First records of the sicklefin (Mobula tarapacana), bentfin (Mobula thurstoni), and spinetail (Mobula mobular) devil rays in the Chagos Archipelago.

Recent encounters with sicklefin (Mobula tarapacana) and bentfin (Mobula thurstoni) devil rays in the Chagos Archipelago provide the first confirmed observations of live specimens of these species in this region. Examination of illegal fishing photo archives collected during enforcement revealed these endangered species, and spinetail devil rays (Mobula mobular), are being caught within the archipelago's vast no-take marine protected area. Future cooperation between authorities and mobulid ray experts is crucial to improve the availability and accuracy of enforcement data and improve management of illegal fishing and mobulid ray conservation activities.

Considering the precautionary principle and its application to MRSA and SARS-CoV-2 as emerging novel pathogens of their time.

In the 1980s Contact Precautions were introduced as a precautionary measure to control the emerging threat of antimicrobial resistance in hospitals, particularly methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Today, antimicrobial resistance remains a concerning global public health threat, and a focus for hospital patient safety priorities. In late 2019 a novel respiratory virus described as SARS-CoV-2, was reported.

An Australian interpretive description of Contact Precautions through a bioethical lens; recommendations for ethically improved practice.

Background: Contact Precautions (CP) were developed to control multi-resistant organisms (MROs) in hospitals. However, MROs persist and harms are associated with CP. Research objectives were to understand the bioethical impact of CP on patients and health-professionals, and make recommendations for ethically-improved management of MRO-colonized patients.

Rapid development and implementation of a behaviour change strategy to improve COVID-19 personal protective equipment use in a regional Australian emergency department.

Objective: To identify barriers to, describe the development of and evaluate the implementation of a behavioural theory informed strategy to improve staff personal protective equipment (PPE) compliance during COVID-19 in a regional Australian Emergency Department.

Methods: Barriers to PPE use were identified through staff consultation then categorised using the Theoretical Domains Framework. The Behaviour Change Wheel was used to develop a strategy to address the barriers to PPE compliance.

Association of entorhinal cortical tau deposition and hippocampal synaptic density in older individuals with normal cognition and early Alzheimer's disease.

Sites of early neuropathologic change provide important clues regarding the initial clinical features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have shown significant reductions in hippocampal synaptic density in participants with AD, consistent with the early degeneration of entorhinal cortical (ERC) cells that project to hippocampus via the perforant path. In this study, [C]UCB-J binding to synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) and [F]flortaucipir binding to tau were measured via PET in 10 participants with AD (5 mild cognitive impairment, 5 mild dementia) and 10 cognitively normal participants.

A hitchhiker guide to manta rays: Patterns of association between Mobula alfredi, M. birostris, their symbionts, and other fishes in the Maldives.

Despite being among the largest and most charismatic species in the marine environment, considerable gaps remain in our understanding of the behavioural ecology of manta rays (Mobula alfredi, M. birostris). Manta rays are often sighted in association with an array of smaller hitchhiker fish species, which utilise their hosts as a sanctuary for shelter, protection, and the sustenance they provide.

Implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship programme and reduction in carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in an Australian local health district.

Background: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) are increasingly seen in Australian hospitals. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) interventions have been shown to reduce rates of carbapenem-resistant organisms; data on their effect on CPE rates are limited.

Objectives: To explore the effect of a multi-site computer-supported AMS programme on the rates of CPE in an Australian local health district.

Environmental drivers of reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) visitation patterns to key aggregation habitats in the Maldives.

A detailed understanding of the dynamics of small-scale (10s km) habitat use by the reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) in the Maldives Archipelago is required to develop an effective national conservation management plan for this wide-ranging species. Here, a combination of photo-ID sightings data and acoustic telemetry were used to investigate both long-term M. alfredi visitation trends and small-scale movement patterns to key habitats on the eastern side of Baa Atoll (Hanifaru Bay feeding area, Dhigu Thila multifunctional site, and Nelivaru Thila cleaning station).

Fine-scale oceanographic drivers of reef manta ray () visitation patterns at a feeding aggregation site.

Globally, reef manta rays () are in decline and are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and disturbance at aggregation sites. Here, passive acoustic telemetry and a suite of advanced oceanographic technologies were used for the first time to investigate the fine-scale (5-min) influence of oceanographic drivers on the visitation patterns of 19 tagged to a feeding aggregation site at Egmont Atoll in the Chagos Archipelago. Boosted regression trees indicate that tag detection probability increased with the intrusion of cold-water bores propagating up the atoll slope through the narrow lagoon inlet during flood tide, potentially transporting zooplankton from the thermocline.

Association of Aβ deposition and regional synaptic density in early Alzheimer's disease: a PET imaging study with [C]UCB-J.

Background: Attempts to associate amyloid-β (Aβ) pathogenesis with synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have thus far been limited to small numbers of postmortem studies. Aβ plaque burden is not well-correlated with indices of clinical severity or neurodegeneration-at least in the dementia stage-as deposition of Aβ reaches a ceiling. In this study, we examined in vivo the association between fibrillar Aβ deposition and synaptic density in early AD using positron emission tomography (PET).

Cognitively Impaired Older Persons' and Caregivers' Perspectives on Dementia-Specific Advance Care Planning.

