The Concept of City Carbon Maps: A Case Study of Melbourne,Australia

Cities are thought to be associated with most of humanity's consumption of natural resources and impacts on the environment. Cities not only constitute major centers of economic activity, knowledge, innovation, and governance—they are also said to be linked to approximately 70% to 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions. This makes cities primary agents of change in a resource‐ and carbon‐constraint world. In order to set meaningful targets, design successful policies, and implement effective mitigation strategies, it is important that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions accounting for cities is accurate, comparable, comprehensive, and complete. Despite recent developments in the standardization of city GHG accounting, there is still a lack of consistent guidelines regarding out‐of‐boundary emissions, thus hampering efforts to identify mitigation priorities and responsibilities. We introduce a new conceptual framework—based on environmental input‐output analysis—that allows for a consistent and complete reconciliation of direct and indirect GHG emissions from a city. The “city carbon map” shows local, regional, national, and global origins and destinations of flows of embodied emissions. We test the carbon map concept by applying it to the greater metropolitan area of Melbourne, Australia. We discuss the results and limitations of the approach in the light of possible mitigation strategies and policies by different urban stakeholders.     

Production and Toxicity of the Marine Biotoxin Domoic Acid and Its Effects on Wildlife: A Review

Domoic acid (DA), produced by marine diatom species in the genus Pseudo-nitzschia, is a potent excitotoxin linked since the late 1990s to massive marine mammal and seabird mortalities along the California coast. These and a previous incident involving human intoxication and deaths prompted many studies, some of which have unveiled the trophic transfer of DA from benthic invertebrates and planktivorous fish to top predators, demonstrating serious health risk to marine wildlife and humans. Top predator populations that may be more adversely affected by DA include those with narrow geographical distribution or those that are already in decline as a result of other environmental stressors or natural cyclic fluctuations. However, to date no studies have attempted to assess the population effects of recurrent exposures to DA on any of the affected wildlife species. Ecological risk assessment can help to identify DA effects on wildlife, but meaningful assessments require the integration of many types of information, often not available to conduct such studies. Hence, determining short- and long-term effects on marine wildlife populations is rather challenging. The purpose of this review is to highlight recent research efforts and information gaps, and the need for interdisciplinary programs that allow collaborative wildlife population risk assessments of critical species.     

Marine Plastic Pollution in Waters around Australia: Characteristics,Concentrations, and Pathways

Plastics represent the vast majority of human-made debris present in the oceans. However, their characteristics, accumulation zones, and transport pathways remain poorly assessed. We characterised and estimated the concentration of marine plastics in waters around Australia using surface net tows, and inferred their potential pathways using particle-tracking models and real drifter trajectories. The 839 marine plastics recorded were predominantly small fragments (“microplastics”, median length = 2.8 mm, mean length = 4.9 mm) resulting from the breakdown of larger objects made of polyethylene and polypropylene (e.g. packaging and fishing items). Mean sea surface plastic concentration was 4256.4 pieces km⁻², and after incorporating the effect of vertical wind mixing, this value increased to 8966.3 pieces km⁻². These plastics appear to be associated with a wide range of ocean currents that connect the sampled sites to their international and domestic sources, including populated areas of Australia''s east coast. This study shows that plastic contamination levels in surface waters of Australia are similar to those in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Maine, but considerably lower than those found in the subtropical gyres and Mediterranean Sea. Microplastics such as the ones described here have the potential to affect organisms ranging from megafauna to small fish and zooplankton.     

The Ethics of Discharging Asylum Seekers to Harm: A Case From Australia

In February 2016 a twelve-month-old asylum seeker, who came to be know as Baby Asha, was transferred from Nauru and hospitalized in Brisbane. This case came to public attention after Doctors refused to discharge Asha as she would have been returned to detention on Nauru. What in other circumstances would have been considered routine clinical care, quickly turned into an act of civil disobedience. This paper will discuss the ethical aspects of this case, along with its implications for clinicians and the broader healthcare community.     

