19683 research outputs found
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Guiding principles on the education and practice of theranostics
No full textPurpose: The recent development and approval of new diagnostic imaging and therapy approaches in the field of theranostics have revolutionised nuclear medicine practice. To ensure the provision of these new imaging and therapy approaches in a safe and high-quality manner, training of nuclear medicine physicians and qualified specialists is paramount. This is required for trainees who are learning theranostics practice, and for ensuring minimum standards for knowledge and competency in existing practising specialists. Methods: To address the need for a training curriculum in theranostics that would be utilised at a global level, a Consultancy Meeting was held at the IAEA in May 2023, with participation by experts in radiopharmaceutical therapy and theranostics including representatives of major international organisations relevant to theranostics practice. Results: Through extensive discussions and review of existing curriculum and guidelines, a harmonised training program for theranostics was developed, which aims to ensure safe and high quality theranostics practice in all countries. Conclusion: The guiding principles for theranostics training outlined in this paper have immediate relevance for the safe and effective practice of theranostics
A flawed model or weak implementation? A critical review of the approach to group homes taken the Disability Royal Commission
No full textGroup homes have been an important option for people with intellectual disabilities leaving the family home or institutions. They were one focus of the Royal Commission on Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disabilities. Much evidence was collected about harm experienced by people in group homes through submissions, and dedicated and other hearings about disability services more generally. In its Final Report the Commission considered group homes to be both a flawed model and subject to weak implementation similar to that identified across the Australian disability service system more generally. This article describes the Commission’s approach to group homes, the evidence heard, and its conclusions; and critiques its stance, processes, and recommendations, identifying links to the NDIS Review published after the Commission’s Report in 2023. The Commission’s recommended reforms to practice, and replacement of group homes with alternative options reflect current policy directions, but raise issues that will be important for implementation; including; uncertainty about alternatives to group homes, the risk of alternatives not having better outcomes and thus the loss of good services, risk of neglecting quality of support practice in new alternatives and recurrence of institutional practice in them, and potential negative impacts on existing residents of signalling group homes as a flawed model. The Commissions’ approach missed opportunities for appreciative enquiry about conditions that lead to good outcomes in some group homes. The article concludes by considering the benefits for people with intellectual disabilities of singling out long-term residents and people with complex or high support needs, together with the potential for a quicker pace of change that may result from the Commission’s work
"They start on the zero-alcohol and they wanna try the real thing": Parents' views on zero-alcohol beverages and their use by adolescents
No full textObjective: Zero-alcohol beverages containing 0.0–0.5% alcohol by volume may offer public health benefits if individuals use them to substitute for alcohol-containing products, thereby reducing alcohol use. There are, however, concerns that zero-alcohol beverages may encourage adolescents’ earlier interest in alcohol and increase exposure to alcohol company branding. As this poses a challenge for parents, we studied parents’ views on zero-alcohol beverages and their provision to adolescents. Methods: We interviewed n=38 parents of 12–17-year-olds and used reflexive thematic analysis to interpret interview data. Results: Parents considered zero-alcohol beverages to be ‘adult beverages’ that potentially supported reduced adult drinking but were unnecessary for adolescents. Parents were concerned that adolescent zero-alcohol beverage use could normalise alcohol consumption and be a precursor to alcohol initiation. There was a potential conflict between moderate provision in ‘appropriate’ contexts, and potential benefits, which were each supported by some parents. Uncertainty on health qualities was also reported. Conclusions: Parents reported conflicting and cautious views on zero-alcohol beverage provision to adolescents. Implications for Public Health: As evidence on the impacts of zero-alcohol beverage availability develops, parent-targeted messages highlighting the potential risk of normalisation of alcohol use for young people could be developed, in conjunction with broader policy responses
The concept of sufficiency in conditional frequentist inference
