Using virtual reality to estimate aesthetic values of coral reefs.

Aesthetic value, or beauty, is important to the relationship between humans and natural environments and is, therefore, a fundamental socio-economic attribute of conservation alongside other ecosystem services. However, beauty is difficult to quantify and is not estimated well using traditional approaches to monitoring coral-reef aesthetics. To improve the estimation of ecosystem aesthetic values, we developed and implemented a novel framework used to quantify features of coral-reef aesthetics based on people's perceptions of beauty.

Joint-level energetics differentiate isoinertial from speed-power resistance training-a Bayesian analysis.

Background: There is convincing evidence for the benefits of resistance training on vertical jump improvements, but little evidence to guide optimal training prescription. The inability to detect small between modality effects may partially reflect the use of ANOVA statistics. This study represents the results of a sub-study from a larger project investigating the effects of two resistance training methods on load carriage running energetics.

Parental health behaviour predictors of childhood and adolescent dietary trajectories.

Objective: To determine which parental health behaviours early in childhood most strongly predict whole-of-childhood dietary trajectories.

Design: Population-based Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC, waves 1-6; 2004-2014). Exposures were parents' fruit/vegetable consumption, alcohol, smoking and physical activity at child age 0-1 years (B Cohort) or 4-5 years (K Cohort).

Effects of exposure to ambient ultrafine particles on respiratory health and systemic inflammation in children.

It is known that ultrafine particles (UFP, particles smaller than 0.1 μm) can penetrate deep into the lungs and potentially have adverse health effects. However, epidemiological data on the health effects of UFP is limited.

Development of a targeted sequencing approach to identify prognostic, predictive and diagnostic markers in paediatric solid tumours.

The implementation of personalised medicine in childhood cancers has been limited by a lack of clinically validated multi-target sequencing approaches specific for paediatric solid tumours. In order to support innovative clinical trials in high-risk patients with unmet need, we have developed a clinically relevant targeted sequencing panel spanning 311 kb and comprising 78 genes involved in childhood cancers. A total of 132 samples were used for the validation of the panel, including Horizon Discovery cell blends (n=4), cell lines (n=15), formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE, n=83) and fresh frozen tissue (FF, n=30) patient samples.

Emergence of Nonfalciparum Plasmodium Infection Despite Regular Artemisinin Combination Therapy in an 18-Month Longitudinal Study of Ugandan Children and Their Mothers.

As part of a longitudinal cohort investigation of intestinal schistosomiasis and malaria in Ugandan children and their mothers on the shorelines of Lakes Victoria and Albert, we documented risk factors and morbidity associated with nonfalciparum Plasmodium infections and the longitudinal dynamics of Plasmodium species in children. Host age, household location, and Plasmodium falciparum infection were strongly associated with nonfalciparum Plasmodium infections, and Plasmodium malariae infection was associated with splenomegaly. Despite regular artemisinin combination therapy treatment, there was a 3-fold rise in P.

Minimal methylation classifier (MIMIC): A novel method for derivation and rapid diagnostic detection of disease-associated DNA methylation signatures.

Rapid and reliable detection of disease-associated DNA methylation patterns has major potential to advance molecular diagnostics and underpin research investigations. We describe the development and validation of minimal methylation classifier (MIMIC), combining CpG signature design from genome-wide datasets, multiplex-PCR and detection by single-base extension and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, in a novel method to assess multi-locus DNA methylation profiles within routine clinically-applicable assays. We illustrate the application of MIMIC to successfully identify the methylation-dependent diagnostic molecular subgroups of medulloblastoma (the most common malignant childhood brain tumour), using scant/low-quality samples remaining from the most recently completed pan-European medulloblastoma clinical trial, refractory to analysis by conventional genome-wide DNA methylation analysis.

TAp73 is a marker of glutamine addiction in medulloblastoma.

Medulloblastoma is the most common solid primary brain tumor in children. Remarkable advancements in the understanding of the genetic and epigenetic basis of these tumors have informed their recent molecular classification. However, the genotype/phenotype correlation of the subgroups remains largely uncharacterized.

Airborne particles in indoor environment of homes, schools, offices and aged care facilities: The main routes of exposure.

It has been shown that the exposure to airborne particulate matter is one of the most significant environmental risks people face. Since indoor environment is where people spend the majority of time, in order to protect against this risk, the origin of the particles needs to be understood: do they come from indoor, outdoor sources or both? Further, this question needs to be answered separately for each of the PM mass/number size fractions, as they originate from different sources. Numerous studies have been conducted for specific indoor environments or under specific setting.

Novel molecular subgroups for clinical classification and outcome prediction in childhood medulloblastoma: a cohort study.

Background: International consensus recognises four medulloblastoma molecular subgroups: WNT (MB), SHH (MB), group 3 (MB), and group 4 (MB), each defined by their characteristic genome-wide transcriptomic and DNA methylomic profiles. These subgroups have distinct clinicopathological and molecular features, and underpin current disease subclassification and initial subgroup-directed therapies that are underway in clinical trials. However, substantial biological heterogeneity and differences in survival are apparent within each subgroup, which remain to be resolved.

