Growing Our Own Rural, Remote and Aboriginal Health Workforce: Contributions made, approaches taken and lessons learnt by three rural Australian academic health departments.

Aims: This paper describes the investments made, approaches taken and lessons learnt by three rural Australian academic health departments engaged in the delivery of the Health Career Academy Program (HCAP). The program seeks to address the under-representation of rural, remote and Aboriginal populations within Australia's health workforce.

Context: Significant resources are directed towards rural practice exposure for metropolitan health students to address workforce shortages.

The case for integrated health and community literacy to achieve transformational community engagement and improved health outcomes: an inclusive approach to addressing rural and remote health inequities and community healthcare expectations.

Context: Despite the substantial investment by Australian health authorities to improve the health of rural and remote communities, rural residents continue to experience health care access challenges and poorer health outcomes. Health literacy and community engagement are both considered critical in addressing these health inequities. However, the current focus on health literacy can place undue burdens of responsibility for healthcare on individuals from disadvantaged communities whilst not taking due account of broader community needs and healthcare expectations.

Acanthamoeba: An Overview of the Challenges to the Development of a Consensus Methodology of Disinfection Efficacy Testing for Contact Lens Care Products.

With the increasing incidence of more pathogens that can cause microbial keratitis (MK), it is necessary to periodically reassess disinfection multipurpose solutions testing requirements to ensure that relevant organisms to challenge them are being used. Current testing protocols have included common pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Serratia marcescens, Candida albicans, and Fusarium solani but have omitted less common pathogens such as Acanthamoeba. Specifically, Acanthamoeba sp.

Optimized Protocol for Testing Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution Efficacy Against Acanthamoeba.

Objectives: To evaluate the interlaboratory and intralaboratory reproducibility of a proposed protocol for multipurpose contact lens solution (MPS) disinfection efficacy against Acanthamoeba.

Methods: Acanthamoeba castellanii and Acanthamoeba polyphaga and four MPS with different biocidal agents were used to evaluate the protocol in two different laboratories. In addition to the negative control, a positive control and neutralization control were used.

Food and Drug Administration Efforts to Mitigate Contact Lens Discomfort.

The premarket review of contact lenses and accessories by the FDA involves the assessment of nonclinical and clinical information in support of clearance or approval of marketing applications. The review process for these medical devices, including attributes, which may contribute to comfort for lens wearers, is summarized, as are mechanisms by which FDA continues to assess and improve recommendations through the review process and through collaboration with external entities.

Follicular dendritic cell regulation of CXCR4-mediated germinal center CD4 T cell migration.

Follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) up-regulate the chemokine receptor CXCR4 on CD4 T cells, and a major subpopulation of germinal center (GC) T cells (CD4(+)CD57(+)), which are adjacent to FDCs in vivo, expresses high levels of CXCR4. We therefore reasoned that GC T cells would actively migrate to stromal cell-derived factor-1 (CXCL12), the CXCR4 ligand, and tested this using Transwell migration assays with GC T cells and other CD4 T cells (CD57(-)) that expressed much lower levels of CXCR4. Unexpectedly, GC T cells were virtually nonresponsive to CXCL12, whereas CD57(-)CD4 T cells migrated efficiently despite reduced CXCR4 expression.