Impact of mobile phone use on accidental falls risk in young adult pedestrians.

Background: Mobile phone use is known to be a distraction to pedestrians, increasing their likelihood of crossing into oncoming traffic or colliding with other people. However, the effect of using a mobile phone to text while walking on gait stability and accidental falls in young adults remains inconclusive. This study uses a 70 cm low friction slip hazard and the threat of hazard to investigate the effects of texting while walking on gait stability, the ability to recover balance after a slip hazard and accidental falls.

Slice by slice: An Australian state-by-state analysis of Mohs micrographic surgery over 5 years.

Background: In November 2018, Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) was restricted to fellows registered with the Australasian College of Dermatologists. Three new item numbers for the provision of MMS were also introduced. We examine the national and state usage of MMS item numbers based on Medicare claim statistics and Mohs surgeons' self-reported data, noting the impact of the pandemic and the usage of individual item numbers.

Increased Bone Formation and Accelerated Bone Mass Accrual in a Man Presenting with Diffuse Osteosclerosis/High Bone Mass Phenotype and Adenocarcinoma of Unknown Primary.

A 71-year-old man was referred for evaluation of incidental generalized osteosclerosis. He was found to have a high bone mass (HBM) with an elevated lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) Z-score of +5.3.

Risks of Ventricular Arrhythmia and Heart Failure in Carriers of Variants.

Background: Variants in are reported in 2% to 6% of familial cases of dilated cardiomyopathy and may be associated with fatal ventricular arrhythmia and rapid heart failure progression. We sought to determine the risk of adverse events in variant carriers and the impact of sex on outcomes.

Methods: Consecutive probands and relatives carrying variants were retrospectively recruited from 12 cardiomyopathy units.

Efficiency Improvement Strategies for Public Health Systems: Developing and Evaluating a Taxonomy in the Australian Healthcare System.

Introduction: As demand for healthcare continues to grow, public health systems are increasingly required to drive efficiency improvement (EI) to address public service funding challenges. Despite this requirement, evidence of EI strategies that have been successful applied at the whole-of-system level is limited. This study reports the development, implementation and evaluation of a novel taxonomy of EI strategies used in public health systems to inform systemwide EI models.

Systemic host inflammation induces stage-specific transcriptomic modification and slower maturation in malaria parasites.

Maturation rates of malaria parasites within red blood cells (RBCs) can be influenced by host nutrient status and circadian rhythm; whether host inflammatory responses can also influence maturation remains less clear. Here, we observed that systemic host inflammation induced in mice by an innate immune stimulus, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or by ongoing acute infection, slowed the progression of a single cohort of parasites from one generation of RBC to the next. Importantly, plasma from LPS-conditioned or acutely infected mice directly inhibited parasite maturation during in vitro culture, which was not rescued by supplementation, suggesting the emergence of inhibitory factors in plasma.

Coexisiting type 1 diabetes and celiac disease is associated with lower Hba1c when compared to type 1 diabetes alone: data from the Australasian Diabetes Data Network (ADDN) registry.

Aim: To compare HbA1c and clinical outcomes in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D), with or without celiac disease (CD).

Methods: Longitudinal data were extracted from ADDN, a prospective clinical diabetes registry. Inclusion criteria were T1D (with or without CD), ≥ 1 HbA1c measurement, age 16-25 years and diabetes duration ≥ 1 year at last measurement.

Characteristics of baseline frequency data in spinal RCTs do not suggest widespread non-random allocation.

Background: Recent signs of fraudulent behaviour in spine RCTs have queried the integrity of trials in the field. RCTs are particularly important due to the weight they are accorded in guiding treatment decisions, and thus, ensuring RCTs' reliability is crucial. This study investigates the presence of non-random baseline frequency data in purported RCTs published in spine journals.

Sodium Bicarbonate for Metabolic Acidosis in the ICU: Results of a Pilot Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial.

Objectives: To identify the best population, design of the intervention, and to assess between-group biochemical separation, in preparation for a future phase III trial.

Design: Investigator-initiated, parallel-group, pilot randomized double-blind trial.

Setting: Eight ICUs in Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, with participants recruited from April 2021 to August 2022.

Afatinib in paediatric patients with recurrent/refractory ErbB-dysregulated tumours: Results of a phase I/expansion trial.

Aim: This phase I/expansion study assessed the safety, pharmacokinetics and preliminary antitumor activity of afatinib in paediatric patients with cancer.

