An Australian native plant: A novel antimicrobial for the treatment of MRSA

Chronic wounds, often associated with venous and arterial ulcers, diabetes and pressure sores, is an area of great concern. In Australia, the cost of treating chronic wounds is conservatively estimated at $285 million/annum for the treatment of pressure ulcers and $654 million annually for the treatment and management of leg ulcers. Current figures indicate that more than seven million people suffer from chronic wounds worldwide with Australians accounting for approximately 600,000 of this number. Bacterial infection of the wound site is a major issue as contamination of a chronic wound with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) significantly delays wound healing. Further, once systemic, current antibiotic therapies capable of treating the infection are limited. Aboriginal bush medicine has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of wounds and sores. Hence, we selected a native Australian plant to evaluate its bactericidal activity against MRSA.

Comparison of kinematic variables obtained by inertial sensors among stroke survivors and healthy older adults in the Functional Reach Test: cross-sectional study

Background Balance dysfunction is one of the most common problems in people who suffer stroke. To parameterize functional tests standardized by inertial sensors have been promoted in applied medicine. The aim of this study was to compare the kinematic variables of the Functional Reach Test (FRT) obtained by two inertial sensors placed on the trunk and lumbar region between stroke survivors (SS) and healthy older adults (HOA) and to analyze the reliability of the kinematic measurements obtained. Methods Cross-sectional study. Five SS and five HOA over 65. A descriptive analysis of the average range as well as all kinematic variables recorded was developed. The intrasubject and intersubject reliability of the measured variables was directly calculated. Results In the same intervals, the angular displacement was greater in the HOA group; however, they were completed at similar times for both groups, and HOA conducted the test at a higher speed and greater acceleration in each of the intervals. The SS values were higher than HOA values in the maximum and minimum acceleration in the trunk and in the lumbar region. Conclusions The SS show less functional reach, a narrower, slower and less accelerated movement during the FRT execution, but with higher peaks of acceleration and speed when they are compared with HOA.

The subcortical confinement hypothesis: A neurological model for schizotypal hallucinations

Introduction Different types of hallucinations are symptomatic of different conditions. Schizotypal hallucinations are unique in that they follow existing delusional narrative patterns: they are often bizarre, they are generally multimodal, and they are particularly vivid (the experience of a newsreader abusing you personally over the TV is both visual and aural. Patients who feel and hear silicone chips under their skin suffer from haptic hallucinations as well as aural ones, etc.) Although there are a number of hypotheses for hallucinations, few cogently grapple the sheer bizarreness of the ones experienced in schizotypal psychosis. Methods A review-based hypothesis, traversing theory from the molecular level to phenomenological expression as a distinct and recognizable symptomatology. Conclusion Hallucinations appear to be caused by a two-fold dysfunction in the mesofrontal dopamine pathway, which is considered here to mediate attention of different types: in the anterior medial frontal lobe, the receptors (largely D1 type) mediate declarative awareness, whereas the receptors in the striatum (largely D2 type) mediate latent awareness of known schemata. In healthy perception, most of the perceptual load is performed by the latter: by the top-down predictive and mimetic engine, with the bottom-up mechanism being used as a secondary tool to bring conscious deliberation to stimuli that fails to match up against expectations. In schizophrenia, the predictive mode is over-stimulated, while the bottom-up feedback mechanism atrophies. The dysfunctional distribution pattern effectively confines dopamine activity to the striatum, thereby stimulating the structural components of thought and behaviour: well-learned routines, narrative structures, lexica, grammar, schemata, archetypes, and other procedural resources. Meanwhile, the loss of activity in the frontal complex reduces the capacity for declarative awareness and for processing anything that fails to meet expectations.

A network DEA quantity and quality-orientated production model: An application to Australian university research services

The motivation for this analysis is the recently developed Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) program developed to assess the quality of research in Australia. The objective is to develop an appropriate empirical model that better represents the underlying production of higher education research. In general, past studies on university research performance have used standard DEA models with some quantifiable research outputs. However, these suffer from the twin maladies of an inappropriate production specification and a lack of consideration of the quality of output. By including the qualitative attributes of peer-reviewed journals, we develop a procedure that captures both quality and quantity, and apply it using a network DEA model. Our main finding is that standard DEA models tend to overstate the research efficiency of most Australian universities.

