Pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation on coronary computed tomography angiography associates with male sex and Indigenous Australian status.

To evaluate if Indigenous Australians have higher coronary inflammation demonstrated non-invasively using pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We retrospectively obtained a cohort 54 Indigenous patients age- and sex-matched to 54 non-Indigenous controls (age: 46.5 ± 13.1 years; male: n = 66) undergoing CCTA at the Royal Darwin Hospital and Monash Medical Centre. Patient groups were defined to investigate the interaction of ethnicity and sex: Indigenous + male, Indigenous + female, control + male, control + female. Semi-automated software was used to assess pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation (PCAT-a) and volume (PCAT-v). Males had significantly higher PCAT-a (- 86.7 ± 7.8 HU vs. - 91.3 ± 7.1 HU, p = 0.003) than females. Indigenous patients had significantly higher PCAT-v (1.5 ± 0.5cm3 vs. 1.3 ± 0.4cm3, p = 0.032), but only numerically higher PCAT-a (p = 0.133) than controls. There was a significant difference in PCAT-a and PCAT-v across groups defined by Indigenous status and sex (p = 0.010 and p = 0.030, respectively). Among patients with matching CCTA contrast density, multivariable linear regression analysis showed an independent association between Indigenous status and PCAT-a. Indigenous men have increased PCAT-a in an age- and sex-matched cohort. Male sex is strongly associated with increased PCAT-a. Coronary inflammation may contribute to adverse cardiovascular outcomes in Indigenous Australians, but larger studies are required to validate these findings.

IoT Security and Computation Management on a Multi-Robot System for Rescue Operations Based on a Cloud Framework.

There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of Multi-Robot coordination and Modular Robotics. This work evaluates the secure coordination of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) via a drone simulation in Unity and an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) as a rover. Each robot is equipped with sensors to gather information to send to a cloud server where all computations are performed. Each vehicle is registered by blockchain ledger-based network security. In addition to these, relevant information and alerts are displayed on a website for the users. The usage of UAV-UGV cooperation allows for autonomous surveillance due to the high vantage field of view. Furthermore, the usage of cloud computation lowers the cost of microcontrollers by reducing their complexity. Lastly, blockchain technology mitigates the security issues related to adversarial or malicious robotic nodes connecting to the cluster and not agreeing to privacy rules and norms.

Prosthetic valve endocarditis presenting as meningoencephalitis complicated by pseudo-aneurysms in a remote Aboriginal healthcare setting in Australia: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The Australian Aboriginal population has a high burden of cardiac conditions predisposing patients to infective endocarditis. Pseudo-aneurysms are a rare and potentially fatal complication of both prior valvular surgery and endocarditis. CASE SUMMARY: A 31-year-old female with a history of bicuspid aortic valve requiring valve replacement presented with meningoencephalitis. Transoesophageal echo and positive blood cultures for Staphylococcus aureus confirmed prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE). Aortic root mycotic pseudo-aneurysms developed during antimicrobial therapy and two large pseudo-aneurysms remain post-redo valve, root and arch replacement. DISCUSSION: Complications associated with PVE are common, especially due to S. aureus. Redo cardiac surgery is high risk, percutaneous treatments may be technically difficult due to altered post-operative anatomy, and medication adherence issues and lack of healthcare engagement further compromise optimal care in this patient population.