Predicting Antidepressant Treatment Response From Cortical Structure on MRI: A Mega-Analysis From the ENIGMA-MDD Working Group.

Accurately predicting individual antidepressant treatment response could expedite the lengthy trial-and-error process of finding an effective treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). We tested and compared machine learning-based methods that predict individual-level pharmacotherapeutic treatment response using cortical morphometry from multisite longitudinal cohorts. We conducted an international analysis of pooled data from six sites of the ENIGMA-MDD consortium (n = 262 MDD patients; age = 36.

Physiological Insights Into the Role of Pericytes in Spinal Cord Injury.

Vascular regeneration plays a vital role in tissue repair yet is drastically impaired in those with a spinal cord injury (SCI). Pericytes are of great significance as they are entwined with vessel-specific endothelial cells and actively contribute to maintaining the spinal cord's vascular network. Within the neurovascular unit (NVU), subtypes of pericytes characterized by various markers such as PDGFR-β, Desmin, CD146, and NG-2 are involved in vascular regeneration in SCI repair.

Climate Change Influences via Species Distribution Shifts and Century-Scale Warming in an End-To-End California Current Ecosystem Model.

Climate change can impact marine ecosystems through many biological and ecological processes. Ecosystem models are one tool that can be used to simulate how the complex impacts of climate change may manifest in a warming world. In this study, we used an end-to-end Atlantis ecosystem model to compare and contrast the effects of climate-driven species redistribution and projected temperature from three separate climate models on species of key commercial importance in the California Current Ecosystem.

Clinical utility of F-fluorodopa positron emission tomography in the movement disorder clinic: an Australian experience.

Background: Differentiating idiopathic Parkinson disease (iPD) from other causes of tremor and parkinsonism based on clinical grounds can be challenging, particularly early in the course of disease or in the case of atypical clinical presentations. F-fluorodopa (F-DOPA) is a positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand that can be used to demonstrate the presence and pattern of striatal presynaptic dopaminergic deficit and, thus, assist in the diagnosis of iPD and related disorders.

Aims: To determine the clinical utility of F-DOPA PET in an Australian movement disorder clinic setting.

The effect of type of anaesthetic on delirium after surgery for acute hip fracture: An instrumental variable analysis to assess causation.

Delirium is the most common in-hospital complication affecting older adults with acute hip fractures. Current evidence demonstrates inconsistent associations between anaesthetic type for acute hip fracture surgery and postoperative delirium. Using the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry database, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients aged 50 years and over who underwent acute hip fracture surgery between 2015 and 2020.

Culprit allergen prevalence in polyreactive individuals reflects prescription trends: A tool for estimating comparative anaphylaxis risk using the example of neuromuscular blocking agents.

Prescription-event monitoring (PEM) is the current gold standard for determining the risk of rare drug side-effects and comparing the risk between agents; however, spontaneous or prompted reporting schemes have low case-detection rates and exposure may be difficult to estimate. A novel method is described that allows a comparative adverse event rate between two drugs to be estimated-based on patterns of cross-reactivity-requiring only a sample of cases and no direct knowledge of drug exposure rates. Agreement was compared between the novel method and historical estimates of risk using PEM for comparative risk of rocuronium versus vecuronium anaphylaxis.

Association of medical emergency team activation in the 24-hour postoperative period with length of stay and in-hospital mortality.

Medical emergency team (MET) activations were designed to improve patient safety and outcomes by providing timely and specialised care to patients experiencing clinical deterioration. The primary objective of this study was to describe the association between MET events in the early (24-h) postoperative period and in-hospital mortality as well as length of stay. A retrospective data linkage study was performed of prospectively collected data from patient administrative data and the MET database at Launceston General Hospital located in Tasmania, Australia.

A feasibility study of measuring maternal anaemia and postoperative outcomes after caesarean section.

SummaryIron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is a global health problem. The impact of IDA on outcomes in obstetric patients who undergo caesarean section (CS) is unknown. We assessed the feasibility of conducting a large study to investigate perioperative anaemia and outcomes after CS.

Parents' Experiences of Raising 7- to 11-Year-Old Children With ADHD and Perception of a Proposed Parenting Program: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: To examine the experiences of Australian parents raising primary school-aged children with ADHD and gather feedback on a proposed ADHD parenting program.

Methods: Reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews undertaken with 11 Australian parents of 7- to 11-year-old children with ADHD. Interviews were conducted over Webex, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed in NVivo Ltd.

A cost analysis of the anaesthetic management of patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a tertiary referral hospital in Queensland, Australia.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Australia resulted in significant additional infection control precautions for consumers and the health workforce. Prior to widespread vaccine availability, substantial changes were made to the operating theatre management of patients presenting for surgery with suspected or diagnosed COVID-19. This study aimed to calculate the actual costs of operating theatre care for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19.

