A developing application of laser-driven currents is the generation of magnetic fields of picosecond–nanosecond duration with magnitudes exceeding $B=10~\text{T}$. Single-loop and helical coil targets can direct laser-driven discharge currents along wires to generate spatially uniform, quasi-static magnetic fields on the millimetre scale. Here, we present proton deflectometry across two axes of a single-loop coil ranging from 1 to 2 mm in diameter. Comparison with proton tracking simulations shows that measured magnetic fields are the result of kiloampere currents in the coil and electric charges distributed around the coil target. Using this dual-axis platform for proton deflectometry, robust measurements can be made of the evolution of magnetic fields in a capacitor coil target.

Flagellar dyneins are the molecular motors responsible for producing the propagating bending motions of cilia and flagella. They are located within a densely packed and highly organised super-macromolecular cytoskeletal structure known as the axoneme. Using the mesoscale simulation technique Fluctuating Finite Element Analysis (FFEA), which represents proteins as viscoelastic continuum objects subject to explicit thermal noise, we have quantified the constraints on the range of molecular conformations that can be explored by dynein-c within the crowded architecture of the axoneme. We subsequently assess the influence of crowding on the 3D exploration of microtubule-binding sites, and specifically on the axial step length. Our calculations combine experimental information on the shape, flexibility and environment of dynein-c from three distinct sources; negative stain electron microscopy, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). Our FFEA simulations show that the super-macromolecular organisation of multiple protein complexes into higher-order structures can have a significant influence on the effective flexibility of the individual molecular components, and may, therefore, play an important role in the physical mechanisms underlying their biological function.

We report daptomycin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium isolated from bloodstream infections over a 4-year period. The daptomycin MIC increased over time hospital-wide for initial isolates and increased over time within patients, culminating in 40% of patients having daptomycin-nonsusceptible isolates in the final year of the study.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:226–228

XMM-Newton performs a survey of the sky in the 0.2-12 keV X-ray band while slewing between observation targets. The sensitivity in the soft X-ray band is comparable with that of the ROSAT all-sky survey, allowing bright transients to be identified in near real-time by a comparison of the flux in both surveys. Several of the soft X-ray flares are coincident with galaxy nuclei and five of these have been interpreted as candidate tidal disruption events (TDE). The first three discovered had a soft X-ray spectrum, consistent with the classical model of TDE, where radiation is released during the accretion phase by thermal processes. The remaining two have an additional hard, power-law component, which in only one case was accompanied by radio emission. Overall the flares decay with the classical index of t −5/3 but vary greatly in the early phase.

Bungowannah virus was discovered following an outbreak of stillbirths and sudden death in young pigs. Affected animals consistently showed a myocardopathy with signs of cardiac failure. After virus isolation and PCR investigations were unsuccessful, direct fetal inoculation was undertaken. Nucleic acid purified from serum from infected fetuses was subjected to sequence-independent single-primer amplification and nucleic acid sequencing. Sequences consistent with a pestivirus were obtained. The entire genome was identified but was genetically remote from the recognized pestivirus species. This virus was not recognized by pan-pestivirus reactive monoclonal antibodies but was subsequently detected in cell cultures by immunoperoxidase staining using convalescent sow serum. Experimental infections of sows at different stages of gestation reproduced the myocarditis syndrome. Pre-weaning losses of 70 and 29% were observed following infection at days 35 and 90, respectively. Piglets infected at day 35 were shown to be persistently infected, while chronic infections were observed after fetal infection at day 55. Chronically infected piglets showed growth retardation and were viremic for up to 7 months. Myocarditis was associated with infection in late gestation (day 90). Non-pregnant sheep and cattle have been experimentally infected but with no evidence of disease. Infection of pregnant cattle in early gestation resulted in both maternal and fetal infection, but all infected fetuses mounted an antibody response to the virus. Analysis of the nucleic acid sequence confirmed that Bungowannah has a number of changes not observed in other pestiviruses. Genes encoding some of the structural proteins remain fully functional when inserted into a bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) backbone. Cell culture-based studies have shown that Bungowannah virus will grow in cells extending from humans to bats as well as farm animals.

The rapid rise in syphilis cases has prompted a number of public health campaigns to assist men who have sex with men (MSM) recognize and present early with symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the temporal trend of the duration of self-report symptoms and titre of rapid plasma reagin (RPR) in MSM with infectious syphilis. Seven hundred and sixty-one syphilis cases in MSM diagnosed at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (MSHC) from 2007–2013 were reviewed. Median duration of symptoms and RPR titres in each year were calculated. The median durations of symptoms with primary and secondary syphilis were 9 [interquartile range (IQR) 6–14] days and 14 (IQR 7–30) days, respectively. The overall median titre of RPR in secondary syphilis (median 128, IQR 64–256) was higher than in primary syphilis (median 4, IQR 1–32) and in early latent syphilis (median 32, IQR 4–64). The median duration of symptoms for primary syphilis, secondary syphilis and titre of RPR level did not change over time. Public health campaigns were not associated with a significant shorter time from onset of symptoms to treatment. Alternative strategies such as more frequent testing of MSM should be promoted to control the syphilis epidemic in Australia.

