Regulation of cytosolic pH is vital for normal cellular function. Pathological microenvironments are associated with acid loading and cell metabolic processes generate acid equivalents. Cells have therefore evolved several mechanisms for proton extrusion, including plasmalemmal H+ATPase (active. when cells are acid loaded) and the Na/H+ antiporter (which in HPBMs is activated during formylmethionyl-leucyl phenylalanine induces acidosis. We have shown that inhibition of H+ATPase is associated with a mild intracellular acidosis (approx. 00.2-0.3 pH unit below physiological pH) in HAMs and that this is associated with reduced Fc mediated phagocytosis. The aim of these experiments was to assess the role of H+ATPase in HPBM pH regulation and phagocytosis and assess its role in the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (a vital cytotoxic mechanism) in HAMs and HPBM. PH changes were monitored flow cytometrically using pH sensitive intracellular probes. Respiratory burst was assessed by the reduction of dihydrorhodamine. Fc mediated phagocytosis was assessed flow cytometrically following exposure to Fc opsonised FITC labelled E.Coli HPBMs failed to recover physiological pH following acid loading in the presence of a specific H+ATPase inhibitor bafilomycin A 1 (0.002 pH units/min(baf) vs 0.21 pH units/min, p<0.05), but recovery was insensitive to the antiporter inhibitor amiloride. Bafilomycin reduced Fc mediated phagocytosis (mean channel fluorescence (mcf) vs 465, p<0.005. Respiratory burst was reduced in HAMs (mcf 379 vs 480, p<0.05) and in HPBMs (224 vs 302, p<0.05). These results suggest a critical role for H+ATPases in regulation of cytosolic pH and effector function of these cells.
Climate change will have a considerable impact on the construction and property industries. More specifically, policies and regulations made with regard to construction labour have future implications for the availability of climate adaptive property. Construction is an industry that is labour intensive, highly regulated and a significant adopter of the latest technology. The link between climate change and the labour market was recognised by the governments and others when they included provision for a "just transition" in the negotiating text for the now unrealised United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Agreement for COP15. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) in its Statement to COP15 articulated its belief that climate change was an issue for the workplace and that it was therefore an issue for collective bargaining. This paper examines the implications of climate change for the construction industry. Are policymakers and regulators sufficiently informed and aware to accommodate the workplace impacts of climate change and the requirements of a low carbon workplace? Are actors in the workplace sufficiently informed to effectively implement government initiatives?Issues that are explored in the paper include:• consultation with social partners and communities,• training for workers in the area of adaptive construction and new cleaner technologies • the role of collective bargaining, and • green and "decent" job creation Contact details;
This article discusses research on the impact on employment and the workplace from the commitments made at Rio+20 and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s recent Conferences of the Parties, and the relationship with climate change and sustainability policies. It explores the ongoing work of employers’ organizations and trade unions as part of the response by civil society. The article reports that international agreements have not yet been of noticeable influence over domestic labour issues. It also finds that diverse issues and interests have hampered the opportunity for effective intervention in UN proceedings by employers’ organizations, trade unions and other civil society organizations. The article concludes that a separation of the economic and social from the environmental imperative may be necessary to refocus the efforts of the multilateral process on preserving the world’s natural resources and effectively managing climate change.
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