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Background: The rapid technical development and portability of ultrasound systems over recent years has had a profound impact on the area of point-of-care-ultrasound (POCUS), both in general medicine and in obstetrics and gynecology. The use of POCUS enables the clinician to perform the ultrasound scan either at the medical office or the patient's bedside and used as an extension of the physical examination. Real-time images can immediately be correlated with the patient's symptoms, and any changes in a (critical) patient's condition can be more rapidly detected. POCUS in OBGYN: POCUS is also suitable for time-critical scenarios, and depending on the situation and its dynamics, the course and results of any therapy may be observed in real time. POCUS should be considered to be a routine extension of practice for most OB/GYN clinicians as it can give immediate answers to what could be life-threatening situations for the mother and/or baby. With its proven usefulness, the applications and use of POCUS should be incorporated in teaching programs for medical students, OBGYN residents and emergency physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2), an enveloped virus, is the causative agent of the disease known as COVID‐19 (coronavirus disease‐2019). Proper infection prevention and control measures and good hygiene practices are essential to prevent spread of COVID‐19 and protect both patients and the healthcare worker. These guidelines are relevant to all ultrasound practitioners and provides guidance on cleaning and disinfection of ultrasound equipment, the environment and PPE (protective personal equipment) during the COVID‐19 outbreak in the Australasian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focal lesions of the adrenal glands are incidentally detected in approximately 5% of cases by modern imaging techniques. Fewer than 5% of these adrenal incidentalomas are malignant and approximately 10% have endocrine activity. Reliable differentiation of malignant versus benign and hormonally active versus nonfunctional adrenal incidentalomas significantly influences therapeutic management and the outcome of affected individuals. Therefore, each adrenal incidentaloma should undergo a standardized diagnostic work-up to exclude malignancy and endocrine activity. This position statement of the World Federation of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB) summarizes the available evidence on the management of adrenal incidentaloma and describes efficient management strategies with particular reference to the role of ultrasound techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The availability of obstetric point‐of‐care ultrasound (PoCUS) services has been shown to improve pregnancy outcomes in regional and remote areas both in Australia and around the world. There is an increasing demand for efficient, cost‐effective PoCUS courses for monitoring the fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy. Aim: To compare the effectiveness of targeted PoCUS courses provided for health professionals that assess the fetus during the third trimester of pregnancy. Method: The skill‐teaching curriculum and competency outcomes of six obstetric PoCUS courses were compared. There were 55 learners with no prior ultrasound experience including 23 with English as a second language. Course duration ranged from 4 to 18 h, didactic lecture time up to 6 h and practical scanning sessions of 3–12 h. Learner/tutor ratio varied from 1:1 to 6:1. All courses included the teaching of knobology, image optimisation and probe manipulation. Practical sessions included supervised scanning of ultrasound phantoms and scanning women in the third trimester of pregnancy. The teaching outcomes that were assessed included image optimisation, determination of fetal lie, fetal heart rate, measuring the single deepest pocket of amniotic fluid, identifying the placental position and basic fetal biometry. The same pre‐ and post‐course multiple choice test and course evaluation forms were used for every programme. Results: All participants achieved the limited course objectives, regardless of the differences in the course formats. Conclusion: This study confirms that obstetric PoCUS courses can provide the initial basic knowledge and scanning skills required to perform limited scope third‐trimester scanning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to compare the value of transabdominal ( TA) and transvaginal ( TV) approaches for assessing the risk of a low-lying placenta. This involved a comparison of TA and TV measurements between the leading placental edge and the internal cervical os. We also assessed the intra-/interobserver variation for these measurements and the efficacy of TA measures in screening for a low placenta. Methodology Transabdominal and TV measurements of the leading placental edge to the internal cervical os were performed on 369 consecutive pregnancies of 16-41 weeks' gestation. The difference ( TA- TV) from the mean was calculated and plotted against gestational age. Bland-Altman plots and paired t-tests were used to look at the differences in TA/ TV measurement. Screening performance of a transabdominal approach