Additional years of Australian Rural Clinical School undergraduate training is associated with rural practice

BACKGROUND: To understand the influence of the number of years spent at an Australian rural clinical school (RCS) on graduate current, preferred current and intended location for rural workforce practice. METHODS: Retrospective online survey of medical graduates who spent 1–3 years of their undergraduate training in the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Rural Clinical School. Associations with factors (gender, rural versus non-rural entry, conscription versus non-conscript and number of years of RCS attendance) influencing current, preferred current and intended locations were assessed using χ2 test. Factors that were considered significant at P < 0.1 were entered into a logistic regression model for further analysis. RESULTS: 214 graduates responded to the online survey. Graduates with three years of previous RCS training were more likely to indicate rural areas as their preferred current work location, than their colleagues who spent one year at an RCS campus (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 1.2-7.4, P = 0.015). Also RCS graduates that spent three years at an RCS were more likely to intend to take up rural medical practice after completion of training compared to the graduates with one year of rural placement (OR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.8-14.2, P = 0.002). Non-rural medicine entry graduates who spent three years at rural campuses were more likely to take up rural practice compared to those who spent just one year at a rural campus (OR = 8.4, 95% CI = 2.1-33.5, P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Increasing the length of time beyond a year at an Australian RCS campus for undergraduate medical students is associated with current work location, preferred current work location and intended work location in a rural area. Spending three years in a RCS significantly increases the likelihood of rural career intentions of non-rural students

Macropropagação e micropropagação de Ziziphus spina-christi

Christ's thorn (Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf.) is a cross-pollinated plant with a wide range of genetic variability in nature and, for this reason, vegetative propagation assumes importance for improvement programs. The objective of this work was to evaluate cutting, T budding and tissue culture methods for this species. Shoots of 22–25 cm length were treated by two culture media and three shoot diameters for cutting trial. The T budding treatments consisted of three and five collection dates in spring and autumn, respectively. Tissue culture nodal segments bearing axillary buds were removed from shoots of mature trees at different seasons. Experiments to determine the best disinfectant chemical, appropriate conditions and materials to prevent phenolic compound exudation, explant characteristics, media type and cytokinin-auxin ratios were carried out. Successful rooting happened only on the sand beds and with cuttings greater than 8 mm diameter. The effects of T budding seasons on budtake percentage were significantly different. The best time for explant harvesting was mid of summer. Amount of rooting on media containing IBA as well as activated charcoal and disinfection with Ca(OCl)2 at concentration of 5% for 20 minutes were the best treatments.Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. é uma planta de polinização cruzada com grande variabilidade genética na natureza e, por isso, sua propagação vegetativa assume importância para o melhoramento genético. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os métodos de estaquia, borbulhia em T e cultura de tecido na propagação vegetativa desta espécie. No ensaio de estaquia, partes aéreas da planta com 22–25 cm foram cultivadas em dois meios de cultura e com três diâmetros. O ensaio de borbulhia consistiu na coleta do material em três datas na primavera e em cinco datas no outono. Os segmentos nodais contendo gemas axilares foram removidos da parte aérea de árvores maduras, em diferentes estações do ano, e avaliados em relação à esterilização química, exudação de compostos fenólicos e cultivo. O enraizamento ocorreu apenas em camas de areia e em estacas maiores do que 8 mm. Houve efeito significativo da estação do ano sobre a porcentagem de brotação. O melhor período para coleta do explante foi no verão. O meio contendo IBA e carvão ativado apresentou maior quantidade de raízes e o melhor desinfestante foi Ca(OCl)2 na concentração de 5%, por 20 minutos

Associations of the initial Covid-19 lockdown on self-reported happiness and worry about developing loneliness : a cross-sectional analysis of rural, regional, and urban Australian communities

Australia adopted hard lockdown measures to eliminate community transmission of COVID-19. Lockdown imposes periods of social isolation that contributes to increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and worry. We examined whether lockdowns have similar psychosocial associations across rural and urban areas and whether associations existed between happiness and worry of loneliness in the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Data were collected using the “COVID-19 Living Survey” between 13 and 20 May 2020 by BehaviourWorks Australia at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute. The mean self-reported feeling of happiness and anxiousness (N = 1593), on a 10-point Likert scale with 0 being least happy or highly anxious, was 6.5 (SD = 2.4) and 3.9 (2.9), respectively. Factors associated with happiness were older age and having a postgraduate education. Participants worried about becoming lonely also exhibited reduced happiness (estimate = −1.58, 95%CI = −1.84–−1.32) and higher anxiousness (2.22, 1.93–2.51) scores, and these conditions remained associated after adjusting for demographics. Interestingly, worry about loneliness was greater in rural areas than in urban communities. The negative impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on rural youth and those less-educated was evident. Participants in rural Australia who were worried about becoming lonely were reportedly less happy than participants in major cities. This dataset provides a better understanding of factors that influence psychological well-being and quality of life in the Australian population and helps to determine whether happiness may be an associative factor that could mitigate self-feelings of anxiety and worry about loneliness. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Extraction methods effects on composition and toxicity of Eucalyptus essential oil

