Total bilirubin assay differences may cause inconsistent treatment decisions in neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia.

Objectives: To assess interlaboratory variability of total serum bilirubin (TSB) results in newborns. Initiated following a clinical incident in which a neonate was transferred to a tertiary hospital for treatment of severe hyperbilirubinemia but on arrival was reclassified into a lower risk category due to a 20% difference in TSB between laboratories.

Methods: Fresh residual plasma samples from hospital-born infants were pooled to obtain 11 samples across a range of total bilirubin concentrations.

The teaching and learning of health advocacy in an Australian medical school.

Objectives: To determine if medical graduates from an Australian university are educated and skilled in health advocacy for their future practice with patients and the wider community.

Methods: The authors used an exploratory mixed methodology starting with curriculum mapping of the medical curriculum, followed by key informant interviews with the University of Notre Dame, School of Medicine academics (n = 6) and alumni (n = 5) on teaching/learning and practice of health advocacy.  The final stage consisted of a cross-sectional survey on teaching/learning health advocacy among third and fourth (final) year medical students (N = 195).

An observation of venous gas emboli in divers and susceptibility to decompression sickness.

Introduction: Decompression sickness (DCS) results from the formation of bubbles within the tissues and blood in response to a reduction in environmental pressure. Venous gas emboli (VGE) are common after diving and are usually only present in small numbers. Greater VGE numbers are an indication of decompression stress, and can be reliably detected using ultrasound imaging.

Annual influenza vaccination.

Despite national and international recommendations, annual influenza vaccination uptake among health care providers (HCPs) remains sub-optimal. This study investigated the uptake, enablers, and barriers to annual influenza vaccination in medicine, nursing, and physiotherapy students at the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle, using an online survey and semi-structured interviews. In 2013, uptake rate of influenza vaccination was 36.

Tooth use and wear in three iron-biomineralizing mollusc species.

Chitons and limpets harden their teeth with biominerals in order to scrape algae from hard rock surfaces. To elucidate relationships between tooth structure and function, light and electron microscopy were used to examine naturally worn teeth in three species of mollusc with iron-mineralized teeth and to analyze the grazing marks left by members of these species feeding on wax. For the two chiton species, teeth wore down progressively from the medial to the lateral edge of the cusp, while for the limpet, wear was more evenly distributed across the edges of each cusp.

Characterization of biominerals in the radula teeth of the chiton, Acanthopleura hirtosa.

Understanding biomineralization processes provides a route to the formation of novel biomimetic materials with potential applications in fields from medicine to materials engineering. The teeth of chitons (marine molluscs) represent an excellent example of a composite biomineralized structure, comprising variable layers of iron oxide, iron oxyhydroxide and apatite. Previous studies of fully mineralized teeth using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have hinted at the underlying microstructure, but have lacked the resolution to provide vital information on fine scale structure, particularly at interfaces.

Ultrastructure of the epithelial cells associated with tooth biomineralization in the chiton Acanthopleura hirtosa.

The cusp epithelium is a specialized branch of the superior epithelium that surrounds the developing teeth of chitons and is responsible for delivering the elements required for the formation of biominerals within the major lateral teeth. These biominerals are deposited within specific regions of the tooth in sequence, making it possible to conduct a row by row examination of cell development in the cusp epithelium as the teeth progress from the unmineralized to the mineralized state. Cusp epithelium from the chiton Acanthopleura hirtosa was prepared using conventional chemical and microwave assisted tissue processing, for observation by light microscopy, conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy filtered TEM.

Imaging organic and mineral phases in a biomineral using novel contrast techniques.

Chitons are marine molluscs that mineralize their teeth by the process of matrix-mediated biomineralization. The teeth develop in a continuous manner forming hard minerals, including magnetite, making analysis of the matrix within these mineralized regions difficult. This article describes the use of charge contrast imaging techniques, rarely applied to biological samples, to simultaneously image the organic and mineral phases within the teeth of these animals.

