Advocacy coalitions and flood insurance: power and policies in the Australian Natural Disaster Insurance Review

Insurance against flooding creates households and places that are protected against financial harm in the form of catastrophic losses. Contested here are questions surrounding the availability and affordability of private insurance cover, significantly affecting the lives of people in at-risk geographies by imposing costs either as insurance premiums or episodic flood damages. Policy choices and decisions (‘political/economic’) about such controversial place-based environmental/risk issues (‘spatial’) are often made “behind closed doors”. A public inquiry opens those doors, albeit briefly, so we can see “what goes on”. The Natural Disaster Insurance Review (NDIR), a public inquiry after the 2010/2011 Australian floods, was a major forum of debate about Australian flood insurance policy. We explore the intricate politics of the key advocacy coalitions involved, to understand NDIR’s role and outcomes. Our case study methodology uses content analysis of c. 100 NDIR submissions and reports, media coverage, and insurance industry and government statements, supported by in-depth interviews with people directly involved. We show that a well-resourced and powerful coalition of insurers was the dominant advocacy coalition in the NDIR and that consumers and their at-risk communities were represented by a relatively under-resourced coalition. The primary role of the inquiry as a problem-solving process was ultimately overridden during the post-inquiry implementation phase, during which the insurance coalition was dominant. Major NDIR recommendations were not implemented, and hence key spatial/political issues that the inquiry was established to address for the benefit of those at risk remained unresolved

Stability of llama heavy chain antibody fragments under extreme conditions

Camelids have next to their normal antibodies, a unique subset of antibodies lacking light chains. The resulting single binding domain, VHH, of these heavy chain antibodies consequently have unique properties. A high stability is one of these properties, which was investigated in this thesis. The applications in which these VHHs are to be used, require functionality in non-physiological environments. High temperature, anionic and non-ionic surfactants in shampoo, and the low pH and digestive enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract put high demands on the stability of the VHHs. Regardless of these harsh conditions, the VHHs seem to exceed conventional antibody fragments and are known for their high stability. Stability in the previous sentence must be regarded as functionality under these conditions. In chapter 2 we showed that VHHs can be functional at high temperatures, despite of the fact that they were already unfolded at high temperatures. Unfolding of the VHH population started at 60 ºC, and most of the population of VHHs is unfolded at 80 ºC. However, after addition of the antigen, complete refolding and complex formation was observed. This shows the fast and highly efficient refolding of the VHHs, which can be of use in a wide range of applications. The single domain of the VHHs is the logical cause of the ability of refolding and explains why refolding is not observed in more complex antibodies, being composed of several domains, which are not able to refold properly. This refolding property of VHHs, together with the low degree of aggregation, implies that these VHHs can be functional beyond their intrinsic stability. The adaptations to the single domain status shown by VHHs, reside predominantly in the region where in conventional antibodies the VL is attached. Four substitutions are hallmarks for VHHs, making the former VL interface highly hydrophilic. Furthermore, chapter five describes that more substitutions can be observed from VH to VHH. Most of these substitutions are from large hydrophobic residue to hydrophilic (charged) residues. These substitutions are not only involved in making the VHH more soluble, in chapter three and four two mutational studies are described which indicate that the residues in this so-called former VH-VL interface could also have a prominent role in the stability of the VHHs. Chapter three describes the easy and rapid selection of VHHs able to bind in shampoo by addition of shampoo to the selection protocol. The VHHs obtained from this selection were investigated and the protein sequences show that selection is driven towards a small subclass of VHHs. This subclass exceed other VHHs for stability in shampoo, indicating that selection was directed towards stability in shampoo. This technique was used in a second study to ensure stability of VHHs in the environment of the gut. VHHs against rotavirus were selected at low pH and in the presence of pepsin. To further enhance the stability of the selected subclass of VHHs, protein engineering was used to ensure stability in the intestine. A mutational study was performed to remove trypsin cleavage sites from the VHH. Mutant R27A showed a reduced trypsin susceptibility. Furthermore, this VHH also showed increased production levels, increased thermostability and equal affinity compard to the wildtype VHH1. These results show that VHHs are ideal candidates for a wide range of applications. As shown in this thesis, the high stability of these VHHs, together with the rapid and easy selection methods, and subsequent improvement by protein engineering, results in exquisite opportunities for application in harsh conditions

