Adam Law - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Adam Law

BMJ (Clinical research ed.), Jan 22, 2018

We are facing a global emergency and should organise accordingly

Medical Journal of Australia, 2015

ISRN Public Health, 2013

High-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale formations has the potential to make natural... more High-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale formations has the potential to make natural gas a significant, economical energy source, but the potential for harm to human health is often dismissed by proponents of this method. While adverse health outcomes of medical conditions with long latency periods will not be evident for years and will depend on the exposure, duration of exposure, dose, and other factors, we argue that it would be prudent to begin to track and monitor trends in the incidence and prevalence of diseases that already have been shown to be influenced by environmental agents. The dirty downside of modern, unconventional natural gas development, as well as the potential for harm, is discussed.

BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2014

Science of The Total Environment, 2015

The United States shale gas boom has precipitated global interest in the development of unconvent... more The United States shale gas boom has precipitated global interest in the development of unconventional oil and gas resources. Recently, government ministers in the United Kingdom started granting licenses that will enable companies to begin initial exploration for shale gas. Meanwhile, concern is increasing among the scientific community about the potential impacts of shale gas and other types of unconventional natural gas development (UGD) on human health and the environment. Although significant data gaps remain, there has been a surge in the number of articles appearing in the scientific literature, nearly three-quarters of which has been published since the beginning of 2013. Important lessons can be drawn from the UGD experience in the United States. Here we explore these considerations and argue that shale gas development policies in the UK and elsewhere should be informed by empirical evidence generated on environmental, public health, and social risks. Additionally, policy decisions should take into account the measured effectiveness of harm reduction strategies as opposed to hypothetical scenarios and purported best practices that lack empirical support.

Acta Endocrinologica, 1986

. Inappropriate hypersecretion of TSH was investigated in a 25 year old man whose hyperthyroidism... more . Inappropriate hypersecretion of TSH was investigated in a 25 year old man whose hyperthyroidism had relapsed 4 years after subtotal thyroidectomy. Serum TSH levels were further increased by both TRH and metoclopramide and were partially suppressed by triiodothyronine (120 μ/day). The serum α-subunit: TSH molar ratio was < 1.0, and computerised axial tomography showed no evidence of a pituitary tumour. These features are characteristic of inappropriate TSH secretion due to thyrotroph resistance to thyroid hormones. A long-acting somatostatin analogue (SMS 201-995), 50 μg injected sc twice-daily for three days, suppressed TSH levels and nearly normalised thyroid hormone levels. Somatostatin analogues may be therapeutically useful in thyrotoxicosis due to non-tumoural inappropriate TSH hypersecretion.

American Journal of Public Health, 2011

Efforts to identify alternative sources of energy have focused on extracting natural gas from vas... more Efforts to identify alternative sources of energy have focused on extracting natural gas from vast shale deposits. The Marcellus Shale, located in western New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, is estimated to contain enough natural gas to supply the United States for the next 45 years. New drilling technology—horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing of shale (fracking)—has made gas extraction much more economically feasible. However, this technique poses a threat to the environment and to the public's health. There is evidence that many of the chemicals used in fracking can damage the lungs, liver, kidneys, blood, and brain. We discuss the controversial technique of fracking and raise the issue of how to balance the need for energy with the protection of the public's health.

American Journal of Public Health, 2013

High-volume, slick water hydraulic fracturing of shale relies on pumping millions of gallons of s... more High-volume, slick water hydraulic fracturing of shale relies on pumping millions of gallons of surface water laced with toxic chemicals and sand under high pressure to create fractures to release the flow of gas. The process, however, has the potential to cause serious and irreparable damage to the environment and the potential for harm to human and animal health. At issue is how society should form appropriate policy in the absence of well-designed epidemiological studies and health impact assessments. The issue is fraught with environmental, economic, and health implications, and federal and state governments must establish detailed safeguards and ensure regulatory oversight, both of which are presently lacking in states where hydraulic fracturing is allowed.

Journal of Energy Systems, 2022

Reflection from the front glass of solar modules causes over 4% optical loss leading to a signifi... more Reflection from the front glass of solar modules causes over 4% optical loss leading to a significant decrease in module efficiency. Single layer solution gelation (sol-gel) anti-reflective (AR) coatings are effective over a narrow range of wavelengths, whereas reflection losses can be reduced over a broader wavelength when multilayer broadband AR coatings are applied. In this work, three different multilayer AR coatings including 4-layer SiO2/ZrO2, 4-layer SiO2/ITO, and 6-layer SiO2/ZrO2 were deposited using magnetron sputtering. The abrasion resistance is important because the coatings will be subject to regular cleaning cycles. A variety of abraders including Felt pad, CS-10 and CS-8 under different loads are used. The optical performance and durability of these coatings were analyzed using a spectrophotometer, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, and scanning white light interferometer. No damage was observed after abrasion of the coatings with a felt pad under 1 an...

