The 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that Earth's temperatures may soon reach a tipping point that threatens humanity's future. Scientists from many disciplines agree that anthropogenic climate change is a serious problem yet many Americans remain skeptical of the existence, causes, and/or severity of climate change. In this article, we review recent research on climate change communication focusing on audience variables and messaging strategies with the goal of providing communication practitioners research-based recommendations for climate change message design. Factors that influence audience acceptance and understanding of climate science include: demographic variables (such as political party affiliation, religious orientation, and geographic location), as well as brief sections on misinformation, and beliefs in pseudoscience. Keys to effectively construct climate messaging are discussed including: framing strategies; reducing psychological distance; emotional appeals; efficacy cues; weight-of-evidence/ weight of expert reporting; inoculation/correcting misinformation; and separating science from conspiracy theories. Evidence-based strategies are critical in giving science communicators the tools they need to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the at-risk public.

BackgroundThe Allergic Rhinitis Clinical Investigator Collaborative (AR-CIC) is a network of experienced Allergic Rhinitis (AR) researchers developing better research tools based on the nasal allergen challenge (NAC). A key objective of such is the ability to detect efficacy in a small population. AR-CIC sought to test its NAC protocol as a secondary objective in two small mechanistic research trials of a novel form of immunotherapy [Cat Peptide Antigen Desensitisation (Cat-PAD)] for which efficacy had previously been demonstrated. The primary objective (not presented here) was to identify potential biomarkers of efficacy for peptide immunotherapy, and this provided an ideal opportunity to corroborate the NAC protocol. We aim to clinically validate the AR-CIC NAC methodology in a pooled analysis of secondary endpoints measured in two open label mechanistic studies of cat allergic participants treated with Cat-PAD.MethodsCat allergic AR sufferers with ongoing cat exposure were included. Participants had to demonstrate a total nasal symptom score (TNSS) of at least 8 (max 12) and/or achieve a reduction in peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) of ≥ 50% during a screening titrated NAC. Eligible participants then underwent a baseline NAC visit with the allergen dose that produced a positive challenge at screening, followed by four monthly injections of 6 nmol Cat-PAD. A follow up NAC visit documented changes in nasal response 1 month following the completion of treatment.ResultsNineteen subjects completed the study protocol in the two studies combined. Four injections of Cat-PAD resulted in a significant reduction in TNSS responses generated via NAC following allergen challenge (15 min p < 0.05, 30 min p < 0.05, 1 h p < 0.01, 2 h p < 0.05). There was modest correlation between symptom scores and PNIF measurements.ConclusionsThis study supports the validity of the AR-CIC’s optimised NAC protocol for conducting research of the potential efficacy of novel therapeutics in multi-centre studies.Trial registration Both studies reported herein were registered clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01383590 and NCT01383603)

Rabbit corneal endothelia were subjected to a cryoinjury (-70 degrees C for 15 sec) and sodium and bicarbonate fluxes were determined at various times after induction of the endothelial destruction. A complete monolayer of cells was present by 4 days that consisted of large cells that underwent division over the next 16 days. Unidirectional sodium fluxes were unaltered by the transformation from large to normal sized hexagonal cells. Unidirectional bicarbonate fluxes showed an increase in Jendostr coupled with a decrease in the net Jstrendo flux. As the cells became smaller these bicarbonate fluxes returned to normal values. The data indicate that the cell margin/cell size ratio is not related to the flux rates, thus the paracellular pathway increase with healing is not related to the passage of either sodium or bicarbonate. Secondly, the data indicate separate effects on both sodium and bicarbonate, suggesting that transendothelial movement of the ions can be separated and that they are not necessarily linked in passage across the endothelium.