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2021

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Public Library-Based Social Work Field Placements: Guidance For Public Libraries Planning To Become A Social Work Practicum Site, Elizabeth A. Wahler, Jacob D. Ressler, Sarah C. Johnson, Colleen Rortvedt, Tasha Saecker, John Helling, Michael A. Williams, Danielle Hoover Jan 2021

Public Library-Based Social Work Field Placements: Guidance For Public Libraries Planning To Become A Social Work Practicum Site, Elizabeth A. Wahler, Jacob D. Ressler, Sarah C. Johnson, Colleen Rortvedt, Tasha Saecker, John Helling, Michael A. Williams, Danielle Hoover

Publications and Research

Public libraries are increasingly faced with patron psychosocial needs, including mental health problems, substance use, homelessness, or poverty-related needs. Since library staff are often not trained to address these needs, many are choosing to host on-site social work practicum students to provide information and referrals for patrons presenting with psychosocial needs. However, little existing guidance is available about initiating a social work practicum placement, which can leave libraries unprepared and often “reinventing the wheel”. This manuscript provides guidance on the steps that should be considered by libraries intending to host their first social work practicum student.


Feminist Abolitionist Nursing, Martha Paynter, Keisha Jefferies, Leah Carrier, Lorie Goshin Jan 2021

Feminist Abolitionist Nursing, Martha Paynter, Keisha Jefferies, Leah Carrier, Lorie Goshin

Publications and Research

The converging crises of COVID-19 and racist state violence in 2020 shifted public discourse about marginalization, public health, and racism in unprecedented ways. Nursing responded to the pandemic with heroic commitment and new politicization. But public engagement with systemic racism is forcing a reckoning in nursing. The profession has its own history of racism and of alliance with systems of state control with which to contend. In this article, we argue nursing must adopt an ethics of abolitionism to realize its goals for health and justice. Abolitionism theorizes that policing and prison systems, originating from systems of enslavement and colonial …


The Effect Of Support Systems On Delinquency, Elizabeth S. Bohrer Jan 2021

The Effect Of Support Systems On Delinquency, Elizabeth S. Bohrer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

There are many reasons why adolescents and young adults turn to delinquent behaviors, much of which result from the environment they are residing in. Copious research has been done on the effects that parent, teacher, peer, and partner relationships have on delinquency, but very little focuses on support systems as a whole. Support systems create positive or negative modeling behaviors for people to follow and individuals will allow these models to influence their own personal behavior patterns. The goal of this study is to assess how a possible change in support systems affects delinquent tendencies in a study group of …


Focus Stacking Images Of Morphological Character States For Differentiating The Adults Of Ixodes Affinis And Ixodes Scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) In Areas Of Sympatry, Robyn M. Nadolny, Marcée Toliver, Holly D. Gaff, John G. Snodgrass, Richard G. Robbins Jan 2021

Focus Stacking Images Of Morphological Character States For Differentiating The Adults Of Ixodes Affinis And Ixodes Scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) In Areas Of Sympatry, Robyn M. Nadolny, Marcée Toliver, Holly D. Gaff, John G. Snodgrass, Richard G. Robbins

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Adult females and males of Ixodes affinis and Ixodes scapularis are illustrated by focus stacking image photography, and morphological character states are described that reliably differentiate the two species. In conjunction with other environmental cues, such as the questing phenology of adults, these characteristics will enable the rapid identification of adults of either sex along the southern Coastal Plain of the United States, where these species are sympatric.


