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Emergency and disaster preparedness is often centred on preparing the physical environment. Moving the emphasis from the physical to the personal, people can be physically and mentally better prepared to face and recover from these events. This paper examines the approach by Australian Red Cross to improve psychosocial preparedness. It outlines how theories of psychosocial support, adaptive capacity and behaviour change are operationalised as well as the evaluation methods used to assess effectiveness.

Emergency and disaster preparedness is often centred on preparing the physical environment. Moving the emphasis from the physical to the personal, people can be physically and mentally better prepared to face and recover from these events. This paper examines the approach by Australian Red Cross to improve psychosocial preparedness. It outlines how theories of psychosocial support, adaptive capacity and behaviour change are operationalised as well as the evaluation methods used to assess effectiveness.

This thesis focuses on the culture and literature of Cold War America and seeks to challenge accepted notions and assumptions about this era and its culture, pointing ultimately to the possibilities for transgression or escape from enforced homogeneity. Using feminist theories, urban theory, and a cultural materialist approach, this thesis employs the work of Judith Butler (1993, 1999), Elizabeth Grosz (1994, 1995, 2001, 2008) and Beatriz Colomina (1992, 2004), and draws on the ideas of Gilles Deleuze, to undertake an examination of subjectivity and its relation to built and landscape environments of the Cold War, enabling an investigation that includes literary texts and criticism, visual and media culture, and cultural, architectural and technological discourses. This study of identity examines the way in which bodies react to and are shaped by their surroundings engaging with sights (Disneyland, The Monsanto House of the Future & the Playboy Mansion), places (New York City, Southern American states and suburbia) texts, and objects (television & cook books). Racial, sexual and youth identities are examined in chapter one, through the street spaces of Ralph Ellisonʼs Invisible Man (1952), the works of the Beats, Hubert Selby Jrʼs Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964), and Salingerʼs The Catcher in the Rye (1951) illustrating how street identities manage to complicate the purported containment of the era, and blurring the distinction between public display and private spectacle where transgressive personae can find authenticity of selfhood from within their urban location. Chapter two considers suburban gender identities and their manufactured proscription through architecture and technology as presented in Richard Yatesʼ Revolutionary Road (1961), John Cheeverʼs short stories, Vladimir Nabakovʼs Lolita (1958), John Updikeʼs Rabbit, Run (1960) and Sloan Wilsonʼs The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955), each examined in order to question containment, surveillance and gender proscription in this space. Finally, I examine the tensions between traditionally conformist selves and racial and sexual Others in the landscapes of Southern states, in the works of Tennessee Williamsʼ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1948) and Flannery OʼConnorʼs Wise Blood (1952). Using imagined spaces and landscapes this section considers a different form of spatially-determined identity, identity formed in an essentially hyperreal space – and exposes the contradictions of conformity and transgression. This thesisʼ original contribution to knowledge is based in the application of a theoretical feminist framework to established Cold War cultural criticism. In bridging the gap between existing theories of feminist corporeality and cultural criticism, my work will extend and challenge accepted notions of Fifties conformity and homogeneity in new and dynamic ways.

It is now well established that tumours undergo changes in cellular metabolism 1 . As this can reveal tumour cell vulnerabilities and because many tumours exhibit enhanced glucose uptake 2 , we have been interested in how tumour cells respond to different forms of sugar. Here we report that the monosaccharide mannose causes growth retardation in several tumour types in vitro, and enhances cell death in response to major forms of chemotherapy. We then show that these effects also occur in vivo in mice following the oral administration of mannose, without significantly affecting the weight and health of the animals. Mechanistically, mannose is taken up by the same transporter(s) as glucose 3 but accumulates as mannose-6-phosphate in cells, and this impairs the further metabolism of glucose in glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the pentose phosphate pathway and glycan synthesis. As a result, the administration of mannose in combination with conventional chemotherapy affects levels of anti-apoptotic proteins of the Bcl-2 family, leading to sensitization to cell death. Finally we show that susceptibility to mannose is dependent on the levels of phosphomannose isomerase (PMI). Cells with low levels of PMI are sensitive to mannose, whereas cells with high levels are resistant, but can be made sensitive by RNA-interference-mediated depletion of the enzyme. In addition, we use tissue microarrays to show that PMI levels also vary greatly between different patients and different tumour types, indicating that PMI levels could be used as a biomarker to direct the successful administration of mannose. We consider that the administration of mannose could be a simple, safe and selective therapy in the treatment of cancer, and could be applicable to multiple tumour types. Mannose reduces the growth of tumour cells by impairing the metabolism of glucose, and enhances cell death when used in combination with conventional chemotherapy.

