Content and face validity of preference-based quality of life instruments in indigenous youth experiencing mental health problems: a qualitative study.

Background: Mainstream preference-based quality of life (QoL) measures have been traditionally based on Western principles of health. It is critical to examine whether existing preference-based QoL measures capture what is important to Indigenous people while being comprehensive and culturally acceptable. This study aims to assess the content and face validity of the EuroQol-5 dimensions 5-levels (EQ-5D-5 L), 12-item short form survey (SF-12), assessment of quality of life-6 dimensions (AQoL-6D), and recovering quality of life 10-item (ReQoL-10) within the context of indigenous youth mental health.

Increasing awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing and addressing stigma may improve STI testing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth: Evidence from the Next Generation Youth Wellbeing Study.

Objective: To quantify the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) testing in relation to sociodemographic, behavioural, and health related factors, and patterns in sexual health service (SHS) use and non-use among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) youth.

Methods: The analyses included N=198 sexually active 16-24-year-olds from Central Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales participating in the Next Generation Youth Wellbeing Study. Modified Poisson regression estimated age-sex-adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs) for ever testing for STIs.

No influence of emotional expression on size underestimation of upright faces.

Faces are a primary means of conveying social information between humans. One important factor modulating the perception of human faces is emotional expression. Face inversion also affects perception, including judgments of emotional expression, possibly through the disruption of configural processing.

Evaluation of the implementation and clinical effects of an intervention to improve medical follow-up and health outcomes for Aboriginal children hospitalised with chest infections.

Background: Aboriginal children hospitalised with acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are at-risk of developing bronchiectasis, which can progress from untreated protracted bacterial bronchitis, often evidenced by a chronic (>4 weeks) wet cough following discharge. We aimed to facilitate follow-up for Aboriginal children hospitalised with ALRIs to provide optimal management and improve their respiratory health outcomes.

Methods: We implemented an intervention to facilitate medical follow-up four weeks after hospital discharge from a paediatric hospital in Western Australia.

B lymphocyte responses in Parkinson's disease and their possible significance in disease progression.

Inflammation contributes to Parkinson's disease pathogenesis. We hypothesized that B lymphocytes are involved in Parkinson's disease progression. We measured antibodies to alpha-synuclein and tau in serum from patients with rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder ( = 79), early Parkinson's disease ( = 50) and matched controls ( = 50).

Persistent delirium in older hospital patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Delirium is associated with future dementia progression. Yet whether this occurs subclinically over months and years, or persistent delirium merges into worsened dementia is not understood. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of persistent delirium and understand variation in its duration.

Young Aboriginal people in Australia who have never used marijuana in the 'Next Generation Youth Well-being study': A strengths-based approach.

Background: Being young is a period of experimentation which can lead to increased vulnerability to poor health choices and outcomes. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people have a long and strong history of resilience; however, a deficit approach is often taken with messages of poor health and low socioeconomic status. This study takes a strengths-based approach and examines the demographic factors and behaviours associated with never using marijuana among young Aboriginal people in Australia.

Do specific delirium aetiologies have different associations with death? A longitudinal cohort of hospitalised patients.

Purpose: To describe aetiology-specific associations with mortality among older hospital patients with delirium.

Methods: Over 21 months, a cohort of 1702 patients with 2471 acute hospital admissions (median age 85, IQR 80-90, 56% women) were assessed for delirium, categorised with inflammatory and metabolic aetiologies based on available laboratory results, and followed up for all-cause mortality. Interactions between aetiology and delirium were tested.

Informing the Consent Process for Surgeons: A Survey Study of Patient Preferences, Perceptions, and Risk Tolerance.

Background: Despite the ethical and statutory requirement to obtain consent for surgical procedures, the actual process itself is less well defined. The degree of disclosure and detail expected may vary greatly. A recent shift toward a more patient-centered approach in both clinical and medico-legal practice has significant implications for ensuring appropriate and legal practice in obtaining informed consent before surgery.

Detection of negative ions in glow discharge mass spectrometry for analysis of solid specimens.

A new method is presented for elemental and molecular analysis of halogen-containing samples by glow discharge time-of-flight mass spectrometry, consisting of detection of negative ions from a pulsed RF glow discharge in argon. Analyte signals are mainly extracted from the afterglow regime of the discharge, where the cross section for electron attachment increases. The formation of negative ions from sputtering of metals and metal oxides is compared with that for positive ions.

Endotoxin levels in steam and reservoirs of table-top steam sterilizers.

Purpose: To document endotoxin levels in "Statim" cassette sterilizer reservoirs and in steam delivered to the cassette in the unwrapped instrument cycle. To document endotoxin levels in sterilizer reservoir water using different management protocols.

