The Institutional Relations and Relationships of the United Kingdom Final Court of Appeal; An empirical analysis of the UK's top courts 2007-2011

This thesis conducts a systematic, empirical examination of each of the judgments that arose in the UK final court of appeal in the sessions 2007-2011, covering the transitional period between the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords and the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The aim of the thesis was to establish whether the institutional independence of the court, following the enactment of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, resulted in a more powerful court within the UK constitution. The relative power of the court was gauged by empirically reviewing each of the court's legal and political institutional relationships, together with the administrative efficiency of the court, across the transitional period. The study concludes that the Supreme Court appeared to be a more powerful and assertive institution than its predecessor. The conclusion also highlights the significant effect that the influence of the European Convention of Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights appeared to have on the court's institutional relationships and its administrative efficiency in the time period

Community entomology: insects, science and society

Educative outreach programmes have been found to be effective ways in which to raise awareness around basic scientific concepts. The Biological Control Research Group (BCRG) in the Department of Zoology and Entomology at Rhodes University, South Africa, is involved in community engaged initiatives that aim to be interactive and informative around entomology, and more specifically, the use of biological control against invasive alien plants. As a higher education institution, Rhodes University has a civic responsibility to engage with local communities and work with them around local challenges. Three groups of activities undertaken by the BCRG in partnership with local schools and other community partners are described and assessed in this paper as a way of assessing them and exploring future research areas around the aims and outcomes of these programmes

Adaptation to climate change in the Ontario public health sector

Background: Climate change is among the major challenges for health this century, and adaptation to manage adverse health outcomes will be unavoidable. The risks in Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and alterations to precipitation regimes. Socio-economic-demographic patterns could magnify the implications climate change has for Ontario, including the presence of rapidly growing vulnerable populations, exacerbation of warming trends by heat-islands in large urban areas, and connectedness to global transportation networks. This study examines climate change adaptation in the public health sector in Ontario using information from interviews with government officials. Methods: Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted, four with provincial and federal health officials and 49 with actors in public health and health relevant sectors at the municipal level. We identify adaptation efforts, barriers and opportunities for current and future intervention. Results: Results indicate recognition that climate change will affect the health of Ontarians. Health officials are concerned about how a changing climate could exacerbate existing health issues or create new health burdens, specifically extreme heat (71%), severe weather (68%) and poor air-quality (57%). Adaptation is currently taking the form of mainstreaming climate change into existing public health programs. While adaptive progress has relied on local leadership, federal support, political will, and inter-agency efforts, a lack of resources constrains the sustainability of long-term adaptation programs and the acquisition of data necessary to support effective policies. Conclusions: This study provides a snapshot of climate change adaptation and needs in the public health sector in Ontario. Public health departments will need to capitalize on opportunities to integrate climate change into policies and programs, while higher levels of government must improve efforts to support local adaptation and provide the capacity through which local adaptation can succeed

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Health Care Facilities Resilient to Climate Change Impacts

Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate change risks and adopt adaptive management strategies to be resilient, but guidance tools are lacking. In this study, a toolkit was developed for health care facility officials to assess the resiliency of their facility to climate change impacts. A mixed methods approach was used to develop climate change resiliency indicators to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of a checklist for officials who work in areas of emergency management, facilities management and health care services and supply chain management, a facilitator’s guide for administering the checklist, and a resource guidebook to inform adaptation. Six health care facilities representing three provinces in Canada piloted the checklist. Senior level officials with expertise in the aforementioned areas were invited to review the checklist, provide feedback during qualitative interviews and review the final toolkit at a stakeholder workshop. The toolkit helps health care facility officials identify gaps in climate change preparedness, direct allocation of adaptation resources and inform strategic planning to increase resiliency to climate change

Response of an introduced aquatic predator, the Nile perch, to environmental change

Fishing is a potent ecological force that can impact the density and distribution of fish stocks as well as fitness-related traits. In this thesis I examined eco-phenotypic change in the introduced Nile perch of Lake Nabugabo (East Africa) in response to decades of intense fishing pressure. I quantified temporal (12 years) and spatial variation (wetland vs. exposed habitats) in the a) size, b) catch per unit effort, c) diet, and d) gill morphology of Nile perch, by comparing field data collected in 2007 to earlier studies (1995, 2000 for distribution and diet and 1996 for gill morphology). Nile perch are now less abundant and smaller, and a larger proportion of the population is found near wetlands than in 1995. Relative to open waters, Nile perch near wetlands consume a higher proportion of cichlids, shift to piscivory at a smaller size, and have larger gills. Sustainability of the Nile perch fishery will demand adaptive management that accounts for rapid eco-phenotypic change in the stocks.La pêche est une force écologique puissante qui peut avoir des impacts non seulement sur la densité et la distribution des stocks de poissons mais également sur les traits reliés à la valeur adaptative. Dans cette thèse, j'ai examiné un changement éco-phénotypique en réponse à plusieurs décennies de pêche intensive chez la Perche du Nil, une espèce introduite, dans le lac Nabugabo (Afrique de l'est). J'ai quantifié la variation temporelle (sur 12 ans) et spatiale (milieux humides vs. habitats exposés) de: a) la taille de la Perche du Nil, b) des prises par unité d'effort, c) de la diète, et d) des branchies en comparant les données de terrain récoltées en 2007 avec des données d'études antérieures (1995, 2000 et 1996 pour les branchies). La Perche du Nil est maintenant moins abondante et de taille inférieure comparé à la population échantillonnée en 1995. En 2007, une plus grande proportion de la population se retrouve près des milieux humides comparé à la population en 1995. La Perche du Nil retrouvée près des milieux humides consomme une plus grande proportion de cichlidés, a modifié son régime alimentaire en devenant piscivore à de petite tailles et a développé des branchies plus larges comparé aux Perches retrouvées en milieu pélagique. Pour perpétuer une exploitation durable des stocks de Perche du Nil, les gestionnaires des pêcheries devront s'adapter et tenir compte de ce rapide changement éco-phénotypique dans la population

Health Care Facilities Resilient to Climate Change Impacts

Climate change will increase the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events and create risks that will impact health care facilities. Health care facilities will need to assess climate change risks and adopt adaptive management strategies to be resilient, but guidance tools are lacking. In this study, a toolkit was developed for health care facility officials to assess the resiliency of their facility to climate change impacts. A mixed methods approach was used to develop climate change resiliency indicators to inform the development of the toolkit. The toolkit consists of a checklist for officials who work in areas of emergency management, facilities management and health care services and supply chain management, a facilitator’s guide for administering the checklist, and a resource guidebook to inform adaptation. Six health care facilities representing three provinces in Canada piloted the checklist. Senior level officials with expertise in the aforementioned areas were invited to review the checklist, provide feedback during qualitative interviews and review the final toolkit at a stakeholder workshop. The toolkit helps health care facility officials identify gaps in climate change preparedness, direct allocation of adaptation resources and inform strategic planning to increase resiliency to climate change