20,663 results match your criteria: "Macquarie University; Sydney[Affiliation]"

International consensus statement on microbiome testing in clinical practice.

Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol

December 2024

Department of Translational Medicine and Surgery, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, UOC Gastroenterologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

There is growing interest in the potential exploitation of the gut microbiome as a diagnostic tool in medicine, but evidence supporting its clinical usefulness is scarce. An increasing number of commercial providers offer direct-to-consumer microbiome diagnostic tests without any consensus on their regulation or any proven value in clinical practice, which could result in considerable waste of individual and health-care resources and potential drawbacks in the clinical management of patients. We convened an international multidisciplinary expert panel to standardise best practices of microbiome testing for clinical implementation, including recommendations on general principles and minimum requirements for their provision, indications, pre-testing protocols, method of analyses, reporting of results, and potential clinical value.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Syllis Savigny in Lamarck, 1818, the type genus of Syllidae, is the largest and most diverse within the family. This genus presents many taxonomic, biogeographic, and phylogenetic problems due mainly to the lack of molecular data and morphological synapomorphies for many of the species, but also due to poor or inadequate descriptions. In order to improve our understanding of the genus, we have undertaken a morphological revision of Australian species, based on type material and material collected over years by the Australian Museum.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Current advancements in fungal engineering technologies for Sustainable Development Goals.

Trends Microbiol

December 2024

ARC Center of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Australian Genome Foundry, and School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Article Synopsis
  • - Fungi play a crucial role in addressing global issues like agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and climate change by utilizing advanced techniques in fungal genomics and metabolic engineering.
  • - Fungal genomics involves analyzing and modifying fungal DNA to improve traits such as pest resistance and nutrient absorption, while metabolic engineering changes their biochemical processes to produce valuable materials like biofuels and pharmaceuticals.
  • - The integration of AI with these fields can enhance sustainable farming practices, improve soil health, and support ecosystem restoration, while this review assesses the latest research and challenges in scaling these innovative applications for a sustainable future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Halo traction evaluation of craniocervical instability in hereditary connective tissue disorder patients: Case series.

J Clin Neurosci

December 2024

Brain and Spine Surgery, Bella Vista, NSW, Australia; Norwest Private Hospital, Dept of Neurosurgery, NSW, Australia; Macquarie University Hospital, Dept of Neurosurgery, NSW, Australia; University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address:

Introduction: Craniocervical instability (CCI) is a condition commonly found in patients with connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), leading to various symptoms. Assessing patients for surgical fusion as a treatment for CCI is challenging due to the complex nature of EDS-related symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the role of pre-fusion halo-vest traction in alleviating symptoms and determining suitable candidates for fusion surgeries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Traditional monitoring of athletes with cardiac symptoms is limited due to sport-specific considerations and the intermittent nature of symptoms. Some portable electrocardiogram (ECG) devices may have more diagnostic utility than traditional monitoring. Their accuracy, advantages, and limitations should be considered when a clinician is considering the most appropriate device for investigation of an athlete's symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We used a scoping review design to map the available evidence describing the use of reassurance in clinical practice, interventions to increase the delivery of reassurance, and reassurance-related outcome measures. We searched CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Central from inception to October 2024. Publications were included if they described the use of reassurance or reassurance-related outcome measures in patients with non-specific low back pain (LBP) presenting to primary care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used to manage excess stomach acid production and provide gastroprotection from bleeding risk-increasing drugs (BRIDs). We aimed to determine the prevalence of potentially inappropriate PPI use in nursing homes and associated factors.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study using 8 years of electronic data.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Traffic flow prediction is the foundation of intelligent traffic management systems. Current methods prioritize the development of intricate models to capture spatio-temporal correlations, yet they often neglect the exploitation of latent features within traffic flow. Firstly, the correlation among different road nodes exhibits dynamism rather than remaining static.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Fast Real-time Assessment of Combination Therapies in Immuno-ONcology study in patients with aRCC (FRACTION-RCC) was designed to assess new immuno-oncology (IO) combinations in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC). We present results in IO-naive patients treated with nivolumab (NIVO) + relatlimab (RELA) or NIVO + ipilimumab (IPI) in track 1.

Methods: The open-label, randomised, phase II FRACTION-RCC trial enrolled patients with aRCC from 32 hospitals and cancer centres across six countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) disseminates genetic information between species and is a powerful mechanism of adaptation. Yet, we know little about its underlying drivers in eukaryotes. Giant transposons have been implicated as agents of fungal HGT, providing an unprecedented opportunity to reveal the evolutionary parameters behind this process.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • An international network is being developed to survey scientists continuously, gathering extensive datasets about their opinions over time.
  • Local coordinators at participating institutions will send out brief survey invitations to scientists, utilizing a simple 10-second survey format with a single statement and a five-point Likert scale.
  • A recent study successfully engaged over 20,000 scientists, receiving 6,807 responses, which demonstrates the feasibility of quickly measuring global scientific opinion, potentially aiding in policy-making and enhancing public understanding.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Despite the benefits of digital transformation, many healthcare organisations still rely on manual, traditional processes to transfer clinical images and videos to electronic patient records (EPRs), consuming valuable nurse-patient-facing time. Our study aimed to outline tasks performed by nurses to traditionally transfer clinical images and videos to EPRs, assess the impact on nurses' time and efficiency cost, and report on nurse experiences when transitioning to a digitised process.

