Developing health-related climate indicators: a case study of South Australia

Australia has experienced, and is projected to experience, a range of direct and indirect climate change-related health impacts. Extreme weather events have been associated with substantial increases in morbidity and mortality, as exemplified by the Victorian bushfires in 2009 and the Queensland floods in 2011. Moreover, significant epidemiological evidence of increases in morbidity and mortality during heatwaves has emerged in Australia. Although the primary public health problem is extreme weather-related morbidity and mortality, a secondary public health problem is that there are limited tools to track the health impacts of climate change and to develop public health interventions in a timely manner. In particular, climate-sensitive health indicators are needed by public health planners and policymakers in order to mitigate the effects for vulnerable subpopulations. This issue has recently been raised at a global level by the Lancet Countdown, an international collaboration aiming to develop and report on a series of health indicators of climate change. Gap analysis A scoping review of the literature in the area of climate-sensitive health indicators, together with preliminary consultations with stakeholders in public health agencies, identified three major gaps. Firstly, although climate-related impacts put significant pressure on the health sector, climate-related health indicators are generally not used as part of routine Australian health evaluation. In contrast, some such indicators have been developed in other countries and are currently used by the European Environmental Agency. Secondly, due to differences in climate characteristics and demographics, there is a need to identify a set of evidence-based climate-sensitive health indicators specifically for use in Australia. Finally, the feasibility and usability of such indicators in an Australian context should be investigated.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Public Health, 201

Basin-wide groundwater vulnerability assessment: a GIS based DRASTIC approach to the problem of coal seam gas extracted water

Coal seam gas (CSG) production requires the extraction of large volumes of water. Discharges of the extracted water into the environment occur via authorised temporary permits or through accidental releases. The purpose of this study is to assess the risk to shallow groundwater aquifers from potential CSG water releases in Queensland, Australia. A GIS based methodology was used to identify vulnerable shallow aquifers by overlaying a series of risk factors, which increase the likelihood of flow from the ground surface into aquifers below. We identified where the vulnerable aquifers are located and estimate that about 10,000 people live in these areas. The GIS based exposure mapping approach applied here provides a useful ‘first-pass’ assessment of areas with CSG activity. Areas identified as potentially high risk should be prioritised for further detailed investigation

Coal seam gas water: potential hazards and exposure pathways in Queensland

The extraction of coal seam gas (CSG) produces large volumes of potentially contaminated water. It has raised concerns about the environmental health impacts of the co-produced CSG water. In this paper, we review CSG water contaminants and their potential health effects in the context of exposure pathways in Queensland’s CSG basins. The hazardous substances associated with CSG water in Queensland include fluoride, boron, lead and benzene. The exposure pathways for CSG water are: (1) water used for municipal purposes, (2) recreational water activities in rivers, (3) occupational exposures, (4) water extracted from contaminated aquifers, and; (5) indirect exposure through the food chain. We recommend mapping of exposure pathways into communities in CSG regions to determine the potentially exposed populations in Queensland. Future efforts to monitor chemicals of concern and consolidate them into a central database will build the necessary capability to undertake a much needed environmental health impact assessment

AC Electrothermal Effect in Microfluidics: A Review

The electrothermal effect has been investigated extensively in microfluidics since the 1990s and has been suggested as a promising technique for fluid manipulations in lab-on-a-chip devices. The purpose of this article is to provide a timely overview of the previous works conducted in the AC electrothermal field to provide a comprehensive reference for researchers new to this field. First, electrokinetic phenomena are briefly introduced to show where the electrothermal effect stands, comparatively, versus other mechanisms. Then, recent advances in the electrothermal field are reviewed from different aspects and categorized to provide a better insight into the current state of the literature. Results and achievements of different studies are compared, and recommendations are made to help researchers weigh their options and decide on proper configuration and parameters

Performance evaluation of in-circuit testing on QCA based circuits

Quantum-Dot Cellular automata based circuits (QCA) are one of the favorite novel technologies, which operates on binary data at the nanometer-scale; in which logical operations and data movement are accomplished via Columbic interaction rather than electric current flow leading to a very little power dissipation. Since circuits made from QCA devices could provide various "wins" over CMOS, in recent years there has been an influx of QCA-related research. However before implementing every circuit, its testability and reliability must be mentioned. Hence, testing of these devices is our main concern in this paper and we will show how to perform In-Circuit-Testing on them and the differences and difficulties which is caused by the quantum entity of these circuits

Microfluidic Generation of Particle-Stabilized Water-in-Water Emulsions

Herein, we present a microfluidic platform that generates particle-stabilized water-in-water emulsions. The water-in-water system that we use is based on an aqueous two-phase system of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and dextran (DEX). DEX droplets are formed passively, in the continuous phase of PEG and carboxylated particle suspension at a flow-focusing junction inside a microfluidic device. As DEX droplets travel downstream inside the microchannel, carboxylated particles that are in the continuous phase partition to the interface of the DEX droplets due to their affinity to the interface of PEG and DEX. As the DEX droplets become covered with carboxylated particles, they become stabilized against coalescence. We study the coverage and stability of the emulsions, while tuning the concentration and the size of the carboxylated particles, downstream inside the reservoir of the microfluidic device. These particle-stabilized water-in-water emulsions showcase good particle adsorption under shear, while being flowed through narrow microchannels. The intrinsic biocompatibility advantages of particle-stabilized water-in-water emulsions make them a good alternative to traditional particle-stabilized water-in-oil emulsions. To illustrate a biotechnological application of this platform, we show a proof-of-principle of cell encapsulation using this system, which with further development may be used for immunoisolation of cells for transplantation purposes

Effects of Different Times of Glutaraldehyde 2% on Bacillus subtilis Spores (In Vitro)

Background: Due to the importance of disinfectant and sterilization of dental instruments, in total, 14%–28% of dentists, 13% of assistants, and 17% of healthcare workers (HCWs) have been subjected to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and more than 200 healthcare providers (HCPs) pass away annually in the United States from HBV infection catched from their work place. Objective: This study examined the effects of glutaraldehyde 2% on Bacillus subtilis spores in the Surgery and Microbiology Department of the Dental Branch of Islamic Azad University. Methods: This experimental research evaluated a total of 58 samples, one called first evidence (pure glutaraldehyde not exposed to spore suspension), one called second evidence (spore suspension not exposed to glutaraldehyde), and 40 samples including a suspension with a normal turbidity of 1×108 CFU/mL according to 0.5 McFarland with exposure to glutaraldehyde 2%. Experiments were done in time intervals of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 60 minutes with 8 repeats. In all times, a B. subtilis spore suspension was used as evidence and also as a case. Results: This research was done on 58 samples. The results showed that in the 10th minute there were 102 colonies, 18.6 ± 3.4 in the 15th minute, 6.2 ± 1.4 in the 20th minute, 2.1 ± 0.8 in the 25th minute, and no colonies after 30 minutes. In an overall observation, it was seen that there were more colonies in the first 10 minutes, and from 15 to 20 minutes, this amount significantly decreased; after 30 minutes in each 8 repeats, the growth of colonies had stopped completely, while in the evidence samples, B. subtilis spores grew. Conclusion: It seems that the density of 2% glutaraldehyde in 30 minutes time was enough to destroy the spores of B. subtilis