Journal of Lipid Research, 1988

The usefulness of monoclonal antibodies as probes of protein structure is directly related to kno... more The usefulness of monoclonal antibodies as probes of protein structure is directly related to knowledge of the structures and locations of the epitopes with which they interact. In this report we provide a detailed map of 13 epitopes on apoB-100 defined by our anti-apoB monoclonal antibodies based on current information on the amino acid sequence of apoB-100. To localize antibody specificities to smaller regions along the linear sequence of the apoB-100 molecule we used u) thrombin-and kallikreingenerated fragments of apoB-100; b) &galactosidase-apoB fusion proteins; c) heparin; and d) antibody versus antibody competition experiments. Most of the monoclonal antibodies elicited by immunization with LDL were directed towards epitopes within the first 1279 amino terminal (T4/K2 fragments) or last 1292 carboxyl terminal amino acid residues (T,/K, fragments) of apoB-100. One epitope localized to the mid-portion of apoB-100 was elicited by immunization with VLDL (D7.2). Saturating amounts of heparin bound to LDL did not inhibit the binding of any of the monoclonal antibodies to their respective epitopes on apoB-100, indicating that none of the antibody determinants is situated close to any of the reported heparin binding sites on LDL apoB. We examined the expression of apoB epitopes on VLDL subfractions and LDL isolated from a normolipidemic donor. The apparent affinities with which the antibodies interacted with their respective epitopes on the VLDL subfractions and LDL uniformly increased as follows: LDL > VLDLS > VLDL2 > VLDLl, suggesting that each of the major regions of apoB-100 is progressively more exposed as normal VLDL particles become smaller in size and epitopes are most exposed in LDL. Previous experiments utilizing hypertriglyceridemic VLDL subfractions yielded similar results, but the rank order of VLDL subfractions and LDL was not the same for all antibodies tested. Thus, differences in apoB epitope expression on VLDL particles of differing sizes is a general phenomenon, but the expression of apoB epitopes in hypertriglyceridemic VLDL appears to be more heterogeneous than is the case for VLDL from normolipidemic donors. e Only those of our antibodies directed against the T2/K4 fragments (last 1292 carboxyl terminal amino acid residues) inhibited the binding of LDL to fibroblast apoB,E-receptors, suggesting that the recognition site for the apoB,E receptor may be confined to that region of apoB-lOO.

Journal of Paramedic Practice, 2021

Background: Prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) are believed to be responsible for the i... more Background: Prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) are believed to be responsible for the initial treatment of 68 000 septic patients annually in the UK, 88% of whom have severely low ascorbic acid levels, which can lead to organ dysfunction, increasing the likelihood of mortality. Objective: This review aims to determine if early therapeutic use of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) could reduce the deterioration of septic patients and therefore overall mortality. Method: A literature review was conducted using the mySearch, PubMed and Cochrane Library databases. Each was systematically searched for human studies that addressed the use of ascorbic acid as a primary method of treatment during varying stages of sepsis and whether it reduced associated mortality. Studies not published in English or that were more the 5 years old at the time were excluded. The quality of evidence in the remaining articles were appraised using the GRADE method and further assessed for quality with an adjus...

Soft Matter, 2020

Hard-core/soft-shell particles with experimentally realistic interactions can form honeycombs and... more Hard-core/soft-shell particles with experimentally realistic interactions can form honeycombs and quasicrystals.

Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthésie, 2017

Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2015

The interaction between micron-sized charged colloidal particles at polar/non-polar liquid interf... more The interaction between micron-sized charged colloidal particles at polar/non-polar liquid interfaces remains surprisingly poorly understood for a relatively simple physical chemistry system. By measuring the pair correlation function g(r) for different densities of polystyrene particles at the decane-water interface, and using a powerful predictor-corrector inversion scheme, effective pair-interaction potentials can be obtained up to fairly high densities, and these reproduce the experimental g(r) in forward simulations, so are self consistent. While at low densities these potentials agree with published dipole-dipole repulsion, measured by various methods, an apparent density dependence and long range attraction are obtained when the density is higher. This condition is thus explored in an alternative fashion, measuring the local mobility of colloids when confined by their neighbors. This method of extracting interaction potentials gives results that are consistent with dipolar repulsion throughout the concentration range, with the same magnitude as in the dilute limit. We are unable to rule out the density dependence based on the experimental accuracy of our data, but we show that incomplete equilibration of the experimental system, which would be possible despite long waiting times due to the very strong repulsions, is a possible cause of artefacts in the inverted potentials. We conclude that to within the precision of these measurements, the dilute pair potential remains valid at high density in this system.

The Economics of Crime and Law Enforcement, 1983

Commercial Demands vs. Water, Wildlife, and Human Ecosystems, 2013

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2011