There is little known regarding the transmissibility of human papillomavirus (HPV) between different sites in men who have sex with men (MSM) and heterosexual individuals. We conducted a retrospective analysis investigating all new patients attending the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre in Australia between 2002 and 2013. We describe the prevalence and ratio of the first episode of anogenital warts in MSM and heterosexual males and females. The proportion of new MSM clients with anal and penile warts was 4·0% (362/8978) and 1·6% (141/8978), respectively; which gave an anal-to-penile wart ratio of 1:2·6. About 13·7% (1656/12112) of heterosexual males had penile warts and 10·0% (1121/11166) of females had vulval warts, which yielded a penile-to-vulval wart ratio of 1:0·7. Penile–anal transmission has a higher ratio than penile–vulval transmission, suggesting that the anal epithelium may be more susceptible to HPV infection than the vulval epithelium in females; these ratios are important in modelling the control of HPV in MSM.

Data were extracted from the case records of UK patients admitted with laboratory-confirmed influenza A(H1N1)pdm09. White and non-White patients were characterized by age, sex, socioeconomic status, pandemic wave and indicators of pre-morbid health status. Logistic regression examined differences by ethnicity in patient characteristics, care pathway and clinical outcomes; multivariable models controlled for potential confounders. Whites (n = 630) and non-Whites (n = 510) differed by age, socioeconomic status, pandemic wave of admission, pregnancy, recorded obesity, previous and current smoking, and presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. After adjustment for a priori confounders non-Whites were less likely to have received pre-admission antibiotics [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0·43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·28–0·68, P < 0·001) but more likely to receive antiviral drugs as in-patients (aOR 1·53, 95% CI 1·08–2·18, P = 0·018). However, there were no significant differences by ethnicity in delayed admission, severity at presentation for admission, or likelihood of severe outcome.

A central tenet of close-contact or respiratory infection epidemiology is that infection patterns within human populations are related to underlying patterns of social interaction. Until recently, few researchers had attempted to quantify potentially infectious encounters made between people. Now, however, several studies have quantified social mixing behaviour, using a variety of methods. Here, we review the methodologies employed, suggest other appropriate methods and technologies, and outline future research challenges for this rapidly advancing field of research.

Older age is one stage of the lifecourse where dignity maybe threatened due to the vulnerability created by increased incapacity, frailty and cognitive decline in combination with a lack of social and economic resources. Evidence suggests that it is in contact with health and welfare services where dignity is most threatened. This study explored the experiences of older people in acute National Health Service (NHS) Trusts in relation to dignified care and the organisational, occupational and cultural factors that affect it. These objectives were examined through an ethnography of four acute hospital Trusts in England and Wales, which involved interviews with older people (65+) recently discharged from hospital, their relatives/carers, and Trust managers, practitioners and other staff, complemented by evidence from non-participant observation. The picture which emerged was of a lack of consistency in the provision of dignified care which appears to be explained by the dominance of priorities of the system and organisation tied together with the interests of ward staff and clinicians. The emphasis on clinical specialism meant that staff often lacked the knowledge and skills to care for older patients whose acute illness is often compounded by physical and mental co-morbidities. The physical environment of acute wards was often poorly designed, confusing and inaccessible, and might be seen as ‘not fit for purpose’ to treat their main users, those over 65 years, with dignity. Informants generally recognised this but concluded that it was the older person who was in the ‘wrong place’, and assumed that there must be a better place for ‘them’. Thus, the present system in acute hospitals points to an inbuilt discrimination against the provision of high-quality care for older people. There needs to be a change in the culture of acute medicine so that it is inclusive of older people who have chronic co-morbidities and confusion as well as acute clinical needs.

A population-based record linkage case cohort of 239,995 births, to 119,214 women, born in Western Australia from 1980 to 2001 inclusive, was used to measure the recording of selected indicators of maternal health (current and prior) during pregnancy. We compared records of women with singleton pregnancies with that in twin pregnancies Mothers of first- and second-born singletons (n = 117,647) were compared with women with a first-born singleton followed by twins (n = 1,567). Binary indicators were used to calculate population prevalence of medical conditions, pregnancy complications and birth outcomes. Infant outcomes included stillbirth, low birthweight, preterm birth and birth defects. Women with twins were significantly older and taller, with similar rates of medical conditions and pregnancy complications during first singleton pregnancies compared with women with two consecutive singletons. However, during their second pregnancy, women with twins had significantly higher rates of essential hypertension, pre-eclampsia, threatened abortion, premature rupture of the membranes and ante partum hemorrhage with abruption than women with singletons. For both groups, maternal conditions in the first pregnancy were underreported in the second pregnancy, including diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, chronic renal dysfunction and essential hypertension. At the second birth, twins were 3 times more likely to be stillborn, 17 times more likely to be low birthweight and 4 times more likely to be delivered preterm compared with singletons. This research demonstrates the importance for epidemiologists and others, of having access to a complete maternal medical history for analyses of risks associated with maternal, infant and childhood morbidity.

Outlined here is a technique for sub-wavelength infrared surface imaging performed using a phase matched optical parametric oscillator laser and an atomic force microscope as the detection mechanism. The technique uses a novel surface excitation illumination approach to perform simultaneously chemical mapping and AFM topography imaging with an image resolution of 200 nm. This method was demonstrated by imaging polystyrene micro-structures.