Is methamphetamine blood concentration in emergency department patients associated with the clinical picture?

Aims: This study aimed to describe clinical features and outcomes of patients presenting to the emergency department with analytically confirmed methamphetamine intoxication, to determine the blood concentration of methamphetamine and to test its association with clinical findings.

Design: The Western Australian Illicit Substance Evaluation (WISE) study is a prospective observational cohort study.

Setting: Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department, Perth, Australia, between 2016 and 2018.

Bursts of Rapid Diversification, Dispersals Out of Southern Africa, and Two Origins of Dioecy Punctuate the Evolution of Asparagus.

The genus Asparagus arose ∼9 to 15 million years ago (Ma), and transitions from hermaphroditism to dioecy (separate sexes) occurred ∼3 to 4 Ma. Roughly 27% of extant Asparagus species are dioecious, while the remaining are bisexual with monoclinous flowers. As such, Asparagus is an ideal model taxon for studying the early stages of dioecy and sex chromosome evolution in plants.

A retrospective, comparative analysis of A&E attendance paserns in Irish Traveller versus non-Traveller general practice patients.

Background: Very little is known about Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller health, or access to and utilisation of health care. They are not coded in NHS data systems and there are multiple barriers including illiteracy, digital exclusion, and discrimination.

Aim: To gain rare insight into Irish Traveller patients' emergency healthcare utilisation and outcomes.

Phase transitions of fluorotelomer alcohols at the water|alkane interface studied molecular dynamics simulation.

Fluorosurfactants are long-lasting environmental pollutants that accumulate at interfaces ranging from aerosol droplet surfaces to cell membranes. Modeling of adsorption-based removal technologies for fluorosurfactants requires accurate simulation methods which can predict their adsorption isotherm and monolayer structure. Fluorotelomer alcohols with one or two methylene groups adjacent to the alcohol (7 : 1 FTOH and 6 : 2 FTOH, respectively) are investigated using the OPLS-AA force field at the water|hexane interface, varying the interfacial area per surfactant.

Young evolutionary origins of dioecy in the genus Asparagus.

Premise: Dioecy (separate sexes) has independently evolved numerous times across the angiosperm phylogeny and is recently derived in many lineages. However, our understanding is limited regarding the evolutionary mechanisms that drive the origins of dioecy in plants. The recent and repeated evolution of dioecy across angiosperms offers an opportunity to make strong inferences about the ecological, developmental, and molecular factors influencing the evolution of dioecy, and thus sex chromosomes.

Structure of the Hexadecane Rotator Phase: Combination of X-ray Spectra and Molecular Dynamics Simulation.

Rotator phases are rotationally disordered plastic crystals, some of which can form upon freezing of alkane at alkane-water interfaces. Existing X-ray diffraction studies show only partial unit cell information for rotator phases of some alkanes. This includes the rotator phase of -hexadecane, which is a transient metastable phase in pure alkane systems, but shows remarkable stability at interfaces when mediated by a surfactant.

Angioembolisation for arterial haemorrhage related to pelvic ring injury.

Introduction: Haemorrhage related to pelvic fractures has been associated with mortality rates of up to 50%. Angioembolisation for the management of pelvic haemorrhage was performed as early as 1972; however, there remains uncertainty over its exact use, timing and priority as a component of modern pelvic management protocols.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed cases of angioembolisation for arterial haemorrhage related to pelvic ring fractures at a level 1 trauma centre.

Illicit drugs in the emergency department: Can we determine on clinical grounds if patients are intoxicated? Results from the Western Australian Illicit Substance Evaluation (WISE) study.

Introduction: Presentations related to illicit drugs are a feature of emergency department practice. Clinicians may form a belief that a patient is intoxicated with illicit drugs based on patient self-report, clinical features on presentation and the local prevalence of illicit drug use. But evidence of the accuracy of this assessment is lacking.

Interpreting contrast imaging to plan breast surgery.

Background: Contrast enhanced mammography (CEM) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more accurate than conventional imaging (CI) for breast cancer staging. How adding CEM and MRI to CI might change the surgical plan is understudied.

Methods: Surgical plans (breast conserving surgery (BCS), wider BCS, BCS with diagnostic excision (>1BCS), mastectomy) were devised by mock-MDT (radiologist, surgeon and pathology reports) according to disease extent on CI, CI + CEM and CI + MRI.

The Great Contrast Shortage of 2022-Lessons learnt in Australia.

Introduction: Computed tomography (CT) imaging is one of the most commonly used diagnostic tools. Iodine-based contrast media (IBCM) are frequently administered intravenously to improve soft tissue contrast in a wide range of CT scans. Supply chain disruptions triggered by the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic led to a global shortage of IBCM in mid-2022.

