A parent-led family-focused treatment program for overweight children aged 5 to 9 years : The PEACH RCT

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a healthy lifestyle intervention to reduce adiposity in children aged 5 to 9 years and assess whether adding parenting skills training would enhance this effect. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: We conducted a single-blinded randomized controlled trial of prepubertal moderately obese (International Obesity Task Force cut points) children, aged 5 to 9 years. The 6-month program targeted parents as the agents of change for implementing family lifestyle changes. Only parents attended group sessions. We measured BMI and waist z scores and parenting constructs at baseline, 6, 12, 18, 24 months. RESULTS: Participants (n = 169; 56% girls) were randomized to a parenting skills plus healthy lifestyle group (n = 85) or a healthy lifestyle–only group (n = 84). At final 24-month assessment 52 and 54 children remained in the parenting skills plus healthy lifestyle and the healthy lifestyle–only groups respectively. There were reductions (P < .001) in BMI z score (0.26 [95% confidence interval: 0.22–0.30]) and waist z score (0.33 [95% confidence interval: 0.26–0.40]). There was a 10% reduction in z scores from baseline to 6 months that was maintained to 24 months with no additional intervention. Overall, there was no significant group effect. A similar pattern of initial improvement followed by stability was observed for parenting outcomes and no group effect. CONCLUSIONS: Using approaches that specifically target parent behavior, relative weight loss of ∼10% is achievable in moderately obese prepubertal children and can be maintained for 2 years from baseline. These results justify an investment in treatment as an effective secondary obesity-prevention strategy.

ACE research vignette 019 : exploring the "Dark Side" of entrepreneurship

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepreneurhsip researchers. In this vignette, Dr Rene Bakker explores "the dark side" of entrepreneurship.

Mutans Streptococci and Lactobacilli Colonization in Predentate Children from the Neonatal Period to Seven Months of Age

Background/Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the colonization of mutans streptococci (MS) and lactobacilli (LB) in predentate children from the neonatal period to 7 months. Methods: A total of 957 mother-and-child pairs were recruited from birth and followed up at 7 months. The 283 children who did not have erupted teeth at the second visit were included in the study. Oral mucosal swabs were taken, and the presence of MS and LB was determined using a commercial microbiological culture kit. Results: At mean ages of 34 days and 7 months, 9 and 11% of the infants, respectively, showed the presence of MS. In contrast, LB presence increased from 24 to 47% (p < 0.0001). MS presence in the neonatal period was associated with maternal MS counts of >105 CFU/ml (p = 0.05), while LB presence was associated with natural birth (p = 0.03) and maternal LB presence (p = 0.02). At 7 months, MS presence was associated with maternal MS counts (p = 0.02) and LB counts of >105 CFU/ml (p = 0.007). Additional predictors of MS presence at 7 months were a child’s MS counts of >105 CFU/ml at the neonatal visit (p = 0.019) and nighttime bottle feeding (p = 0.024). LB presence at 7 months was associated with maternal LB (p < 0.001) and MS presence (p = 0.02). Conclusions: MS and LB can be detected by culture in the oral cavity as early as 34 days after birth. Their infection rates increase to 11 and 47%, respectively, by the time the children reach the end of the predentate stage of oral development.

Power of engineering : changing the perceptions of year 9 and 10 female school students towards an engineering career