The current investigation was designed to determine the influence of three extraction methods on the composition and insecticidal activity of essential oils extracted from Eucalyptus globulus and E. camaldulensis. The evaluated extraction methods were steam-distillation, steam water-distillation and hydro-distillation. Fumigant toxicity of the extracted essential oils was evaluated against Sitophilus oryzae. The GC and GC–MS methods were used for analyzing the oil chemical composition. Both E. globulus and E. camaldulensis showed significant differences in oil yield (w/w, based on dry weight) with direct steam distillation resulting in low oil yields (0.8%; 0.35%) compared to water distillation (2.35%; 2.22%) and water + steam distillation (2.03%; 1. 53%). We identified nineteen compounds in the essential oils of these species. 1, 8-Cineol (27.67-82%), α-Pinene (4.67-8.13%) and Limonene (2.49-10.53%) were the major components of the oils and the highest amount of 1, 8-Cineol (82%) was obtained with water distillation, while steam-distillation resulted in the lowest amount of Cineol (27%). The results of the toxicity study of the essential oils demonstrated that the highest toxicity (LC50 = 24.89 µL/L air) was observed against S. oryzae populations treated with oils extracted by water distillation. In conclusion, the extraction of Eucalyptus essential oils by hydro-distillation had some priorities over the oil extractions by the other methods because hydro-distillation extracted oil had the highest fumigant activity, high and fast-oil yields as well as high percentage composition of 1,8-Cineol

22. 栃木県上都賀地区における無菌性髄膜炎,特にその不全型といわれる「夏カゼ」について(第65回日本小児科学会千葉地方会総会 第446回千葉医学会例会)

RNA-seq data overview. (XLS 7 kb

Pengaruh Kompetensi Guru Terhadap Komitmen Profesional Dan Dampaknya Pada Kinerja Serta Kepuasan Kerja Guru Matematika SMP Dan Mts

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh model hubungan kausalitas dari variabel-variabel kompetensi, komitmen profesional, kinerja dan kepuasan kerja guru matematika. Populasi dalam penelitian ini adalah seluruh guru matematika SMP dan MTs di Kabupaten Ponorogo yang berjumlah 262 orang. Sampel sejumlah 82 orang ditentukan melalui teknik two stage cluster random sampling. Instrumen penelitian ini adalah kuesioner dan lembar penilaian/observasi. Kuesioner digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data komitmen profesional dan kepuasan kerja guru matematika, sedangkan lembar penilaian/observasi digunakan untuk mengumpulkan data kompetensi dan kinerja guru matematika. Data yang diperoleh dianalisis dengan metode Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa: (1) terdapat pengaruh positif kompetensi terhadap komitmen profesional sebesar 15,9%; (2) terdapat pengaruh positif kompetensi terhadap kinerja sebesar 63,6%; (3) terdapat pengaruh positif komitmen profesional terhadap kinerja sebesar 15,9%; dan (4) terdapat pengaruh positif komitmen profesional terhadap kepuasan kerja sebesar 37,8%. Hasil-hasil penelitian di atas dapat mengkonfirmasi kesimpulan penelitian-penelitian sebelumnya

Feasibility of using a risk assessment tool to predict hospital transfers or death for older people in Australian residential aged care. A retrospective cohort study.

Residents of Aged Care Facilities (RACF) experience burdensome hospital transfers in the last year of life, which may lead to aggressive and potentially inappropriate hospital treatments. Anticipating these transfers by identifying risk factors could encourage end-of-life discussions that may change decisions to transfer. The aim was to examine the feasibility of identifying an end-of-life risk profile among RACF residents using a predictive tool to better anticipate predictors of hospital transfers, death or poor composite outcome of hospitalisation and/or death after initial assessment. A retrospective cohort study of 373 permanent residents aged 65+ years was conducted using objective clinical factors from records in nine RACFs in metropolitan Sydney, Australia. In total, 26.8% died and 34.3% experienced a composite outcome. Cox proportional hazard regression models confirmed the feasibility of estimating the level of risk for death or a poor composite outcome. Knowing this should provide opportunities to initiate advance care planning in RACFs, facilitating decision making near the end of life. We conclude that the current structure of electronic RACF databases could be enhanced to enable comprehensive assessment of the risk of hospital re-attendance without admission. Automation tools to facilitate the risk score calculation may encourage the adoption of prediction checklists and evaluation of their association with hospital transfers

Change Point Estimation in Monitoring Survival Time

Precise identification of the time when a change in a hospital outcome has occurred enables clinical experts to search for a potential special cause more effectively. In this paper, we develop change point estimation methods for survival time of a clinical procedure in the presence of patient mix in a Bayesian framework. We apply Bayesian hierarchical models to formulate the change point where there exists a step change in the mean survival time of patients who underwent cardiac surgery. The data are right censored since the monitoring is conducted over a limited follow-up period. We capture the effect of risk factors prior to the surgery using a Weibull accelerated failure time regression model. Markov Chain Monte Carlo is used to obtain posterior distributions of the change point parameters including location and magnitude of changes and also corresponding probabilistic intervals and inferences. The performance of the Bayesian estimator is investigated through simulations and the result shows that precise estimates can be obtained when they are used in conjunction with the risk-adjusted survival time CUSUM control charts for different magnitude scenarios. The proposed estimator shows a better performance where a longer follow-up period, censoring time, is applied. In comparison with the alternative built-in CUSUM estimator, more accurate and precise estimates are obtained by the Bayesian estimator. These superiorities are enhanced when probability quantification, flexibility and generalizability of the Bayesian change point detection model are also considered

学会抄録

Tissue Composition. (XLS 6 kb