Confirmation of ethanol administration in racing greyhounds by LC-MS-MS.

Ethanol is a prohibited substance in professional animal racing as its administration causes physiological effects such as depression of the central nervous system. Regulation of potential doping agents, including those that inhibit performance, is critical to ensure integrity and animal welfare in greyhound racing, but the detection of ethanol is complicated by dietary and/or environmental exposure. In response, a reliable analytical method capable of detecting recent ethanol administration in greyhound urine samples was validated and implemented.

The Pathophysiology, Prognosis and Treatment of Hypertension in Females from Pregnancy to Post-menopause: A Review.

Purpose Of Review: We summarise the physiological changes and risk factors for hypertension in females, potential sex-specific management approaches, and long-term prognosis.

Key Findings: Pregnancy and menopause are two key phases of the life cycle where females undergo significant biological and physical changes, making them more prone to developing hypertension. Gestational hypertension occurs from changes in maternal cardiac output, kidney function, metabolism, or placental vasculature, with one in ten experiencing pregnancy complications such as intrauterine growth restriction and delivery complications such as premature birth.

Concurrent RB1 Loss and BRCA Deficiency Predicts Enhanced Immunologic Response and Long-term Survival in Tubo-ovarian High-grade Serous Carcinoma.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate RB1 expression and survival across ovarian carcinoma histotypes and how co-occurrence of BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA) alterations and RB1 loss influences survival in tubo-ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC).

Experimental Design: RB1 protein expression was classified by immunohistochemistry in ovarian carcinomas of 7,436 patients from the Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium. We examined RB1 expression and germline BRCA status in a subset of 1,134 HGSC, and related genotype to overall survival (OS), tumor-infiltrating CD8+ lymphocytes, and transcriptomic subtypes.

Sociodemographic and Health Factors of the Alcohol Treatment-seeking Population in New South Wales, Australia.

Objectives: Although factors associated with alcohol use have been researched at a population level, descriptions of the alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment-seeking population in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, are limited. This study addresses this gap by analyzing sociodemographic and health characteristics in the NSW AOD treatment-seeking population.

Methods: Self-reported Australian Treatment Outcomes Profile data on substance use, health ratings, and sociodemographic factors were acquired from public AOD services (offering services from counseling to ambulatory/inpatient withdrawal management) in 6 administrative health districts from 2016 to 2019 (n = 14,287).

Not all knees are the same.

The aim of mechanical alignment in total knee arthroplasty is to align all knees into a fixed neutral position, even though not all knees are the same. As a result, mechanical alignment often alters a patient's constitutional alignment and joint line obliquity, resulting in soft-tissue imbalance. This annotation provides an overview of how the Coronal Plane Alignment of the Knee (CPAK) classification can be used to predict imbalance with mechanical alignment, and then offers practical guidance for bone balancing, minimizing the need for soft-tissue releases.

Improving motion management in radiation therapy: findings from a workshop and survey in Australia and New Zealand.

Motion management has become an integral part of radiation therapy. Multiple approaches to motion management have been reported in the literature. To allow the sharing of experiences on current practice and emerging technology, the University of Sydney and the New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory branch of the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) held a two-day motion management workshop.

2023 Undetectable = Untransmittable global policy roundtable report: a multistakeholder perspective on Undetectable = Untransmittable research and policy priorities.

Background Launched in 2016 by Prevention Access Campaign, the 'Undetectable=Untransmittable' (U=U) campaign empowers people living with HIV to live full social, sexual and reproductive lives, dismantle stigma, promote increased treatment access, and advocate for updated HIV guidelines. Methods Key priorities for promoting improvements to community-centred, evidence-informed U=U policy and research were the focus of a half-day global roundtable held in 2023 alongside the 12th International AIDS Society Conference in Brisbane, Australia. After a series of presentations, experts in U=U research, policymaking, advocacy and HIV clinical care participated in facilitated discussions, and detailed notes were taken on issues related to advancing U=U policy and research.

Applying the Milan models to setting analytical performance specifications - considering all the information.

Analytical performance specifications (APS) are used for decisions about the required analytical quality of pathology tests to meet clinical needs. The Milan models, based on clinical outcome, biological variation, or state of the art, were developed to provide a framework for setting APS. An approach has been proposed to assign each measurand to one of the models based on a defined clinical use, physiological control, or an absence of quality information about these factors.

A New Concept for Reference Change Values-Regression to the Population Mean.

Background: Reference change values (RCV) are used to indicate a change in analyte concentration that is unlikely to be due to random variation in the patient or the measurement. Current theory describes RCV relative to a first measurement result (X1). We investigate an alternative view predicting the starting point for RCV calculations from X1 and its location in the reference interval.

Sexual Boundary Violations by Doctors - Context, Regulatory Consequences and Preventive Strategies.

While sexual boundary violations by doctors (SBVs) are viewed with utmost seriousness by disciplinary bodies and tribunals, complaints of SBVs in Australia continue to increase. In 2023, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) outlined a "blueprint" to protect patients better from sexual misconduct in healthcare: reform being considered in 2024, by Australian health ministers. Few analyses or studies have offered an overview of the prevalence, effects, and causes of SBVs, nor the duties, liabilities, possible disciplinary action against, and potential treatment of, doctors who commit them.

Blood brain barrier disruption and glutamatergic excitotoxicity in post-acute sequelae of SARS COV-2 infection cognitive impairment: potential biomarkers and a window into pathogenesis.