BACKGROUND The engineering profession in Australia has failed to attract young women for the last decade or so despite all the effort that have gone into promoting engineering as a preferred career choice for girls. It is a missed opportunity for the profession to flourish as a heterogeneous team. Many traditional initiatives and programs have failed to make much impact or at best incremental improvement into attracting and retaining more women in the profession. The reasons why girls and young women in most parts of the world show little interest in engineering haven't changed, despite all the efforts to address them, the issue proposed here in this paper is with the perceptions of engineering in the community and the confidence to pursue it. This gender imbalance is detrimental for the engineering profession, and hence an action-based intervention strategy was devised by the Women in Engineering Qld Chapter of Engineers Australia in 2012 to change the perceptions of school girls by redesigning the engagement strategy and key messages. As a result, the “Power of Engineering Inc” (PoE) was established as a not-for-profit organisation, and is a collaborative effort between government, schools, universities, and industry. This paper examines a case study in changing the perceptions of year 9 and 10 school girls towards an engineering career. PURPOSE To evaluate and determine the effectiveness of an intervention in changing the perceptions of year 9 and 10 school girls about engineering career options, but specifically, “What were their perceptions of engineering before today and have those perceptions changed?” DESIGN/METHOD The inaugural Power of Engineering (PoE) event was held on International Women’s Day, Thursday 8 March 2012 and was attended by 131 high school female students (year 9 and 10) and their teachers. The key message of the day was “engineering gives you the power to change the world”. A questionnaire was conducted with the participating high school female students, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. The survey instrument has not been validated. RESULTS The key to the success of the event was as a result of collaboration between all participants involved and the connection created between government, schools, universities and industry. Of the returned surveys (109 of 131), 91% of girls would now consider a career in engineering and 57% who had not considered engineering before the day would now consider a career in engineering. Data collected found significant numbers of negative and varying perceptions about engineering careers prior to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS The evidence in this research suggests that the intervention assisted in changing the perceptions of year 9 and 10 female school students towards engineering as a career option. Whether this intervention translates into actual career selection and study enrolment is to be determined. In saying this, the evidence suggests that there is a critical and urgent need for earlier interventions prior to students selecting their subjects for year 11 and 12. This intervention could also play its part in increasing the overall pool of students engaged in STEM education.

The results of acetabular impaction grafting in 129 primary cemented total hip arthroplasties

Between 1995 and 2003, 129 cemented primary THRs were performed using full acetabular impaction grafting to reconstruct acetabular deficiencies. These were classified as cavitary in 74 and segmental in 55 hips. Eighty-one patients were reviewed at mean 9.1 (6.2-14.3) years post-operatively. There were seven acetabular component revisions due to aseptic loosening, and a further 11 cases that had migrated >5mm or tilted >5° on radiological review - ten of which reported no symptoms. Kaplan-Meier analysis of revisions for aseptic loosening demonstrates 100% survival at nine years for cavitary defects compared to 82.6% for segmental defects. Our results suggest that the medium-term survival of this technique is excellent when used for purely cavitary defects but less predictable when used with large rim meshes in segmental defects.

Effects of air pollution exposure on adult bicycle commuters : an investigation of respiratory health, motorised traffic proximity and the utility of commute re-routing

