Publications by authors named "McCready S"

Objectives: To review the literature on Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer (GBTQ) men and sexual consent.

Methods: Eight electronic databases were searched in June 2022, yielding 1924 articles; 30 were included for review after screening.

Results: We found a growing body of literature focused on GBTQ men, with an increasingly intersectional lens.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The South West Peninsula (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset) has the highest proportion of over 65s (24.2%) and is the only English rural population with greater economic deprivation than in urban areas. Coastal populations have the worst health outcomes in England.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The growing pressure on school curricula has meant crystals and the science of crystallography have been cut from or made optional for many educational programs. This omission is a serious disservice to the history and understanding of modern sciences, given that crystallography underpins many of the greatest advancements in science over the past century, is a critical component of many modern research papers and patents, and has 29 Nobel Prizes awarded in the field. This contribution describes a simple activity to target classroom and public engagement with crystallography, using marshmallows or equivalent sweets/candy to represent atoms and cocktail sticks to represent bonds, together with examples of how crystals are studied and how they are useful.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: England's South-west Peninsula is largely rural, has a high proportion of over 65s, and has areas of rural and coastal deprivation. Rural and low-income populations face inequities at end of life and little is known about the support needs of rural, coastal and low-income communities.

Objectives: To understand how to foster community support for dying and grieving well, a regional, multi-sectoral research partnership developed a community engagement programme to explore experiences of seeking support, issues important to people and the community support they valued.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Vital sign measurements are an integral component of clinical care, but current challenges with the accuracy and timeliness of patient observations can impact appropriate clinical decision making. Advanced technologies using techniques such as photoplethysmography have the potential to automate noncontact physiological monitoring and recording, improving the quality and accessibility of this essential clinical information.

Objective: In this study, we aim to develop the algorithm used in the Lifelight software application and improve the accuracy of its estimated heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, and blood pressure measurements.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Synoptic sediment quality triad (contaminants, benthic assemblages, toxicity testing) data were collected for sites in Sydney estuary, adjacent Cooks River and five less-modified southern estuaries. Matching data tested relationships between contaminants and benthic assemblages, correlations with specific contaminants, and the ability of sediment quality guidelines to predict the risk of adverse effects. Significant but weak relationships occurred in complex patterns between assemblages, contaminant concentrations and environmental variables.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To determine the retention rate (RR) for neophyte patients fitted with contact lenses (CLs) and to identify factors associated with retention and dropout.