Changes in disability, physical/mental health states and quality of life during an 8-Week multimodal physiotherapy programme in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain: A prospective cohort study

Aim The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of an 8-week multimodal physiotherapy programme (MPP), integrating physical land-based therapeutic exercise (TE), adapted swimming and health education, as a treatment for patients with chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP), on disability, general health/mental states and quality of life. Methods 175 CNSNP patients from a community-based centre were recruited to participate in this prospective study. Intervention: 60-minute session (30 minutes of land-based exercise dedicated to improving mobility, motor control, resistance and strengthening of the neck muscles, and 30 minutes of adapted swimming with aerobic exercise keeping a neutral neck position using a snorkel). Health education was provided using a decalogue on CNSNP and constant repetition of brief advice by the physiotherapist during the supervision of the exercises in each session. Study outcomes: primary: disability (Neck Disability Index); secondary: physical and mental health states and quality of life of patients (SF-12 and EuroQoL-5D respectively). Differences between baseline data and that at the 8-week follow-up were calculated for all outcome variables. Results Disability showed a significant improvement of 24.6% from a mean (SD) of 28.2 (13.08) at baseline to 16.88 (11.62) at the end of the 8-week intervention. All secondary outcome variables were observed to show significant, clinically relevant improvements with increase ranges between 13.0% and 16.3% from a mean of 0.70 (0.2) at baseline to 0.83 (0.2), for EuroQoL-5D, and from a mean of 40.6 (12.7) at baseline to 56.9 (9.5), for mental health state, at the end of the 8-week intervention. Conclusion After 8 weeks of a MPP that integrated land-based physical TE, health education and adapted swimming, clinically-relevant and statistically-significant improvements were observed for disability, physical and mental health states and quality of life in patients who suffer CNSNP. The clinical efficacy requires verification using a randomised controlled study design.

Improving monocular SLAM with altimeter hints for fixed-wing aircraft navigation and emergency landing

This paper presents a visual SLAM method for temporary satellite dropout navigation, here applied on fixed- wing aircraft. It is designed for flight altitudes beyond typical stereo ranges, but within the range of distance measurement sensors. The proposed visual SLAM method consists of a common localization step with monocular camera resectioning, and a mapping step which incorporates radar altimeter data for absolute scale estimation. With that, there will be no scale drift of the map and the estimated flight path. The method does not require simplifications like known landmarks and it is thus suitable for unknown and nearly arbitrary terrain. The method is tested with sensor datasets from a manned Cessna 172 aircraft. With 5% absolute scale error from radar measurements causing approximately 2-6% accumulation error over the flown distance, stable positioning is achieved over several minutes of flight time. The main limitations are flight altitudes above the radar range of 750 m where the monocular method will suffer from scale drift, and, depending on the flight speed, flights below 50 m where image processing gets difficult with a downwards-looking camera due to the high optical flow rates and the low image overlap.

Are green project management practices applicable to traditional projects?

As the social environment begins to create more awareness in the area of conserving the natural environment, a new generation of building has emerged. A trend of constructing buildings that minimise impacts on the environment has been established in the construction industry. Therefore, suitable project management practices have been adopted to efficiently manage the construction of these green buildings. This study aims at investigating practices of project management in traditional and accredited green construction projects, with the purpose of discovering if Green Project Management (GPM) practices can be applied to traditional projects to achieve more successful outcomes. The process of GPM contains what applied to traditional projects, could possibly result in benefits in terms of budget control and constructability. Currently the construction industry has been known to suffer difficulties within these areas; therefore GPM practices could possibly hold a solution to these common problems.

