One-step homogeneous C-reactive protein assay for saliva

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world. Human C-reactive protein (CRP) has been used in the risk assessment of coronary events. Human saliva mirrors the body's health and well-being and is non-invasive, easy to collect and ideal for third world countries as well as for large patient screening. The aim was to establish a saliva CRP reference range and to demonstrate the clinical utility of salivary CRP levels in assessing the coronary events in a primary health care setting. Methods: We have used a homogeneous bead based assay to detect CRP levels in human saliva. We have developed a rapid 15 min (vs 90 min), sequential, one-step assay to detect CRP in saliva. Saliva was collected from healthy volunteers (n = 55, ages 20-70 years) as well as from cardiac patients (n = 28, ages 43-86 years). Results: The assay incubation time was optimised from 90 min to 15 mm and generated a positive correlation (n = 29, range 10-2189 pg/mL, r2 = 0.94; Passing Bablok slope 0.885. Intercept 0, p>0.10), meaning we could decrease the incubation time and produce equivalent results with confidence. The mean CRP level in the saliva of healthy human volunteers was 285 pg/mL and in cardiac patients was 1680 pg/mL (p<0.01). Analysis of CRP concentrations in paired serum and saliva samples from cardiac patients gave a positive correlation (r2 = 0.84, p<0.001) and the salivary CRP concentration capable of distinguishing healthy from diseased patients. Conclusions: The results suggest that this minimally invasive, rapid and sensitive assay will be useful in large patient screening studies for risk assessment of coronary events. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of endplate preselection when measuring supine versus standing cobb angle change in idiopathic scoliosis

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether endplate pre-selection makes a difference to the Cobb Angle change between supine and standing which is known to occur in idiopathic scoliosis. A secondary aim of this study was to identify which (if any) patient characteristics were correlated with supine versus standing Cobb change. The study found that pre-selecting vertebral endplates causes only has a minor effect on supine to standing Cobb change in scoliosis. There is a statistically significant relationship between supine to standing Cobb Angle change and fulcrum flexibility. Therefore, supine to standing Cobb Angle change can be considered as a measure of spinal flexibility when both standing and supine images are clinically available.

The security and privacy of usage policies and provenance logs in an Information Accountability Framework

The potential benefits of shared eHealth records systems are promising for the future of improved healthcare. However, the uptake of such systems is hindered by concerns over the security and privacy of patient information. The use of Information Accountability and so called Accountable-eHealth (AeH) systems has been proposed to balance the privacy concerns of patients with the information needs of healthcare professionals. However, a number of challenges remain before AeH systems can become a reality. Among these is the need to protect the information stored in the usage policies and provenance logs used by AeH systems to define appropriate use of information and hold users accountable for their actions. In this paper, we discuss the privacy and security issues surrounding these accountability mechanisms, define valid access to the information they contain, discuss solutions to protect them, and verify and model an implementation of the access requirements as part of an Information Accountability Framework.

Indigenous livelihoods policy reference group: Research priorities identified from the first meeting, 28th April 2010

The CSIRO Indigenous Livelihoods Project sought to work with Indigenous communities, government and non-government stakeholders to bring together western science and Indigenous knowledge in order to understand the potential livelihood benefits of enterprises based on natural resource management. The research focus was to enhance livelihood opportunities for Indigenous communities derived from new enterprises and activities based on natural resource management in regional and remote Australia. Underpinning outcomes were: · Identification of effective policy and institutional arrangements required to establish and maintain sustainable livelihoods; · Improved systems understanding of factors that enhance or inhibit sustainable livelihoods based on natural resource management; · Tools and methods for measuring the livelihood benefits of natural resource management; · Education, training, employment and capacity building for Indigenous communities and researchers.

Clinical data warehousing : a business analytics approach for managing health data

Heterogeneous health data is a critical issue when managing health information for quality decision making processes. In this paper we examine the efficient aggregation of lifestyle information through a data warehousing architecture lens. We present a proof of concept for a clinical data warehouse architecture that enables evidence based decision making processes by integrating and organising disparate data silos in support of healthcare services improvement paradigms.

Effects of moisture content on resilient properties of recycled concrete aggregates (RCAs)

In pavement design, resilient modulus of a pavement material is one of the key design parameters. Resilient modulus of a granular pavement material can be measured using repeated load Triaxial (RLT) test or estimated using empirical models. For conventional granular pavement materials, a significant amount of resilient modulus data and empirical models to estimate this key design parameter are available. However, RCA is a relatively new granular pavement material and therefore no such data or empirical models are available. In this study, a number of RLT tests were conducted on RCA sample to investigate the effects of moisture content on its resilient modulus (Mr). It was observed that the resilient modulus of RCA increased with a number of loading cycles but decreased as the moisture content was increased. Further, using RLT test results, empirical models to estimate the resilient modulus of RCA were enhanced and validated.

Spatial and temporal variability in a residual soil profile

It is well understood that that there is variation inherent in all testing techniques, and that all soil and rock materials also contain some degree of natural variability. Less consideration is normally given to variation associated with natural material heterogeneity within a site, or the relative condition of the material at the time of testing. This paper assesses the impact of spatial and temporal variability upon repeated insitu testing of a residual soil and rock profile present within a single residential site over a full calendar year, and thus range of seasonal conditions. From this repeated testing, the magnitude of spatial and temporal variation due to seasonal conditions has demonstrated that, depending on the selected location and moisture content of the subsurface at the time of testing, up to a 35% variation within the test results can be expected. The results have also demonstrated that the completed insitu test technique has a similarly large measurement and inherent variability error and, for the investigated site, up to a 60% variation in normalised results was observed. From these results, it is recommended that the frequency and timing of insitu tests should be considered when deriving geotechnical design parameters from a limited data set.

Executive functioning of 4 children with hyperphenylalaninemia from childhood to adolescence

Hyperphenylalaninemia is a variant of phenylketonuria, and debate remains as to what, if any, active management of this condition is required to preserve cognitive function and psychological well-being. This study is the first to examine longitudinally the executive function (EF) in adolescents with hyperphenylalaninemia. Two sibling pairs with mild hyperphenylalaninemia underwent neuropsychological examination in early childhood and again in adolescence using EF tests that were highly sensitive to phenylalanine exposure. By early adolescence, none of the 4 children demonstrated EF impairment. The children demonstrated a typical developmental trajectory of EF from childhood to adolescence, given phenylalanine exposure consistent with their condition.