Publications by authors named "Craig Nelson"

Unlabelled: Diagnosing cancer in general practice is complex, given the non-specific nature of many presenting symptoms and the overlap of potential diagnoses. This trial evaluated the effectiveness of a technology, Future Health Today (FHT), which provides clinical decision support, auditing, and quality improvement monitoring, on the appropriate follow-up of patients at risk of undiagnosed cancer.

Methods: Pragmatic, cluster randomised trial in Australian general practice.

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Background: Future Health Today (FHT) is a technology program that integrates with general practice clinical software to provide point of care (PoC) clinical decision support and a quality improvement dashboard. This qualitative study looks at the use of FHT in the context of cardiovascular disease risk in chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objective: This study aims to explore factors influencing clinical implementation of the FHT module focusing on cardiovascular risk in CKD, from the perspectives of participating general practitioner staff.

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Cellular resistance can limit the effectiveness of antifolate drugs for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. We examined the biochemical and cellular effects of a propargyl linked, non-classical antifolate UCP1162 that shows exceptional potency and resilience in the background of methotrexate resistance. UCP1162 inhibited the human DHFR enzyme with affinity and kinetics comparable to methotrexate (MTX).

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This study was conducted to clarify patterns of cortico-limbic volume abnormalities in late life depression (LLD) relative to non-depressed (ND) adults matched for amyloid β (Aβ) deposition and to evaluate the relationship of volume abnormalities with cognitive performance. Participants included 116 LLD and 226 ND. Classification accuracy of LLD status was estimated using area under the receiver operator characteristic curve.

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Coral reefs are among the most sensitive ecosystems affected by ocean warming and acidification, and are predicted to collapse over the next few decades. Reefs are predicted to shift from net accreting calcifier-dominated systems with exceptionally high biodiversity to net eroding algal-dominated systems with dramatically reduced biodiversity. Here, we present a two-year experimental study examining the responses of entire mesocosm coral reef communities to warming (+2 °C), acidification (-0.

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Unlabelled: High molecular weight (HMW; >1 kDa) carbohydrates are a major component of dissolved organic matter (DOM) released by benthic primary producers. Despite shifts from coral to algae dominance on many reefs, little is known about the effects of exuded carbohydrates on bacterioplankton communities in reef waters. We compared the monosaccharide composition of HMW carbohydrates exuded by hard corals and brown macroalgae and investigated the response of the bacterioplankton community of an algae-dominated Caribbean reef to the respective HMW fractions.

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Background: The complexities of diagnosing cancer in general practice has driven the development of quality improvement (QI) interventions, including clinical decision support (CDS) and auditing tools. Future Health Today (FHT) is a novel QI tool, consisting of CDS at the point-of-care, practice population-level auditing, recall, and the monitoring of QI activities.

Objectives: Explore the acceptability and usability of the FHT cancer module, which flags patients with abnormal test results that may be indicative of undiagnosed cancer.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cognitive dysfunction is prevalent in late life depression and poses a risk for dementia, with current treatments showing limited improvement in cognitive function.
  • A systematic review analyzed the cognitive effects of various antidepressants and psychotherapies in older adults with Major Depressive Disorder, focusing on aspects like processing speed, memory, and executive function.
  • Results indicated that certain medications, like sertraline and vortioxetine, improved processing speed and memory, while others had minimal or negative effects, highlighting the need for further research due to methodological limitations in existing studies.
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Objective: Anxiety is a common comorbid feature of late-life depression (LLD) and is associated with poorer global cognitive functioning independent of depression severity. However, little is known about whether comorbid anxiety is associated with a domain-specific pattern of cognitive dysfunction. We therefore examined group differences (LLD with and without comorbid anxiety) in cognitive functioning performance across multiple domains.

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Background: Cancer diagnoses often begin with consultations with GPs, but the non-specific nature of symptoms can lead to delayed diagnosis. Unexpected weight loss (UWL) is a common non-specific symptom linked to undiagnosed cancer, yet guidelines for its diagnostic assessment in general practice lack consistency.

Aim: To synthesise evidence on the association between UWL and cancer diagnosis, and to review clinical guidelines and recommendations for assessing patients with UWL.

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Background: Early identification and treatment of chronic disease is associated with better clinical outcomes, lower costs, and reduced hospitalisation. Primary care is ideally placed to identify patients at risk of, or in the early stages of, chronic disease and to implement prevention and early intervention measures. This paper evaluates the implementation of a technological intervention called Future Health Today that integrates with general practice EMRs to (1) identify patients at-risk of, or with undiagnosed or untreated, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and (2) provide guideline concordant recommendations for patient care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined treatment for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) that includes cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and whole-body hyperthermia (WBH).
  • Sixteen adults participated in the trial, with most completing 4 WBH sessions and all completing the self-report depression assessments, showing significant improvements in depression symptoms.
  • Although promising, the study's small sample size and design limit how widely the results can be applied, highlighting the need for larger future trials.
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Objective: Electronic clinical decision support tools (eCDSTs) are interventions designed to facilitate clinical decision-making using targeted medical knowledge and patient information. While eCDSTs have been demonstrated to improve quality of care, there is a paucity of research relating to the acceptability of eCDSTs in primary care from the patients' perspective. This study aims to summarize current evidence relating to primary care patients' perceptions and experiences on the use of eCDSTs by their clinician to provide care.

