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Despite current global trends towards diversification in policy responses to illegal drug use, including growing criticism of the War on Drugs, Japan continues to retain an ardently prohibitive approach. This article explains the reproduction of prohibitionist policies in Japan throughout the post-War period through use of the Multi-Centred Governance (MCG) thesis. This thesis acknowledges the facilitative power of exogenous shocks to the policy process, the causal power of particular policy actors, whilst also emphasising the importance of dispositional power, the rules of meaning and membership that integrate and bind policy actors into rival agendas of crime control, in maintaining policy agendas despite facilitative and agentic pressures for change. In these terms, the MCG provokes discussion of how alleged global trends in crime and control are mediated by a politics of risk and justice, constituted through the interplay of the facilitative, causal and dispositional circuits of power found in particular contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term, "aerosol-generating procedures" (AGPs), was proposed during the prior SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in order to maximise healthcare worker and patient protection. The concept of AGPs has since expanded to include routine therapeutic processes such as various modes of oxygen delivery and non-invasive ventilation modalities. Evidence gained during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought into question the concept of AGPs with regard to intubation, airway management, non-invasive ventilation and high flow nasal oxygen delivery. Although encounters where these procedures occur may still be associated with increased risk of infectious transmission, this is a function of the clinical context and not because the procedure itself is aerosol-generating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the concept of the "negotiated order" as developed by McAra and McVie to focus on the role and nature of the "family order" in shaping the initiation of methamphetamine use in Japan. Presenting empirical qualitative data from multiple life-story interviews with 11 men with a history of methamphetamine use, the findings demonstrate that while there were variegated paths that led to initiation of use, a common factor was family breakdown and exclusion. Given the "group-oriented" nature of social organization and relations in Japan and the risks emanating from marginalization from "insider" groups, understanding the importance of the ways in which the ascription and negotiation of identities within and around the family can lead to initiation in a severely stigmatized and criminalized activity in this cultural context provides useful lessons for thinking about formal and informal responses to illegal drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper aimed to describe the airway practices of intensive care units (ICUs) in Australia and New Zealand specific to patients presenting with COVID-19 and to inform whether consistent clinical practice was achieved. Specific clinical airway guidelines were endorsed in March 2020 by the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society (ANZICS) and College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM). Methods and findings: Prospective, structured questionnaire for all ICU directors in Australia and New Zealand was completed by 69 ICU directors after email invitation from ANZICS. The online questionnaire was accessible for three weeks during September 2020 and analysed by cloud-based software. Basic ICU demographics (private or public, metropolitan or rural) and location, purchasing, airway management practices, guideline uptake, checklist and cognitive aid use and staff training relevant to airway management during the COVID-19 pandemic were the main outcome measures. The 69 ICU directors reported significant simulation-based inter-professional airway training of staff (97%), and use of video laryngoscopy (94%), intubation checklists (94%), cognitive aids (83%) and PPE "spotters" (89%) during the airway management of patients with COVID-19. Tracheal intubation was almost always performed by a Specialist (97% of ICUs), who was more likely to be an intensivist than an anaesthetist (61% vs 36%). There was a more frequent adoption of specific airway guidelines for the management of COVID-19 patients in public ICUs (94% vs 71%) and reliance on specialist intensivists to perform intubations in private ICUs (92% vs 53%). Conclusion: There was a high uptake of a standardised approach to airway management in COVID-19 patients in ICUs in Australia and New Zealand, likely due to endorsement of national guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1922, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued its first Standard State Zoning Enabling Act, a model law authorizing local governments to engage in land-use regulation. Authored during a period of rapid industrialization in U.S. cities, as well as high rates of European immigration and the Great Migration of Black Americans from the rural South to Northern industrial cities, the Act delegated to local governments the power to regulate and direct growth within their borders. The Act, last updated in 1926, has proven durable in its first century, as its principles and language are, even