Suchergebnisse

Humans are exposed to a myriad of chemicals every day, some of which have been established to have deleterious effects on human health. Regulatory frameworks play a vital role in safeguarding human health through the management of chemicals and their risks. For this review, we focused on agricultural and veterinary (Agvet) chemicals and industrial chemicals, which are regulated, respectively, by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), and the Australian Industrial Chemicals Introduction Scheme (AICIS). The current frameworks have been considered fragmented, inefficient, and most importantly, unsafe in prioritizing human health. We evaluated these frameworks, identified gaps, and suggested improvements that would help bring chemical regulation in Australia in line with comparative regulations in the EU, US, and Canada. Several weaknesses in the Australian frameworks include the lack of a national program to monitor chemical residues, slow pace in conducting chemical reviews, inconsistent risk management across states and territories, a paucity of research efforts on human health impacts, and inadequate framework assessment systems. Recommendations for Australia include establishing a national surveillance and chemical residue monitoring system, harmonizing risk assessment and management across jurisdictions, improving chemical review efficiency, and developing regular performance review mechanisms to ensure that human health is protected.

Measuring coastal subsidence is essential to evaluating hazards associated with sea-level rise. This Review discusses the processes driving coastal subsidence, space-borne and land-based measurement techniques, as well as models for simulating observed subsidence and predicting future trends. Coastal subsidence contributes to relative sea-level rise and exacerbates flooding hazards, with the at-risk population expected to triple by 2070. Natural processes of vertical land motion, such as tectonics, glacial isostatic adjustment and sediment compaction, as well as anthropogenic processes, such as fluid extraction, lead to globally variable subsidence rates. In this Review, we discuss the key physical processes driving vertical land motion in coastal areas. Use of space-borne and land-based techniques and the associated uncertainties for monitoring subsidence are examined, as are physics-based models used to explain contemporary subsidence rates and to obtain future projections. Steady and comparatively low rates of subsidence and uplift owing to tectonic processes and glacial isostatic adjustment can be assumed for the twenty-first century. By contrast, much higher and variable subsidence rates occur owing to compaction associated with sediment loading and fluid extraction, as well as large earthquakes. These rates can be up to two orders of magnitude higher than the present-day rate of global sea-level rise. Multi-objective predictive models are required to account for the underlying physical processes and socio-economic factors that drive subsidence. ; US National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [80NSSC170567, 80NSSC17K0566]; US National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR-1735630, EAR-1349311, EAR-1624795, EAR-1624533]; EU Marie Skodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship [894476]; International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) project [639] ; Published version ; The authors thank the reviewers for providing insightful comments and suggestions and J. Flocks for providing constructive comments on the manuscript. M.S. is supported by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant no. 80NSSC170567) and the US National Science Foundation (grant no. EAR-1735630). J.F. is supported by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant no. 80NSSC17K0566). T.E.T. has been supported by the US National Science Foundation (grant no. EAR-1349311). T.D. is supported by the US National Science Foundation (grant nos. EAR-1624795 and EAR-1624533). P.S.J.M. is supported by an EU Marie Skodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (grant no. 894476 - InSPiRED - H2020-MSCA-IF-2019). This work is a contribution to the PALSEA programme and International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) project 639. Any use of trade, firm or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee

AbstractThe two best predictors of children's educational achievement available from birth are parents' socioeconomic status (SES) and, recently, children's inherited DNA differences that can be aggregated in genome‐wide polygenic scores (GPS). Here, we chart for the first time the developmental interplay between these two predictors of educational achievement at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 in a sample of almost 5,000 UK school children. We show that the prediction of educational achievement from both GPS and SES increases steadily throughout the school years. Using latent growth curve models, we find that GPS and SES not only predict educational achievement in the first grade but they also account for systematic changes in achievement across the school years. At the end of compulsory education at age 16, GPS and SES, respectively, predict 14% and 23% of the variance of educational achievement. Analyses of the extremes of GPS and SES highlight their influence and interplay: In children who have high GPS and come from high SES families, 77% go to university, whereas 21% of children with low GPS and from low SES backgrounds attend university. We find that the associations of GPS and SES with educational achievement are primarily additive, suggesting that their joint influence is particularly dramatic for children at the extreme ends of the distribution.

