Publications by authors named "Mather A"

A diverse array of micro-organisms can be found on food, including those that are pathogenic or resistant to antimicrobial drugs. Metagenomics involves extracting and sequencing the DNA of all micro-organisms on a sample, and here, we used a combination of culture and culture-independent approaches to investigate the microbial ecology of food to assess the potential application of metagenomics for the microbial surveillance of food. We cultured common foodborne pathogens and other organisms including , spp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Relatively little is known about the innate surgical ability of veterinary undergraduates. The objective of this study was to investigate if there were differences in the innate surgical ability of a cohort of 142 third-year veterinary undergraduate students to perform a series of simulated orthopedic surgical tasks, and whether specific factors influenced their innate ability. Participants performed four simulated surgical tasks; "depth of plunge"-an assessment of the "plunge" depth through foam when drilling through the trans cortex of a PVC pipe; "3-dimensional drilling"-an assessment of accuracy when drilling through a block of wood; "depth measurement"-an assessment of the ability to correctly measure the depth of holes in PVC pipe; and "fracture reduction"-where the speed and systematic reduction of a simulated fracture was assessed using a rubric score.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) shifted from the BpTRU BPM-300 to the OMRON IntelliSense HEM-907XL blood pressure monitor in Cycle 7, prompting an assessment of differences in blood pressure (BP) readings between the two devices for adults aged 18 to 79 years.
  • Data from Cycle 6, involving 1,072 participants, indicated that average systolic BP readings were higher with the OMRON device, while diastolic BP readings were lower compared to the BpTRU device; the overall hypertension prevalence was slightly higher based on OMRON readings.
  • The study emphasizes that changing BP monitors can significantly influence population BP estimates but might not greatly affect hypertension
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Adrenal vein sampling (AVS) is the preferred method for identifying unilateral subtypes of primary aldosteronism (PA), which can be treated with surgery for a potential cure.
  • The procedure is technically demanding and often performed by specialized interventional radiologists, but variations in protocols can affect its success and patient care.
  • To standardize AVS practices and improve outcomes, an Australian and New Zealand AVS Working Group was formed to create expert consensus recommendations that can be utilized by all healthcare professionals involved in PA management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

spp. are leading bacterial gastroenteritis pathogens. Infections are largely underreported, and the burden of outbreaks may be underestimated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Capripoxviruses are the causative agents of sheeppox, goatpox, and lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle, which cause economic losses to the livestock industry in Africa and Asia. Capripoxviruses are currently controlled using several live attenuated vaccines. It was previously demonstrated that a lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) field isolate from Warmbaths (WB) South Africa, ORF 005 (IL-10) gene-deleted virus (LSDV WB005KO), was able to protect sheep and goats against sheeppox and goatpox.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Severe hypertension without acute end-organ damage is commonly encountered in inpatients. Despite this, there is a lack of international guidelines to manage this disorder. We conducted an audit to investigate the local practices within our health district.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Foodborne illnesses pose a substantial health and economic burden, presenting challenges in prevention due to the diverse microbial hazards that can enter and spread within food systems. Various factors, including natural, political and commercial drivers, influence food production and distribution. The risks of foodborne illness will continue to evolve in step with these drivers and with changes to food systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) are crucial antimicrobials used to combat multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, but resistance against them is rising, mainly due to certain β-lactamases produced by Enterobacterales.
  • This study focused on analyzing Escherichia coli strains with resistance genes collected from Canada, France, and Germany over a 14-year period, employing advanced sequencing techniques to examine the transmission of these resistance genes via plasmids.
  • Five distinct plasmid subtypes linked to the spread of ESC resistance genes were identified, with varying prevalence across geographic regions and host species, highlighting the role of plasmid diversity in the global issue of antibiotic resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis presents an ever-increasing threat to public health because of its spread throughout many countries and association with high levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We analyzed whole-genome sequences of 5,284 Salmonella Infantis strains from 74 countries, isolated during 1989-2020 from a wide variety of human, animal, and food sources, to compare genetic phylogeny, AMR determinants, and plasmid presence. The global Salmonella Infantis population structure diverged into 3 clusters: a North American cluster, a European cluster, and a global cluster.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Despite millions of SARS-CoV-2 genomes being sequenced and shared globally, manipulating such data sets is still challenging, especially selecting sequences for focused phylogenetic analysis. We present a novel method, uvaia, which is based on partial and exact sequence similarity for quickly extracting database sequences similar to query sequences of interest. Many SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic analyses rely on very low numbers of ambiguous sites as a measure of quality since ambiguous sites do not contribute to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) differences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Pseudomonas species are common on food, but their contribution to the antimicrobial resistance gene (ARG) burden within food or as a source of clinical infection is unknown. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for a wide range of infections and is often hard to treat due to intrinsic and acquired ARGs commonly carried by this species. This study aimed to understand the potential role of Pseudomonas on food as a reservoir of ARGs and to assess the presence of potentially clinically significant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains on food.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Yersinia enterocolitica is an underreported cause of foodborne gastroenteritis. Little is known of the diversity of Y. enterocolitica isolated from food and which food commodities contribute to human disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The LOGICAL trial aims to compare the effects of conservative versus liberal oxygen therapy on ICU patients with suspected hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) after cardiac arrest.
  • Involving 1400 comatose adults, this randomised clinical trial will measure outcomes like survival with good neurological function using the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale at 180 days.
  • The results will help clarify the optimal oxygen therapy approach for these patients and have the potential to improve clinical practices in critical care settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The ability to adapt behavior after erroneous actions is one of the key aspects of cognitive control. Error commission typically causes people to slow down their subsequent actions [post-error slowing (PES)]. Recent work has challenged the notion that PES reflects adaptive, controlled processing and instead suggests that it is a side effect of the surprising nature of errors.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed 454 genomic samples from Vietnam and other locations, discovering that ST34 was introduced to Vietnam multiple times since 2000, leading to the emergence of five major clones that cause illnesses like diarrhea and bloodstream infections in children.
  • * The spread of ST34 is linked to the acquisition of resistance plasmids, which enable the bacteria to resist multiple drugs, positioning Southeast Asia as a critical area for monitoring the emergence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella strains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To describe (1) the surgical anatomy of the accessory lung lobe (ALL) including vasculature and pulmonary ligamentous attachments and (2) lobectomy through a right thoracotomy and median sternotomy.