No full textWe consider inference about the parameter that determines the distribution of the data. In frequentist inference a very important and useful idea is that data reduction to a sufficient statistic does not lose any information about this parameter. We recall two justifications for this idea in frequentist inference. We then examine the extent to which these justifications carry over to conditional frequentist inference inference, which consists of carrying out frequentist inference conditional on an ancillary statistic. This examination shows that, in the context of conditional frequentist inference, first reducing data to a sufficient statistic is not always justified, so we should first condition on an ancillary statistic. Finally, we describe two types of practically important statistical models that illustrate this finding
Differential effects of physiological agonists on the proteome of platelet-derived extracellular vesicles
No full textArterial thrombosis manifesting as heart attack and stroke is the leading cause of death worldwide. Platelets are central mediators of thrombosis that can be activated through multiple activation pathways. Platelet-derived extracellular vesicles (pEVs), also known as platelet-derived microparticles, are granular mixtures of membrane structures produced by platelets in response to various activating stimuli. Initial studies have attracted interest on how platelet agonists influence the composition of the pEV proteome. In the current study, we used physiological platelet agonists of varying potencies which reflect the microenvironments that platelets experience during thrombus formation: adenosine diphosphate, collagen, thrombin as well as a combination of thrombin/collagen to induce platelet activation and pEV generation. Proteomic profiling revealed that pEVs have an agonist-dependent altered proteome in comparison to their cells of origin, activated platelets. Furthermore, we found that various protein classes including those related to coagulation and complement (prothrombin, antithrombin, and plasminogen) and platelet activation (fibrinogen) are attributed to platelet EVs following agonist stimulation. This agonist-dependent altered proteome suggests that protein packaging is an active process that appears to occur without de novo protein synthesis. This study provides new information on the influence of physiological agonist stimuli on the biogenesis and proteome landscape of pEVs
Implementing Good Life with osteoArthritis from Denmark (GLA:D®) in Australian public hospitals. Part 1: feasibility
No full textBackground: Literature reporting positive outcomes from the Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D®) program in Australia mainly involves patients attending private physiotherapy services. Objective: Evaluate the feasibility of implementing GLA:D® in Australian public hospitals. Design: Implementation study in three metropolitan tertiary public hospitals over six months. Method: Patients aged ≥18 years with knee or hip joint-related problems deemed appropriate for non-surgical care were invited to participate in GLA:D®. Feasibility was evaluated using RE-AIM framework components (Implementation, Effectiveness, Maintenance) using service-level metrics, patient-level data, and program fidelity assessment. Findings of qualitative interviews with service providers are presented in Part 2. Results: Implementation: 70 patients (69 with knee osteoarthritis) participated (13 cohorts). 55 (79%) patients attended both education sessions, and 49 patients (70%) attended 10–12 exercises sessions. Fidelity was met based on environmental, therapist, participant- and program-related criteria. Effectiveness: At 3 months, patients reported lower average pain (visual analogue scale [0–100 mm]: effect size −0.56, 95% CI -0.88 to −0.23) and disability (HOOS/KOOS-12 [100-0]: 0.67, 0.28 to 1.05), and improved quality of life (EQ-5D overall score: 0.46, 0.11 to 0.80). No adverse events were reported. All patients who completed 3-month assessment (n = 52) would recommend GLA:D®. Maintenance: All participating services elected to continue delivering GLA:D® beyond the study. Conclusions: Implementing GLA:D® in Australian public hospitals is feasible, safe, and acceptable to patients with knee osteoarthritis. Public hospital patients with knee osteoarthritis reported improvements in pain, disability, and quality of life similar to previous GLA:D® cohorts
Employability capitals as essential resources for employment obtainment and career sustainability of international graduates
No full textThis study deployed a mixed-method approach to explore how international graduates identified and strategically utilised their resources to negotiate employability in the host country. One hundred and eighty international graduates from Australian universities participated in a survey and in-depth interviews. Findings revealed that employability was determined by various forms of capital including human, cultural social, identity and psychological. More importantly, the graduates had to develop ‘agentic capital’ to decide how to utilise these forms of capital appropriately. Social and cultural capitals emerged as the crucially important elements when the graduates looked for opportunities to get a foot into the labour market. These forms of capital enabled the graduates to mobilise their human capital. However, to navigate barriers in the workplace, the articulation of a sound understanding about the working culture became a ‘must’ because the graduates found it hard to understand hidden rules and conventions in the labour market. Results from the study indicate that graduate employability should not just be measured right after students’ graduation because different forms of capital play their significant roles at different stages of the graduates’ career development. Besides, higher education should equip students with various forms of capital
