The public production and sharing of medical information. An Australian perspective

There is a wealth of medical information now available to the public through various sources that are not necessarily controlled by medical or healthcare professionals. In Australia there has been a strong movement in the health consumer arena of consumer-led sharing and production of medical information and in healthcare decision-making. This has led to empowerment of the public as well as increased knowledge-sharing. There are some successful initiatives and strategies on consumer- and public-led sharing of medical information, including the formation of specialised consumer groups, independent medical information organisations, consumer peer tutoring, and email lists and consumer networking events. With well-organised public initiatives and networks, there tends to be fairly balanced information being shared. However, there needs to be caution about the use of publicly available scientific information to further the agenda of special-interest groups and lobbying groups to advance often biased and unproven opinions or for scaremongering. With the adoption of more accountability of medical research, and the increased public scrutiny of private and public research, the validity and quality of medical information reaching the public is achieving higher standards

The algebraic method in quadrature for uncertainty quantification

A general method of quadrature for uncertainty quantification (UQ) is introduced based on the algebraic method in experimental design. This is a method based on the theory of zero-dimensional algebraic varieties. It allows quadrature of polynomials or polynomial approximands for quite general sets of quadrature points, here called “designs.” The method goes some way to explaining when quadrature weights are nonnegative and gives exact quadrature for monomials in the quotient ring defined by the algebraic method. The relationship to the classical methods based on zeros of orthogonal polynomials is discussed, and numerical comparisons are made with methods such as Gaussian quadrature and Smolyak grids. Application to UQ is examined in the context of polynomial chaos expansion and the probabilistic collocation method, where solution statistics are estimated

The control of search and rescue robots with the general suppression control framework

The paper described the use of the general suppression control framework (GSCF) for the control and coordination of a team of search and rescue robots undertaking exploration operation. This study adopts the biological analogy of the human immune system to derive the GSCF having the behavior of immunological cells. The framework directs the coordination of these robots in tackling search and rescue operations in an unstructured environment. Simulation study is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control framework.published_or_final_versio

Effect Of Coronary Bypass And Valve Structure On Outcome In Isolated Valve Replacement For Aortic Stenosis

Reports differ regarding the effect of concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients who undergo aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic stenosis (AS), and no reports have described the effect of aortic valve structure in patients who undergo AVR for AS. A total of 871 patients aged 24 to 94 years (mean 70) whose AVR for AS was their first cardiac operation, with or without first concomitant CABG, were included. Patients who underwent mitral valve procedures were excluded. In comparison with the 443 patients (51%) who did not undergo CABG, the 428 (49%) who underwent concomitant CABG were significantly older, were more often male, had lower transvalvular peak systolic pressure gradients and larger valve areas, had lower frequencies of congenitally malformed aortic valves, had lighter valves by weight, had higher frequencies of systemic hypertension, and had longer stays in the hospital after AVR. Early and late (to 10 years) mortality were similar by propensity-adjusted analysis in patients who did and did not undergo concomitant CABG. Congenitally unicuspid or bicuspid valves occurred in approximately 90% of those aged 21 to 50, in nearly 70% in those aged 51 to 70 years, and in just over 30% in those aged 71 to 95 years. Unadjusted and adjusted survival was significantly higher in patients with unicuspid or bicuspid valves compared to those with tricuspid valves. In conclusion, although concomitant CABG had no effect on the adjusted probability of survival, the type of aortic valve (unicuspid or bicuspid vs tricuspid) significantly affected the unadjusted and adjusted probability of survival. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (Am J Cardiol 2012;109:1334-1340)Statistic

The perceived importance of sport management competencies by academics and practitioners in the cultural/industrial context of Taiwan