Erythropoiesis involves complex interrelated molecular signals influencing cell survival, differentiation, and enucleation. Diseases associated with ineffective erythropoiesis, such as β-thalassemias, exhibit erythroid expansion and defective enucleation. Clear mechanistic determinants of what make erythropoiesis effective are lacking. We previously demonstrated that exogenous transferrin ameliorates ineffective erythropoiesis in β-thalassemic mice. In the current work, we utilize transferrin treatment to elucidate a molecular signature of ineffective erythropoiesis in β-thalassemia. We hypothesize that compensatory mechanisms are required in β-thalassemic erythropoiesis to prevent apoptosis and enhance enucleation. We identify pleckstrin-2—a STAT5-dependent lipid binding protein downstream of erythropoietin—as an important regulatory node. We demonstrate that partial loss of pleckstrin-2 leads to worsening ineffective erythropoiesis and pleckstrin-2 knockout leads to embryonic lethality in β-thalassemic mice. In addition, the membrane-associated active form of pleckstrin-2 occurs at an earlier stage during β-thalassemic erythropoiesis. Furthermore, membrane-associated activated pleckstrin-2 decreases cofilin mitochondrial localization in β-thalassemic erythroblasts and pleckstrin-2 knockdown in vitro induces cofilin-mediated apoptosis in β-thalassemic erythroblasts. Lastly, pleckstrin-2 enhances enucleation by interacting with and activating RacGTPases in β-thalassemic erythroblasts. This data elucidates the important compensatory role of pleckstrin-2 in β-thalassemia and provides support for the development of targeted therapeutics in diseases of ineffective erythropoiesis.Maria Feola et al., elucidate the compensatory role of pleckstrin-2 in ineffective erythropoiesis in β-thalassemic mice by reducing cofilin-mediated apoptosis and enhancing enucleation by activating RacGTPases. These findings could support future therapeutic interventions.

A risk ranking process identified Salmonella spp. and pathogenic verocytotoxin‐producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) as current high‐priority biological hazards for meat inspection of bovine animals. As these hazards are not detected by traditional meat inspection, a meat safety assurance system for the farm‐to‐chilled carcass continuum using a risk‐based approach was proposed. Key elements of the system are risk‐categorisation of slaughter animals for high‐priority biological hazards based on improved food chain information, as well as risk‐categorisation of slaughterhouses according to their capability to control those hazards. Omission of palpation and incision during post‐mortem inspection for animals subjected to routine slaughter may decrease spreading and cross‐contamination with the high‐priority biological hazards. For chemical hazards, dioxins and dioxin‐like polychlorinated biphenyls were ranked as being of high potential concern; all other substances were ranked as of medium or lower concern. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account the completeness and quality of the food chain information supplied and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated to include new hazards. Control programmes across the food chain, national residue control programmes, feed control and monitoring of environmental contaminants should be better integrated. Meat inspection is a valuable tool for surveillance and monitoring of animal health and welfare conditions. Omission of palpation and incision would reduce detection effectiveness for bovine tuberculosis and would have a negative impact on the overall surveillance system especially in officially tuberculosis free countries. The detection effectiveness for bovine cysticercosis, already low with the current meat inspection system, would result in a further decrease, if palpation and incision are removed. Extended use of food chain information could compensate for some, but not all, the information on animal health and welfare lost if only visual post‐mortem inspection is applied.

Spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage is a devastating form of stroke and its incidence increases with age. Obtaining brain tissue following intracerebral haemorrhage helps to understand its cause. Given declining autopsy rates worldwide, the feasibility of establishing an autopsy-based collection and its generalisability are uncertain. We used multiple overlapping sources of case ascertainment to identify every adult diagnosed with intracerebral haemorrhage between 1st June 2010-31st May 2012, whilst resident in the Lothian region of Scotland. We sought consent from patients with intracerebral haemorrhage (or their nearest relative if the patient lacked mental capacity) to conduct a research autopsy. Of 295 adults with acute intracerebral haemorrhage, 110 (37%) could not be approached to consider donation. Of 185 adults/relatives approached, 91 (49%) consented to research autopsy. There were no differences in baseline demographic variables or markers of intracerebral haemorrhage severity between consenters and non-consenters. Adults who died and became donors (n = 46) differed from the rest of the cohort (n = 249) by being older (median age 80, IQR 76-86 vs. 75, IQR 65-83, p = 0.002) and having larger haemorrhages (median volume 23 ml, IQR 13-50 vs. 13 ml, IQR 4-40; p = 0.002). Nearly half of those approached consent to brain tissue donation after acute intracerebral haemorrhage. The characteristics of adults who gave consent were comparable to those in an entire community, although those who donate early are older and have larger haemorrhage volumes.