Physical activity in Latino men and women: Facilitators, barriers, and interventions

Latinos report less leisure time physical activity (PA) than non–Latino Whites and suffer disproportionately from diseases related to sedentary lifestyle, yet remain underserved and understudied. Gaining a better understanding of PA behavior in Latinos is critical to intervene on this significant public health issue. This article discusses the growing literature on the facilitators and barriers of PA in Latino men and women and reviews recent interventions to promote activity. Apart from acculturation influences, facilitators of PA in Latinos are similar to those of non–Latino Whites, with most research focusing on self-efficacy and social support. Barriers for Latinas, however, are more culturally distinct, such as a focus on caregiving and cultural standards for body shape. Barriers unique to Latino men largely have not been studied. Researchers have adopted a variety of approaches to increase PA, including using promotores and incorporating culturally appropriate activities, and have had mixed success. However, the community and randomized controlled trials almost exclusively included only women. Studies reviewed here suggest that interventions should target culturally specific barriers beyond language to successfully increase PA in Latinos and highlight a need for formative research and design of interventions for Latino men.

A theoretical framework for designing and evaluating strategies to identify cases of serious child abuse and neglect

A central dimension of the State’s responsibility in a liberal democracy and any just society is the protection of individuals’ central rights and freedoms, and the creation of the minimum conditions under which each individual has an opportunity to lead a life of sufficient equality, dignity and value. A special subset of this responsibility is to protect those who are unable to protect themselves from genuine harm. Substantial numbers of children suffer serious physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and neglect at the hands of their parents and caregivers or by other known parties. Child abuse and neglect occurs in a situation of extreme power asymmetry. The physical, social, behavioural and economic costs to the individual, and the social and economic costs to communities, are vast. Children are not generally able to protect themselves from serious abuse and neglect. This enlivens both the State’s responsibility to protect the child, and the debate about how that responsibility can and should be discharged. A core question arises for all societies, given that most serious child maltreatment occurs in the family sphere, is unlikely to be disclosed, causes substantial harm to both individual and community, and infringes fundamental individual rights and freedoms. The question is: how can society identify these situations so that the maltreatment can be interrupted, the child’s needs for security and safety, and health and other rehabilitation can be met, and the family’s needs can be addressed to reduce the likelihood of recurrence? This chapter proposes a theoretical framework applicable for any society that is considering justifiable and effective policy approaches to identify and respond to cases of serious child abuse and neglect. The core of the theoretical framework is based on major principles from both classical liberal political philosophy (Locke and Mill), and leading political philosophers from the twentieth century and the first part of the new millennium (Rawls, Rorty, Okin, Nussbaum), and is further situated within fundamental frameworks of civil and criminal law, and health and economics.

ITO-free top emitting organic light emitting diodes with enhanced light out-coupling

Bottom emitting organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) can suffer from lower external quantum efficiencies (EQE) due to inefficient out-coupling of the generated light. Herein, it is demonstrated that the current efficiency and EQE of red, yellow, and blue fluorescent single layer polymer OLEDs is significantly enhanced when a MoOx(5 nm)/Ag(10 nm)/MoOx(40 nm) stack is used as the transparent anode in a top emitting OLED structure. A maximum current efficiency and EQE of 21.2 cd/A and 6.7%, respectively, was achieved for a yellow OLED, while a blue OLED achieved a maximum of 16.5 cd/A and 10.1%, respectively. The increase in light out-coupling from the top-emitting OLEDs led to increase in efficiency by a factor of up to 2.2 relative to the optimised bottom emitting devices, which is the best out-coupling reported using solution processed polymers in a simple architecture and a significant step forward for their use in large area lighting and displays.

A 4D automatic simulation tool for construction resource planning: A case study

Purpose Traditional construction planning relies upon the critical path method (CPM) and bar charts. Both of these methods suffer from visualization and timing issues that could be addressed by 4D technology specifically geared to meet the needs of the construction industry. This paper proposed a new construction planning approach based on simulation by using a game engine. Design/methodology/approach A 4D automatic simulation tool was developed and a case study was carried out. The proposed tool was used to simulate and optimize the plans for the installation of a temporary platform for piling in a civil construction project in Hong Kong. The tool simulated the result of the construction process with three variables: 1) equipment, 2) site layout and 3) schedule. Through this, the construction team was able to repeatedly simulate a range of options. Findings The results indicate that the proposed approach can provide a user-friendly 4D simulation platform for the construction industry. The simulation can also identify the solution being sought by the construction team. The paper also identifies directions for further development of the 4D technology as an aid in construction planning and decision-making. Research limitations/implications The tests on the tool are limited to a single case study and further research is needed to test the use of game engines for construction planning in different construction projects to verify its effectiveness. Future research could also explore the use of alternative game engines and compare their performance and results. Originality/value The authors proposed the use of game engine to simulate the construction process based on resources, working space and construction schedule. The developed tool can be used by end-users without simulation experience.