Tick Extracellular Vesicles Enable Arthropod Feeding And Promote Distinct Outcomes Of Bacterial Infection, Adela S. Oliva Chávez, Xiaowei Wang, Liron Marnin, Nathan K. Archer, Holly L. Hammond, Erin E. Mcclure Carroll, Dana K. Shaw, Brenden G. Tully, Amanda D. Buskirk, Shelby L. Ford, L. Rainer Butler, Preeti Shahi, Kateryna Morozova, Cristina C. Clement, Lauren Lawres, Anya J. O'Neal, Choukri Ben Mamoun, Kathleen L. Mason, Brandi E. Hobbs, Glen A. Scoles, Eileen M. Barry, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Utpal Pal, Jesus G. Valenzuela, Marcelo B. Sztein, Marcela F. Pasetti, Michael L. Levin, Michail Kotsyfakis, Steven M. Jay, Jason F. Huntley, Lloyd S. Miller, Laura Santambrogio, Joao H.F. Pedra Jan 2021

Tick Extracellular Vesicles Enable Arthropod Feeding And Promote Distinct Outcomes Of Bacterial Infection, Adela S. Oliva Chávez, Xiaowei Wang, Liron Marnin, Nathan K. Archer, Holly L. Hammond, Erin E. Mcclure Carroll, Dana K. Shaw, Brenden G. Tully, Amanda D. Buskirk, Shelby L. Ford, L. Rainer Butler, Preeti Shahi, Kateryna Morozova, Cristina C. Clement, Lauren Lawres, Anya J. O'Neal, Choukri Ben Mamoun, Kathleen L. Mason, Brandi E. Hobbs, Glen A. Scoles, Eileen M. Barry, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Utpal Pal, Jesus G. Valenzuela, Marcelo B. Sztein, Marcela F. Pasetti, Michael L. Levin, Michail Kotsyfakis, Steven M. Jay, Jason F. Huntley, Lloyd S. Miller, Laura Santambrogio, Joao H.F. Pedra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Extracellular vesicles are thought to facilitate pathogen transmission from arthropods to humans and other animals. Here, we reveal that pathogen spreading from arthropods to the mammalian host is multifaceted. Extracellular vesicles from Ixodes scapularis enable tick feeding and promote infection of the mildly virulent rickettsial agent Anaplasma phagocytophilum through the SNARE proteins Vamp33 and Synaptobrevin 2 and dendritic epidermal T cells. However, extracellular vesicles from the tick Dermacentor andersoni mitigate microbial spreading caused by the lethal pathogen Francisella tularensis. Collectively, we establish that tick extracellular vesicles foster distinct outcomes of bacterial infection and assist in vector feeding by acting …


Response Of Fish And Invertebrate Larvae To Backreef Sounds At Varying Distances: Implications For Habitat Restoration, Emily R. Anderson, Jack Butler, Mark J. Butler Jan 2021

Response Of Fish And Invertebrate Larvae To Backreef Sounds At Varying Distances: Implications For Habitat Restoration, Emily R. Anderson, Jack Butler, Mark J. Butler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Underwater sound is used by many marine larvae to orient to coastal habitats including backreef, sponge-dominated hardbottom habitat in the Florida Keys (FL, United States)—a particularly “noisy” coastal habitat. However, the distance over which acoustic cues are attractive to settlement-stage larvae is generally unknown. We examined this phenomenon in a region of the Florida Keys where mass sponge die-offs have diminished both underwater soundscapes and larval settlement. The absence of pronounced hardbottom-associated sound over such a large area allowed us to experimentally test in situ the response of fish and invertebrate larvae to broadcasted sounds at different distances from their …


Tick Ecdysteroid Hormone, Global Microbiota/Rickettsia Signaling In The Ovary Versus Carcass During Vitellogenesis In Part-Fed (Virgin) American Dog Ticks, Dermacentor Variabilis, Loganathan Ponnusamy, Haley Sutton, Robert D. Mitchell Iii, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Charles S. Apperson, Richard Michael Roe Jan 2021

Tick Ecdysteroid Hormone, Global Microbiota/Rickettsia Signaling In The Ovary Versus Carcass During Vitellogenesis In Part-Fed (Virgin) American Dog Ticks, Dermacentor Variabilis, Loganathan Ponnusamy, Haley Sutton, Robert D. Mitchell Iii, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Charles S. Apperson, Richard Michael Roe

