After analyzing our data, we neither support nor reject the recommendation that all Meckel diverticula found incidentally should be removed, although the procedure today has little risk. If a selective approach is taken, we recommend removing all incidental Meckel diverticula that have any of the 4 features most commonly associated with symptomatic Meckel diverticulum.

Background The COVID-19 outbreak has spread to almost every country around the world and caused more than 3 million deaths. The pandemic has triggered enormous disruption in people’s daily lives with profound impacts globally. This has also been the case in Australia, despite the country’s comparative low mortality and physical morbidity due to the virus. This scoping review aims to provide a broad summary of the research activity focused on mental health during the first 10 months of the pandemic in Australia. Results A search of the Australian literature was conducted between August-November 2020 to capture published scientific papers, online reports and pre-prints, as well as gaps in research activities. The search identified 228 unique records in total. Twelve general population and 30 subpopulation group studies were included in the review. Conclusions Few studies were able to confidently report changes in mental health driven by the COVID-19 context (at the population or sub-group level) due to a lack of pre-COVID comparative data and non-representative sampling. Never-the-less, in aggregate, the findings show an increase in poor mental health over the early period of 2020. Results suggest that young people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions, and the financially disadvantaged, experienced greater declines in mental health. The need for rapid research appears to have left some groups under-researched (e.g. Culturally and Linguistically Diverse populations and Indigenous peoples were not studied), and some research methods under-employed (e.g. there was a lack of qualitative and mixed-methods studies). There is a need for further reviews as the follow-up results of longitudinal studies emerge and understandings of the impact of the pandemic are refined.

OBJECTIVE -The aim of this study was to determine personal characteristics and preferences that affect decision making (decisional attributes) in patients with diabetes. In particular, we were interested in relating these attributes to the choice of using aspirin to reduce cardiovascular risk. RESULTS -Sixty-seven percent of patients surveyed used aspirin. Patients using aspirin were at higher risk of cardiovascular disease (odds ratio 1.4, 95% CI 1.0 -2.1), knew more about the benefits of aspirin (1.9, 1.4 -2.6) and less about the risks of aspirin (1.4, 1.2-1.8), and were more certain about using aspirin (0.5, 0.3-0.8) than patients not using aspirin. Patients using aspirin placed a higher value on preventing cardiovascular events than on avoiding the side effects of aspirin. Patients perceived that their diabetes provider and the American Diabetes Association had greater influence on their decision to use aspirin than family members or other patients with diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSCONCLUSIONS -The decisional attributes of patients with diabetes are associated with aspirin use. Decisional attributes may be the target of research and interventions to reduce underutilization to levels consistent with patient preferences.

A case demonstrating the necessity of thorough death investigation processes where toxicology plays an active role is presented. A 33-year-old white man presented to the emergency room in respiratory distress after an overdose episode where he was revived on the scene by fire rescue. His condition continued to deteriorate and he expired 6 days after the initial incident. No admission specimens were available for testing; however, there were specimens drawn 4 and 5 days after the incident. Drug paraphernalia from the scene was obtained by the laboratory through collaboration with local law enforcement. Drug paraphernalia was initially tested in the laboratory and after obtaining the results, the antemortem and postmortem specimens were tested identifying mitragynine and U-47700, among other drugs. These results indicate the value in obtaining and testing drug paraphernalia, and the value of testing antemortem specimens even in the event of a delay.