ASPRONET: A facilitated online education project for radiation therapists in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2019, the International Atomic Energy Agency approved a technical co-operation project, aimed at supporting clinical decision making and continuing professional education of radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiation therapists (RTs) in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) in the Asia Pacific region. From this, the Asia-Pacific Radiation Oncology Network (ASPRONET) was formed in 2020. An RT co-ordination group administered 16 online, one-hour seminars between December 2021 and November 2023 for an RT audience.

Less Is More: N(BOH) Configuration Exhibits Higher Reactivity than the BNO Heterocycle in Catalytic Dehydrative Amide Formation.

Diboron substructures have emerged as a promising scaffold for the catalytic dehydrative amidation of carboxylic acids and amines. This Letter describes the design, synthesis, and evaluation of the first isolable N(BOH) compound as an amidation catalyst. The new catalyst outperforms the previously reported BNO heterocycle catalyst, with respect to turnover frequency, albeit the former gradually decomposes upon exposure to amines.

Oral healthcare attendance and the effectiveness of referrals for rural antenatal women.

Objectives: To analyse the effectiveness of targeted stakeholder engagement strategies and the impact they have on antenatal referrals, oral health admission, attendance and education of pregnant women in a rural public dental clinic.

Method: Key stakeholders (obstetric trained general practitioners [GPs] and midwives) were educated and motivated to refer pregnant women to the rural public dental clinic via priority referral pathways. A 10-month pre- and post-intervention period of oral health assessments and treatments was compared and contrasted.

Novel coronavirus mitigation measures implemented by radiotherapy centres in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Background: The aim of the study was to identify strategies adopted by radiotherapy centres in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to mitigate the effects of COVID-19. Studies summarising COVID-19 mitigation strategies designed and implemented by radiotherapy centres in LMICs to avoid delays, deferrments and interruptions of radiotherapy services are lacking.

Materials And Methods: A systematic review was conducted and reported in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis guideline.

Improvements in radiation therapy services in Myanmar: 2012-2020.

Introduction: Myanmar is a Low-Middle Income Country (LMIC) in South-East Asia. Over the last decade, reforms to the health system have included significant improvements in the delivery of radiation therapy services in both government and private-for-profit sectors.

Methods: This review uses limited cancer registry data, observations from in-person visits, and data from key informants in Myanmar radiation therapy centres, to report on developments in radiation therapy services in recent years.

Implementation of an older person's nurse practitioner in rural aged care in Victoria, Australia: a qualitative study.

Background: There are staff shortages nation-wide in residential aged care, which is only predicted to grow as the population ages in Australia. The aged care staff shortage is compounded in rural and remote areas where the health service workforce overall experiences difficulties in recruitment and retention. There is evidence that nurse practitioners fill important service gaps in aged care and rural health care but also evidence that barriers exist in introducing this extended practice role.

Is social exposure to obesity associated with weight status misperception? Assessing Australians ability to identify overweight and obesity.

Introduction: Overweight and obesity prevalence has increased significantly over the past two decades, currently impacting greater than 60% of Australians. It is unclear if a social perception of a healthy weight has been obscured by the increase in prevalence and thus has become inconsistent with the medical definitions.

Methods: An electronic questionnaire was distributed via email and social media using the authors' informal networks.

'Believe in me and I will believe in myself', a rural Australian health service learns how to mangan dunguludja ngatan (build strong employment) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: a qualitative study.

Background: Australian Aboriginal people have higher rates of unemployment and poorer health than non-Aboriginal Australians. Historical segregation policies that spanned 60 years negatively impacted workforce inclusion. A Victorian regional health service recently developed an Aboriginal Employment Plan (AEP) targeted to reach 2% employment of Aboriginal people by 2020.

Mind the gap: is it time to invest in embedded researchers in regional, rural and remote health services to address health outcome discrepancies for those living in rural, remote and regional areas?

Research capacity building in healthcare works to generate and apply new knowledge to improve health outcomes; it creates new career pathways, improves staff satisfaction, retention and organisational performance. While there are examples of investment and research activity in rural Australia, overall, rural research remains under-reported, undervalued and under-represented in the evidence base. This is particularly so in primary care settings.

All Non-Carbon B NO Exotic Heterocycles: Synthesis, Dynamics, and Catalysis.

The B NO six-membered heterocycle (1,3-dioxa-5-aza-2,4,6-triborinane=DATB), comprising three different non-carbon period 2 elements, has been recently demonstrated to be a powerful catalyst for dehydrative condensation of carboxylic acids and amines. The tedious synthesis of DATB, however, has significantly diminished its utility as a catalyst, and thus the inherent chemical properties of the ring system have remained virtually unexplored. Here, a general and facile synthetic strategy that harnesses a pyrimidine-containing scaffold for the reliable installation of boron atoms is disclosed, giving rise to a series of Pym-DATBs from inexpensive materials in a modular fashion.

