Coding OSICS sports injury diagnoses in epidemiological studies : Does the background of the coder matter?
- Authors: Finch, Caroline , Orchard, John , Twomey, Dara , Saleem, Muhammad Saad , Ekegren, Christina , Lloyd, David , Elliott, Bruce
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol.48, p.552-556.
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
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- Description: Objective: To compare Orchard Sports Injury Classification System (OSICS-10) sports medicine diagnoses assigned by a clinical and non-clinical coder. Design: Assessment of intercoder agreement. Setting: Community Australian football. Participants: 1082 standardised injury surveillance records. Main outcome measurements: Direct comparison of the four-character hierarchical OSICS-10 codes assigned by two independent coders (a sports physician and an epidemiologist). Adjudication by a third coder (biomechanist). Results: The coders agreed on the first character 95% of the time and on the first two characters 86% of the time. They assigned the same four-digit OSICS-10 code for only 46% of the 1082 injuries. The majority of disagreements occurred for the third character; 85% were because one coder assigned a non-specific 'X' code. The sports physician code was deemed correct in 53% of cases and the epidemiologist in 44%. Reasons for disagreement included the physician not using all of the collected information and the epidemiologist lacking specific anatomical knowledge. Conclusions: Sports injury research requires accurate identification and classification of specific injuries and this study found an overall high level of agreement in coding according to OSICS-10. The fact that the majority of the disagreements occurred for the third OSICS character highlights the fact that increasing complexity and diagnostic specificity in injury coding can result in a loss of reliability and demands a high level of anatomical knowledge. Injury report form details need to reflect this level of complexity and data management teams need to include a broad range of expertise. Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2012.
Comparison of physical activity in small-sided basketball games versus full-sided games
- Authors: McCormick, Brian , Hannon, James , Newton, Maria , Shultz, Barry , Miller, Nicole , Young, Warren
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching Vol. 7, no. 4 (2012), p. 689-697
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- Description: Organized youth sports leagues attempt to meet many goals. Three primary needs for a youth sports league are to meet the participants' desires, provide quality learning experiences, and develop the competencies needed for continued participation. Possessing the ball, shooting more, and being more involved with a team's offense lead to more enjoyment and feelings of competence. Therefore, increasing the involvement of each player through more ball contacts should be a goal of youth sports leagues. Twelve male basketball players (age=15) from one high-school basketball team participated in this study. This study used paired t-tests to examine the differences between three-on-three basketball games and five-on-five basketball games that lasted for eight minutes in terms of average heart rate, moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity, vigorous intensity activity, and ball contacts. There were no significant differences between average heart rate, moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity, or vigorous intensity activity in the two conditions, but there were significantly more ball contacts on average in the three-on-three games. These results suggest that three-on-three leagues may be an appropriate sport for the initial exposure to basketball for youth players.
- Description: 2003010574
Compliance with return-to-play regulations following concussion in Australian schoolboy and community rugby union players
- Authors: Hollis, Stephanie , Stevenson, Mark , McIntosh, Andrew , Shores, E Arthur , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 10 (2012), p. 735-740
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Background: There is a risk of concussion when playing rugby union. Appropriate management of concussion includes compliance with the return-to-play regulations of the sports body for reducing the likelihood of premature return-to-play by injured players. Purpose: To describe the proportion of rugby union players who comply with the sports body's regulations on returning to play postconcussion. Study design: Prospective cohort study. Methods: 1958 community rugby union players (aged 15–48 years) in Sydney (Australia) were recruited from schoolboy, grade and suburban competitions and followed over ≥1 playing seasons. Club doctors/physiotherapists/coaches or trained injury recorders who attended the game reported players who sustained a concussion. Concussed players were followed up over a 3-month period and the dates when they returned to play (including either a game or training session) were recorded, as well as any return-to-play advice they received. Results: 187 players sustained ≥1 concussion throughout the follow-up. The median number of days before players returned to play (competition game play or training) following concussion was 3 (range 1–84). Most players (78%) did not receive return-to-play advice postconcussion, and of those who received correct advice, all failed to comply with the 3-week stand-down regulation. Conclusions: The paucity of return-to-play advice received by community rugby union players postconcussion and the high level of non-compliance with return-to-play regulations highlight the need for better dissemination and implementation of the return-to-play regulations and improved understanding of the underlying causes of why players do not adhere to return-to-play practices.
