scholarly journals Documenting Elimination of Co-Circulating Covid-19 Clusters Using Genomics in New South Wales, Australia

Author(s):  
Alicia Arnott ◽  
Jenny Draper ◽  
Rebecca J Rockett ◽  
Connie Lam ◽  
Rosemarie Sadsad ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To adapt ‘fishplots’ to describe SARS-CoV-2 genomic cluster evolution. Results: This novel analysis adapted the fishplot to depict the size and duration of circulating genomic clusters over time in New South Wales, Australia. It illuminated the effectiveness of interventions on the emergence, spread and eventual elimination of clusters and distilled genomic data into clear information to inform public health action.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Arnott ◽  
Jenny Draper ◽  
Rebecca J. Rockett ◽  
Connie Lam ◽  
Rosemarie Sadsad ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To adapt ‘fishplots’ to describe real-time evolution of SARS-CoV-2 genomic clusters. Results This novel analysis adapted the fishplot to depict the size and duration of circulating genomic clusters over time in New South Wales, Australia. It illuminated the effectiveness of interventions on the emergence, spread and eventual elimination of clusters and distilled genomic data into clear information to inform public health action.


2000 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 1088-1119
Author(s):  
B. Zorina Khan

I examine the evolution of conflict and cooperation during economic growth by analyzing civil disputes in New South Wales between 1860 and 1900. Disputes per capita fell over time and the proportion of cases settled before trial increased, but patterns varied across locations and types of disputes. Economic conflicts were likelier to be settled than personal disputes, and the fraction of cases settled was significantly lower in frontier areas and in districts without access to transportation. The results suggest that increased market exchange facilitates the development of informal rules and encourages transactors to find cooperative solutions through private bargaining.


Author(s):  
J.V. Nolan ◽  
J.A. Thomas ◽  
M.K. Hill

Protein-rich supplements often enhance production of ruminants grazing native pastures during the winter on the northern tablelands of New South Wales. However, graziers report that animals offered supplements often do not consume them; there is also experimental evidence, obtained using tritiated supplements, that intake of supplements by individuals within a flock may exhibit wide variation. The objectives of this study were first, to evaluate a commercial protein-rich supplement when given to winter-grazed weaners, by determining the effect of supplementation on liveweight gain, wool production and fibre diameter, and second, to estimate the changes in patterns of intake of supplement by individual animals over time during a 12 week supplementation period.


2011 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 676 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. Reid ◽  
W. D. Robbins ◽  
V. M. Peddemors

The New South Wales (NSW) government has operated a program of netting beaches for the protection of swimmers and surfers against shark attack since 1937 in Sydney, and since 1949 in Newcastle and Wollongong. The scope and directives of the Shark Meshing Program have remained constant since its inception, with operational modifications in net specifications in 1972, changes in spatial deployment in 1972, 1987 and 1992, and the elimination of winter netting since 1989. This markedly increased meshing effort in 1972, and again in 1987. In the present study, we examine the trends in catch and effort for the period from 1950–1951 to 2009–2010 over this 200-km section of the NSW coast. Significant temporal trends in species, size and sex composition are described herein. Catches were consistently dominated by three shark taxa, hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp.), whaler sharks (Carcharhinus spp.) and Australian angel sharks (Squatina australis), although their relative contributions to catches varied over time. Catch per unit effort has significantly declined for five of the most abundant shark taxa over the study period, increasing only for a single taxon, the sevengill shark (Notorynchus cepedianus). Catches of larger, potentially dangerous white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) and tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) saw fewer large animals being caught over time. This pattern was not observed across other taxa. Four different monthly trends were observed in landings of the most abundant eight taxa, reflecting differences in the biology of the catch species. The current study also provides useful information on catches and sizes of grey nurse (Carcharias taurus) and white sharks before and after their protection in NSW waters in 1984 and 1998, respectively.


Author(s):  
Rebecca J Rockett ◽  
Alicia Arnott ◽  
Connie Lam ◽  
Rosemarie Sadsad ◽  
Verlaine Timms ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCommunity transmission of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is a major public health concern that remains difficult to assess. We present a genomic survey of SARS-CoV-2 from a during the first 10 weeks of COVID-19 activity in New South Wales, Australia. Transmission events were monitored prospectively during the critical period of implementation of national control measures. SARS-CoV-2 genomes were sequenced from 209 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection between January and March 2020. Only a quarter of cases appeared to be locally acquired and genomic-based estimates of local transmission rates were concordant with predictions from a computational agent-based model. This convergent assessment indicates that genome sequencing provides key information to inform public health action and has improved our understanding of the COVID-19 evolution from outbreak to epidemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yumi Tomari Kashida ◽  
Carlos Garcia-Esperon ◽  
Thomas Lillicrap ◽  
Ferdinand Miteff ◽  
Pablo Garcia-Bermejo ◽  
...  

