Experiences and impacts of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure on remote Aboriginal families.

Introduction: Aboriginal Australians face significant health disparities, with hospitalisation rates 2.3 times greater, and longer hospital length of stay, than non-Indigenous Australians. This additional burden impacts families further through out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure (OOPHE), which includes additional healthcare expenses not covered by universal taxpayer insurance.

Community Engagement and Psychometric Methods in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and Surveys-A Scoping Review and Critical Analysis.

(1) Background: In healthcare settings, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and surveys are accepted, patient-centered measures that provide qualitative information on dimensions of health and wellbeing. The level of psychometric assessment and engagement with end users for their design can vary significantly. This scoping review describes the psychometric and community engagement processes for PROMs and surveys developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Heart research advances using database search engines, Human Protein Atlas and the Sydney Heart Bank.

This Methodological Review is intended as a guide for research students who may have just discovered a human "novel" cardiac protein, but it may also help hard-pressed reviewers of journal submissions on a "novel" protein reported in an animal model of human heart failure. Whether you are an expert or not, you may know little or nothing about this particular protein of interest. In this review we provide a strategic guide on how to proceed.

Intercalated discs: multiple proteins perform multiple functions in non-failing and failing human hearts.

The intercalated disc (ICD) occupies a central position in the transmission of force, electrical continuity and chemical communication between cardiomyocytes. Changes in its structure and composition are strongly implicated in heart failure. ICD functions include: maintenance of electrical continuity across the ICD; physical links between membranes and the cytoskeleton; intercellular adhesion; maintenance of ICD structure and function; and growth.