Health security-Why is 'public health' not enough?

There is a growing tendency in global discourse to describe a health issue as a security issue. But why is this health security language and framing necessary during times of crisis? Why is the term "health security" used when perhaps simply saying "public health" would do? As reference to 'health security' grows in contemporary discourse, research, advocacy, and policymaking, its prominence is perhaps most consequential in public health. Existing power dynamics in global health are produced and maintained through political processes.

Using routine data to examine factors associated with stillbirth in three tertiary maternity facilities in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Background: Over one-third of the global stillbirth burden occurs in countries affected by conflict or a humanitarian crisis, including Afghanistan. Stillbirth rates in Afghanistan remained high in 2021 at over 26 per 1000 births. Stillbirths have devastating physical, psycho-social and economic impacts on women, families and healthcare providers.

Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an ACT and compassion-based intervention for women with breast cancer: study protocol of two randomised controlled trials {1}.

Background: Breast cancer is the most diagnosed cancer in women worldwide and carries a considerable psychosocial burden. Interventions based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and compassion-based approaches show promise in improving adjustment and quality of life in people with cancer. The Mind programme is an integrative ACT and compassion-based intervention tailored for women with breast cancer, which aims to prepare women for survivorship by promoting psychological flexibility and self-compassion.

Alone or in combination, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate alleviate ECM degradation in osteoarthritis by inhibiting the NF-κB pathway.

Backgrounds: Osteoarthritis (OA) significantly impacts the elderly, leading to disability and decreased quality of life. While hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) are recognized for their therapeutic potential in OA, their effects on extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation are not well understood. This study investigates the impact of HA and CS, individually and combined, on ECM degradation in OA and the underlying mechanisms.

Imaging abnormalities of the acromioclavicular joint and subacromial space are common in asymptomatic shoulders: a systematic review.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of acromioclavicular (AC) joint and subacromial space imaging abnormalities in asymptomatic adults, with a secondary objective of comparing findings between asymptomatic and symptomatic shoulders within the same study populations.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies examining shoulder imaging abnormalities detected by X-ray, ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in asymptomatic adults (PROSPERO registration CRD42018090041). This report focuses on AC joint and subacromial space abnormalities.

Generation Victoria (GenV): protocol for a longitudinal birth cohort of Victorian children and their parents.

Background: In a world confronted with new and connected challenges, novel strategies are needed to help children and adults achieve their full potential, to predict, prevent and treat disease, and to achieve equity in services and outcomes. Australia's Generation Victoria (GenV) cohorts are designed for multi-pronged discovery (what could improve outcomes?) and intervention research (what actually works, how much and for whom?). Here, we describe the key features of its protocol.

Four-electron reduction of benzene by a samarium(II)-alkyl without the addition of external reducing agents.

Benzene reduction by molecular complexes remains an important synthetic challenge, requiring harsh reaction conditions involving group I metals. Reductions of benzene, to date, typically result in a loss of aromaticity, although the benzene tetra-anion, a 10π-electron system, has been calculated to be stable and aromatic. Due to the lack of sufficiently potent reductants, four-electron reduction of benzene usually requires the use of group I metals.

Sex-specific mechanisms in vascular aging: exploring cellular and molecular pathways in the pathogenesis of age-related cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Aging remains the foremost risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, surpassing traditional factors in epidemiological significance. This review elucidates the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying vascular aging, with an emphasis on sex differences that influence disease progression and clinical outcomes in older adults. We discuss the convergence of aging processes at the macro- and microvascular levels and their contributions to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases.

Prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen in colorectal adenocarcinoma: expanding hypotheses into clinical practice.

Purpose: This study seeks to resolve a fundamental question in oncology: Why do appendiceal and colorectal adenocarcinomas exhibit distinct liver metastasis rates? Building on our prior hypothesis published in the British Journal of Surgery, our institution has investigated potential DNA mutations within the carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM5) gene's Pro-Glu-Leu-Pro-Lys (PELPK) motif to evaluate its role as a biomarker for liver metastasis risk.