Do parents' and children's concerns about sports safety and injury risk relate to how much physical activity children do?
- Authors: Telford, Amanda , Finch, Caroline , Barnett, Lisa , Abbott, Gavin , Salmon, Jo
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 15 (2012), p. 1084-1088
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objective: To see whether concerns about injury risk relate to children's physical activity (PA). Methods: Two cohorts were recruited from 19 Australian schools and assessed in 2001 (T1), 2004 (T2) and 2006 (T3). The younger (n=162) was assessed at 6, 9 and 11years old, and the older (n=259) at 11, 14 and 16 years old. At T1 and T2, parents of the younger cohort reported on fear of child being injured, and whether child would be at risk of injury if they played organised sport; the older cohort self-reported injury fear. Accelerometers assessed PA at each time point. Linear regression models examined cross-sectional associations, and also associations between T1 injury fear and risk and T2 PA, and T2 injury fear and risk and T3 PA. Results: In the younger cohort at T2 (9 years), fear and risk were both negatively associated with moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) (β=−0.17, 95% CI −0.30 to −0.03 and β=−0.26, 95% CI −0.41 to −0.10) and also vigorous PA (VPA). Fear was also associated with moderate PA (MPA). For the older cohort at T1, injury fear was negatively associated with MVPA (β=−0.21, 95% CI −0.35 to −0.07) and also MPA and VPA. Parental perception of risk at T1 (6 years) was negatively associated with children’s MPA at T2 (9 years) (β= −0.17, 95% CI −0.32 to −0.02). Sex did not moderate any association. Conclusions Younger children and their parents need to know which sports have low injury risks. Some children may need increased confidence to participate.
- Description: Objective: To see whether concerns about injury risk relate to children's physical activity (PA). Methods: Two cohorts were recruited from 19 Australian schools and assessed in 2001 (T1), 2004 (T2) and 2006 (T3). The younger (n=162) was assessed at 6, 9 and 11years old, and the older (n=259) at 11, 14 and 16 years old. At T1 and T2, parents of the younger cohort reported on fear of child being injured, and whether child would be at risk of injury if they played organised sport; the older cohort self-reported injury fear. Accelerometers assessed PA at each time point. Linear regression models examined cross-sectional associations, and also associations between T1 injury fear and risk and T2 PA, and T2 injury fear and risk and T3 PA. Results: In the younger cohort at T2 (9 years), fear and risk were both negatively associated with moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) (
Do retirement villages enhance social connectedness?
- Authors: Blume, Suzanne , Macgill, Jennifer
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Australian Association of Gerontology, 45th National Conference, Australasian Journal on Ageing Vol. 31, p. 6-6
- Full Text: false
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- Description: C1
- Description: In Australia, there is a growing trend toward early retirement at 50 plus years. Many early retirees also make lifestyle changes and move into cluster housing ‘retirement villages’. Some retirement villages offer a range of care services to support inhabitants as they age. The cluster housing concept is designed to enhance security, social collectiveness and connection for older people. This research will look at the relationship of social connectedness and retirement village design through exploration of theoretical concepts and analysis of inhabitants’ stories about life and living in a regional retirement village in Victoria, Australia.
Effect of comorbidity on relative survival following hospitalisation for fall-related hip fracture in older people
- Authors: Hindmarsh, Diane , Loh, Ming , Finch, Caroline , Hayen, Andrew , Close, Jacqueline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australasian Journal on Ageing Vol. 33, no. 3 (2012), p. E1-E7
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
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- Description: To assess the effect of comorbidity on relative survival after hip fracture.