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The transovarial transmission of tick-borne bacterial pathogens is an important mechanism for their maintenance in natural populations and transmission, causing disease in humans and animals. The mechanism for this transmission and the possible role of tick hormones facilitating this process have never been studied. Injections of physiological levels of the tick hormone, 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), into part-fed (virgin) adult females of the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, attached to the host caused a reduction in density of Rickettsia montanensis in the carcass and an increase in the ovaries compared to buffer-injected controls. This injection initiates yolk protein synthesis and uptake …


Contrasting Heat Stress Response Patterns Of Coral Holobionts Across The Red Sea Suggest Distinct Mechanisms Of Thermal Tolerance, Christian R. Voolstra, Jacob J. Valenzuela, Serdar Turkarslan, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C.C. Hume, Gabriela Perna, Carol Buitrago-López, Katherine Rowe, Monica V. Orellana, Nitin S. Baliga, Suman Paranjape, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Jessica Bellworthy, Moaz Fine, Sarah Frias-Torres, Daniel J. Barshis Jan 2021

Contrasting Heat Stress Response Patterns Of Coral Holobionts Across The Red Sea Suggest Distinct Mechanisms Of Thermal Tolerance, Christian R. Voolstra, Jacob J. Valenzuela, Serdar Turkarslan, Anny Cárdenas, Benjamin C.C. Hume, Gabriela Perna, Carol Buitrago-López, Katherine Rowe, Monica V. Orellana, Nitin S. Baliga, Suman Paranjape, Guilhem Banc-Prandi, Jessica Bellworthy, Moaz Fine, Sarah Frias-Torres, Daniel J. Barshis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Corals from the northern Red Sea, in particular the Gulf of Aqaba (GoA), have exceptionally high bleaching thresholds approaching >5℃ above their maximum monthly mean (MMM) temperatures. These elevated thresholds are thought to be due to historical selection, as corals passed through the warmer Southern Red Sea during recolonization from the Arabian Sea. To test this hypothesis, we determined thermal tolerance thresholds of GoA versus central Red Sea (CRS) Stylophora pistillata corals using multi-temperature acute thermal stress assays to determine thermal thresholds. Relative thermal thresholds of GoA and CRS corals were indeed similar and exceptionally high (~7℃ above MMM). However, …


Patterns Of Genetic Divergence Across Geographically Variable Populations Of Xanthisma Gracile (Asteraceae), Lavanya Challagundla, Lisa E. Wallace Jan 2021

Patterns Of Genetic Divergence Across Geographically Variable Populations Of Xanthisma Gracile (Asteraceae), Lavanya Challagundla, Lisa E. Wallace

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Premise of research. Numerous biotic and abiotic factors can contribute to local selection and lead to geographic structure and genetic divergence between populations. The southwestern United States contains many distinctive plant communities, ranging from woodlands to desert scrub, that are shaped by species adapting to local variation in elevation, precipitation, seasonality, and soils. Given this variation, species occurring across diverse habitats are expected to harbor high genetic diversity and exhibit significant genetic differences associated with environmental variation.

Methodology. Here, we studied the genetic divergence of populations of Xanthisma gracile (Asteraceae) across Arizona using amplified fragment length polymorphisms and evaluated associations …


The Conservation Status Of Marine Biodiversity Of The Western Indian Ocean, R. Bullock, Gina Ralph, E. Stump, F. Al Abdali, J. Al Asfoor, B. Al Buwaiqi, A. Al Kindi, A. Ambuali, Tiffany Birge, P. Borsa, F. Di Dario, B. Everett, S. Fennessy, C. Fonseca, Claire Gorman, A. Govender, H. Ho, W. Holleman, N. Jiddawi, M. Khan, H. Larson, Christi Linardich, P. Matiku, K. Matsuura, C. Maunde, H. Motomura, T. Munroe, R. Nair, C. Obota, B. Polidoro, B. Russell, S. Shaheen, Y. Sithole, W. Smith-Vaniz, F. Uiblein, S. Weerts, A. Williams, S. Yahya, Kent Carpenter Jan 2021

