Predictors of failure of conservative management of cholecystitis: a systematic review of the literature.

Objectives: While emergency cholecystectomy is the preferred treatment for acute cholecystitis, conservative management can be used as a bridge to definitive surgical management in situations where emergency surgical services are limited. The objective of this systematic review is to identify factors associated with conservative management failure as defined as either failed resolution of symptoms on initial presentation, or the recurrence of symptoms whilst awaiting an elective cholecystectomy. This study aims to allow clinicians to make evidence-based recommendations for conservative versus operative management.

Factors that influence stress in caregivers of 5-year-old children with hearing loss wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants.

Objective: Stress levels among caregivers of children with hearing loss could influence caregiver-child interactions and ultimately, children's developmental outcomes. Given the limited understanding of stress levels among caregivers of Australian children with hearing loss, the present study aimed to examine stress in caregivers of 5-year-old children with hearing loss wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants and to identify factors associated with greater stress levels.

Methods: A total of 99 caregivers of 70 hearing aid users and 29 cochlear implant users participated in the study.

A natural experiment in social security as public health measure: Experiences of international students as temporary migrant workers during two Covid-19 lockdowns.

What is the impact of social security on public health? And what mechanisms does it operate through? To answer these questions, we take advantage of the unique circumstances of temporary migrant workers two Covid-19 lockdowns in Australia - one in which they were provided with social security, and one in which they were not. We undertook 47 qualitative interviews with South Asian international students who had lost their jobs in two lockdowns in 2020-2021. In Australia, international students represent the largest group of a growing temporary migration program, with many working in low-skilled occupations, in conditions below legal minimum standards.

A global survey of healthcare professionals undertaking MRI of patients with cochlear implants: a heterogeneity of practice and opinions.

Objective: To capture practice and opinions around the current clinical use of MRI in patients with cochlear implants (CIs), and to characterise patient progression from referral to image reporting.

Methods: An online survey recruited 237 healthcare professionals between 9 December 2019 and 9 September 2020. Descriptive statistics and informal thematic analyses were conducted.

Circular dichroism for secondary structure determination of proteins with unfolded domains using a self-organising map algorithm SOMSpec.

Many proteins and peptides are increasingly being recognised to contain unfolded domains or populations that are key to their function, whether it is in ligand binding or material assembly. We report an approach to determine the secondary structure for proteins with suspected significant unfolded domains or populations using our neural network approach SOMSpec. We proceed by derandomizing spectra by removing fractions of random coil (RC) spectra prior to secondary structure fitting and then regenerating α-helical and β-sheet contents for the experimental proteins.

A method for time-independent film dosimetry: Can we obtain accurate patient-specific QA results at any time postirradiation?

Aim: The aim of this work was twofold. (1) To investigate and present a comparison between EBT3 and EBT-XD in terms of postirradiation color changes. (2) Create an automated workflow to allow radiochromic film (EBT3/XD) to be scanned and converted to dose accurately at any postirradiation time.

Clinical utility of next-generation sequencing-based ctDNA testing for common and novel ALK fusions.

Objectives: Liquid biopsy for plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) next-generation sequencing (NGS) can detect ALK fusions, though data on clinical utility of this technology in the real world is limited.

Materials And Methods: Patients with lung cancer without known oncogenic drivers or who had acquired resistance to therapy (n = 736) underwent prospective plasma ctDNA NGS. A subset of this cohort (n = 497) also had tissue NGS.

Production of novel pladienolide analogues through native expression of a pathway-specific activator.

Aberrant splicing of pre-mRNA is implicated in many human genetic disorders. Small molecules that target the spliceosome are important leads as therapeutics and research tools, and one compound of significant interest is the polyketide natural product pladienolide B. Here, we describe the reactivation of quiescent pladienolide B production in the domesticated lab strain AS6200 by overexpression of the pathway-specific activator PldR.

VariantSpark: Cloud-based machine learning for association study of complex phenotype and large-scale genomic data.

Background: Many traits and diseases are thought to be driven by >1 gene (polygenic). Polygenic risk scores (PRS) hence expand on genome-wide association studies by taking multiple genes into account when risk models are built. However, PRS only considers the additive effect of individual genes but not epistatic interactions or the combination of individual and interacting drivers.

Pollution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in the sediments of Jazmurian playa in southeast Iran.

Jazmurian playa was an ephemeral lake with a large catchment in southeast Iran, which dried up over the last 10 years as a result of prolonged drought. As the lake was recipient of incoming industrial water with trace metals deposited to the sediment, the dust is the cause of environmental concern of the region and requires evaluation and better management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the environmental and ecological pollution of Jazmurian playa.

Parent perspectives and psychosocial needs 2 years following child critical injury: A qualitative inquiry.

Introduction: To provide effective care and promote wellbeing and positive outcomes for parents and families following paediatric critical injury there is a need to understand parent experiences and psychosocial support needs. This study explores parent experiences two years following their child's critical injury.

Methods: This multi-centre study used an interpretive qualitative design.