Fetal sex affects expression of renin-angiotensin system components in term human decidua
- Authors: Wang, Yu , Pringle, Kirsty , Sykes, Shane , Marques, Francine , Morris, Brian , Zakar, Tamas , Lumbers, Eugenie
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Endocrinology Vol. 153, no. 1 (January 2012), p. 462-468
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The maternal decidua expresses the genes of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). Human decidua was collected at term either before labor (i.e. cesarean delivery) or after spontaneous labor. The mRNA for prorenin (REN), prorenin receptor (ATP6AP2), angiotensinogen (AGT), angiotensinconverting enzymes 1 and 2 (ACE1 and ACE2), angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AGTR1), and angiotensin 1-7 receptor (MAS1) were measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR. Decidual explants were cultured in duplicate for 24 and 48 h, and all RAS mRNA, and the secretion of prorenin, angiotensin II, and angiotensin 1-7 was measured using quantitative real-time RT-PCR, ELISA, and radioimmunoassay, respectively. In the decidua collected before labor, REN mRNA levels were higher if the fetus was female. In addition, REN, ATP6AP2, AGT, and MAS1 mRNA abundance was greater in decidual explants collected from women carrying a female fetus, as was prorenin protein. After 24 h, ACE1 mRNA was higher in the decidual explants from women with a male fetus, whereas after 48 h, both ACE1 and ACE2 mRNA was higher in decidual explants from women with a female fetus. Angiotensin II was present in all explants, but angiotensin 1-7 levels often registered below the lower limits of sensitivity for the assay. After labor, decidua, when compared with nonlaboring decidua, demonstrated lower REN expression when the fetus was female. Therefore, the maternal decidual RAS is regulated in a sex-specific manner, suggesting that it may function differently when the fetus is male than when it is female.
- Description: C1
Field vaccination of sheep with a larval-specific antigen of the gastrointestinal nematode, Haemonchus contortus, confers significant protection against an experimental challenge infection
- Authors: Piedrafita, David , De Veer, Michael , Lydall, Jayne , Kraska, Troy , Elhay, Martin , Meeusen, Els
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Vaccine Vol. 30, no. 50 (2012), p. 7199-7204
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The availability of effective vaccines would add a valuable tool to the management of gastrointestinal nematode infections in livestock. While some experimental vaccines have shown protection in laboratory trials, few have been tested in the field. In the present study, eight month old sheep kept on pasture were treated with anthelmintic 8 weeks before vaccination with a larval surface antigen of the nematode parasite, Haemonchus contortus, under a commercially acceptable protocol, i.e. 2 immunizations using a commercial adjuvant; they were then given a controlled challenge infection 4 weeks later in indoor pens. Vaccination of sheep with 4 increasing doses of antigen resulted in significant reductions of 61% and 27% in cumulative faecal egg counts in the two highest dose groups, and a 69% reduction in worm burden in the highest dose group. Blood loss, as determined by packed cell volume, was also significantly reduced in the highest dose group of sheep. One outlier sheep showed an unusual increase in egg count without a concomitant increase in worm burden compared to the control sheep, indicating a vaccine-induced stress response. Antigen-specific serum antibody levels steadily increased in sheep while on pasture and decreased when transported to indoor pens. No difference in antibody levels could be detected between vaccinated and unvaccinated sheep, but all showed increased antibody levels compared to uninfected control sheep kept in indoors pens for 2–3 months, suggesting sheep were sensitized to the larval antigen either from low dose pasture contamination or cross reaction with pasture-related antigens. The results of these studies confirm the protective properties of the larval surface antigen and its protective effect when vaccinations are performed in the field.
Getting sports injury prevention on to public health agendas – addressing the shortfalls in current information sources
- Authors: Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 1 (January 2012 2012), p. 70-74
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Public health policy is a successful population-level strategy for injury prevention but it is yet to be widely applied to the sports sector. Such policy is generally coordinated by government health departments concerned with the allocation of limited resources to health service delivery and preventive programs for addressing large community health issues. Prioritisation of sports injury prevention (SIP) requires high-quality evidence about the size of the problem and its public health burden; identification of at-risk vulnerable groups; confirmed effective prevention solutions; evidence of intervention cost-effectiveness; and quantifi cation of both financial and policy implications of inaction. This paper argues that the major reason for a lack of sports injury policy by government departments for health or sport to date is a lack of relevant information available for policy makers to make their decisions. Key information gaps evident in Australia are used to highlight this problem. SIP policy does not yet rank highly because, relative to other health/injury issues, there is very little hard evidence to support: claims for its priority ranking, the existence of solutions that can be implemented and which will work, and potential cost-savings to government agencies. Moreover, policy action needs to be integrated across government portfolios, including sport, health and others. Until sports medicine research generates high-quality population-level information of direct relevance and importance to policy makers, especially intervention costing and implementation cost-benefit estimates, and fully engage in policy-informing partnerships, SIP will continue to be left off the public health agenda.
