Virtual reality reduces anxiety and pain in acute hospital palliative care: service evaluation.

Objectives: Virtual reality (VR) might improve symptom management, but there is limited evidence regarding VR in palliative care. We evaluated the feasibility of VR and impact on anxiety and pain for patients in a hospital palliative care consultation service.

Methods: Patients referred to a hospital specialist palliative care team, with anxiety or pain, were offered a VR intervention (a short audiovisual experience).

The dynamic atmospheric and aeolian environment of Jezero crater, Mars.

Despite the importance of sand and dust to Mars geomorphology, weather, and exploration, the processes that move sand and that raise dust to maintain Mars' ubiquitous dust haze and to produce dust storms have not been well quantified in situ, with missions lacking either the necessary sensors or a sufficiently active aeolian environment. Perseverance rover's novel environmental sensors and Jezero crater's dusty environment remedy this. In Perseverance's first 216 sols, four convective vortices raised dust locally, while, on average, four passed the rover daily, over 25% of which were significantly dusty ("dust devils").

Autonomous Deployment of Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Devices Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle: The Flying Hydrophone.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are increasingly becoming a popular tool in the observation and study of marine mammals. However, the potential capabilities of these vehicles regarding autonomous operations are not being fully exploited for passive underwater acoustic monitoring in marine mammal research. This article presents results from the development of a UAV system equipped with an underwater acoustic recorder aimed at assisting with the monitoring of harbour porpoises in Special Areas of Conservation in the United Kingdom.

High prevalence of older Australians with one or more joint replacements: estimating the population at risk for late complications of arthroplasty.

Background: To provide an estimate of the population at risk for late complications of arthroplasty, we aimed to determine the prevalence of Australians living with one or more joint replacements.

Methods: Data included all arthroplasty procedures performed in Australia from 2003 to 2016 recorded by the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry. The age- and gender-specific Australian population was obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and used as denominator data.

Online training improves medical students' ability to recognise when a person is dying: The ORaClES randomised controlled trial.

Background: Recognising dying is a key clinical skill for doctors, yet there is little training.

Aim: To assess the effectiveness of an online training resource designed to enhance medical students' ability to recognise dying.

Design: Online multicentre double-blind randomised controlled trial (NCT03360812).

Mechanistic Links Between Obesity, Diabetes, and Blood Pressure: Role of Perivascular Adipose Tissue.

Obesity is increasingly prevalent and is associated with substantial cardiovascular risk. Adipose tissue distribution and morphology play a key role in determining the degree of adverse effects, and a key factor in the disease process appears to be the inflammatory cell population in adipose tissue. Healthy adipose tissue secretes a number of vasoactive adipokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and changes to this secretory profile will contribute to pathogenesis in obesity.

RiverCore: IoT Device for River Water Level Monitoring over Cellular Communications.

Flooding is one of the most frequent and costly natural disasters affecting mankind. However, implementing Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor river behavior may help mitigate or prevent future disasters. This article outlines the hardware development of an IoT system (RiverCore) and defines an application scenario in a specific hydrological region of the state of Colima (Mexico), highlighting the characteristics of data acquisition and data processing used.

FLORID NEOVASCULARIZATION OF THE RETINA IN A DIABETIC PATIENT UNDERGOING INDUCTION AND CONSOLIDATION THERAPY FOR ACUTE PROMYELOCYTIC LEUKEMIA.

Purpose: To report on a 39-year-old gentleman with a background of Type 2 diabetes mellitus who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), which was treated by all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), and subsequently developed bilateral neovascularization of the disk (NVD).

Methods: Ophthalmic examination and investigation including fundus photography and fluorescein angiography.

Results: Three months after commencement of ATRA therapy, the patient was found to have florid bilateral NVD with adjacent preretinal and intraretinal hemorrhages.

Acoustical Direction Finding with Time-Modulated Arrays.

Time-Modulated Linear Arrays (TMLAs) offer useful efficiency savings over conventional phased arrays when applied in parameter estimation applications. The present paper considers the application of TMLAs to acoustic systems and proposes an algorithm for efficiently deriving the arrival angle of a signal. The proposed technique is applied in the frequency domain, where the signal and harmonic content is captured.

Validation and Application of a Dried Blood Spot Assay for Biofilm-Active Antibiotics Commonly Used for Treatment of Prosthetic Implant Infections.

Dried blood spot (DBS) antibiotic assays can facilitate pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) studies in situations where venous blood sampling is logistically difficult. We sought to develop, validate, and apply a DBS assay for rifampin (RIF), fusidic acid (FUS), and ciprofloxacin (CIP). These antibiotics are considered active against organisms in biofilms and are therefore commonly used for the treatment of infections associated with prosthetic implants.

Severe intraocular pressure response to periocular or intravitreal steroid treatment in Australia and New Zealand: data from the Australian and New Zealand Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit.

Background: Increase in intraocular pressure is a recognized complication of corticosteroid treatment via intravitreal or periocular injections for treatment of a range of conditions including macular oedema and retinal neovascularization.

Design: This surveillance study was designed to determine the incidence and nature of severe intraocular pressure elevation as a complication of intravitreal or periocular corticosteroid injections in Australia and New Zealand.

Participants: Seventeen cases meeting the defined criteria of severe intraocular pressure elevation, above 35 mmHg, following an intravitreal or periocular corticosteroid injection were included in the study.

Burnout and career satisfaction among US oncologists.

