Introduction: Mapping Land Use Regulation in the Pacific Rim

This special issue of the Pacific Rim Law and Policy Journal assigned authors the ambitious task of analyzing the range of land use regimes around the Pacific Rim. As the authors and commentators met in October 1997, forest fires engulfed western Indonesia, sending thick smoke throughout Southeast Asia. When Sumatra and Kalimantan caught fire, Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Brunei literally coughed and choked. Vast tracts of forest were destroyed, local and urban dwellers became ill, and lives were lost directly and in transport accidents caused by haze. The question underlying events was whether this environmental disaster was entirely natural, or resulted from forest clearance for logging-possibly illegal, certainly imprudent. Although apparently isolated and local, the forest fires played out in microcosm the ways in which policy choices about regulation of land use extend beyond national boundaries in the Pacific Rim

Business as usual? : instituting markets for carbon credits

Climate change mitigation necessitates substantial alterations to patterns of worldwide economic activity, be that reduction in demand, switches to new technology or 'end-of-pipe' abatement of greenhouse gases. There are profound political, economic and ethical questions surrounding the governance of the means, rate and location of change. Within advanced capitalist economies and internationally through the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change emissions trading systems have been introduced as part of the broader neoliberal attempts to 'correct market failure' through the definition of new property rights.This thesis investigates the development, constitution and consequences of institutions for the production, exchange and consumption of credits for emissions reductions. Such credits are financial instruments awarded to organisations for putative reductions in emissions from 'business as usual'. In consumption, credits are equated with a quantity of emissions released elsewhere. The 'Instituted Economic Process' framework (Randles and Harvey, 2002) is used to distinguish the various classes of agent involved in these exchanges and identify the economic and non-economic relationships that constitute these institutions. Inspired by the economic anthropology of Karl Polanyi, this approach asks how economic activity is organised and stabilised within society without presuming that there are universal economic laws of 'the market', that there are essential properties of commodities and agents, or that all economic transfers are conducted within markets.I argue that crediting is a socially contingent process of commodification of atmospheric pollution which is both ontologically and normatively problematic. Extant institutions are shown to be precarious by appealing to neutral techno-scientific justifications but remaining reliant on subjective judgement. However, they are sufficiently consistent and credible that they persist and expand. These findings are of interest to the academic communities of political economy and environmental and economic geography, climate change policy makers and the environmental movement more broadly.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUK Energy Research Centre (UKERC)GBUnited Kingdo

Adaptive immunity to rhinoviruses: sex and age matter

Background: Rhinoviruses (RV) are key triggers in acute asthma exacerbations. Previous studies suggest that men suffer from infectious diseases more frequently and with greater severity than women. Additionally, the immune response to most infections and vaccinations decreases with age. Most immune function studies do not account for such differences, therefore the aim of this study was to determine if the immune response to rhinovirus varies with sex or age

Short courses of antibiotics for children and adults with bronchiectasis (Review)

BackgroundBronchiectasis is an important cause of respiratory morbidity in both developing and developed countries. Antibiotics are considered standard therapy in the treatment of this condition but it is unknown whether short courses (four weeks or less) are efficacious.ObjectivesTo determine whether short courses of antibiotics (i.e. less than or equal to four weeks) for treatment of acute and stable state bronchiectasis, in adults and children, are efficacious when compared to placebo or usual care.Search methodsThe Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library), MEDLINE, EMBASE, OLDMEDLINE, CINAHL, AMED and PsycINFO and handsearching of respiratory journals and meeting abstracts were performed by the Cochrane Airways Group up to February 2011.Selection criteriaOnly randomised controlled trials were considered. Adults and children with bronchiectasis (defined clinically or radiologically) were included. Patients with cystic fibrosis were excluded.Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently reviewed the titles, abstracts and citations to assess eligibility for inclusion. Only one study fulfilled the inclusion criteria and thus meta-analysis could not be performed.Main resultsThe single eligible study showed a small benefit, when compared to placebo, of four weeks of inhaled antibiotic therapy in adults with bronchiectasis and pseudomonas in their sputum. There were no studies in children and no studies on oral or intravenous antibiotics.Authors\u27 conclusionsThere is insufficient evidence in the current literature to make reasonable conclusions about the efficacy of short course antibiotics in the management of adults and children with bronchiectasis. Until further evidence is available, adherence to current treatment guidelines is recommended