Objective: To investigate the association between blood-brain barrier permeability, brain metabolites, microstructural integrity of the white matter, and cognitive impairment (CI) in post-acute sequelae of SARS-COV-2 infection (PASC).

Methods: In this multimodal longitudinal MRI study 14 PASC participants with CI and 10 healthy controls were enrolled. All completed investigations at 3 months following acute infection (3 months ± 2 weeks SD), and 10 PASC participants completed at 12 months ± 2.

Considerations for conducting a scoping review in pharmacy education.

Interrogating the literature is among the first steps a researcher undertakes when actuating a research project or also when any scholar might seek to know what has been done in an area, best practices for conducting a certain activity, or simply to seek answers for a question ranging from one's own personal curiosity to those that might affect departmental or institutional guidance. Decisions on the type of review process to undertake is one that is not taken lightly. This methods commentary outlines the reasons for conducting a scoping review versus a systematic review for topics related to pharmacy education.

Continued improvement in the development of the SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing proficiency testing program.

Application of whole genome sequencing (WGS) has allowed monitoring of the emergence of variants of concern (VOC) of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) globally. Genomic investigation of emerging variants and surveillance of clinical progress has reduced the public health impact of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic. These steps required developing and implementing a proficiency testing program (PTP), as WGS has been incorporated into routine reference laboratory practice.

Integrative multi-omics analyses to identify the genetic and functional mechanisms underlying ovarian cancer risk regions.

To identify credible causal risk variants (CCVs) associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we performed genome-wide association analysis for 470,825 genotyped and 10,163,797 imputed SNPs in 25,981 EOC cases and 105,724 controls of European origin. We identified five histotype-specific EOC risk regions (p value <5 × 10) and confirmed previously reported associations for 27 risk regions. Conditional analyses identified an additional 11 signals independent of the primary signal at six risk regions (p value <10).

A brief physiology and pathophysiology of the anorectum based on the Integral Theory paradigm.

The remit of this review is confined to the experimental scientific works and surgeries based on the Integral Theory paradigm. The video abstract summarizes the anorectal function, how ligaments cause dysfunction and cure of fecal incontinence and obstructed defecation by ligament repair. Anorectal function is reflex and binary, with cortical and peripheral components.

Wide-bore polyester sutures may create sufficient collagen for cure of prolapse/incontinence: a work in progress.

The main thrust of the Integral Theory Paradigm (ITP) is that inadequate ligament collagen causes pelvic organ prolapses (POP) and pelvic symptoms, a concept validated by multiple publications which cured POP and bladder/bowel/pain dysfunctions by collagen-creating slings. Sling surgery for surgical cure of these conditions was eliminated in the United States, Europe and other regulatory jurisdictions by banning all mesh products (including tapes) in about 2017. The aim of this work was to inform of the progress of a highly promising alternative method for collage creation for ligament repair: wide-bore polyester sutures accurately applied to weak ligaments.

Tethered vagina syndrome: massive urine loss caused by bladder neck scarring cured by skin graft.

The bladder neck area of the vagina is known as the "zone of critical elasticity" (ZCE). Adequate vaginal elasticity at ZCE is required for the oppositely-acting muscles to independently close the distal urethra and bladder neck. Scarring at ZCE "tethers" the more powerful posterior muscles to the anterior muscles and the bladder neck is forcibly pulled open, resulting in massive urine loss.

Descending perineal syndrome cure by deep transversus perinei ligament repair: surgical options.

Descending perineal syndrome (DPS) was described by Parks as descent of the anus on straining, typically 3-4 cm below a line drawn from the coccyx to the lower end of the. DPS is associated with obstructed defecation, with increased bulging of the perineum with straining, although perineal descent can also be seen at rest. In their review, Chaudhry and Tarnay stated: "".

Prevalence and burden of difficult-to-treat and severe asthma in Australia: A national population survey.

Background And Objective: Most evidence about difficult-to-treat and severe asthma (DTTA) comes from clinical trials and registries. We aimed to identify people with DTTA from a large nationally representative asthma population and describe their characteristics and healthcare utilization compared with people whose asthma was not 'difficult-to-treat'.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of Australians aged ≥18 years with current asthma from large web-based survey panels.

FLT3L governs the development of partially overlapping hematopoietic lineages in humans and mice.

FMS-related tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FLT3L), encoded by FLT3LG, is a hematopoietic factor essential for the development of natural killer (NK) cells, B cells, and dendritic cells (DCs) in mice. We describe three humans homozygous for a loss-of-function FLT3LG variant with a history of various recurrent infections, including severe cutaneous warts. The patients' bone marrow (BM) was hypoplastic, with low levels of hematopoietic progenitors, particularly myeloid and B cell precursors.

Assisting young people aged 12-25 years to cease e-cigarette use in general practice.

Background: Increasing numbers of young people (adolescents aged 12-17 years and young adults aged 18-25 years) are using e-cigarettes. Although the extent of the health effects is currently unknown, young people are at risk of developing nicotine dependence and, as a result, find it difficult to cease use of e-cigarettes. They might seek help from their general practitioner (GP) to do so.

Why does hormonal contraception and menopausal hormonal treatment have such a small effect on breast cancer risk?

Oestrogen is considered by many to be a major cause of breast cancer, and yet hormonal contraception and menopausal hormonal therapy have a paradoxically small effect on breast cancer risk. Also, in the oestrogen-only arm of the Women's Health Initiative, subjects given oestrogen had a reduced risk of breast cancer compared to controls. Initiation of breast cancer likely begins early in life, in the long-lived ERPR breast stem cell.