Health Informatics and E-health Curriculum for Clinical Health Profession Degrees

This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License.The project reported in this paper models a new approach to making health informatics and e-health education widely available to students in a range of Australian clinical health profession degrees. The development of a Masters level subject uses design-based research to apply educational quality assurance practices which are consistent with university qualification frameworks, and with clinical health profession education standards; at the same time it gives recognition to health informatics as a specialised profession in its own right. The paper presents details of (a) design with reference to the Australian Qualifications Framework and CHIA competencies, (b) peer review within a three-university teaching team, (c) external review by experts from the professions, (d) cross-institutional interprofessional online learning, (e) methods for evaluating student learning experiences and outcomes, and (f) mechanisms for making the curriculum openly available to interested parties. The project has sought and found demand among clinical health professionals for formal health informatics and e-health education that is designed for them. It has helped the educators and organisations involved to understand the need for nuanced and complementary health informatics educational offerings in Australian universities. These insights may aid in further efforts to address substantive and systemic challenges that clinical informatics faces in Australia

An introduction to Trends in Extreme Weather and Climate Events: Observations, Socioeconomic Impacts, Terrestrial Ecological Impacts, and Model Projections

Weather and climatic extremes can have serious and damaging effects on human society and infrastructure as well as on ecosystems and wildlife. Thus, they are usually the main focus of attention of the news media in reports on climate. There are some indications from observations concerning how climatic extremes may have changed in the past. Climate models show how they could change in the future either due to natural climate fluctuations or under conditions of greenhouse gas-induced warming. These observed and modeled changes relate directly to the understanding of socioeconomic and ecological impacts related to extremes.Integrative Biolog

Formulating a convincing rationale for a research study

Explaining the purpose of a research study and providing a compelling rationale is an important part of any coaching research project, enabling the work to be set in the context of both existing evidence (and theory) and its practical applications. This necessitates formulating a clear research question and deriving specific research objectives, thereby justifying and contextualising the study. In this research note we consider the characteristics of good research questions and research objectives and the role of theory in developing these. We conclude with a summary and a checklist to help ensure the rationale for a coaching research study is convincing

A caspase-3 'death-switch' in colorectal cancer cells for induced and synchronous tumor apoptosis in vitro and in vivo facilitates the development of minimally invasive cell death biomarkers

Novel anticancer drugs targeting key apoptosis regulators have been developed and are undergoing clinical trials. Pharmacodynamic biomarkers to define the optimum dose of drug that provokes tumor apoptosis are in demand; acquisition of longitudinal tumor biopsies is a significant challenge and minimally invasive biomarkers are required. Considering this, we have developed and validated a preclinical 'death-switch' model for the discovery of secreted biomarkers of tumour apoptosis using in vitro proteomics and in vivo evaluation of the novel imaging probe [ 18 F]ML-10 for non-invasive detection of apoptosis using positron emission tomography (PET). The 'death-switch' is a constitutively active mutant caspase-3 that is robustly induced by doxycycline to drive synchronous apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells in vitro or grown as tumor xenografts. Deathswitch induction caused caspase-dependent apoptosis between 3 and 24 hours in vitro and regression of 'death-switched' xenografts occurred within 24 h correlating with the percentage of apoptotic cells in tumor and levels of an established cell death biomarker (cleaved cytokeratin-18) in the blood. We sought to define secreted biomarkers of tumor apoptosis from cultured cells using Discovery Isobaric Tag proteomics, which may provide candidates to validate in blood. Early after caspase-3 activation, levels of normally secreted proteins were decreased (e.g. Gelsolin and Midkine) and proteins including CD44 and High Mobility Group protein B1 (HMGB1) that were released into cell culture media in vitro were also identified in the bloodstream of mice bearing death-switched tumors. We also exemplify the utility of the death-switch model for the validation of apoptotic imaging probes using [ 18 F]ML-10, a PET tracer currently in clinical trials. Results showed increased tracer uptake of [ 18 F]ML-10 in tumours undergoing apoptosis, compared with matched tumour controls imaged in the same animal. Overall, the death-switch model represents a robust and versatile tool for the discovery and validation of apoptosis biomarkers. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved

Density Functional Theory Calculations Complement Mass Spectrometry Experiments in the Investigation of Biomass Fast Pyrolysis and Ion-Molecule Reaction Mechanisms

Biomass fast-pyrolysis, or the rapid heating in the absence of oxygen, is a promising method for biomass conversion necessary for a renewable energy economy. Although kinetic models of cellulose pyrolysis have existed since the 1970s, current models and hypothesized reaction networks fail to explain the product distribution even for a simple model compound, the cellulose dimer, cellobiose. A novel approach of using mass spectrometry to instantly characterize fast pyrolysis vapors allows for identification of initial products to help delineate the reaction pathways that dictate the final product distribution of fast pyrolysis of biomass and model compounds. The use of this set-up to study fast pyrolysis of glucosaccharide-based compounds, such as cellobiose, 13C-labeled cellobiose, cellohexaose, cellotriosan, and cellulose has revealed that the reaction pathway of unraveling the reducing end of the polysaccharide by multiple losses of glycolaldehyde (or isomer) is competitive with the well-established mechanism of levoglucosan production via nucleophilic attack of the hydroxymethylene group at the anomeric carbon concerted with glycosidic bond cleavage. Computational investigation on the reaction barriers of this reducing end unraveling mechanism in tandem wit

Climate Variability and Ross River Virus Transmission in Townsville Region, Australia 1985 to 1996

Background How climate variability affects the transmission of infectious diseases at a regional level remains unclear. In this paper, we assessed the impact of climate variation on the Ross River virus (RRv) transmission in the Townsville region, Queensland, north-east Australia. Methods Population-based information was obtained on monthly variations in RRv cases, climatic factors, sea level, and population growth between 1985 and 1996. Cross-correlations were computed for a series of associations between climate variables (rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, relative humidity and high tide) and the monthly incidence of RRv disease over a range of time lags. The impact of climate variability on RRv transmission was assessed using the seasonal auto-regressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model. Results There were significant correlations of the monthly incidence of RRv to rainfall, maximum temperature, minimum temperature and relative humidity, all at a lag of 2 months, and high tide in the current month. The results of SARIMA models show that monthly average rainfall (β=0.0012, p=0.04) and high tide (β=0.0262, p=0.01) were significantly associated with RRv transmission, although temperature and relative humidity did not seem to have played an important role in the Townsville region. Conclusions Rainfall, and high tide were likely to be key determinants of RRv transmission in the Townsville region