A decade of data from a specialist statewide child and adolescent eating disorder service: does local service access correspond with the severity of medical and eating disorder symptoms at presentation?

Background: Eating disorders affect up to 3% of children and adolescents, with recovery often requiring specialist treatment. A substantial literature has accrued suggesting that lower access to health care services, experienced by rural populations, has a staggering effect on health-related morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether lower service access foreshadowed a more severe medical and symptom presentation among children and adolescents presenting to a specialist eating disorders program.

Veteran and military mental health: the Australian experience.

Australia has deployed over 25 000 personnel to recent conflicts in the Middle East and has been involved in peacekeeping missions. Australian veterans report elevated rates of mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, affective disorders and substance use disorders. Veteran healthcare is delivered through publicly funded services, as well as through private services, at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders.

Objectives: This clinical practice guideline for treatment of DSM-5 feeding and eating disorders was conducted as part of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) Project 2013-2014.

Methods: The CPG was developed in accordance with best practice according to the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Literature of evidence for treatments of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), other specified and unspecified eating disorders and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) was sourced from the previous RANZCP CPG reviews (dated to 2009) and updated with a systematic review (dated 2008-2013).

Is implementation of the 2013 Australian treatment guidelines for posttraumatic stress disorder cost-effective compared to current practice? A cost-utility analysis using QALYs and DALYs.

Objective: To assess, from a health sector perspective, the incremental cost-effectiveness of three treatment recommendations in the most recent Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The interventions assessed are trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (TF-CBT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for the treatment of PTSD in adults and TF-CBT in children, compared to current practice in Australia.

Method: Economic modelling, using existing databases and published information, was used to assess cost-effectiveness.

The temporal relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder and problem alcohol use following traumatic injury.

Chronic alcohol abuse is a major public health concern following trauma exposure; however, little is known about the temporal association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and problem alcohol use. The current study examined the temporal relationship between PTSD symptom clusters (re-experiencing, effortful avoidance, emotional numbing, and hyperarousal) and problem alcohol use following trauma exposure. This study was a longitudinal survey of randomly selected traumatic injury patients interviewed at baseline, 3 months, 12 months, and 24 months following injury.

The temporal relationship between mental health and disability after injury.

Objective: This longitudinal study investigated the temporal relationship patterns between disability and mental health after injury, with a focus on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety.

Method: We conducted a multi-sited longitudinal cohort study with a large sample of hospital patients admitted after injury (N = 1,149, mean age = 37.9, 73.

Information sharing with rural family caregivers during care transitions of hip fracture patients.

Introduction: Following hip fracture surgery, patients often experience multiple transitions through different care settings, with resultant challenges to the quality and continuity of patient care. Family caregivers can play a key role in these transitions, but are often poorly engaged in the process. We aimed to: (1) examine the characteristics of the family caregivers' experience of communication and information sharing and (2) identify facilitators and barriers of effective information sharing among patients, family caregivers and health care providers.

An interprofessional nurse-led mental health promotion intervention for older home care clients with depressive symptoms.

Background: Depressive symptoms in older home care clients are common but poorly recognized and treated, resulting in adverse health outcomes, premature institutionalization, and costly use of health services. The objectives of this study were to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a new six-month interprofessional (IP) nurse-led mental health promotion intervention, and to explore its effects on reducing depressive symptoms in older home care clients (≥ 70 years) using personal support services.

Methods: A prospective one-group pre-test/post-test study design was used.

Analysis of nuclear reconstitution, nuclear envelope assembly, and nuclear pore assembly using Xenopus in vitro assays.

The large and complex eukaryotic nucleus is the arbiter of DNA replication, RNA transcription, splicing, and ribosome assembly. With the advent of in vitro nuclear reconstitution extracts derived from Xenopus eggs in the 1980s, it became possible to assemble multiple nuclei in vitro around added DNA or chromatin substrates. Such reconstituted nuclei contain a nuclear lamina, double nuclear membranes, nuclear pores, and are competent for DNA replication and nuclear import.

Psychological outcomes following the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires.

Objective: We aimed to map the prevalence and predictors of psychological outcomes in affected communities 3-4 years after the Black Saturday bushfires in the state of Victoria, Australia.

Methods: Baseline assessment of a longitudinal cohort study in high-, medium-, and low-affected communities in Victoria. Participants included 1017 residents of high-, medium-, and low-affected fire communities.

Impact of the diagnostic changes to post-traumatic stress disorder for DSM-5 and the proposed changes to ICD-11.

Background: There have been changes to the criteria for diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in DSM-5 and changes are proposed for ICD-11.

Aims: To investigate the impact of the changes to diagnostic criteria for PTSD in DSM-5 and the proposed changes in ICD-11 using a large multisite trauma-exposed sample and structured clinical interviews.

Method: Randomly selected injury patients admitted to four hospitals were assessed 72 months post trauma (n = 510).

Polymeric nanocarriers for siRNA delivery to murine macrophages.

