Descriptive analysis of prostate cancer pathology data from diagnosis and surgery in men from the 45 and Up Study.

Information available from the New South Wales Cancer Registry (NSWCR) about the aggressiveness of prostate cancer is limited to the summary stage variable 'degree of spread', which contains a high proportion of cases defined as 'unknown'. In this study we demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining and analysing prostate cancer pathology data from stored pathology records. Pathology data were extracted from stored pathology records of incident prostate cancer cases in men participating in the 45 and Up Study, a large Australian prospective cohort study, who were diagnosed between January 2006 and December 2013.

Exploring COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence with People from Black and Asian Backgrounds in England.

Aims: Little research has examined factors underlying COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy or refusal in Black and Asian individuals in England, among whom hesitancy tends to be higher than in the general population. This qualitative study aimed to gain an understanding of factors affecting hesitancy in Black and Asian individuals in England, to help address concerns about having the vaccine.

Method: Ninety-five participants (51 women, 42 men, 2 other; 58% were aged between 30 and 49) recruited via a market recruitment agency, local Healthwatch networks, and using a snowballing method, participated in four activities on an online engagement platform, sharing their attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and factors shaping their beliefs and concerns, over 5 weeks from April to March 2021.

Viewpoint - An open and honest approach to diagnosis.

THE CONCEPT of pre- and post-diagnostic counselling is not new. If it is delivered effectively, it can be empowering for patients and give them a sense of control. While every service may not have a clear system to support all the principles, every member of the nursing team can improve the communication skills they bring to the counselling process.

Forum focus - taking part counts.

INCREASED PARTICIPATION of members is vital to the success of the Royal College of Nursing, which is why congress is such a pivotal event in the organisation's calendar. Two major changes at this month's congress aim to highlight the importance of member participation: the annual general meeting will be held and the forum steering committee elections launched.

Implementing Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century (TT21C): Making safety decisions using toxicity pathways, and progress in a prototype risk assessment.

Risk assessment methodologies in toxicology have remained largely unchanged for decades. The default approach uses high dose animal studies, together with human exposure estimates, and conservative assessment (uncertainty) factors or linear extrapolations to determine whether a specific chemical exposure is 'safe' or 'unsafe'. Although some incremental changes have appeared over the years, results from all new approaches are still judged against this process of extrapolating high-dose effects in animals to low-dose exposures in humans.

Osteoporosis - pharmacological prevention and management in older people.

Background: Osteoporosis remains undertreated in Australian primary care, with as few as 30% of postmenopausal women with a fracture and 10% of men with osteoporosis receiving pharmacological treatment.

Objective: This article presents an overview of the pharmacological management of osteoporosis in older people in the general practice setting.

Discussion: Lifestyle factors and ensuring adequate calcium and vitamin D intake are important in preventing and treating osteoporosis.

Surgical treatment of active native aortic valve endocarditis with allografts and mechanical prostheses.

Background: Surgical intervention for persistent active native aortic valve endocarditis (NVE) remains challenging. We analyzed our combined experience with allografts and mechanical prostheses (MP) in NVE operations.

Methods: Between 1980 and 2002, 138 patients (81% males) underwent aortic valve replacement for NVE in 2 centers (106 allografts; 32 MPs).

An evaluation of the Ross operation in adults.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Pulmonary autograft replacement of the aortic valve (the Ross operation) is the operation of choice in infants and children. Although this procedure can offer theoretical advantages at any age, its use in adults remains controversial.

Methods: A total of 264 consecutive patients (203 males, 61 females; mean age 35.

Components of the diurnal cortisol cycle in relation to upper respiratory symptoms and perceived stress.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the diurnal pattern of salivary free cortisol to perceived stress and susceptibility to symptoms of upper respiratory illness (URI).

Methods: Salivary free cortisol concentration was determined in 34 healthy participants (students) at eight time points, synchronized to awakening, on 2 consecutive days. Participants completed a standard questionnaire to assess perceived stress and subsequently kept a daily record of social proximity and symptoms of upper respiratory illness for 2 weeks.

Effects of nighttime low frequency noise on the cortisol response to awakening and subjective sleep quality.

The effects of night-time exposure to traffic noise (TN) or low frequency noise (LFN) on the cortisol awakening response and subjective sleep quality were determined. Twelve male subjects slept for five consecutive nights in a noise-sleep laboratory. After one night of acclimatisation and one reference night, subjects were exposed to either TN (35dB L(Aeq), 50dB L(Amax)) or LFN (40dB L(Aeq)) on alternating nights (with an additional reference night in between).