Are babies conceived during Ramadan born smaller and sooner than babies conceived at other times of the year? A Born in Bradford Cohort Study.

Background: It is not known whether infants exposed to intermittent maternal fasting at conception are born smaller or have a higher risk of premature birth than those who are not. Doctors are therefore unsure about what advice to give women about the safety of Ramadan fasting. This cohort study aimed to investigate these questions in Muslim mother-infant pairs to inform prenatal care.

Early-life exposures predicting onset and resolution of childhood overweight or obesity.

Objectives: To determine which of multiple early-life exposures predict onset or resolution of overweight/obesity during a 9-year period.

Methods: : longitudinal cohort from three harmonised community-based cohorts enriched for overweight and obesity. : child-gestational age; delivery; birth weight; breast feeding; solids introduction; baseline body mass index (BMI); waist circumference; diet; activity; global, physical and psychosocial health.

Combined Spinal-Epidural for Vaginal Delivery in a Parturient With Takayasu's Arteritis.

Takayasu's arteritis is a rare, progressive panendarteritis involving all layers of the arterial wall. This disease includes variable involvement of the aorta and its major branches. The most common complication with this condition is severe, uncontrolled hypertension, often leading to end organ dysfunction.

Identification of technical problems affecting performance of DustTrak DRX aerosol monitors.

The TSI DustTrak Aerosol Monitor is a portable real-time instrument widely used for particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations monitoring. The aim of this work is to report on issues that have arisen from the use of the latest generation models DustTrak DRX (8533 and 8534) in the BREATHE, UPTECH and IMPROVE projects that can compromise data quality. The main issue we encountered was the occurrence of sudden artefact jumps in PM concentration, which can involve an increase from a few to some hundreds of μg·m.

Adolescent Cardiovascular Functional and Structural Outcomes of Growth Trajectories from Infancy: Prospective Community-Based Study.

Background: Adult BMI trajectories outperform single BMI measurements as predictors of cardiovascular mortality; however, it is unknown whether this also holds in childhood. We aimed to identify BMI trajectory categories from birth to adolescence, and examine their associations with adolescent cardiovascular function and structure.

Methods: Adolescents from a community-based prospective birth cohort completed 11-16 BMI measurements between birth and adolescence.

Evaluation of age-dependent treatment strategies for children and young adults with pineoblastoma: analysis of pooled European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP-E) and US Head Start data.

Background: Pineoblastoma is a rare pineal region brain tumor. Treatment strategies have reflected those for other malignant embryonal brain tumors.

Patients And Methods: Original prospective treatment and outcome data from international trial groups were pooled.

Patient-Reported Outcome Assessments as Endpoints in Studies in Infectious Diseases.

The goal of administering medical interventions is to help patients live longer or live better. In keeping with this goal, there has been increasing interest in taking the "voice" of the patient into account during the development process, specifically in the evaluation of treatment benefits of medical interventions, and use of patient-centered outcome data to justify reimbursement. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are outcome assessments (OAs) used to define endpoints that can provide direct evidence of treatment benefit on how patients feel or function.

Review article: Diagnostic accuracy of risk stratification tools for patients with chest pain in the rural emergency department: A systematic review.

Risk stratification tools for patients presenting to rural EDs with undifferentiated chest pain enable early definitive treatment in high-risk patients. This systematic review compares the most commonly used risk stratification tools used to predict the risk of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) for patients presenting to rural EDs with chest pain. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE and Embase for studies published between January 2011 and January 2015 was undertaken.

Abstracts from the 3rd International Genomic Medicine Conference (3rd IGMC 2015) : Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 30 November - 3 December 2015.

O1 Regulation of genes by telomere length over long distances Jerry W. Shay O2 The microtubule destabilizer KIF2A regulates the postnatal establishment of neuronal circuits in addition to prenatal cell survival, cell migration, and axon elongation, and its loss leading to malformation of cortical development and severe epilepsy Noriko Homma, Ruyun Zhou, Muhammad Imran Naseer, Adeel G. Chaudhary, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Nobutaka Hirokawa O3 Integration of metagenomics and metabolomics in gut microbiome research Maryam Goudarzi, Albert J.

Relapse patterns and outcome after relapse in standard risk medulloblastoma: a report from the HIT-SIOP-PNET4 study.

The HIT-SIOP-PNET4 randomised trial for standard risk medulloblastoma (MB) (2001-2006) included 338 patients and compared hyperfractionated and conventional radiotherapy. We here report the long-term outcome after a median follow up of 7.8 years, including detailed information on relapse and the treatment of relapse.

A Twin Factor Mixture Modeling Approach to Childhood Temperament: Differential Heritability.

Twin factor mixture modeling was used to identify temperament profiles while simultaneously estimating a latent factor model for each profile with a sample of 787 twin pairs (M  = 7.4 years, SD = .84; 49% female; 88.