A five-gene qPCR signature can classify type 2 asthma comparably to microscopy of induced sputum from severe asthma patients.

Unlabelled: Asthma is a heterogenous disease characterized by airway inflammation and variable expiratory airflow limitation resulting in variable respiratory symptoms. Characterization of airway inflammation is important to choose the optimal treatment for severe asthma patients eligible for biological treatment. However, counting cells in induced sputum samples are a time-consuming process, highly dependent on personal skills.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Novel Online Program for Mental Health Carers.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a new online program ( ) for carers of a person with depressive or anxiety symptoms.

Methods: Using a two-arm randomised controlled trial design, 108 carers of a person with depressive or anxiety symptomology aged 16 years or over (89% female; mean age 50 years) received immediate or delayed access to the program. Feasibility was measured using program activation and survey completion rates.

Long-term trajectories of employment status, workhours and disability support pension status, after a first episode of CNS demyelination.

Background: People with multiple sclerosis face significant employment-related challenges, with little known of the drivers of these outcomes.

Objective: We examined prospective trajectories of employment-related outcomes up to 11 years following a first episode of central nervous system (CNS) demyelination (FCD).

Methods: Participants were aged 18-59 years, at FCD, with at least two observations and were employed at study entry or anytime during follow-up ( = 207).

The emerging role of artificial intelligence in multiple sclerosis imaging.

Background: Computer-aided diagnosis can facilitate the early detection and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) thus enabling earlier interventions and a reduction in long-term MS-related disability. Recent advancements in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the improvements in the classification, quantification and identification of diagnostic patterns in medical images for a range of diseases, in particular, for MS. Importantly, data generated using AI techniques are analyzed automatically, which compares favourably with labour-intensive and time-consuming manual methods.

A pharmacogenetic study implicates in the response to Interferon-β in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease in which biomarker identification is fundamental to predict response to treatments and to deliver the optimal drug to patients. We previously found an association between rs7298096, a polymorphism upstream to the gene, and the 4-year response to interferon-β (IFNβ) treatment in MS patients.

Objectives: To analyse the association between rs7298096 and time to first relapse (TTFR) during IFNβ therapy in MS patients and to better investigate its functional role.

NLRP3 polymorphisms and response to interferon-beta in multiple sclerosis patients.

We aimed to investigate whether NLR family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) polymorphisms are associated with the response to interferon-beta (IFNβ) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. A total of 14 NLRP3 polymorphisms were genotyped in a cohort of 665 relapsing-remitting MS patients recruited across 5 centers and classified into responders and non-responders according to clinical-radiological criteria after 1 year of IFNβ treatment. A meta-analysis failed to demonstrate significant associations between the response to IFNβ and NLRP3 polymorphisms.

EBV and MS: Major cause, minor contribution or red-herring?

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease with genetic and environmental risk factors. Epstein Barr-Virus (EBV) has been closely associated with MS but with a significant amount of conflicting evidence. Some of the evidence for EBV involvement in MS includes: almost 100% of MS patients showing past EBV infection, an association with Infectious Mononucleosis (acute EBV infection), higher titres of EBV antibodies associated with an increased risk of MS development, and an overall altered immune response to EBV found in peripheral blood and the CNS of MS patients.

Ongoing increase in incidence and prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Newcastle, Australia: A 50-year study.

Background: Since 1959, multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence has been estimated for the east coast Australian city of Newcastle. Previous surveys, conducted in 1988 and 2003, have described an increase in the prevalence and incidence of MS.

Objectives: In this study, we evaluated whether these trends continue and provide 50 years of MS epidemiological follow-up for this southern hemisphere city.

Multistrategy childcare-based intervention to improve compliance with nutrition guidelines versus usual care in long day care services: a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Interventions to improve child diet are recommended as dietary patterns developed in childhood track into adulthood and influence the risk of chronic disease. For child health, childcare services are required to provide foods to children consistent with nutrition guidelines. Research suggests that foods and beverages provided by services to children are often inconsistent with nutrition guidelines.

Getting right to the point: identifying Australian outpatients' priorities and preferences for patient-centred quality improvement in chronic disease care.

Objectives: To identify specific actions for patient-centred quality improvement in chronic disease outpatient settings, this study identified patients' general and specific preferences among a comprehensive suite of initiatives for change.

Design And Setting: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three hospital-based clinics specializing in oncology, neurology and cardiology care located in New South Wales, Australia.

Participants And Measures: Adult English-speaking outpatients completed the touch-screen Consumer Preferences Survey in waiting rooms or treatment areas.

Randomised controlled trial of referral to a telephone-based weight management and healthy lifestyle programme for patients with knee osteoarthritis who are overweight or obese: a study protocol.

Introduction: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide and is associated with significant pain and disability. Clinical practice guidelines consistently recommend weight management as a core aspect of care for overweight and obese patients with knee OA; however, provision of such care is suboptimal. Telephone-based interventions offer a novel approach to delivery of weight management care in these patients.

Thrombolytic Recanalization of Carotid Arteries Is Highly Dependent on Degree of Stenosis, Despite Sonothrombolysis.

Background: Stroke associated with acute carotid occlusion is associated with poor effectiveness of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) thrombolysis and poor prognosis. Rupture of atherosclerotic plaques resulting in vascular occlusions may occur on plaques, causing variable stenosis. We hypothesized that degree of stenosis may affect recanalization rates with tPA.

Ischemic penumbra as a trigger for intracranial pressure rise - A potential cause for collateral failure and infarct progression?

We have recently shown that intracranial pressure (ICP) increases dramatically 24 h after minor intraluminal thread occlusion with reperfusion, independent of edema. Some of the largest ICP rises were observed in rats with the smallest final infarcts. A possible alternate mechanism for this ICP rise is an increase of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) volume secondary to choroid plexus damage (a known complication of the intraluminal stroke model used).

Assisting the bereaved: A systematic review of the evidence for grief counselling.

Background: Supporting people after bereavement is a priority area for many health services. Investment in bereavement care must be supported by a rigorous evidence-base.

Aim: To examine the (1) relative proportion of descriptive, measurement and intervention research in grief counselling and (2) quality and effectiveness of intervention studies.

'Physical Activity 4 Everyone' school-based intervention to prevent decline in adolescent physical activity levels: 12 month (mid-intervention) report on a cluster randomised trial.

Background: Adolescence is a recognised period of physical activity decline, particularly among low-income communities. We report the 12-month (midpoint) effects of a 2-year multicomponent physical activity intervention implemented in disadvantaged secondary schools.

Methods: A cluster randomised trial was undertaken in 10 secondary schools located in disadvantaged areas in New South Wales, Australia.

Impact of fat, protein, and glycemic index on postprandial glucose control in type 1 diabetes: implications for intensive diabetes management in the continuous glucose monitoring era.

Background: Continuous glucose monitoring highlights the complexity of postprandial glucose patterns present in type 1 diabetes and points to the limitations of current approaches to mealtime insulin dosing based primarily on carbohydrate counting.

Methods: A systematic review of all relevant biomedical databases, including MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, was conducted to identify research on the effects of dietary fat, protein, and glycemic index (GI) on acute postprandial glucose control in type 1 diabetes and prandial insulin dosing strategies for these dietary factors.

Results: All studies examining the effect of fat (n = 7), protein (n = 7), and GI (n = 7) indicated that these dietary factors modify postprandial glycemia.

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial of an implementation intervention to increase healthy eating and physical activity-promoting policies, and practices in centre-based childcare services: study protocol.

Background: Promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in early childhood is recommended as a global chronic disease prevention strategy. Centre-based childcare services represent a promising setting to provide children with opportunities to improve healthy eating and physical activity. Evidence to inform implementation of childcare obesity prevention guidelines into routine practice in childcare, however, is lacking.

Alignment of systematic reviews published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Database of Abstracts and Reviews of Effectiveness with global burden-of-disease data: a bibliographic analysis.

Background: Systematic reviews of high-quality evidence are used to inform policy and practice. To improve community health, the production of such reviews should align with burden of disease. This study aims to assess if the volume of research output from systematic reviews proportionally aligns with burden of disease assessed using percentages of mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Oxidative stress and human spermatozoa: diagnostic and functional significance of aldehydes generated as a result of lipid peroxidation.

Oxidative stress is known to compromise human sperm function and to activate the intrinsic apoptotic cascade in these cells. One of the key features of oxidatively stressed spermatozoa is the induction of a lipid peroxidation process that results in the formation of aldehydes potentially capable of disrupting sperm function through the formation of adducts with DNA and key proteins. In this study, we have examined the impact of a range of small molecular mass aldehydes generated as a consequence of lipid peroxidation on human sperm function and also compared the two most commonly formed compounds, 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA), for their relative ability to reflect a state of oxidative stress in these cells.

Nerve-Cancer Cell Cross-talk: A Novel Promoter of Tumor Progression.

Recent studies have revealed the essential role played by nerves in tumor progression. Nerves have been shown to infiltrate the tumor microenvironment and actively stimulate cancer cell growth and dissemination. This mechanism involves the release of neurotransmitters, such as catecholamines and acetylcholine, directly into the vicinity of cancer and stromal cells to activate corresponding membrane receptors.

Chronic disease health risk behaviours amongst people with a mental illness.

Objective: Amongst people with a mental illness, modifiable health risk behaviours contribute substantially to increased chronic disease morbidity and mortality. This study examined the prevalence of and interest in changing such behaviours amongst community mental health service clients in Australia.

Method: A telephone interview was undertaken with Australian community mental health service clients.

Effects of gender, cytokine gene polymorphisms and environmental factors on inflammatory responses.

Previous studies have indicated that cytokine gene polymorphisms of Indigenous Australians were predominantly associated with strong pro-inflammatory responses. We tested the hypothesis that cells of donors with genetic profiles of inflammatory cytokine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) similar to Indigenous Australians produce higher pro-inflammatory responses. PBMCs from 14 donors with genetic profiles for a high risk of strong pro-inflammatory responses and 14 with low-risk profiles were stimulated with endotoxin and effects of gender, IFN-γ, cigarette smoke extract (CSE) and testosterone on cytokine responses analysed.

Macrophage activation, age and sex effects of immunometabolism in obese asthma.

Obese asthma is characterised by infiltration of adipose tissue by activated macrophages and mast cells. The aim of this study was to examine the age and sex effects of immunometabolism in obese asthma. Obese and non-obese asthmatic children and adults underwent spirometry, body composition assessment by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and measurement of serum soluble CD163 (sCD163), tryptase, C-reactive protein (CRP) and other adipocytokines.