Cases before International Courts and Tribunals concerning Questions of Public International Law Involving Australia 2020

In the year 2020, Australia’s engagement with international law was oriented around several key areas. In relation to the International Criminal Court (‘ICC’), Australia submitted amicus curiae observations relating to the Court’s jurisdiction over Palestine. In addition, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor published its decision not to further investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed by Australian officials against asylum seekers and refugees in offshore detention centres. Australia also closely watched the proceedings in the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) regarding Myanmar’s alleged breaches of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (‘Genocide Convention’). Australia also had an active year in the sphere of international trade disputes, with several matters in the World Trade Organization

Cases before Australian Courts and Tribunals Concerning Questions of Public International Law 2020

This article summarises Australian cases from 2020, with a focus on the relevance of international law. In the year 2020, international treaties and United Nations (‘UN’) declarations were considered by Australian courts in several key areas, including: the status of Aboriginal Australians under the Constitution; discrimination claims; and migration decisions, particularly those involving deportation due to criminal conduct (that is, cases involving so-called ‘crimmigration’ law). International law was also relevant in Australian cases concerning the human rights implications of COVID-19 restrictions, with the Victorian Supreme Court observing that ‘[h]uman rights are not suspended during states of emergency or disaster’.The publication of the ‘Brereton Report’ — which documents potential war crimes by members of the Australian Defence Force (‘ADF’) in Afghanistan — underscored the relevance of both international humanitarian law and international criminal law to our own military personnel

Ruffle: helend spelen

Being ill, treatment at health centres causes anxiety and stress with children. This has a negative effect on their wellbeing, healing process and more important, their cognitive, motoric and social development. The goal of this thesis is to describe a set of generic properties for the built environment to reduce this negative effect by stimulating the imagination of children, aged 3 to 6 years. The generic properties are derived from the analyses of spatial elements, present during activities, in which the imagination is active: playing and perceiving art. Through play they develop their motoric, social and cognitive skills, including their imagination. In addition, not all children in healthcare institutions are able to play, therefore also perceiving art is studied. Through observations at different play areas and the (spatial) analyses of these areas, playgrounds (designed by Aldo van Eyck), fantasy worlds of children and different artworks a set of properties is determined; a place which stimulates the imagination must be created by the composition of different elements. In this composition their scale, number, variety and interrelationship are taken into account. Each of these elements can be described by their properties: height & planar differences, contrast, whether they can exists of loose materials, can be manipulated or that they support enclosure. The composition of these elements and the abstraction of their shape creates a framework of information. Certain aspects are visible and other aren’t. This results in the stimulation of the imagination. These results are translated into a design tool and forms the starting point for the design of a treatment and prevention centre for obese or overweight children. Obesity is a problem which has increased the past few years and probably will become bigger. This centre is located in Zuidwijk, Rotterdam. The percentage of children with obesity is higher in this area than in other parts of Rotterdam or The Netherlands. This centre exists of a treatment centre, sport centre and restaurant. The centre doesn’t only focus on the treatment of children, but also on the prevention and the promotion of a healthy life style of the children, their families and the neighbourhoodArchitecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Explorela

Pharmacomicrobiomics: a novel route towards personalized medicine?

ABSTRACT Inter-individual heterogeneity in drug response is a serious problem that affects the patient’s wellbeing and poses enormous clinical and financial burdens on a societal level. Pharmacogenomics has been at the forefront of research into the impact of individual genetic background on drug response variability or drug toxicity, and recently the gut microbiome, which has also been called the second genome, has been recognized as an important player in this respect. Moreover, the microbiome is a very attractive target for improving drug efficacy and safety due to the opportunities to manipulate its composition. Pharmacomicrobiomics is an emerging field that investigates the interplay of microbiome variation and drugs response and disposition (absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion). In this review, we provide a historical overview and examine current state-of-the-art knowledge on the complex interactions between gut microbiome, host and drugs. We argue that combining pharmacogenomics and pharmacomicrobiomics will provide an important foundation for making major advances in personalized medicine

RUNX1 is required in granulocyte-monocyte progenitors to attenuate inflammatory cytokine production by neutrophils

The transcription factor RUNX1 is mutated in familial platelet disorder with associated myeloid malignancy (FPDMM) and in sporadic myelodysplastic syndrome and leukemia. RUNX1 was shown to regulate inflammation in multiple cell types. Here we show that RUNX1 is required in granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs) to epigenetically repress two inflammatory signaling pathways in neutrophils: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and type I interferon (IFN) signaling. RUNX1 loss in GMPs augments neutrophils' inflammatory response to the TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide through increased expression of the TLR4 coreceptor CD14. RUNX1 binds Cd14 and other genes encoding proteins in the TLR4 and type I IFN signaling pathways whose chromatin accessibility increases when RUNX1 is deleted. Transcription factor footprints for the effectors of type I IFN signaling-the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT1::STAT2) and interferon regulatory factors (IRFs)-were enriched in chromatin that gained accessibility in both GMPs and neutrophils when RUNX1 was lost. STAT1::STAT2 and IRF motifs were also enriched in the chromatin of retrotransposons that were derepressed in RUNX1-deficient GMPs and neutrophils. We conclude that a major direct effect of RUNX1 loss in GMPs is the derepression of type I IFN and TLR4 signaling, resulting in a state of fixed maladaptive innate immunity.</p