Amateur runners more influenced than elite runners by temperature and air pollution during the UK's Great North Run half marathon.

The short- and long-term impacts of air pollution on human health are well documented and include cardiovascular, neurological, immune system and developmental damage. Additionally, the irritant qualities of air pollutants can cause respiratory and cardiovascular distress. This can be heightened during exercise and especially so for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma.

The Diamond League athletic series: does the air quality sparkle?

Urban air pollution can have negative short- and long-term impacts on health, including cardiovascular, neurological, immune system and developmental damage. The irritant qualities of pollutants such as ozone (O), nitrogen dioxide (NO) and particulate matter (PM) can cause respiratory and cardiovascular distress, which can be heightened during physical activity and particularly so for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma. Previously, research has only examined marathon run outcomes or running under laboratory settings.

STAT6 knockdown using multiple siRNA sequences inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of human colorectal and breast cancer cell lines.

The transcription factor STAT6 is strongly expressed in various tumours and is most highly expressed in human malignant lymphomas and pancreatic, colorectal, prostate and breast cancers. STAT6 is associated with cancer cell proliferation, an increased malignancy and poor prognosis. Thus, techniques aimed at reducing or blocking STAT6 expression may be useful in treating STAT6high cancers.

A systems framework for national assessment of climate risks to infrastructure.

Extreme weather causes substantial adverse socio-economic impacts by damaging and disrupting the infrastructure services that underpin modern society. Globally, $2.5tn a year is spent on infrastructure which is typically designed to last decades, over which period projected changes in the climate will modify infrastructure performance.

The Effects of Heat Advection on UK Weather and Climate Observations in the Vicinity of Small Urbanized Areas.

Weather and climate networks traditionally follow rigorous siting guidelines, with individual stations located away from frost hollows, trees or urban areas. However, the diverse nature of the UK landscape suggests that the feasibility of siting stations that are truly representative of regional climate and free from distorting local effects is increasingly difficult. Whilst the urban heat island is a well-studied phenomenon and usually accounted for, the effect of warm urban air advected downwind is rarely considered, particularly at rural stations adjacent to urban areas.

The Birmingham Urban Climate Laboratory-A high density, urban meteorological dataset, from 2012-2014.

There is a paucity of urban meteorological observations worldwide, hindering progress in understanding and mitigating urban meteorological hazards and extremes. High quality urban datasets are required to monitor the impacts of climatological events, whilst providing data for evaluation of numerical models. The Birmingham Urban Climate Laboratory was established as an exemplar network to meet this demand for urban canopy layer observations.

Standard of Care in Pediatrics: Integrating Family-Centred Care and Social Determinants of Health.

In pediatric healthcare, there is a recognized need to address social determinants of health (SDOH) to positively influence child health and development. In addition, family-centred care (FCC) recognizes the value of the family unit in affecting individual patient experiences of illness and care. However, pediatric healthcare that incorporates principles of FCC and SDOH may be interpreted as calling on clinicians to deviate from or add to practices that form an accepted standard of care.

Poverty and pediatric palliative care: what can we do?

It has been recognized that families of children with life-limiting health conditions struggle with significant financial demands, yet may not have awareness of resources available to them. Additionally, health care providers may not be aware of the socioeconomic needs of families they care for. This article describes a mixed-methods study examining the content validity and utility for health care providers of a poverty screening tool and companion resource guide for the pediatric palliative care population.

Hospital-legal partnership at Toronto Hospital for Sick Children: the first Canadian experience.

Operating a hospital-legal partnership on a pro bono basis positively impacts patients' families by providing legal assistance for non-medical issues that affect the health of their children and their ability to care for their children. This article describes a formative evaluation of the first hospital-legal partnership in Canada, established at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in 2009, which was carried out through file reviews and interviews with staff, lawyers and family members. The early indications of success of this partnership suggest that its use as a template for similar programs at other Canadian healthcare institutions should be considered.

Including the urban heat island in spatial heat health risk assessment strategies: a case study for Birmingham, UK.

Background: Heatwaves present a significant health risk and the hazard is likely to escalate with the increased future temperatures presently predicted by climate change models. The impact of heatwaves is often felt strongest in towns and cities where populations are concentrated and where the climate is often unintentionally modified to produce an urban heat island effect; where urban areas can be significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is to integrate remotely sensed urban heat island data alongside commercial social segmentation data via a spatial risk assessment methodology in order to highlight potential heat health risk areas and build the foundations for a climate change risk assessment.

The impact of climate change on winter road maintenance and traffic accidents in West Midlands, UK.

Winter weather can be a significant cause of road traffic accidents. This paper uses UKCIP climate change scenarios and a temporal analogue to investigate the relationship between temperature and severe road accidents in the West Midlands, UK. This approach also allows quantification of the changes in the severity of the winter season over the next century in the region.

Evidence for a role of the adenosine 5'-triphosphate-binding cassette transporter A1 in the externalization of annexin I from pituitary folliculo-stellate cells.

Annexin 1 (ANXA1) has a well-demonstrated role in early delayed inhibitory feedback of glucocorticoids in the pituitary. ANXA1 is located in folliculo-stellate (FS) cells, and glucocorticoids act on these cells to externalize and stimulate the synthesis of ANXA1. However, ANXA1 lacks a signal sequence so the mechanism by which ANXA1 is externalized from FS cells was unknown and has been investigated.

Externalization of annexin I from a folliculo-stellate-like cell line.

Our recent studies on rat pituitary tissue suggest that the annexin I-dependent inhibitory actions of glucocorticoids may not be exerted directly on endocrine cells but indirectly via folliculo-stellate (FS) cells. FS cells contain glucocorticoid receptors and abundant annexin I. We have studied the localization of annexin I in FS cells and the ability of dexamethasone to induce annexin I secretion by an FS (TtT/GF) cell line, using Western blotting and immunofluorescence microscopy.