RELIABILITY OF PASSIVE LOWER LIMB FLEXIBILITY IN RUGBY SEVENS PLAYERS MEASURED WITH A NEW HAND HELD DYNAMOMETER: A PILOT STUDY

This study assessed the within-day reliability of five passive lower extremity flexibility measures using a unique hand held dynamometer (HHD) that simultaneously detects dynamic force applied via a force pad and alteration in orientation in space between start and end points of range of motion via a tilt sensor. Hip extensor flexibility in the passive straight leg raise, hip internal and external rotation and hip flexion in two Modified Thomas test positions were conducted on 21 elite male athletes from a rugby sevens training squad using the HHD. There was very good to excellent within-day reliability for the flexibility measures ICC 0.79-0.96 and standardised typical error 0.21-0.48. The HHD facilitated a consistent applied force across trials for each player helping to provide high within-day reliability for the flexibility measures

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe

Research engagement for Australia: measuring research engagement between universities and end users pilot study

Realising the benefits of Australia’s world-class research system requires translation of its outputs into economic and societal benefits. The effective translation of research will be at the core of Australia’s future competitiveness and prosperity. In mid-2014 a group of ATSE Fellows, concerned by the recently published data which showed that Australia was ranking bottom of the OECD when it came to collaboration between public and private sector researchers, set up a working party to develop a metric which would measure collaboration between university researchers, industry and other end users of their research. The group was alarmed by reports that the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) exercise, while very desirable in its own right, was having the unintended effect of discouraging university- researcher collaboration with industry and other end users. The ATSE proposal was to use the income received from industry and other research end users to support research collaboration plus commercialisation income as the basis for an engagement metric. The proposal was welcomed in university, industry and government circles. While there had been a number of previous proposals in Australia to use case studies as the basis on which research impact is measured, these proposals had not progressed because of the high cost associated with such exercises, difficulties around the attribution of impact, and the fact that such measures are a lagging indicator of university performance. Research engagement is a necessary condition for impact, and the ATSE engagement metric is a forward proxy for impact. The metric also aligns well with the measure used by the OECD. From the outset, it was felt that it was very important that any metric developed had to be applicable and useful for the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Accordingly, the steering committee membership for this project was expanded to include representatives of the four Learned Academies (Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, and Technology and Engineering), the Australian Research Council (ARC), senior researchers from the HASS, STEM and medical and health sciences (MHS) fields, and senior representatives of the key Commonwealth Departments (Education &amp; Training and Industry, Innovation &amp; Science). The Steering Committee met on two occasions face to face, three times by teleconference, and regularly electronically to comment on draft material. The project was named ‘Research Engagement for Australia’ (REA

Fostering International Cooperation on Raw Materials – the INTRAW Project and the European International Observatory for Raw Materials

In the last decade there has been a structural change in the world’s mineral markets and an increase in the global demand for raw materials. Securing the domestic minerals supply in a sustainable way will be challenging to most countries. The International Cooperation on Raw Materials (INTRAW) project was launched in 2015, with the focus of mapping the national best practices and policies of five technologically advanced partner countries: Australia, Canada, Japan, South Africa, and the United States of America. Several key drivers of research, development and innovation in raw material exploration and exploitation were identified. The outcome of the ongoing mapping and knowledge transfer activities will be used as a baseline to set up and launch the European Union’s International Observatory for Raw Materials as a critical new component in the EU’s raw materials knowledge management infrastructure

Delivering food safety

A delegation from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering traveled to Beijing in April 2016 to jointly run a workshop on technology advances in food safety with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. This brief summary from the Australian delegation identifies the pyramid of inter- locking issues which must be addressed to deliver food safety. Systems and technology provide the necessary base, on which culture and then trust can be built to facilitate the delivery of food safety now and in the future

Two patients with Hermansky Pudlak syndrome type 2 and novel mutations in AP3B1

Hermansky Pudlak syndrome type 2 (HPS2) is a rare disorder associated with mutations in the Adaptor Protein 3 (AP-3) complex, which is involved in sorting transmembrane proteins to lysosomes and related organelles. We now report 2 unrelated subjects with HPS2 who show a characteristic clinical phenotype of oculocutaneous albinism, platelet and T-lymphocyte dysfunction and neutropenia. The subjects were homozygous for different deletions within AP3B1 (g.del180242-180866, c.del153-156), which encodes the AP-3β3A subunit, resulting in frame shifts and introduction of nonsense substitutions (p.E693fsX13, p.E52fsX11). In the subject with p.E693fsX13, this resulted in expression of a truncated variant β3A protein. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) clones from both study subjects showed increased cell-surface expression of CD63 and reduced cytotoxicity. Platelets showed impaired aggregation and reduced uptake of 3H-serotonin. These findings are consistent with CTL granule and platelet dense granule defects, respectively. This report extends the clinical and laboratory description of HPS2

Establishing an expert advisory commission to assist the G20’s energy transformation processes

International audienceAbstractThe ongoing transformation of the world’s energy systems requires an international monitoring to evaluate the transformation processes and to identify transferable leading practice policies. For this purpose, an independent scientific expert commission should be established for the G20. By actively involving political decision-makers in the discussion of the final results a broad basis of support can be ensured. The Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth agreed at the G20 Summit in Hamburg recognizes explicitly the main proposals of this paper. The paper provides a broader discussion how to assist the G20’s energy transformation processes and describes steps towards implementation

Immunocompromised patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome: Secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE database

Background: The aim of this study was to describe data on epidemiology, ventilatory management, and outcome of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in immunocompromised patients. Methods: We performed a post hoc analysis on the cohort of immunocompromised patients enrolled in the Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure (LUNG SAFE) study. The LUNG SAFE study was an international, prospective study including hypoxemic patients in 459 ICUs from 50 countries across 5 continents. Results: Of 2813 patients with ARDS, 584 (20.8%) were immunocompromised, 38.9% of whom had an unspecified cause. Pneumonia, nonpulmonary sepsis, and noncardiogenic shock were their most common risk factors for ARDS. Hospital mortality was higher in immunocompromised than in immunocompetent patients (52.4% vs 36.2%; p &lt; 0.0001), despite similar severity of ARDS. Decisions regarding limiting life-sustaining measures were significantly more frequent in immunocompromised patients (27.1% vs 18.6%; p &lt; 0.0001). Use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) as first-line treatment was higher in immunocompromised patients (20.9% vs 15.9%; p = 0.0048), and immunodeficiency remained independently associated with the use of NIV after adjustment for confounders. Forty-eight percent of the patients treated with NIV were intubated, and their mortality was not different from that of the patients invasively ventilated ab initio. Conclusions: Immunosuppression is frequent in patients with ARDS, and infections are the main risk factors for ARDS in these immunocompromised patients. Their management differs from that of immunocompetent patients, particularly the greater use of NIV as first-line ventilation strategy. Compared with immunocompetent subjects, they have higher mortality regardless of ARDS severity as well as a higher frequency of limitation of life-sustaining measures. Nonetheless, nearly half of these patients survive to hospital discharge. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073. Registered on 12 December 2013