Andrew Goldie's memoir : 1875 - 1879

When the natural history collector, explorer and trader Andrew Goldie died at Millport, Scotland, in 1891 he left an unfinished handwritten 120-page memoir of his first four years in New Guinea, from 1875 to 1879. The memoir, reproduced here, describes Goldie’s early career as a commercial natural history collector. Thoroughly annotated, and including where he indicated in the text an excerpt published from his diary in 1876 and the scientific descriptions of two plants, it offers a rare window on to life on the southeast coast of New Guinea and in Torres Strait in the era immediately before those regions were separated to become parts of different colonies. The annotated memoir also contains a photograph of Goldie’s 1877 expedition, a hand drawn expedition map, three sketches by James Shaw, one of Goldie’s party, and two newspaper illustrations of scenes described in the memoir. The memoir text is reproduced as faithfully as possible to the original, although some of Goldie’s minor textual corrections have not been retained

Andrew Goldie in New Guinea 1875-1879 : memoir of a natural history collector

Andrew Goldie arrived in New Guinea early in 1876 on a contract to collect botanical specimens for the London nurseryman B.S. Williams. He also had separate arrangements with Ferdinand von Mueller, the Victoria Government Botanist, and E.P. Ramsay of the Australian Museum, to collect all kinds of specimens; botanical, ornithological, entomological, ichthyological and ethnological. In 1878 he established a trading store at Port Moresby to consolidate his business where he remained until poor health forced him to leave in 1890. Although very little has been published about Goldie, he is recognised as one of the most important collectors of New Guinea ethnological artefacts for Australia. The Museum of the Cumbraes, at Millport, Scotland, holds an unfinished, hand-written memoir by Goldie covering the period 1875-1879 that offers rare insights into Torres Strait and the southeast coast of New Guinea before they became parts of separate colonies. The memoir, extensively annotated, forms the centre piece of this monograph, contextualised by a biography, a detailed analysis of Goldie’s ethnological collecting, and an annotated and illustrated catalogue of the Goldie ethnological artefacts at Queensland Museum and the Museum of the Cumbraes

First human case of fatal Halicephalobus gingivalis meningoencephalitis in Australia

Halicephalobus gingivalis (previously Micronema deletrix) is a free-living nematode known to cause opportunistic infections, mainly in horses. Human infections are very rare, but all cases described to date involved fatal meningoencephalitis. Here we report the first case of H. gingivalis infection in an Australian human patient, confirmed by nematode morphology and sequencing of ribosomal DNA. The implications of this case are discussed, particularly, the need to evaluate real-time PCR as a diagnostic tool

The impact and public health response of chiropractors to the COVID-19 pandemic: a survey across four continents

Background: The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on healthcare professionals has implications for healthcare delivery, including the public health guidance provided to patients. This study aims to assess the response and impact of COVID-19 on chiropractors internationally, and examines the public health response of chiropractors to the COVID-19 pandemic practising under a musculoskeletal spine-care versus subluxation-based care paradigm.  Methods: A survey was distributed to chiropractors in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and United States (Oct. 2nd–Dec. 22nd, 2020) via professional bodies/publications, and social media. Questions were categorised into three domains: socio-demographic, public health response and business/financial impact. Multivariable logistic regression explored survey items associated with chiropractors practising under different self-reported paradigms.  Results: A total of 2061 chiropractors representing four global regions completed the survey. Our recruitment method did not allow the calculation of an accurate response rate. The vast majority initiated COVID-19 infection control changes within their practice setting, including increased disinfecting of treatment equipment (95%), frequent contact areas (94%) and increased hand hygiene (94%). While findings varied by region, most chiropractors (85%) indicated that they had implemented regulator advice on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Suspension of face-to-face patient care during the peak of the pandemic was reported by 49% of the participants with 26% implementing telehealth since the pandemic began. Chiropractors practising under a musculoskeletal spine-care paradigm were more likely to implement some/all regulator advice on patient PPE use (odds ratio [OR] = 3.25; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.57, 6.74) and practitioner PPE use (OR = 2.59; 95% CI 1.32, 5.08); trust COVID-19 public health information provided by government/World Health Organisation/chiropractic bodies (OR = 2.47; 95% CI 1.49, 4.10), and initiate patient telehealth in response to COVID-19 (OR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.02, 2.08) compared to those practising under a subluxation-based paradigm.  Conclusions: Chiropractors who responded to our survey made substantial infectious control changes in response to COVID-19. However, there was regional variation in the implementation of the advised practitioner and patient use of PPE and limited overall use of telehealth consultations by chiropractors during COVID-19. Musculoskeletal spine-care chiropractors were more adaptive to certain COVID-19 public health changes within their practice setting than subluxation-based chiropractors.</p

1278 MANELS: A retrospective, multi-national, longitudinal study for quantitative analysis of gender distribution in speakers at major pan-specialty surgical conferences

