Changes in the food and drink consumption patterns of Australian women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: This paper uses data from the seventh fortnightly Coronavirus (COVID-19) Survey sent to women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health to investigate the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the food and drink consumption of women born in 1946-51, 1973-78 and 1989-95.

Methods: A survey about changes in fruit, vegetable, discretionary food, takeaway and sugary drink consumption during the pandemic was emailed on 22 July 2020 to 28,709 women in three cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Thematic qualitative analysis was conducted on comments about changes in consumption, and basic quantitative analysis was included for context.

Considerations and strategies for effective online assessment with a focus on the biomedical sciences.

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 caused many universities to rapidly transition into online learning and assessment. For many this created a marked shift in design of assessments in an attempt to counteract the lack of invigilation of examinations conducted online. While disruptive for both staff and students, this sudden change provided a much needed reconsideration of the purpose of assessment.

Mobile memory clinic: implementing a nurse practitioner-led, collaborative dementia model of care within general practice.

The limited capacity of secondary health services to address the increasing prevalence of dementia within the community draws attention to the need for an enhanced role for nurses working collaboratively with GPs in diagnosing and coordinating post-diagnostic care for patients with dementia. This study investigated the feasibility and acceptability of a nurse practitioner-led mobile memory clinic that was embedded within general practice and targeted to caring for patients and their carers in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage with poor access to specialist health services. Over the period from mid-2013 to mid-2014, 40 GPs referred 102 patients, with the nurse practitioner conducting assessments with 77 of these patients in their homes.

Use of tricyclic antidepressants and other anticholinergic medicines by older Aboriginal Australians: association with negative health outcomes.

Background: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have a relatively high prevalence of multimorbidity requiring treatment with medications. This study examines medication use and anticholinergic burden (ACB) among a cohort of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people.

Method: This cross-sectional study involving five Aboriginal communities (two in metropolitan Sydney and three on the mid-north coast of New South Wales) used a structured interview process to assess cognition, depression, and activities of daily living for a cohort of older adults (aged 60 years and over).

Stability of anticholinergic load in Australian community-dwelling older people: a longitudinal analysis.

Background: It is recommended that anticholinergic medication is avoided in older people, especially those with cognitive impairment.

Objective: To investigate anticholinergic load (ACL) over time in older primary care patients with and without cognitive impairment.

Methods: Community-dwelling general practice patients at baseline (n = 1768), at year one (n = 1373) and a restricted cohort (with possible or definite cognitive impairment) at year two (n = 370) had medication regimens documented by a research nurse during a home visit.

Effectiveness of a peer-mediated educational intervention in improving general practitioner diagnostic assessment and management of dementia: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Test effectiveness of an educational intervention for general practitioners (GPs) on quality of life and depression outcomes for patients.

Design: Double-blind, cluster randomised controlled trial.

Setting: General practices in Australia between 2007 and 2010.

Screening for Dementia in Primary Care: A Comparison of the GPCOG and the MMSE.

Background/aims: The General Practitioner Assessment of Cognition (GPCOG) is a brief cognitive test. This study compared the GPCOG to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the most widely used test, in terms of their ability to detect likely dementia in primary care.

Methods: General practitioners across three states in Australia recruited 2,028 elderly patients from the community.

An evaluation of the additional benefit of population screening for dementia beyond a passive case-finding approach.

Objective: General practitioners (GPs) fail to identify more than 50% of dementia cases using the existing passive case-finding approach. Using data from the "Ageing in General Practice" study, we sought to establish the additional benefit of screening all patients over the age of 75 for dementia beyond those patients already identified by passive case-finding.

Method: Patients were classified as "case-finding" (n = 425) or "screening" (n = 1006) based on their answers to four subjective memory related questions or their GP's clinical judgement of their dementia status.

Impact of multiple low-level anticholinergic medications on anticholinergic load of community-dwelling elderly with and without dementia.

Background: Elderly people, particularly those with dementia, are sensitive to adverse anticholinergic drug effects. This study examines the prevalence of anticholinergic medication, and anticholinergic load and its predictors, in community-dwelling elderly patients (aged 75 years and older) in Australia.

Methods: A research nurse visited the home of each participant (n = 1,044), compiled a list of current medications, and assessed participants' cognitive status using a subsection of the revised Cambridge Examination for Mental Disorders of the Elderly (CAMCOG-R).

Predictors of agreement between general practitioner detection of dementia and the revised Cambridge Cognitive Assessment (CAMCOG-R).

Background: Dementia is a complex and variable condition which makes recognition of it particularly difficult in a low prevalence primary care setting. This study examined the factors associated with agreement between an objective measure of cognitive function (the revised Cambridge Cognitive Assessment, CAMCOG-R) and general practitioner (GP) clinical judgment of dementia.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 165 GPs and 2,024 community-dwelling patients aged 75 years or older.

Investigation of the human disease osteogenesis imperfecta: a research-based introduction to concepts and skills in biomolecular analysis.

A blended approach encompassing problem-based learning (PBL) and structured inquiry was used in this laboratory exercise based on the congenital disease Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), to introduce commonly used techniques in biomolecular analysis within a clinical context. During a series of PBL sessions students were presented with several scenarios involving a 2 year old child, who had experienced numerous fractures. Key learning goals related to both the theory and practical aspects of the course, covering biomolecular analysis and functional genomics, were identified in successive PBL sessions.

Diagnosis and disclosure of a memory problem is associated with quality of life in community based older Australians with dementia.