Health belief dualism in the postnatal practices of rural Swazi women : An ethnographic account
- Authors: Thwala, Siphiwe , Holroyd, Eleanor , Jones, Linda
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Women and Birth Vol. 25, no. 4 (2012), p. e68-e74
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Objective: This study explores and describes the values, beliefs, and practices of rural Swazi women regarding childbearing in the postpartum period. Method: A retrospective ethnographic research design was used. A snowballing sampling method was used to recruit fifteen participants. Face-to-face unstructured audio-taped interviews and field notes were utilised to gather data. Findings: Results showed that rural Swazi women held a dual health belief system of modern and traditional medicinal use; practiced lengthy periods of postpartum confinement; customarily gave regular enemas and traditional medicines to their babies; undertook the specific cultural practice of taking the baby to enyonini [a tree struck by lightening] to perform specific rituals; used self-prescribed pharmacy medicines; used both traditional and modern contraception; as well as practiced breastfeeding. Conclusion: Rural Swazi women observe modern health practices alongside traditional customary practices that are inherent to their health belief and value systems in the postnatal period. These customary beliefs and values underpin their birth practices postpartum. Recommendations include the need to consider including formal knowledge on cultural aspects of childbirth and postpartum care into midwifery education; a review of maternal care practices and policies to incorporate widely practised traditional elements including redressing the use of self-prescribed pharmacy medicines to ensure a higher level of safety. © 2011 Australian College of Midwives.
Identifying context-specific competencies required by community Australian Football sports trainers
- Authors: Donaldson, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 10 (August 2012 2012), p. 759-765
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565907
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Background: First-aid is a recommended injury prevention and risk management strategy in community sport; however, little is known about the sport-specific competencies required by first-aid providers. Objective: To achieve expert consensus on the competencies required by community Australian Football (community-AF) sports trainers. Study design: A three-round online Delphi process. Setting: Community-AF. Participants: 16 Australian sports first-aid and community-AF experts. Outcome measures: Rating of competencies as either ‘essential’, ‘expected’, ‘ideal’ or ‘not required’. Results: After Round 3, 47 of the 77 (61%) competencies were endorsed as ‘essential’ or ‘expected’ for a sports trainer to effectively perform the activities required to the standards expected at a community-AF club by ≥75% of experts. These competencies covered: the role of the sports trainer; the responsibilities of the sports trainer; emergency management; injury and illness assessment and immediate management; taping; and injury prevention and risk management. Four competencies (5%) were endorsed as ‘ideal’ or ‘not required’ by ≥85% of experts and were excluded from further consideration. The 26 competencies where consensus was not reached were retained as second-tier, optional competencies. Conclusions: Sports trainers are important members of on-field first-aid teams, providing support to both injured players and other sports medicine professionals. The competencies identified in this study provide the basis of a proposed two-tiered community-AF–specific sports trainer education structure that can be implemented by the peak sports body. This includes six mandatory modules, relating to the ‘required’ competencies, and a further six optional modules covering competencies on which consensus was not reached.
International medical graduates in Australia : a historical perspective (1930-1950s)
- Authors: Terry, Daniel , Woodroffe, Jessica , Le, Quynh , Ogden, Kathryn
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article , Editorial Material
- Relation: Medical Journal of Australia Vol. 197, no. 2 (Jul 2012), p. 84-86
- Full Text: false
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Is sports safety policy being translated into practice: What can be learnt from the Australian Rugby Union Mayday procedure?
- Authors: Poulos, Roslyn , Donaldson, Alex
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 8 (2012), p. 585-590
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- Description: Description: Aim To investigate the level of translation of the Australian Rugby Union “Mayday” safety procedure into practice among community rugby union coaches in New South Wales (Australia). Methods All registered coaches of senior community rugby union teams in five zones/associations in the north eastern region of the state were invited to complete a short online questionnaire at the end of the 2010 rugby season. The questionnaire was designed around the five RE-AIM dimensions and assessed: Reach, perceived Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance of the Mayday procedure. Results Seventy (39%) coaches participated. There was a high level of awareness of the Mayday procedure, and most coaches believed it was effective in preventing injuries. The majority reported training their players in the procedure, although training was generally infrequent. Coaches were confident that their own players could implement the procedure appropriately if required to do so, but less confident that other teams or referees could do so. Barriers to providing training included: not enough players at training; players not taking training seriously; and technical difficulties (e.g. verbalisation of instructions for physical tasks). Conclusion The findings suggest that the translation of the Mayday ‘policy’ could be improved by building individual coach, and club or zone organisational capacity by: ensuring coaches have the resources and skills in ‘how’ to train their players to complement their existing knowledge on ‘what’ to train them; setting expectations that encourage coaches to provide regular training for players; and regular monitoring of player competency to perform the procedure appropriately.