This work investigates the interactions of a polycationic nanocarrier with siRNA and with cells in order to better understand the capabilities and limitations of the carrier. The polycationic nanocarriers are cross-linked copolymer nanoparticles synthesized in a single-step reaction using ARGET ATRP (activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization). The polycationic nanocarriers efficiently bind siRNA for polymer/siRNA mass ratios less than 1.

Trauma signature analysis of the great East Japan disaster: guidance for psychological consequences.

Objectives: On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced the largest earthquake in its history. The undersea earthquake launched a tsunami that inundated much of Japan's eastern coastline and damaged nuclear power plants, precipitating multiple reactor meltdowns. We examined open-source disaster situation reports, news accounts, and disaster-monitoring websites to gather event-specific data to conduct a trauma signature analysis of the event.

Light therapy for improving cognition, activities of daily living, sleep, challenging behaviour, and psychiatric disturbances in dementia.

Background: Rest-activity and sleep-wake cycles are controlled by the endogenous circadian rhythm generated by the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Degenerative changes in the SCN appear to be a biological basis for circadian disturbances in people with dementia, and might be reversed by stimulation of the SCN by light.

Objectives: The review examines the effectiveness of light therapy in improving cognition, activities of daily living (ADLs), sleep, challenging behaviour, and psychiatric symptoms associated with dementia.

Informal caregivers' hopes and expectations of a referral to a memory clinic.

Although only 20-50% of individuals with dementia are diagnosed, early diagnosis enables patients and families to access interventions and services, and plan for the future. The current study explored the experiences of rural family caregivers in the period leading up to a diagnostic assessment at a Canadian memory clinic, their hopes and expectations of the assessment, and their experiences in the six months following diagnosis. Using a longitudinal, retrospective and prospective qualitative research design, caregivers of 30 patients referred to the clinic were interviewed during the diagnostic assessment process and again six months after the diagnosis.

Polycationic nanoparticles for siRNA delivery: comparing ARGET ATRP and UV-initiated formulations.

In this work, we develop and evaluate polycationic nanoparticles for the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA). Delivery remains a major challenge for translating siRNA to the clinic, and overcoming the delivery challenge requires effective siRNA delivery vehicles that meet the demands of the specific delivery strategy. Cross-linked polycationic nanoparticle formulations were synthesized using ARGET ATRP or UV-initiated polymerization.

Comorbidity in the prediction of Cognitive Processing Therapy treatment outcomes for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

This paper examines clinical predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment outcomes following Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) in Australian military veterans. Fifty nine treatment seeking veterans were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial comparing 12 sessions of CPT (n = 30) with usual treatment (n = 29) at three community-based veterans counseling centers. PTSD and key co-morbidities (depression, anxiety, anger and alcohol use) were measured.

Transportin acts to regulate mitotic assembly events by target binding rather than Ran sequestration.

The nuclear import receptors importin β and transportin play a different role in mitosis: both act phenotypically as spatial regulators to ensure that mitotic spindle, nuclear membrane, and nuclear pore assembly occur exclusively around chromatin. Importin β is known to act by repressing assembly factors in regions distant from chromatin, whereas RanGTP produced on chromatin frees factors from importin β for localized assembly. The mechanism of transportin regulation was unknown.

Hip-fracture care in rural southwestern ontario: an ethnographic study of patient transitions and physiotherapy handoffs.

Purpose: To examine information exchange by physiotherapists during care handoffs of patients with hip fracture in a rural health care setting.

Methods: This qualitative ethnographic study used observation and interviews of 11 networks of patients with hip fracture (n=11), family caregivers (n=8), and health care providers (n=24). Patients were followed from acute care through each subsequent care setting.

Trauma at the hands of another: distinguishing PTSD patterns following intimate and nonintimate interpersonal and noninterpersonal trauma in a nationally representative sample.

Objective: Interpersonal trauma and violence is currently considered a global public health emergency. However, studies have not differentiated between intimate interpersonal trauma and nonintimate interpersonal trauma in their impact on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. This cross-sectional study based on epidemiologic data examined the differential likelihoods of endorsing PTSD symptoms following 3 categories of trauma: noninterpersonal (eg, accidents, natural disasters), nonintimate interpersonal (physical assaults perpetrated by nonintimates), and intimate interpersonal (physical assaults perpetrated by intimates or caregivers and sexual assaults).

Exercise programs for people with dementia.

Background: This is an update of our previous 2008 review. Several recent trials and systematic reviews of the impact of exercise on people with dementia are reporting promising findings. 

Objectives: Primary: Do exercise programs for older people with dementia improve cognition, activities of daily living (ADLs), challenging behaviour, depression, and mortality in older people with dementia?Secondary: Do exercise programs for older people with dementia have an indirect impact on family caregivers' burden, quality of life, and mortality?Do exercise programs for older people with dementia reduce the use of healthcare services (e.

Serum ferritin and nutritional status: insights from an eating disorders clinic population.

Objective: To determine the relationship between serum ferritin and malnutrition in newly assessed patients at a paediatric eating disorders clinic.

Design: This was a prospectively assessed clinical cohort study.

Setting: Intake assessment clinic of a tertiary eating disorders service for children and adolescents.