Population-level interventions to reduce alcohol-related harm: an overview of systematic reviews.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse available review-level evidence on the effectiveness of population-level interventions in non-clinical settings to reduce alcohol consumption or related health or social harm. METHOD: Health, social policy and specialist review databases between 2002 and 2012 were searched for systematic reviews of the effectiveness of population-level alcohol interventions on consumption or alcohol-related health or social outcomes. Data were extracted on review research aim, inclusion criteria, outcome indicators, results, conclusions and limitations. Reviews were quality-assessed using AMSTAR criteria. A narrative synthesis was conducted overall and by policy area. RESULTS: Fifty-two reviews were included from ten policy areas. There is good evidence for policies and interventions to limit alcohol sale availability, to reduce drink-driving, to increase alcohol price or taxation. There is mixed evidence for family- and community-level interventions, school-based interventions, and interventions in the alcohol server setting and the mass media. There is weak evidence for workplace interventions and for interventions targeting illicit alcohol sales. There is evidence of the ineffectiveness of interventions in higher education settings. CONCLUSION: There is a pattern of support from the evidence base for regulatory or statutory enforcement interventions over local non-regulatory approaches targeting specific population groups

Planning, implementation and effectiveness in Indigenous health reform

The Planning, Implementation and Effectiveness in Indigenous Health Reform (PIE) project, funded by the Lowitja Institute and the Australian Research Council, carried out by the University of Melbourne, arose from concerns by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that despite the importance of participation and investment in collaborative governance, little research focused on capturing current practice and identifying best practice is being done. The advent of the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) and the Indigenous Health National Partnership Agreements (IHNPAs) has led to further development/application of collaborative approaches to governance through committees and forums at national, State and regional levels. The activities associated with these committees and forums are referred to throughout this report as collaborative governance. This report focuses on building the evidence base around best practice based on case studies of collaborative governance in relation to the NIRA. A policy brief highlighting the policy recommendations of this report is also available

Optimization of a scalable single-use manufacturing platform for expansion of high quality human mesenchymal stem cells

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) isolated from various tissues represent the most highly utilized cell type for cell therapy and regenerative medicine applications. Given that large numbers of high quality cells are required for many applications and that large surface area requirement for cell expansion is necessary, a search for a practical manufacturing platform for cell expansion has been ongoing over the last decade. Feasibility studies have demonstrated the utility of using microcarrriers in dynamic cultures for expansion of hMSCs and the results have positioned this technology as the platform of choice for the cost-effective generation of cells. Microcarrier cultures performed in fully closed single-use systems provide a cGMP-compliant platform for cell expansion and are a logical extension of traditional manufacturing technologies. However the use of high quality cell banks and bioprocess medium in these platforms significantly impacts overall performance. In addition, development of methods to reproducibly harvest and concentrate cells expanded on microcarriers in closed systems is critical. We have developed a rapid and robust manufacturing platform that enables reproducible expansion and harvest of 28 billion hMSCs from a one passage fed-batch microcarrier culture in a single use reactor seed train in only 8 days. Our system reproducibly achieves hMSC media productivity of \u3e 500M cells/L of media consumed. Data will be presented from experiments using sterile microcarriers (Pall SoloHill) in single use bioreactors (Pall Corp) with high volume hMSC seed stock and a fed-batch bioprocess medium (RoosterBio), including quality parameters related to identity flow markers, angiogenic cytokine secretion profile, multi-lineage differentiation, and inducible immunomodulatory functions. This system has the potential to be rapidly implemented at multiple sites enabling product developers to quickly produce tens of billions of high quality hMSCs for Regenerative Medicine product development programs

Three-Dimensional Camera Calibration Technique for Stereo Imaging Velocimetry Experiments