Scats were collected from 19 wild spotted-tailed quolls (Dasyurus maculatus) caught in a region of south-eastern mainland Australia where hydatidosis (Echinococcus granulosus) occurs commonly in swamp wallabies (Wallabia bicolour) and other wildlife. All scats were tested for coproantigens of E. granulosus tapeworms. None of the scats tested had detectable coproantigens of E. granulosus. These data and previous unsuccessful attempts to experimentally infect other species of dasyruid with E. granulosus suggest that spotted-tailed quolls may be refractory to infection with E. granulosus.

AbstractPrior research on alcohol and the immune system has tended to focus on binge doses or chronic heavy drinking. The aim of this single-session preliminary study was to characterize immune response to moderate alcohol (0.60 g alcohol per kilogram body weight) in healthy, nonchronic drinkers. The sample (N = 11) averaged 26.6 years of age and was balanced in gender. Plasma samples were collected at baseline and 1, 2 and 3 hours postconsumption. Markers of microbial translocation [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)] and innate immune response [LPS-binding protein (LBP), soluble cluster of differentiation 14 (sCD14), and selected cytokines] were measured using immunoassays. Participants completed self-report questionnaires on subjective alcohol response and craving. Linear mixed models were used to assess changes in biomarkers and self-report measures. Breath alcohol concentration peaked at 0.069 ± 0.008% 1 hour postconsumption. LPS showed a significant linear decrease. LBP and sCD14 showed significant, nonlinear (U-shaped) trajectories wherein levels decreased at 1 hour then rebounded by 3 hours. Of nine cytokines tested, only MCP-1 and IL-8 were detectable in ≥50% of samples. IL-8 did not change significantly. MCP-1 showed a significant linear decrease and also accounted for significant variance in alcohol craving, with higher levels associated with stronger craving. Results offer novel evidence on acute immune response to moderate alcohol. Changes in LBP and sCD14, relative to LPS, may reflect their role in LPS clearance. Results also support further investigation into the role of MCP-1 in alcohol craving. Limitations include small sample size and lack of a placebo condition.

Papers of a workshop on the future of Lebanon at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association held in Boston during November 1986: The lessons of history (Khoury); the Lebanese Armed Forces (McLaurin); inter- and intra-confessional conflict (AbuKhalil); the south (Norton); the Palestinians in Lebanon (Khalidi); Superpower's policies in Lebanon (Hudson). (DÜI-Hns)

"For the sociologist Robert Bellah, questions about the meaning and responsibility of human beings in the present emerge out of our self-awareness of our responsibilities to one another and the planet. He places religion as the central social institution through which this is understood. At the time of his passing in 2013, Bellah had begun formulating what would have been his next book, a narrative that demonstrated how the axial age (500 - 300 BCE) legacies have been transformed but are still relevant, for better and worse, in the present age. The modern project, he believed, drew upon axial insights to conceive justice and freedom, but the historically unprecedented technological, economic, and demographic expansion of modernity has produced increasing threats to our precarious interdependence with each other and the entire biosphere. In Challenging Modernity the coauthors of the landmark Habits of the Heart bring together the three unpublished essays that would have been the foundation of Bellah's next book. These include lectures from Notre Dame and Harvard that provide a metanarrative of metanarratives, concluding with a a vision of human aspirations in a morally fragmented world. Next is an engagement with Ian Morris's social development index, which quantifies energy consumption and organizational complexity over time and questions how we as a species can adapt to a rate of change that no biological species has ever faced before. Finally, Bellah's Paul Tillich lecture engages the dialectic of the prophetic and sacramental tradition of religion and what they tell us about the needs of societies to function. The book will include an introduction and conclusion as well as additional essays to provide context. In sum, the book challenges us to engage with the big questions that Bellah left for us. Can the universal insights of the Axial Age be reimagined, renewed, and politically enacted in modern institutions? Can we realize universal human rights and responsibilities? Through deliberating and deciding in common, can we pursue social goods diverse and encompassing enough for all of us to share in order to survive and flourish in practice? We will never know for certain what Bellah would have concluded, but in this book we see him trying to think this through"--

Declining social capital is one explanation for lower response to household surveys. By intentionally developing an awareness of social capital among its interviewers, the Por Ahí Dicen research study encouraged the use of interviewer social capital as a mechanism to achieve a response rate of 65.2 percent for baseline and post-intervention household studies of Puerto Rican mothers ( n = 413). These surveys were conducted in a "hard-to-count" urban environment designated by the U.S. Census Bureau. The interviewer trainings highlighted three domains of social capital: reciprocity and generalized trust, group or social cohesion, and cultural affirmation. By stressing the importance of social capital as an engagement tool, interviewers more easily made research participation salient and successfully leveraged Puerto Rican mothers' participation in the community study.