Obstructing colorectal cancer: a population-based review of colonic stenting in Queensland, Australia.

Purpose: Stenting is a useful treatment option for malignant colonic obstruction, but its role remains unclear. This study was designed to establish how stents have been used in Queensland, Australia, and to review outcomes.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Queensland from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2014, who underwent colonic stent insertion were reviewed.

Mechanical outcomes of the TFNA, InterTAN and IMHS intramedullary nailing systems for the fixation of proximal femur fractures.

Introduction: Hip fractures have become a major public health priority due to their increasing incidence. Intramedullary (IM) nailing has gained popularity as a surgical technique for managing these fractures. However, comparative studies with extramedullary devices indicate potentially increased mechanical complications associated with IM nailing.

Brief floodplain inundation provides growth and survival benefits to a young-of-year fish in an intermittent river threatened by water development.

Riverine floodplains are highly productive habitats that often act as nurseries for fish but are threatened by flow regulation. The Fitzroy River in northern Australia is facing development, but uncertainty exists regarding the extent to which floodplain habitats deliver benefits to fish, particularly given the brevity of seasonal floodplain inundation. We investigated the growth rate of young-of-year bony bream (Nematalosa erebi) in main channel and ephemeral floodplain habitats using age derived from otolith daily increments.

Redo Pelvic Surgery and Combined Metastectomy for Locally Recurrent Rectal Cancer with Known Oligometastatic Disease: A Multicentre Review.

Introduction: Historically, surgical resection for patients with locally recurrent rectal cancer (LRRC) had been reserved for those without metastatic disease. 'Selective' patients with limited oligometastatic disease (OMD) (involving the liver and/or lung) are now increasingly being considered for resection, with favourable five-year survival rates.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing multi-visceral pelvic resection of LRRC with their oligometastatic disease between 1 January 2015 and 31 August 2021 across four centres worldwide was performed.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy prevents readmissions. A 9-year review of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy in an Australian tertiary center.

Background: Acute pancreatitis in pregnancy (APIP) is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, affecting women at any gestation. The aim of this review is to investigate the demographics, etiology, management, and outcomes of pancreatitis in pregnant women in a major tertiary hospital in Queensland.

Methods: Data was collected from the hospital medical records of all patients diagnosed with APIP from 01/01/2012 until 30/04/2021 at the Mater Hospital, Brisbane.

Mechanistic impacts of bacterial diet on dopaminergic neurodegeneration in a α-synuclein model of Parkinson's disease.

Failure of inherently protective cellular processes and misfolded protein-associated stress contribute to the progressive loss of dopamine (DA) neurons characteristic of Parkinson's disease (PD). A disease-modifying role for the microbiome has recently emerged in PD, representing an impetus to employ the soil-dwelling nematode, as a preclinical model to correlate changes in gene expression with neurodegeneration in transgenic animals grown on distinct bacterial food sources. Even under tightly controlled conditions, hundreds of differentially expressed genes and a robust neuroprotective response were discerned between clonal strains overexpressing human alpha-synuclein in the DA neurons fed either one of only two subspecies of .

Closed-loop parameter optimization for patient-specific phrenic nerve stimulation.

Background: Ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction occurs rapidly following the onset of mechanical ventilation and has significant clinical consequences. Phrenic nerve stimulation has shown promise in maintaining diaphragm function by inducing diaphragm contractions. Non-invasive stimulation is an attractive option as it minimizes the procedural risks associated with invasive approaches.

Decomposition into dynamic features reveals a conserved temporal structure in hand kinematics.

The human hand is a unique and highly complex effector. The ability to describe hand kinematics with a small number of features suggests that complex hand movements are composed of combinations of simpler movements. This would greatly simplify the neural control of hand movements.

Computation of Activating Fields for Approximation of the Orientation-Specific Neural Response to Electrical Stimulation.

Computational methods of determining the response of neural tissue to electrical stimulation have demonstrated value for the development of novel devices and the programming of neuromodulation therapies. Detailed biophysical models are excessively computationally intensive for many applications; simple metrics to approximate activation can speed up progress in this area. The activating function provides such a useful metric.

Systemic RNA Interference Defective (SID) genes modulate dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans.

