Background: South Africa's mineral resources have produced, and continue to produce, enormous economic wealth; yet decades of colonialism, apartheid, capital flight, and challenges in the neoliberal post-apartheid era have resulted in high rates of occupational lung disease and low rates of compensation for ex-miners and their families. Given growing advocacy and activism of current and former mine workers, initiatives were launched by the South African government in 2012 to begin to address the legacy of injustice. This study aimed to assess developments over the last 5 years in providing compensation, quantify shortfalls and explore underlying challenges.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycorrhizal symbiosis requires several common symbiosis genes including CYCLOPS/IPD3. The reduced mycorrhizal colonisation (rmc) tomato mutant has a deletion of five genes including CYCLOPS/IPD3, and rmc is more susceptible to Fusarium wilt than its wild-type parental line. This study investigated the genetic defects leading to both fungal interaction phenotypes and whether these were separable.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe reduced mycorrhizal colonization () tomato mutant is unable to form mycorrhiza and is more susceptible to Fusarium wilt compared with its wild-type isogenic line 76R. The mutant has a chromosomal deletion affecting five genes, one of which is similar to Loss of this gene is responsible for non-mycorrhizality in but not enhanced Fusarium wilt susceptibility. Here, we describe assessment of a second gene in the deletion, designated that is expressed in roots.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To determine whether the placement and restoration of a single tooth posterior implant affects the survival, morbidity, pulpal, and periapical health of adjacent natural teeth.
Materials And Methods: A retrospective chart review identified patients who received single posterior tooth implants between August 2004 and July 2015 at the UNC SOD and met the study inclusion criteria. Preoperative and postoperative records were reviewed; survival and changes in coronal, pulpal, and periapical status of teeth adjacent to the implant and contralateral tooth were recorded.
Cultural inheritance, the transmission of socially learned information across generations, is a non-genetic, "second inheritance system" capable of shaping phenotypic variation in humans and many non-human animals [1-3]. Studies of wild animals show that conformity [4, 5] and biases toward copying particular individuals [6, 7] can result in the rapid spread of culturally transmitted behavioral traits and a consequent increase in behavioral homogeneity within groups and populations [8, 9]. These findings support classic models of cultural evolution [10, 11], which predict that many-to-one or one-to-many transmission erodes within-group variance in culturally inherited traits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) disproportionately affect those living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to determine whether hygiene interventions delivered in childcare, school or domestic settings in LMICs effectively prevent or reduce ARIs.
Methods: We registered our systematic review with PROSPERO (CRD42017058239) and searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and Scopus from inception to 17 October 2017 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) examining the impact of hygiene interventions on ARI morbidity in adults and children in community-based settings in LMICs.
Demographic differences in resource use are key components of population and species ecology across the animal kingdom. White sharks () are migratory, apex predators, which have undergone significant population declines across their range. Understanding their ecology is key to ensuring that management strategies are effective.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIxodes holocyclus, the eastern paralysis tick, is a significant parasite in Australia in terms of animal and human health. However, very little is known about its virome. In this study, next-generation sequencing of I.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The study investigated whether donepezil exerts symptomatic benefit in patients with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), an atypical variant of Alzheimer's disease.
Methods: A single-centre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial was performed to assess the efficacy of donepezil in patients with PCA. Each patient received either donepezil (5 mg once daily in the first 6 weeks and 10 mg once daily in the second 6 weeks) or placebo for 12 weeks.
Approximately 0.5 million people worldwide die from metastatic breast cancer (mBC) every year. This manuscript provides an overview on the status of mBC in several regions of the world, highlighting the gaps in care, resources, and support available for patients with mBC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Acute gastroenteritis illness is a common illness that causes considerable morbidity, but current estimates of the cost to the Australian healthcare system are unknown.
Objective: To estimate the current healthcare utilisation and direct public healthcare system costs attributable to acute gastroenteritis illness in Australia.
Methods: This is an incidence-based cost-of-illness study focused on quantifying direct health care costs using a bottom-up approach.
Sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is associated with chronic anaemia and oxygen desaturation, which elevate cerebral blood flow (CBF) and increase the risk of neurocognitive complications. Arterial spin labelling (ASL) provides a methodology for measuring CBF non-invasively; however, ASL techniques using only a single inflow time are not sufficient to fully characterize abnormal haemodynamic behaviour in SCA. This study investigated haemodynamic parameters from a multi-inflow-time ASL acquisition in younger (8-12 years) and older (13-18 years) children with SCA with and without silent cerebral infarction (SCI+/-) (n = 20 and 19 respectively, 6 and 4 SCI+ respectively) and healthy controls (n = 9 and 7 respectively).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividual foraging specialisation has important ecological implications, but its causes in group-living species are unclear. One of the major consequences of group living is increased intragroup competition for resources. Foraging theory predicts that with increased competition, individuals should add new prey items to their diet, widening their foraging niche ('optimal foraging hypothesis').
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPaediatr Child Health
September 2017
Objectives: To assess the efficacy of a new screening protocol for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD).
Background: In March 2014, the Ontario Provincial Council for Maternal Child Health (PCMCH) recommended screening for CCHD, utilizing pulse oximetry to measure oxygen saturation as part of the newborn examination. However, this is yet to be implemented in all hospitals.
The use of canine-assisted therapy (CAT) in healthcare is expanding and the purpose of this review is to highlight its potential use in the surgical patient. While CAT literature to date has detailed widespread benefits in blood pressure control and improving pain, anxiety, and stress, little research has been performed specifically in surgical patients who may benefit significantly from CAT interventions. Critical points highlighted herein are as follows: (1) Hypertension is common and significantly increases morbidity and mortality associated with elective surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The prevalence of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and dementia in Parkinson's disease (PDD) in routine clinical practice is unclear. Prevalence rates observed in clinical and population-based cohorts and neuropathological studies vary greatly. Small sample sizes and methodological factors in these studies limit generalisability to clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGenetic factors underlying the human limb abnormality congenital talipes equinovarus ('clubfoot') remain incompletely understood. The spontaneous autosomal recessive mouse 'peroneal muscular atrophy' mutant (PMA) is a faithful morphological model of human clubfoot. In PMA mice, the dorsal (peroneal) branches of the sciatic nerves are absent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: 'Porcelain aorta' is listed in the second consensus document of the Valve Academic Research Consortium as a risk factor in aortic valve replacement. However, the extent of circumferential involvement is poorly defined with great variability in reported incidence. We present a simple, reproducible classification to describe the extent of aortic calcification and thus appropriately define 'porcelain aorta', aiding clinical decision-making and registry data collection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProgressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) is a rare geriatric pathology, from the abnormal deposition of the tau protein, combining the motor tremor and bradykinesia of Parkinson's disease with the cognitive defects of Alzheimer's disease. As physical and mental debilities progressively manifest in PSP, the physician, family, and patient face decisions on how to manage this terminal neurodegenerative disease. Physicians note the outcomes of decisions and often express, either to peers or internally to oneself, how they would handle a similar situation affecting their own family.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew methodology is presented for analyzing hydrogen isotope ratios (D/H) in phyllosilicate minerals by laser absorption spectroscopy. D/H measurements were carried out using an off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy (OA-ICOS) instrument operated in a continuous flow configuration. Water was extracted from minerals in a high temperature quartz column and advanced to the analyzer in a dry air carrier gas stream.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The use of opioid medication for nonmalignant chronic pain (NMCP) increased dramatically during the last 20 years. There have been regulatory changes implemented to reduce the risk of harm to both patients and society. Much of the burden of monitoring these patients is falling on primary care physicians (PCPs), who do not have the time or resources to handle what is entailed in a best-practice approach to NMCP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Optimal surgical treatment of lateral epicondylitis remains uncertain. Recently, radiofrequency microtenotomy (RFMT) has been proposed as a suitable treatment. We compared RFMT with standard open release (OR) in this prospective randomized controlled trial.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRubin (Reports, 16 June 2017, p. 1154) proposed that gradients in lithium abundance in zircons from a rhyolitic eruption in New Zealand reflected short-lived residence at magmatic temperatures interleaved with long-term "cold" (<650°C) storage. Important issues arise with the interpretation of these lithium gradients and consequent crystal thermal histories that raise concerns about the validity of this conclusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aims: Ulcerative colitis is a remitting and relapsing inflammatory bowel disorder. Current treatments are limited, and if poorly controlled, colitis may progress to colorectal cancer. Previously, Emu Oil protected the intestine in experimental models of gut damage.
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