Search

I INTRODUCTION In 2019, Queensland became the third Australian jurisdiction to provide legislative protection for human rights, with the passage of the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) ('HRA'). (1) The [...], In 2019, Queensland became the third Australian state to legislate human rights protections, but the first to enshrine a right of 'Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples [to] not be denied the right, with other members of their community ... to conserve and protect the environment and productive capacity of their land, territories, waters, coastal seas and other resources '. This article analyses how this right may be interpreted and applied in practice, and argues in favour of an expansive interpretation, encompassing a right to consultation. Coupled with Queensland's complaints and conciliation process, it is argued that this right may provide significant protection for indigenous cultural rights in Queensland.

Thrombosis is a common, life-threatening consequence of systemic infection; however, the underlying mechanisms that drive the formation of infection-associated thrombi are poorly understood. Here, using a mouse model of systemic Salmonella Typhimurium infection, we determined that inflammation in tissues triggers thrombosis within vessels via ligation of C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2) on platelets by podoplanin exposed to the vasculature following breaching of the vessel wall. During infection, mice developed thrombi that persisted for weeks within the liver. Bacteria triggered but did not maintain this process, as thrombosis peaked at times when bacteremia was absent and bacteria in tissues were reduced by more than 90% from their peak levels. Thrombus development was triggered by an innate, TLR4-dependent inflammatory cascade that was independent of classical glycoprotein VI-mediated (GPVI-mediated) platelet activation. After infection, IFN-γ release enhanced the number of podoplanin-expressing monocytes and Kupffer cells in the hepatic parenchyma and perivascular sites and absence of TLR4, IFN-γ, or depletion of monocytic-lineage cells or CLEC-2 on platelets markedly inhibited the process. Together, our data indicate that infection-driven thrombosis follows local inflammation and upregulation of podoplanin and platelet activation. The identification of this pathway offers potential therapeutic opportunities to control the devastating consequences of infection-driven thrombosis without increasing the risk of bleeding., Introduction Thrombosis-associated events are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Systemic infections caused by a plethora of bacterial genera can initiate thrombus development. While the mechanisms that underlie this [...]

We consider distillation of secret bits from partially secret noisy correlations [P.sub.ABE], shared between two honest parties and an eavesdropper. The most studied distillation scenario consists of joint operations on a large number of copies of the distribution ([P.sub.ABE])[sup.N], assisted with public communication. Here we consider distillation with only one copy of the distribution, and instead of rates, the "quality" of the distilled secret bits is optimized, where the "quality" is quantified by the secret-bit fraction of the result. The secret-bit fraction of a binary distribution is the proportion which constitutes a secret bit between Alice and Bob. With local operations and public communication the maximal extractable secret-bit fraction from a distribution [P.sub.ABE] is found, and is denoted by [LAMBDA][[P.sub.ABE]]. This quantity is shown to be nonincreasing under local operations and public communication, and nondecreasing under eavesdropper's local operations: [LAMBDA] is a secrecy monotone. It is shown that if [LAMBDA][[P.sub.ABE]] > 1/2 then [P.sub.ABE] is distillable, thus providing a sufficient condition for distillability. A simple expression for [LAMBDA] [[P.sub.ABE]] is found when the eavesdropper is decoupled, and when the honest parties' information is binary and the local operations are reversible. Intriguingly, for general distributions the (optimal) operation requires local degradation of the data. Index Terms--Cryptography, privacy amplification, quantum information theory, secret-key agreement.

Alloreactive memory T cells may be refractory to many of the tolerance-inducing strategies that are effective against naive T cells and thus present a significant barrier to long-term allograft survival. Because CD[4.sup.+]CD[25.sup.+] regulatory T cells (Tregs) are critical elements of many approaches to successful induction/maintenance of transplantation tolerance, we used MHC class I and II alloreactive TCR-transgenic models to explore the ability of antigen-specific Tregs to control antigen-specific memory T cell responses. Upon coadoptive transfer into RAG-[1.sup.-/-] mice, we found that Tregs effectively suppressed the ability of naive T cells to reject skin grafts, but neither antigen-unprimed nor antigen-primed Tregs suppressed rejection by memory T cells. Interestingly, different mechanisms appeared to be active in the ability of Tregs to control naive T cell-mediated graft rejection in the class II versus class I alloreactive models. In the former case, we observed decreased early expansion of effector cells in lymphoid tissue. In contrast, in the class I model, an effect of Tregs on early proliferation and expansion was not observed. However, at a late time point, significant differences in cell numbers were seen, suggesting effects on responding T cell survival. Overall, these data indicate that the relative resistance of both CD[4.sup.+] and CD[8.sup.+] alloreactive memory T cells to regulation may mediate resistance to tolerance induction seen in hosts with preexisting alloantigen-specific immunity and further indicate the multiplicity of mechanisms by which Tregs may control alloimmune responses in vivo. suppression | tolerance | transplantation

Ageing and lifespan of organisms are determined by complicated interactions between their genetics and the environment, but the cellular mechanisms remain controversial; several studies suggest that cellular energy metabolism and [...]

Sergio Leone's film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly reinvented an exhausted genre when it hit the screens in 1966. Its ironic, postmodern tone fitted the mood of the [...]

Corporate life takes a beating in American literature. Office work is a Faustian pact that pays the bills but devours its victims, robbing them of their dreams and identities. Nick […]