Purpose: To evaluate the personal and professional characteristics associated with career satisfaction and burnout among US oncologists.

Methods: Between October 2012 and March 2013, the American Society of Clinical Oncology conducted a survey of US oncologists evaluating burnout and career satisfaction. The survey sample included equal numbers of men and women and represented all career stages.

Vitreous cavity haemorrhage post-vitrectomy for diabetic eye disease: the effect of perioperative anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents.

Background: To evaluate the effect of perioperative anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy on postoperative vitreous cavity haemorrhage following pars plana vitrectomy for diabetic eye disease.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Participants: 139 patients.

Endogenous endophthalmitis associated with intravenous drug abuse: seven-year experience at a tertiary referral center.

Purpose: Intravenous drug use (IVDU) is a known risk factor for endogenous endophthalmitis. Endogenous fungal endophthalmitis (EFE) is emerging as a common problem among this community. We describe the management and visual outcomes of acute IVDU-associated EFE.

Elastic scattering spectroscopy for detection of cancer risk in Barrett's esophagus: experimental and clinical validation of error removal by orthogonal subtraction for increasing accuracy.

Elastic scattering spectroscopy (ESS) may be used to detect high-grade dysplasia (HGD) or cancer in Barrett's esophagus (BE). When spectra are measured in vivo by a hand-held optical probe, variability among replicated spectra from the same site can hinder the development of a diagnostic model for cancer risk. An experiment was carried out on excised tissue to investigate how two potential sources of this variability, pressure and angle, influence spectral variability, and the results were compared with the variations observed in spectra collected in vivo from patients with Barrett's esophagus.

Congenital simple hamartoma of the retinal pigment epithelium with a full-thickness macular hole.

Background: Congenital simple hamartoma of the retinal pigment epithelium (CSHRPE) is a rare tumor that, to our knowledge, has not been previously reported as being associated with a full-thickness macular hole.

Methods: We report a case of a CSHRPE associated with a full-thickness macular hole. Findings of funduscopy and optical coherence tomography are described.

Avastin as an adjunct to vitrectomy in the management of severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a prospective case series.

Purpose: Bevacizumab (Avastin) is a monoclonal antibody which targets all isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor A. Its potent anti-angiogenic effects have been shown to cause regression of neovascularization in proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Avastin as an adjunct to vitrectomy in the management of severe diabetic eye disease.

Shedding light on plant competition: modelling the influence of plant morphology on light capture (and vice versa).

A plant's morphology is both strongly influenced by local light availability and, simultaneously, strongly influences this local light availability. This reciprocal relationship is complex, but lies at the heart of understanding plant growth and competition. Here, we develop a sub-individual-based simulation model, cast at the level of interacting plant components.

Hepatitis C virus genotype and HIV coinfection affect cytokine mRNA levels in unstimulated PBMC but do not shift the T1/T2 balance.

Rapid progression of hepatitis C virus (HCV) disease in patients with HIV/HCV may reflect different cytokine responses and be influenced by HCV genotype. This is addressed by a study of patients with HIV/HCV coinfection and infection with HCV genotype 2 or 3 (2/3). They are compared with coinfected patients infected with genotype 1 and HCV monoinfected patients matched for HCV genotype.

Quinolactacins revisited: from lactams to imide and beyond.

Chemical analysis of a solid phase fermentation of an Australian Penicillium citrinum strain has returned all known examples of a rare class of N-methyl quinolone lactams, quinolactacins A2 (1), B2 (2), C2 (3) and A1 (4), together with the new quinolactacins B1 (5), C1 (6), D1 (7) and D2 (8), and the novel derivatives quinolonimide (9) and quinolonic acid (10). Complete stereostructures were assigned to all these compounds by detailed spectroscopic analysis and chemical interconversion. Carefully controlled and monitored decomposition studies have confirmed that quinolactacins readily undergo C-3 epimerization and oxidation, and under appropriate conditions convert to quinolonimide and quinolonic acid.

Roquefortine E, a diketopiperazine from an Australian isolate of Gymnoascus reessii.

The new isoprenylated diketopiperazine roquefortine E (6) has been isolated from an Australian soil isolate of the ascomycete Gymnoascus reessii. The known fungal metabolite roquefortine C (1) was also recovered as the major antibacterial principle, and all structures were assigned by detailed spectroscopic analysis.

Gymnoascolides A-C: aromatic butenolides from an Australian isolate of the soil ascomycete Gymnoascus reessii.

Three new aromatic butenolides, gymnoascolides A-C (1-3), have been isolated from the Australian soil ascomycete Gymnoascus reessii and assigned structures on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configurations of gymnoascolides B (2) and C (3) at C-5 were solved using a combination of chemical derivatization and quantum chemical simulations.

Blanchaquinone: a new anthraquinone from an Australian Streptomyces sp.

Chemical analysis of an Australian Streptomyces species yielded a range of known anthracyclines and biosynthetically related metabolites, including daunomycin (1), epsilon-rhodomycinone (2), 11-hydroxyauramycinone (3), 11-hydroxysulfurmycinone (4), aklavinone (5), bisanhydro-gamma-rhodomycinone (6), and the anthraquinone 7, as well as the hitherto unreported blanchaquinone (8). The structure assigned to 8 was secured by detailed spectroscopic analysis and correlation to known analogues, such as the anthraquinone 7. This account also represents the first natural occurrence of 3, 4, and 7 and the first spectroscopic characterization of 11-hydroxysulfurmycinone (4).