Background: Identification of factors associated with quality of life (QoL) in people having dementia will help develop strategies for maintenance and improvement of patient QoL. This study examined the predictors of QoL in a community-dwelling population aged 75 years and over, with or without dementia.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 169 GPs and 2,028 patients.

Ageing in general practice (AGP) trial: a cluster randomised trial to examine the effectiveness of peer education on GP diagnostic assessment and management of dementia.

Background: Dementia is increasing in prevalence as the population ages. An earlier rather than later diagnosis allows persons with dementia and their families to plan ahead and access appropriate management. However, most diagnoses are made by general practitioners (GPs) later in the course of the disease and are associated with management that is poorly adherent to recommended guidelines.

The immune response and fertility of koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) immunised with porcine zonae pellucidae or recombinant brushtail possum ZP3 protein.

To evaluate the potential contraceptive effect of immunisation with zona pellucida antigens, 50 free-ranging koalas were immunised with either porcine zonae pellucidae (PZP), recombinant brushtail possum ZP3 (recBP-ZP3) or buffer, in complete Freund's adjuvant. A single booster immunisation in incomplete Freund's adjuvant was administered 3-5 months later. Where possible animals were recaptured, reproductive status was assessed and blood was collected at 1-3-month intervals for the next 33 months.

Immunocontraception of Eastern Grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) with recombinant brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) ZP3 protein.

This study examined the potential of a recombinant marsupial zona pellucida 3 protein as a contraceptive vaccine for the Eastern Grey kangaroo, a marsupial that is locally overabundant in several regions of eastern Australia. First, a pilot study using porcine zona pellucidae (PZP) demonstrated that ZP proteins, primarily the ZP3 component of PZP, are highly immunogenic in the grey kangaroo and produce a long-lasting humoral response to a single immunisation, as found in other marsupials. Immunisation with 300 microg of a non-glycosylated recombinant brushtail possum ZP3 (recBP-ZP3) protein in complete Freund's adjuvant produced a similar, significant and sustained antibody response, and none of the immunised kangaroos (n=7) produced offspring during the following breeding season compared with four out of the six control animals.

Towards a ZP-based contraceptive for marsupials: comparative analysis and developmental expression of marsupial ZP genes.

Fertility control in the form of a zona pellucida (ZP)-based immunocontraceptive has shown potential as a humane form of control for overabundant marsupials including the brushtail possum and macropods. Further refinement and development of a ZP-based vaccine requires detailed knowledge of the protein structure and expression in order to ensure maximum efficacy and specificity. Sequencing and comparative analysis of the ZP3 protein from three marsupial orders in this study found a high overall level of conservation; within order Diprotodontia, the ZP3 protein is 86.

Comparison of glucose metabolism in in vivo- and in vitro-matured tammar wallaby oocytes and its relationship to developmental potential following intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Although marsupial oocytes undergo nuclear maturation in vitro, there is, at present, no indication of their developmental potential, largely owing to the lack of in vitro fertilisation and related technologies for marsupials. Glucose metabolism has proven a useful indicator of oocyte cytoplasmic maturation and developmental potential in several eutherian species. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to compare: (1) the rates of glycolysis and glucose oxidation in immature, in vitro-matured and in vivo-matured tammar wallaby oocytes; and (2) the metabolic rate of individual oocytes with their ability to form pronuclei after intracytoplasmic sperm injection.

Fertilization following intracytoplasmic sperm injection of in vivo and in vitro matured oocytes from an Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).

Conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques have been unable to produce normal embryos in any Australian marsupial, largely owing to problems with the early stages of sperm-oocyte binding. This study has used intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) of in vivo and in vitro matured tammar wallaby oocytes to bypass these processes and achieve fertilization in vitro. The fertilization rate (i.

Timing and ultrastructure of events following intracytoplasmic sperm injection in a marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).

The aim of the present study was to determine the timing of oocyte activation, sperm decondensation and pronucleus formation after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the tammar wallaby and to determine the fate of sperm structures at an ultrastructural level. Metaphase II-stage tammar wallaby oocytes were injected with spermatozoa and cultured for 1 (n = 15), 2 (n = 24), 4 (n = 30), 6 (n = 14), 8 (n = 32), 10 (n = 25), 12 (n = 29) or 19 h (n = 12). Oocytes were assessed using light, fluorescence and electron microscopy.

Expression in Escherichia coli and immunological characterization of three zona pellucida proteins (ZP1, ZP2, and ZP3) from a marsupial, the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).

The brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) zona pellucida (ZP) is composed of three major glycoproteins, designated ZP1, ZP2, and ZP3 based on their size and homology with eutherian ZP proteins. These proteins are candidate antigens for the development of an immunocontraceptive vaccine to control the fertility of the brushtail possum in New Zealand, where it is an introduced pest. In order to further their immunological and functional characterization, recombinant possum ZP proteins were produced in Escherichia coli (E.

In vitro and in vivo maturation of oocytes from gonadotrophin-treated brushtail possums.

The time course of nuclear maturation of oocytes was examined in brushtail possums, Trichosurus vulpecula. Oocytes were recovered from ovarian follicles > 2 mm in diameter after pregnant mares' serum gonadotrophin/porcine luteinizing hormone (PMSG/LH) treatment (in vivo matured) or 72 hr after PMSG treatment (in vitro matured). Oocytes recovered from small (< 2 mm) and large (> 2 mm) follicles were also assessed for their ability to mature in vitro.