Something to see here: ACT Police referrals for impaired driving due to medical conditions.

Introduction: Medical conditions may cause driving impairment and preventable motor vehicle collisions. Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Police detect potentially medically impaired drivers as part of their duties. ACT Police and medical fitness to drive reviewers sought to determine the accuracy of police suspicion of medically impaired drivers for quality assurance and legislative purposes.

More than meets the eye: Lid and conjunctival injuries in cases of non-sexual assault are frequently accompanied by non-fatal strangulation.

Objective: To determine the associations between lid and conjunctival injuries (LACI), non-fatal strangulation (NFS) and domestic family violence (DFV) in non-sexual assault.

Methods: The present study involves an analysis of LACI in a clinical audit of 85 sequential non-sexual assault presentations.

Results: LACI was present in 26.

Men after the sexual assault: The journey from medical service to court.

Background: There may be significant physical and psychological consequences and impacts for males who experience sexual assault as adults, however, published literature in this context is sparse, specifically for the investigative outcomes in the criminal legal process.

Method: This clinical audit tracked 138 adult males who presented for forensic and medical sexual assault care from initial presentation to ACT Police investigation and court outcome from 2004 to 2022.

Results: There were 103/138 (74.

Non-fatal strangulation versus general assault in a clinical forensic medicine cohort: Characteristics of patient, perpetrator and presentation.

Background: Interpersonal violence impacts communities, victims, perpetrators, families, and children. This audit of 315 cases of non-sexual assault compares characteristics of general assault to those of non-fatal strangulation (NFS).

Method: Clinical review of all cases referred to Clinical Forensics Australian Capital Territory (CFACT) by ACT Policing between 2018 and 2022, following allegations of non-sexual assault.

Sexually transmitted infections diagnosed in individuals presenting for forensic and medical care following sexual assault.

Background: People who report sexual assault express concerns regarding contracting sexually transmitted infection (STI); however, published literature regarding the risk of STI transmission in this context is sparse.

Method: We audited STI and blood-borne virus (BBV) testing at a forensic and medical sexual assault care service in the Australian Capital Territory between 2004 and 2022. Eligibility for testing among 1928 presentations was defined based on risk (eg, reported penetration).

Seasonal variation in exploitative competition between honeybees and bumblebees.

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) and bumblebees (Bombus spp.) often undergo exploitative competition for shared floral resources, which can alter their foraging behaviour and flower choice, even causing competitive exclusion. This may be strongest in summer, when foraging conditions are most challenging for bees, compared to other times of the year.

Estradiol alters body temperature regulation in the female mouse.

Hot flushes are due to estrogen withdrawal and characterized by the episodic activation of heat dissipation effectors. Recent studies (in humans and rats) have implicated neurokinin 3 (NK) receptor signaling in the genesis of hot flushes. Although transgenic mice are increasingly used for biomedical research, there is limited information on how 17β-estradiol and NK receptor signaling alters thermoregulation in the mouse.

The management of patients with aortic regurgitation and severe left ventricular dysfunction: a systematic review.

A systematic search of Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL electronic databases was performed. Original research articles reporting all-cause mortality following surgery in patients with aortic regurgitation and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) were identified. Nine of the 10 eligible studies were observational, single-center, retrospective analyses.

Biomarkers of acute rejection following cardiac transplantation.

Cardiac transplantation can be a life-saving treatment for selected patients with heart failure. However, despite advances in immunosuppressive therapy, acute allograft rejection remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The current 'gold standard' for rejection surveillance is endomyocardial biopsy, which aims to identify episodes of rejection prior to development of clinical manifestations.

Increased expression of hypothalamic leptin receptor and adiponectin accompany resistance to dietary-induced obesity and infertility in female C57BL/6J mice.

Background: Obesity is strongly associated with female infertility, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are largely unknown.

Methods: We investigated the effect of increasing dietary fat percentage upon body mass, hypothalamic neuropeptide gene expression, adipose hormone secretion and fertility in females of the inbred mouse strains C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. To assess the effect of obesity independent of dietary influence, we also compared these parameters in wild-type female C57BL/6J mice to those congenic for the obesogenic mutations ob/ob and A(y)/a.

A single nucleotide polymorphism chip-based method for combined genetic and epigenetic profiling: validation in decitabine therapy and tumor/normal comparisons.

Progress on several unresolved issues in cancer epigenetics will benefit from rapid and standardized methods for profiling DNA methylation genome-wide. In the area of epigenetic therapy, the demethylating drug decitabine (5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine) is increasingly used to treat acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, but the mechanisms of its anticancer activity have remained unclear. Given the clinical efficacy of decitabine and the uncertainties about its mode of action, it will be useful to optimize methods for following DNA methylation as a biochemical response in individual patients.