Methods: Partnering with the Australian Genome Research Facility, the PELPK motif of CEACAM5 was analysed in colorectal and appendiceal adenocarcinomas to detect DNA mutations associated with liver metastasis. Additionally, our institution performed the COPPER trial to assess carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in portal versus peripheral blood in patients with appendiceal adenocarcinoma and a systematic review and meta-analysis of 136 studies on CEA's prognostic significance among patients with colorectal and appendiceal adenocarcinoma.

Impact of Paternal Breastfeeding Interventions on Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates and Attitudes of Fathers Towards Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review.

Purpose Of Review: This systematic review examines the effectiveness of breastfeeding interventions involving fathers, focusing on their impact on exclusive breastfeeding rates and paternal attitudes towards breastfeeding. The study aims to highlight the crucial role of fathers in antenatal breastfeeding promotion programs and their potential to enhance breastfeeding outcomes.

Recent Findings: A systematic review was conducted following the 2020 PRISMA guidelines, searching PubMed, CINAHL, and Medline databases for randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies published after December 2017.

Establishing bio-logging data collections as dynamic archives of animal life on Earth.

Rapid growth in bio-logging-the use of animal-borne electronic tags to document the movements, behaviour, physiology and environments of wildlife-offers opportunities to mitigate biodiversity threats and expand digital natural history archives. Here we present a vision to achieve such benefits by accounting for the heterogeneity inherent to bio-logging data and the concerns of those who collect and use them. First, we can enable data integration through standard vocabularies, transfer protocols and aggregation protocols, and drive their wide adoption.

Enhancing Radiographic Diagnosis: CycleGAN-Based Methods for Reducing Cast Shadow Artifacts in Wrist Radiographs.

We extend existing techniques by using generative adversarial network (GAN) models to reduce the appearance of cast shadows in radiographs across various age groups. We retrospectively collected 11,500 adult and paediatric wrist radiographs, evenly divided between those with and without casts. The test subset consisted of 750 radiographs with cast and 750 without cast.

A risk-based approach can guide safe cell line development and cell banking for scaled-up cultivated meat production.

For commercial viability, cultivated meats require scientifically informed approaches to identify and manage hazards and risks. Here we discuss food safety in the rapidly developing field of cultivated meat as it shifts from lab-based to commercial scales. We focus on what science-informed risk mitigation processes can be implemented from neighbouring fields.

Subfamily evolution analysis using nuclear and chloroplast data from the same reads.

The chloroplast (cp) genome is a widely used tool for exploring plant evolutionary relationships, yet its effectiveness in fully resolving these relationships remains uncertain. Integrating cp genome data with nuclear DNA information offers a more comprehensive view but often requires separate datasets. In response, we employed the same raw read sequencing data to construct cp genome-based trees and nuclear DNA phylogenetic trees using Read2Tree, a cost-efficient method for extracting conserved nuclear gene sequences from raw read data, focusing on the Aurantioideae subfamily, which includes Citrus and its relatives.

Analysis and prediction of condylar resorption following orthognathic surgery.

Condylar resorption is a feared complication of orthognathic surgery. This study investigated condylar resorption in a cohort of 200 patients This allowed for a powerful update on incidence and risk factors. 9.

Machine learning based prediction model for bile leak following hepatectomy for liver cancer.

Objective: We sought to develop a machine learning (ML) preoperative model to predict bile leak following hepatectomy for primary and secondary liver cancer.

Methods: An eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) model was developed to predict post-hepatectomy bile leak using data from the ACS-NSQIP database. The model was externally validated using data from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) multi-institutional databases.

Motor-sparing regional anaesthesia for total knee arthroplasty: a narrative and systematic literature review.

Total knee arthroplasty is a life-changing surgical procedure that is associated with a high incidence of severe postoperative pain. Key to enhancing recovery after surgery is effective analgesia and early mobilisation. Innovations in motor-sparing regional anaesthesia techniques that have improved recovery include targeted surgical local infiltration analgesia, adductor canal blockade, genicular nerve blocks, and the infiltration between the popliteal artery and posterior capsule of the knee (iPACK) block.

Early noninvasive ventilation in general wards for acute respiratory failure: an international, multicentre, open-label, randomised trial.

