Article Note: H. R. E. Drysdale MBBS, MPH, FRACS; E. Downie BMBS; S. Lau MBBS, FRACS; D. A. Stupart MBChB, PhD, FCS (SA), FRACS; R. Page BMedSci, MBBS, FRACS; S. Nagra MBBS, FRACS, MMED Surg; D. A. ...Watters ChM, FRCSEd, FRACS; G. D. Guest MSc, FRACS. CAPTION(S): Appendix S1. Questionnaire. Appendix S2. Members of the Geelong Surgical COVID-19 Response Team include: Dr Will Anderson, Dr Tess Asgill, Dr Pia Bernadi, Dr Elliot Bowden, Ms Brydie Clark, Dr Jessie Cole, Mr Simon Crowley, Dr Jordy Dangen, Dr Emma Downie, Dr Henry Drysdale, Ms Joanne Eaton, Professor Glenn Guest, Ms Sneha Kommidi, Dr Steve Lau, Dr Yit Leang, Dr Ellen McMahon, Dr Eileen Mary Moore, Mr Sonal Nagra, Ms Phoebe Niven, Dr Sally Ooi, Dr Bushra Othman, Professor Richard Page, Mr Vishwakar Panuganti and Dr Sam Pellegrino.
Low cost, simple approaches leading to enhanced numbers of viable, mature corals on reefs are prerequisite to active reef rehabilitation at even modest spatial scales. Mass culture of coral larvae to ...settlement, utilising improved knowledge of major coral spawning events, promises to be relatively straightforward, but very significant mortality in the early post-settlement period remains a major hurdle. This study was conducted to examine the effect of herbivore exclusion on the survival of 6
week old coral spat of
Acropora tenuis (Dana, 1846) reared
ex situ at a site in north-western Philippines. Coral spat were placed on the reef approximately 6
weeks after settlement in three treatments, caged, open-sided cage and no cage at two depths (4
m and 9
m). Mean survival of coral spat was significantly higher at the deep sites compared to the shallow sites. Among treatments, survival was significantly lower in the uncaged treatment (4.7%
±
2.6% and 10.5%
±
4.5%, mean
±
SE in shallow and deep respectively) compared to the open-sided cage (18.6%
±
5.0% and 22.5%
±
7.1%) and fully caged treatment (17.0%
±
4.5% and 33.0%
±
6.0%) after 3
months. The results indicate that removal of coral spat by grazers may have reduced survival in the uncaged treatment, although the fact that survivorship was not significantly reduced in the open-sided cage treatments suggests that the presence of the cage also had some effect on survival. It is possible that the open-sided cage prevented access by larger fish that may have actively removed coral spat or that shading provided by the cage enhanced spat survival. Further research is needed to see if survivorship in cages decreases at a later stage due to overgrowth by other biota and whether survivorship is enhanced if spat are settled on more complex surfaces that provide refuge from grazers. This study demonstrates that using cages to exclude herbivores and corallivores and/or to provide shading may be beneficial to survival during the early stages when rearing corals
in situ for reef rehabilitation.
Introduction Accurately quantifying the diet of species has implications for our understanding of their ecology and conservation. Yet, determining the dietary composition of threatened and elusive ...species in the wild is often difficult. Methods This study presents the first dietary assessment of tjakura ( Liopholis kintorei ) using non-invasive sampling of scats and high-throughput sequencing techniques. Results The tjakura in Uluru consumed 48 invertebrates, 27 plants, and two vertebrate taxa. Fruit flies ( Leucophenga spp.), beetles ( Harpalus spp. and Omorgus spp.), mosquitos ( Culicidae spp.), termites ( Termitidae spp.), spiked mallow ( Malvastrum americanum ), bush tomatoes ( Solanum centrale ), and wild turnip ( Brassica tournefortii ) comprised the majority of the diet. Analysis of similarity revealed that food items did not differ significantly between tjakura age groups, seasons, or time since the last fire, however, adults, hot season, and fire scar of 2018 showed a relatively higher prey diversity. Discussion These high similarities in diet composition between age classes and fire scars indicate potential intraspecific competition when food resources are scarce. The diet diversity and potential plasticity observed in this study reflect a dietary ecology influenced by food availability rather than preference. Our study demonstrates that scat DNA metabarcoding is an important complementary tool to conventional scat analysis or indigenous knowledge as most food items we identified were previously not recorded through those methods.
Acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy is a rare but important disease that can be associated with life-threatening complications due to cerebral vasculitis. The primary objective ...was to determine the incidence of neurological complications and risk factors for stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA) associated with acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy. Secondary objectives included the clinical presentation, visual outcomes and recurrence rates.