The study of management competencies and their application in the field of sport management has an established tradition. It is only relatively recently however that concern to consider the culturally specific context of competency evaluation has developed in the mainstream management literature and little work has been developed in the sport management field to address cultural specificity in respect of competencies. In addition the distinction between those competencies valued by sport management educators and by sport management practitioners is a relatively neglected topic. This study evaluates the perceptions of the critical competencies required of sport managers in Taiwan developing and applying a locally based tool for evaluation of competencies in sport management, and in particular evaluates the differences between the perceptions of sport management academics and practitioners in Taiwan. The results of this study highlight cultural differences between the Taiwanese and other cultural contexts in terms of the perceived importance of particular competencies, and have implications for sport management professional development and training

Fast resolution of identification problems in seed production and plant breeding using molecular markers

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis with specific and arbitrary primers was used to identify germplasm from a barley breeding program. Through practical application of the technology, an F1 plant's identity was confirmed, the correct pedigrees of incorrectly labelled F2 populations were determined, confusion in the identity of seed lots of an advanced breeding line was resolved and off-type barley plants were identified in a seed increase block. This illustrated the value of PCR-based genotype analysis in plant breeding programs

A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Phase II Trial of Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel Plus Apatorsen or Placebo in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer: The RAINIER Trial.

Lessons learnedThe addition of the heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27)-targeting antisense oligonucleotide, apatorsen, to a standard first-line chemotherapy regimen did not result in improved survival in unselected patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.Findings from this trial hint at the possible prognostic and predictive value of serum Hsp27 that may warrant further investigation.BackgroundThis randomized, double-blinded, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy of gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus either apatorsen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) mRNA, or placebo in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.MethodsPatients were randomized 1:1 to Arm A (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus apatorsen) or Arm B (gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel plus placebo). Treatment was administered in 28-day cycles, with restaging every 2 cycles, until progression or intolerable toxicity. Serum Hsp27 levels were analyzed at baseline and on treatment. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).ResultsOne hundred thirty-two patients were enrolled, 66 per arm. Cytopenias and fatigue were the most frequent grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events for both arms. Median progression-free survival (PFS) and OS were 2.7 and 5.3 months, respectively, for arm A, and 3.8 and 6.9 months, respectively, for arm B. Objective response rate was 18% for both arms. Patients with high serum level of Hsp27 represented a poor-prognosis subgroup who may have derived modest benefit from addition of apatorsen.ConclusionAddition of apatorsen to chemotherapy does not improve outcomes in unselected patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer in the first-line setting, although a trend toward prolonged PFS and OS in patients with high baseline serum Hsp27 suggests this therapy may warrant further evaluation in this subgroup

Heterologous expression of pathogen-specific genes ligA and ligB in the saprophyte Leptospira biflexa confers enhanced adhesion to cultured cells and fibronectin

BACKGROUND: In comparison to other bacterial pathogens, our knowledge of the molecular basis of the pathogenesis of leptospirosis is extremely limited. An improved understanding of leptospiral pathogenetic mechanisms requires reliable tools for functional genetic analysis. Leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (Lig) proteins are surface proteins found in pathogenic Leptospira, but not in saprophytes. Here, we describe a system for heterologous expression of the Leptospira interrogans genes ligA and ligB in the saprophyte Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc. RESULTS: The genes encoding LigA and LigB under the control of a constitutive spirochaetal promoter were inserted into the L. biflexa replicative plasmid. We were able to demonstrate expression and surface localization of LigA and LigB in L. biflexa. We found that the expression of the lig genes significantly enhanced the ability of transformed L. biflexa to adhere in vitro to extracellular matrix components and cultured cells, suggesting the involvement of Lig proteins in cell adhesion. CONCLUSIONS: This work reports a complete description of the system we have developed for heterologous expression of pathogen-specific proteins in the saprophytic L. biflexa. We show that expression of LigA and LigB proteins from the pathogen confers a virulence-associated phenotype on L. biflexa, namely adhesion to eukaryotic cells and fibronectin in vitro. This study indicates that L. biflexa can serve as a surrogate host to characterize the role of key virulence factors of the causative agent of leptospirosis