Hospital-acquired influenza in an Australian sentinel surveillance system.

Objective: To review cases of nosocomial influenza and compare the epidemiology, clinical characteristics and outcomes with community-acquired cases.

Design, Setting And Participants: Prospective case series of adults hospitalised with influenza during April - November of 2010 and 2011 using a hospital-based sentinel surveillance system. A nosocomial case was defined as polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza where symptom onset was more than 2 15s after admission or, if this was not known, where the date of the positive test was more than 7 15s after admission.

Utility of passive photography to objectively audit built environment features of active transport journeys: an observational study.

Background: Active transport can contribute to physical activity accumulation and improved health in adults. The built environment is an established associate of active transport behaviours; however, assessment of environmental features encountered during journeys remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to examine the utility of wearable cameras to objectively audit and quantify environmental features along work-related walking and cycling routes.

Gastric cancer in Zambian adults: a prospective case-control study that assessed dietary intake and antioxidant status by using urinary isoprostane excretion.

Background: Gastric cancer is increasingly recognized in Zambia. Although nutritional factors contribute to gastric cancer risk, their effect in Zambia is unknown.

Objective: The objective was to investigate the association between intake of dietary antioxidants, urinary 8-iso prostaglandin F2α (8-iso PGF2α) as a marker of oxidative stress, and gastric cancer.

An ethical framework for automated, wearable cameras in health behavior research.

Technologic advances mean automated, wearable cameras are now feasible for investigating health behaviors in a public health context. This paper attempts to identify and discuss the ethical implications of such research, in relation to existing guidelines for ethical research in traditional visual methodologies. Research using automated, wearable cameras can be very intrusive, generating unprecedented levels of image data, some of it potentially unflattering or unwanted.

Using the SenseCam to improve classifications of sedentary behavior in free-living settings.

Background: Studies have shown relationships between important health outcomes and sedentary behavior, independent of physical activity. There are known errors in tools employed to assess sedentary behavior. Studies of accelerometers have been limited to laboratory environments.

Using wearable cameras to categorise type and context of accelerometer-identified episodes of physical activity.

Background: Accelerometers can identify certain physical activity behaviours, but not the context in which they take place. This study investigates the feasibility of wearable cameras to objectively categorise the behaviour type and context of participants' accelerometer-identified episodes of activity.

Methods: Adults were given an Actical hip-mounted accelerometer and a SenseCam wearable camera (worn via lanyard).

Spin-orbit-coupling-induced domain-wall resistance in diffusive ferromagnets.

We investigate diffusive transport through a number of domain wall (DW) profiles of the important magnetic alloy Permalloy taking into account simultaneously noncollinearity, alloy disorder, and spin-orbit-coupling fully quantum mechanically, from first principles. In addition to observing the known effects of magnetization mistracking and anisotropic magnetoresistance, we discover a not-previously identified contribution to the resistance of a DW that comes from spin-orbit-coupling-mediated spin-flip scattering in a textured diffusive ferromagnet. This adiabatic DW resistance, which should exist in all diffusive DWs, can be observed by varying the DW width in a systematic fashion in suitably designed nanowires.

Hypoxemia in healthy subjects at moderate altitude.

Background: Healthy individuals are known to have significantly reduced oxygen saturations at rest when acutely exposed to moderate altitudes, such as during commercial flight. There is a paucity of data on the response of healthy individuals to exercise at these altitudes. The aim of this study was to establish the normal response to exercise during acute, moderate altitude exposure with regard to oxygen saturations.

Influenza epidemiology, vaccine coverage and vaccine effectiveness in sentinel Australian hospitals in 2012: the Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN).

Influenza is mostly a mild, self-limiting infection and severe infection requiring hospitalisation is uncommon. Immunisation aims to reduce serious morbidity and mortality. The Influenza Complications Alert Network (FluCAN) is a sentinel hospital-based surveillance program that operates at 15 sites across all states and territories in Australia.

Pop goes the O2: a case of popper-induced methaemoglobinamia.

A 39-year-old man presented to the emergency department after falling downstairs after he consumed a large quantity of alcohol. On examination, he had altered mental state (GCS 14), central cyanosis and low oxygen saturation of 86%, despite 100% oxygen being administered. His arterial blood gas confirmed diagnosis of methaemoglobinaemia with a methaemoglobin percentage of 14.

Integrated miRNA, mRNA and protein expression analysis reveals the role of post-transcriptional regulation in controlling CHO cell growth rate.

