Coronary artery calcification detected on low-dose computed tomography in high-risk participants of an Australian lung cancer screening program: A prospective observational study.

Background And Objectives: Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a frequent additional finding on lung cancer screening (LCS) low-dose computed tomography (LDCT). Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in LCS participants. We aimed to describe prevalence of incidental CAC detected on LDCT in LCS participants without prior history of coronary artery disease (CAD), evaluate their CVD risk and describe subsequent investigation and management.

Science advocacy in political rhetoric and actions.

Unlabelled: is a proportionately small but recurring constituent in the rhetorical lexicon of political leaders. To evaluate the use of science-related content relative to other themes in political communications, we undertake a statistical analysis of keywords in U.S.

Atmospheric modelling of grass pollen rupturing mechanisms for thunderstorm asthma prediction.

The world's most severe thunderstorm asthma event occurred in Melbourne, Australia on 21 November 2016, coinciding with the peak of the grass pollen season. The aetiological role of thunderstorms in these events is thought to cause pollen to rupture in high humidity conditions, releasing large numbers of sub-pollen particles (SPPs) with sizes very easily inhaled deep into the lungs. The humidity hypothesis was implemented into a three-dimensional atmospheric model and driven by inputs from three meteorological models.

Air quality and health impact of 2019-20 Black Summer megafires and COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

Poor air quality is an emerging problem in Australia primarily due to ozone pollution events and lengthening and more severe wildfire seasons. A significant deterioration in air quality was experienced in Australia's most populous cities, Melbourne and Sydney, as a result of fires during the so-called Black Summer which ran from November 2019 through to February 2020. Following this period, social, mobility and economic restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic were implemented in Australia.

Are convergence lines associated with high asthma presentation days? A case-control study in Melbourne, Australia.

Background: In epidemic thunderstorm asthma (ETSA) events a large number of people develop asthma symptoms over a short period of time. This is thought to occur because of a unique combination of high amounts of pollen and certain meteorological conditions. However, the exact cause and mechanism of epidemic thunderstorm asthma remains unclear.

Using crowd-sourced allergic rhinitis symptom data to improve grass pollen forecasts and predict individual symptoms.

Seasonal allergic rhinitis (AR), also known as hay fever, is a common respiratory condition brought on by a range of environmental triggers. Previous work has characterised the relationships between community-level AR symptoms collected using mobile apps in two Australian cities, Canberra and Melbourne, and various environmental covariates including pollen. Here, we build on these relationships by assessing the skill of models that provide a next-day forecast of an individual's risk of developing AR and that nowcast ambient grass pollen concentrations using crowd-sourced AR symptoms as a predictor.

Crowd-sourced allergic rhinitis symptom data: The influence of environmental and demographic factors.

Allergic Rhinitis (AR) affects over half a billion people worldwide with an estimated prevalence of 1 in 5 individuals in developed countries. Although ambient pollen exposure is a causal factor in AR, the symptom-exposure relationship is typically not studied in the broader community but in small, well-characterised cohorts drawn from clinical populations. To identify relationships between AR symptoms in the community and a range of environmental factors, we used a database containing over 96,000 symptom score reports collected over a 3-year period (2014-2016) through freely available smartphone apps released in two Australian cities, Melbourne and Canberra.

Greenhouse Gas Concentration and Volcanic Eruptions Controlled the Variability of Terrestrial Carbon Uptake Over the Last Millennium.

The terrestrial net biome production (NBP) is considered as one of the major drivers of interannual variation in atmospheric CO levels. However, the determinants of variability in NBP under the background climate (i.e.

A Randomized Noninferiority Trial of Wearing Adjustable Glasses versus Standard and Ready-made Spectacles among Chinese Schoolchildren: Wearability and Evaluation of Adjustable Refraction III.

Purpose: To compare wear of standard, adjustable, and ready-made glasses among children.

Design: Randomized, controlled, open-label, noninferiority trial.

Participants: Students aged 11 to 16 years with presenting visual acuity (VA) ≤6/12 in both eyes, correctable to ≥6/7.

The Melbourne epidemic thunderstorm asthma event 2016: an investigation of environmental triggers, effect on health services, and patient risk factors.

Background: A multidisciplinary collaboration investigated the world's largest, most catastrophic epidemic thunderstorm asthma event that took place in Melbourne, Australia, on Nov 21, 2016, to inform mechanisms and preventive strategies.

Methods: Meteorological and airborne pollen data, satellite-derived vegetation index, ambulance callouts, emergency department presentations, and data on hospital admissions for Nov 21, 2016, as well as leading up to and following the event were collected between Nov 21, 2016, and March 31, 2017, and analysed. We contacted patients who presented during the epidemic thunderstorm asthma event at eight metropolitan health services (each including up to three hospitals) via telephone questionnaire to determine patient characteristics, and investigated outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) admissions.