today, found in the zoning enabling laws of nearly every state. However, the broad power conferred to local governments under the Act—to engage in land use regulation for broad and undefined general welfare purposes such as maintenance of community character and property values—has brought about serious negative consequences for housing affordability, racial equity, and access to opportunity. This essay argues that a twenty-first-century zoning enabling law, focused on ameliorating high housing costs, addressing racial segregation, and providing access to opportunity for all communities, is needed for land use planning and regulation to respond to one of our most urgent social crises. The essay discusses the origins of the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act and its adoption into state laws; explains how zoning has been used to systematically segregate and preclude non-white and low-income communities from accessing economic opportunity; and offers suggestions for how an updated zoning enabling law could direct local governments toward more equitable land use regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories about crime control in Japan have largely been based around two opposing traditions. On the one hand, cultural explanations have emphasized the exceptional attributes of Japanese social relations that contribute towards shaming and re-integrative processes. On the other hand, more recent explanations assert that Japanese crime control is converging with other countries, particularly towards penal populism. Both approaches tend to reduce explanations to a monolithic characterization that disguises variegation within Japan. Through considering the governance of illegal drug use and the Kamagasaki area of Osaka, a 'geo-historical' perspective is advocated to better capture the complexity and contradictions of globalizing processes and social culture and their resulting manifestations in crime control within contemporary Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrative review of the literature specific to leadership within the intensive care unit was planned to guide future research. Four databases were searched. Study selection was based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria and a quality check was done. Data extraction and synthesis involved developing a preliminary thematic coding framework based on a sample of papers. The coding framework and all selected papers were entered into NVivo software. All papers were then coded to the previously identified themes. Themes were summarised and presented with illustrative quotes highlighting key findings. In total, 1102 relevant quotations were coded across the 28 included papers. Four themes pertaining to leadership were described and analysed: (a) leadership dimensions and discourses; (b) leadership experiences; (c) facilitators and/or barriers to leadership; and (d) leadership outcomes. The literature was found to focus on leader behaviours, as well as the leader dimensions of role allocation, clinical and communication skills and traditional hierarchies. Positive behaviours mentioned included good decision-making, staying calm under pressure and being approachable. Leadership experiences (and outcomes) are typically reported to be positive. Personal individual factors seem the biggest enablers and barriers to leadership within the intensive care unit. Training is considered to be a facilitator of leadership within the intensive care unit. This study highlights the current literature on leadership in intensive care medicine and provides a basis for future research on interventions to improve leadership in the intensive care unit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses efforts to regulate the use of plastic shopping bags in Texas for proper disposal or outright bans. Also cited are the impact of mass consumerism and disposable culture on the misuse of plastic bags in the state, the fight on whether to ban plastic bags in Texas like the case City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Association, the economic effects of plastic bag use and law, and the background of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

One of the biggest puzzles facing policy makers in India is the likely trajectory of China's future military power in South Asia and the broader Indian Ocean region. Protecting China's interests overseas: Securitization and foreign policy: by Andrea Ghiselli, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2021, 304 pp., £75 (Hardback), ISBN 978-0-1988-6739-5 In I Protecting China's Interests Overseas: Securitization and Foreign Policy i , Andrea Ghiselli helps us better understand the answers to these questions. [Extracted from the article]

