Exploring the Stability of Communicative Participation and Level of Daily Speech Usage Among Individuals With Hypophonia and Parkinson's Disease.

Purpose: This exploratory study evaluated the test-retest stability of three participation-based patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) rated by individuals with Parkinson's disease (IWPD), primary communication partners (PCPs) serving as proxy raters, and control participants over three study visits spanning approximately 1 month.

Method: Twenty-three IWPD and hypophonia, 23 PCPs, and 30 control participants attended three non-intervention experimental visits. During each visit, all participants completed three participation-based PROMs: Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB), Voice Activity and Participation Profile (VAPP), and Levels of Speech Usage Scale (LSUS).

The impact of contextual socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of residents on COVID-19 outcomes during public health restrictions in Sydney, Australia.

Objective: To investigate the impact of contextual socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of residents on COVID-19 outcomes during public health measures.

Methods: Aggregated data from the NSW Notifiable Conditions Information Management System linked to Australian Census data, by periods of strict and relaxed measures, were used.

Results: During strict measures, residents of areas of lower socioeconomic status (SES) had a higher risk of infection, with the lowest areas having greater risk compared with the highest areas ((hazard ratio (HR)) 7.

Pregnancy and a high-fat, high-sugar diet each attenuate mechanosensitivity of murine gastric vagal afferents, with no additive effects.

Gastric vagal afferents (GVAs) sense food-related mechanical stimuli and signal to the CNS to initiate meal termination. Pregnancy and diet-induced obesity are independently associated with dampened GVA mechanosensitivity and increased food intake. Whether a high-fat, high-sugar diet (HFHSD) impacts pregnancy-related adaptations in GVA signalling is unknown and was investigated in this study.

Initial investigation into the metabolic effects of intra-articular betamethasone on normal and insulin dysregulated horses.

Given the metabolic effects of intra-articular (IA) corticosteroids, the goal of this project was to monitor the effects of IA betamethasone in both insulin dysregulated (ID)(n = 3) and non-ID (n = 5) horses. A cross-over design was used where eight geldings were injected with either 9 mg of betamethasone or saline into both metacarpophalangeal joints, followed by regular blood collections for adrenocorticotropin releasing hormone (ACTH), cortisol, insulin, and glucose, as well as pre- and post-administration oral sugar testing. Results were analyzed via two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (p < 0.

Defining polypharmacy in older adults: a cross-sectional comparison of prevalence estimates calculated according to active ingredient and unique product counts.

Background: Polypharmacy is common in older adults and may be associated with poor outcomes. However, methods used to define polypharmacy are rarely reported precisely, with potential implications for polypharmacy exposure estimates.

Aim: The aim was to investigate prevalence estimates according to different methods in an Australian population-based sample of older adults.