The pesticide adjuvant, Toximul™, alters hepatic metabolism through effects on downstream targets of PPARα

AbstractPrevious studies demonstrated that chronic dermal exposure to the pesticide adjuvant (surfactant), Toximul™ (Tox), has significant detrimental effects on hepatic lipid metabolism. This study demonstrated that young mice dermally exposed to Tox for 12 days have significant increases in expression of peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase (mRNA and protein), bifunctional enzyme (mRNA) and thiolase (mRNA), as well as the P450 oxidizing enzymes Cyp4A10 and Cyp4A14 (mRNA and protein). Tox produced a similar pattern of increases in wild type adult female mice but did not induce these responses in PPARα-null mice. These data support the hypothesis that Tox, a heterogeneous blend of nonionic and anionic surfactants, modulates hepatic metabolism at least in part through activation of PPARα. Notably, all three groups of Tox-treated mice had increased relative liver weights due to significant accumulation of lipid. This could be endogenous in nature and/or a component(s) of Tox or a metabolite thereof. The ability of Tox and other hydrocarbon pollutants to induce fatty liver despite being PPARα agonists indicates a novel consequence of exposure to this class of chemicals, and may provide a new understanding of fatty liver in populations with industrial exposure

Vaccine strain affects seroconversion after influenza vaccination in COPD patients and healthy older people

Though clinical guidelines recommend influenza vaccination for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients and other high-risk populations, it is unclear whether current vaccination strategies induce optimal antibody responses. This study aimed to identify key variables associated with strain-specific antibody responses in COPD patients and healthy older people. 76 COPD and 72 healthy participants were recruited from two Australian centres and inoculated with influenza vaccine. Serum strain-specific antibody titres were measured pre- and post-inoculation. Seroconversion rate was the primary endpoint. Antibody responses varied between vaccine strains. The highest rates of seroconversion were seen with novel strains (36–55%), with lesser responses to strains included in the vaccine in more than one consecutive year (27–33%). Vaccine responses were similar in COPD patients and healthy participants. Vaccine strain, hypertension and latitude were independent predictors of seroconversion. Our findings reassure that influenza vaccination is equally immunogenic in COPD patients and healthy older people; however, there is room for improvement. There may be a need to personalise the yearly influenza vaccine, including consideration of pre-existing antibody titres, in order to target gaps in individual antibody repertoires and improve protection

Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness against Hospitalisation with Confirmed Influenza in the 2010-11 Seasons: A Test-negative Observational Study

Immunisation programs are designed to reduce serious morbidity and mortality from influenza, but most evidence supporting the effectiveness of this intervention has focused on disease in the community or in primary care settings. We aimed to examine the effectiveness of influenza vaccination against hospitalisation with confirmed influenza. We compared influenza vaccination status in patients hospitalised with PCR-confirmed influenza with patients hospitalised with influenza-negative respiratory infections in an Australian sentinel surveillance system. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated from the odds ratio of vaccination in cases and controls. We performed both simple multivariate regression and a stratified analysis based on propensity score of vaccination. Vaccination status was ascertained in 333 of 598 patients with confirmed influenza and 785 of 1384 test-negative patients. Overall estimated crude vaccine effectiveness was 57% (41%, 68%). After adjusting for age, chronic comorbidities and pregnancy status, the estimated vaccine effectiveness was 37% (95% CI: 12%, 55%). In an analysis accounting for a propensity score for vaccination, the estimated vaccine effectiveness was 48.3% (95% CI: 30.0, 61.8%). Influenza vaccination was moderately protective against hospitalisation with influenza in the 2010 and 2011 seasons