Publications by authors named "G. MacLean"

Little is known about the potential impact of point source contamination from seed treatment pesticide residues and degradation products in waste products in treated seed. The presence of these pesticides and their degradation products in the environment has been associated with toxic effects on non-target organisms including bees, aquatic organisms and humans. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of twenty-two pesticide residues and their degradation products in two streams receiving runoff from land-applied wet cake, applied and spilled wastewater originating at a biofuels production facility using pesticide-treated seed as a feedstock.

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Background: Prevention of drug-resistant tuberculosis is a global health priority. However, trials evaluating the effectiveness of treating infection among contacts of persons with drug-resistant tuberculosis are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial comparing 6 months of daily levofloxacin (weight-based doses) with placebo to treat infection.

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Electroactive microorganisms such as can couple organic electron donor oxidation to the respiration of electrode surfaces, colonizing them in the process. These microbes can also reduce soluble metal ions, such as soluble Pd, resulting in metallic nanoparticle (NP) synthesis. Such NPs are valuable catalysts for industrially relevant chemical production; however, their chemical and solid-state syntheses are often energy-intensive and result in hazardous byproducts.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the interaction between Ang-(1-7) and the ET-1 system in the context of pulmonary hypertension, suggesting that Ang-(1-7) opposes harmful effects of ET-1.
  • Research methods include various models (in vivo in mice, ex vivo in isolated arteries, and in vitro in human cells) that demonstrate Ang-(1-7) treatment reduces pulmonary vascular damage and promotes vasodilation.
  • Findings reveal a complex signaling network involving MasR and ETR that protects against vascular injury, highlighting the potential for enhancing this pathway to improve vascular health.
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Purpose: Nurses are acknowledged as essential in the delivery of best practice gynaecological cancer care however previous studies have identified challenges in these nursing roles. Recommendations include the development of nursing guidance focused on supporting people with a gynaecological cancer. This study aimed to explore perceptions and expectations for the development of a gynaecological cancer nursing guidance resource in Australia and investigate preferred design and content inclusion.

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  • Reproductive-aged women are at a higher risk of iron deficiency (ID), prompting the development of a non-invasive screening tool to identify this condition and assess its acceptability among women.
  • A study in Western Australia screened 640 women aged 18-49, revealing important statistics such as 28% had heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) and 12% were anaemic, with significant correlations found between hand grip strength and hemoglobin levels.
  • The screening was well received, showing high recruitment rates, and suggests future tools could benefit from factors like hand grip strength and the prevalence of HMB in the assessment process.
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Background And Objectives: Epilepsy education has been transformed over the past 2 decades, leading to a need for structured formative assessment tools. The American Epilepsy Society developed the Epilepsy Fellowship In-Training Examination (EpiFITE) to provide high-quality formative assessment for fellows, to stimulate program improvement, and to guide future learning and teaching. The aim of this study was to explore validity evidence for the EpiFITE in meeting these goals.

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  • Viral diseases can have different clinical outcomes based on the virus strain and individual host responses; understanding these differences is crucial for developing therapies and prognostic markers.
  • The study focused on the bluetongue virus in sheep, exploring how variations in the virus lead to a range of clinical symptoms, from mild to severe disease.
  • Researchers used machine learning to analyze 332 parameters, identifying five key processes (virus replication, immune response modulation, inflammation, vascular damage, and immunosuppression) that influence the severity of bluetongue infections.
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Young people who attend intensive alcohol and other drug (AoD) treatment commonly do so more than once. This paper aims to understand precipitators, enablers and barriers to young people's re-engagement in programs. Data come from a longitudinal qualitative study involving three waves of interviews with Australian young people recruited while attending intensive AoD programs (n = 38 at wave 1).

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The frequency-following response (FFR) is an evoked potential that provides a neural index of complex sound encoding in the brain. FFRs have been widely used to characterize speech and music processing, experience-dependent neuroplasticity (e.g.

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Microalgal lipids contain a wide array of liposoluble bioactive compounds, but lipid extraction remains a critical limitation for their commercial use. An accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) was used to extract lipids from , (), and grown under either standard or nitrogen depletion conditions. Under standard growth conditions, ASE using methanol:chloroform (2:1), methyl -butyl ether (MTBE):methanol:water, and ethanol at 100 °C resulted in the highest recovery of total lipids (352 ± 30, 410 ± 32, and 127 ± 15 mg/g biomass from , , and , respectively).

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The study of muscle mass as an imaging-derived phenotype (IDP) may yield new insights into determining the normal and pathologic variations in muscle mass in the population. This can be done by determining 3D abdominal muscle mass from 12 distinct abdominal muscle regions and groups using computed tomography (CT) in a racially diverse medical biobank. To develop a fully automatic technique for assessment of CT abdominal muscle IDPs and preliminarily determine abdominal muscle IDP variations with age and sex in a clinically and racially diverse medical biobank.