Method: This multisite, sponsor-masked registry study evaluated the 1-year status of neophyte CL wearers fitted in a representative range of UK practices. A total of 26 UK investigational sites each recruited up to 89 neophyte patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Thirty years after the Chernobyl explosion we still lack information regarding the genetic effects of radionuclide contamination on the plant population. For example, are plants adapting to the low dose of chronic ionising irradiation and showing improved resistance to radiation damage? Are they coping with changing/increased pathogenicity of fungi and viruses in the Chernobyl exclusion zone? Are plant populations rapidly accumulating mutational load and should we expect rapid microevolutionary changes in plants in the Chernobyl area? This review will try to summarise the current knowledge on these aspects of plant genetics and ecology and draw conclusions on the importance of further studies in the area around Chernobyl.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A method is described that makes use of a polyclonal antiserum to measure repair of the principal photoproducts induced in DNA by short-wave ultraviolet light (UVC)-pyrimidine-pyrimidone 6-4 photoproducts ([6-4]PPs) and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). DNA extracted from irradiated cells is applied to a nitrocellulose dot-blot and quantitated using an enzyme-conjugated secondary antibody and a color assay. Although the polyclonal antiserum contains antibodies to both [6-4]PPs and CPDs, repair of these lesions can be measured separately by differential destruction or repair of one or other photoproduct.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The 2000-2002 Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health report highlighted several cases of maternal death where the staff who had been involved, were not offered support. The report recommended that 'Trusts must make provision for the prompt offer of support and/or counselling for all staff who have cared for a woman who has died.' We conducted a postal survey to firstly establish whether Trusts had implemented this, and also to ascertain the experience of consultant obstetric anaesthetists.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The current work aimed to compile existing information to better understand the source, fate and effects of metallic contaminants in one catchment-receiving basin system (Iron Cove) in Sydney Harbour (Australia). Copper, Pb and Zn concentrations of potential source materials, i.e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Most studies of the transcriptional response to UV radiation in living cells have used UV doses that are much higher than those encountered in the natural environment, and most focus on short-wave UV (UV-C) at 254 nm, a wavelength that never reaches the Earth's surface. We have studied the transcriptional response of the sunlight-tolerant model archaeon, Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, to low doses of mid-wave UV (UV-B) to assess its response to UV radiation that is likely to be more biologically relevant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Aims: The plants that have remained in the contaminated areas around Chernobyl since 1986 encapsulate the effects of radiation. Such plants are chronically exposed to radionuclides that they have accumulated internally as well as to alpha-, beta- and gamma-emitting radionuclides from external sources and from the soil. This radiation leads to genetic damage that can be countered by DNA repair systems.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sequenced archaeal genomes contain a variety of bacterial and eukaryotic DNA repair gene homologs, but relatively little is known about how these microorganisms actually perform DNA repair. At least some archaea, including the extreme halophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, are able to repair ultraviolet light (UV) induced DNA damage in the absence of light-dependent photoreactivation but this 'dark' repair capacity remains largely uncharacterized.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Correlation analyses between measures of toxicity and concentrations of chemical contaminants were conducted for 103 surficial sediments from Sydney Harbour, Australia, and vicinity. Toxicity tests consisted of amphipod survival and reburial tests of whole sediments (Corophium colo), sea urchin fertilisation and larval development tests of pore waters (Heliocidaris tuberculata) and microbial bioluminescence (Microtox) tests of solvent extracts and pore waters. Toxicity in most tests correlated with concentrations of metallic contaminants, in particular, zinc, lead and copper.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The method described here makes use of a polyclonal antiserum to measure repair of the principal photoproducts induced in DNA by short-wave ultraviolet light (UV-C)--pyrimidine-pyrimidone 6-4 photoproducts ([6-4]PPs) and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). DNA extracted from irradiated cells is applied to a nitrocellulose dot-blot and quantified using an enzyme-conjugated secondary antibody and a color assay. Though the polyclonal antiserum contains antibodies to both cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and (64) photoproducts, repair of these can be measured separately by differential destruction of one or other photoproduct.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Matching chemical and toxicological data of surficial sediments from Sydney Harbour, Australia, and vicinity, were collected to evaluate predictive abilities of Effects Range-Low (ERL), Effects Range-Median (ERM) and other sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). Samples (n=103) containing a wide range of chemicals and concentrations were subjected to a battery of 4-6 toxicity tests. ERLs and functionally equivalent low-range SQGs were highly predictive of non-toxicity when not exceeded, as incidences of toxicity were 0-8%.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interim sediment quality guidelines (ISQGs) adapted recently to Australia from North American effects-based guidelines were evaluated with matching chemical and toxicological data collected for sediments (n = 103) from Sydney Harbour and south coast estuaries of New South Wales. The incidence of toxicity for the test battery was low (7%) among samples with all chemical concentrations below ISQG-Low values, indicating these guidelines are accurate and protective of non-toxic conditions. The incidence of toxicity increased greatly (to 73%) when one or more ISQG-Low values were exceeded, suggesting that ISQG-Low guidelines are appropriate for compliance.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An internally consistent dataset comprising 103 surficial estuarine sediment samples were collected from Sydney Harbour, Australia and locations south of Sydney. This paper describes the chemical characteristics of the dataset and evaluates its suitability for use in evaluating biological effects-based sediment quality guidelines (SQGs). The sediments contained mixtures of chemicals, the most prevalent chemical classes being metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, whereas sediments from coastal lakes/estuaries south of Sydney had low concentrations of contaminants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Laboratory survival tests were conducted with an indigenous infaunal amphipod, Corophium colo, on 103 sediment samples from Sydney Harbor (NSW, Australia) and vicinity, containing a wide range of chemicals and concentrations. The present study describes the sensitivity of C. colo to the sediments and compares the results to data for North American amphipods (Rhepoxynius abronius and Ampelisca abdita) previously used to establish and validate sediment-quality guidelines (SQGs).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: A variety of strategies for survival of UV irradiation are used by cells, ranging from repair of UV-damaged DNA, cell cycle arrest, tolerance of unrepaired UV photoproducts, and shielding from UV light. Some of these responses involve UV-inducible genes, including the SOS response in bacteria and an array of genes in eukaryotes. To address the mechanisms used in the third branch of life, we have studied the model archaeon, Halobacterium sp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A method is described that makes use of a polyclonal antiserum to measure repair of the principal photoproducts induced in DNA by short-wave ultraviolet light (UVC)-pyrimidine-pyrimidone 6-4 photoproducts ([6-4]PPs) and cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). DNA extracted from irradiated cells is applied to a nitrocellulose dot blot and quantitated using an enzyme-conjugated secondary antibody and a color assay. Although the polyclonal antiserum contains antibodies to both [6-4]PPs and CPDs, repair of these can be measured separately by differential destruction or repair of one or other photoproduct.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The toxicological responses of three species to 103 surficial saltwater sediment samples from Sydney Harbour, and coastal lakes and estuaries on the south-east coast of New South Wales, Australia, were tested in a battery of four to six laboratory toxicity tests. This is the first large-scale toxicological study of sediments in Australia, the objective of which is to assess the protective and predictive abilities of North American biological effects-based sediment quality guidelines, recently adopted in Australia. Amphipods were exposed to whole sediments in survival and reburial tests, sea urchin fertilisation and larval development tests were conducted on porewaters, and bacterial bio-luminescence (Microtox) tests were conducted on organic solvent extracts and porewaters.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Halobacterium is one of the few known Archaea that tolerates high levels of sunlight in its natural environment. Photoreactivation is probably its most important strategy for surviving UV irradiation and we have shown that both of the major UV photoproducts, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and (6-4) photoproducts, can be very efficiently repaired by photoreactivation in this organism. There are two putative photolyase gene homologues in the published genome sequence of Halobacterium sp.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF