The rate of bloodstream infections caused by central intravenous lines in hospitals can be reduced to almost zero, saving over $200 000 per year, if a modified central line maintenance procedure developed by a group of Victorian researchers is used, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia. [ + ]

Pandit J et al. The 5th National Audit Project (NAP5) - Accidental Awareness During General Anaesthesia in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Association of Anaesthetists UK. Sept 2014. [ + ]

Your thoughts, mood and behaviour are the product of your brain – an exquisite spider’s web of neuronal connections and witch’s brew of neurochemicals according to Paul Bertrand and Trisha Jenkins, RMIT University. It is this brew that is prone to change, and when “unbalanced” can cause dramatically altered behaviour. And your diet may have more to do with how you think than you would first suspect. How your mood is made up Your mood is the product of chemicals in the brain called “neurochemicals”. This includes “neurotransmitters”, which are small molecules nerve cells (neurons) use to communicate with each other. One important neurotransmitter involved in mood is serotonin. [ + ]

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A study of more than 1000 Victorian babies has shown those with hyperactive immune cells at birth, detected in their cord blood, were more likely to develop food allergies in their first year of life. [ + ]

What if you knew who would walk into your hospital today- when and why? Dave Piggott, Executive Director of Health IQ, investigates how the partnership between Austin Health, CSIRO and Health IQ works to provide Austin Health these answers. [ + ]

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Sarah Allinson, Lancaster University, reports on a study published in Science in early 2015 reported that most cancers aren’t preventable and are simply a case of “bad luck”. A year on, however, and a study published in Nature has come to the opposite conclusion: that external factors such as tobacco, sunlight and human papilloma virus play a greater part in whether or not a person gets cancer. [ + ]

Not-for-profit disability services provider, Windgap Foundation, has opened its seventh supported accommodation home. [ + ]

Lifting injuries are a major cause of lower back pain, one of the most common health conditions worldwide. It can have substantial health and economic costs as people experience disability and general ill health, leading them to need time off work. [ + ]

Today, women are typically the dominant group within medical schools and yet remain under-represented in formal leadership positions and particular speciality areas. Although today there is greater female participation in medical roles, it still appears that women are hitting the glass ceiling. [ + ]

After life-saving heart surgery, made possible with the help of virtual reality imaging, four-month old baby Teegan, deemed inoperable after her birth in Minnesota, celebrated her first Christmas with her family. [ + ]

According to the mid year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) changes to the incentives paid to pathology and diagnostic imaging providers to bulk bill out of hospital services will deliver savings of $650.4 million to the budget over four years. [ + ]

Nurses are exposed to a wide range of biological-infectious, chemical, environmental-mechanical, physical and psychosocial hazards. They are particularly vulnerable to infection and injuries, including musculoskeletal injuries, latex allergies and needlestick injuries. Nursing and midwifery is also the profession with the highest exposure to workplace violence. [ + ]

In a significant step forward, findings from the largest study of genetics of memory ever undertaken indicate that there are two common genetic variants believed to be associated with memory performance. [ + ]