Background: To study the role of microRNA (miRNA) in the regulation of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell growth, qPCR, microarray and quantitative LC-MS/MS analysis were utilised for simultaneous expression profiling of miRNA, mRNA and protein. The sample set under investigation consisted of clones with variable cellular growth rates derived from the same population. In addition to providing a systems level perspective on cell growth, the integration of multiple profiling datasets can facilitate the identification of non-seed miRNA targets, complement computational prediction tools and reduce false positive and false negative rates.

Assessing water filtration and safe storage in households with young children of HIV-positive mothers: a randomized, controlled trial in Zambia.

Background: Unsafe drinking water presents a particular threat to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) due to the increased risk of opportunistic infections, diarrhea-associated malabsorption of essential nutrients, and increased exposure to untreated water for children of HIV-positive mothers who use replacement feeding to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. This population may particularly benefit from an intervention to improve water quality in the home.

Methods And Findings: We conducted a 12-month randomized, controlled field trial in Zambia among 120 households with children <2 years (100 with HIV-positive mothers and 20 with HIV-negative mothers to reduce stigma of participation) to assess a high-performance water filter and jerry cans for safe storage.

Evaluating the feasibility of measuring travel to school using a wearable camera.

Background: The school journey is often studied in relation to health outcomes in children and adolescents. Self-report is the most common measurement tool.

Purpose: To investigate the error on self-reported journey duration in adolescents, using a wearable digital camera (Microsoft SenseCam).

"Don't wait for them to come to you, you go to them". A qualitative study of recruitment approaches in community based walking programmes in the UK.

Background: This study aimed to examine the experiences of walking promotion professionals on the range and effectiveness of recruitment strategies used within community based walking programmes within the United Kingdom.

Methods: Two researchers recruited and conducted semi-structured interviews with managers and project co-ordinators of community based walking programmes, across the UK, using a purposive sampling frame. Twenty eight interviews were conducted, with community projects targeting participants by age, physical activity status, socio-demographic characteristics (i.

Did the first Global Fund grant (2003-2006) contribute to malaria control and health system strengthening in Timor-Leste?

Background: In 2003, Timor-Leste successfully obtained its first Global Fund grant for a three-year programme for malaria control. The grant aimed to reduce malaria-related morbidity and mortality by 30 % by the end of the implementation.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the impact of the grant implementation.

Safety of live, attenuated oral vaccines in HIV-infected Zambian adults: oral vaccines in HIV.

Background: Current recommendations are that HIV-infected persons should not be given live vaccines. We set out to assess potential toxicity of three live, attenuated oral vaccines (against rotavirus, typhoid and ETEC) in a phase 1 study.

Methods: Two commercially available oral vaccines against rotavirus (Rotarix) and typhoid (Vivotif) and one candidate vaccine against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ACAM2017) were given to HIV seropositive (n=42) and HIV seronegative (n=59) adults.

Prioritizing live bird markets at risk of avian influenza H5N1 virus contamination for intervention: a simple tool for low resource settings.

Live bird markets (LBMs) are at risk of contamination with the avian influenza H5N1 virus. There are a number of methods for prioritizing LBMs for intervention to curb the risk of contamination. Selecting a method depends on diagnostic objective and disease prevalence.

Importance of extracranial disease status and tumor subtype for patients undergoing radiosurgery for breast cancer brain metastases.

Purpose: In this retrospective study, we report on outcomes and prognostic factors for patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for breast cancer brain metastases.

Methods And Materials: We identified 132 consecutive patients with breast cancer who were treated with SRS for brain metastases from January 2000 through June 2010. We retrospectively reviewed records of the 51 patients with adequate follow-up data who received SRS as part of the initial management of their brain metastases.

Chronic activation of corticotropin-releasing factor type 2 receptors reveals a key role for 5-HT1A receptor responsiveness in mediating behavioral and serotonergic responses to stressful challenge.

Background: The corticotropin-releasing factor type 2 receptor (CRFR2) is suggested to play an important role in aiding recovery from acute stress, but any chronic effects of CRFR2 activation are unknown. CRFR2 in the midbrain raphé nuclei modulate serotonergic activity of this key source of serotonin (5-HT) forebrain innervation.

Methods: Transgenic mice overexpressing the highly specific CRFR2 ligand urocortin 3 (UCN3OE) were analyzed for stress-related behaviors and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis responses.

Angiotensin II-inhibition: effect on Alzheimer's pathology in the aged triple transgenic mouse.

Reducing excessive accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a key objective of most AD therapies, and inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) may delay onset or progression of AD. The effects of an ACE-inhibitor (ACE-I) and an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) on Aβ and tau pathology in a triple transgenic (3xTGAD) mouse model of AD were investigated. 9-10month 3xTGAD mice were treated with ARB, ACE-I or vehicle for 6 months.