Is there a role for rare variants in DRD4 gene in the susceptibility for ADHD Searching for an effect of allelic heterogeneity
- Authors: Tovo-Rodrigues, Luciana , Rohde, Luis , Roman, Tatiana , Schmitz, Marcelo , Polanczyk, Guilherme , Zeni, Cristian , Marques, Francine , Contini, Veronica , Grevet, Eugenio , Belmonte-De-Abreu, Paulo , Bau, Claiton , Hutz, Mara
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Molecular Psychiatry Vol. 17, no. 5 (May 2012), p. 520-526
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Although several studies have demonstrated an association between the 7-repeat (7R) allele in the 48-bp variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) in the exon 3 at dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene and attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), others failed to replicate this finding. In this study, a total of 786 individuals with ADHD were genotyped for DRD4 exon 3 VNTR. All 7R homozygous subjects were selected for VNTR re-sequencing. Subjects homozygous for the 4R allele were selected paired by age, ancestry and disorder subtypes in order to have a sample as homogeneous as possible with 7R/7R individuals. Using these criteria, 103 individuals (66 with ADHD and 37 control individuals) were further investigated. An excess of rare variants were observed in the 7R alleles of ADHD patient when compared with controls (P = 0.031). This difference was not observed in 4R allele. Furthermore, nucleotide changes that predict synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions were more common in the 7R sample (P = 0.008 for total substitutions and P = 0.043 for non-synonymous substitutions). In silico prediction of structural/functional alterations caused by these variants have also been observed. Our findings suggest that not only repeat length but also DNA sequence should be assessed to better understand the role of DRD4 exon 3 VNTR in ADHD genetic susceptibility.
- Description: C1
Looking beyond the obvious: Intra expertise differences are harder to see!
- Authors: Berry, Jason , Carlon, Todd , Young, Warren
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology Vol. 34, p. S68-S68
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Sport expertise research provides a robust body of knowledge on the characteristics that separate experts from those less skilled. Perceptual skill is recognized as an important factor in agility performance in team sports like Australian Football (AF). However, perceptual-agility research to date has concentrated on inter expertise skill differences (i.e., elite vs. novice). This study investigated the presence of any intra-group differences within a cohort of elite AF athletes on a simulated perceptual-agility task. Specific aims were to 1) identify if AF athletes predetermined as high agility displayed superior perceptual-agility skill compared to low agility AF athletes, and 2) identify if high experience AF athletes displayed superior perceptual-agility skill compared to low experience AF athletes. Fourteen AF athletes performed a video-based Perceptual-Agility Test (PAT) that assessed the athletes’ decision time and decision accuracy in response to intercepting an attacking player on the projected simulation. Part 1 of the analysis; the athletes were divided into two groups (n = 7 each) by way of median split according to their in-game defensive agility performance scores. T-tests were conducted to reveal any differences between the groups in decision time and decision accuracy (Part 1 and Part 2). No significant differences were found in decision time or decision accuracy between the high and low agility AF athletes. Part 2 of the analysis; the 14 athletes (high experience) were compared to a group of low experience athletes (n = 8) on their PAT performance. No significant differences were found in decision time or decision accuracy between the high and low experience AF athletes. While there were no observable differences within the cohort of elite AF athletes using the predetermined classifications of agility and experience, this study does, however, confirm the difficulty of revealing intra expertise performance indicators using assessment tools that routinely discriminate a priori levels of skill (i.e., expert vs. novice).
Planning for implementation and translation : seek first to understand the end-users’ perspectives
- Authors: Donaldson, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 5 (April 2012), p. 306-307
- Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Translating research evidence into sustained improvements in population health outcomes is a current priority across many health research fields including sports medicine,1 injury prevention2 and physical activity promotion.3 Both the ‘traditional’ approach of publishing sports injury research findings in peer-reviewed journals and hoping for the best, and the more sophisticated approach of developing and disseminating consensus statements and related sport safety guidelines have been relatively unsuccessful to date.