The process of Welsh devolution has marshalled major political, social and institutional change. While scholars within various disciplines have attempted to make sense of these changes, the discipline of criminology remains something of an exception. This article offers an examination of the unique Welsh criminal justice policy space that has been opened up by devolution in Wales. The article provides a long overdue assessment of how drug policy in Wales, while continuing to straddle the UK Government's criminal justice responsibilities, is configured and shaped within post-devolution Wales. The empirical findings presented here reveal the existence of a distinct Welsh drug policy as well as discovering clear limitations to Welsh policy divergence. The article outlines the need for criminologists to take Wales – and the Welsh policy space – more seriously, while highlighting the need for criminologists to become more attuned to the considerable effects being made by constitutional change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Post‐operative acute kidney injury after cardiopulmonary bypass (AKI‐CPB) for cardiac surgery is a frequent complication. It may require renal replacement therapy (RRT), which is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality. This review explores the efficacy of proposed pharmacological and non‐surgical renal protective strategies. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was done using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and Scopus databases. Keywords included were cardiopulmonary bypass, cardiac surgery, coronary artery bypass, renal protection and renal preservation. Eligible articles consisted of all studies on patients who had undergone cardiac surgery via CPB with an outcome of AKI and/or RRT reported. All studies underwent a quality check via the risk of bias tool. The three most researched interventions (based on number of randomized controlled trials and total patients analysed) and their renal outcomes were then analysed with Review Manager Software. Results: Eighty‐eight articles were extracted. A total of 26 management strategies for renal protection following CPB were identified. N‐acetylcysteine (NAC), remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) and the use of volatile anaesthetic agents (VAAs) were further analysed. NAC, RIPC and VAA had no statistically significant benefit in reducing either AKI‐CPB or the need for RRT following CPB. Conclusion: NAC, RIPC and VAA were found to have no statistical significant benefit in reducing either AKI‐CPB or the need for RRT following CPB. There remains clinical uncertainty with all currently proposed pharmacological and non‐surgical renal protective strategies for CPB. Future research in this area should analyse the effects of combined interventions or specifically focus on 'at‐risk' patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract This paper describes a new solvothermal strategy for controlling the size and crystal phase of iron oxide nanocrystals. Decreasing the chain length of aliphatic carboxylate precursors produces smaller nanocrystals and tuning the concentration of water in the solvent enables controlled formation of the hematite or maghemite phases of iron(III) oxide. Abstract This paper describes a new method for controlling nanocrystal size and crystal phase in solvothermal syntheses of iron oxide nanocrystals by altering the carbon chain length of aliphatic iron(III) carboxylate precursors and reaction solvent composition, respectively. Hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3) nanocrystals were synthesized from iron(III) carboxylate precursors in a 2:1 water:ethanol mixture in the presence of free aliphatic carboxylic acids or aliphatic primary amine ligands. In the presence of amine, increasing the length of the carbon chain of the iron(III) carboxylate precursor from two to eighteen carbons produced pseudocubic nanocrystals with size dispersities of ∼10% and diameters that decreased from 65 nm to 25 nm. Changing the chain length of the amine does not affect the size of the nanocrystals. In contrast, free carboxylic acid ligands produce polydisperse, polycrystalline hematite nanoparticles. The crystal structure of the iron oxide nanocrystals synthesized by this method depends on the mole-fraction of water (x water) in the water/ethanol solvent mixture: x water = 0 produces maghemite (γ-Fe 2 O 3), x water = 0.67 produces hematite, and x water = 1 produces a mixture of goethite (α-FeOOH) and hematite. The dependence of the nanocrystal size on ligand chain length is attributed to decreasing solubility of partially hydrolyzed iron(III) carboxylate precursors in the reaction solvent mixture with increasing chain length. The dependence of nanocrystal phase on solvent composition is attributed to the different reactivities of water and ethanol toward hydrolysis of the iron(III) carboxylate precursors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indications of the national prevalence of illegal drug use in Japan have largely been presented from two main sources: official police-recorded statistics and a national self-report survey. Their findings have been often used to support a representation of Japan as having relatively low levels of illegal drug use in comparison to other developed countries. However, the use and presentation of these sources has rarely considered in any meaningful way their nature and accuracy in revealing patterns of illegal drug use. As such, there is a tendency to uncritically accept and reproduce dominant patterns that may distort and disguise a more realistic understanding. This article critically examines these two sources, identifying a series of methodological issues that may contribute toward an underrepresentation of illegal drug use. In doing so, it also argues that a more critical social science–informed perspective may allow for these sources to be better utilized and situated within the cultural context in which they are produced and which they claim to represent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing