Research productivity of RANZCR radiation oncology trainees from 2014 to 2023.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to describe the research productivity among RANZCR Radiation Oncology (RO) trainees.

Methods: Publicly available data on RO fellows, who were awarded the RANZCR fellowship between July 2014 and June 2023, was extracted from the RANZCR Annual Reports. Fellows who had qualified overseas and did not undertake full RANZCR training were excluded.

Bradykinesia and Its Progression Are Related to Interhemispheric Beta Coherence.

Objective: Bradykinesia is the major cardinal motor sign of Parkinson disease (PD), but its neural underpinnings are unclear. The goal of this study was to examine whether changes in bradykinesia following long-term subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) are linked to local STN beta (13-30 Hz) dynamics or a wider bilateral network dysfunction.

Methods: Twenty-one individuals with PD implanted with sensing neurostimulators (Activa® PC + S, Medtronic, PLC) in the STN participated in a longitudinal 'washout' therapy study every three to 6 months for an average of 3 years.

Lack of progression of beta dynamics after long-term subthalamic neurostimulation.

Objective: To investigate the progression of neural and motor features of Parkinson's disease in a longitudinal study, after washout of medication and bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS).

Methods: Participants with clinically established Parkinson's disease underwent bilateral implantation of DBS leads (18 participants, 13 male) within the STN using standard functional frameless stereotactic technique and multi-pass microelectrode recording. Both DBS leads were connected to an implanted investigative sensing neurostimulator (Activa™ PC + S, Medtronic, PLC).

Clinical Features and Laboratory Findings of Travelers Returning to South Australia with Dengue Virus Infection.

Reported cases of dengue are rising in South Australia (SA) in travellers returning from dengue-endemic regions. We have undertaken a retrospective analysis to identify the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients returning to SA with suspected dengue virus (DENV) infection. From 488 requests, 49 (10%) were defined by serology as acute dengue, with the majority of patients (75%) testing as non-structural protein 1 (NS1) and/or IgM positive.

Subthalamic oscillations and phase amplitude coupling are greater in the more affected hemisphere in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: Determine the incidence of resting state oscillations in alpha/beta, high frequency (HFO) bands, and their phase amplitude coupling (PAC) in a large cohort in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Intra-operative local field potentials (LFPs) from subthalamic nucleus (STN) were recorded from 100 PD subjects, data from 74 subjects were included in the analysis.

Results: Alpha/beta oscillations were evident in >99%, HFO in 87% and PAC in 98% of cases.

Sixty-hertz stimulation improves bradykinesia and amplifies subthalamic low-frequency oscillations.

Background: The objective of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that attenuation of subthalamic nucleus (STN) alpha-/beta-band oscillations is causal to improvement in bradykinesia.

Methods: STN local field potentials from a sensing neurostimulator (Activa PC+S; Medtronic, Inc.) and kinematics from wearable sensors were recorded simultaneously during 60- and 140-Hz deep brain stimulation (DBS) in 9 freely moving PD subjects (15 STNs) performing repetitive wrist flexion-extension.

Subthalamic beta oscillations are attenuated after withdrawal of chronic high frequency neurostimulation in Parkinson's disease.

Subthalamic nucleus (STN) local field potential (LFP) recordings demonstrate beta (13-30Hz) band oscillations in Parkinson's disease (PD) defined as elevations of spectral power. The amount of attenuation of beta band power on therapeutic levels of high frequency (HF) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and/or dopaminergic medication has been correlated with the degree of improvement in bradykinesia and rigidity from the therapy, which has led to the suggestion that elevated beta band power is a marker of PD motor disability. A fundamental question has not been answered: whether there is a prolonged attenuation of beta band power after withdrawal of chronic HF DBS and whether this is related to a lack of progression or even improvement in the underlying motor disability.

Auditory cueing in Parkinson's patients with freezing of gait. What matters most: Action-relevance or cue-continuity?

Gait disturbances are a common feature of Parkinson's disease, one of the most severe being freezing of gait. Sensory cueing is a common method used to facilitate stepping in people with Parkinson's. Recent work has shown that, compared to walking to a metronome, Parkinson's patients without freezing of gait (nFOG) showed reduced gait variability when imitating recorded sounds of footsteps made on gravel.

Beta oscillations in freely moving Parkinson's subjects are attenuated during deep brain stimulation.

Background: Investigations into the effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on subthalamic (STN) beta (13-30 Hz) oscillations have been performed in the perioperative period with the subject tethered to equipment. Using an embedded sensing neurostimulator, this study investigated whether beta power was similar in different resting postures and during forward walking in freely moving subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) and whether STN DBS attenuated beta power in a voltage-dependent manner.

Methods: Subthalamic local field potentials were recorded from the DBS lead, using a sensing neurostimulator (Activa(®) PC+S, Medtronic, Inc.

Sixty hertz neurostimulation amplifies subthalamic neural synchrony in Parkinson's disease.

High frequency subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) improves the cardinal motor signs of Parkinson's disease (PD) and attenuates STN alpha/beta band neural synchrony in a voltage-dependent manner. While there is a growing interest in the behavioral effects of lower frequency (60 Hz) DBS, little is known about its effect on STN neural synchrony. Here we demonstrate for the first time that during intra-operative 60 Hz STN DBS, one or more bands of resting state neural synchrony were amplified in the STN in PD.

Interaction of FUS and HDAC1 regulates DNA damage response and repair in neurons.

Defects in DNA repair have been extensively linked to neurodegenerative diseases, but the exact mechanisms remain poorly understood. We found that FUS, an RNA/DNA-binding protein that has been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration, is important for the DNA damage response (DDR). The function of FUS in DDR involved a direct interaction with histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), and the recruitment of FUS to double-stranded break sites was important for proper DDR signaling.

Homotypic regulation of neuronal morphology and connectivity in the mouse retina.

The establishment of neuronal circuitry during development relies upon the action of cell-intrinsic mechanisms that specify neuronal form as well as plastic processes that require the transmission of neural activity between afferents and their targets. Here, we examine the role of interactions between neighboring like-type cells within the mouse retina upon neuronal differentiation and circuit formation. Two different genetically modified mouse models were used to modulate the density of homotypic neighbors, the Type 7 cone bipolar cells, without affecting the density of their afferents, the cone photoreceptors.