Model Integration and Modeling Languages: A Process Perspective

The article of record as published may be found at https://www.jstor.org/stable/23010778Development of large-scale models often involves—or, certainly could benefit from—linking existing models. This process is termed model integration and involves two related aspects: (1) the coupling of model representations, and (2) the coupling of the processes for evaluating, or executing, instances of these representations. Given this distinction, we overview model integration capabilities in existing executable modeling languages, discuss current theoretical approaches to model integration, and identify the limiting assumptions implicitly made in both cases. In particular, current approaches assume away issues of dynamic variable correspondence and synchronization in composite model execution. We then propose a process-oriented conceptualization and associated constructs that overcome these limiting assumptions. The constructs allow model components to be used as building blocks for more elaborate composite models in ways unforeseen when the components were originally developed. While we do not prove the sufficiency of the constructs over the set of all model types and integration configurations, we present several examples of model integration from various domains to demonstrate the utility of the approach

Model integration and a theory of models

Model integration extends the scope of model management to include the dimension of manipulation as well. This invariably leads to comparisons with database theory. Model integration is viewed from four perspectives: Organizational, definitional, procedural, and implementational. Strategic modeling is discussed as the organizational motivation for model integration. Schema and process integration are examined as the logical and manipulation counterparts of model integration corresponding to data definition and manipulation, respectively. A model manipulation language based on structured modeling and communicating structured models is suggested which incorporates schema and process integration. The use of object-oriented concepts for designing and implementing integrated modeling environments is discussed. Model integration is projected as the springboard for building a theory of models equivalent in power to relational theory in the database community.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/31033/1/0000710.pd

Late-Winter Abundance and Substrate Associations of Benthos in Pool 13, Upper Mississippi River

In Pool 13 on the Upper Mississippi River substantial differences were observed in macroinvertebrate abundance and substrate composition among six habitat types: tailwater, main channel, main channel border, side channel, slough, and lake. Densities were highest in slough, main channel border, and lake habitats, but the number of taxa was greatest in tailwater and main channel habitats. The abundance of 38 of the 42 identified taxa was significantly correlated with either the percentage of at least one particle size fraction or the percentage of organic matter in the substrate. Variation in substrate composition among the six habitat types appeared to influence macroinvertebrate abundance

Survey of prenatal screening policies in Europe for structural malformations and chromosome anomalies, and their impact on detection and termination rates for neural tube defects and Down's syndrome

OBJECTIVE: To 'map' the current (2004) state of prenatal screening in Europe. DESIGN: (i) Survey of country policies and (ii) analysis of data from EUROCAT (European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies) population-based congenital anomaly registers. SETTING: Europe. POPULATION: Survey of prenatal screening policies in 18 countries and 1.13 million births in 12 countries in 2002-04. METHODS: (i) Questionnaire on national screening policies and termination of pregnancy for fetal anomaly (TOPFA) laws in 2004. (ii) Analysis of data on prenatal detection and termination for Down's syndrome and neural tube defects (NTDs) using the EUROCAT database. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Existence of national prenatal screening policies, legal gestation limit for TOPFA, prenatal detection and termination rates for Down's syndrome and NTD. RESULTS: Ten of the 18 countries had a national country-wide policy for Down's syndrome screening and 14/18 for structural anomaly scanning. Sixty-eight percent of Down's syndrome cases (range 0-95%) were detected prenatally, of which 88% resulted in termination of pregnancy. Eighty-eight percent (range 25-94%) of cases of NTD were prenatally detected, of which 88% resulted in termination. Countries with a first-trimester screening policy had the highest proportion of prenatally diagnosed Down's syndrome cases. Countries with no official national Down's syndrome screening or structural anomaly scan policy had the lowest proportion of prenatally diagnosed Down's syndrome and NTD cases. Six of the 18 countries had a legal gestational age limit for TOPFA, and in two countries, termination of pregnancy was illegal at any gestation. CONCLUSIONS: There are large differences in screening policies between countries in Europe. These, as well as organisational and cultural factors, are associated with wide country variation in prenatal detection rates for Down's syndrome and NTD

