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Prevention and control of leptospirosis require an understanding of risk factors. This review identifies risk factors associated with leptospirosis infection from countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and compares and contrasts these data with those available from Indonesia. MEDLINE, PubMed, and Scopus databases were used to search for relevant articles. Indonesian gray literature was searched for leptospirosis risk factor studies in Indonesia. A total of 34 articles were included in this review. The contrast between peer-reviewed publications and Indonesian gray literature revealed that the variety of risk factors associated with leptospirosis infection is region or area specific. The presence of skin wounds, the existence of rodents, especially rats, and activities related to contact with contaminated surface water are factors frequently reported to have significant association with leptospirosis infection in human in Indonesia and in other Asia-Pacific countries.

Poultry processing plants can provide a favourable environment for the survival and transmission of Staphylococcus aureus. It is known that infections due to antibiotic-resistant strains of S. aureus are an increasingly serious problem clinically and, since antibiotic exposure in food-animal species may lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it is possible that processed poultry may constitute a reservoir for disseminating antibiotic-resistance into the community. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant S. aureus in two poultry processing plants, and to characterize the isolates by antimicrobial susceptibility and chromosomal and plasmid DNA analysis. One hundred and twenty-six S. aureus were isolated from two poultry processing plants in Western Australia. All were sensitive to 14 of the 26 antimicrobials tested and all isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic and one chemical marker, the prominent resistance combination being to penicillin and cadmium (89%). Forty-six (36.5%) of the isolates were resistant to six or more of the antimicrobial agents tested. Overall there were no consistent resistance patterns for the isolates and no consistent patterns were found between and within the two processing plants. There were 24 epidemiologically unrelated Sma1 contour-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) groups and 17 different plasmid profiles detected among the isolates. All isolates were found to harbour from between one to seven plasmids. The majority of isolates carried at least one large plasmid (22-48 Kb), and one or more small plasmids (1-3 Kb). Some isolates with epidemiologically related CHEF patterns had similar plasmid profiles and resistance patterns.

Epidemiological studies indicate that exposure to diesel exhaust (DE) is associated with vascular-based disorders. To investigate the effect of DE on blood-brain barrier (BBB) function and integrity, 8-week-old BALB/c mice were randomized to DE in a cyclical treatment regimen over a 2-week period. Functional integrity of BBB was determined by considering brain parenchymal abundance of IgG within the hippocampal formation and cortex at 6 h and 24 h intervals following final exposure treatment. Neurovascular inflammation was expressed as the abundance of glial fibrillar acidic protein. Two doses of DE were studied and compared to air-only treated mice. Mice exposed to DE had substantially greater abundance of parenchymal IgG compared to control mice not exposed to DE. Increased parenchymal glial fibrillar acidic protein at 24 h post-DE exposure suggested heightened neurovascular inflammation. Our findings are proof-of-concept that inhalation of DE can compromise BBB function and support the broader contention that DE exposure may contribute to neurovascular disease risk.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of mortality globally. In absolute numbers, more women die from CVD than men do. CVD mortality risk differs between genders, reflecting the different distribution of modifiable risk factors and severity of CVD outcomes. This study reviews six established risk score models and their applicability to the female population. These models are assessed against two criteria: discrimination and calibration. Sensitivity, specificity and positive- and negative-predictive values are also examined. The risk score models are found to be limited in applicability, requiring recalibration beyond their study population. Relevant risk factors to predict CVD mortality for women, such as measures of obesity, physical activity, alcohol consumption, use of antihypertensive medication, chronic kidney disease and coronary artery calcium are generally not incorporated in these models.

The potential for polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions from laser printers has been examined using a simulated printing process and a detailed chemical analysis of printer toner. We have analysed the PAH content of both carbon black (a toner constituent) and toner before and after heating and have found measurable evaporation and subsequent condensation of PAHs. Based on our analysis we have estimated a maximum possible PAH emission rate of 82.1 µg/minute of printing for a 10% page coverage. Our VOC emission results agree well with those of other authors. The concentrations of individual PAHs in the emissions were relatively low, however non-trivial, especially long term.

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