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Key Points: Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) had a higher carbon impact than continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). This was due to higher emissions from the manufacture and disposal of APD consumables, and their higher weight, meaning greater transport emissions. Polyvinyl chloride recycling can partially mitigate peritoneal dialysis–associated emissions.

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Coastal herbivorous fishes consume macroalgae, which is then degraded by microbes along their digestive tract. However, there is scarce genomic information about the microbiota that perform this degradation. This study explores the potential of gastrointestinal microbial symbionts to collaboratively degrade and ferment polysaccharides from red, green, and brown macroalgae through study of carbohydrate-active enzyme and sulfatase sequences.

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In this article, we present a four-channel direct digital synthesis (DDS) design that operates with a common clock ranging from 500 MHz to 24 GHz and generates output frequencies up to 1.75 GHz. A key feature of this board is its custom field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based synchronization method, which ensures alignment accuracy of 170 ps between the channels, enabling precise frequency and phase relationship settings.

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The following cases demonstrate a proof of concept for the safe and effective use of the glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) semaglutide for weight loss in obese, non-diabetic, end stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients on haemodialysis (HD), who are unable to undergo renal transplantation due to obesity. Obesity is a common barrier to wait-listing for renal transplantation with effective, broadly applicable weight loss strategies lacking. GLP-1 RAs have been shown to be effective adjuncts to achieve weight loss in non-diabetic obese people.

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Background: Chronic kidney disease affects more than 10% of the world's population and is a non-communicable disease of global concern and priority. There is a significant implementation gap between best practice guideline recommendations and current kidney disease management. Previous research has shown the need to partner with primary care to improve education, collaboration, and kidney disease awareness.

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Coral bleaching is a well-documented and increasingly widespread phenomenon in reefs across the globe, yet there has been relatively little research on the implications for reef water column microbiology and biogeochemistry. A mesocosm heating experiment and bottle incubation compared how unbleached and bleached corals alter dissolved organic matter (DOM) exudation in response to thermal stress and subsequent effects on microbial growth and community structure in the water column. Thermal stress of healthy corals tripled DOM flux relative to ambient corals.

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  • A study emphasizes the role of psychosocial factors like food insecurity and education in shaping health outcomes.
  • Western Health created nine screening questions (the Western 9) to assess these psychosocial factors in patients under the HealthLinks Chronic Care initiative and to categorize them into Low, Medium, or High risk profiles.
  • Results indicate that incorporating the Western 9 into existing readmission risk models enhanced their accuracy, with suggestions for future improvements like creating weighted indices for even better model performance.
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  • Late-life depression (LLD) is common in older adults and often occurs alongside neurodegenerative diseases, with anxiety being a significant factor influencing LLD variation.
  • A study involving 121 participants (ages 65-91) assessed the connection between anxiety severity and various neurodegenerative factors such as brain volume, cognitive dysfunction, and functional ability.
  • Results indicated that higher anxiety was linked to reduced orbitofrontal cortex volume and greater cognitive dysfunction, highlighting cognitive issues as a crucial factor in understanding anxiety within LLD, which may inform treatment strategies.
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Background: Acute decompensated heart failure involves a high rate of mortality and complications. Management typically involves a multi-day hospital admission. However, patients often lose part of their function with each successive admission, and are at a high risk for hospital-associated complications such as nosocomial infection.

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Increasingly frequent marine heatwaves are devastating coral reefs. Corals that survive these extreme events must rapidly recover if they are to withstand subsequent events, and long-term survival in the face of rising ocean temperatures may hinge on recovery capacity and acclimatory gains in heat tolerance over an individual's lifespan. To better understand coral recovery trajectories in the face of successive marine heatwaves, we monitored the responses of bleaching-susceptible and bleaching-resistant individuals of two dominant coral species in Hawai'i, and , over a decade that included three marine heatwaves.

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Hoarding disorder (HD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric condition that affects 2%-6% of the population and increases in incidence with age. Major depressive disorder (MDD) co-occurs with HD in approximately 50% of cases and leads to increased functional impairment and disability. However, only one study to date has examined the rate and trajectory of hoarding symptoms in older individuals with a lifetime history of MDD, including those with current active depression (late-life depression; LLD).

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