was compared to a transvaginal 'gold standard'. Nonparametric methods were used to calculate the area under the receiver operator characteristics ( ROC) curve. Intra-/interobserver variations were also calculated. Results Of the pregnancies, 278 had a leading placental edge that was visible with the TV approach. Differences ( TA- TV) ranged from −50 mm to +57 mm. Bland-Altman plot shows that TA measurements overestimated the distance compared with the TV measurements; the average difference in measurement was 12.0 mm (95% confidence interval 9.9-14.1). The sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive values of a TA approach were 18.2%, 97.5% and 87.2%, respectively. The receiver operator characteristics area between gestational weeks 16-23 was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.76-0.86). Conclusion The TA approach has a low sensitivity for detecting a low-lying placenta as choosing a TA cut-off with sensitivity >90% will decrease the specificity to 50%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Aims Australasia is witnessing a rapidly increasing use of diagnostic medical ultrasound in clinical practice with industry statistics giving a conservative estimate of ten million scans performed annually in Australia and New Zealand. Ultrasound practice has broadened from its traditional use in radiology, obstetrics and gynaecology, vascular and cardiology specialties to embrace emergency medicine, rheumatology, midwifery, physiotherapy, paramedics and other point of care practice. With this expansion of practice comes an increase in the potential risk for ultrasound transmitted bacterial or viral infection due to suboptimal cleaning habits of transducers, cords and keyboards. Results/Conclusion This study describes results of an Australasian survey on the disinfection and hygiene practice in medical ultrasound. Results highlighted a significant need for updated guidelines and education on infection prevention and control in medical ultrasound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To identify gaps in Australian sonographer's knowledge and application of as low as reasonably achievable ( ALARA) principles during first trimester imaging; Identify relationships between demographic variables and knowledge or application of the Output Display Standard ( ODS) value thermal index ( TI) and compare Australian sonographers to their international peers. Methods Australian Sonographer Accreditation Registered ( ASAR)-registered sonographers completed a voluntary questionnaire over September 2015 after institutional ethics approval ( RDSE-48-15). Seventeen questions detailed their demographics (5); knowledge of ultrasound bioeffects terminology and ALARA principles (9); behaviour surrounding ALARA and first trimester imaging (2) and continuing bioeffects education (1). Exclusion criteria was non- ASAR status. Descriptive (mode frequency) and inferential statistics (Fisher exact test) were used. Significance level was 95%. Results Ninety-five valid surveys were collected. Ninety-nine per cent knew the meaning of ALARA, 93.55% correctly defined ' TI' and 85.39% knew where to find the TI value via the ODS. Half never monitor the ODS. No correlation (P = 0.094) was found between experience and ODS monitoring. No statistical difference (P = 0.189) existed between obstetric and non-obstetric sonographers who knew the meaning of TIB (87.18% vs. 76.92%) or those who correctly identified it as the setting for 11-14-week examinations (30.77% vs. 30.77%). When using Doppler during obstetric examinations, no difference existed (P = 0.293), between obstetric and non-obstetric sonographers' knowledge of ASUM/ WFUMB guidelines for maximum TI (47.37% vs. 46.15%). Conclusions Despite poor ODS usage, Australian sonographers outperform their international peers for ALARA literacy, and show better application of ALARA principles in the first trimester. No relationships were found between demographic variables and knowledge or conscious monitoring of ODS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practice placements as part of Social Work programmes are intrinsic to the student's education and training, as without the practice placement students cannot qualify as social workers. Practice teachers, therefore, play a key role in assisting students as they embark on the practice element of their journey to becoming qualified social workers. Social workers operating within the criminal justice system have been guiding social work students for many years on their voyage. As well as meeting the needs of universities' practice, placements afford Probation Officers an opportunity to support students' growth and learning. This paper defines and examines the multiple roles of the practice teacher and explores how an understanding of students' learning styles as well as their own can assist with those roles. It looks at the challenges that practice teachers and students may face on placement and how supervision can be used to help address those challenges. The paper considers the relating of theory to practice and the significance of reflective practice within students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The choice of day roosts by microbats influences