In early 2020 from April to early June, the metropolitan area of Sydney as well as the rest of New South Wales (NSW, Australia) experienced a period of lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 virus in the community. The effect of reducing anthropogenic activities including transportation had an impact on the urban environment in term of air quality which is shown to have improved for a number of pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxides (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO), based on monitoring data on ground and from satellite. Besides primary pollutants CO and NOx emitted from mobile sources, PM2.5 (primary and secondary) and secondary ozone (O3) during the lockdown period will also be analysed using both air quality data and modelling method. The results show that NO2, CO and PM2.5 levels decreased during the lockdown, but O3 instead increased. The change in the concentration levels however are small considering the large reduction in traffic volume of ~30%. By estimate the decrease in traffic volume in Sydney region, the corresponding decrease in emission input to the WRF-CMAQ (Weather Research and Forecasting - Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System) air quality model is then used to estimate the effect of lockdown on the air quality especially CO, NO2, O3 and PM2.5 in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) of Sydney. COVID-19 lockdown period is an ideal case to study the effect of motor vehicle and mobile source contribution to air pollutants such as those listed above in the GMR.

Lymphadenopathy is a common manifestation of both reactive and malignant diseases, and fine needle aspiration (FNA) is an effective and inexpensive screening method. It can prevent unnecessary invasive surgery and excisional biopsy, especially in benign cases. Unfortunately, the lack of universally accepted terminology for reporting results has hindered its widespread support. The Sydney system proposal for lymph node cytopathology categorization and reporting introduced five diagnostic categories to address the lack of universally accepted terminology for reporting results in lymphadenopathy. Our study analyzed 188 lymph node FNC samples from King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Saudi Arabia, examining clinical follow-up data, pathology records, patient information, and final diagnosis from January 2019 to December 2022. Most specimens were from axillary LNs, with 99.5% tissue correlation. The Sydney System Category classification identified 56.9% of cases as malignant, while 26.1% were benign. The final surgical specimen diagnosis revealed a higher percentage of malignant diagnoses, with the highest ROM in malignant/Category V. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that LN-FNAC offers high diagnostic accuracy for LN aspirates, with the Sydney approach potentially aiding risk stratification and achieving consistency in cytologic diagnosis, but further multi-centric research is needed.

(1) Background The SKT is a short cognitive performance test designed to assess impairments in memory and cognitive abilities such as attention and speed of information processing. In 2019, new regression-based norms for the English version of the SKT were calculated applying data from older cognitively healthy adults living in the US, Ireland and Australia (the norming sample) The study has two aims: to establish valid cut-offs for distinguishing between no cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia (1), and to cross-validate the new norms for detecting MCI and dementia (2) in a community sample of older adults with clinical diagnoses; (2)Methods: The validation sample included 142 older adults (mean age=87.7, SD=3.55) from the Sydney Memory and Aging Study (MAS Study). Participants were classified as having normal cognition, MCI, or dementia through a consensus diagnosis as well as by the SKT; (3)Results: The sensitivity of the SKT for the differentiation of cognitive impairment (MCI or dementia) from normal cognition was 80.6%. The convergence between the SKT and the consensus diagnoses was 60.1% for all three diagnostic groups. The correlation between the SKT and the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III (ACE-III), a well validated measure of cognitive ability in older adults, was r = 0.3;. (4) Conclusions: In sum, it can be stated that the SKT is a valid tool for detecting early stages of cognitive impairment, performing very well in discriminating between no cognitive impairment and cognitive impairment (MCI or dementia).

Ozone and fine particles (PM_2.5) are the two main air pollutants of concern in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region (NSW GMR) region due to their contribution to poor air quality days in the region. This paper focuses on source contributions to ambient ozone concentrations for different parts of the NSW GMR, based on source emissions across the greater Sydney region. The observation-based Integrated Empirical Rate Model (IER) was applied to delineate the different regions within the GMR based on the photochemical smog profile of each region. Ozone source contribution is then modelled using the CCAM-CTM (Cubic Conformal Atmospheric Model-Chemical Transport Model) modelling system and the latest air emission inventory for the greater Sydney region. Source contributions to ozone varied between regions, and also varied depending on the air quality metric applied (e.g., average or maximum ozone). Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were found to contribute significantly to median and maximum ozone concentration in North West Sydney during summer. After commercial domestic, power station was found to be the next largest anthropogenic source of maximum ozone concentrations in North West Sydney. However, in South West Sydney, beside commercial and domestic sources, on-road vehicles were predicted to be the most significant contributor to maximum ozone levels, followed by biogenic sources and power stations. The results provide information which policy makers can devise various options to control ozone levels in different parts of the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region.