Methods: The dose-finding part enroled patients (2-<18 years) with recurrent/refractory tumours. Patients received 18 or 23 mg/m/d afatinib orally (tablet or solution) in 28-d cycles.

Adapting the Voicing My CHOiCES Advance Care Planning Communication Guide for Australian Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: Appropriateness, Acceptability, and Considerations for Clinical Practice.

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with life-threatening illnesses need support to discuss and voice their end-of-life choices. Voicing My CHOiCES (VMC) is a research-informed American advanced care planning guide designed to help facilitate these difficult discussions. This multi-perspective study aimed to evaluate its appropriateness, acceptability, and clinical considerations for Australian AYAs with cancer.

Multi-Targeting DKK1 and LRP6 Prevents Bone Loss and Improves Fracture Resistance in Multiple Myeloma.

An imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation underlies the devastating osteolytic lesions and subsequent fractures seen in more than 90% of multiple myeloma (MM) patients. Currently, Wnt-targeted therapeutic agents that prevent soluble antagonists of the Wnt signaling pathway, sclerostin (SOST) and dickkopf-1 (DKK1), have been shown to prevent bone loss and improve bone strength in preclinical models of MM. In this study, we show increasing Wnt signaling via a novel anti-low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 6 (LRP6) antibody, which potentiates Wnt1-class ligand signaling through binding the Wnt receptor LRP6, prevented the development of myeloma-induced bone loss primarily through preventing bone resorption.

Associations between severe and notifiable respiratory infections during the first trimester of pregnancy and congenital anomalies at birth: a register-based cohort study.

Background: Evidence regarding the association between acute respiratory infections during pregnancy and congenital anomalies in babies, is limited and conflicting. The aim of this study was to examine the association between acute respiratory infections during the first trimester of pregnancy and congenital anomalies in babies using record linkage.

Methods: We linked a perinatal register to hospitalisation and disease notifications in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) between 2001 to 2016.

Effect of digital health, biomarker feedback and nurse or midwife-led counselling interventions to assist pregnant smokers quit: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To assess the effect of digital health (DH), biomarker feedback (BF) and nurse or midwife-led counselling (NoMC) interventions on abstinence in pregnant smokers during pregnancy and postpartum.

Settings: Any healthcare setting servicing pregnant women, including any country globally.

Participants: Pregnant women of any social, ethnic or geographical background who smoke.

Surgery for rheumatic heart disease in the Northern Territory, Australia, 1997-2016: what have we gained?

Background: Between 1964 and 1996, the 10-year survival of patients having valve replacement surgery for rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the Northern Territory, Australia, was 68%. As medical care has evolved since then, this study aimed to determine whether there has been a corresponding improvement in survival.

Methods: A retrospective study of Aboriginal patients with RHD in the Northern Territory, Australia, having their first valve surgery between 1997 and 2016.

A critical review of Natural Flood Management application and spatial prioritisation approaches in tropical island catchments.

Tropical island communities face substantial hydrometrological threats, including flood inundation. Flood risk is increasing, driven by climate change but also other factors including urbanisation, land-cover and land-use (LCLU) change, making flood management challenging to address in practice. Protecting, restoring, and emulating the natural functions of catchments to reduce flood risk, also known as Natural Flood Management (NFM), is a promising method for improving flood management.

Neutrophil Conversion to a Tumor-Killing Phenotype Underpins Effective Microbial Therapy.

Unlabelled: The inflammatory microenvironment of solid tumors creates a protumorigenic milieu that resembles chronic inflammation akin to a subverted wound healing response. Here, we investigated the effect of converting the tumor microenvironment from a chronically inflamed state to one of acute microbial inflammation by injecting microbial bioparticles directly into tumors. Intratumoral microbial bioparticle injection led to rapid and dramatic changes in the tumor immune composition, the most striking of which was a substantial increase in the presence of activated neutrophils.

Presence of -Fatty Acids Containing Ingredients in Pre-Packaged Foods and the Availability of Reported -Fat Levels in Kenya and Nigeria.

In most African countries, the prevalence of industrially produced -fatty acids (iTFA) in the food supply is unknown. We estimated the number and proportion of products containing specific (any hydrogenated edible oils) and non-specific (vegetable fat, margarine, and vegetable cream) ingredients potentially indicative of iTFAs among pre-packaged foods collected in Kenya and Nigeria. We also summarized the number and proportion of products that reported -fatty acids levels and the range of reported -fatty acids levels.