A three-dimensional camera calibration technique is developed by combining two, 2-D camera calibrations for an orthogonal stereo viewing geometry. The left camera view (YZ view) and the right camera view (XZ view) are calibrated separately and then combined to produce an XYZ (3-D) calibration routine, Our technique employs three parallel calibration planes. One is placed along the main diagonal of the cubic experimental chamber, and the other two planes are placed known distances in front of it and behind it within the chamber. Both cameras view the calibration points on the planes simultaneously. Given the coordinates of a number of points, we use a physical model to determine the exact pixel locations of the calibration points. After inverting the model equations, we input the absolute coordinates and measured pixel locations into a least-squares fitting algorithm to obtain the experimental camera parameters for each camera individually, We then combine the two camera views via a ray-tracing method. We calibrated 3-in.(3) (7.62-mm(3)), 4-in.(3) (10.16-mm(3)), 5-in.(3) (12.70-mm(3)), and 6-in.(3) (15.24-mm(3)) chambers with accuracies between 1.66 and 2.01 pixels (0.60 and 0.77% of full field), 1.26 and 1.86 pixels (0.43 and 0.63% of full field), 1.16 and 1.34 pixels (0.33 and 0.39% of full field), and 1.91 and 2.49 pixels (0.59 and 0.77% of full field), respectively, using our 3-D camera calibration routine. (C) 1997 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

Three-Dimensional Camera Calibration Technique for Stereo Imaging Velocimetry Experiments

A three-dimensional camera calibration technique is developed by combining two, 2-D camera calibrations for an orthogonal stereo viewing geometry. The left camera view (YZ view) and the right camera view (XZ view) are calibrated separately and then combined to produce an XYZ (3-D) calibration routine, Our technique employs three parallel calibration planes. One is placed along the main diagonal of the cubic experimental chamber, and the other two planes are placed known distances in front of it and behind it within the chamber. Both cameras view the calibration points on the planes simultaneously. Given the coordinates of a number of points, we use a physical model to determine the exact pixel locations of the calibration points. After inverting the model equations, we input the absolute coordinates and measured pixel locations into a least-squares fitting algorithm to obtain the experimental camera parameters for each camera individually, We then combine the two camera views via a ray-tracing method. We calibrated 3-in.(3) (7.62-mm(3)), 4-in.(3) (10.16-mm(3)), 5-in.(3) (12.70-mm(3)), and 6-in.(3) (15.24-mm(3)) chambers with accuracies between 1.66 and 2.01 pixels (0.60 and 0.77% of full field), 1.26 and 1.86 pixels (0.43 and 0.63% of full field), 1.16 and 1.34 pixels (0.33 and 0.39% of full field), and 1.91 and 2.49 pixels (0.59 and 0.77% of full field), respectively, using our 3-D camera calibration routine. (C) 1997 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

Critiquing The Crit – the influence of technology and creative professional practice on the 21st Century peer learning environment.

This paper explores the importance of the group critique in practice-based arts education and how it is evolving through the digital age citing the development of the College of Arts Digital Crit Room at the University of Lincoln. Through the observation of how the rapid development of technology has potentially impacted negatively upon the usage of the traditional art and design ‘studio’, the Digital Crit Room project identified how technology may have threatened teaching practices that are critically reliant on a ‘studio culture’ with peer learning at their centre. Laptops, wireless and mobile technology have encouraged and enabled students to study and create anywhere, but a critical place of peer learning is potentially being eroded. One of the most effective forms of peer learning in practice-based arts subjects is ‘the crit’ in which students display their work alongside each other’s so that criticism, discussion, comparison and feedback can be offered. The crit is a vital part of arts learning and teaching, offering live feedback from students and staff alike on work-in- progress or completed creative work, but given the potential erosion of the studio where else can this pedagogically valuable activity take place? Through the definition of a set of design values to inform the creation of a ‘destination’ learning environment that felt different to other learning spaces on campus, the project team researched into the working environments of the creative industries and compared them to the design of the usual higher education learning spaces. Informed by this activity, the College of Arts Digital Crit Room was created as a new learning space with participatory learning at its heart, that reflected the working behaviours and environments of the professional creative industries