The Conservation Status Of Marine Biodiversity Of The Western Indian Ocean, R. Bullock, Gina Ralph, E. Stump, F. Al Abdali, J. Al Asfoor, B. Al Buwaiqi, A. Al Kindi, A. Ambuali, Tiffany Birge, P. Borsa, F. Di Dario, B. Everett, S. Fennessy, C. Fonseca, Claire Gorman, A. Govender, H. Ho, W. Holleman, N. Jiddawi, M. Khan, H. Larson, Christi Linardich, P. Matiku, K. Matsuura, C. Maunde, H. Motomura, T. Munroe, R. Nair, C. Obota, B. Polidoro, B. Russell, S. Shaheen, Y. Sithole, W. Smith-Vaniz, F. Uiblein, S. Weerts, A. Williams, S. Yahya, Kent Carpenter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is comprised of productive and highly diverse marine ecosystems that are rich sources of food security, livelihoods, and natural wonder. The ecological services that species provide are vital to the productivity of these ecosystems and healthy biodiversity is essential for the continued support of economies and local users. The stability of these valuable resources, however, is being eroded by growing threats to marine life from overexploitation, habitat degradation and climate change, all of which are causing serious reductions in marine ecosystem services and the ability of these ecosystems to support human communities. Quantifying the impacts …


Effects Of Weather On Foraging Success And Hunting Frequency In Winter-Irruptive Snowy Owls (Bubo Scandiacus) In Upstate New York, Russell E. Winter, William M. Shields Jan 2021

Effects Of Weather On Foraging Success And Hunting Frequency In Winter-Irruptive Snowy Owls (Bubo Scandiacus) In Upstate New York, Russell E. Winter, William M. Shields

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The effects of weather on an individual can often alter the population dynamics of a species. Knowledge of how weather influences individual behavior is therefore essential in understanding its full impact in the context of population ecology. Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) exhibit expensive long-distance migrations in winters following population irruptions. During irruptive movements, many owls migrate past the southernmost extent of their traditional wintering grounds, the mechanism for which is still debated. We propose and test the “milder climate” hypothesis; Snowy Owls wintering in lower latitudes are better able to meet their metabolic demands due to higher temperatures …


Tracking The Racial Validity Of Placement By Probability, Annie M. Del Principe, Lesley Broder, Lauren Levesque Jan 2021

Tracking The Racial Validity Of Placement By Probability, Annie M. Del Principe, Lesley Broder, Lauren Levesque

Publications and Research

Any placement decision is a gamble on the validity of the mech- anism used. The better the placement mechanism matches the actual pro- ficiencies required for success in a future, real-life context, the more accu- rately it will place students into the best classes for them and the more valid it will prove to be. But what happens if the most obvious, commonsensical approaches to placement that would appear to have the strongest validity— writing tests for placement into writing classes—prove unreliable? Rather than accurately placing students into the “right” class for them, we now know that writing placement tests …


How/Can Gestalt Therapy Promote Liberation From Anti-Black Racism?, Michelle Billies Jan 2021

How/Can Gestalt Therapy Promote Liberation From Anti-Black Racism?, Michelle Billies

Publications and Research

Anti-Black racism is an interruption of contact that often takes place out of awareness, and is continuously enacted through innumerable fixed gestalts at every level of human experience. Gestalt therapy as a movement does not leverage its great potential for undoing fixed gestalts of anti-Black racism, or supporting fluid gestalts of racial liberation; this article explores GT theories and practices that do so. I first discuss how concepts of the field, ground, awareness, consciousness, and contact can be informed by ideas such as intersectionality and double consciousness from Black liberation history as well as theorists such as Crenshaw, DuBois, Fanon, …


Evolution Of International Investment Agreements In Africa: Features And Challenges Of Investment Law “Africanization”, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Stefanie Schacherer Jan 2021

Evolution Of International Investment Agreements In Africa: Features And Challenges Of Investment Law “Africanization”, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Stefanie Schacherer

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

African States, African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), and the African Union have adopted a number of new investment instruments in recent years. Many of these instruments are highly innovative and mark a clear departure from old European-styled IIAs. The Africanization of international investment law or, in other words, the prise en main of African States and organizations to design the regulation of international investment according to their policy and development priorities has become an evident contemporary phenomenon. At the same time, the most innovative approaches can be found in intra-African IIAs, i.e., in IIAs concluded between two or more African …