Improving Health and Cancer Services in Low-Resource Countries to Attain the Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.4 for Noncommunicable Diseases.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2015 to 2030 includes a specific goal for health (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 3) with 13 targets, including SDG3.4 for the control and treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), namely, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. There is considerable concern that SDG3.

Preferred language regarding overweight and obesity in general practice: a survey of predominantly rural Australian adults.

Discussions regarding overweight may be infrequent in Australian general practice. General practitioners (GPs) may find these discussions difficult to initiate if they are unsure of the language to use, or if patients would find it acceptable to be weighed. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent in rural areas than in metropolitan areas, and strategies to address the health risks associated with these conditions need to be tailored to rural communities.

Why Australia needs to define obesity as a chronic condition.

Background: In Australia people with a diagnosed chronic condition can be managed on unique funded care plans that allow the recruitment of a multidisciplinary team to assist in setting treatment goals and adequate follow up. In contrast to the World Health Organisation, the North American and European Medical Associations, the Australian Medical Association does not recognise obesity as a chronic condition, therefore excluding a diagnosis of obesity from qualifying for a structured and funded treatment plan. BODY: The Australian guidelines for management of Obesity in adults in Primary Care are structured around a five step process -the '5As': Ask & Assess, Advise, Assist and Arrange'.

Reversible Stereoselective Folding/Unfolding Fueled by the Interplay of Photoisomerism and Hydrogen Bonding.

A linear molecular architecture equipped with complementary three-fold hydrogen-bonding units embedded with a photoswitchable trans-tetrafluoroazobenzene moiety was synthesized. The transto cis photoisomerism of the azobenzene unit induced drastic changes in the molecular architecture as a result of intramolecular hydrogen bonding as evidenced by NMR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. A minute stereogenic element in the linear trans state enabled stereoselective folding into the cis state, thus producing a globular architecture with enhanced chiroptical property.

Postcopulatory sexual selection influences baculum evolution in primates and carnivores.

The extreme morphological variability of the baculum across mammals is thought to be the result of sexual selection (particularly, high levels of postcopulatory selection). However, the evolutionary trajectory of the mammalian baculum is little studied and evidence for the adaptive function of the baculum has so far been elusive. Here, we use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods implemented in a Bayesian phylogenetic framework to reconstruct baculum evolution across the mammalian class and investigate the rate of baculum length evolution within the primate order.

Calibration of X-ray spectrometers for opacity experiments at the Orion laser facility (invited).

Accurately calibrated and characterised x-ray diagnostics are a key requirement in the fielding of experiments on the Orion laser where absolute measurements of x-ray emission are used to underpin the validity of models of emissivity and opacity. Diffraction crystals are used in spectrometers on Orion to record the dispersed spectral features emitted by the laser produced plasma to obtain a measurement of the plasma conditions. The ability to undertake diffraction crystal calibrations supports the successful outcome of these Orion experiments.

Practice patterns of radiation therapy technology in Australia: results of a national audit.

Introduction: This article presents the results of a single-day census of radiation therapy (RT) treatment and technology use in Australia. The primary aim of the study was to ascertain patterns of RT practice and technology in use across Australia. These data were primarily collated to inform curriculum development of academic programs, thereby ensuring that training is matched to workforce patterns of practice.

Phylogenetic reconstruction of Bantu kinship challenges Main Sequence Theory of human social evolution.

Kinship provides the fundamental structure of human society: descent determines the inheritance pattern between generations, whereas residence rules govern the location a couple moves to after they marry. In turn, descent and residence patterns determine other key relationships such as alliance, trade, and marriage partners. Hunter-gatherer kinship patterns are viewed as flexible, whereas agricultural societies are thought to have developed much more stable kinship patterns as they expanded during the Holocene.

Direct aldol strategy in enantioselective total synthesis of thuggacin B.

An enantioselective total synthesis of thuggacin B, a natural product exhibiting antibiotic activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is described. Asymmetric direct aldol reactions promoted by Cu and Zn catalysts play a pivotal role in constructing four stereogenic centers. The use of direct aldol reactions as the initial steps for the synthesis of two key fragments allowed the construction of the other stereogenic centers through chirality transfer.

Male infanticide leads to social monogamy in primates.

Although common in birds, social monogamy, or pair-living, is rare among mammals because internal gestation and lactation in mammals makes it advantageous for males to seek additional mating opportunities. A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of social monogamy among mammals: as a male mate-guarding strategy, because of the benefits of biparental care, or as a defense against infanticidal males. However, comparative analyses have been unable to resolve the root causes of monogamy.