Seasonal asthma in Melbourne, Australia, and some observations on the occurrence of thunderstorm asthma and its predictability.

We examine the seasonality of asthma-related hospital admissions in Melbourne, Australia, in particular the contribution and predictability of episodic thunderstorm asthma. Using a time-series ecological approach based on asthma admissions to Melbourne metropolitan hospitals, we identified seasonal peaks in asthma admissions that were centred in late February, June and mid-November. These peaks were most likely due to the return to school, winter viral infections and seasonal allergies, respectively.

A genome-wide association study of men with symptoms of testicular dysgenesis syndrome and its network biology interpretation.

Background: Testicular dysgenesis syndrome (TDS) is a common disease that links testicular germ cell cancer, cryptorchidism and some cases of hypospadias and male infertility with impaired development of the testis. The incidence of these disorders has increased over the last few decades, and testicular cancer now affects 1% of the Danish and Norwegian male population.

Methods: To identify genetic variants that span the four TDS phenotypes, the authors performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using Affymetrix Human SNP Array 6.

Self correction of refractive error among young people in rural China: results of cross sectional investigation.

Objective: To compare outcomes between adjustable spectacles and conventional methods for refraction in young people.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Setting: Rural southern China.

The child self-refraction study results from urban Chinese children in Guangzhou.

Objective: To compare visual and refractive outcomes between self-refracting spectacles (Adaptive Eyecare, Ltd, Oxford, UK), noncycloplegic autorefraction, and cycloplegic subjective refraction.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: Chinese school-children aged 12 to 17 years.

Risk charts to identify low and excessive responders among first-cycle IVF/ICSI standard patients.

Ovarian stimulation carries a risk of either low or excessive ovarian response. The aim was to develop prognostic models for identification of standard (ovulatory and normal basal FSH) patients’ risks of low and excessive response to conventional stimulation for IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Prospectively collected data on 276 first-cycle patients treated with 150 IU recombinant FSH (rFSH)/day in a long agonist protocol were analysed.

Is the Kaiser Permanente model superior in terms of clinical integration?: a comparative study of Kaiser Permanente, Northern California and the Danish healthcare system.

Background: Integration of medical care across clinicians and settings could enhance the quality of care for patients. To date, there is limited data on the levels of integration in practice. Our objective was to compare primary care clinicians' perceptions of clinical integration and three sub-aspects in two healthcare systems: Kaiser Permanente, Northern California (KPNC) and the Danish healthcare system (DHS).

Estimating haplotype effects for survival data.

Genetic association studies often investigate the effect of haplotypes on an outcome of interest. Haplotypes are not observed directly, and this complicates the inclusion of such effects in survival models. We describe a new estimating equations approach for Cox's regression model to assess haplotype effects for survival data.

Microarray background correction: maximum likelihood estimation for the normal-exponential convolution.

Background correction is an important preprocessing step for microarray data that attempts to adjust the data for the ambient intensity surrounding each feature. The "normexp" method models the observed pixel intensities as the sum of 2 random variables, one normally distributed and the other exponentially distributed, representing background noise and signal, respectively. Using a saddle-point approximation, Ritchie and others (2007) found normexp to be the best background correction method for 2-color microarray data.

Array-based gene discovery with three unrelated subjects shows SCARB2/LIMP-2 deficiency causes myoclonus epilepsy and glomerulosclerosis.

Action myoclonus-renal failure syndrome (AMRF) is an autosomal-recessive disorder with the remarkable combination of focal glomerulosclerosis, frequently with glomerular collapse, and progressive myoclonus epilepsy associated with storage material in the brain. Here, we employed a novel combination of molecular strategies to find the responsible gene and show its effects in an animal model. Utilizing only three unrelated affected individuals and their relatives, we used homozygosity mapping with single-nucleotide polymorphism chips to localize AMRF.

Probabilistic analysis of recessive mutagenesis screen strategies.

Random mutagenesis screens for recessive phenotypes require three generations of breeding, using either a backcross (BC) or intercross (IC) strategy. Hence, they are more costly and technically demanding than those for dominant phenotypes. Maximizing the return from these screens requires maximizing the number of mutations that are bred to homozyosity in the G(3) generation.

Self-optimised vision correction with adaptive spectacle lenses in developing countries.

It is estimated by the World Health Organization that about 1 billion people in the developing world would benefit immediately from distance vision and near vision correction if it were available to them. Here we address this problem and provide a solution by correcting vision in the field with adaptive liquid-filled variable focus lenses. We describe the details of the lens and present the results of a series of experiments performed in Ghana, Nepal, Malawi and South Africa that demonstrate that it is possible by simple means to self-determine and obtain correct refraction using such lenses.