Towards An Optimal Model Of Directors’ Duties In The Zone Of Insolvency: An Economic And Comparative Approach, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez Jan 2021

Towards An Optimal Model Of Directors’ Duties In The Zone Of Insolvency: An Economic And Comparative Approach, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In a recent article, I analyse the primary regulatory models of directors’ duties in the zone of insolvency observed internationally. From a sample of more than 20 countries from Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and North America, I distinguish six primary regulatory models: (i) the imposition of a duty to initiate insolvency proceedings, generally found in Europe; (ii) the imposition of a duty to recapitalise or liquidate the company, typically existing in Europe and Latin America; (iii) the imposition of duties towards the company’s creditors, including the duty to minimise losses for the creditors existing in the United Kingdom; …


Modernizing Corporate Law In Latin America: Lessons From Ecuador, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Esteban Ortiz-Mena, Paul Noboa-Velasco Jan 2021

Modernizing Corporate Law In Latin America: Lessons From Ecuador, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez, Esteban Ortiz-Mena, Paul Noboa-Velasco

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the past decades, several countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay, have implemented significant corporate law reforms. In the meantime, the regulatory framework for companies in Ecuador has remained virtually intact since 1964. This situation, however, has dramatically changed in 2020. In one of the most ambitious corporate law reforms observed in Latin America in the past decades, Ecuador has recently modernized its corporate law.


Stress And Coping Among Surgery Residents In A Developing Country, Qamar Riaz, Syeda Kausar Ali, Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Abdul Rehman Alvi Jan 2021

Stress And Coping Among Surgery Residents In A Developing Country, Qamar Riaz, Syeda Kausar Ali, Muhammad Rizwan Khan, Abdul Rehman Alvi

Department for Educational Development

Objective: Stress during residency training in surgical disciplines not only hampers professional development but can also compromise patient care and personal health. The purpose of this study was to measure the stress level among the surgical residents, identify factors within the learning and work environment that cause stress, and identify different strategies that the residents use habitually to cope with these stresses.
Methodology: This mix method study was conducted in the department of Surgery at Aga Khan University, Pakistan. Residents' stress level was measured using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS); focus group discussions (FGDs) with faculty and residents explored stressors during …


Evaluating The Effectiveness Of 'Mcq Development Workshop Using Cognitive Model Framework: A Pre-Post Study, Rahila Ali, Amber Shahmim Sultan, Nida Zahid Jan 2021

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of 'Mcq Development Workshop Using Cognitive Model Framework: A Pre-Post Study, Rahila Ali, Amber Shahmim Sultan, Nida Zahid

Department for Educational Development

A workshop on MCQ development using cognitive model framework was conducted for health educators from Aga Khan University (AKU) and other academic institutions. The aim was to develop the skill of preparing MCQs for assessing higher cognitive levels. A pre-post study was conducted, participant satisfaction was evaluated and pre-post test scores were used to assess learning capability of the workshop participants. Out of the 19 who attended the workshop, 16 participated in the pre- and post-tests and were included in the study through convenience sampling. The total duration of the study was six months. There was a significant difference in …


Graduate Nurse Transition Programs Pivotal Point Of Participants’ Practice Readiness Questioned During The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis: A Scoping Review, Kylie Russell, Dianne Juliff Jan 2021

Graduate Nurse Transition Programs Pivotal Point Of Participants’ Practice Readiness Questioned During The Covid-19 Pandemic Crisis: A Scoping Review, Kylie Russell, Dianne Juliff

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic requires an accessible, practice-ready nursing workforce to assist with the increase in health service delivery. Graduate nurse transition programs are the entry point for most graduates into professional practice, and this review focused on both empirical studies and gray literature to identify at what point practice readiness occurs and what can assist graduate nurses’ transition to become practice ready.

Method: A scoping review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review framework.

