Plastic pollution is now considered globally ubiquitous, irreversible, and a planetary boundary threat. Solutions are urgently needed but their development and application are hampered by the complexity and scale of the issue. System dynamics is a technique used to understand complex behaviours of systems through model building and is useful for conceptualising the relationships between various interacting, dynamic factors, and identifying potential intervention points within the system where specific policies or innovations might have the greatest impact or meet with the greatest resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe pervasive use of plastic in modern society has led to plastic litter becoming ubiquitous within the ocean. Land-based sources of plastic litter are thought to account for the majority of plastic pollution in the marine environment, with plastic bags, bottles, wrappers, food containers and cutlery among the most common items found. In the marine environment, plastic is a transboundary pollutant, with the potential to cause damage far beyond the political borders from where it originated, making the management of this global pollutant particularly complex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSwitching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study examined the correlation of classroom ventilation (air exchanges per hour (ACH)) and exposure to CO ≥1,000 ppm with the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 over a 20-month period in a specialized school for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). These students were at a higher risk of respiratory infection from SARS-CoV-2 due to challenges in tolerating mitigation measures (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCoastal saltmarshes provide globally important ecosystem services including 'blue carbon' sequestration, flood protection, pollutant remediation, habitat provision and cultural value. Large portions of marshes have been lost or fragmented as a result of land reclamation, embankment construction, and pollution. Sea level rise threatens marsh survival by blocking landward migration where coastlines have been developed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEvaluating what patients get out of therapeutic patient education (TPE) from their point of view makes it possible to enrich traditional educational evaluations and satisfaction measures (ad hoc indicators, defined a priori). A scale of the perceived value of TPE has been developed for research on the patient experience in oncology (analytical version), or for routine evaluations (synthetic version). Researchers and teams will thus be able to better appreciate and value the contributions of TPE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSoutheast Asia is considered to have some of the highest levels of marine plastic pollution in the world. It is therefore vitally important to increase our understanding of the impacts and risks of plastic pollution to marine ecosystems and the essential services they provide to support the development of mitigation measures in the region. An interdisciplinary, international network of experts (Australia, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam) set a research agenda for marine plastic pollution in the region, synthesizing current knowledge and highlighting areas for further research in Southeast Asia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNon-invasive small-animal imaging technologies, such as optical imaging, magnetic resonance imaging and x -ray computed tomography, have enabled researchers to study normal biological phenomena or disease progression in their native conditions. However, existing small-animal imaging technologies often lack either the penetration capability for interrogating deep tissues (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPreclinical mouse solid tumor models are widely used to evaluate efficacy of novel cancer therapeutics. Recent reports have highlighted the need for utilizing orthotopic implantation to represent clinical disease more accurately, however the deep tissue location of these tumors makes longitudinal assessment challenging without the use of imaging techniques. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a new multi-modality high-throughput in vivo imaging system that combines bioluminescence imaging (BLI) with robotic, hands-free ultrasound (US) for evaluating orthotopic mouse models.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to understand preferences for different coastal flood protection measures and the factors that influence such preferences, to inform management and policy. The Discrete Choice Experiment applied to Wales residents revealed that there is willingness-to-pay for coastal flood protection, especially through Nature-based Solutions (NbS) including expanding saltmarsh area and increasing saltmarsh with high vegetation. The preference for NbS provides evidence for including specific coastal area targets in financial schemes initially aimed at other benefits from natural habitats, such as habitat creation for biodiversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMarine spatial planning that addresses ocean climate-driven change ('climate-smart MSP') is a global aspiration to support economic growth, food security and ecosystem sustainability. Ocean climate change ('CC') modelling may become a key decision-support tool for MSP, but traditional modelling analysis and communication challenges prevent their broad uptake. We employed MSP-specific ocean climate modelling analyses to inform a real-life MSP process; addressing how nature conservation and fisheries could be adapted to CC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder characterized by renal cyst formation and enlargement of the kidney. PKD severity can be staged noninvasively by measuring total kidney volume (TKV), a promising biomarker that has recently received regulatory qualification. In preclinical mouse models, where the disease is studied and potential therapeutics are evaluated, the most popular noninvasive method of measuring TKV is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing a natural capital framework to inform improvements to water quality and mitigation of climate change requires robust and spatially explicit ecosystem service data. Yet, for coastal habitats this approach is often constrained by a) sufficient and relevant habitat extent data and b) significant variability in baseline assessments used to quantify and value regulatory habitat services. Here, the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) habitat classification scheme is used to map seven key temperate coastal biotopes (littoral sediment, mat-forming green macroalgae, subtidal sediment, saltmarsh, seagrass, reedbeds and native oyster reefs) within the UK's Solent European Marine Site (SEMS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe term Blue Carbon (BC) was first coined a decade ago to describe the disproportionately large contribution of coastal vegetated ecosystems to global carbon sequestration. The role of BC in climate change mitigation and adaptation has now reached international prominence. To help prioritise future research, we assembled leading experts in the field to agree upon the top-ten pending questions in BC science.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis research takes a holistic approach to considering the consequences of marine plastic pollution. A semi-systematic literature review of 1191 data points provides the basis to determine the global ecological, social and economic impacts. An ecosystem impact analysis demonstrates that there is global evidence of impact with medium to high frequency on all subjects, with a medium to high degree of irreversibility.
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