Imprinting of PEG1/MEST isoform 2 in human placenta.

The PEG1 gene (a.k.a.

Unbalanced placental expression of imprinted genes in human intrauterine growth restriction.

Imprinted genes control fetal and placental growth in mice and in rare human syndromes, but the role of these genes in sporadic intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is less well-studied. We measured the ratio of mRNA from a maternally expressed imprinted gene, PHLDA2, to that from a paternally expressed imprinted gene, MEST, by Northern blotting in 38 IUGR-associated placentae and 75 non-IUGR placentae and found an increase in the PHLDA2/MEST mRNA ratio in IUGR (p=0.0001).

Neuronal deletion of Lepr elicits diabesity in mice without affecting cold tolerance or fertility.

Leptin signaling in the brain regulates energy intake and expenditure. To test the degree of functional neuronal leptin signaling required for the maintenance of body composition, fertility, and cold tolerance, transgenic mice expressing Cre in neurons (CaMKIIalpha-Cre) were crossed to mice carrying a floxed leptin receptor (Lepr) allele to generate mice with neuron-specific deletion of Lepr in approximately 50% (C F/F mice) and approximately 75% (C Delta17/F mice) of hypothalamic neurons. Leptin receptor (LEPR)-deficient mice (Delta17/Delta17) with heat-shock-Cre-mediated global Lepr deletion served as obese controls.

Microvascular and biochemical compensation during ventricular hypertrophy in male rainbow trout.

We investigated whether there are compensatory changes in the coronary microvasculature, cardiac lipid metabolism, and myocyte ultrastructure associated with ventricular enlargement in male rainbow trout. Epicardial tissue was sampled at different stages of sexual maturation, and we estimated arterial capillary density, intercapillary diffusion distance, and applied a diffusion model to predict PO(2) at different workloads. We also measured biochemical indices of lipid metabolism and estimated fractional volumes of mitochondria and myofibrils in myocytes.

An allelic series for the leptin receptor gene generated by CRE and FLP recombinase.

Body weight regulation is mediated through several major signaling pathways, some of which have been delineated by positional cloning of spontaneous genetic mutations in mice. Lepr(db/db) mice are obese due to a defect in the signaling portion of the leptin receptor, which has led to extensive study of this highly conserved system over the past several years. We have created an allelic series at Lepr for the further examination of LEPR signaling phenotypes using both the FLP /frt and CRE /loxP systems.

Pregnancy outcomes after recovery from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Background: Recurrent thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-hemolytic uremic syndrome (TTP-HUS) during a subsequent pregnancy is an important concern because pregnancy may increase the risk for relapse.

Study Design And Methods: Outcomes of all pregnancies after recovery from TTP-HUS in the Oklahoma TTP-HUS Registry, a cohort of 301 consecutive patients during the period of 1989 through 2003, were assessed and compared to the total published experience.

Results: In the Oklahoma Registry, 3 of 7 (43%) women with idiopathic TTP-HUS, 2 of 11 (18%) women who were pregnant/postpartum, and 0 of 1 (0%) woman with a bloody diarrhea prodrome at their initial presentation were diagnosed with TTP-HUS during a subsequent pregnancy; all 5 women recovered.

Neuropeptide Y is required for hyperphagic feeding in response to neuroglucopenia.

To investigate the role played by the orexigenic peptide, neuropeptide Y (NPY), in adaptive responses to insulin-induced hypoglycemia, we measured hypothalamic, feeding, and hormonal responses to this stimulus in both wild-type (Npy+/+) and NPY-deficient (Npy-/-) mice. After administration of insulin at a dose (60 mU ip) sufficient to cause moderate hypoglycemia (plasma glucose levels, 40 +/- 3 and 37 +/- 2 mg/dl for Npy+/+ and Npy-/- mice, respectively; P = not significant), 4-h food intake was increased 2.5-fold in Npy+/+ mice relative to saline-injected controls.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-hemolytic uremic syndrome following allogeneic HPC transplantation: a diagnostic dilemma.

Background: Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura-hemolytic uremic syndrome (TTP-HUS) has been described as a specific sequela of allogeneic HPC transplantation (HPCT). Nevertheless, because multiple transplant-related sequela can cause the characteristic clinical features of TTP-HUS, the diagnosis is difficult.

Study Design And Methods: All English-language articles describing patients with TTP-HUS following HPCT were identified.