Navigating the glass labyrinth: Addressing gender diversity in Australian and New Zealand representative radiology leadership.

INTRODUCTION: Gender inequity among representative leadership in Clinical Radiology is a global issue, with the lack of gender diversity in leadership even more marked when compared to workforce representation. Women leaders face a disproportionate magnitude of seen and unseen challenges to leadership engagement and progression when compared to men (a 'glass labyrinth'), which is likely contributing to this discrepancy. The aim of the study was to examine and reflect on the state of gender diversity in representative leadership within the RANZCR Faculty of Clinical Radiology. METHODS: Review of the 2021 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) Board, Clinical Radiology Faculty Council and local Branch Committees with regard to the numbers of women and men in representative roles. RESULTS: In 2021, the RANZCR Board had no women representatives from Clinical Radiology (one woman representative from Radiation Oncology). 1/5 Clinical Radiology Faculty Council office Bearers were women. Local Branch Committees had 16.3% (13/80) women representatives. Three branches (the NSW, ACT and Victorian branches) had no women representatives. There were no women Committee Chairs, Branch Secretaries or Treasurers, with 2/7 Branch Education Officers women. CONCLUSION: The issues underpinning gender inequality in representative leadership are complex and diverse, resulting in disproportionate losses of women radiologists along the leadership pathway compared to men. Unconscious biases, including assumptions of inferior capability, capacity and credibility among women radiologist leaders, create unique challenges at organisational, institutional and personal levels. Change cannot be achieved by passive momentum alone: concrete initiatives and active engagement are required. To improve leadership diversity, strategies must be multifaceted and supported at an organisational level.

Early and mid-term outcomes of single-stage laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

BACKGROUND: This is the largest single-centre series of single-stage laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) reporting on perioperative outcomes, weight loss, comorbidity resolution including urological outcomes and results in the super obese. Review of prospectively collected data for patients who underwent LSG from March 2007-August 2009. METHODS: There were 253 patients with a mean age of 44 years (SD, 9) and a mean preoperative body mass index (BMI) of 50 kg/m(2) (SD, 7). There were 17 (7%) major complications and no deaths. The mean follow-up was 9 months. One hundred and seventy-one patients with a mean follow-up of 12 months had a mean postoperative weight loss of 41 kg (SD, 16) and mean excess BMI (meBMI) loss of 59% (SD, 22). RESULTS: One hundred fourteen patients were super obese (BMI, >50 kg/m(2)). The mean weight loss was 45 kg (SD, 18), and the meBMI lost was 49% (SD, 21). Super-obese patients experienced more complications (p = 0.02) and lost less eBMI (49% vs. 61%; p < 0.01). Fifty-three patients (46%) remained morbidly obese (BMI, >40 kg/m(2)) postoperatively. Hypertension and diabetes improved or resolved in 73 (79%) and 73 (90%) patients, respectively. Stress urinary incontinence was reported preoperatively in 60 (32%) females, and complete resolution or improvement was reported in 54 (90%) patients. CONCLUSIONS: LSG provides satisfactory weight loss and resolution of comorbidities in the short- and medium-term with inferior, though acceptable, results in the super obese.

Construction, figures of merit, and testing of a single-cell fluorescence excitation spectroscopy system.

Characterization of phytoplankton community composition is critical to understanding the ecology and biogeochemistry of the oceans. One approach to taxonomic characterization takes advantage of differing pigmentation between algal taxa and thus differences in fluorescence excitation spectra. Analyses of bulk water samples, however, may be confounded by interference from chromophoric dissolved organic matter or suspended particulate matter. Here, we describe an instrument that uses a laser trap based on a Nikon TE2000-U microscope to position individual phytoplankton cells for confocal fluorescence excitation spectroscopy, thus avoiding interference from the surrounding medium. Quantitative measurements of optical power give data in the form of photons emitted per photon of exposure for an individual phytoplankton cell. Residence times for individual phytoplankton in the instrument can be as long as several minutes with no substantial change in their fluorescence excitation spectra. The laser trap was found to generate two-photon fluorescence from the organisms so a modification was made to release the trap momentarily during data acquisition. Typical signal levels for an individual cell are in the range of 10(6) photons/s of fluorescence using a monochromated 75 W Xe arc lamp excitation source with a 2% transmission neutral density filter.

Eating disorders in older women: does late onset anorexia nervosa exist?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to determine whether eating disorders can present for the first time in older people. METHOD: This is a descriptive study of patients above the age of 50 years who have presented to a national eating disorder center within the last 10 years. RESULTS: Thirty-two patients were identified; data were available for 26 of these patients and 11 agreed for further interview and questionnaire completion. There were no cases where the eating disorder had its onset late in life. Of the 11 interviewed, six participants retained a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, four had Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified and only one was recovered. Comorbid depression was universal in those still suffering with an eating disorder diagnosis, and their level of social functioning was impaired. DISCUSSION: Anorexia nervosa is a chronic and enduring mental illness that, although rare, can be found in older people. In our sample, we found no evidence of late-onset disorders; all described cases were lifelong.

SCOFF, the development of an eating disorder screening questionnaire.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes the three-stage development of the SCOFF, a screening tool for eating disorders. METHOD: Study 1 details questionnaire development and testing on cases and controls. Study 2 examines reliability of verbal versus written administration in a student population. Study 3 validates the test as a screening tool in primary care. RESULTS: The SCOFF demonstrates good validity compared with DSM-IV diagnosis on clinical interview. In the primary care setting it had a sensitivity of 84.6% and a specificity of 89.6%, detecting all true cases of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa and seven of nine cases of EDNOS. Reliability between written and verbal versions of the SCOFF was high, with a kappa statistic of 0.82. DISCUSSION: The SCOFF, which has been adapted for use in diverse languages, appears highly effective as a screening instrument and has been widely adopted to raise the index of suspicion of an eating disorder.