Introduction: A telestroke network in Northern New South Wales, Australia has been developed since 2017. We theorized that the telestroke network development would drive a progressive improvement in stroke care metrics over time.Aim: This study aimed to describe changes in acute stroke workflow metrics over time to determine whether they improved with network experience.Methods: We prospectively collected data of patients assessed by telestroke who received multimodal computed tomography (mCT) and were diagnosed with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack from January 2017 to July 2019. The period was divided into two phases (phase 1: January 2017 – October 2018 and phase 2: November 2018 – July 2019). We compared median door-to-call, door-to-image, and door-to-decision time between the two phases.Results: We included 433 patients (243 in phase 1 and 190 in phase 2). Each spoke site treated 1.5–5.2 patients per month. There were Door-to-call time (median 39 in phase 1, 35 min in phase 2, p = 0.18), and door-to-decision time (median 81.5 vs. 83 min, p = 0.31) were not improved significantly. Similarly, in the reperfusion therapy subgroup, door-to-call time (median 29 vs. 24.5 min, p = 0.12) and door-to-decision time (median 70.5 vs. 67.5 min, p = 0.75) remained substantially unchanged. Regression analysis showed no association between time in the network and door-to-decision time (coefficient 1.5, p = 0.32).Conclusion: In our telestroke network, acute stroke timing metrics did not improve over time. There is the need for targeted education and training focusing on both stroke reperfusion competencies and the technical aspects of telestroke in areas with limited workforce and high turnover.


2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron G. Radford ◽  
Mike Letnic ◽  
Melanie Fillios ◽  
Mathew S. Crowther

In Australia, the genetic integrity of dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) is threatened through hybridisation with feral dogs and consequently the identification of the modern ‘pure’ dingo is ambiguous. There are no accurate classification techniques for dingoes and dingo–dog hybrids in the wild. Genetics, skull morphology and visual assessment are methods currently used, but they often yield contrasting results. We tested skull morphological and visual assessment methods for classifying wild canids in south-eastern New South Wales and examined temporal and geographic trends in skull morphology. Published equations based on discriminant functions revealed varying percentages of dingoes, dogs and their hybrids over time, and did not yield similar results to visual assessment methods. Skull characteristics generally became larger over time but have recently stabilised. Changes in the morphology of the molars were consistent with the occurrence of hybridisation with dogs. Geographic variation was apparent and consistent with Bergmann’s Law, with skulls increasing in size with altitude. This study highlights the importance for improved classification methods of wild canids and the importance of considering geographical variation in morphological studies.


1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Gorta ◽  
Tony Sillavant

This article seeks to place the risk posed by escapees in perspective by presenting information on escapees from NSW gaols, based on a detailed record study of the 812 prisoners who escaped during the 6 year period, July 1983 to June 1989. Escapes from NSW gaols are a relatively rare occurrence. The majority of escapes (68.4%) occurred from within minimum security institutions. A further 12.3% of escapes refer to prisoners who fall to return on time from an unescorted temporary absence from the gaol, such as day/weekend leave, attendance at technical college or university, etc. Escapees tended to be younger, more likely to be serving sentences for property offences, more likely to be held in minimum security, more likely to have lower security classifications and less likely to be held on remand than prisoners in general. There is no particular point in their sentence when escapees are more likely to escape. While there are variations in patterns of escape or characteristics of escapees from year to year, there are no clear trends over time. The characteristics of escapees determined in this study suggest that reasons exist for escaping other than the presentation of the opportunity. More than one-quarter (28.6%) of the escapees were recaptured on either the day they escaped or the following day. Half (50%) of the escapees were recaptured within 8 days of their escape. The majority of escapees (74.2%) were not convicted of committing any offences whilst at large. Of those who were convicted, offences committed whilst at large are most commonly property offences (74.9%) such as break, enter and steal or larceny of a motor vehicle


Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1402
Author(s):  
Francesca Di Giallonardo ◽  
Angie Pinto ◽  
Phillip Keen ◽  
Ansari Shaik ◽  
Alex Carrera ◽  
...  

Changes over time in HIV-1 subtype diversity within a population reflect changes in factors influencing the development of local epidemics. Here we report on the genetic diversity of 2364 reverse transcriptase sequences from people living with HIV-1 in New South Wales (NSW) notified between 2004 and 2018. These data represent >70% of all new HIV-1 notifications in the state over this period. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to identify subtype-specific transmission clusters. Subtype B and non-B infections differed across all demographics analysed (p < 0.001). We found a strong positive association for infections among females, individuals not born in Australia or reporting heterosexual transmission being of non-B origin. Further, we found an overall increase in non-B infections among men who have sex with men from 50 to 79% in the last 10 years. However, we also found differences between non-B subtypes; heterosexual transmission was positively associated with subtype C only. In addition, the majority of subtype B infections were associated with clusters, while the majority of non-B infections were singletons. However, we found seven non-B clusters (≥5 sequences) indicative of local ongoing transmission. In conclusion, we present how the HIV-1 epidemic has changed over time in NSW, becoming more heterogeneous with distinct subtype-specific demographic associations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. S622
Author(s):  
A. Oar ◽  
S. Vinod ◽  
G. Gabriel ◽  
J. Shafiq ◽  
M. Barton ◽  
...  

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