Chaoulli v. Québec (Attorney General): Understanding Provincial Reactions to the Decision

This thesis focuses on provincial reactions to the Supreme Court decision on 5 June 2005, Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General). In this decision, the Court struck down the government of Québec’s ban on private insurance for publicly-insured services, on the grounds it violated the Québec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, while the decision on the Canadian Charter ended in a 3:3 tie with one abstention. It is the purpose of this research to examine the reactions of each provincial government to the decision in an attempt to understand why each province responded in its chosen manner. In order to make this determination, four hypotheses were constructed in order to test four separate variables: court interference, current law, ideology, and political calculation. These hypotheses were tested against provincial reactions in the media, legislatures, court documents, and E-mail administered questionnaires. This research finds that each hypothesis had some success in predicting provincial reactions to the decision, with a government’s current law and ideology proving to be the most accurate predictors. Based on the evidence gathered, three conclusions were arrived at: first, a government’s law and its ideology will often predict how a government will behave; second, that governments are open to Supreme Court decisions in the area of health care, and, finally, that if provincial governments were to make the decision to increase the role of the private sector in health care, political leaders would require public opinion be in support of such a decision rather than act solely on an ideological predisposition to greater private sector involvement

Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation after human cold pain testing

Abstract. Changes in cold temperature sensitivity are often associated with chronic pain conditions. Progress in understanding the neurobiological mechanism underlying these changes and resulting development of effective therapies has been slowed by the accessibility and affordability of devices used to measure thermal sensitivity in humans. To address this gap, we developed an inexpensive method to measure cold pain thresholds in healthy adult volunteers using dry ice and a thermode. However, early in preliminary testing, a subject presented with epidermal postinflammatory hyperpigmentation that lasted for >200 days. Although this response was unique among the small number of subjects in development of the assay, it raised questions as to the safety of the assay design

Biguanide iridium(III) complexes with potent antimicrobial activity

We have synthesized novel organoiridium(III) antimicrobial complexes containing a chelated biguanide, including the antidiabetic drug metformin. These 16- and 18-electron complexes were characterized by NMR, ESI-MS, elemental analysis, and X-ray crystallography. Several of these complexes exhibit potent activity against Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria (including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) and high antifungal potency toward C. albicans and C. neoformans, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) in the nanomolar range. Importantly, the complexes exhibit low cytotoxicity toward mammalian cells, indicating high selectivity. They are highly stable in broth medium, with a low tendency to generate resistance mutations. On coadministration, they can restore the activity of vancomycin against vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE). Also the complexes can disrupt and eradicate bacteria in mature biofilms. Investigations of reactions with biomolecules suggest that these organometallic complexes deliver active biguanides into microorganisms, whereas the biguanides themselves are inactive when administered alone

Spectroscopic detection of quasars in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey

The 100,000 spectra from the 2 degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) in the 100k Public Data Release represent the largest single compilation of galaxy spectra available. By virtue of its sheer size and the properties of the photometric catalogue that defines the sample, the 2dFGRS is expected to contain a number of potentially interesting objects other than galaxies. A search of the spectra in the 100k Data Release results in a census of 55 candidate high-redshift (z > 0.3) quasars. One additional 2dFGRS spectrum of a low-redshift galaxy shows an apparent anomalous broad emission feature perhaps indicating the presence of a gravitationally lensed quasar. These objects have been identified primarily using two automated routines that we have developed specifically for this task, one of which uses a matched filter and the other a wavelet transform. A number of the quasar images possess complicated morphologies, suggesting the presence of either diffuse foreground objects along the line-of-sight or very nearby point sources. The quasar catalogue will form a target list for future absorption and lensing studies, as well as providing an assessment of the loss of quasars with non-stellar images from the companion 2dF QSO Redshift Survey.Comment: Latex 13 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Combatting AMR : photoactivatable ruthenium(ii)-isoniazid complex exhibits rapid selective antimycobacterial activity

The novel photoactive ruthenium(II) complex cis-[Ru(bpy)2(INH)2][PF6]2 (1·2PF6, INH = isoniazid) was designed to incorporate the anti-tuberculosis drug, isoniazid, that could be released from the Ru(II) cage by photoactivation with visible light. In aqueous solution, 1 rapidly released two equivalents of isoniazid and formed the photoproduct cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2]2+ upon irradiation with 465 nm blue light. We screened for activity against bacteria containing the three major classes of cell envelope: Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis, Gram-negative Escherichia coli, and Mycobacterium smegmatis in vitro using blue and multi-colored LED multi-well arrays. Complex 1 is inactive in the dark, but when photoactivated is 5.5× more potent towards M. smegmatis compared to the clinical drug isoniazid alone. Complementary pump-probe spectroscopy measurements along with density functional theory calculations reveal that the mono-aqua product is formed in <500 ps, likely facilitated by a 3MC state. Importantly, complex 1 is highly selective in killing mycobacteria versus normal human cells, towards which it is relatively non-toxic. This work suggests that photoactivatable prodrugs such as 1 are potentially powerful new agents in combatting the global problem of antibiotic resistance

Herschel-ATLAS/GAMA: A difference between star formation rates in strong-line and weak-line radio galaxies