Results: Consensus purports supportive environments, ideally in formal structured graduate transition to practice programs, to enhance graduate nurses’ clinical skills and confidence development. …


Multichannel Mixture Models For Time-Series Analysis And Classification Of Engagement With Multiple Health Services: An Application To Psychology And Physiotherapy Utilization Patterns After Traffic Accidents, Nazanin Esmaili, Quinlan D. Buchlak, Massimo Piccardi, Bernie Kruger, Federico Girosi Jan 2021

Multichannel Mixture Models For Time-Series Analysis And Classification Of Engagement With Multiple Health Services: An Application To Psychology And Physiotherapy Utilization Patterns After Traffic Accidents, Nazanin Esmaili, Quinlan D. Buchlak, Massimo Piccardi, Bernie Kruger, Federico Girosi

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) represent a significant burden on health systems globally. Tens of thousands of people are injured in Australia every year and may experience significant disability. Associated economic costs are substantial. There is little literature on the health service utilization patterns of MVA patients. To fill this gap, this study has been designed to investigate temporal patterns of psychology and physiotherapy service utilization following transport-related injuries.

Method: De-identified compensation data was provided by the Australian Transport Accident Commission. Utilization of physiotherapy and psychology services was analysed. The datasets contained 788 psychology and 3115 physiotherapy claimants and 22,522 …


Coronary 18f-Sodium Fluoride Pet Detects High-Risk Plaque Features On Optical Coherence Tomography And Ct-Angiography In Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome, Kamran Majeed, Jamie W. Bellinge, Steele C. Butcher, Richard Alcock, Jon Spiro, David Playford, Graham S. Hillis, David E. Newby, Trevor A. Mori, Roslyn Francis, Carl J. Schultz Jan 2021

Coronary 18f-Sodium Fluoride Pet Detects High-Risk Plaque Features On Optical Coherence Tomography And Ct-Angiography In Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome, Kamran Majeed, Jamie W. Bellinge, Steele C. Butcher, Richard Alcock, Jon Spiro, David Playford, Graham S. Hillis, David E. Newby, Trevor A. Mori, Roslyn Francis, Carl J. Schultz

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background and aims: 18F-Sodium Fluoride Positron Emission Tomography (18F–NaF PET) non-invasively detects micro-calcification activity, the earliest stage of atherosclerotic arterial calcification. We studied the association between coronary 18F–NaF uptake and high-risk plaque features on intra-coronary optical coherence tomography (OCT) and CT-angiography (CTCA) and the potential application to patient-level risk stratification.

Methods: Sixty-two prospectively recruited patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) underwent multi-vessel OCT, 18F–NaF PET and CTCA. The maximum tissue to background ratio (TBRmax = standardised uptake value (SUV)max/SUVbloodpool) was measured in each coronary segment on 18F–NaF PET scans. High-risk plaque features on OCT …


Could "The Wonder Equation" Help Us To Be More Ethical? A Personal Reflection, Margaret Somerville Jan 2021

Could "The Wonder Equation" Help Us To Be More Ethical? A Personal Reflection, Margaret Somerville

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

This is a personal reflection on what I have learnt as an academic, researching, teaching and participating in the public square in Bioethics for over four decades. I describe a helix metaphor for understanding the evolution of values and the current “culture wars” between “progressive” and “conservative” values adherents, the uncertainty people’s “mixed values packages” engender, and disagreement in prioritizing individual rights and the “common good”. I propose, as a way forward, that individual and collective experiences of “amazement, wonder and awe” have the power to enrich our lives, help us to find meaning and sometimes to bridge the secular/ …


Diagnosing Death 50 Years After The Harvard Brain Death Report, Francis J. O'Keeffe, George L. Mendz Jan 2021

Diagnosing Death 50 Years After The Harvard Brain Death Report, Francis J. O'Keeffe, George L. Mendz

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

More than 50 years after the publication of the Harvard Committee Report that sought to define death according to whole-brain function criteria, this document continues to generate a diversity of opinions regarding how death should be defined. The various perspectives show that doubts linger regarding when brain death should be diagnosed, the criteria to pinpoint the occurrence of death, and the alignment of medical practices seeking to establish human death with these criteria. This study reviews and assesses three perspectives that have made significant contributions to the debate. Attention is also given to definitions of death that depart from the …


