This document discusses the ethical considerations of using air quality standards as the principal policy lever for determining air quality policies. It notes that while standards were effective when acute health impacts were thought to occur above thresholds, evidence now suggests pollution affects health down to low concentrations with no clear threshold. Standards also focus only on areas in exceedance, leaving large inequalities. Overall, directly targeting emissions through reductions may be a more ethical approach as it affects the population equally and aims to maximize health benefits. The document advocates that policies should be clearly articulated to allow the public to judge costs and impacts, and that national emission policies are likely to result in greater health benefits and equity across the population.
Benefits of EIA:
The benefits of EIA can be direct, such as the improved design or location of a project, or indirect, such as better quality EIA work or raised environmental awareness of the personnel involved in the project. In these cases, there will be with flow-on effects in their future work. As mentioned above, these potential gains from EIA increase the earlier the process is applied in the design process.
Oral health promotion is a comprehensive approach to enhancing the oral health of
families, communities and populations which both
complements and challenges the approach on which formal
health care systems are based.
Benefits of EIA:
The benefits of EIA can be direct, such as the improved design or location of a project, or indirect, such as better quality EIA work or raised environmental awareness of the personnel involved in the project. In these cases, there will be with flow-on effects in their future work. As mentioned above, these potential gains from EIA increase the earlier the process is applied in the design process.
Oral health promotion is a comprehensive approach to enhancing the oral health of
families, communities and populations which both
complements and challenges the approach on which formal
health care systems are based.
Presentación en la que Gina Perigo hace una brillante exposición de como los Enfermeros de Práctica Avanzada y más concretamente los Nurse Practitioners pueden jugar un papel fundamental a la hora de potenciar y generar un cambio en los comportamientos en la población de salud que contribuyen al mantenimiento del estado de salud de la población y de la comunidad
Evidence for Public Health Decision MakingVineetha K
The presentation gives an overview of evidence based public health with emphasis on the seven steps of EBPH Framework. It also includes the data sources to search for evidence and relevant articles explaining the current trend in decision making. One of the sources of the presentation is from EBPH training series by Rocky Mountain foundation. The link is provided in the end slide. Do contact me if you need any help with the resources.
Presentation is about the uniqueness of Implementation Research and Role of the Government, specially in Indian context of health programme implementation.
This is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, then the action should be stopped
The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk.
These protections can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result
Presentación en la que Gina Perigo hace una brillante exposición de como los Enfermeros de Práctica Avanzada y más concretamente los Nurse Practitioners pueden jugar un papel fundamental a la hora de potenciar y generar un cambio en los comportamientos en la población de salud que contribuyen al mantenimiento del estado de salud de la población y de la comunidad
Evidence for Public Health Decision MakingVineetha K
The presentation gives an overview of evidence based public health with emphasis on the seven steps of EBPH Framework. It also includes the data sources to search for evidence and relevant articles explaining the current trend in decision making. One of the sources of the presentation is from EBPH training series by Rocky Mountain foundation. The link is provided in the end slide. Do contact me if you need any help with the resources.
Presentation is about the uniqueness of Implementation Research and Role of the Government, specially in Indian context of health programme implementation.
This is a moral and political principle which states that if an action or policy might cause severe or irreversible harm to the public, in the absence of a scientific consensus that harm would not ensue, then the action should be stopped
The principle implies that there is a social responsibility to protect the public from exposure to harm, when scientific investigation has found a plausible risk.
These protections can be relaxed only if further scientific findings emerge that provide sound evidence that no harm will result
Sharing is Caring – Can cross industry collaboration be achieved on key envir...IES / IAQM
Sharing is Caring – Can cross industry collaboration be achieved on key environmental topics?
Rebecca Hearn, Director, Midland Lands Events: MidLE
mental topics?