understanding among maritime security practitioners of the importance of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) as an essential enabler of maritime security. This article describes Australia’s efforts to develop an integrated national MDA system that brings together data and intelligence from a range of military and civil agencies and commercial sources to which a risk-based assessment is applied. This has become an essential tool to combat transnational maritime security threats in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere. But inherent limitations of national MDA systems are also pushing Australia and other countries to cooperate in trying to improve MDA. This paper then examines ways in which Australia can promote MDA cooperation in the Indian Ocean. It considers the effectiveness and limitations of current and proposed multilateral information sharing arrangements in the region. It concludes that Australia should primarily focus on working with selected Indian Ocean partners to enhance information sharing and help develop integrated national MDA systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: Advances in cancer management have resulted in improved survival rates, particularly in children and young adults. However, treatment may adversely affect reproductive outcomes among female cancer survivors. The objective of this study was to investigate their risk of adverse perinatal outcomes compared to the general population. Design/methods: We performed a population-based analysis, including all female cancer survivors diagnosed before the age of 40 years between 1981 and 2012. Pregnancy and perinatal complications were identified through linkage of the Scottish Cancer Registry with hospital discharge records based on the Community Health Index (CHI) database. We compared 1,629 female cancer survivors with a first ever singleton pregnancy after diagnosis, with controls matched on age, deprivation quintile, and year of cancer diagnosis selected from the general population (n = 8,899). Relative risks and 95%-confidence intervals of perinatal risks were calculated using log-binomial regression. Results: Survivors were more likely to give birth before 37 weeks of gestation (relative risk (RR]) 1.32, 95%-CI 1.10–1.59), but did not show an increased risk of low birth weight (<2.5kg: RR 1.15, 95%-CI 0.94–1.39), and were less likely to give birth to offspring small for gestational age (RR 0.81, 95%-CI 0.68–0.98). Operative delivery and postpartum haemorrhage were more common but approached rates in controls with more recent diagnosis. The risk of congenital abnormalities was not increased (RR 1.01, 95%-CI 0.85–1.20). Conclusion: Cancer survivors have an increased risk of premature delivery and postpartum haemorrhage, but their offspring are not at increased risk for low birth weight or congenital abnormalities. In recent decades there has been a normalisation of delivery method in cancer survivors, nevertheless careful management remains appropriate particularly for those diagnosed in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the development of illegal drug control in Japan. Focusing on the area of drug treatment, a theoretical explanation is offered for how and why a previously punitive configuration has shifted towards a more complex one including both inclusionary and exclusionary approaches. In doing so, it argues for theoretical engagement with the relations of power which structure political competition in the governance of illegal drug control. Using conceptual tools adopted from urban regime analysis, the article discusses the dispositions, resources, and schemes of co-operation that have shaped the development of drug treatment in Japan since the end of the Second World War. Contemporary manifestations of drug treatment are indicative of a disruption to a dominant 'penal-moral' regime and an ongoing transformation towards a 'medico-penal' regime. Contemporary illegal drug control in Japan, especially at a tertiary level, demonstrates both continuity and change from former approaches, with manifestations of policy exhibiting similarities as well as differences from other countries. In accounting for these patterns, conceptual frameworks centred around the political competition to govern problems of illegal drug use provides a useful way to explain how drug policy regimes become variegated across different contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: What is the impact of cancer in females aged ≤39 years on subsequent chance of pregnancy?Summary Answer: Cancer survivors achieved fewer pregnancies across all cancer types, and the chance of achieving a first pregnancy was also lower.What Is Known Already: The diagnosis and treatment of cancer in young females may be associated with reduced fertility but the true pregnancy deficit in a population is unknown.Study Design, Size, Duration: We performed a retrospective cohort study relating first incident cancer diagnosed between 1981 and 2012 to subsequent pregnancy in all female patients in Scotland aged 39 years or less at cancer diagnosis (n = 23 201). Pregnancies were included up to end of 2014. Females from the exposed group not pregnant before cancer diagnosis (n = 10 271) were compared with general population controls matched for age, deprivation quintile and year of diagnosis.