Background: The impact of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) managed outside the intensive care unit in patients with early acute respiratory failure remains unclear. We aimed to determine whether adding early NIV prevents the progression to severe respiratory failure.

Methods: In this multinational, randomised, open-label controlled trial, adults with mild acute respiratory failure (arterial oxygen partial pressure/fraction of inspiratory oxygen [Pao/FiO] ratio ≥200) were enrolled across 11 hospitals in Italy, Greece, and Kazakhstan.

Preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate to predict cardiac events in major noncardiac surgery: a secondary analysis of two large international studies.

Background: Optimised use of kidney function information might improve cardiac risk prediction in noncardiac surgery.

Methods: In 35,815 patients from the VISION cohort study and 9219 patients from the POISE-2 trial who were ≥45 yr old and underwent nonurgent inpatient noncardiac surgery, we examined (by age and sex) the association between continuous nonlinear preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and the composite of myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery, nonfatal cardiac arrest, or death owing to a cardiac cause within 30 days after surgery. We estimated contributions of predictive information, C-statistic, and net benefit from eGFR and other common patient and surgical characteristics to large multivariable models.

Behavioral and sociodemographic correlates of sleep duration among children in Samoa.

Objectives: To describe sleep duration, adherence to sleep recommendations, and behavioral and sociodemographic correlates of sleep among Samoan children.

Methods: In a longitudinal cohort study of Samoan children aged 2-9years (n = 481; 50% female), primary caregivers reported usual number of hours of nighttime sleep during 2015, 2017/2018, and 2019/2020 data collection waves. Associations between behavioral and sociodemographic characteristics and sleep duration were assessed using generalized linear and mixed effect regressions.

Behind the scenes of EQA - characteristics, capabilities, benefits and assets of external quality assessment (EQA).

This is the first in a series of five papers that detail the role and substantial impact that external quality assessment (EQA) and their providers' services play in ensuring diagnostic (IVD) performance quality. The aim is to give readers and users of EQA services an insight into the processes in EQA, explain to them what happens before EQA samples are delivered and after examination results are submitted to the provider, how they are assessed, what benefits participants can expect, but also who are stakeholders other than participants and what significance do EQA data and assessment results have for them. This first paper presents the history of EQA, insights into legal, financing and ethical matters, information technology used in EQA, structure and lifecycle of EQA programs, frequency and intensity of challenges, and unique requirements of extra-examination and educational EQA programs.

Injury risk factors and their priority for mitigation in women's netball: a systematic review and Delphi consensus.

This study aimed to establish consensus on injury risk factors in netball via a combined systematic review and Delphi method approach. A systematic search of databases (PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL) was conducted from inception until June 2023. Twenty-four risk factors were extracted from 17 studies and combined with a three-round Delphi approach to achieve consensus.

Episodic headaches and cognitive decline: uncovering neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease in a young patient.

A male in his 20s presented with episodic headache and subsequently developed episodic unilateral weakness, dysphasia and encephalopathy. These paroxysmal episodes persisted over time with the development of background cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms. MRI surveillance demonstrated progressive T2 hyperintensity with focal cortical oedema correlating to symptoms observed during clinical episodes.

DPPX antibody-mediated disease mimicking Wernicke's encephalopathy.

Anti-dipeptidyl-peptidase-like protein 6 antibody-mediated disease is a rare autoimmune encephalitis typically presenting with diarrhoea and/or weight loss, central nervous system hyperexcitability and cognitive dysfunction. We present a case of a young woman with 10 days of diplopia and unsteadiness in the context of dysthymia and significant weight loss over 2 months. Initial examination demonstrated mixed dysconjugate nystagmus and ataxic gait.

Sharing data matters: exploring the attitudes of older consumers on an emerging healthy ageing data platform using electronic health records for research.

Background: In Australia, with the recent introduction of electronic health records (EHRs) into hospitals, the use of hospital-based EHRs for research is a relatively new concept. The aim of this study was to explore the attitudes of older healthcare consumers on sharing their health data with an emerging EHR-based Research Data Platform within the National Centre for Healthy Ageing.

Methods: This was a qualitative study.