Multi-source connectivity as the driver of solar wind variability in the heli...Sérgio Sacani
The ambient solar wind that flls the heliosphere originates from multiple
sources in the solar corona and is highly structured. It is often described
as high-speed, relatively homogeneous, plasma streams from coronal
holes and slow-speed, highly variable, streams whose source regions are
under debate. A key goal of ESA/NASA’s Solar Orbiter mission is to identify
solar wind sources and understand what drives the complexity seen in the
heliosphere. By combining magnetic feld modelling and spectroscopic
techniques with high-resolution observations and measurements, we show
that the solar wind variability detected in situ by Solar Orbiter in March
2022 is driven by spatio-temporal changes in the magnetic connectivity to
multiple sources in the solar atmosphere. The magnetic feld footpoints
connected to the spacecraft moved from the boundaries of a coronal hole
to one active region (12961) and then across to another region (12957). This
is refected in the in situ measurements, which show the transition from fast
to highly Alfvénic then to slow solar wind that is disrupted by the arrival of
a coronal mass ejection. Our results describe solar wind variability at 0.5 au
but are applicable to near-Earth observatories.
Deep Behavioral Phenotyping in Systems Neuroscience for Functional Atlasing a...Ana Luísa Pinho
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) provides means to characterize brain activations in response to behavior. However, cognitive neuroscience has been limited to group-level effects referring to the performance of specific tasks. To obtain the functional profile of elementary cognitive mechanisms, the combination of brain responses to many tasks is required. Yet, to date, both structural atlases and parcellation-based activations do not fully account for cognitive function and still present several limitations. Further, they do not adapt overall to individual characteristics. In this talk, I will give an account of deep-behavioral phenotyping strategies, namely data-driven methods in large task-fMRI datasets, to optimize functional brain-data collection and improve inference of effects-of-interest related to mental processes. Key to this approach is the employment of fast multi-functional paradigms rich on features that can be well parametrized and, consequently, facilitate the creation of psycho-physiological constructs to be modelled with imaging data. Particular emphasis will be given to music stimuli when studying high-order cognitive mechanisms, due to their ecological nature and quality to enable complex behavior compounded by discrete entities. I will also discuss how deep-behavioral phenotyping and individualized models applied to neuroimaging data can better account for the subject-specific organization of domain-general cognitive systems in the human brain. Finally, the accumulation of functional brain signatures brings the possibility to clarify relationships among tasks and create a univocal link between brain systems and mental functions through: (1) the development of ontologies proposing an organization of cognitive processes; and (2) brain-network taxonomies describing functional specialization. To this end, tools to improve commensurability in cognitive science are necessary, such as public repositories, ontology-based platforms and automated meta-analysis tools. I will thus discuss some brain-atlasing resources currently under development, and their applicability in cognitive as well as clinical neuroscience.
Seminar of U.V. Spectroscopy by SAMIR PANDASAMIR PANDA
Spectroscopy is a branch of science dealing the study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy refers to absorption spectroscopy or reflect spectroscopy in the UV-VIS spectral region.
Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy is an analytical method that can measure the amount of light received by the analyte.
This presentation explores a brief idea about the structural and functional attributes of nucleotides, the structure and function of genetic materials along with the impact of UV rays and pH upon them.
What is greenhouse gasses and how many gasses are there to affect the Earth.moosaasad1975
What are greenhouse gasses how they affect the earth and its environment what is the future of the environment and earth how the weather and the climate effects.
Professional air quality monitoring systems provide immediate, on-site data for analysis, compliance, and decision-making.
Monitor common gases, weather parameters, particulates.
Introduction:
RNA interference (RNAi) or Post-Transcriptional Gene Silencing (PTGS) is an important biological process for modulating eukaryotic gene expression.
It is highly conserved process of posttranscriptional gene silencing by which double stranded RNA (dsRNA) causes sequence-specific degradation of mRNA sequences.
dsRNA-induced gene silencing (RNAi) is reported in a wide range of eukaryotes ranging from worms, insects, mammals and plants.
This process mediates resistance to both endogenous parasitic and exogenous pathogenic nucleic acids, and regulates the expression of protein-coding genes.
What are small ncRNAs?
micro RNA (miRNA)
short interfering RNA (siRNA)
Properties of small non-coding RNA:
Involved in silencing mRNA transcripts.
Called “small” because they are usually only about 21-24 nucleotides long.
Synthesized by first cutting up longer precursor sequences (like the 61nt one that Lee discovered).
Silence an mRNA by base pairing with some sequence on the mRNA.