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Scottish Cancer Registry records were linked to hospital discharge records to calculate standardized incidence ratios (SIR) for pregnancy, standardized for age and year of diagnosis. Linkage to death records was also performed. We also selected women from the exposed group who had not been pregnant prior to their cancer diagnosis who were compared with a matched control group from the general population. Additional analyses were performed for breast cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, leukaemia, cervical cancer and brain/CNS cancers.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: Cancer survivors achieved fewer pregnancies: SIR 0.62 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.63). Reduced SIR was observed for all cancer types. The chance of achieving a first pregnancy was also lower, adjusted hazard ratio = 0.57 (95% CI: 0.53, 0.61) for women >5 years after diagnosis, with marked reductions in women with breast, cervical and brain/CNS tumours, and leukaemia. The effect was reduced with more recent treatment period overall and in cervical cancer, breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, but was unchanged for leukaemia or brain/CNS cancers. The proportion of pregnancies that ended in termination was lower after a cancer diagnosis, and the proportion ending in live birth was higher (78.7 vs 75.6%, CI of difference: 1.1, 5.0).Limitations, Reasons For Caution: Details of treatments received were not available, so the impact of specific treatment regimens on fertility could not be assessed. Limited duration of follow-up was available for women diagnosed in the most recent time period.Wider Implications Of the Findings: This analysis provides population-based quantification by cancer type of the effect of cancer and its treatment on subsequent pregnancy across the reproductive age range, and how this has changed in recent decades. The demonstration of a reduced chance of pregnancy across all cancer types and the changing impact in some but not other common cancers highlights the need for appropriate fertility counselling of all females of reproductive age at diagnosis.Study Funding/competing Interest(s): This study was funded by NHS Lothian Cancer and Leukaemia Endowments Fund. Part of this work was undertaken in the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health which is funded by the MRC Centre grant MR/N022556/1. RAA has participated in Advisory Boards and/or received speaker's fees from Beckman Coulter, IBSA, Merck and Roche Diagnostics. He has received research support from Roche Diagnostics, Ansh labs and Ferring. The other authors have no conflicts to declare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two reclassifications of cannabis in England & Wales in 2004 and 2009 have been subjected to a series of academic analyses which have largely been centred on either the relationship to evidence, or in terms of the implications and realities of policing and health under the changes. However, despite the wealth of attention on this area, there have been relatively few attempts to understand these policy movements through broader criminological theoretical frameworks. One recent exception is Shiner’s (2015) utilisation of Garland’s (2001) concept of ‘structured ambivalence’. This paper seeks to test this application through drawing upon an alternative source of evidence, namely, a series of ‘elite’ qualitative interviews, and using Kingdon’s (1995) Multiple Streams model to make sense of the policy processes. In doing so, it largely corroborates Shiner’s conclusions whilst also further illuminating particular agentic aspects and their intertwining with other structural and cultural forces which led to the reclassifications. These findings demonstrate the value of triangulating evidential sources and advances knowledge about the role of individuals in pursuing policy agendas within a broader shifting political climate. This provides greater scope to further test and understand how structured ambivalence manifests itself in other cultural contexts and policy domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two reclassifications of cannabis in England & Wales in 2004 and 2009 have been subjected to a series of academic analyses which have largely been centred on either the relationship to evidence, or in terms of the implications and realities of policing and health under the changes. However, despite the wealth of attention on this area, there have been relatively few attempts to understand these policy movements through broader criminological theoretical frameworks. One recent exception is Shiner's (2015) utilisation of Garland's (2001) concept of 'structured ambivalence'. This paper seeks to test this application through drawing upon an alternative source of evidence, namely, a series of 'elite' qualitative interviews, and using Kingdon's (1995) Multiple Streams model to make sense of the policy processes. In doing so, it largely corroborates Shiner's conclusions whilst also further illuminating particular agentic aspects and their intertwining with other structural and cultural forces which led to the reclassifications. These findings demonstrate the value of triangulating evidential sources and advances knowledge about the role of individuals in pursuing policy agendas within a broader shifting political climate. This provides greater scope to further test and understand how structured ambivalence