Objective: To explore the relationship between self-repor ted weight and height to actual weight and height in older Australian adolescents.

Field experiments were conducted in arid Southern Xinjiang, Northwest China, for 3 years to evaluate sustainable irrigation regimes for cotton. The experiments involved mulched drip irrigation during the growing season and flood irrigation afterward. The drip irrigation experiments included control experiments, experiments with deficit irrigation during one crop growth stage, and alternative irrigation schemes in which freshwater was used during one growth stage and relatively saline water in the others. The average cotton yield over 3 years varied between 3,575 and 5,095 kg/ha, and the irrigation water productivity between 0.91 and 1.16 kg/m 3 . Crop sensitivities to water stress during the different growth stages ranged from early flowering-belling (most sensitive) [ seedling [ budding [ late flowering-belling (least sensitive), while sensitivities to salt stress ranged from late flowering-belling [ budding [ seedling [ early flowering-belling. Although mulched drip irrigation during the growing season caused an increase in salinity in the root zone, flood irrigation after harvesting leached the accumulated salts to below background levels. Numerical simulations, based on the 3-year experiments and extended by another 20 years, suggest that mulched drip irrigation using alternatively fresh and brackish water during the growing season and flood irrigation with freshwater after harvesting is a sustainable irrigation practice that should not lead to soil salinization.

Objective: To examine mortality from all causes and from cardiovascular disease (CVD), and CVD hospitalisation rate for a decentralised Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory. Design and participants: For a community‐based cohort of 296 people aged 15 years or older screened in 1995, we reviewed hospital and primary health care records and death certificates for the period up to December 2004 (2800 person‐years of follow‐up). Main outcome measures: Mortality from all causes and CVD, and hospitalisation with CVD coded as a primary cause of admission; comparison with prior trends (1988 to 1995) in CVD risk factor prevalence for the community, and with NT‐specific Indigenous mortality and hospitalisation rates. Results: Mortality in the cohort was 964/100 000 person‐years, significantly lower than that of the NT Indigenous population (standardised mortality ratio [SMR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.42–0.89). CVD mortality was 358/100 000 person‐years for people aged 25 years or older (SMR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.23–1.02). Hospitalisation with CVD as a primary cause was 13/1000 person‐years for the cohort, compared with 33/1000 person‐years for the NT Indigenous population. Conclusion: Contributors to lower than expected morbidity and mortality are likely to include the nature of primary health care services, which provide regular outreach to outstation communities, as well as the decentralised mode of outstation living (with its attendant benefits for physical activity, diet and limited access to alcohol), and social factors, including connectedness to culture, family and land, and opportunities for self‐determination.

BackgroundThere are an established and growing number of Mendelian genetic causes for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in adults, though estimates of prevalence have been speculative. The CKD Queensland (CKD.QLD) registry enables partial clarification of this through the study of adults with CKD receiving nephrology care throughout Queensland, Australia.MethodsData from the first 2,935 patients consented to the CKD.QLD registry across five sites was analysed, with a comparison between those with and without Genetic Renal Disease (GRD). Prevalence of GRD amongst those with diagnosed CKD, the general population, and commencing renal replacement therapy (RRT) was calculated using the CKD.QLD registry, national census data and extracted Australian and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplantation (ANZDATA) registry report data respectively.ResultsPatients with GRD constituted 9.8% of this Australian adult CKD cohort (287/2935). This was lower than in local incident RRT cohorts (2006–2011: 9.8% vs 11.3%, x2 = 0.014). Cases of adult CKD GRD were more likely to be female (54.0% vs 45.6%; x2 = 0.007), younger (mean 52.6 yrs vs 69.3 yrs, p < 0.001), have a higher eGFR (mean 49.7 ml/min/1.73 m2 vs 40.4 ml/min/1.73 m2, p < 0.001), and have earlier stage renal disease (CKD Stage 1: 15.7% vs 5.1%, x2 < 0.0005) than those without GRD.ConclusionsThe proportion of GRD amongst an Australian adult CKD population in specialty renal practice is similar to past estimations. GRD is a significant cause for CKD and for RRT commencement, presenting opportunities for ongoing longitudinal study, directed therapeutics and clinical service redesign.

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