Predictors of acute bacterial meningitis in children from a malaria-endemic area of Papua New Guinea
- Authors: Laman, Moses , Manning, Laurens , Greenhill, Andrew , Mare, Trevor , Michael, Audrey , Shem, Silas , Vince, John , Lagani, William , Hwaihwanje, Ilomo , Siba, Peter , Mueller, Ivo , Davis, Timothy
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 86, no. 2 (2012), p. 240-245
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Predictors of acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) were assessed in 554 children in Papua New Guinea 0.2-10 years of age who were hospitalized with culture-proven meningitis, probable meningitis, or non-meningitic illness investigated by lumbar puncture. Forty-seven (8.5%) had proven meningitis and 36 (6.5%) had probable meningitis. Neck stiffness, Kernig's and Brudzinski's signs and, in children < 18 months of age, a bulging fontanel had positive likelihood ratios (LRs) ≥ 4.3 for proven/probable ABM. Multiple seizures and deep coma were less predictive (LR = 1.5-2.1). Single seizures and malaria parasitemia had low LRs (≤ 0.5). In logistic regression including clinical variables, Kernig's sign and deep coma were positively associated with ABM, and a single seizure was negatively associated (P ≤ 0.01). In models including microscopy, neck stiffness and deep coma were positively associated with ABM and parasitemia was negatively associated with ABM (P ≤ 0.04). In young children, a bulging fontanel added to the model (P < 0.001). Simple clinical features predict ABM in children in Papua New Guinea but malaria microscopy augments diagnostic precision.
Simulation based learning in midwifery education: a systematic review
- Authors: Cooper, Simon J. , Cant, Robyn , Porter, Joanne , Bogossian, Fiona , McKenna, Lisa , Brady, Susannah , Fox-Young, Stephanie
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Women and Birth Vol. 25, no. 2 (2012), p. 64-78
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Abstract Aim To critically examine the evidence for simulation based learning in midwifery education. Background Simulated Learning Programs (SLPs) using low to high fidelity techniques are common in obstetric professionals’ education and focus on the development of team work, labour and obstetric emergencies. Review methods A systematic review incorporating critical appraisal approaches, setting clear objectives and a defined search and analysis strategy. Evidence from obstetrics, neonatology, technical and non-technical skills (teamwork) was included where it informed the development of midwifery curricula. Studies in English from 2000 to 2010 were included searching CINAHL Plus, OVID Medline, Cochrane, SCOPUS and ProQuest and Google Scholar. Results Twenty-four papers were identified that met the inclusion criteria. All were quantitative reports; outcomes and levels of evidence varied with two notable papers indicating that simulation had an impact on clinical practice. Benefits of SLP over didactic formats were apparent, as were the development of non-technical skills confidence and competence. The study outcomes were limited by the range of evidence and context of the reports which focussed on obstetric emergency training using a number of simulation techniques. Conclusion There is evidence that simulated learning of midwifery skills is beneficial. Simulation learning has an educational and clinical impact and advantages over didactic approaches. Where clinical practice is infrequent i.e. obstetric emergencies, simulation is an essential component of curricula. Simulation enhances practice and therefore may reduce the time taken to achieve competence; however there is no evidence from the literature that simulation should replace clinical practice.
Sport as a setting for promoting health
- Authors: Donaldson, Alex , Finch, Caroline
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: British Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 46, no. 1 (January 2012 2012), p. 4-5
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
The NF-κB1 transcription factor prevents the intrathymic development of CD8 T cells with memory properties
- Authors: Gugasyan, Raffi , Horat, Elisha , Kinkel, Sarah , Ross, Fiona , Grigoriadis, George , Gray, Daniel , O'Keeffe, Meredith , Berzins, Stuart , Belz, Gabrielle , Grumont, Raelene , Banerjee, Ashish , Strasser, Andreas , Godfrey, Dale , Tsichlis, Phillip , Gerondakis, Steve
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: EMBO Journal Vol. 31, no. 3 (2012), p. 692-706
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: The role of specific members of the NF-κB family of transcription factors in CD8 T-cell selection and development is largely unknown. Here, we show that mice lacking NF-κB1 develop a unique population of conventional CD8 single-positive (SP) thymocytes with memory T cell-like properties that populate peripheral immune organs. Development of this memory-like population is not due to PLZF + thymocytes and instead coincides with changes in CD8 T-cell selection. These include a reduction in the efficiency of negative selection and a dependence on MHC class Ia or Ib expressed by haematopoietic cells. These findings indicate that NF-κB1 regulates multiple events in the thymus that collectively inhibit the excess development of CD8 + thymocytes with memory cell characteristics. © 2012 European Molecular Biology Organization | All Rights Reserved.