manifests itself in other cultural contexts and policy domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Empirical analysis of practitioner perspectives in Japan using Q method. • Identification of 3 groups: recovery supporters, moral guardians, crime bureaucrats. • Commonalities around the theme of 'autonomous drug-free lives'. • Competing interpretations about why this matters and the journey to this. • Conflicts may result in erosion of cooperation and differences in implementation. In Japan, responses to people with drug dependency problems and who frequently re-enter the criminal justice system have undergone significant change in recent years, resulting in a heavier emphasis placed on non-criminal justice interventions and greater diversification of practitioners. To better understand how different practitioners are negotiating and adapting to their changing environments, this paper examines the goals of practitioners who work with individuals who are on probation, parole or have received a suspended sentence for an illegal drug offence. Q methodology was utilised, with participation of 89 practitioners from across the fields of criminal justice, health, social welfare, and local government. Participants ranked 64 goals in drug policy according to their perceived importance in a Q-sort activity, before reflecting on their decision-making during a post-sort questionnaire. Principal components analysis was conducted, along with an iterative and holistic approach that considered the Q-sort and questionnaire data as a whole, to extract and interpret groups of practitioners that shared similar perspectives. Three groups of practitioner perspectives were identified, termed as recovery supporters, moral guardians , and crime bureaucrats. Overall, there are a number of commonalities which revolve around facilitating 'autonomous drug-free lives', but groups are distinguished in important ways, not least in terms of goals relating to the nature and role of criminal justice and treatment services. Although the notion of 'autonomous drug-free lives' binds together different perspectives, there are competing interpretations about why this matters and the preferred 'journey' to this social state. These findings show that the embracing of more welfare and health-based approaches in drug policy in Japan is also being largely reflected in practitioner perspectives, but the conflicts that exist have the potential to erode multi-agency co-operation and lead to variation in policy implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia’s Cocos Islands and Christmas Island are remote islands with potentially great significance for Australia’s strategic role in the eastern Indian Ocean region and the wider Indo-Pacific. This paper explores the growing militarization of islands throughout the Indian Ocean in the context of growing strategic competition in the region. It then considers the strategic value of Australia’s Indian Ocean territories and makes recommendations about the further development of defense infrastructure to potentially support Australian air operations in Southeast Asia and the eastern Indian Ocean. Upgraded facilities on both Cocos and Christmas would provide Australia with valuable leverage in its relationships with regional defense partners and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control over access to the Indian Ocean is often seen through a highly securitised lens. Strategic actors have long sought to use geographical constraints to maintain the region as a relatively enclosed strategic space. It has only a few narrow maritime entrance points and the littoral is not well connected to the interior of the Eurasian continent. These factors have contributed to the historical domination of the Indian Ocean by a succession of extra-regional maritime powers and the virtual exclusion of Eurasian land powers such as China and Russia. This paper considers how the physical geography of the Indian Ocean has contributed to its control by some powers and the exclusion of others. It then discusses China’s Maritime Silk Route/One Belt One Road initiative, which includes growing interests in Indian Ocean ports and plans to build new overland pathways to connect China with the Indian Ocean. The paper concludes that while China’s growing maritime interests in Indian Ocean are strategically important, it is the new overland routes connecting the Eurasian hinterland with the ocean that have the potential to change the entire geostrategic character of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The use of minipigs in preclinical safety testing of pharmaceuticals is considered an alternative to the more traditional dog and nonhuman primate (NHP) nonrodent species. Substantial evidence exists to suggest that the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of minipigs are similar enough to humans to consider them as valid nonrodent models for pharmaceutical safety testing. Since the utilization of minipigs was last assessed over 5 years ago, the Preclinical Safety Leadership Group (DruSafe) of the International Consortium for Innovation and Quality in Pharmaceutical Development conducted this survey to provide an updated assessment of the utility, perceived value, and impediments to the use of minipigs in preclinical safety testing. Of the 32 participating members of DruSafe, 15 responded to the survey representing both large and small