Renal colic: Streamlining investigations to improve patient outcomes in emergency medicine.

Objective: In Australian EDs, patients experience long waits for imaging, particularly for presentations such as renal colic. Computed tomography (CT) imaging is the gold-standard for renal stones, although ultrasonography is recommended for young patients and those susceptible to radiation, an approach supported by The Canberra Hospital (TCH) ED guidelines for renal colic. This audit aims to not only assess how well these guidelines are adhered to, but also to discuss possible methods of improving flow through ED and thus patient outcomes.

A Highly Impact-Tolerant Textile-Based Lithium-Ion Battery.

Textile-based lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are in great demand to power wearable electronics. They currently face a key safety challenge, particularly concerning mechanical abuse that could trigger thermal runaway, causing harm to individuals. Here, we report on Kevlar-fabric-based LIBs that can afford high impact tolerance while offering excellent electrochemical performance comparable to metal-foil-based cells.

Exploring Paramedicine Models of Care: A Novel Macro Analysis Using the RESPIGHT Framework.

Objective: To evaluate the alignment of undergraduate paramedicine curricula in Australia with the RESPIGHT model, focusing on diverse aspects such as emergency response, community engagement and governance.

Design: Deductive thematic analysis was conducted to assess the alignment of curricula from 16 Australian universities with the RESPIGHT framework.

Setting: The study reviewed undergraduate pre-registration paramedicine programmes across Australian universities.

Diagnostic and Prognostic Significance of Exosomes and Their Components in Patients With Cancers.

Background: Cancer is the second leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from liquid biopsy samples are used in early cancer detection, characterization, and surveillance. Exosomes are a subset of EVs produced by all cells and present in all body fluids.

Advancements in Porous Silicon Biosensors for Point of Care, Wearable, and Implantable Applications.

Biosensors play a critical role in modern diagnostics, offering high sensitivity and specificity for detecting various relevant clinical analytes as well as real-time monitoring and integrability in point-of-care (POC) platforms and wearable/implantable devices. Among the numerous materials used as biosensing substrates, porous silicon (pSi) has garnered significant attention due to its tunable properties, ease of fabrication, large surface area, and versatile surface chemistry. These attributes make pSi an ideal platform for transducer development, particularly in the fabrication of optical and electrochemical biosensors.

Boosting Gaseous Acetone Detection by Nanoheterojunctions of p-Type MWCNTs/PANI Integrated into 3D Flame-Synthesized n-Type ZnO.

Accurate methods for detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are essential for noninvasive disease diagnosis, with breath analysis providing a simpler, user-friendly alternative to traditional diagnostic tools. However, challenges remain in low-temperature VOC solid-state sensors, especially concerning their selectivity and functionality at room temperature. Herein, we present key insights into optimizing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/polyaniline (PANI) and ZnO nanocomposites for efficient, light-free selective acetone sensing.

A Modular Self-Assembling and Self-Adjuvanting Multiepitope Peptide Nanoparticle Vaccine Platform to Improve the Efficacy and Immunogenicity of BCG.

After more than a century since its initial development, Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) remains the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis (TB). Subunit boosters are considered a viable strategy to enhance BCG efficacy, which often wanes in adolescence. While many studies on booster subunit vaccines have concentrated on recombinant proteins, here we developed a novel modular peptide-based subunit vaccine platform that is flexible, cold-chain independent and customizable to diverse circumstances and populations.

Image Findings from Dual-phase Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography for Diagnosing Tuberculosis-associated Fibrosing Mediastinitis.

Objective: Fibrosing mediastinitis (FM) is a rare and benign disease affecting the mediastinum and often causes pulmonary hypertension (PH). Timely diagnosis of PH caused by FM is clinically important to mitigate complications such as right heart failure in affected individuals. This retrospective study aimed to analyze the CT imaging characteristics of TB-related FM in patients with tuberculosis (TB).

AusPATH: Activism influencing health policy.

Objective: To consider the role of AusPATH and its position statements on health policy in Australia.

Conclusions: As a consequence of a membership policy which admits members with lived experience as health experts, AusPATH functions as an activist organisation whilst claiming to be a professional association. There is no accreditation or endorsement underpinning AusPATH's influence on health policy in Australia.

Transcaval embolisation of type-II endoleaks - The Australian experience.

Objectives: Embolizing an abdominal aortic aneurysm sac through a transcaval approach is a novel approach to treat type-II endoleaks that occur following aortic endografting. This study reviews the outcomes of this treatment in one of the few centres in Australia that offers this procedure.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted, including patients who had received transcaval embolisation of type-II endoleak over a 9-year period.