Bicycle commuting has the potential to be an effective contributing solution to address some of modern society’s biggest issues, including cardiovascular disease, anthropogenic climate change and urban traffic congestion. However, individuals shifting from a passive to an active commute mode may be increasing their potential for air pollution exposure and the associated health risk. This project, consisting of three studies, was designed to investigate the health effects of bicycle commuters in relation to air pollution exposure, in a major city in Australia (Brisbane). The aims of the three studies were to: 1) examine the relationship of in-commute air pollution exposure perception, symptoms and risk management; 2) assess the efficacy of commute re-routing as a risk management strategy by determining the exposure potential profile of ultrafine particles along commute route alternatives of low and high proximity to motorised traffic; and, 3) evaluate the feasibility of implementing commute re-routing as a risk management strategy by monitoring ultrafine particle exposure and consequential physiological response from using commute route alternatives based on real-world circumstances; 3) investigate the potential of reducing exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP; < 0.1 µm) during bicycle commuting by lowering proximity to motorised traffic with real-time air pollution and acute inflammatory measurements in healthy individuals using their typical, and an alternative to their typical, bicycle commute route. The methods of the three studies included: 1) a questionnaire-based investigation with regular bicycle commuters in Brisbane, Australia. Participants (n = 153; age = 41 ± 11 yr; 28% female) reported the characteristics of their typical bicycle commute, along with exposure perception and acute respiratory symptoms, and amenability for using a respirator or re-routing their commute as risk management strategies; 2) inhaled particle counts measured along popular pre-identified bicycle commute route alterations of low (LOW) and high (HIGH) motorised traffic to the same inner-city destination at peak commute traffic times. During commute, real-time particle number concentration (PNC; mostly in the UFP range) and particle diameter (PD), heart and respiratory rate, geographical location, and meteorological variables were measured. To determine inhaled particle counts, ventilation rate was calculated from heart-rate-ventilation associations, produced from periodic exercise testing; 3) thirty-five healthy adults (mean ± SD: age = 39 ± 11 yr; 29% female) completed two return trips of their typical route (HIGH) and a pre-determined altered route of lower proximity to motorised traffic (LOW; determined by the proportion of on-road cycle paths). Particle number concentration (PNC) and diameter (PD) were monitored in real-time in-commute. Acute inflammatory indices of respiratory symptom incidence, lung function and spontaneous sputum (for inflammatory cell analyses) were collected immediately pre-commute, and one and three hours post-commute. The main results of the three studies are that: 1) healthy individuals reported a higher incidence of specific acute respiratory symptoms in- and post- (compared to pre-) commute (p < 0.05). The incidence of specific acute respiratory symptoms was significantly higher for participants with respiratory disorder history compared to healthy participants (p < 0.05). The incidence of in-commute offensive odour detection, and the perception of in-commute air pollution exposure, was significantly lower for participants with smoking history compared to healthy participants (p < 0.05). Females reported significantly higher incidence of in-commute air pollution exposure perception and other specific acute respiratory symptoms, and were more amenable to commute re-routing, compared to males (p < 0.05). Healthy individuals have indicated a higher incidence of acute respiratory symptoms in- and post- (compared to pre-) bicycle commuting, with female gender and respiratory disorder history indicating a comparably-higher susceptibility; 2) total mean PNC of LOW (compared to HIGH) was reduced (1.56 x e4 ± 0.38 x e4 versus 3.06 x e4 ± 0.53 x e4 ppcc; p = 0.012). Total estimated ventilation rate did not vary significantly between LOW and HIGH (43 ± 5 versus 46 ± 9 L•min; p = 0.136); however, due to total mean PNC, accumulated inhaled particle counts were 48% lower in LOW, compared to HIGH (7.6 x e8 ± 1.5 x e8 versus 14.6 x e8 ± 1.8 x e8; p = 0.003); 3) LOW resulted in a significant reduction in mean PNC (1.91 x e4 ± 0.93 x e4 ppcc vs. 2.95 x e4 ± 1.50 x e4 ppcc; p ≤ 0.001). Commute distance and duration were not significantly different between LOW and HIGH (12.8 ± 7.1 vs. 12.0 ± 6.9 km and 44 ± 17 vs. 42 ± 17 mins, respectively). Besides incidence of in-commute offensive odour detection (42 vs. 56 %; p = 0.019), incidence of dust and soot observation (33 vs. 47 %; p = 0.038) and nasopharyngeal irritation (31 vs. 41 %; p = 0.007), acute inflammatory indices were not significantly associated to in-commute PNC, nor were these indices reduced with LOW compared to HIGH. The main conclusions of the three studies are that: 1) the perception of air pollution exposure levels and the amenability to adopt exposure risk management strategies where applicable will aid the general population in shifting from passive, motorised transport modes to bicycle commuting; 2) for bicycle commuting at peak morning commute times, inhaled particle counts and therefore cardiopulmonary health risk may be substantially reduced by decreasing exposure to motorised traffic, which should be considered by both bicycle commuters and urban planners; 3) exposure to PNC, and the incidence of offensive odour and nasopharyngeal irritation, can be significantly reduced when utilising a strategy of lowering proximity to motorised traffic whilst bicycle commuting, without significantly increasing commute distance or duration, which may bring important benefits for both healthy and susceptible individuals. In summary, the findings from this project suggests that bicycle commuters can significantly lower their exposure to ultrafine particle emissions by varying their commute route to reduce proximity to motorised traffic and associated combustion emissions without necessarily affecting their time of commute. While the health endpoints assessed with healthy individuals were not indicative of acute health detriment, individuals with pre-disposing physiological-susceptibility may benefit considerably from this risk management strategy – a necessary research focus with the contemporary increased popularity of both promotion and participation in bicycle commuting.

Ab initio studies of hydrogen desorption from low index magnesium hydride surface

The low index Magnesium hydride surfaces, MgH2(0 0 1) and MgH2(1 1 0), have been studied by ab intio Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. It was found that the MgH2(1 1 0) surface is more stable than MgH2(0 0 1) surface, which is in good agreement with the experimental observation. The H2 desorption barriers vary depending on the crystalline surfaces that are exposed and also the specific H atom sites involved – they are found to be generally high, due to the thermodynamic stability of the MgH2 system, and are larger for the MgH2(0 0 1) surface. The pathway for recombinative desorption of one in-plane and one bridging H atom from the MgH2(1 1 0) surface was found to be the lowest energy barrier amongst those computed (172 KJ/mol) and is in good agreement with the experimental estimates.

