Although the last 200 years of colonisation has brought radical changes in economic and governance structures for thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote areas of northern Australia, many of these Indigenous people still rely upon, and live closely connected to, their natural environment. Over millennia, living 'on country', many of these communities have developed a sophisticated appreciation of their local ecosystems and the climatic patterns associated with the changes in them. Some of this knowledge is recorded in their oral history passed down through generations, documented in seasonal weather calendars in local languages and, to a limited degree, transcribed and translated into English. This knowledge is still highly valued by these communities today, as it is used to direct hunting, fishing and planting as well as to inform many seasonally dependant cultural events. In recent years, local observations have been recognised by non-Indigenous scientists as a vital source of environmental data where few historic records exist. Similar to the way that phenological observations in the UK and US provide baseline information on past climates, this paper suggests that Indigenous observations of seasonal change have the potential to fill gaps in climate data for tropical northern Australia, and could also serve to inform culturally appropriate adaptation strategies. One method of recording recent direct and indirect climate and weather observations for the Torres Strait Islands is documented in this paper to demonstrate the currency of local observations of climate and its variability. The paper concludes that a comprehensive, participatory programme to record Aboriginal and Torres Strait

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BackgroundThis study assesses the accuracy and comprehensiveness of online public health education materials from the three Australian cities with active lead mines and or smelters: Broken Hill, Mount Isa and Port Pirie.MethodsQualitative content analysis of online Australian material with comparison to international best practice where possible.ResultsAll materials provided incomplete information about the health effects of lead and pathways of exposure compared to best practice materials. Inconsistent strategies to reduce exposure to lead were identified among the Australian cities, and some evidence-based best practices were not included. The materials normalised environmental lead and neglected to identify that there is no safe level of lead, or that primary prevention is the best strategy for protecting children’s health.ConclusionsHealth education materials need to clearly state health risks from lead across developmental stages and for sensitive populations, integrate a primary prevention perspective, and provide comprehensive evidence-based recommendations for reducing lead exposure in and around the home. Families who rely on information provided by these online public education materials are likely to be inadequately informed about the importance of protecting their children from exposure to lead and strategies for doing so.

Summary Climate plays an important role in human health and it is well established that climate change can have very significant impacts in this regard. In partnership with The Lancet and the MJA, we present the inaugural Australian Countdown assessment of progress on climate change and health. This comprehensive assessment examines 41 indicators across five broad sections: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. These indicators and the methods used for each are largely consistent with those of the Lancet Countdown global assessment published in October 2017, but with an Australian focus. Significant developments include the addition of a new indicator on mental health. Overall, we find that Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In a number of respects, Australia has gone backwards and now lags behind other high income countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom. Examples include the persistence of a very high carbon‐intensive energy system in Australia, and its slow transition to renewables and low carbon electricity generation. However, we also find some examples of good progress, such as heatwave response planning. Given the overall poor state of progress on climate change and health in Australia, this country now has an enormous opportunity to take action and protect human health and lives. Australia has the technical knowhow and intellect to do this, and our annual updates of this assessment will track Australia's engagement with and progress on this vitally important issue.

Summary The MJA–Lancet Countdown on health and climate change was established in 2017 and produced its first Australian national assessment in 2018. It examined 41 indicators across five broad domains: climate change impacts, exposures and vulnerability; adaptation, planning and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co‐benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. It found that, overall, Australia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on health, and that policy inaction in this regard threatens Australian lives. In this report we present the 2019 update. We track progress on health and climate change in Australia across the same five broad domains and many of the same indicators as in 2018. A number of new indicators are introduced this year, including one focused on wildfire exposure, and another on engagement in health and climate change in the corporate sector. Several of the previously reported indicators are not included this year, either due to their discontinuation by the parent project, the Lancet Countdown, or because insufficient new data were available for us to meaningfully provide an update to the indicator. In a year marked by an Australian federal election in which climate change featured prominently, we find mixed progress on health and climate change in this country. There has been progress in renewable energy generation, including substantial employment increases in this sector. There has also been some progress at state and local government level. However, there continues to be no engagement on health and climate change in the Australian federal Parliament, and Australia performs poorly across many of the indicators in comparison to other developed countries; for example, it is one of the world's largest net exporters of coal and its electricity generation from low carbon sources is low. We also find significantly increasing exposure of Australians to heatwaves and, in most states and territories, continuing elevated suicide rates at higher temperatures. We conclude that Australia remains at significant risk of declines in health due to climate change, and that substantial and sustained national action is urgently required in order to prevent this.

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis is a T-cell-mediated, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) MATERIALS AND METHODS Mice. Female SJL/J mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory and were used between 8 and 12 weeks of age.Antigens. Peptides of MBP and PLP corresponding to amino acids 1-14, 91-103, and 139-151 were synthesized by solid-phase 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (FMOC) procedures. Peptides were purified by reverse-phase HPLC and were characterized by both HPLC and mass spectroscopy.Purification of dass H MHC. I-Al protein was purified from a Nonidet P-40 extract of spleen cell membranes from SJL/J mice by affinity chromatography using the monoclonal antibody 10-2.16 (specific for I-Ak and I-Al), coupled to Sepharose 4B beads. Extracted lysate from the high-speed (100,000x g) membrane fraction in a buffer of 10 mM Tris HCI, pH 8.3/0.5% Nonidet P-40/0.1 M sodium chloride/5 mM EDTA/0.02% sodium azide/1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride was recycled over the preequilibrated column at 40C for 16 hr. The column was washed first with 10 bed volumes of deoxycholate buffer/10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.3/0.5% deoxycholate/0.1 M sodium chloride/5 mM EDTA/0.02% sodium azide/1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and then by 5 bed volumes of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)/1% 1-octyl P-Dglycopyranoside buffer. Finally, I-AS was eluted with 20 mM phosphate buffer, pH 11/0.1 M sodium chloride/1% octyl glucoside/0.02% sodium azide/1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride. Fractions were neutralized with acetic acid to a final Abbreviations: EAE, experimental allergic encephalomyelitis; MBP, myelin basic protein; PLP, proteolipoprotein; MHC, major histocompatibility complex. tTo whom reprint requests should be addressed. 11465The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Adaptive practices are taking place in a range of sectors and regions in Australia in response to existing climate impacts, and in anticipation of future unavoidable impacts. For a rich economy such as Australia's, the majority of human systems have considerable adaptive capacity. However, the impacts on human systems at the intra-nation level are not homogenous due to their differing levels of exposure, sensitivity and capacity to adapt to climate change. Despite past resilience to changing climates, many Indigenous communities located in remote areas are currently identified as highly vulnerable to climate impacts due to their high level of exposure and sensitivity, but low capacity to adapt. In particular, communities located on low-lying islands have particular vulnerability to sea level rise and increasingly intense storm surges caused by more extreme weather. Several Torres Strait Island community leaders have been increasingly concerned about these issues, and the ongoing risks to these communities' health and well-being posed by direct and indirect climate impacts. A government agency is beginning to develop shortterm and long-term adaptation plans for the region. This work, however, is being developed without adequate scientific assessment of likely 'climate changed futures.' This is because the role that anthropogenic climate change has played, or will play, 406 Climatic Change (2010) 102:405-433 on extreme weather events for this region is not currently clear. This paper draws together regional climate data to enable a more accurate assessment of the islands' exposure to climate impacts. Understanding the level of exposure and uncertainty around specific impacts is vital to gauge the nature of these islands' vulnerability, in so doing, to inform decisions about how best to develop anticipatory adaptation strategies over various time horizons, and to address islanders' concerns about the likely resilience and viability of their communities in the longer term.

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