Exploring the reasons behind the low focus on upper limb rehabilitation in the early stages after a stroke: A qualitative study.

Background: One aspect that is often impaired in people living with stroke is the motor function of the upper limb.

Purpose: To explore the reasons behind the low focus on upper limb rehabilitation after stroke and to understand the views of rehabilitation professionals (RPs) on the use of upper limb rehabilitation technologies for self-management of stroke.

Study Design: A qualitative descriptive design that employs a one-on-one semistructured interview method.

A Novel Online Position Estimation Method and Movement Sonification System: The Soniccup.

Existing methods to obtain position from inertial sensors typically use a combination of multiple sensors and orientation modeling; thus, obtaining position from a single inertial sensor is highly desirable given the decreased setup time and reduced complexity. The dead reckoning method is commonly chosen to obtain position from acceleration; however, when applied to upper limb tracking, the accuracy of position estimates are questionable, which limits feasibility. A new method of obtaining position estimates through the use of zero velocity updates is reported, using a commercial IMU, a push-to-make momentary switch, and a 3D printed object to house the sensors.

A Participatory Model for Cocreating Accessible Rehabilitation Technology for Stroke Survivors: User-Centered Design Approach.

Background: Globally, 1 in 3 people live with health conditions that could be improved with rehabilitation. Ideally, this is provided by trained professionals delivering evidence-based dose, intensity, and content of rehabilitation for optimal recovery. The widely acknowledged inability of global health care providers to deliver recommended levels of rehabilitation creates an opportunity for technological innovation.

ANZACS-QI Heart Failure Registry: a new approach using age-stratified sampling of hospital discharges to guide quality improvement (ANZACS-QI 79).

Heart failure is a major healthcare problem in New Zealand. The Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF) Registry was introduced in 2015, and has identified the need for quality improvement strategies to improve care of patients hospitalised with heart failure. In this paper, we describe the implementation of the revised ANZACS-QI Heart Failure Registry, which has a primary aim to support evidence-based management of and quality improvement measures for patients who are hospitalised with heart failure in New Zealand.

Short, Medium and Long-Term Cause-Specific Mortality Following First-Ever Heart Failure Hospitalisation in New Zealand.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is associated with high mortality, but there are limited reports on the underlying cause of death. This study reports short-, medium- and long-term cause-specific mortality following first-ever HF hospitalisation in New Zealand.

Method: First-ever HF hospitalisations were identified from hospital discharge coding between 2010 and 2013.

Treatment drop-in in a contemporary cohort used to derive cardiovascular risk prediction equations.

Background: No routinely recommended cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk prediction equations have adjusted for CVD preventive medications initiated during follow-up (treatment drop-in) in their derivation cohorts. This will lead to underestimation of risk when equations are applied in clinical practice if treatment drop-in is common. We aimed to quantify the treatment drop-in in a large contemporary national cohort to determine whether equations are likely to require adjustment.

Stroke Survivors' Interaction With Hand Rehabilitation Devices: Observational Study.

Background: The hand is crucial for carrying out activities of daily living as well as social interaction. Functional use of the upper limb is affected in up to 55% to 75% of stroke survivors 3 to 6 months after stroke. Rehabilitation can help restore function, and several rehabilitation devices have been designed to improve hand function.

Validation Study of Cardiovascular International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) Codes in Administrative Healthcare Databases (ANZACS-QI 77).

Background: Administrative healthcare databases can be utilised for research. The accuracy of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) coding of cardiovascular conditions in New Zealand is not known and requires validation.

Method: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Edition, Australian Modification coded discharges for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF), in both primary and secondary diagnostic positions, were identified from four district health boards between 1 January 2019 and 31 June 2019.

Guideline versus clinician recommended duration of dual antiplatelet therapy following acute coronary syndrome (ANZACS-QI 78).

Aim: The recommended duration of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) for patients without atrial fibrillation varies from 1 month to 1 year depending on the balance of risks of ischaemia and major bleeding. Patients on DAPT with a high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding are also recommended to receive a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). Our aim was to audit current practice against the 2020 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guideline recommendations.