Synthesizing environmental, epidemiological and vector and parasite genetic data to assist decision making for disease elimination
No full textWe present a framework for identifying when conditions are favourable for transmission of vector-borne diseases between communities by incorporating predicted disease prevalence mapping with landscape analysis of sociological, environmental and host/parasite genetic data. We explored the relationship between environmental features and gene flow of a filarial parasite of humans, Onchocerca volvulus, and its vector, blackflies in the genus Simulium. We generated a baseline microfilarial prevalence map from point estimates from 47 locations in the ecological transition separating the savannah and forest in Ghana, where transmission of O. volvulus persists despite onchocerciasis control efforts. We generated movement suitability maps based on environmental correlates with mitochondrial population structure of 164 parasites from 15 communities and 93 vectors from only four sampling sites, and compared these to the baseline prevalence map. Parasite genetic distance between sampling locations was significantly associated with elevation (r =.793, p =.005) and soil moisture (r =.507, p =.002), while vector genetic distance was associated with soil moisture (r =.788, p =.0417) and precipitation (r =.835, p =.0417). The correlation between baseline prevalence and parasite resistance surface maps was stronger than that between prevalence and vector resistance surface maps. The centre of the study area had high prevalence and suitability for parasite and vector gene flow, potentially contributing to persistent transmission and suggesting the importance of re-evaluating transmission zone boundaries. With suitably dense sampling, this framework can help delineate transmission zones for onchocerciasis and would be translatable to other vector-borne diseases
Identification and pathogenicity of Colletotrichum species associated with twig dieback of citrus in Western Australia
No full textUp to 32 Colletotrichum species have been reported to be associated with pre- or postharvest diseases of citrus globally, while in Australia, six species have been reported to cause citrus leaf and fruit disease. Twig or shoot dieback has recently been observed as an emerging disease in citrus orchards in Western Australia. Colletotrichum species were isolated from diseased twigs showing dieback (withertip) or lesions, with or without gummosis, collected from 12 varieties of orange, mandarin and lemon. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides sensu stricto, Colletotrichum karstii and Colletotrichum novae-zelandiae were identified using a polyphasic approach that included multigene phylogenetic analysis using sequences of internal transcribed spacer and intervening 5.8S nrDNA (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapdh), β-tubulin (tub2), actin (act) and histone (his3) for isolates in the boninense species complex, and Apn2–Mat1–2 intergenic spacer and partial mating type (Mat1–2) (ApMat) and glutamine synthetase (gs) for isolates in the gloeosporioides species complex, as well as morphological characteristics. C. gloeosporioides was the most prevalent species associated with twig dieback in Western Australia, while C. novae-zelandiae was reported for the first time in Australia. Pathogenicity tests on shoot twigs from lemon and orange trees confirmed C. gloeosporioides, C. karstii and C. novae-zelandiae as the cause of twig dieback, with C. gloeosporioides being the most aggressive species. Knowledge of the species causing twig dieback and their lifestyle will assist the development of integrated control methods
The effect of the anti-coagulant EDTA on the deposition and adhesion of whole blood deposits on non-porous substrates
No full textAn investigation into whether the addition of a commonly used anti-coagulant agent like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) has an impact on the adhesion potential of blood to non-porous substrates was conducted. Two non-porous substrates (aluminum and polypropylene) exhibiting six different surface roughness categories (R1–R6) were used as test substrates upon which either whole blood or blood treated with EDTA was deposited. Samples were exposed to different drying periods (24 hours, 48 hours, and 1 week) before undergoing a tapping agitation experiment in order to evaluate the adhesion to the surface. Clear differences in adhesion potential were observed between whole blood and blood treated with EDTA. Blood treated with EDTA displayed a stronger adhesion strength to aluminum after a drying time of 24 h pre-agitation, while whole blood presented with a stronger adhesion strength at the drying time of 48 h and 1 week. Both EDTA-treated and EDTA-untreated blood was shown to dislodge less easily on polypropylene with the only difference observed on smooth surfaces (0.51–1.50 μm surface roughness). Thus, when conducting transfer studies using smooth hydrophobic substrates like polypropylene or considering the likelihood of transfer given specific case scenarios, differences in adhesion strength of blood due to hydrophobic substrate characteristics and a decreased surface area need to be considered. Overall, whole blood displayed a better adhesion strength to aluminum, emphasizing that indirect transfer probability experiments using EDTA blood on substrates like aluminum should take an increased dislodgment tendency into account in their transfer estimations.</p