Methods: Observations spanned two one-week periods in the ENT outpatient department of Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, using direct observational time and predetermined motion time system analysis to map nurses' tasks pre-and post-implementation of a Medical Video Recorder and Centralised Medical Content Management.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Interplay between Energy and Entropy Mediates Ambimodal Selectivity of Cycloadditions.

J Chem Theory Comput

December 2024

Department of Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.

One ambimodal transition state can lead to the formation of multiple products. However, it remains fundamentally unknown how the energy and entropy along the post-TS pathways mediate ambimodal selectivity. Here, we investigated the energy and entropy profiles along the post-TS pathways in four [4 + 2]/[6 + 4] cycloadditions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Improving Lynch syndrome detection: a mixed-methods process evaluation of a hybrid type III effectiveness-implementation trial.

BMC Health Serv Res

December 2024

Implementation to Impact (i2i), School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW, Samuels Building, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.

Introduction: Translating evidence-based practices into real-world healthcare settings is challenging, particularly in the rapidly evolving field of genomics. A pragmatic two-arm cluster-randomized clinical trial (Hide and Seek Project - HaSP) tested two implementation approaches for improving hereditary cancer referral practices with one key distinction: implementation strategies that were designed 1) explicitly using psychological theory, or 2) using healthcare professional intuition. This mixed-methods process evaluation aimed to provide insights into how and why change occurred by examining contextual determinants, identifying mechanisms of action, and exploring the role of theory.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

CD97 maintains tumorigenicity of glioblastoma stem cells via mTORC2 signaling and is targeted by CAR Th9 cells.

Cell Rep Med

December 2024

The Zhongzhou Laboratory for Integrative Biology, Henan Key Laboratory of Brain Targeted Bio-Nanomedicine, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan 475004, China; Henan-Macquarie University Joint Centre for Biomedical Innovation, School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan 475004, China. Electronic address:

Glioblastoma (GBM) stem cells (GSCs) contribute to poor prognosis in patients with GBM. Identifying molecular markers is crucial for developing targeted therapies. Here, we identify cluster of differentiation 97 (CD97) as an optimal GSC surface antigen for potential targeting by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy through in vitro antibody screening.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HLA-compatibility remains an important triage test for deceased donor kidney allocation. Low-intermediate resolution donor HLA-typing is typically available at allocation, but its accuracy in assigning pre-transplant donor-specific anti-HLA antibody (DSA) and HLA mismatches compared to 2-field high-resolution typing is poorly characterised. Consecutive deceased donor/recipient pairs from a single centre between 2016 and 2020 were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • University students experience high levels of psychological distress, prompting the need for accessible mental health treatments, particularly through internet-delivered therapies like internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT).
  • This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptability of a brief iCBT program offered by an Australian university's counseling service, assessing its impact on anxiety and depression over a five-year period with 845 students involved.
  • Results showed significant reductions in symptoms of depression (27% decrease) and anxiety (37% decrease), with over 70% of participants expressing high satisfaction and more than 50% reporting significant improvement by the end of the treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Psychological distress is common among university students, leading to poor performance and higher dropout rates, which has increased interest in internet-delivered therapies.
  • - A study in New Zealand investigated a five-week internet cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) program offered by a university counseling service to assess its acceptability and effectiveness for addressing anxiety and depression among students.
  • - Results showed that 839 students participated, with significant reductions in depression (35%) and anxiety (36%) symptoms, high satisfaction levels (>60%), and less than 10% experiencing symptom worsening, supporting iCBT as a viable option for routine care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A global survey addressing sustainability of pollen monitoring.

World Allergy Organ J

December 2024

School of Biomedical Science, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4059, Australia.

Background: Contemporary airborne pollen records underpin environmental health warnings, yet how pollen monitoring networks are sustained is poorly understood. This study investigated by whom and how pollen monitoring sites across the globe are managed and funded.

Methods: Coordinators listed in the Worldwide Map of Pollen Monitoring Stations were invited to complete a digital questionnaire designed to survey the people and organisations involved, types, and duration of funding sources, as well as uses, purpose, and sharing of pollen information.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Little is known about the information needs of older people and their family caregivers, particularly around medication management. This is largely because this population are infrequently consulted in research. Health technologies such as digital dashboards can present comprehensive and timely data summaries to improve knowledge and guide decision-making.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Automatic three-dimensional analysis of posterosuperior full-thickness rotator cuff tear size on MRI.

J Shoulder Elbow Surg

December 2024

School for Biomedical and Precision Engineering, Personalised Medicine Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

Background: Tear size and shape are known to prognosticate the efficacy of surgical rotator cuff (RC) repair however, current manual measurements on magnetic resonance images (MRI), exhibit high interobserver variabilities and exclude three-dimensional (3D) morphological information. This study aimed to develop algorithms for automatic 3D analyses of posterosuperior full-thickness RC tear to enable efficient and precise tear evaluation and 3D tear visualization.

Methods: - A deep-learning network for automatic segmentation of the tear region in coronal and sagittal multicenter MRI was trained with manually segmented (consensus of 3 experts) pd- and T2 weighted MRI of shoulders with full-thickness posterosuperior tears (n=200).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF