Notes

Combined programmatic assessment with regard to proficiency primarily based curriculum.
Understanding the role specific bacterial factors play in the development of severe disease in humans is critical if new approaches to tackle such infections are to be developed. In this study we focus on genes we have found to be associated with patient outcome following bacteraemia caused by the major human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. By examining the contribution these genes make to the ability of the bacteria to survive exposure to the antibacterial factors found in serum, we identify three novel serum resistance-associated genes, mdeA, mpsB and yycH. Detailed analysis of an MpsB mutant supports its previous association with the slow growing small colony variant (SCV) phenotype of S. aureus, and we demonstrate that the effect this mutation has on membrane potential prevents the activation of the Agr quorum sensing system, and as a consequence the mutant bacteria do not produce cytolytic toxins. Given the importance of both toxin production and immune evasion for the ability of S. aureus to cause disease, we believe that these findings explain the role of the mpsB gene as a mortality-associated locus during human disease.
Information about the contagiousness of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the alpha lineage, and how they spread in various locations is essential. Country-specific estimates are needed because local interventions influence transmissibility.

We analysed contact tracing data from Oslo municipality, reported from January through February 2021, when the alpha lineage became predominant in Norway and estimated the relative transmissibility of the alpha lineage with the use of Poisson regression.

Within households, we found an increase in the secondary attack rate by 60% (95% CI 20-114%) among cases infected with the alpha lineage compared to other variants; including all close contacts, the relative increase in the secondary attack rate was 24% (95% CI -6%-43%). There was a significantly higher risk of infecting household members in index cases aged 40-59 years who were infected with the alpha lineage; we found no association between transmission and household size. Overall, including all close contacts, we found that the reproduction number among cases with the alpha lineage was increased by 24% (95% CI 0%-52%), corresponding to an absolute increase of 0.19, compared to the group of index cases infected with other variants.

Our study suggests that households are the primary locations for rapid transmission of the new lineage alpha.
Our study suggests that households are the primary locations for rapid transmission of the new lineage alpha.
This article provides the findings of a research project which explored the experiences of participants in a mentoring program designed to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives in a rural health district.

It seeks to understand how a mentoring program achieved its aims and anticipated outcomes that would ultimately inform future Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce support programs.

The research project used a hermeneutic phenomenological philosophical framework to conduct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's methods of yarning, which engaged in conversation around key topics with participants, followed by the research team's analysis of yarns.

A qualitative study utilising purposive sampling to select participants. Participants were drawn from those who had undertaken the cultural mentoring program and could have been either mentors or mentees. Interviews were conducted once the twelve month mentoring program had ceased.

The five main themes that were drawn from the data were; cultural safety, motivations, relationships, learning, and support.

Participant experiences indicate that mentoring can be an avenue for providing appropriate clinical and cultural support and a safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives. They also show that identified support roles and Aboriginal-led projects can have larger impacts; fostering organisational connections and broader feelings of cultural respect amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff beyond program participation.

Culturally safe mentoring programs may have an impact on the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.
Culturally safe mentoring programs may have an impact on the retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses and midwives.The COVID-19 vaccines have been developed in a wide range of countries. This study aimed to examine factors that related to vaccination rates and willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19 among Chinese healthcare workers (HCWs). From 3rd February to 18th February, 2021, an online cross-sectional survey was conducted among HCWs to investigate factors associated with the acceptance and willingness of COVID-19 vaccination. Sociodemographic characteristics and the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among Chinese HCWs were evaluated. A total of 2156 HCWs from 21 provinces in China responded to this survey (effective rate 98.99%)), among whom 1433 (66.5%) were vaccinated with at least one dose. Higher vaccination rates were associated with older age, working as a clinician, having no personal religion, working in a fever clinic or higher hospital grade, and having received vaccine education, family history for influenza vaccination and strong familiarity with the vaccine. Willingness for vaccination was related to working in midwestern China, considerable knowledge of the vaccine, received vaccine education, and strong confidence in the vaccine. Results of this study can provide evidence for the government to improve vaccine coverage by addressing vaccine hesitancy in the COVID-19 pandemic and future public health emergencies.The effects of pH, particle size, adsorbent mass and stirring time on the adsorption efficiency were investigated. The Univariate linear regression algorithm was applied on experimental data to rank the most effective parameters on the Ni (II) removal percentage. Response Surface Method (RSM) was then applied to model and optimize the operating conditions of the removal process. Results revealed that the most effective operation parameters on Ni (II) removal is the solution's pH. It has been concluded that the highest removal of 94.13 is obtained with stirring time of 29.15 minutes, particle size 137.81 µm, added mass absorbent of 0.346g and pH of 12.04. Experimental verification showed removal percentage of 93.5 % concluding agreement with that obtained by model prediction.Disease surveillance data are needed to monitor trends in disease activity, inform decision-making in public health and evaluate disease prevention/control measures. The Sistema Regional de Vacunas (SIREVA) supports laboratory-based surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Latin American countries, providing information on identification, distribution, and anti-microbial susceptibility of pneumococcal strains. We estimated the proportion of pneumococcal meningitis and sepsis/bacteremia cases captured by SIREVA, by comparing the number of SIREVA-reported isolates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico with the estimated expected number of cases based on regional estimates of disease incidence. In all six countries, the number of isolates reported by SIREVA was consistently lower than the number of cases expected, across all years with data available. The proportion of SIREVA-reported isolates was highest in Chile (43-83%) and lowest in Mexico (1.4-3.5%). Passive surveillance systems such as SIREVA are important tools for monitoring circulating strains that could be related to pneumococcal disease, but our results show that SIREVA is likely to underestimate pneumococcal disease incidence. This under-reporting will limit the precision of surveillance data in monitoring changes in the incidence of IPD after vaccine introduction, and this should be considered when assessing the impact of vaccination programs.The objective of the study is to investigate the potential of carbide-derived carbon (CDC) for the adsorptive removal of nonionic t-octylphenoxy poly ethoxy ethanol (TX-100), anionic sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS) and cationic 1-hexadecylpyridinium bromide (HDPB) surfactants from water. The CDC was characterized using TEM, SEM, FTIR, BET, EDS, XPS methods and zeta potential measurements. The effects of adsorption parameters included initial surfactant concentration, contact time, temperature, and pH of the feed solution were evaluated. The adsorption capacity and mechanism were determined by modeling the isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic data. The kinetics results demonstrated that the adsorption of the surfactant by CDC obeys the pseudo 2nd order model. The thermodynamic results have shown that surfactants adsorption by CDC is an endothermic and spontaneous process. The Sips model agreed with the adsorption isotherm data of SDBS with R2 of 0.987, while both Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson models comply well with adsorption data for TX-100 and HDPB. The hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions were found the dominant mechanisms of the adsorption of the surfactant by CDC. The adsorption capacities of CDC were found to be 442.4, 462.0 and 578.4 mg/g for SDBS, HDPB and TX-100, respectively.
Radiation pneumonitis (RP) and radiation fibrosis (RF) are common side effects after breast cancer (BC) radiotherapy (RT). However, there is a great variation in the frequency of RP and RF. This study presents the occurrence of- and the treatment-related predictors for RP and RF. Further, physician- and patient-reported pulmonary symptoms during the first year after postoperative RT for BC are demonstrated.

From 2007 to 2008, 250 BC patients referred for postoperative RT were included in a prospective cohort study and followed during the first year after RT. High-resolution computed tomography of the lungs and symptom registration were performed before RT and 3, 6, and 12 months after RT. Patient-reported symptoms were registered by standard quality of life questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were applied to estimate treatment-related predictors for radiological RP (rRP), clinical RP (cRP), radiological RF (rRF), and clinical RF (cRF).

The occurrence of rRP and cRP at three months was 78% and 1 D25, and MLD predicted rRP at 6 months, and endocrine treatment predicted cRF at 12 months. Patients and physicians reported dyspnea differently.
Children in need of special support (INS) often display delays in time-processing ability (TPA) affecting everyday functioning. Typically developing (TD) children are not yet mature to use the information of a clock.

To investigate the feasibility of an intervention program,
to facilitate TPA and everyday functioning in pre-school children, including the subjective experiences of pre-school staff and the children.

The intervention sample consisted of 20 children 4 INS and 16 TD. Intervention was given daily in 8 weeks with
in the pre-school environment. Data collection procedures were evaluated and children were assessed for TPA pre- and post intervention. Everyday functioning were assessed by teachers, parents and children. Experiences of the intervention were assessed by a group interview with teachers and a Talking Mats© evaluation with children.

worked well in pre-school and indicated an increase in the children's TPA and everyday functioning. The program was perceived simple to use by teachers and children highlighted the importance to understand the duration of time.
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