energetics, social interactions and breeding success. In Australia, the large-footed myotis (Myotis macropus) is dependent on waterways for foraging. However, the extent to which the species relies upon, and selects roosts within, riparian habitat is unknown. I studied the roosting behaviour of this species around a water reservoir near Melbourne, Victoria, during the summers from October 2002 to April 2005. I radio-tracked 31 bats to 17 tree roosts; colony size averaged 6.0±1.6 bats and individuals used 1.3±0.1 roosts during the tracking period (average 6.2±0.6 days). Two roosts were also located in crevices in an old aqueduct tunnel, housing colonies of 10.8±0.6 bats. Colonies emerged earlier from tunnel crevices (25.0±3.6min after sunset, range 6–53min), compared with conspecifics in tree roosts (45.6±2.1min after sunset, range 10–83min). Roost trees and cavities differed from available habitat trees and cavities in terms of smaller entrance areas to used (182.2±49.3cm2) versus unused (328.0±61.8cm2) cavities. The primary force driving roost selection by M. macropusappears to be proximity of suitable waterways for foraging. Retention and maintenance of extensive riparian habitat, as well as the preservation of other structures used for roosting, are the most important conservation strategies for management of the day-roosting habitat of M. macropus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The day roosting behaviour of the little forest bat (Vespadelus vulturnus), Australia's smallest bat, was investigated in the context of the planned removal of dead timber within managed woodlands on Phillip Island, Victoria. Between August 1999 and March 2000, 14 female little forest bats were fitted with VHF microtransmitters and tracked to a total of 16 roost trees. All roosts were located in dead timber, 11 in severely decayed remains of eucalypt trees, and five in dead sections of live trees. Roost trees were compared with randomly chosen trees from within the available habitat, for a range of tree characteristics. Female little forest bats selected roosts in trees with dead timber offering many hollows and reduced canopy cover. Furthermore, roost trees were located in areas (0.1-ha plots) with higher densities of these types of trees than in the available habitat. However, there was no difference in the height or diameter of roost trees or roost plots compared with available habitat. Emergence time from roosts was strongly associated with civil twilight (when the centre of the sun is 6 below an ideal horizon), and the number of bats exiting a single roost tree ranged from 1 to 120 (median = 20). Dead trees provide critical roosting habitat and we recommend retention of dead standing trees for conserving little forest bat roosts in managed woodlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Florida red tides produce profound neurotoxicity that is evidenced by massive fish kills, neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, and respiratory distress. Red tides vary in potency, potency that is not totally governed by toxin concentration. The purpose of the study was to understand the variable potency of red tides by evaluating the potential for other natural pharmacological agents which could modulate or otherwise reduce the potency of these lethal environmental events.2. A synaptosome binding preparation with 3-fold higher specific brevetoxin binding was developed to detect small changes in toxin binding in the presence of potential antagonists. Rodent brain labeled in vitro with tritiated brevetoxin shows high specific binding in the cerebellum as evidenced by autoradiography. Synaptosome binding assays employing cerebellum-derived synaptosomes illustrate 3-fold increased specific binding.3. A new polyether natural product from Florida's red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, has been isolated and characterized. Brevenal, as the nontoxic natural product is known, competes with tritiated brevetoxin for site 5 associated with the voltage-sensitive sodium channel (VSSC). Brevenal displacement of specific brevetoxin binding is purely competitive in nature.4. Brevenal, obtained from either laboratory cultures or field collections during a red tide, protects fish from the neurotoxic effects of brevetoxin exposure.5. Brevenal may serve as a model compound for the development of therapeutics to prevent or reverse intoxication in red tide exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that assesses the effect of written and videotape channels of communication on the attitude change of preservice elementary teachers towards the teaching of science. In this study, a revised Science Attitude Scale was administered as a pretest, posttest, and retention test to 66 preservice elementary school teachers. An analysis of variance for repeated measures was used to test the data. Results show that videotape and written channels of communication were equally effective in science attitude change.

Discusses the prevalence of unsanitary practices at the salad bars of restaurants. Types of unsanitary practices of salad bar customers; Factors which contribute to the sanitary problems at salad bars; Suggestions on how to promote sanitary practices among salad bar customers.