Functional Activity of Enantiomeric Oximes and Diastereomeric Amines and Cyano Substituents at C9 in 3-Hydroxy--phenethyl-5-phenylmorphans.

The synthesis of stereochemically pure oximes, amines, saturated and unsaturated cyanomethyl compounds, and methylaminomethyl compounds at the C9 position in 3-hydroxy--phenethyl-5-phenylmorphans provided μ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists with varied efficacy and potency. One of the most interesting compounds, (2-((1,5,9)-5-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-2-phenethyl-2-azabicyclo[3.3.

Comparison of electrographic changes, clinical features and outcomes in different variants of Takotsubo syndrome.

Background: Dysfunction of the left ventricular (LV) apex (apical variant) is the most common form in Takotsubo syndrome (TS). Several less common non-apical variants have been described - mid-ventricular, basal and focal. We hypothesised that the clinical presentation, and electrocardiographic (ECG) findings may vary between apical and non-apical TS.

Recurrent Takotsubo Syndrome: How Frequent, and How Does It Present?

Background: Recurrent Takotsubo syndrome (TS) is not uncommon but experience with TS recurrence is inherently limited by the infrequency of the condition itself and incomplete long-term follow-up. There is limited published data on the clinical features and outcomes of patients with recurrent TS. We aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with recurrent TS in a large Auckland cohort.

Cardiogenic Shock Prior to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: Outcomes and Predictors of Mortality (ANZACS-QI 73).

Background & Aims: Cardiogenic shock (CS) is a serious complication of acute myocardial infarction (MI) and is associated with significant mortality. We describe a contemporary, real-world cohort of patients with ST-elevation MI (STEMI) and CS, including 30-day mortality and clinically relevant predictors of mortality.

Methods: All patients presenting with STEMI who were treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in New Zealand (2016 to 2020) were identified from the Aotearoa New Zealand All Cardiology Services Quality Improvement (ANZACS-QI) registry and stratified based on their Killip class on arrival to the cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

New Alpha9 nAChR Ligands Based on a 5-(Quinuclidin-3-ylmethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole Scaffold.

Several lines of evidence have indicated that nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) that contain α9 subunits, probably in combination with α10 subunits, may be valuable targets for the management of pain associated with inflammatory diseases through a cholinergic anti-inflammatory system (CAS), which has also been associated with α7 nAChR. Both α7- and α9-containing neuronal nAChR can be pharmacologically distinguished from the high-affinity nicotinic receptors of the brain by their sensitivity to α-bungarotoxin, but in other ways, they have quite distinct pharmacological profiles. The early association of α7 with CAS led to the development of numerous new ligands, variously characterized as α7 agonists, partial agonists, or silent agonists that desensitized α7 receptors without activation.

Design, Synthesis, and Structure-Activity Relationship Studies of Novel GPR88 Agonists (4-Substituted-phenyl)acetamides Based on the Reversed Amide Scaffold.

The development of synthetic agonists for the orphan receptor GPR88 has recently attracted significant interest, given the promise of GPR88 as a novel drug target for psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Examination of structure-activity relationships of two known agonist scaffolds 2-PCCA and 2-AMPP, as well as the recently resolved cryo-EM structure of 2-PCCA-bound GPR88, led to the design of a new scaffold based on the "reversed amide" strategy of 2-AMPP. A series of novel (4-substituted-phenyl)acetamides were synthesized and assessed in cAMP accumulation assays as GPR88 agonists, which led to the discovery of several compounds with better or comparable potencies to 2-AMPP.

Sex differences in outcomes after acute coronary syndrome vary with age: a New Zealand national study.

Aims: This study investigated age-specific sex differences in short- and long-term clinical outcomes following hospitalization for a first-time acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in New Zealand (NZ).

Methods And Results: Using linked national health datasets, people admitted to hospital for a first-time ACS between January 2010 and December 2016 were included. Analyses were stratified by sex and 10-year age groups.

