different climatic regimes