INCREASING PATIENT DEMAND FOR HOME MEDICINES REVIEWS: A MARKETING PLAN

Campbell (2008)stated that “Consumer awareness of the program is of major concern” and concluded that “all stakeholders agreed that the Home Medicines Review (HMR) Program should be promoted more to consumers and carers.” Schwartzkoff et al (2004) recommended the implementation of a “national public awareness campaign to strengthen demand for HMR services from consumers who are likely to benefit”. Our research study (White & Clark, 2010; see poster 2) found that: There is very low awareness of HMRs amongst eligible non-recipient patients and carers There is an extremely high level of satisfaction amongst those who have experienced an HMR and very positive perceptions amongst those eligible patients and carers who have not had an HMR, after being informed of the service through the study.The goal of the marketing plan is to increase patient demand for HMRs by: 1. overcoming the lack of awareness, 2. facilitating patient self identification of eligibility and 3. instituting procedures that enhance the uptake of second and subsequent HMRs by HMR recipients where appropriate. All marketing strategies must be carefully targeted in order to attract only patients who meet the HMR eligibility criteria.Pharmacy Guild of Australi

Special theme article : science and sociology of footwear

Journal editorial

Search for annihilating dark matter in the Sun with 3 years of IceCube data

We present results from an analysis looking for dark matter annihilation in the Sun with the IceCube neutrino telescope. Gravitationally trapped dark matter in the Sun’s core can annihilate into Standard Model particles making the Sun a source of GeV neutrinos. IceCube is able to detect neutrinos with energies >100 GeV while its low-energy infill array DeepCore extends this to >10 GeV. This analysis uses data gathered in the austral winters between May 2011 and May 2014, corresponding to 532 days of livetime when the Sun, being below the horizon, is a source of up-going neutrino events, easiest to discriminate against the dominant background of atmospheric muons. The sensitivity is a factor of two to four better than previous searches due to additional statistics and improved analysis methods involving better background rejection and reconstructions. The resultant upper limits on the spin-dependent dark matter-proton scattering cross section reach down to 1.46×10−5 pb for a dark matter particle of mass 500 GeV annihilating exclusively into τ+τ−particles. These are currently the most stringent limits on the spin-dependent dark matter-proton scattering cross section for WIMP masses above 50 GeV.M. G. Aartsen ... G. C. Hill ... S. Robertson ... A. Wallace … B. J. Whelan ... et al. (IceCube Collaboration

All-flavour search for neutrinos from dark matter annihilations in the Milky Way with IceCube/DeepCore

Published online: 28 September 2016We present the first IceCube search for a signal of dark matter annihilations in the Milky Way using all-flavour neutrino-induced particle cascades. The analysis focuses on the DeepCore sub-detector of IceCube, and uses the surrounding IceCube strings as a veto region in order to select starting events in the DeepCore volume. We use 329 live-days of data from IceCube operating in its 86-string configuration during 2011–2012. No neutrino excess is found, the final result being compatible with the background-only hypothesis. From this null result, we derive upper limits on the velocity-averaged self-annihilation cross-section, 〈σAv〉, for dark matter candidate masses ranging from 30 GeV up to 10 TeV, assuming both a cuspy and a flat-cored dark matter halo profile. For dark matter masses between 200 GeV and 10 TeV, the results improve on all previous IceCube results on 〈σAv〉 , reaching a level of 10⁻²³ cm³ s⁻¹, depending on the annihilation channel assumed, for a cusped NFW profile. The analysis demonstrates that all-flavour searches are competitive with muon channel searches despite the intrinsicallyworse angular resolution of cascades compared to muon tracks in IceCube.M.G. Aartsen … G.C. Hill … S. Robertson … A. Wallace … B.J. Whelan … et al. (IceCube Collaboration

Development of a general analysis and unfolding scheme and its application to measure the energy spectrum of atmospheric neutrinos with IceCube

We present the development and application of a generic analysis scheme for the measurement of neutrino spectra with the IceCube detector. This scheme is based on regularized unfolding, preceded by an event selection which uses a Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance algorithm to select the relevant variables and a random forest for the classification of events. The analysis has been developed using IceCube data from the 59-string configuration of the detector. 27,771 neutrino candidates were detected in 346 days of livetime. A rejection of 99.9999 % of the atmospheric muon background is achieved. The energy spectrum of the atmospheric neutrino flux is obtained using the TRUEE unfolding program. The unfolded spectrum of atmospheric muon neutrinos covers an energy range from 100 GeV to 1 PeV. Compared to the previous measurement using the detector in the 40-string configuration, the analysis presented here, extends the upper end of the atmospheric neutrino spectrum by more than a factor of two, reaching an energy region that has not been previously accessed by spectral measurements.M.G. Aartsen … G.C. Hill … S. Robertson … B. Whelan … et al. (IceCube Collaboration

Neutrino oscillation studies with IceCube-DeepCore

Abstract not availableM.G. Aartsen ... G.C. Hill ... S. Robertson ... A. Wallace ... B.J. Whelan ... et al. [IceCube Collaboration