Exploring dependencies of 5.9 GHz DSRC throughput and reliability on safety applications

Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) is the emerging key technology supporting cooperative road safety systems within Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). The DSRC protocol stack includes a variety of standards such as IEEE 802.11p and SAE J2735. The effectiveness of the DSRC technology depends on not only the interoperable cooperation of these standards, but also on the interoperability of DSRC devices manufactured by various manufacturers. To address the second constraint, the SAE defines a message set dictionary under the J2735 standard for construction of device independent messages. This paper focuses on the deficiencies of the SAE J2735 standard being developed for deployment in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANET). In this regard, the paper discusses the way how a Basic Safety Message (BSM) as the fundamental message type defined in SAE J2735 is constructed, sent and received by safety communication platforms to provide a comprehensive device independent solution for Cooperative ITS (C-ITS). This provides some insight into the technical knowledge behind the construction and exchange of BSMs within VANET. A series of real-world DSRC data collection experiments was conducted. The results demonstrate that the reliability and throughput of DSRC highly depend on the applications utilizing the medium. Therefore, an active application-dependent medium control measure, using a novel message-dissemination frequency controller, is introduced. This application level message handler improves the reliability of both BSM transmissions/receptions and the Application layer error handling which is extremely vital to decentralized congestion control (DCC) mechanisms.

Vehicle-to-vehicle real-time relative positioning using 5.9 GHz DSRC media

Vehicular accidents are one of the deadliest safety hazards and accordingly an immense concern of individuals and governments. Although, a wide range of active autonomous safety systems, such as advanced driving assistance and lane keeping support, are introduced to facilitate safer driving experience, these stand-alone systems have limited capabilities in providing safety. Therefore, cooperative vehicular systems were proposed to fulfill more safety requirements. Most cooperative vehicle-to-vehicle safety applications require relative positioning accuracy of decimeter level with an update rate of at least 10 Hz. These requirements cannot be met via direct navigation or differential positioning techniques. This paper studies a cooperative vehicle platform that aims to facilitate real-time relative positioning (RRP) among adjacent vehicles. The developed system is capable of exchanging both GPS position solutions and raw observations using RTCM-104 format over vehicular dedicated short range communication (DSRC) links. Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning technique is integrated into the system to enable RRP to be served as an embedded real-time warning system. The 5.9 GHz DSRC technology is adopted as the communication channel among road-side units (RSUs) and on-board units (OBUs) to distribute GPS corrections data received from a nearby reference station via the Internet using cellular technologies, by means of RSUs, as well as to exchange the vehicular real-time GPS raw observation data. Ultimately, each receiving vehicle calculates relative positions of its neighbors to attain a RRP map. A series of real-world data collection experiments was conducted to explore the synergies of both DSRC and positioning systems. The results demonstrate a significant enhancement in precision and availability of relative positioning at mobile vehicles.

Investigation of an inducible nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS2A) polymorphism in a multiple sclerosis population

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) affecting most commonly the Caucasian population. Nitric oxide (NO) is a biological signaling and effector molecule and is especially important during inflammation. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is one of the three enzymes responsible for generating NO. It has been reported that there is an excessive production of NO in MS concordant with an increased expression of iNOS in MS lesions. This study investigated the role of a bi-allelic tetranucleotide polymorphism located in the promoter region of the human iNOS (NOS2A) gene in MS susceptibility. A group of MS patients (n = 101) were genotyped and compared to an age- and sex-matched group of healthy controls (n = 101). The MS group was subdivided into three subtypes, namely relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS), secondary-progressive MS (SP-MS) and primary-progressive MS (PP-MS). Results of a chi-squared analysis and a Fisher's exact test revealed that allele and genotype distributions between cases and controls were not significantly different for the total population (chi(2) = 3.4, P(genotype) = 0.15; chi(2) = 3.4, P(allele) = 0.082) and for each subtype of MS (P > 0.05). This suggests that there is no direct association of this iNOS gene variant with MS susceptibility.