This was a multicentre retrospective case series including 111 eyes from 60 subjects presenting from January 2009 to June 2020.
Median age at presentation was 29 years (IQR 24.7-35.1) and 36 subjects (60.0%) were male. 20 subjects (33.3%) reported a viral prodrome. Stroke and TIA were observed in seven subjects (11.7%). Older age was the only significant risk factor for stroke/TIA (p=0.042). Vision loss occurred in seven eyes, with four eyes (3.6%) having final visual acuity 6/15-6/60 and three eyes (2.7%) having visual acuity of 6/60 or worse. Recurrence occurred in 10 subjects (16.7%).
The presence of headache cannot reliably predict those at risk of stroke/TIA. Individuals presenting with acute posterior multifocal pigment epitheliopathy should therefore undergo a clinical neurological review and work-up for cerebral vasculitis as deemed appropriate by the treating ophthalmologist and collaborating neurologist.
ca. 200 words; this text will present the book in all promotional forms (e.g. flyers). Please describe the book in straightforward and consumer-friendly terms. There is ever more research on smart ...cities and new interdisciplinary approaches proposed on the study of smart cities. At the same time, problems pertinent to communities inhabiting rural areas are being addressed, as part of discussions in contigious fields of research, be it environmental studies, sociology, or agriculture. Even if rural areas and countryside communities have previously been a subject of concern for robust policy frameworks, such as the European Union’s Cohesion Policy and Common Agricultural Policy Arguably, the concept of ‘the village’ has been largely absent in the debate. As a result, when advances in sophisticated information and communication technology (ICT) led to the emergence of a rich body of research on smart cities, the application and usability of ICT in the context of a village has remained underdiscussed in the literature. Against this backdrop, this volume delivers on four objectives. It delineates the conceptual boundaries of the concept of ‘smart village’. It highlights in which ways ‘smart village’ is distinct from ‘smart city’. It examines in which ways smart cities research can enrich smart villages research. It sheds light on the smart village research agenda as it unfolds in European and global contexts.
Objective Our aim was to estimate the prevalence-based cost of illness imposed by nocturia (≥ 2 nocturnal voids per night) in Germany, Sweden, and the UK in an average year. Methods Information ...obtained from a systematic review of published literature and clinicians was used to construct an algorithm depicting the management of nocturia in these three countries. This enabled an estimation of (1) annual levels of healthcare resource use, (2) annual cost of healthcare resource use, and (3) annual societal cost arising from presenteeism and absenteeism attributable to nocturia in each country. Results In an average year, there are an estimated 12.5, 1.2, and 8.6 million patients ≥20 years of age with nocturia in Germany, Sweden, and the UK, respectively. In an average year in each country, respectively, these patients were estimated to have 13.8, 1.4, and 10.0 million visits to a family practitioner or specialist, ~91,000, 9000, and 63,000 hospital admissions attributable to nocturia and 216,000, 19,000, and 130,000 subjects were estimated to incur a fracture resulting from nocturia. The annual direct cost of healthcare resource use attributable to managing nocturia was estimated to be approximately €2.32 billion in Germany, 5.11 billion kr (€0.54 billion) in Sweden, and £1.35 billion (€1.77 billion) in the UK. The annual indirect societal cost arising from both presenteeism and absenteeism was estimated to be approximately €20.76 billion in Germany and 19.65 billion kr (€2.10 billion) in Sweden. In addition, in the UK, the annual indirect cost due to absenteeism was an estimated £4.32 billion (€5.64 billion). Conclusions Nocturia appears to impose a substantial socioeconomic burden in all three countries. Clinical and economic benefits could accrue from an increased awareness of the impact that nocturia imposes on patients, health services, and society as a whole.
Study Design:
Narrative review.
Objectives:
To discuss the importance of establishing diagnostic criteria in Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM), including factors that must be taken into account ...and challenges that must be overcome in this process.
Methods:
Literature review summarising current evidence of establishing diagnostic criteria for DCM.
Results:
Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (DCM) is characterised by a degenerative process of the cervical spine resulting in chronic spinal cord dysfunction and subsequent neurological disability. Diagnostic delays lead to progressive neurological decline with associated reduction in quality of life for patients. Surgical decompression may halt neurologic worsening and, in many cases, improves function. Therefore, making a prompt diagnosis of DCM in order to facilitate early surgical intervention is a clinical priority in DCM.
Conclusion:
There are often extensive delays in the diagnosis of DCM. Presently, no single set of diagnostic criteria exists for DCM, making it challenging for clinicians to make the diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis and subsequent specialist referral could lead to improved patient outcomes using existing treatment modalities.
To estimate the incidence of and risk factors for modifications to first antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimen, treatment interruption and death.