A risk ranking process identified Toxoplasma gondii and pathogenic verocytotoxin‐producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) as the most relevant biological hazards for meat inspection of sheep and goats. As these are not detected by traditional meat inspection, a meat safety assurance system using risk‐based interventions was proposed. Further studies are required on T. gondii and pathogenic VTEC. If new information confirms these hazards as a high risk to public health from meat from sheep or goats, setting targets at carcass level should be considered. Other elements of the system are risk‐categorisation of flocks/herds based on improved Food Chain Information (FCI), classification of abattoirs according to their capability to reduce faecal contamination, and use of improved process hygiene criteria. It is proposed to omit palpation and incision from post‐mortem inspection in animals subjected to routine slaughter. For chemical hazards, dioxins and dioxin‐like polychlorinated biphenyls were ranked as being of high potential concern. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account FCI, which should be expanded to reflect the extensive production systems used, and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated and include new hazards. Control programmes across the food chain, national residue control plans, feed control and monitoring of environmental contaminants should be better integrated. Meat inspection is a valuable tool for surveillance and monitoring of animal health and welfare conditions. Omission of palpation and incision would reduce detection effectiveness for tuberculosis and fasciolosis at animal level. Surveillance of tuberculosis at the slaughterhouse in small ruminants should be improved and encouraged, as this is in practice the only surveillance system available. Extended use of FCI could compensate for some, but not all, the information on animal health and welfare lost if only visual post‐mortem inspection is applied.

Salmonella spp. in farmed wild boar and Toxoplasma gondii in farmed deer and farmed wild boar were ranked as a high priority for meat inspection. Trichinella spp. in wild boar was ranked as low priority due to current controls, which should be continued. For chemical hazards, all substances were ranked as medium or lower potential concern. More effective control of biological hazards could be achieved using an integrated farm to chilled carcass approach, including improved food chain information (FCI) and risk‐based controls. Further studies are required on Salmonella spp. in farmed wild boar and T. gondii in farmed wild boar and farmed deer. If new information confirms a high risk to public health from meat from these species, setting targets at carcass level should be considered. Palpation and incision should be omitted, as it will not detect biological hazards considered to be a high priority for meat inspection while increasing the potential spread and cross‐contamination of the carcasses with Salmonella. Palpation and/or incision may be applied where abnormalities have been detected but away from the slaughter line. However the elimination of routine palpation and incision would be detrimental for detecting tuberculosis. As farmed deer and farmed wild boar can act as tuberculosis reservoirs, any reduction in the detection, due to changes in the post‐mortem inspection procedures, will have consequences for the overall surveillance of tuberculosis. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account FCI, which should be expanded to reflect the specific environmental conditions of the farms where the animals are reared, and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated and include new hazards. Control programmes across the food chain, national residue control programmes, feed control and monitoring of environmental contaminants should be better integrated.

A risk ranking process identified Trichinella spp. as the most relevant biological hazard in the context of meat inspection of domestic solipeds. Without a full and reliable soliped traceability system, it is considered that either testing all slaughtered solipeds for Trichinella spp., or inactivation meat treatments (heat or irradiation) should be used to maintain the current level of safety. With regard to general aspects of current meat inspection practices, the use of manual techniques during current post‐mortem soliped meat inspection may increase microbial cross‐contamination, and is considered to have a detrimental effect on the microbiological status of soliped carcass meat. Therefore, the use of visual‐only inspection is suggested for “non‐suspect” solipeds. For chemical hazards, phenylbutazone and cadmium were ranked as being of high potential concern. Monitoring programmes for chemical hazards should be more flexible and based on the risk of occurrence, taking into account Food Chain Information (FCI), covering the specific on‐farm environmental conditions and individual animal treatments, and the ranking of chemical substances, which should be regularly updated and include new hazards. Sampling, testing and intervention protocols for chemical hazards should be better integrated and should focus particularly on cadmium, phenylbutazone and priority “essential substances” approved for treatment of equine animals. Implementation and enforcement of a more robust and reliable identification system throughout the European Union is needed to improve traceability of domestic solipeds. Meat inspection is recognised as a valuable tool for surveillance and monitoring of animal health and welfare conditions. If visual only post‐mortem inspection is implemented for routine slaughter, a reduction in the detection of strangles and mild cases of rhodococcosis would occur. However, this was considered unlikely to affect the overall surveillance of both diseases. Improvement of FCI and traceability were considered as not having a negative effect on animal health and welfare surveillance.