A facile chemical screening method for the detection of stress corrosion cracking in 9 carat gold alloys

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a well known form of environmental attack in low carat gold jewellery. It is desirable to have a quick, easy and cost effective way to detect SCC in alloys and prevent them from being used and later failing in their application. A facile chemical method to investigate SCC of 9 carat gold alloys is demonstrated. It involves a simple application of tensile stress to a wire sample in a corrosive environment such as 1–10 % FeCl3 which induces failure in less than 5 minutes. In this study three quaternary (Au, Ag, Cu and Zn) 9 carat gold alloy compositions were investigated for their resistance to SCC and the relationship between time to failure and processing conditions is studied. It is envisaged that the use of such a rapid and facile screening procedure at the production stage may readily identify alloy treatments that produce jewellery that will be susceptible to SCC in its lifetime.

MMP-9 and the epidermal growth factor signal pathway in non-small cell lung cancer

Background Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is an endopeptidase that digests basement membrane type-IV collagen. Enhanced expression has been related to tumour progression in a number of systems. The control of MMP expression is complex, but recently epidermal growth actor receptor (EGFR) activity has been implicated in up-regulation of MMP-9 in tumour cells in vitro. Aims To evaluate interrelations between MMP-9 and EGFR expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to assess the impact of expression on survival. Methods This is a retrospective study of 152 patients who underwent resection for stage I-IIIa NSCLC with a post-operative survival >60 days. Minimum follow-up was 2 years. Standard ABC immunohistochemistry was performed on 4μm paraffin-embedded sections from the tumour periphery using monoclonal antibodies to MMP-9 and EGFR. Results: MMP-9 was expressed in the tumour cells of 79/152 (52%) cases. EGFR expression was found in 86/152 (57%) cases [membranous 51/152 (34%), cytoplasmic 35/152 (23%)]. MMP-9 expression was associated with poor outcome (p=0.04). Membranous, cytoplasmic and overall EGFR expression were not associated with outcome (p=0.29, p=0.85 and p=0.41 respectively). There was a strong correlation between MMP-9 expression and EGFR expression (p=0.001) and EGFR membranous expression (p=0.01) but not with cytoplasmic EGFR expression (p=0.28). Co-expression of MMP-9 and EGFR (36%) conferred a worse prognosis (p=0.003). Subset analysis revealed only MMP-9 and membranous EGFR co-expression (22%) was associated with poor outcome (p=0.008). Conclusions Our results show that MMP-9 and EGFR are co-expressed in NSCLC. This finding suggests the EGFR signalling pathway may play an important role in the invasive behaviour of NSCLC via specific upregulation of MMP-9. The co-expression of these markers also confers a poor prognosis.

Expression and prognostic influence of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in non-small cell lung cancer

Background Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of endopeptidases that digest the extracellular matrix (ECM). Overexpression of different MMPs has been shown to promote tumour cell invasion in vitro. Tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are specific inhibitors of MMPs that also possess growth-promoting properties. Aims To analyse the expression profile of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to assess the impact of expression on survival. Methods This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent resection for stage I-IIIa NSCLC with a post-operative survival >60 days. Patient follow up was a minimum of 2 years. Standard ABC immunohistochemistry was performed on 4μm paraffin-embedded sections from the tumour periphery using monoclonal antibodies to MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2. Results The results of the immunohistochemistry are set out below. marker tumour expression log-rank survival stromal expression log-rank survival MMP-2 9/72 (13%) p=0.10 34/72 (47%) p=0.34 MMP-9 79/152 (52%) p=0.04* 69/152 (45%) p=0.84 TIMP-2 28/90 (31%) p=0.04* 66/90 (73%) p=0.90 Two or more 16/59 (27%) p=0.007* There were no associations between expression and clinicopathological findings for any tumour marker. There was co-expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in tumour cells (p=0.01). Conclusions MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 are expressed in NSCLC. MMP-9 and TIMP-2 tumour expression correlate with a poor outcome (both p=0.04) and are potential prognostic markers for NSCLC. Cumulative expression of two or more MMPs/TIMPs may also have increased prognostic significance. Proteases and their inhibitors are novel targets for therapeutic intervention and should be evaluated in NSCLC.