Flinders University

About: Flinders University is a education organization based out in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 12033 authors who have published 32831 publications receiving 973172 citations. The organization is also known as: Flinders University of South Australia.

Laying Waste to Mercury: Inexpensive Sorbents Made from Sulfur and Recycled Cooking Oils

Abstract: Mercury pollution threatens the environment and human health across the globe. This neurotoxic substance is encountered in artisanal gold mining, coal combustion, oil and gas refining, waste incineration, chloralkali plant operation, metallurgy, and areas of agriculture in which mercury-rich fungicides are used. Thousands of tonnes of mercury are emitted annually through these activities. With the Minamata Convention on Mercury entering force this year, increasing regulation of mercury pollution is imminent. It is therefore critical to provide inexpensive and scalable mercury sorbents. The research herein addresses this need by introducing low-cost mercury sorbents made solely from sulfur and unsaturated cooking oils. A porous version of the polymer was prepared by simply synthesising the polymer in the presence of a sodium chloride porogen. The resulting material is a rubber that captures liquid mercury metal, mercury vapour, inorganic mercury bound to organic matter, and highly toxic alkylmercury compounds. Mercury removal from air, water and soil was demonstrated. Because sulfur is a by-product of petroleum refining and spent cooking oils from the food industry are suitable starting materials, these mercury-capturing polymers can be synthesised entirely from waste and supplied on multi-kilogram scales. This study is therefore an advance in waste valorisation and environmental chemistry.

Which conditions should be considered as disorders in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) designation of “other specified disorders due to addictive behaviors”?

Abstract: © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial purposes, provided the original author and source are credited, a link to the CC License is provided, and changes – if any – are indicated.

Core Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health

Abstract: Effective preparedness, response, and recovery from disasters require a well-planned, integrated effort with experienced professionals who can apply specialized knowledge and skills in critical situations. While some professionals are trained for this, others may lack the critical knowledge and experience needed to effectively perform under stressful disaster conditions. A set of clear, concise, and precise training standards that may be used to ensure workforce competency in such situations has been developed. The competency set has been defined by a broad and diverse set of leaders in the field and like-minded professionals through a series of Web-based surveys and expert working group meetings. The results may provide a useful starting point for delineating expected competency levels of health professionals in disaster medicine and public health. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2012;6:44-52)

p25α Relocalizes in Oligodendroglia from Myelin to Cytoplasmic Inclusions in Multiple System Atrophy

Abstract: p25α is an oligodendroglial protein that can induce aggregation of α-synuclein and accumulates in oligodendroglial cell bodies containing fibrillized α-synuclein in the neurodegenerative disease multiple system atrophy (MSA). We demonstrate biochemically that p25α is a constituent of myelin and a high-affinity ligand for myelin basic protein (MBP), and in situ immunohistochemistry revealed that MBP and p25α colocalize in myelin in normal human brains. Analysis of MSA cases reveals dramatic changes in p25α and MBP throughout the course of the disease. In situ immunohistochemistry revealed a cellular redistribution of p25α immunoreactivity from the myelin to the oligodendroglial cell soma, with no overall change in p25α protein concentration using immunoblotting. Concomitantly, an ∼80% reduction in the concentration of full-length MBP protein was revealed by immunoblotting along with the presence of immunoreactivity for MBP degradation products in oligodendroglia. The oligodendroglial cell bodies in MSA displayed an enlargement along with the relocalization of p25α, and this was enhanced after the deposition of α-synuclein in the glial cytoplasmic inclusions. Overall, the data indicate that changes in the cellular interactions between MBP and p25α occur early in MSA and contribute to abnormalities in myelin and subsequent α-synuclein aggregation and the ensuing neuronal degeneration that characterizes this disease.