The fine-tuning of gene expression is critical for all cellular processes; aberrations in this activity can lead to pathology, and conversely, resilience. As their role in coordinating organismal responses to both internal and external factors have increasingly come into focus, small non-coding RNAs have emerged as an essential component to disease etiology. Using Systemic RNA interference Defective (SID) mutants of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, deficient in gene silencing, we examined the potential consequences of dysfunctional epigenomic regulation in the context of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Non-invasive phrenic nerve stimulation to avoid ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction in critical care.

Background: Diaphragm muscle atrophy during mechanical ventilation begins within 24 h and progresses rapidly with significant clinical consequences. Electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerves using invasive electrodes has shown promise in maintaining diaphragm condition by inducing intermittent diaphragm muscle contraction. However, the widespread application of these methods may be limited by their risks as well as the technical and environmental requirements of placement and care.

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Information Processing in the Human Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex.

The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) is a key node in the human salience network. It has been ascribed motor, pain-processing and affective functions. However, the dynamics of information flow in this complex region and how it responds to inputs remain unclear and are difficult to study using non-invasive electrophysiology.

Safeguarding adults at risk of abuse: identifying educational gaps amongst hospital staff to guide training.

Background: Safeguarding refers to the protection of health and wellbeing and enabling "life free from harm, abuse and neglect" (Safeguarding People 2019). In Ireland, the Health Service Executive (HSE) drafted a revised 2019 policy to replace the original policy on safeguarding adults at risk of abuse. A Safeguarding Committee was founded in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin to prepare for policy implementation and staff training.

A conceptual model for changes in finger photoplethysmograph signals caused by hand posture and isothermic regulation.

. To observe changes in baseline position and pulsatile light absorbance (photoplethysmograph, PPG) in the finger-tip, by raising the hand above the horizontal plane in recumbent subjects. We applied current knowledge of the circulation to the finger-tip, particularly arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs), and the physiology of the venous circulation.

Skin-brain axis signaling mediates behavioral changes after skin wounding.

Patients with chronic wounds often have associated cognitive dysfunction and depression with an as yet unknown mechanism for this association. To address the possible causality of skin wounding inducing these changes, behavior and cognitive functions of female C57BL/6 mice with an excisional skin wound were compared to unwounded animals. At six days post wounding, animals exhibited anxiety-like behaviors, impaired recognition memory, and impaired coping behavior.

Nontraumatic Tibial Polyethylene Insert Cone Fracture in Rotating-Platform Total Knee Arthroplasty.

We report a case of a fracture through the polyethylene (PE) insert cone in a rotating-platform (RP) primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) implant. This is the first reported case of cone fracture with this particular implant. This case highlights a 65-year-old female presenting with a 4-month history of knee pain and symptoms of instability 10 years after primary RP TKA.

Neonatal Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Infection Disrupts Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis Signaling.

Diarrheal diseases are a leading cause of death in children under the age of 5 years worldwide. Repeated early-life exposures to diarrheal pathogens can result in comorbidities including stunted growth and cognitive deficits, suggesting an impairment in the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis. Neonatal C57BL/6 mice were infected with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) (strain e2348/69; Δ [type III secretion system {T3SS} mutant]) or the vehicle (Luria-Bertani [LB] broth) via orogastric gavage at postnatal day 7 (P7).

The NR4A agonist, Cytosporone B, attenuates pro-inflammatory mediators in human colorectal cancer tissue ex vivo.

Inflammation is a pivotal pathological factor in colorectal cancer (CRC) initiation and progression, and modulating this inflammatory state has the potential to ameliorate disease progression. NR4A receptors have emerged as key regulators of inflammatory pathways that are important in CRC. Here, we have examined the effect of NR4A agonist, Cytosporone B (CsnB), on colorectal tissue integrity and its effect on the inflammatory profile in CRC tissue ex vivo.

Role of pattern recognition receptors and the microbiota in neurological disorders.

In recent years, the gut microbiota has been increasingly implicated in the development of many extraintestinal disorders, including neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Despite this growing connection, our understanding of the precise mechanisms behind these effects is currently lacking. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are important innate immune proteins expressed on the surface and within the cytoplasm of a multitude of cells, both immune and otherwise, including epithelial, endothelial and neuronal.