We have constructed a sample of radio-loud objects with optical spectroscopy from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) project over the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (Herschel-ATLAS) Phase 1 fields. Classifying the radio sources in terms of their optical spectra, we find that strong-emission-line sources ('high-excitation radio galaxies') have, on average, a factor of ~4 higher 250-μm Herschel luminosity than weak-line ('lowexcitation') radio galaxies and are also more luminous than magnitude-matched radio-quiet galaxies at the same redshift. Using all five H-ATLAS bands, we show that this difference in luminosity between the emission-line classes arises mostly from a difference in the average dust temperature; strong-emission-line sources tend to have comparable dust masses to, but higher dust temperatures than, radio galaxies with weak emission lines. We interpret this as showing that radio galaxies with strong nuclear emission lines are much more likely to be associated with star formation in their host galaxy, although there is certainly not a one-to-one relationship between star formation and strong-line active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity. The strong-line sources are estimated to have star formation rates at least a factor of 3-4 higher than those in the weak-line objects. Our conclusion is consistent with earlier work, generally carried out using much smaller samples, and reinforces the general picture of high-excitation radio galaxies as being located in lower-mass, less evolved host galaxies than their low-excitation counterparts.Peer reviewe

Development of a networked photonic‐enabled staring radar testbed for urban surveillance

Urban surveillance of slow-moving small targets such as drones and birds in low to medium airspace using radar presents significant challenges. Detecting, locating and identifying such low observable targets in strong clutter requires both innovation in radar hardware design and optimisation of processing algorithms. To this end, the University of Birmingham (UoB) has set-up a testbed of two L-band staring radars to support performance benchmarking using datasets of target and clutter from realistic urban environment. This testbed is also providing the vehicle to understand how novel radar architectures can enhance radar capabilities. Some of the challenges in installing the radar at the UoB campus are highlighted. Detailed benchmarking results are provided from urban monostatic and bistatic field trials that form the basis for performance comparison against future hardware modification. The solution to the challenge of interfacing the radar to the external oscillators is described and stand-alone bench tests with the candidate oscillators are reported. The testbed provides a valuable capability to undertake detailed analysis of performance of Quantum photonic-enabled radar and allows for its comparison with conventional oscillator technology for surveillance of low observable targets in the presence of urban clutter

Thiol-Activated HNO release from a ruthenium antiangiogenesis complex and HIF-1α inhibition for cancer therapy

Metallonitrosyl complexes are promising as nitric oxide (NO) donors for the treatment of cardiovascular, endothelial, and pathogenic diseases, as well as cancer. Recently, the reduced form of NO– (protonated as HNO, nitroxyl, azanone, isoelectronic with O2) has also emerged as a candidate for therapeutic applications including treatment of acute heart failure and alcoholism. Here, we show that HNO is a product of the reaction of the RuII complex [Ru(bpy)2(SO3)(NO)]+ (1) with glutathione or N-acetyl-L-cysteine, using met-myoglobin and carboxy-PTIO (2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide) as trapping agents. Characteristic absorption spectroscopic profiles for HNO reactions with met-myoglobin were obtained, as well as EPR evidence from carboxy-PTIO experiments. Importantly, the product HNO counteracted NO-induced as well as hypoxia-induced stabilization of the tumor-suppressor HIF-1α in cancer cells. The functional disruption of neovascularization by HNO produced by this metallonitrosyl complex was demonstrated in an in vitro angiogenesis model. This behavior is consistent with HNO biochemistry and contrasts with NO-mediated stabilization of HIF-1α. Together, these results demonstrate for the first time thiol-dependent production of HNO by a ruthenium complex and subsequent destabilization of HIF-1α. This work suggests that the complex warrants further investigation as a promising antiangiogenesis agent for the treatment of cancer

Spin-labelled photo-cytotoxic diazido platinum(iv) anticancer complex

We report the synthesis and characterisation of the nitroxide spin-labelled photoactivatable Pt(IV) prodrug trans,trans,trans-[Pt(N3)2(OH)(OCOCH2CH2CONH-TEMPO)(Py)2] (Pt-TEMPO, where TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine 1-oxyl). Irradiation with blue visible light gave rise to Pt(II) and azidyl as well as nitroxyl radicals. Pt-TEMPO exhibited low toxicity in the dark, but on photoactivation was as active towards human ovarian cancer cells as the clinical photosensitizer chlorpromazine and much more active than the anticancer drug cisplatin under the conditions used

Paired windward and leeward biogeochemical time series reveal consistent surface ocean CO₂ trends across the Hawaiian Ridge

Sustained time series have provided compelling evidence for progressive acidification of the surface oceans through exchange with the growing atmospheric reservoir of carbon dioxide. However, few long-term programs exist, and extrapolation of results from one site to larger oceanic expanses is hampered by the lack of spatial coverage inherent to Eulerian sampling. Since 1988, the Hawaii Ocean Time-series program has sampled CO₂ system variables nearly monthly at Station ALOHA, a deep ocean site windward and 115 km north of the island of Oahu. Surface measurements have also been made at Station Kahe, a leeward site 12 km from the island and on the opposite side of the Hawaiian Ridge. Despite having different physical settings, the sites exhibit identical rates of surface pCO₂ increase and hydrogen ion accumulation, suggesting that atmospheric forcing dominates over local dynamics in determining the CO₂ trend in the surface waters of the North Pacific subtropical gyre