Investigating the use of pollen DNA metabarcoding to quantify bee foraging and effects of threshold selection.

DNA metabarcoding of pollen is a useful tool for studying bee foraging ecology. However, several questions about this method remain unresolved, including the extent to which sequence read data is quantitative, which type of sequence count removal threshold to use and how that choice affects our ability to detect rare flower visits, and how sequence artefacts may confound conclusions about bee foraging behavior. To address these questions, we isolated pollen from five plant species and created treatments comprised of pollen from each species alone and combinations of pollen from multiple species that varied in richness and evenness.

Effect of intravenous fluid volume on biomarkers of endothelial glycocalyx shedding and inflammation during initial resuscitation of sepsis.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of IV fluid resuscitation on endothelial glycocalyx (EG) shedding and activation of the vascular endothelium and inflammation.

Materials And Methods: A planned biomarker sub-study of the REFRESH trial in which emergency department (ED) patients) with suspected sepsis and hypotension were randomised to a restricted fluid/early vasopressor regimen or IV fluid resuscitation with later vasopressors if required (usual care). Blood samples were collected at randomisation (T0) and at 3 h (T3), 6 h (T6)- and 24 h (T24) for measurement of a range of biomarkers if EG shedding, endothelial cell activation and inflammation.

Extension of the TraPPE Force Field for Battery Electrolyte Solvents.

Optimizing electrolyte formulations is key to improving performance of Li-/Na-ion batteries, where transport properties (diffusion coefficient, viscosity) and permittivity need to be predicted as functions of temperature, salt concentration and solvent composition. More efficient and reliable simulation models are urgently needed, owing to the high cost of experimental methods and the lack of united-atom molecular dynamics force fields validated for electrolyte solvents. Here the computationally efficient TraPPE united-atom force field is extended to be compatible with carbonate solvents, optimizing the charges and dihedral potential.

There's something in the air: A review of sources, prevalence and behaviour of microplastics in the atmosphere.

Literature regarding microplastics in the atmosphere has advanced in recent years. However, studies have been undertaken in isolation with minimal collaboration and exploration of the relationships between air, deposition and dust. This review collates concentrations (particle count and mass-based), shape, size and polymetric characteristics for microplastics in ambient air (m3), deposition (m2/day), dust (microplastics/g) and snow (microplastics/L) from 124 peer-reviewed articles to provide a holistic overview and analysis of our current knowledge.

Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) versus MRI for breast cancer staging: detection of additional malignant lesions not seen on conventional imaging.

Background: Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) is more available than MRI for breast cancer staging but may not be as sensitive in assessing disease extent. We compared CEM and MRI in this setting.

Methods: Fifty-nine women with invasive breast cancer underwent preoperative CEM and MRI.

Accuracy and precision of contrast enhanced mammography versus MRI for predicting breast cancer size: how "good" are they really?

Objective: To evaluate and compare the accuracy and precision of contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) MRI to predict the size of biopsy-proven invasive breast cancer.

Methods: Prospective study, 59 women with invasive breast cancer on needle biopsy underwent CEM and breast MRI. Two breast radiologists read each patient's study, with access limited to one modality.

Connection is key when there's no planet B: The need to innovate environmental science communication with transdisciplinary approaches.

As anthropogenic damage to the environment continues worldwide, effective science communication has never been more important. Despite this there are numerous barriers between traditional science communication (e.g.

Initial steps for integrating academic electronic health records into clinical curricula of physical and occupational therapy in the United States: a survey-based observational study.

Training programs must be designed to prepare physical and occupational therapy students to use electronic health records (EHRs) and interprofessional collaboration. This report aims to describe physical and occupational therapy students’ perceptions of integrating an academic EHR (AEHR) in their problem-based learning (PBL) curricula in the College of Health Professions, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, the United States. A paper-based case approach to PBL was adapted by creating patient cases in an AEHR.

Priority Indicators for Adolescent Health Measurement - Recommendations From the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group.

Purpose: This article describes the selection of priority indicators for adolescent (10-19 years) health measurement proposed by the Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent health advisory group and partners, building on previous work identifying 33 core measurement areas and mapping 413 indicators across these areas.

Methods: The indicator selection process considered inputs from a broad range of stakeholders through a structured four-step approach: (1) definition of selection criteria and indicator scoring; (2) development of a draft list of indicators with metadata; (3) collection of public feedback through a survey; and (4) review of the feedback and finalization of the indicator list. As a part of the process, measurement gaps were also identified.