Marine Conservation versus International Free Trade: Reconciling Dolphins with Tuna and Sea Turtles with Shrimp

During the 1990s, the World Trade Organization (WTO) rejected as impermissible unilateral efforts by the United States to promote conservation of endangered marine species through trade sanctions against other governments. These acts of unilateral economic coercion were held to be discriminatory tactics done in unfair restraint of international trade. But in so doing, the WTO findings aroused the ire of environmentalists worldwide. These findings by the WTO became portrayed not as decisions upholding free trade, but as mandates against marine conservation and environmental protection. Even so, this denial of lawful permissibility to use unilateral economic coercion to protect endangered species internationally does not signal the demise of national efforts to conserve living marine resources. Rather, these WTO findings point up the manner in which potential trade and marine conservation disputes should be handled, i.e., through means of peaceful settlement. The key to future international marine conservation relies on a multilateral rather than a unilateral approach. Thus, environmentally conscious governments, such as the United States, should continue to encourage global adoption of marine conservation policies without impinging on international norms and standards of international commercial transactions.     

Retroperitoneal Ancient Schwannoma: A Case Report

Schwannomas are extremely rare tumors that are composed of Schwann cells. Retroperitoneal localization comprises 0.7% to 2.6% of all schwannomas. Patients usually present with nonspecific symptoms. There are no pathognomonic features on radiologic evaluation. Preoperative biopsy is not recommended because of complication risks; however, surgery is necessary for diagnosis and treatment. Although most schwannomas are benign tumors, those that are associated with von Recklinghausen disease are malignant. Schwannomas exhibit regions of high and low cellularity, termed Antoni A and Antoni B areas, with a diffuse positivity of S100 protein on pathologic evaluation. If there are degenerative changes, such as cyst formation, hemorrhage, calcification, and hyalinization, these tumors are termed ancient schwannomas. We present a case of retroperitoneal ancient schwannoma.Key words: Retroperitoneal schwannoma, Neurilemmoma, Schwannoma, Retroperitoneal tumor, RetroperitoneumA schwannoma is a tumor of the Schwann cell or nerve cell sheath.¹ This tumor may occur anywhere there is a nerve with Schwann cells— predominantly in the head and neck region, or flexor surfaces of the extremities. Most schwannomas are benign tumors²; however, malignant schwannomas may be associated with von Recklinghausen disease.³ Retroperitoneal schwannomas are usually larger than those in other sites, and have a greater tendency to undergo spontaneous degeneration and hemorrhage when compared with head, neck, and extremity locations.⁴ We present a case of a retroperitoneal schwannoma that was reported to be an ancient schwannoma on pathologic evaluation.     

Integrating Indigenous Resource Management with Wildlife Conservation: A Case Study of Batang Ai National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia

This paper examines the indigenous land and forest management systems of the community of seven Iban longhouses whose territories comprise the area of Batang Ai National Park in Sarawak, Malaysia. It also discusses the integrated conservation and development program (ICDP) at the park. This project is attempting to work within the existing system of customary law to build on traditional legislative infrastructure and management practices, in order to enlist the cooperation of local people and their leaders in implementing a new conservation strategy. In addition to reinforcing local authority, park planners recognize the need for local people to be given strong incentives to participate in co-management of the protected area. This paper argues that, despite a history of conflict with indigenous peoples, State officials have in this instance demonstrated a willingness to work with local people and community leaders. At the same time, they are encouraging community development, helping people to find alternatives to activities that threaten the park's wildlife.     

Orbital Dirofilariasis in Iran: A Case Report

Dirofilariasis is a common parasitic disease in both domestic and wild animals around the world, with canines as the principal reservoir host and mosquitoes as the vector. Human ophthalmic dirofilariasis is an uncommon condition, but there have been reports from many parts of the world, including Africa, Australia, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Ophthalmic involvement with Dirofilaria may present itself as periorbital, subconjunctival, orbital, or intraocular infections. In this report, we present a case of orbital dirofilariasis with lateral rectus muscle involvement. To our knowledge, this is the first orbital dirofilariasis case reported in Iran. Although debulking of the tumor usually leads to resolution, our patient showed an episode of recurrence after biopsy. Complete recovery was achieved after a spontaneous discharge, without the need for systemic medication.