Methods: Endotoxin levels were determined using the Limulus Amebocyte Lysate test.

First isolation of a rabies-related virus from a Daubenton's bat in the United Kingdom.

On May 30, 1996, a sick Daubenton's bat (Myotis daubentonii) was recovered from the cellar of a public house in Newhaven, East Sussex. Its condition deteriorated rapidly, and it was euthanased and examined. Positive results, establishing the presence of a rabies or rabies-related virus in its brain, were obtained from the fluorescent antibody test, the rabies tissue culture isolation test, and a hemi-nested reverse-transcription PCR.

Extinct (129)I in halite from a primitive meteorite: evidence for evaporite formation in the early solar system.

Halite crystals from the Zag H3-6 chondrite contain essentially pure (monoisotopic) xenon-129 ((129)Xe) produced in the early history of the solar system by the decay of short-lived iodine-129 ((129)I) (half-life = 15.7 million years). Correlated release of (129)Xe and (128)Xe, produced artificially from (127)I by neutron irradiation, corresponds to an initial ((129)I/(127)I) ratio of (1.

Rapid detection of rabies and rabies-related viruses by RT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

A rapid detection method for the six established genotypes of rabies and rabies-related viral RNA using RT-PCR-ELISA is described. The detection of digoxigenin-labelled amplified products is performed by solution hybridization to two specific, biotin-labelled, capture probes, which are complementary to the inner region of the amplification products. The capture probe and amplified product hybrid are then immobilised on a streptavidin-coated microtitre plate, bound products are detected by an anti-DIG Fab fragment conjugated to peroxidase, and colorimetric reaction automatically measured.

Rabies virus in the decomposed brain of an Ethiopian wolf detected by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.

Approximately 75 individuals from a population of 111 Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) died or disappeared from the Bale Mountains National Park (Ethiopia) between 1988 and 1992 during two significant population declines. Confirmation of rabies virus in two carcasses was based on the fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and the mouse inoculation test (MIT). In an Ethiopian wolf brain previously designated rabies negative by both FAT and MIT, rabies virus was identified by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and confirmed by Southern blot hybridization.

Heminested PCR assay for detection of six genotypes of rabies and rabies-related viruses.

A heminested reverse transcriptase PCR (hnRT-PCR) protocol which is rapid and sensitive for the detection of rabies virus and rabies-related viruses is described. Sixty isolates from six of the seven genotypes of rabies and rabies-related viruses were screened successfully by hnRT-PCR and Southern blot hybridization. Of the 60 isolates, 93% (56 of 60) were positive by external PCR, while all isolates were detected by heminested PCR and Southern blot hybridization.

Evolution of European bat lyssaviruses.

Forty-seven European bat lyssaviruses (EBL) and two African insectivorous bat lyssaviruses (Duvenhage viruses) were selected for a comparison to be made of their evolutionary relationships. Studies were based on direct sequencing of the PCR-amplified products of the 400 nucleotides coding for the amino terminus of the nucleoprotein. Phylogenetic relationships were analysed after bootstrap resampling using the maximum parsimony and the neighbour-joining methods.

Ten-year survey of British bats for the existence of rabies.

In 1985, a notable increase in the number of recorded cases of rabies in European bats was observed, indicating a possible spread of the rabies virus in these bats. Because of concern that the disease could be introduced into the United Kingdom by bats crossing from mainland Europe, a programme of screening dead bats for the presence of rabies and rabies-related viruses was initiated at the Rabies Research and Diagnostic Unit at the Central Veterinary Laboratory. Over a period of 10 years (January 1986 to December 1995), 1882 bats belonging to 23 species from all parts of England, Scotland and Wales have been screened for rabies antigen.

Quality improvement of diagnostic microbiology through a peer-group proficiency assessment program. A 20-year experience in Ontario. The Microbiology Committee.

Objective: To evaluate the microbiology laboratory performance in Ontario over a 20-year period of participation in a quality assessment program and to assess the impact of quality improvement strategies.

Design: Longitudinal review of isolation, identification, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria from lyophilized, simulated patient samples.

Setting: Ontario medical laboratories, licensed by the Ministry of Health, have been subjected to mandatory testing by the Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program of the Ontario Medical Association since 1974.

Detection of the 5' region of the rubella virus genome in clinical samples by polymerase chain reaction.

Background: Maternal rubella infection in early pregnancy has a high probability of causing congenital rubella infection. In some cases it may be difficult to establish the risk of congenital infection and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based techniques are therefore being applied to prenatal diagnosis.

Objectives: To investigate whether the non-structural region of the rubella virus (RV) genome can be detected in clinical samples using PCR, thereby providing a prenatal assay independent of those currently used to detect the structural protein coding region.