companies. Respondents indicated that the minipig has been utilized mostly for short-term safety assessment studies with dermal, oral, and parenteral routes of administration. Minipigs are widely accepted as appropriate models for cardiovascular assessments and have been used to a limited extent for reproductive toxicology testing. Overall responses indicated that safety testing for large molecules using this species is relatively low due to a lack of background data, reagents or biomarkers, concerns regarding immune system characterization and poor suitability for developmental toxicity assessments. Most companies utilized contract research organizations for definitive safety toxicity assessment studies. Conclusions of this survey indicate that minipig is an acceptable nonrodent species largely limited to studies using small molecules, primarily dermal products, and results are comparable to those reported 5 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Persian Gulf is a crucial strategic space for India. Given India's size, its growing economic and military power, and its proximity, one might expect that India would be a natural regional security provider or even a hegemon in the gulf. But India's ability to project its influence in the area is severely constrained by ideological factors, domestic politics, and longstanding patterns of alignment and rivalry. This article explores India's contemporary security relationships with the gulf in light of these structural constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper looks at the key strategic issues faced by China in the Indian Ocean within the context of growing Sino-Indian rivalry. It makes two basic arguments: first, that China has considerable strategic disadvantages in the Indian Ocean as compared with India; and second, that India has had more success than China in developing security relationships in the region. These propositions differ from a more common narrative, according to which China is establishing security relationships throughout the region that seriously threaten India. This paper argues that, on the contrary, China faces a strategic dilemma right across the Indian Ocean that it will only be able to partially mitigate in the short to medium term. Perhaps we should be asking how China's strategic vulnerability should be best managed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: It has been suggested that the risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma might be increased in patients with a history of eating disorders due to acidic damage to oesophageal mucosa caused by selfinduced vomiting practiced as a method of weight control. Eating disorders have also been associated with risk factors for squamous cell carcinoma of the oesophagus, including alcohol use disorders, as well as smoking and nutritional deficiencies, which have been associated with both main sub-types of oesophageal cancer. There have been several case reports of oesophageal cancer (both main sub-types) arising in patients with a history of eating disorders. Methods: We used linked records of hospitalisation, cancer registration and mortality in Scotland spanning 1981-2012 to investigate the risk of oesophageal cancer among patients with a prior history of hospitalisation with eating disorder. The cohort was restricted to patients aged 10 years and <60 years at the date of first admission with eating disorder. Disregarding the first year of follow-up, we calculated indirectly standardised incidence ratios using the general population as the reference group to generate expected numbers of cases (based on age-, sex-, socio-economic deprivation category-, and calendar period-specific rates of disease). Results: After exclusions, the cohort consisted of 3617 individuals contributing 52,455 person-years at risk. The median duration of follow-up was 13.9 years. Seven oesophageal cancers were identified, as compared with 1.14 expected, yielding a standardised incidence ratio of 6.1 (95% confidence interval: 2.5-12.6). All were squamous cell carcinomas arising in females with a prior history of anorexia nervosa. Conclusions: Patients hospitalised previously with eating disorders are at increased risk of developing oesophageal cancer. Confounding by established risk factors (alcohol, smoking, and nutritional deficiency) seems a more likely explanation than acidic damage through self-induced vomiting because none of the incident cases of oesophageal cancer were adenocarcinomas, and because the study cohort had higher than background rates of hospitalisation with alcohol-related conditions and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is sometimes claimed that India has ambitions to become the leading power in the Indian Ocean. This article examines the different streams of Indian strategic thinking about the Indian Ocean and how they will likely contribute to future Indian strategic behavior. It argues that although many among its elite aspire for India to eventually become the leading power in the Indian Ocean, there is little conceptualization as to what India needs to do to achieve this. For several reasons, including an attachment to ideas of non-alignment and strategic autonomy, Indian strategic behavior in the Indian Ocean will likely continue to be relatively reactive and constrained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We identified 244 relevant articles pertinent