Study Design: Cadaveric anatomical study.

Animals: Nine adult canine cadavers, free of disease affecting the thoracic cavity and lung parenchyma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is a significant cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, and this study focused on understanding its diversity in retail foods in Norfolk, UK, and its connection to human infections.
  • Researchers analyzed raw food samples (chicken, leafy greens, pork, prawn, and salmon) for NTS, discovering it in chicken (9.6%), prawn (2.9%), and pork (1.3%), with common serovars being Infantis and Enteritidis, the latter found only in imported chicken.
  • Notably, 5.1% of chicken and 0.64% of pork samples showed multi-drug resistance, and the genetic analysis indicated that many
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Successful vaccination has been the decisive factor in the overall decline of SARS-CoV2 infection related morbidity and mortality. However, global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are ongoing, with reports of glomerular disease occurring in relation to both infection and vaccination. A particular rise in anti-GBM disease has been identified.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To determine the influence of screw direction on complications following transcondylar screw placement for the treatment of canine humeral intracondylar fissures (HIFs).

Study Design: Equivalence, parallel group, randomized clinical trial.

Sample Population: Fifty-two client owned dogs (73 elbows).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: To compare fracture incidence, mortality, and patient-reported health outcomes at 6 and 12 months postinjury between primary and periprosthetic distal femur fractures in older adults.

Methods: A registry-based cohort study was conducted including all adults 70 years of age or older registered by the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry who experienced a primary or periprosthetic distal femur fracture between 2007 and 2017. Outcomes included mortality and health status (Three-Level European Quality of Life-Five Dimensions Scale [EQ-5D-3L]) collected at 6 and 12 months postinjury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Previous research has shown that people with traumatic injuries have unmet information needs with respect to their injuries, management, and recovery. An interactive trauma recovery information booklet was developed and implemented to address these information needs at a major trauma center in Victoria, Australia.

Objective: The aim of this quality improvement project was to explore patient and clinician perceptions of a recovery information booklet introduced into a trauma ward.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Targeted rehabilitation within the acute inpatient setting could have a substantial impact on improving outcomes for major trauma patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the cost-effectiveness of the introduction of a purpose-built ward environment, and a new allied health model of care (AHMOC) delivered in the acute inpatient setting, in a major trauma population.

Methods: The statewide trauma registry, the trauma center's data warehouse, and electronic medical record data were used for this observational study.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF