Breast feeding in Australia: A comparative study of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal women

The superiority of breast feeding over bottle feeding is universally acknowledged, and its crucial contribution to infant health is accepted by health authorities. Australia in recognition of the importance of breast feeding to infant health, aims to increase the prevalence of breast feeding. Breast feeding provides benefits for all children, however the health advantage that is gained by breast feeding in comparison to artificial feeding is more apparent among disadvantaged groups. Aboriginal Australians are identified as one such disadvantaged group. This study compares the available literature regarding the prevalence of breast feeding in Aboriginal and non Aboriginal women. It is apparent that breast feeding prevalence differs, between population groups within Australia. Aboriginal children are less likely to have been breast fed than non Aboriginal children. The comparison, indicates that there are deficiencies in the research regarding breast feeding prevalence in both population groups. Many factors affect a woman's decision to breast feed, and the duration of her breast feeding. These factors include, socioeconomic status, age, marital status, educational attainment, occupation and smoking status. These factors are clearly associated with breast feeding in non Aboriginal women. For Aboriginal women, the factors influencing breast feeding are more complex. It is recommended therefore, that it is essential for future research to examine the attitudinal and socialdeterminants of infant feeding practices in Aboriginal women. This is necessary, if educational or interventional strategies are to be effective for this population

DESA1002 'Nine Quarter City' - Adam Linton

A better balanced urban environment: Dubrovnik is a historic world renowned city, designed and built in an age free of motor cars. Originally designed with an emphasis on compact living, it was left bereft of open spaces and crisscrossed with narrow pedestrian lanes. Although not seen as necessary in the 1300’s, today's sedentary lifestyle leaves the people of Dubrovnik in need of somewhere for a “time out experience.” For example: A moment to pause and smell the roses and orchids growing in the conservatory as part of the public domain. To sit and relax in the shade of a tree while the children play close by in the public park. The residents of the building may choose to enjoy a rooftop barbeque with a few friends on a summer evening. To this end I chose to incorporate these features into my new building. As a group our task was to identify a range of building types that our quarter of the city needed. I was allocated a block on the south-western corner of the city that appeared to be in need of some additional residential housing and some open space landscaping. My aim was to blend the design of a new apartment building into the existing city, ensuring its overall form and shape is similar to the surrounding buildings, whilst utilising the most modern of design features internally. Achieving such a design on the allocated footprint wasn’t easy but with the help of a massing model I identified three possibilities: 1. My first configuration is that of a single main tower of apartments that has a small footprint whilst providing sufficient building floor space and a large open garden. 2. The second configuration was one which would provide maximum floor space. However, in doing so, it would almost completely negate the possibility of any open space, conflicting with the original design concept. 3. The third configuration was an attempt to spread out the footprint, in order to gain the same amount of floor space as the first configuration, without having it loom over the surrounding buildings. This configuration was eventually used in my actual design; however it was rotated 180° thereby walling in the vacant space to create a more private courtyard. In conclusion I think the people of Dubrovnik would welcome a building such as mine into their urban environment. I feel certain they would derive great pleasure from the public courtyard, play area and rooftop conservatory

Potential Muscle-Related Biomarkers in Predicting Curve Progression to the Surgical Threshold in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis—A Pilot Proteomic Study Comparing Four Non-Progressive vs. Four Progressive Patients vs. A Control Cohort

Previous studies have reported abnormal muscle morphology and functions in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). To answer whether such abnormalities could be reflected in their circulation and their clinical implication for predicting curve progression to the surgical threshold, this preliminary study explored the presence of baseline muscle-related proteins and their association with curve progression. Plasma samples were collected at the first clinical visit for AIS, with patients divided into non-progressive or progressive groups (N = four and four) according to their Cobb angle in six-year follow-ups, with age- and sex-matched healthy subjects (N = 50). Then, the samples were subjected to isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) for global comparison of untargeted protein expression. Seventy-one differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were found elevated in progressive AIS. Functional analysis showed that 18 of these are expressed in muscles and play an essential role in muscle activities. Among the muscle-related DEPs, α-actin had the highest fold change in progressive/non-progressive groups. This preliminary study firstly suggested higher circulating levels of muscle structural proteins in progressive AIS, indicating the likelihood of structural damage at the microscopic level and its association with progression to the surgical threshold. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to validate these novel candidates for early diagnosis and predicting progression

Vancomycin is protective in a neonatal mouse model of Staphylococcus epidermidis-potentiated hypoxic-ischemic brain injury

Infection is correlated with increased risk of neurodevelopmental sequelae in preterm infants. In modeling neonatal brain injury, Toll-like receptor agonists have often been used to mimic infections and induce inflammation. Using the most common cause of bacteremia in preterm infants, Staphylococcus epidermidis, we present a more clinically relevant neonatal mouse model that addresses the combined effects of bacterial infection together with subsequent hypoxic-ischemic brain insult. Currently, there is no neuroprotective treatment for the preterm population. Hence, we tested the neuroprotective effects of vancomycin with and without adjunct therapy using the anti-inflammatory agent pentoxifylline. We characterized the effects of S. epidermidis infection on the inflammatory response in the periphery and the brain, as well as the physiological changes in the central nervous system that might affect neurodevelopmental outcomes. Intraperitoneal injection of postnatal day 4 mice with a live clinical isolate of S. epidermidis led to bacteremia and induction of proinflammatory cytokines in the blood, as well as transient elevations of neutrophil and monocyte chemotactic cytokines and caspase 3 activity in the brain. When hypoxia-ischemia was induced postinfection, more severe brain damage was observed in infected animals than in saline-injected controls. This infection-induced inflammation and potentiated brain injury was inoculum dose dependent and was alleviated by the antibiotic vancomycin. Pentoxifylline did not provide any additional neuroprotective effect. Thus, we show for the first time that live S. epidermidis potentiates hypoxic-ischemic preterm brain injury and that peripheral inhibition of inflammation with antibiotics, such as vancomycin, reduces the extent of brain injury

Designing two self-assembly mechanisms into one structural fusion protein

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