Risk of Social Isolation as a Contributing Factor to Diet Quality in Community-Dwelling Older Persons Living in the Australian Capital Territory-A Pilot Study.

Objectives: Social isolation is recognised as a risk factor in the inflammatory process. This study explored the association between social isolation and the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) in community-dwelling older persons.

Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study recruited 107 community-dwelling people aged over 55 years living in the Australian Capital Territory.

Testosterone is lower in men with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and alcohol-related cirrhosis and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes.

Background/aims: Low serum testosterone is common in cirrhotic men, but the impact of disease aetiology remains uncertain. This study compares serum total testosterone (TT) levels by disease aetiology and assesses its prognostic value.

Methods: Single-centre retrospective study of cirrhotic men who had TT levels measured between 2002 and 2020.

Radiation exposure from radiological procedures in liver transplant candidates with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: Candidates for liver transplantation (LT) with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergo a large number of diagnostic and interventional radiology procedures. A significant proportion of such procedures involve ionizing radiation with increased lifetime risk of cancer. The objective of our study was to review LT candidates with HCC to quantify ionizing radiation doses from different radiology procedures performed at a single transplant center.

Hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance and quantile regression for determinants of underutilisation in at-risk Australian patients.

Background: While clinical guidelines recommend hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance for at-risk individuals, reported surveillance rates in the United States and Europe remain disappointingly low.

Aim: To quantify HCC surveillance in an Australian cohort, and assess for factors associated with surveillance underutilisation.

Methods: All patients undergoing HCC surveillance liver ultrasounds between January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2018 at a tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Australia, were followed until July 31, 2020, or when surveillance was no longer required.

Low participation in preventative health measures in a cohort of liver transplant recipients: A cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Despite high rates of infection and malignancy post-solid organ transplant, there are little data on patient participation in preventative health care.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of post-liver transplant patients to evaluate insight into transplant-associated infective and neoplastic risks, and receipt of vaccination and cancer surveillance in accordance with Australian and local institution-specific guidelines. Descriptive analyses were used to assess characteristics potentially influencing adherence.

Food Habits of Older Australians Living Alone in the Australian Capital Territory.

The link between adequate nutrition and quality of life for older persons is well established. With the proportion of older adults increasing, policy regarding support and care for the ageing has shifted emphasis to keeping older adults in their homes for as long as possible. Risk of malnutrition is an issue of importance for this population and, while this risk is well researched within the hospital setting, it is still relatively under-researched within the community-dwelling elderly, particularly with respect to the lived experience.

The impact of delayed rapid response call activation on patient outcomes.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of delay in rapid response call (RRC) activation on Hospital mortality.

Materials And Methods: This study was conducted in a university affiliated hospital providing medical, surgical, mental health, maternity, and pediatric services. RRCs were considered delayed if RRC activation was delayed by ≥15min.

Rescaling the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Use in Primary Care.

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist (PCL) is a 17-item self-report measure of PTSD symptom severity that has demonstrated excellent psychometric properties across a variety of settings, purposes, and populations. The PCL is widely used in busy Department of Defense primary care settings as part of routine PTSD screening, requiring that it is easy for patients to complete and providers to score. The clinical utility of the PCL may be improved through use of a zero-anchored Likert-type response scale by providing intuitive anchors for respondents and fewer calculations for clinic staff; however, changes to the response scale may invalidate the known psychometric properties of the measure.

Genome-wide RNA-seq analysis of human and mouse platelet transcriptomes.

Inbred mice are a useful tool for studying the in vivo functions of platelets. Nonetheless, the mRNA signature of mouse platelets is not known. Here, we use paired-end next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to characterize the polyadenylated transcriptomes of human and mouse platelets.

Hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cell tissue factor activates the coagulation cascade in endotoxemic mice.

Tissue factor (TF) is the primary activator of the coagulation cascade. During endotoxemia, TF expression leads to disseminated intravascular coagulation. However, the relative contribution of TF expression by different cell types to the activation of coagulation has not been defined.

IgA ASC accumulation to the lactating mammary gland is dependent on VCAM-1 and alpha4 integrins.

The homing and migration of IgA antibody secreting cells (ASC) to the lactating mammary gland is essential to the passive transfer of immunity from mother to nursing neonate. Antibody secreting cells, located within the lactating mammary gland, produce high levels of antigen-specific IgA antibodies. These antibodies, which are subsequently transferred to the nursing neonate via breast milk, provide passive immune protection against antigens previously encountered by the mother to the nursing infant.