Discovery of siRNA?
The first small RNA:
In 1993 Rosalind Lee (Victor Ambros lab) was studying a non- coding gene in C. elegans, lin-4, that was involved in silencing of another gene, lin-14, at the appropriate time in the
development of the worm C. elegans.
Two small transcripts of lin-4 (22nt and 61nt) were found to be complementary to a sequence in the 3' UTR of lin-14.
Because lin-4 encoded no protein, she deduced that it must be these transcripts that are causing the silencing by RNA-RNA interactions.
Types of RNAi ( non coding RNA)
MiRNA
Length (23-25 nt)
Trans acting
Binds with target MRNA in mismatch
Translation inhibition
Si RNA
Length 21 nt.
Cis acting
Bind with target Mrna in perfect complementary sequence
Piwi-RNA
Length ; 25 to 36 nt.
Expressed in Germ Cells
Regulates trnasposomes activity
MECHANISM OF RNAI:
First the double-stranded RNA teams up with a protein complex named Dicer, which cuts the long RNA into short pieces.
Then another protein complex called RISC (RNA-induced silencing complex) discards one of the two RNA strands.
The RISC-docked, single-stranded RNA then pairs with the homologous mRNA and destroys it.
THE RISC COMPLEX:
RISC is large(>500kD) RNA multi- protein Binding complex which triggers MRNA degradation in response to MRNA
Unwinding of double stranded Si RNA by ATP independent Helicase
Active component of RISC is Ago proteins( ENDONUCLEASE) which cleave target MRNA.
DICER: endonuclease (RNase Family III)
Argonaute: Central Component of the RNA-Induced Silencing Complex (RISC)
One strand of the dsRNA produced by Dicer is retained in the RISC complex in association with Argonaute
ARGONAUTE PROTEIN :
1.PAZ(PIWI/Argonaute/ Zwille)- Recognition of target MRNA
2.PIWI (p-element induced wimpy Testis)- breaks Phosphodiester bond of mRNA.)RNAse H activity.
MiRNA:
The Double-stranded RNAs are naturally produced in eukaryotic cells during development, and they have a key role in regulating gene expression .
This pdf is about the Schizophrenia.
For more details visit on YouTube; @SELF-EXPLANATORY;
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAiarMZDNhe1A3Rnpr_WkzA/videos
Thanks...!
(May 29th, 2024) Advancements in Intravital Microscopy- Insights for Preclini...Scintica Instrumentation
Intravital microscopy (IVM) is a powerful tool utilized to study cellular behavior over time and space in vivo. Much of our understanding of cell biology has been accomplished using various in vitro and ex vivo methods; however, these studies do not necessarily reflect the natural dynamics of biological processes. Unlike traditional cell culture or fixed tissue imaging, IVM allows for the ultra-fast high-resolution imaging of cellular processes over time and space and were studied in its natural environment. Real-time visualization of biological processes in the context of an intact organism helps maintain physiological relevance and provide insights into the progression of disease, response to treatments or developmental processes.
In this webinar we give an overview of advanced applications of the IVM system in preclinical research. IVIM technology is a provider of all-in-one intravital microscopy systems and solutions optimized for in vivo imaging of live animal models at sub-micron resolution. The system’s unique features and user-friendly software enables researchers to probe fast dynamic biological processes such as immune cell tracking, cell-cell interaction as well as vascularization and tumor metastasis with exceptional detail. This webinar will also give an overview of IVM being utilized in drug development, offering a view into the intricate interaction between drugs/nanoparticles and tissues in vivo and allows for the evaluation of therapeutic intervention in a variety of tissues and organs. This interdisciplinary collaboration continues to drive the advancements of novel therapeutic strategies.
Cancer cell metabolism: special Reference to Lactate PathwayAADYARAJPANDEY1
Normal Cell Metabolism:
Cellular respiration describes the series of steps that cells use to break down sugar and other chemicals to get the energy we need to function.
Energy is stored in the bonds of glucose and when glucose is broken down, much of that energy is released.
Cell utilize energy in the form of ATP.