A total of 21 801 patients from 18 cohorts in Europe ...and North America starting ART on regimens including at least two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and boosted protease inhibitor or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor during 2002-2009 were included. Incidence of modifications (change of drug class, substitution/addition within class, or switch to nonstandard regimen), interruption or death and associations with patient characteristics were estimated using competing-risks methods.
During median 28 months follow-up, 8786 (40.3%) patients modified first ART, 2346 (10.8%) interrupted and 427 (2.0%) died before changing regimen. Three-year cumulative percentages of modification, interruption and death were 47, 12 and 2%, respectively. After adjustment, rates of interruption were highest for IDUs and lowest for MSM, and higher for patients starting ART with CD4 cell count above 350 cells/μl than other patients. Compared to efavirenz, patients on lopinavir and other protease inhibitors had higher rates of modification and interruption, on atazanavir had lower rates of class change, and on nevirapine higher rates of interruption. Those on tenofovir/emtricitabine backbone had lowest rates of substitutions and switches to nonstandard regimen, and on abacavir/lamivudine lowest rates of interruption. Rates of substitution and switches to nonstandard regimen were lower in 2006-2009.
Rates of modification and interruption were high, particularly in the first year of ART. Decreased rates of substitutions or switches to nonstandard regimen in recent years may be linked to greater use of well tolerated once-daily drugs.
AbstractFatigue is often one of the most commonly reported symptoms in prostate cancer survivors, but it is also one of the least understood cancer-related symptoms. Fatigue is associated with ...psychological distress, disruptions in sleep quality, and impairments in health-related quality of life. Moreover, inflammatory processes and changes related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and/or autonomic nervous system may also play a role in cancer-related fatigue. Thus, effective treatments for fatigue in prostate cancer survivors represent a current unmet need. Prior research has shown that Tai Chi Qigong, a mind-body exercise intervention, can improve physical and emotional health. Herein, we describe the protocol of the ongoing randomized 3-arm controlled Health Empowerment & Recovery Outcomes (HERO) clincal trial. One hundred sixty-six prostate cancer survivors with fatigue are randomized to a modified Tai Chi Qigong intervention (TCQ), intensity-matched body training intervention (BT), or usual care (UC) condition. Guided by biopsychosocial and psychoneuroimmunology models, we propose that TCQ, as compared to BT or UC will: i) reduce fatigue (primary outcome) in prostate cancer survivors; ii) reduce inflammation; and iii) regulate the expression of genes from two major functional clusters: a) inflammation, vasodilation and metabolite sensing and b) energy and adrenergic activation. Assessments are conducted at baseline, the 6-week midpoint of the intervention, and 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months post-intervention. If our findings show that TCQ promotes recovery from prostate cancer and its treatment, this type of intervention can be integrated into survivorship care plans as the standard of care. The study’s findings will also provide novel information about underlying biobehavioral mechanisms of cancer-related fatigue. Trial registration numberNCT03326713; clinicaltrials.gov.
Omni Processors (OPs) are community-scale systems for non-sewered fecal sludge treatment. These systems have demonstrated their capacity to treat excreta from tens of thousands of people using ...thermal treatment processes (e.g., pyrolysis), but their relative sustainability is unclear. In this study, QSDsan (an open-source Python package) was used to characterize the financial viability and environmental implications of fecal sludge treatment via pyrolysis-based OP technology treating mixed and source-separated human excreta and to elucidate the key drivers of system sustainability. Overall, the daily per capita cost for the treatment of mixed excreta (pit latrines) via the OP was estimated to be 0.05 0.03–0.08 USD·cap–1·d–1, while the treatment of source-separated excreta (from urine-diverting dry toilets) was estimated to have a per capita cost of 0.09 0.08–0.14 USD·cap–1·d–1. Operation and maintenance of the OP is a critical driver of total per capita cost, whereas the contribution from capital cost of the OP is much lower because it is distributed over a relatively large number of users (i.e., 12,000 people) for the system lifetime (i.e., 20 yr). The total emissions from the source-separated scenario were estimated to be 11 8.3–23 kg CO2 eq·cap–1·yr–1, compared to 49 28–77 kg CO2 eq·cap–1·yr–1 for mixed excreta. Both scenarios fall below the estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for anaerobic treatment of fecal sludge collected from pit latrines. Source-separation also creates opportunities for resource recovery to offset costs through nutrient recovery and carbon sequestration with biochar production. For example, when carbon is valued at 150 USD·Mg–1 of CO2, the per capita cost of sanitation can be further reduced by 44 and 40% for the source-separated and mixed excreta scenarios, respectively. Overall, our results demonstrate that pyrolysis-based OP technology can provide low-cost, low-GHG fecal sludge treatment while reducing global sanitation gaps.
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