Ejection Fraction And Mortality: A Nationwide Register-Based Cohort Study Of 499 153 Women And Men, Simon Stewart, David Playford, Gregory M. Scalia, Philip Currie, David S. Celermajer, David Prior, Jim Codde, Geoff Strange Jan 2021

Ejection Fraction And Mortality: A Nationwide Register-Based Cohort Study Of 499 153 Women And Men, Simon Stewart, David Playford, Gregory M. Scalia, Philip Currie, David S. Celermajer, David Prior, Jim Codde, Geoff Strange

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Aims: We investigated the sex-based risk of mortality across the spectrum of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in a large cohort of patients in Australia.

Methods and results: Quantified levels of LVEF from 237 046 women (48.1%) and 256 109 men undergoing first-time, routine echocardiography (2000–2019) were linked to 119 232 deaths (median 5.6 years of follow-up). Overall, 17.6% of men vs. 8.3% of women had an LVEF P< 0.001] in women and 1.21 (95% CI 1.05–1.39; P = 0.008) in men. In women, an LVEF of 60.0–64.9% was also associated with a HR 1.33 (95% CI 1.16–1.52; P< 0.001) for cardiovascular-related mortality. These associations were most striking in women and men aged

Conclusions: Among patients investigated for suspected or established cardiovascular …


Essentials Of A New Clinical Practice Guidance On Familial Hypercholesterolaemia For Physicians, Gerald F. Watts, David R. Sullivan, David L. Hare, Karam M. Kostner, Ari E. Horton, Damon A. Bell, Tom Brett, Ronald J. Trent, Nicola K. Poplawski, Andrew Martin, Shubha Srinivasan, Robert N. Justo, Clara K. Chow, Jing Pang Jan 2021

Essentials Of A New Clinical Practice Guidance On Familial Hypercholesterolaemia For Physicians, Gerald F. Watts, David R. Sullivan, David L. Hare, Karam M. Kostner, Ari E. Horton, Damon A. Bell, Tom Brett, Ronald J. Trent, Nicola K. Poplawski, Andrew Martin, Shubha Srinivasan, Robert N. Justo, Clara K. Chow, Jing Pang

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is a common, heritable and preventable cause of premature coronary artery disease. New clinical practice recommendations are presented to assist practitioners in enhancing the care of all patients with FH. Core recommendations are made on the detection, diagnosis, assessment and management of adults, children and adolescents with FH. Management is under-pinned by the precepts of risk stratification, adherence to healthy lifestyles, treatment of non-cholesterol risk factors and appropriate use of low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol-lowering therapies including statins, ezetimibe and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors. The recommendations need to be utilised using judicious clinical judgement and shared …


Exported Plasmodial J Domain Protein, Pfe0055c, And Pfhsp70-X Form A Specific Co-Chaperone-Chaperone Partnership, Tanima Dutta, Harpreet Singh, Jason E. Gestwicki, Gregory L. Blatch Jan 2021

Exported Plasmodial J Domain Protein, Pfe0055c, And Pfhsp70-X Form A Specific Co-Chaperone-Chaperone Partnership, Tanima Dutta, Harpreet Singh, Jason E. Gestwicki, Gregory L. Blatch

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Plasmodium falciparum is a unicellular protozoan parasite and causative agent of a severe form of malaria in humans, accounting for very high worldwide fatality rates. At the molecular level, survival of the parasite within the human host is mediated by P. falciparum heat shock proteins (PfHsps) that provide protection during febrile episodes. The ATP-dependent chaperone activity of Hsp70 relies on the co-chaperone J domain protein (JDP), with which it forms a chaperone-co-chaperone complex. The exported P. falciparum JDP (PfJDP), PFA0660w, has been shown to stimulate the ATPase activity of the exported chaperone, PfHsp70-x. Furthermore, PFA0660w has been shown to associate …