The first step of respiration is called glycolysis. In a series of steps, glycolysis breaks glucose into two smaller molecules - a chemical called pyruvate. A small amount of ATP is formed during this process.
Most healthy cells continue the breakdown in a second process, called the Kreb's cycle. The Kreb's cycle allows cells to “burn” the pyruvates made in glycolysis to get more ATP.
The last step in the breakdown of glucose is called oxidative phosphorylation (Ox-Phos).
It takes place in specialized cell structures called mitochondria. This process produces a large amount of ATP. Importantly, cells need oxygen to complete oxidative phosphorylation.
If a cell completes only glycolysis, only 2 molecules of ATP are made per glucose. However, if the cell completes the entire respiration process (glycolysis - Kreb's - oxidative phosphorylation), about 36 molecules of ATP are created, giving it much more energy to use.
IN CANCER CELL:
Unlike healthy cells that "burn" the entire molecule of sugar to capture a large amount of energy as ATP, cancer cells are wasteful.
Cancer cells only partially break down sugar molecules. They overuse the first step of respiration, glycolysis. They frequently do not complete the second step, oxidative phosphorylation.
This results in only 2 molecules of ATP per each glucose molecule instead of the 36 or so ATPs healthy cells gain. As a result, cancer cells need to use a lot more sugar molecules to get enough energy to survive.
Unlike healthy cells that "burn" the entire molecule of sugar to capture a large amount of energy as ATP, cancer cells are wasteful.
Cancer cells only partially break down sugar molecules. They overuse the first step of respiration, glycolysis. They frequently do not complete the second step, oxidative phosphorylation.
This results in only 2 molecules of ATP per each glucose molecule instead of the 36 or so ATPs healthy cells gain. As a result, cancer cells need to use a lot more sugar molecules to get enough energy to survive.
introduction to WARBERG PHENOMENA:
WARBURG EFFECT Usually, cancer cells are highly glycolytic (glucose addiction) and take up more glucose than do normal cells from outside.
Otto Heinrich Warburg (; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970) In 1931 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology for his "discovery of the nature and mode of action of the respiratory enzyme.
WARNBURG EFFECT : cancer cells under aerobic (well-oxygenated) conditions to metabolize glucose to lactate (aerobic glycolysis) is known as the Warburg effect. Warburg made the observation that tumor slices consume glucose and secrete lactate at a higher rate than normal tissues.
2. Air Quality Standards
• My career in air quality has almost always been based around a system
where air quality standards were the principal policy lever
• Saw the introduction of the first standards in 1989;
• The introduction of the air quality management in the 1990s which largely
was based on achieving air quality objectives;
• New standards being introduced and the WHO targets
• While emission reduction targets have been implemented, they have no
impact on local air quality assessments
• Never an obvious debate on whether the focus on standards is the right
approach
3. The ULEZ debate
• The London ULEZ implementation resulted in the media taking a great
interest in air quality issues and the nature of this debate is a great example
of some of the ethical issues that surround public health policy
• The costs of the scheme were highlighted
• The disbenefits of the scheme were highlighted (particularly personal costs)
• The restrictions on personal liberty were highlighted (see also 15 minute
cities)
• In particular, whether the ULEZ was “fair” and whether it is value for money
8. Rose’s Prevention Paradox
This recognizes that many public health strategies may have no benefit on an individual - e.g.
vaccinating 1000 people may save one life but has no apparent benefit for the other 999 (and
indeed carries some risk to those individuals).
“A measure that brings large benefits to the community offers little to each participating
individual”
Occurs when a measure provides very small health benefits when shared over the whole
community, or the measures only apply to a few vulnerable people.
People are not motivated to accept a measure if it has no apparent benefit to or because they
cannot know “ex ante” whether they will benefit.
Rose, G. (1981) “Strategy of prevention: lessons from cardiovascular disease”, Br Med J, 283:1847-51.
