Religion contributes to the identity, well-being, and life satisfaction of many people globally, however, its traditional stance on infertility and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) can conflict with individuals' personal reproductive aspirations and desire for a family. As the fertility rates of certain ethnic and religious groups decline, it is essential to discuss the interface between religion, infertility and ART, to understand how to best navigate the infertility journeys of proclaimed Christians. This article contextualises this discussion in the experiences of eight Pacific Christian adults living with infertility and/or accessing ART in Aotearoa New Zealand.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Healthcare professionals face numerous challenges regarding the delivery of care. Creating solutions to these challenges is imperative to improve the quality and safety of care to positively impact patient outcomes. However, health professional students rarely receive formal training regarding systems thinking during didactic components of their professional training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe unexplained association between infection and autoimmune disease is strongest for hepatitis C virus-induced cryoglobulinemic vasculitis (HCV-cryovas). To analyze its origins, we traced the evolution of pathogenic rheumatoid factor (RF) autoantibodies in four HCV-cryovas patients by deep single-cell multi-omic analysis, revealing three sources of B cell somatic mutation converged to drive the accumulation of a large disease-causing clone. A method for quantifying low-affinity binding revealed recurring antibody variable domain combinations created by V(D)J recombination that bound self-immunoglobulin G (IgG) but not viral E2 antigen.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Age-associated depletion in nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) concentrations has been implicated in metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative disorders. Supplementation with NAD+ precursors, such as nicotinamide riboside (NR), offers a potential therapeutic avenue against neurodegenerative pathologies in aging, Alzheimer's disease, and related dementias. A crossover, double-blind, randomized placebo (PBO) controlled trial was conducted to test the safety and efficacy of 8 weeks' active treatment with NR (1 g/day) on cognition and plasma AD biomarkers in older adults with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCalcium supplementation before exercise attenuates the decrease in serum calcium and increase in PTH and bone resorption. This study investigated the effect of calcium supplementation on calcium and bone metabolism during load carriage in women. Forty-eight women completed two load carriage sessions (load carriage 1 n = 48; load carriage 2 n = 40) (12.
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