Reproducibility of Standing Posture for X-Ray Radiography: A Feasibility Study of the BalancAid with Healthy Young Subjects

Unreliable spinal X-ray radiography measurement due to standing postural variability can be minimized by using positional supports. In this study, we introduce a balancing device, named BalancAid, to position the patients in a reproducible position during spinal X-ray radiography. This study aimed to investigate the performance of healthy young subjects’ standing posture on the BalancAid compared to standing on the ground mimicking the standard X-rays posture in producing a reproducible posture for the spinal X-ray radiography. A study on the posture reproducibility measurement was performed by taking photographs of 20 healthy young subjects with good balance control standing on the BalancAid and the ground repeatedly within two consecutive days. We analyzed nine posterior–anterior (PA) and three lateral (LA) angles between lines through body marks placed in the positions of T3, T7, T12, L4 of the spine to confirm any translocations and movements between the first and second day measurements. No body marks repositioning was performed to avoid any error. Lin’s CCC test on all angles comparing both standing postures demonstrated that seven out of nine angles in PA view, and two out of three angles in LA view gave better reproducibility for standing on the BalancAid compared to standing on the ground. The PA angles concordance is on average better than that of the LA angles

High Effectiveness of Broad Access Direct-Acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C in an Australian Real-World Cohort: The REACH-C Study

Australia was one of the first countries with unrestricted access to government subsidized direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for adults with chronic hepatitis C virus. This study assessed real-world DAA treatment outcomes across a diverse range of Australian clinical services and evaluated factors associated with successful treatment and loss to follow-up. Real-world Effectiveness of Antiviral therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C (REACH-C) consisted a national observational cohort of 96 clinical services including specialist clinics and less traditional settings such as general practice. Data were obtained on consecutive individuals who commenced DAAs from March 2016 to June 2019. Effectiveness was assessed by sustained virological response ≥12 weeks following treatment (SVR) using intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. Within REACH-C, 10,843 individuals initiated DAAs (male 69%; ≥50 years 52%; cirrhosis 22%). SVR data were available in 85% (9,174 of 10,843). SVR was 81% (8,750 of 10,843) by ITT and 95% (8,750 of 9,174) by PP. High SVR (≥92%) was observed across all service types and participant characteristics. Male gender (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.56, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.43-0.72), cirrhosis (aOR 0.52, 95% CI 0.41-0.64), recent injecting drug use (IDU; aOR 0.64, 95% CI 0.46-0.91) and previous DAA treatment (aOR 0.50, 95% CI 0.28-0.90) decreased the likelihood of achieving SVR. Multiple factors modified the likelihood of loss to follow-up including IDU ± opioid agonist therapy (OAT; IDU only: aOR 1.75, 95% CI 1.44-2.11; IDU + OAT: aOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.11-1.74; OAT only, aOR 1.36; 95% CI 1.13-1.68) and age (aOR 0.97, 95% CI 0.97-0.98). Conclusion: Treatment response was high in a diverse population and through a broad range of services following universal access to DAA therapy. Loss to follow-up presents a real-world challenge. Younger people who inject drugs were more likely to disengage from care, requiring innovative strategies to retain them in follow-up

College Women’s Feminist Identity: A Multidimensional Analysis with Implications for Coping with Sexism

This study examined components of women’s feminist identity and possible relations to their reported coping responses to sexism. A sample of 169 undergraduate women (M = 19.4 y, SD = 1.2) from diverse ethnic backgrounds completed surveys assessing their experiences and gender-related views. The first set of analyses revealed that women’s social gender identity, exposure to feminism, and gender-egalitarian attitudes independently contributed to feminist identification; moreover, non-stereotyping of feminists further predicted feminist self-identification. A second set of analyses tested the relative contribution of feminist identity components to women’s cognitive appraisals of coping responses to sexual harassment. Seeking social support was predicted by self-identification as a feminist (for White European American women only). Confronting was predicted by social gender identity, non-stereotyping of feminists, and public identification as a feminist. Findings highlight possible components of women’s feminist identity and their possible impact on coping responses to sexism

The role of public health nurses in the detection of developmental dysplasia of the hip

Aims  Our study aimed to quantify the role played by public health nurses (PHNs) in the detection of cases of developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) not identified by existing national screening processes.  Methods  We conducted a review of all children diagnosed with DDH in our centre over an 18-month period. Referral details and general clinical information were then analysed for all late diagnoses, defined as later than three months of age.  Results  339 infants were diagnosed with at least some degree of dysplasia over the study period, implying an annual incidence of 31.3 cases per 1,000 live births. 86 of these (25.4%) were late diagnoses. 67.9% of referrals of late cases originated with a PHN. A small subgroup of late diagnoses (n = 8) presented with frank hip dislocation.  Conclusion  The proportion of DDH diagnoses made after three months of age remains significant. Our findings suggest that PHN reviews in the first year of life constitute an important ‘safety net’ in expediting the diagnosis of DDH in babies not identified by existing national screening processes. Quality improvement and training interventions would be of value in further supporting this role.</p

In vitro and in vivo investigations into the carbene gold chloride and thioglucoside anticancer drug candidates NHC-AuCl and NHC-AuSR

The anticancer drug candidate 1,3-dibenzyl-4,5-diphenyl-imidazol-2-ylidene gold(I) chloride (NHC-AuCl) and its 2',3',4',6'-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl-1'-thiolate derivative (NHC-AuSR), which is a potential ligand for glucose transporters, were tested on the NCI 60 cancer cell panel in vitro. NHC-AuCl and NHC-AuSR showed very good activity against a wide range of human cancer cell lines inclusive renal cell cancer with similar average GI50 values of 1.78 and 1.95 μM, respectively. This encouraged maximum tolerable dose (MTD) experiments in mice, where MTD values of 10 mg/kg for NHC-AuCl and 7.5 mg/kg for NHC-AuSR were determined with single injections to groups of 2 mice. In the following tumor xenograft experiment NHC-AuCl and NHC-AuSR were given at MTD in 6 injections to two cohorts of 6 CAKI-1 tumor-bearing NMRI:nu/nu mice, while a control cohort of 6 mice was treated with solvent only. NHC-AuCl at the dose of 10 mg/kg and NHC-AuSR at the lower dose of 7.5 mg/kg induced both low toxicities in the form of abdominal swelling but no significant body weight loss was seen in both groups. The tumor volume growth reduction was significant and almost identical; optimal T/C values of 0.47 were observed on day 19 for NHC-AuCl and on day 29 for NHC-AuSR. Immunohistochemistry for the proliferation marker Ki-67 and the angiogenesis marker CD31 did not show significant changes due to NHC-AuCl or NHC-AuSR treatment in the animals. However, thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) inhibition with IC50 values of 1.5 μM for NHC-AuCl and 3.1 μM for NHC-AuSR seems to indicate that apoptosis induction through elevated oxidative stress is the main mechanism for the two gold compounds