Network-coding-based Cooperative V2V Communication in Vehicular Cloud Networks

Chinacom 2018 - 13th EAI International Conference on Communications and Networking in China, 23-25 October 2018, Chengdu, ChinaThis is the author accepted manuscript. the final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this recordWe investigate the potential of applying cooperative relaying and network coding techniques to support vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication in vehicular cloud networks (VCN). A reuse-mode MIMO content distribution system with multiple sources, multiple relays, and multiple destinations under Nakagami-m fading is considered. We apply a class of finite field network codes in the relays to achieve high spatial diversity in an efficient manner and derive the system communication error probability that the destinations fail to recover the desired source messages. The results show that our method can improve the performance over conventional data transmission solutions

Intrauterine exposure to mild analgesics during pregnancy and the occurrence of cryptorchidism and hypospadia in the offspring: The Generation R Study

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2012 The Authors.BACKGROUND - Recently, over-the-counter mild analgesic use during pregnancy has been suggested to influence the risk of reproductive disorders in the offspring. We examined the influence of maternal exposure to mild analgesics during pregnancy on the occurrence of cryptorchidism and hypospadia in their offspring. METHODS - Associations between maternal exposure to mild analgesics during pregnancy and cryptorchidism or hypospadia in the offspring were studied in 3184 women participating in a large population-based prospective birth cohort study from early pregnancy onwards in the Netherlands (2002–2006), the Generation R Study. Cryptorchidism and hypospadia were identified during routine screening assessments performed in child health care centres by trained physicians. The use of mild analgesics was assessed in three prenatal questionnaires in pregnancy, resulting in four periods of use, namely, periconception period, first 14 weeks of gestation, 14–22 weeks of gestation and 20–32 weeks of gestation. Logistic regression analyses were used to study the associations between maternal exposure to mild analgesics and cryptorchidism and hypospadia. RESULTS - The cumulative prevalence over 30 months of follow up was 2.1% for cryptorchidism and 0.7% for hypospadia. Use of mild analgesics in the second period of pregnancy (14–22 weeks) increased the risk of congenital cryptorchidism [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.12; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.17–3.83], primarily due to the use of acetaminophen (paracetamol) (adjusted OR 1.89; 95% CI 1.01–3.51). Among mothers of cryptorchid sons, 33.8% reported (23 of 68) the use of mild analgesics during pregnancy, compared with 31.8% (7 of 22) of mothers with a boy with hypospadia and 29.9% (926 of 3094) of mothers with healthy boys. CONCLUSIONS - Our results suggest that intrauterine exposure to mild analgesics, primarily paracetamol, during the period in pregnancy when male sexual differentiation takes place, increases the risk of cryptorchidism.Erasmus University Rotterdam, School of Law and Faculty of Social Sciences, the Municipal Health Service Rotterdam area, Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Homecare Foundation, Rotterdam and the Stichting Trombosedienst & Artsenlaboratorium Rijnmond (STAR), Rotterdam

Recent trends in molecular diagnostics of yeast infections : from PCR to NGS

The incidence of opportunistic yeast infections in humans has been increasing over recent years. These infections are difficult to treat and diagnose, in part due to the large number and broad diversity of species that can underlie the infection. In addition, resistance to one or several antifungal drugs in infecting strains is increasingly being reported, severely limiting therapeutic options and showcasing the need for rapid detection of the infecting agent and its drug susceptibility profile. Current methods for species and resistance identification lack satisfactory sensitivity and specificity, and often require prior culturing of the infecting agent, which delays diagnosis. Recently developed high-throughput technologies such as next generation sequencing or proteomics are opening completely new avenues for more sensitive, accurate and fast diagnosis of yeast pathogens. These approaches are the focus of intensive research, but translation into the clinics requires overcoming important challenges. In this review, we provide an overview of existing and recently emerged approaches that can be used in the identification of yeast pathogens and their drug resistance profiles. Throughout the text we highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each methodology and discuss the most promising developments in their path from bench to bedside