Potent MOR Agonists from 2'-Hydroxy-5,9-dimethyl--phenethyl Substituted-6,7-benzomorphans and from C8-Hydroxy, Methylene and Methyl Derivatives of -Phenethylnormetazocine.

(-)-5,9-Dimethyl-6,7-benzomorphan (normetazocine) derivatives with a -OH or -F substituent in the aromatic ring of the -phenethyl moiety were synthesized and found to have subnanomolar potency at MOR, and both were fully efficacious in vitro. These new compounds, (1,5,9)-6,11-dimethyl-3-(2-fluorophenethyl)-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydro-2,6-methanobenzo[d]azocin-8-ol and (1,5,9)-6,11-dimethyl-3-(4-hydroxyphenethyl)-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexahydro-2,6-methanobenzo[d]azocin-8-ol, were more potent than the unsubstituted compound -phenethylnormetazocine and about 30 or 40 times more potent than morphine, respectively. A variety of substituents in the , , or position in the aromatic ring of the -phenethyl moiety were synthesized, 25 of these compounds, and found to have varying effects on potency and efficacy as determined by the forskolin-induced cAMP accumulation assay.

Investigation and treatment after non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome for patients presenting to rural or urban hospitals in Aotearoa New Zealand: ANZACS-QI 75.

Aims: Compare the care patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS) received in Aotearoa New Zealand depending on the rural-urban category of the hospital they are first admitted to.

Methods: Patients with NSTEACS investigated with invasive coronary angiogram between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2019 were included. There were three hospital categories (routine access to percutaneous coronary intervention [urban interventional], other urban [urban non-interventional] and rural) and three ethnicity categories (Māori, Pacific and non-Māori/non-Pacific).

Anchor Group Bottlebrush Polymers as Oil Additive Friction Modifiers.

Surface-tethered polymers have been shown to be an efficient lubrication strategy for boundary and mixed lubrication by providing a solvated film between solid surfaces. We have assessed the performance of various graft copolymers as friction modifier additives in oil and revealed important structure-property relationships for this application. The polymers consisted of an oil-soluble, grafted poly(lauryl acrylate) segment and a polar, linear poly(4-acryloylmorpholine) anchor group.

Development and validation of cardiovascular risk prediction equations in 76 000 people with known cardiovascular disease.

Aims: Multiple health administrative databases can be individually linked in Aotearoa New Zealand, using encrypted identifiers. These databases were used to develop cardiovascular risk prediction equations for patients with known cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods And Results: Administrative health databases were linked to identify all people aged 18-84 years with known CVD, living in Auckland and Northland, Aotearoa New Zealand, on 1 January 2014.

Incidence, risk factors and outcomes of checkpoint inhibitor-induced liver injury: A 10-year real-world retrospective cohort study.

Background & Aims: Checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) account for increasing numbers of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cases. We aimed to determine the incidence rate and risk factors associated with checkpoint inhibitor-induced liver injury (ChILI).

Methods: Prescription event monitoring was performed on all melanoma and renal cancer patients who received CPI at a tertiary centre between 2011 and 2021.

Paired risk scores to predict ischaemic and bleeding risk twenty-eight days to one year after an acute coronary syndrome.

Objective: The recommended duration of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) following acute coronary syndrome (ACS) varies from 1 month to 1 year depending on the balance of risks of ischaemia and major bleeding. We designed paired ischaemic and major bleeding risk scores to inform this decision.

Methods: New Zealand (NZ) patients with ACS investigated with coronary angiography are recorded in the All NZ ACS Quality Improvement registry and linked to national health datasets.

Widening ethnic inequities in heart failure incidence in New Zealand.

Objective: Ethnic inequities in heart failure (HF) have been documented in several countries. This study describes New Zealand (NZ) trends in incident HF hospitalisation by ethnicity between 2006 and 2018.

Methods: Incident HF hospitalisations in ≥20-year-old subjects were identified through International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision-coded national hospitalisation records.