Learning through writing: Reconceptualising the research supervision process

This paper seeks to re-conceptualize the research supervision relationship. The literature has tended to view doctoral study in four ways: (i) as an exercise in self-management; (ii) as a research experience; (iii) as training for research, or; (iv) as an instance of student-centred learning. Although each of these approaches has their merits, they also suffer from conceptual weaknesses. This paper seeks to harness the merits — and minimize the disadvantages — by re-conceptualizing doctoral research as a ‘writing journey’. The paper utilizes the insights of new rhetoric in linguistic theory to defend a writing-centered conception of supervised research and offers some practical strategies on how it might be put into effect.

Automated fit assessment of intramedullary nail designs during insertion

Modern intramedullary nails, which are utilised for the treatment of bone fractures, need to be designed to fit the anatomy of the patient population. Traditional and recent semi-automated approaches for quantifying the anatomical fit between bones and nail designs suffer from various drawbacks. This thesis proposed an automated comprehensive nail design validation method. The developed software tool was utilised to quantify the anatomical fit of four commercial nail designs. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrated the existence of a bone-nail specific nail entry point. The developed method is of great benefit for the implant manufacturing industry as a nail design validation tool.

Adaptive immunity to rhinoviruses: Sex and age matter

Background: Rhinoviruses (RV) are key triggers in acute asthma exacerbations. Previous studies suggest that men suffer from infectious diseases more frequently and with greater severity than women. Additionally, the immune response to most infections and vaccinations decreases with age. Most immune function studies do not account for such differences, therefore the aim of this study was to determine if the immune response to rhinovirus varies with sex or age. Methods: Blood mononuclear cells were isolated from 63 healthy individuals and grouped by sex and age (≤50 years old and ≥52 years old). Cells were cultured with rhinovirus 16 at a multiplicity of infection of 1. The chemokine IP-10 was measured at 24 h as an index of innate immunity while IFNγ and IL-13 were measured at 5 days as an index of adaptive immunity. Results: Rhinovirus induced IFNγ and IL-13 was significantly higher in ≤50 year old women than in age matched men (p < 0.02 and p < 0.05) and ≥52 year old women (p < 0.02 and p > 0.005). There was no sex or age based difference in rhinovirus induced IP-10 expression. Both IFNγ and IL-13 were negatively correlated with age in women but not in men. Conclusions: This study suggests that pre-menopausal women have a stronger adaptive immune response to rhinovirus infection than men and older people, though the mechanisms responsible for these differences remain to be determined. Our findings highlight the importance of gender and age balance in clinical studies and in the development of new treatments and vaccines.

Determination of dimethyl sulfide in gas samples by single photon ionization time of flight mass spectrometry

It is difficult to determine sulfur-containing volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere because of their reactivity. Primary off-line techniques may suffer losses of analytes during the transportation from field to laboratory and sample preparation. In this study, a novel method was developed to directly measure dimethyl sulfide at parts-per-billion concentration levels in the atmosphere using vacuum ultraviolet single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. This technique offers continuous sampling at a response rate of one measurement per second, or cumulative measurements over longer time periods. Laboratory prepared samples of different concentrations of dimethyl sulfide in pure nitrogen gas were analyzed at several sampling frequencies. Good precision was achieved using sampling periods of at least 60 seconds with a relative standard deviation of less than 25%. The detection limit for dimethyl sulfide was below the 3 ppb olfactory threshold. These results demonstrate that single photon ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry is a valuable tool for rapid, real-time measurements of sulfur-containing organic compounds in the air.