The chiton stylus canal: An element delivery pathway for tooth cusp biomineralization.

A detailed investigation of the stylus canal situated within the iron mineralized major lateral teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura hirtosa was undertaken in conjunction with a row-by-row examination of cusp mineralization. The canal is shown to contain columnar epithelial tissue similar to that surrounding the mineralized cusps, including the presence of iron rich particles characteristic of the iron storage protein ferritin. Within the tooth core, a previously undescribed internal pathway or plume is evident above the stylus canal, between the junction zone and mineralizing posterior face of the cusp.

SIGMA: a system for integrative genomic microarray analysis of cancer genomes.

Background: The prevalence of high resolution profiling of genomes has created a need for the integrative analysis of information generated from multiple methodologies and platforms. Although the majority of data in the public domain are gene expression profiles, and expression analysis software are available, the increase of array CGH studies has enabled integration of high throughput genomic and gene expression datasets. However, tools for direct mining and analysis of array CGH data are limited.

Fine structure of the mineralized teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata (Mollusca: Polyplacophora).

The major lateral teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata are composite structures composed of three distinct mineral zones: a posterior layer of magnetite; a thin band of lepidocrocite just anterior to this; and apatite throughout the core and anterior regions of the cusp. Biomineralization in these teeth is a matrix-mediated process, in which the minerals are deposited around fibers, with the different biominerals described as occupying architecturally discrete compartments. In this study, a range of scanning electron microscopes was utilized to undertake a detailed in situ investigation of the fine structure of the major lateral teeth.

Patterns of functional activity associated with cocaine self-administration in the rat change over time.

Rationale: Although imaging studies in human addicts have been valuable for identifying the neural substrates of the effects of abused drugs, few studies have used this approach in animal models where conditions can be carefully controlled.

Objective: To define the substrates that mediate the effects of cocaine in a rodent model of cocaine self-administration using the 2-[(14)C]deoxyglucose method and to assess changes in these patterns over the course of drug exposure.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats self-administered cocaine (0.

Comparison of biodistribution, dosimetry, and outcome from clinical trials of radionuclide-CC49 antibody therapy.

CC49 is a second-generation murine antibody with anti-TAG-72 (tumor-associated antigen) reactivity. For cancer therapy, it has the advantage of being expressed on adenocarcinomas but not on most normal tissues. CC49 has been utilized in phase I and II clinical trials at multiple institutions.

Contribution of Raman spectroscopy to identification of biominerals present in teeth of Acanthopleura rehderi, Acanthopleura curtisiana, and Onithochiton quercinus.

Raman spectroscopic investigations of the major lateral teeth of the chitons Acanthopleura rehderi and Acanthopleura curtisiana indicate that, in addition to the magnetite of the cutting surface and a carbonated hydroxyapatite in the central tooth core, these species deposit limonite in place of the lepidocrocite reported for other members of the genus Acanthopleura. A comparison of the spectra from these species with those of Onithochiton quercinus, which also deposits limonite, indicates that the current assignment of these species to Acanthopleura may not be appropriate. Biomineralization of the major lateral teeth may be a useful parameter to include in the taxonomic classification of chiton species.

A new biomineral identified in the cores of teeth from the chiton Plaxiphora albida.

The hydrated iron(III) oxide limonite is reported for the first time as a biomineral. In situ laser Raman spectra of the tooth cores from major lateral teeth of the chiton Plaxiphora albida are compared with those of synthetic and mineral iron phosphates and iron oxides. Raman spectra measured on iron phosphate and iron oxide standard materials are shown to be easily distinguishable from one another.

Chronic cocaine self-administration upregulates the norepinephrine transporter and alters functional activity in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of the rhesus monkey.