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Introduction: Considering the relevant 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations, this paper reviews the current state of Canadian medical schools' Indigenous admissions processes and explores continued barriers faced by Indigenous applicants.

Methods: A summary of literature illustrating disadvantages for Indigenous applicants of current admissions tools is presented. A grey literature search of current admissions requirements, interview processes, and other relevant data from each medical school was performed.

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Due to its increased safety over ultraviolet light, there is interest in the development of antimicrobial violet-blue light technologies for infection control applications. To ensure compatibility with exposed materials and tissue, the light irradiances and dose regimes used must be suitable for the target application. This study investigates the antimicrobial dose responses and germicidal efficiency of 405 nm violet-blue light when applied at a range of irradiance levels, for inactivation of surface-seeded and suspended bacteria.

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Objectives: Iron deficiency, anaemia, and menorrhagia - or heavy menstrual bleeding - are interrelated conditions that are highly prevalent and commonly underrecognised in exercising females of reproductive age. This study utilised a screening tool to identify risk factors and symptoms associated with heavy menstrual bleeding, iron deficiency, and anaemia in this population.

Design: An observational, cross sectional survey study was employed.

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The interplay between diet and fecal microbiota composition is garnering increased interest across various host species, including domestic dogs. While the influence of dietary macronutrients and their associated microbial communities have been extensively reviewed, these reviews are descriptive and do not account for differences in microbial community analysis, nor do they standardize macronutrient content across studies. To address this, a meta-analysis was performed to assess the impact of dietary crude protein ("protein") and dietary crude fat ("fat") on the fecal microbiota composition in healthy dogs.

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Introduction: In September 2022, The Jackson Laboratory Center for Alzheimer's and Dementia Research (JAX CADR) hosted a workshop with leading researchers in the Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) field.

Methods: During the workshop, the participants brainstormed new directions to overcome current barriers to providing patients with effective ADRD therapeutics. The participants outlined specific areas of focus.

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This paper shows how drinking in one's own home affords different affective experiences to drinking in public settings such as bars, pubs and restaurants. A thematic analysis of interviews with 40 Australians aged 30-65 identified three main variations in alcohol-associated feelings, sensations and urges. Alcohol was used at home to decelerate, but in contrast, people were enlivened when drinking in public venues.

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Background: Diagnostic rates and risk factors for the subsequent development of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) following pulmonary embolism (PE) are not well defined.

Methods: Over a 10-year period (2010-2020), consecutive patients attending a PE follow-up clinic in Sheffield, UK (population 554 600) and all patients diagnosed with CTEPH at a pulmonary hypertension (PH) referral centre in Sheffield (referral population estimated 15-20 million) were included.

Results: Of 1956 patients attending the Sheffield PE clinic 3 months following a diagnosis of acute PE, 41 were diagnosed with CTEPH with a cumulative incidence of 2.

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Despite recent advancements in machine learning (ML) applications in health care, there have been few benefits and improvements to clinical medicine in the hospital setting. To facilitate clinical adaptation of methods in ML, this review proposes a standardized framework for the step-by-step implementation of artificial intelligence into the clinical practice of radiology that focuses on three key components: problem identification, stakeholder alignment, and pipeline integration. A review of the recent literature and empirical evidence in radiologic imaging applications justifies this approach and offers a discussion on structuring implementation efforts to help other hospital practices leverage ML to improve patient care.

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Background: Antimicrobial envelopes reduce the incidence of cardiac implantable electronic device infections, but their cost restricts routine use in the United Kingdom. Risk scoring could help to identify which patients would most benefit from this technology.

Methods: A novel risk score (BLISTER [Blood results, Long procedure time, Immunosuppressed, Sixty years old (or younger), Type of procedure, Early re-intervention, Repeat procedure]) was derived from multivariate analysis of factors associated with cardiac implantable electronic device infection.

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Land-spreading of animal faecal wastes -such as animal beddings- can introduce zoonotic enteropathogens into the food system environment. The study evaluated the effectiveness of animal beddings naturally contaminated by calf manure to reduce E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella enterica.

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Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite , affects millions of people in the Americas and across the world, leading to considerable morbidity and mortality. Current treatment options, benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox, offer limited efficacy and often lead to adverse side effects because of long treatment durations. Better treatment options are therefore urgently required.

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Aims: To perform an incremental cost-utility analysis and assess the impact of differential costs and case volume on the cost-effectiveness of robotic arm-assisted unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (rUKA) compared to manual (mUKA).

Methods: This was a five-year follow-up study of patients who were randomized to rUKA (n = 64) or mUKA (n = 65). Patients completed the EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D) preoperatively, and at three months and one, two, and five years postoperatively, which was used to calculate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained.

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