Transfer Learning Artificial Intelligence For Automated Detection Of Atrial Fibrillation In Patients Undergoing Evaluation For Suspected Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: A Feasibility Study, Nestor Gahungu, Afsin Shariar, David Playford, Christopher Judkins, Eli Gabbay Jan 2021

Transfer Learning Artificial Intelligence For Automated Detection Of Atrial Fibrillation In Patients Undergoing Evaluation For Suspected Obstructive Sleep Apnoea: A Feasibility Study, Nestor Gahungu, Afsin Shariar, David Playford, Christopher Judkins, Eli Gabbay

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Individuals with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) experience a higher burden of atrial fibrillation (AF) than the general population, and many cases of AF remain undetected. We tested the feasibility of an artificial intelligence (AI) approach to opportunistic detection of AF from single-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) which are routinely recorded during in-laboratory polysomnographic sleep studies.

Methods: Using transfer learning, an existing ECG AI model was applied to 1839 single-lead ECG traces recorded during in-laboratory sleep studies without any training of the algorithm. Manual review of all traces was performed by two trained clinicians who were blinded to each other's review. Discrepancies …


Examining The Potential For Coronary Artery Calcium (Cac) Scoring For Individuals At Low Cardiovascular Risk., David Playford, Christian Hamilton-Craig, Girish Dwivedi, Gemma Figtree Jan 2021

Examining The Potential For Coronary Artery Calcium (Cac) Scoring For Individuals At Low Cardiovascular Risk., David Playford, Christian Hamilton-Craig, Girish Dwivedi, Gemma Figtree

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Atherosclerosis is the commonest cause of death in Australia. Cardiovascular (CV) risk calculators have an important role in preventative cardiology, although they are are strongly age-dependent and designed to identify individuals at high risk of an imminent event. The imprecision around “intermediate” or “low” risk generates therapeutic uncertainty, and a significant proportion of patients presenting with myocardial infarction come from these groups, often with no warning. This highlights a conundrum: “Low” risk does not mean “no” risk.

A fresh approach may be required to address the clinical conundrum around CV preventative approaches in non-high-risk individuals. While probabilistic calculators do not …


Birthing In Regional Australia: Women's Decision Making Surrounding Birthplace, Alexa Seal, Emma Hoban, Annette Panzera, Joseph Mcgirr Jan 2021

Birthing In Regional Australia: Women's Decision Making Surrounding Birthplace, Alexa Seal, Emma Hoban, Annette Panzera, Joseph Mcgirr

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Objective

Although there is some research on women’s choice of birthplace, most of this research has been conducted overseas. This study explored factors influencing the decision to use public or private maternity services within regional Australia.

Methods

This cross-sectional study consisted of a community-based, anonymous, online questionnaire focused on factors influencing a woman’s choice of birth location and included adult females who had given birth in the past 2 years within two regional areas. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographic characteristics and factors influencing decisions regarding birthplace. Pearson’s Chi-squared test was used to compare public and private births for …


Cardiac Damage Staging Classification Predicts Prognosis In All The Major Subtypes Of Severe Aortic Stenosis: Insights From The National Echo Database Australia, Afik Snir, Martin Ng, Geoffrey A. Strange, David Playford, Simon Stewart, David S. Celermajer Jan 2021

Cardiac Damage Staging Classification Predicts Prognosis In All The Major Subtypes Of Severe Aortic Stenosis: Insights From The National Echo Database Australia, Afik Snir, Martin Ng, Geoffrey A. Strange, David Playford, Simon Stewart, David S. Celermajer

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background

There are currently no established prognostic models for “low-gradient” severe aortic stenosis (AS), including those with low-flow, low-gradient (LFLG) or normal-flow, low-gradient (NFLG) severe AS. The “cardiac damage staging classification” has been validated as a clinically useful prognostic tool for high-gradient severe AS but not yet for these other common subtypes of severe AS, LFLG and NFLG.

Methods

The authors analyzed data from the National Echo Database of Australia, a large national, multicenter registry with individual data linkage to mortality. Of 192,060 adults (mean age, 62.8 ± 17.8 years) with comprehensive ultrasound profiling of the native aortic valve studied …