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is in a key position to influence the integration of motivational and visceral functions, receiving inputs from limbic regions, including the amygdala, and sending projections to areas central to reward processing, including the ventral tegmental area and nucleus accumbens. The BNST also possesses a high density of noradrenergic fibers. The purpose of the present studies was to characterize the effects of cocaine self-administration on the regulation of norepinephrine transporter (NET) distribution and functional activity in the BNST of rhesus monkeys in the initial (5 d) or chronic (100 d) phases of cocaine self-administration.

Improved prediction of myelotoxicity using a patient-specific imaging dose estimate for non-marrow-targeting (90)Y-antibody therapy.

Unlabelled: For calculation of radiation dose to the marrow, standard dosimetry for radiopharmaceuticals that do not bind to the marrow includes dose contributions from radioactivity in blood and the remainder of the body. For a pure beta -emitter such as (90)Y, marrow dose is usually determined by the blood contribution. However, myelotoxicity from (90)Y-antibody therapy often correlates poorly with marrow dose estimated using the blood method.

Use and costs of public-sector behavioral health services for african-american and white women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify differences between African-American and white women in the use of behavioral health services and factors associated with these differences.

Methods: In one large public behavioral health system, data on demographic characteristics, financial resources, clinical disorders, service use patterns, and costs of care were analyzed for 10,905 African-American and 19,069 white women between the ages of 18 and 59 years who received behavioral health services in 1997.

Results: The African-American women were more likely to be older, never married, unemployed, and eligible for Medicaid and to have a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder or a substance use disorder.

Intraperitoneal radioimmunochemotherapy of ovarian cancer: a phase I study.

A phase I trial was designed to examine the feasibility of combining interferon and Taxol with intraperitoneal radioimmunotherapy (177Lu-CC49). Patients with recurrent or persistent ovarian cancer confined to the abdominal cavity after first line therapy, Karnofsky performance status > 60, adequate liver, renal and hematologic function, and tumor that reacted with CC49 antibody were enrolled. Human recombinant alpha interferon (IFN) was administered as 4 subcutaneous injections of 3 x 10(6) U on alternate days beginning 5 days before RIT to increase the expression of the tumor-associated antigen, TAG-72.

Both GABA(B) receptor agonist and antagonists decreased brain stimulation reward in the rat.

The present experiments were designed to determine the role of GABA(B) receptor function on brain stimulation reward. Using a discrete-trial current-intensity threshold procedure, dose-effect functions were generated for the GABA(B) receptor agonist CGP 44532 (0-1.0 mg/kg, s.

Oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide excretion and respiratory quotient of larval lampreys (Mordacia mordax) in air.

The standard rates of O2 consumption of larval Mordacia mordax (weight range 1.3-2.3 g), after these ammocetes had been in humidified air for 18 hr, were 26.

Real-time monitoring and verification of in vivo high dose rate brachytherapy using a pinhole camera.

We investigated a pinhole imaging system for independent in vivo monitoring and verification of high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatment. The system consists of a high-resolution pinhole collimator, an x-ray fluoroscope, and a standard radiographic screen-film combination. Autofluoroscopy provides real-time images of the in vivo Ir-192 HDR source for monitoring the source location and movement, whereas autoradiography generates a permanent record of source positions on film.

Apatite mineralization in teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata.

Raman spectroscopy has been used to demonstrate, for the first time, that calcium mineralization in the core of the major lateral teeth of the chiton Acanthopleura echinata takes place as an ordered process, with crystalline carbonated apatite being the first mineral deposited. Deposition begins at the top of the tooth core, under the so-called tab region, progresses down the interior surface of the tab and lepidocrocite layer, and then extends outwards to the anterior surface. Mineralization is not initiated until the lepidocrocite layer has isolated the core of the tooth from the magnetite cap.

The new iron age.

In the last four years there has been a major change in the approach to diagnosis of the iron overload disorder hereditary haemochromatosis (HH) following the discovery of the gene that is mutated in HH called HFE. In the first part of this review we will give a concise overview of the disease. Also the current literature on the role of HFE in iron absorption and transport at a molecular level and how mutations in HFE may lead to the break down in the regulation of iron homeostasis is reviewed.