Aim Although the proportion of female medical students worldwide is increasing, only an estimated 35% of UK surgical trainees are female, and only 14% of consultant surgeons – these statistics are similar globally. This study aims to quantify the gender distribution in invited speakers and panellists at international pan-specialty surgical conferences in recent years.Method Retrospective analysis of annual meetings organised by 5 international surgical organizations between January 2016 and December 2021 was conducted. Male and female faculty were academically stratified according to mean publications, citations, and H-index. A manel was defined as a session with ≥ 2 speakers, all of whom are men. Sex was determined by specific speaker title in conference program, online autobiography, or Gender Balance Assessment Tool (GBAT).Results Between 22 conferences, there were 1978 invited speakers, of which 25.6% (n = 506) were female. Of the included 74 panel sessions, 48.6% (n = 36) were manels. When considering the gender of invited lecture speakers, there was no significant difference in their mean H-indices (M = 33.4, F = 27.8, p = 0.063) or mean total publications (M = 205.6, F = 169.9). Male invited lecturers had a significantly higher number of citations (M = 7944.7, F = 4211.7, p = 0.025). There was a significant decrease in the proportion of manels between 2016 and 2021 (p = 0.01).Conclusions Despite the increasing representation of women in surgery, only one quarter of invited speakers were female and almost half of panels with two or more speakers were manels despite no difference in speaker H-index or publications. This study highlights the need for new strategies and concerted efforts to increase female representation at surgical conferences.</p

Changes in symptomatology, reinfection, and transmissibility associated with the SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7: an ecological study

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 was first identified in December, 2020, in England. We aimed to investigate whether increases in the proportion of infections with this variant are associated with differences in symptoms or disease course, reinfection rates, or transmissibility. Methods: We did an ecological study to examine the association between the regional proportion of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant and reported symptoms, disease course, rates of reinfection, and transmissibility. Data on types and duration of symptoms were obtained from longitudinal reports from users of the COVID Symptom Study app who reported a positive test for COVID-19 between Sept 28 and Dec 27, 2020 (during which the prevalence of B.1.1.7 increased most notably in parts of the UK). From this dataset, we also estimated the frequency of possible reinfection, defined as the presence of two reported positive tests separated by more than 90 days with a period of reporting no symptoms for more than 7 days before the second positive test. The proportion of SARS-CoV-2 infections with the B.1.1.7 variant across the UK was estimated with use of genomic data from the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium and data from Public Health England on spike-gene target failure (a non-specific indicator of the B.1.1.7 variant) in community cases in England. We used linear regression to examine the association between reported symptoms and proportion of B.1.1.7. We assessed the Spearman correlation between the proportion of B.1.1.7 cases and number of reinfections over time, and between the number of positive tests and reinfections. We estimated incidence for B.1.1.7 and previous variants, and compared the effective reproduction number, Rt, for the two incidence estimates. Findings: From Sept 28 to Dec 27, 2020, positive COVID-19 tests were reported by 36 920 COVID Symptom Study app users whose region was known and who reported as healthy on app sign-up. We found no changes in reported symptoms or disease duration associated with B.1.1.7. For the same period, possible reinfections were identified in 249 (0·7% [95% CI 0·6–0·8]) of 36 509 app users who reported a positive swab test before Oct 1, 2020, but there was no evidence that the frequency of reinfections was higher for the B.1.1.7 variant than for pre-existing variants. Reinfection occurrences were more positively correlated with the overall regional rise in cases (Spearman correlation 0·56–0·69 for South East, London, and East of England) than with the regional increase in the proportion of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant (Spearman correlation 0·38–0·56 in the same regions), suggesting B.1.1.7 does not substantially alter the risk of reinfection. We found a multiplicative increase in the Rt of B.1.1.7 by a factor of 1·35 (95% CI 1·02–1·69) relative to pre-existing variants. However, Rt fell below 1 during regional and national lockdowns, even in regions with high proportions of infections with the B.1.1.7 variant. Interpretation: The lack of change in symptoms identified in this study indicates that existing testing and surveillance infrastructure do not need to change specifically for the B.1.1.7 variant. In addition, given that there was no apparent increase in the reinfection rate, vaccines are likely to remain effective against the B.1.1.7 variant. Funding: Zoe Global, Department of Health (UK), Wellcome Trust, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), National Institute for Health Research (UK), Medical Research Council (UK), Alzheimer's Society.</p

Evaluating the Effects of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Mutation D614G on Transmissibility and Pathogenicity

Analysis of the spread and frequency of SARS-CoV-2 D614G in the United Kingdom suggests a selective advantage for this strain that is associated with higher viral loads in younger patients but not higher COVID-19 clinical severity or mortality

Recurrent emergence of SARS-CoV-2 spike deletion H69/V70 and its role in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7

We report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike ΔH69/V70 in multiple independent lineages, often occurring after acquisition of receptor binding motif replacements such as N439K and Y453F, known to increase binding affinity to the ACE2 receptor and confer antibody escape. In vitro, we show that, although ΔH69/V70 itself is not an antibody evasion mechanism, it increases infectivity associated with enhanced incorporation of cleaved spike into virions. ΔH69/V70 is able to partially rescue infectivity of spike proteins that have acquired N439K and Y453F escape mutations by increased spike incorporation. In addition, replacement of the H69 and V70 residues in the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike (where ΔH69/V70 occurs naturally) impairs spike incorporation and entry efficiency of the B.1.1.7 spike pseudotyped virus. Alpha variant B.1.1.7 spike mediates faster kinetics of cell-cell fusion than wild-type Wuhan-1 D614G, dependent on ΔH69/V70. Therefore, as ΔH69/V70 compensates for immune escape mutations that impair infectivity, continued surveillance for deletions with functional effects is warranted