to indigenous health (4% of the total) with a steady increase in number since 1995. Most Australian publications in the journal (with a small Indigenous population) have focussed on conditions such as malnutrition, diarrhoeal disease, iron deficiency, rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis and respiratory and ear infections, and in settings where nearly all affected children are Indigenous. In contrast, New Zealand publications (with a large Maori and Pacific Islander population) have addressed important health issues affecting all children but emphasised the over-representation of Maori and Pacific Islanders. Publications in the journal are largely descriptive studies with relatively few systematic reviews and randomised trials. Our review attempts to cover the important Indigenous health issues in our region as represented by articles published in the Journal. The studies do document definite improvements in indigenous child health over the last 50 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article will ask whether Sino-Indian strategic competition in the Indian Ocean should be properly understood through the lens of a security dilemma. It examines the strategic positions of India and China in the Indian Ocean and concludes that India has an overwhelming strategic advantage that China cannot realistically mitigate in the foreseeable future. This advantage precludes any real security dilemma arising between them. In fact, both China and India have good reasons to keep strategic competition under control while they each broaden their regional influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancers of unknown primary site (CUP) pose problems for diagnosis, treatment, and accurate prediction of prognosis. However, there are limited published data describing the epidemiology of this disease entity. Our aim was to describe the epidemiology of CUP in Scotland. Methods: Anonymised data, covering the period 1961-2010, were extracted from the Scottish Cancer Registry database, based on the following ICD-10 diagnostic codes: C26.0, C26.8, C26.9, C39, and C76- C80. Age-standardised incidence rates were calculated by direct standardisation to the World Standard Population. Estimates of observed survival were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Between 1961 and 2010, there were 50,941 registrations of CUP, representing 3.9% of all registrations of invasive cancers. Age-standardised rates increased to a peak in the early to mid-1990s, followed by a steeper decrease in rates. During 2001-2010, age-standardised rates of CUP were higher in the most compared with the least deprived fifth of the population. Observed survival was marginally higher in patients diagnosed during 2001-2010 (median 5.6 weeks) compared with those diagnosed in the previous two decades. During the most recent decade, survival decreased with age at diagnosis, and was higher in patients with squamous cell carcinoma and with lymph node metastases. Conclusion: Patterns of CUP in Scotland are largely consistent with those reported from the few other countries that have published data. However, in comparing studies, it is important to note that there is heterogeneity in terms of definition of CUP, as well as calendar period of diagnosis or death. Variation in the definition of CUP between different epidemiological studies suggests that there would be merit in seeking international agreement on guidelines for the registration of CUP as well as a standard grouping of diagnostic codes for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim: To assess the risk of death in patients who survive at least 5years after diagnosis of childhood, adolescent or young adult cancer. Patients and Methods: This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using linked national cancer registry and mortality records in Scotland. The study population consisted of 5229 individuals who were diagnosed with cancer before the age of 25years between 1981 and 2003, and who survived at least 5years after the date of diagnosis of their primary cancer. Indirect standardisation was used to calculate mortality ratios standardised for age and sex and absolute excess risks (AERs) compared to the general Scottish population. Results: During 58,358 person-years of follow-up, there were 359 deaths among the cohort of cancer survivors. The overall SMR was 6.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.5–6.7) and AER 51 (45–58) per 10,000 person-years. Largely because of age- and sex-related differences in background mortality, SMRs were higher in patients diagnosed at 0–14years (SMR 11.0, 95% CI 9.3–12.9) than 15–24years (4.7, 4.1–5.3), and in females (9.2, 7.8–10.8) than males (4.8, 4.2–5.5). SMRs and AERs varied substantially by primary cancer and by underlying cause of death. In general, SMRs were little altered by standardisation for an area-based indicator of socio-economic deprivation. Adjusted for age and sex, the risk of death was significantly lower in five-year survivors diagnosed during 1998–2003 compared to those diagnosed during 1981–1985 (Relative hazard ratio, 0.54, 95% CI 0.36–0.81). Conclusion: Long-term survivors of cancer in childhood and young adulthood remain at higher risk of mortality than the general population, although the absolute risk of death is low and the excess risk has decreased over time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]