9. Ethical considerations for air quality standards
Going to consider the following ethical principles in considering whether air
quality standards are an appropriate policy lever:
• Utilitarian approach – a measure should maximize good
• Equality – a measure should aim to give everyone the same exposure
• Equity – a measure should target the more affected areas to “level up”;
• Personal Freedom – measures should respect the right to personal
freedoms – avoid paternalism
10. Utilitarianism
The principle that our policies should be designed to maximize good within
the whole community
• If we take this approach as being appropriate, air quality standards are not
a good policy tool where most of the country complies with the standard
• Some evidence points to the greatest health benefits from a reduction in
pollutants concentrations is in areas with lowest pollutant concentrations
• We believe that there is no lower threshold for adverse health effects for
some pollutants so reducing exposure in all areas would be more
appropriate.
• However, too simplistic approach as it can be reasonably argued that access
to personal transport, having a heated home and using the products from
polluting industries result in some health improvements
11. Equality
The principle that our policies should be designed to give everyone the
same exposure to air pollutants
Equality in Benefits
• Major issue with this is that it is simply not possible owing to geography
and the uneven distribution of pollutant sources, city centres will always
have higher pollutant concentrations than the suburbs, locations near to
roads will always have higher pollutant concentrations;
• However, air quality standards do not represent an appropriate measure to
achieve anything approaching equality;
• Only concentrate on areas of exceedance and once standards are achieved,
no further action is necessary and hence large inequalities remain.
12. Equality
The principle that our policies should be designed to affect everyone
equally
Equality in terms of who is affected
• Equality not achieved by imposing measures on only one part of the
population
• Restrictions such as Low Emission Zones and Smoke Control Areas allow
some of the population to carry on driving polluting cars and burning poor
quality fuels
13. Equity - Luck Egalitarianism
The principle that our policies should be designed to target the more affected
parts of the population – to provide the population with the same health
outcomes
Might aim to target measures at more vulnerable communities that suffer
proportionally greater health effects;
• As we know air pollution tends to affect those with existing health conditions,
would be more equitable to target measures with the poorest health outcomes;
• Should give priority to the worse off as they have the stronger claim for help;
• However, complicated by a further principle that it is indefensible to focus only
on those worse off now and not consider those worse off over a lifetime
• Results in air quality standards being a poor tool
14. Personal Freedom
The principle that our policies should attempt to avoid unnecessary
restrictions on personal freedom, there should be respect for personal
autonomy
• Achieving new air quality targets will require much more stringent
intervention in our personal lives, changing transport choices, ownership of
private vehicles, how you heat your home;
• Some commentators suggest that more extreme restrictions on personal
movement may be made (see 15 minute cities);
• Very difficult to convince the public to take such measures when
individually their contribution is very small – why should a farmer in Devon
cover their manure pile to very marginally improve PM2.5 concentrations in
London?
15. Policy further complicated by attribution of health effects
• We do not know exactly which parts of the community are affected by air pollution –
as COMEAP states:
“Given this complexity, it is not plausible to think of the figure of ‘attributable’
deaths as enumerating an actual group of individuals whose death is attributable to
air pollution alone, i.e. the victims of outdoor air pollution”
https://wintoncentre.maths.cam.ac.uk/news/does-air-pollution-kill-40000-people-each-year-uk/
16. The appropriate policy changes based on attribution and
interpretation
• Use of air quality standards works well if major health impacts are
considered to arise from acute exposure or exposure above thresholds
• Standards were largely conceived when we thought there were thresholds
to air pollution effects on health
• Use of standards focuses attention on specific areas where there may be
little exposure and can result in some worthless interventions
• If we consider air pollution affects a large proportion of the population or
there is no lower threshold then use of air quality standards are less
effective and their use results in measures are inequitable
• Emission reduction policies are more equitable, any restriction would affect
the population equally and achieve greater public health benefits
(providing we assume no lower threshold of pollutant effects)
17. We are not giving a real choice
• We advocate the use of standards but not the impact of how these will
affect how we live our lives;
• Meeting say the WHO air quality standards will require changes and costs
to the public but I can find little that clearly spells out what’s involved
• It is a community’s choice what policies to adopt, scientists are there to
advise
• If people are to be able to judge whether they support a policy, then we
need to clearly articulate the consequences of the policies – good or bad
• Use of standards is likely to create policies that are not equitable as the
burden will fall differently on various parts of the population
• National emission reduction policies are more likely to result in greater
health benefits and equity