Background/objectives: Advance care planning (ACP) traditionally involves asking individuals about their treatment preferences during a brief period of incapacity near the end of life. Because dementia leads to prolonged incapacity, with many decisions arising before a terminal event, it has been suggested that dementia-specific ACP is necessary. We sought to elicit the perspectives of older adults with early cognitive impairment and their caregivers on traditional and dementia-specific ACP.

In vivo measurement of widespread synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease with SV2A PET.

Introduction: Synaptic loss is a robust and consistent pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the major structural correlate of cognitive impairment. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A (SV2A) has emerged as a promising biomarker of synaptic density.

Methods: We measured SV2A binding in 34 participants with early AD and 19 cognitively normal (CN) participants using [ C]UCB-J PET and a cerebellar reference region for calculation of the distribution volume ratio.

Emotional touchpoints; the feelings nurses have about explaining multi-resistant organisms to colonised patients.

Background: Nurses face challenges when providing information about multi-resistant organisms (MROs), and related hospital policies, to patients found to be colonised, and may be concerned for their own safety when caring for MRO-colonised people. Resultant emotional responses may influence behaviours of staff caring for these patients. This study aimed to identify the feelings experienced by nurses when talking about MROs with patients.

PET imaging of mGluR5 in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Metabotropic glutamate subtype 5 receptors (mGluR5) modulate synaptic transmission and may constitute an important therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease (AD) by mediating the synaptotoxic action of amyloid-β oligomers. We utilized the positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand [F]FPEB to investigate mGluR5 binding in early AD.

Methods: Sixteen individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD or mild AD dementia who were positive for brain amyloid were compared to 15 cognitively normal (CN) participants who were negative for brain amyloid.

Are Contact Precautions ethically justifiable in contemporary hospital care?

Hospital infection control practices known as Contact Precautions are recommended for the management of people with pathogens such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. Background: The patient is isolated, and staff are required to wear gloves, and a gown or apron when providing care. A notice is displayed to remind staff of these requirements and an 'alert' message is placed in the patient's medical record.

Maintenance of memory for melodies: Articulation or attentional refreshing?

Past research on the effects of articulatory suppression on working memory for nonverbal sounds has been characterized by discrepant findings, which suggests that multiple mechanisms may be involved in the rehearsal of nonverbal sounds. In two experiments we examined the potential roles of two theoretical mechanisms of verbal working memory-articulatory rehearsal and attentional refreshing-in the maintenance of memory for short melodies. In both experiments, participants performed a same-different melody comparison task.

Reflection on observation: A qualitative study using practice development methods to explore the experience of being a hand hygiene auditor in Australia.

Background: Within the Australian public health care system, an observation model is used to assess hand hygiene practice in health care workers, culminating in a publicly available healthcare service performance indicator. The intent of this study was for the results to inform the development of a strategy to support individual auditors and local sustainability of the hand hygiene auditing program.

Method: This qualitative study used a values clarification tool to gain an understanding of the experiences of hand hygiene auditors.

A traumatic case of fat embolism.

A fit and healthy 47-year-old woman developed type I respiratory failure 2 days following surgical fixation for a left intertrochanteric neck of femur fracture. She presented to the acute trauma unit following a fall off a horse and had a long dynamic hip screw fixation in theatre. Postoperatively, she became confused and hypoxic.

North Carolina dental hygiene students' opinions about tobacco cessation education and practices in their programs.

Inadequate training in tobacco cessation counseling (TCC) is a recognized, but mutable, barrier to implementation of tobacco cessation education (TCE) and intervention strategies in dental practice. The objective of this study was to identify the opinions and practices of senior dental hygiene (DH) students in North Carolina regarding their didactic training in TCE and integration of TCE into their clinical curricula. A pilot-tested questionnaire designed by the authors was administered to a cross-sectional, non-random convenience sample of 241 graduating senior DH students enrolled in all twelve North Carolina DH educational programs.

Listeria monocytogenes--which of your patients is not at risk?

Listeria monocytogenes is an environmental bacterium that is capable of causing infection (known as listeriosis) in vulnerable people who generally acquire the organism following the ingestion of contaminated foods. Pregnant women are a particular risk group, as listeriosis in pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, neonatal septicaemia and meningitis. The immunocompromised, and people over the age of 65 to 70 are also at increased risk of listeriosis.

Lack of change in serum angiotensin-converting enzyme activity during the menstrual cycle.

Introduction: The Deletion (D) rather than Insertion (I) variant of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is associated with higher circulating ACE activity. Meanwhile, coronary risk rises with the menstrual nadir in oestrogen levels, exogenous oestrogen reduces serum ACE activity (with a greater reduction the higher the baseline ACE activity), and pharmacological reduction in ACE activity is cardioprotective. Alterations in coronary risk associated with the menstrual cycle may thus be mediated through (genotype-dependent) changes in ACE activity.

The largest outbreak of measles in the United States during 1999: imported measles and pockets of susceptibility.

The largest measles outbreak in the United States during 1999 was traced to a 34-year-old minister with an undocumented history of vaccination, infected while traveling outside the United States. Local health departments in the Central Virginia Health District performed an epidemiological and laboratory investigation that identified 14 additional confirmed cases of measles, including 2 in health care providers and 5 in congregation members. Eight cases (53%) occurred among adults aged 30-35 years and 7 (47%) among children aged 13 months to 8 years.