First search for dark matter annihilations in the Earth with the IceCube detector

Published online: 8 February 2017We present the results of the first IceCube search for dark matter annihilation in the center of the Earth. Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), candidates for dark matter, can scatter off nuclei inside the Earth and fall below its escape velocity. Over time the captured WIMPs will be accumulated and may eventually self-annihilate. Among the annihilation products only neutrinos can escape from the center of the Earth. Large-scale neutrino telescopes, such as the cubic kilometer IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole, can be used to search for such neutrino fluxes. Data from 327 days of detector livetime during 2011/2012 were analyzed. No excess beyond the expected background from atmospheric neutrinos was detected. The derived upper limits on the annihilation rate of WIMPs in the Earth and the resulting muon flux are an order of magnitude stronger than the limits of the last analysis performed with data from IceCube’s predecessor AMANDA. The limits can be translated in terms of a spin-independent WIMP–nucleon cross section. For a WIMP mass of 50 GeV this analysis results in the most restrictive limits achieved with IceCube data.M.G. Aartsen … G.C. Hill … S. Robertson … A. Wallace … B.J. Whelan … et al. (IceCube Collaboration

Improved limits on dark matter annihilation in the Sun with the 79-string IceCube detector and implications for supersymmetry

We present an improved event-level likelihood formalism for including neutrino telescope data in global fits to new physics. We derive limits on spin-dependent dark matter-proton scattering by employing the new formalism in a re-analysis of data from the 79-string IceCube search for dark matter annihilation in the Sun, including explicit energy information for each event. The new analysis excludes a number of models in the weak-scale minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) for the rst time. This work is accompanied by the public release of the 79-string IceCube data, as well as an associated computer code for applying the new likelihood to arbitrary dark matter models.M.G. Aarten ... G.C. Hill ... S. Robertson ... B.J. Whelan ... et al

Defective Presynaptic Choline Transport Underlies Hereditary Motor Neuropathy

The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is a specialized synapse with a complex molecular architecture that provides for reliable transmission between the nerve terminal and muscle fiber. Using linkage analysis and whole-exome sequencing of DNA samples from subjects with distal hereditary motor neuropathy type VII, we identified a mutation in SLC5A7, which encodes the presynaptic choline transporter (CHT), a critical determinant of synaptic acetylcholine synthesis and release at the NMJ. This dominantly segregating SLC5A7 mutation truncates the encoded product just beyond the final transmembrane domain, eliminating cytosolic-C-terminus sequences known to regulate surface transporter trafficking. Choline-transport assays in both transfected cells and monocytes from affected individuals revealed significant reductions in hemicholinium-3-sensitive choline uptake, a finding consistent with a dominant-negative mode of action. The discovery of CHT dysfunction underlying motor neuropathy identifies a biological basis for this group of conditions and widens the spectrum of disorders that derive from impaired NMJ transmission. Our findings compel consideration of mutations in SLC5A7 or its functional partners in relation to unexplained motor neuronopathies

FDG uptake by prosthetic arterial grafts in large vessel vasculitis Is not specific for active disease

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the incidence and clinical significance of arterial graft-associated uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose in large-vessel vasculitis (LVV). BACKGROUND: The role of (18)F-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([(18)F]FDG-PET/CT) in the management of LVV remains to be defined. Although [(18)F]FDG uptake at arterial graft sites raises concerns regarding active arteritis or infection, its clinical significance in LVV has never been formally studied. METHODS: An observational prospective study sought to identify patients with Takayasu arteritis (TA) undergoing [(18)F]FDG-PET/CT more than 6 months after graft surgery from a large cohort of patients from 2 tertiary referral centers. [(18)F]FDG uptake by the graft and native arteries was scored on a scale of 0 to 3 relative to hepatic uptake, and periprosthetic maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) was calculated. Periprosthetic [(18)F]FDG uptake in active disease was compared with that in inactive disease, and arterial progression was assessed by prospective magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). RESULTS: Twenty-six subjects with TA were enrolled. All were afebrile with negative blood culture. Periprosthetic uptake was significant in 23 of 26 patients, and the mean SUVmax was 4.21 ± 1.46. Median periprosthetic [(18)F]FDG uptake score (3; interquartile range [IQR]: 3 to 3) was higher than in native aorta (1; IQR: 0 to 1; p < 0.001). Graft-specific [(18)F]FDG uptake was unrelated to disease activity. Despite the high frequency of graft-associated [(18)F]FDG uptake, sequential MRAs did not reveal arterial progression in 25 of 26 patients; the 1 remaining case showed minor progression limited to native arteries. Nine patients underwent repeated PET/CT scanning without showing changes in graft-specific uptake, despite increased treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Significant [(18)F]FDG uptake that is confined to arterial graft sites in patients with LVV does not reflect clinically relevant disease activity or progression. To minimize exposure to immunosuppression and in the face of negative blood culture, clinically quiescent arteritis, normal or stably raised C-reactive protein levels, we elected not to escalate treatment and monitor progression with MRA