Interrelationship of microplastic pollution in sediments and oysters in a seaport environment of the eastern coast of Australia.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, microplastics have emerged as a pollutant of concern. Sea ports are recipients of large amount of discharges through ballast water, ship traffic and other commercial activities, which may additionally add to the overall marine microplastic pollution. The aim of this study was to determine the interrelationship of microplastic pollution in the sediments and oysters at six major seaports (Port Jackson, Botany, Kembla, Newcastle, Yamba and Eden) of New South Wales (NSW).

Proximate determinants of particulate matter (PM) emission, mortality and life expectancy in Europe, Central Asia, Australia, Canada and the US.

Background: The growing concern with environmental related impacts on mortality and morbidity means that the conceptual framework of environment-health-economic policy nexus is salient in the global debate on air pollution.

Objectives: With time series data spanning 2000-2016, this study explored the proximate determinants of ambient air pollution, mortality, and life expectancy in North America, Europe & Central Asia, and East Asia & Pacific regions.

Methods: The study applied historical data on urban population, total pollution, energy consumption, GDP per capita, life expectancy, mortality rate and industrial PM emissions to develop six parsimonious models using the generalized least squares (GLS) random-effects model estimation with first-order autoregressive [AR(1)] disturbance across 54 countries.

Assessment of trace elements pollution in the sea ports of New South Wales (NSW), Australia using oysters as bioindicators.

In this study Sydney rock oysters (S. glomerata) from six major sea ports of NSW, Australia were used as bioindicators to assess the distribution and levels of trace element accumulation in the ports. Substantial enrichment of Cu, Pb and Zn in the oysters of the sea ports were detected when compared to their background samples and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) provisional tolerable intake standard.

Parent experiences and psychosocial support needs 6 months following paediatric critical injury: A qualitative study.

Introduction: Parents of critically injured children can experience high levels of psychological distress post-injury, however little is known about their experiences and needs following injury. This study aimed to explore parent experiences and psychosocial support needs in the six months following child critical injury.

Methods: An interpretive qualitative design was used.

Resilience-promoting factors for parents of severely injured children during the acute hospitalisation period: A qualitative inquiry.

Background: Paediatric injury impacts the entire family. Many parents experience stress and anxiety following paediatric injury, but little is known about factors that support parents' wellbeing and how they successfully manage the adversity of child injury during acute hospitalisation.

Aim: To explore parent experiences and resilience-promoting factors that facilitate the wellbeing of parents with severely injured children during the acute hospitalisation period.

Playground activities and gender variation in objectively measured physical activity intensity in Australian primary school children: a repeated measures study.

Background: Recent studies have sought to address the limited time for physical activity by focusing on increasing physical activity intensity among students during non-curricula periods and specifically school break times. We objectively measured the intensity of student physical activity (PA) during recess and lunch breaks at primary schools in the Western Sydney region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia using a 12-month repeated measures observation design study.

Methods: Systematic direct observation of recess and lunch breaks over a ten-week period in 2014 and 2015.

Comparison of pollution indices for the assessment of heavy metals in the sediments of seaports of NSW, Australia.

Sediments samples from six seaports of NSW, Australia were analysed for the presence of metal contamination. Geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF), pollution load index (PLI), potential ecological risk (PER) and sediment pollution index (SPI) along with multivariate statistical analysis were used to identify the pollution pattern and possible sources of metals in the ports. The results demonstrate Cu, Pb and Zn pollution (Igeo > 5) at most sites and enrichment of As, Ni, Mn (EF > 3) and other metals.

Water quality assessment of Australian ports using water quality evaluation indices.

Australian ports serve diverse and extensive activities, such as shipping, tourism and fisheries, which may all impact the quality of port water. In this work water quality monitoring at different ports using a range of water quality evaluation indices was applied to assess the port water quality. Seawater samples at 30 stations in the year 2016-2017 from six ports in NSW, Australia, namely Port Jackson, Botany, Kembla, Newcastle, Yamba and Eden, were investigated to determine the physicochemical and biological variables that affect the port water quality.

River sediment quality assessment using sediment quality indices for the Sydney basin, Australia affected by coal and coal seam gas mining.

Coal mining activities in the Sydney basin have been historically associated with significant environmental impacts. The region is facing more recent coal seam gas extraction activities and the synergetic environmental impacts of the new mining activities are still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to provide environmental assessment of river sediments comparing upstream to downstream areas relative to industrial-discharge sites associated with coal and coal-seam-gas extraction within the Sydney basin.

A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of Ganoderma lucidum for the treatment of cardiovascular risk factors of metabolic syndrome.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ganoderma lucidum for the treatment of hyperglycaemia and other cardiovascular risk components of metabolic syndrome using a prospective, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Eighty-four participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome were randomised to one of three intervention groups: Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma lucidum with Cordyceps sinensis, or placebo. The dosage was 3 g/day of Ganoderma lucidum, with or without Cordyceps sinensis, for 16 weeks.

Quantifying and understanding reproductive allocation schedules in plants.

A plant's reproductive allocation (RA) schedule describes the fraction of surplus energy allocated to reproduction as it increases in size. While theorists use RA schedules as the connection between life history and energy allocation, little is known about RA schedules in real vegetation. Here we review what is known about RA schedules for perennial plants using studies either directly quantifying RA or that collected data from which the shape of an RA schedule can be inferred.