The built and natural environment can facilitate (un)healthy behaviors in adolescence. However, most previous studies have focused on examining associations between singular aspects of the environment. This study examined the association between the mixture of health-promoting and health-constraining environmental features in a Healthy Location Index (HLI) and physical activity and screen time among adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The beneficial impacts of greenspace availability on mental health are well-documented. However, longitudinal evidence using a spatial lifecourse perspective is rare, leaving the dynamics of how greenspace influences mental health across the lifecourse unclear. This study first uses prospective birth cohort data to examine the associations between greenspace availability in childhood (0-16 years) and mental health in adolescence (16 years) and between greenspace availability and mental health across adulthood (18-40 years).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study introduces a novel approach to analysing the combustion process using a high-speed, non-contact, optical fibre-coupled Si avalanche photodiode (APD)-based infrared radiation thermometer (IRT). The Si APD-IRT, combined with an optimised field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital design, achieves a response time of 1 µs, faster than commercially available instruments. Our instrument captures the entire ignition and reignition cycle of a Jet A kerosene droplet with high temporal precision within a combustion chamber, a feat impossible with traditional thermocouples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCause of death (COD) in POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathies, monoclonal protein and skin changes) syndrome is not well described. We investigated COD in patients with POEMS syndrome treated at Mayo Clinic between 2000 and 2022. Of the 89 deaths, 49 patients had known COD and were the subject of this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAs patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) continue to live longer, they might get exposed to most available drugs and drug classes during the disease course. For such late line RRMM or among patients without access to novel therapies, retreatment with a drug that the disease had previously been refractory to might be one option. In this retrospective study, we describe 315 patients with RRMM at our institution who were retreated with a drug that the disease had been previously refractory to.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: An advance care plan outlines a patient's wishes regarding medical treatment or goals of care in the case that they become unable to communicate or to make decisions. An advance care directive (ACD) is an advance care plan that has been formally recorded and has legal status. Despite ACDs playing an important role in person-centred end-of-life care, an earlier retrospective medical records audit demonstrated that only 11% (58/531) of people who died due to a terminal illness had an ACD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClimate change and natural hazard risk assessments often overlook indirect impacts, leading to a limited understanding of the full extent of risk and the disparities in its distribution across populations. This study investigates distributional justice in natural hazard impacts, exploring its critical implications for environmental justice, equity, and resilience in adaptation planning. We employ high-resolution spatial risk assessment and origin-destination routing to analyze coastal flooding and sea-level rise scenarios in Aotearoa New Zealand.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpatial life course epidemiological approaches offer promise for prospectively examining the impacts of air pollution exposure on longer-term health outcomes, but existing research is limited. An essential aspect, often overlooked is the comprehensiveness of exposure data across the lifecourse. The primary objective was to meticulously reconstruct historical estimates of air pollution exposure to include prenatal exposure as well as annual exposure from birth to 10 years (1977-1987) for each cohort member.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Total Environ
November 2024
Hyperspectral imaging is a valuable analytical technique with significant benefits for environmental monitoring. However, the application of these technologies remains limited, largely by the cost and bulk associated with available instrumentation. This results in a lack of high-resolution data from more challenging and extreme environmental settings, limiting our knowledge and understanding of the effects of climate change in these regions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To measure compliance with Advance Care Directives (ACDs) for decedents in a rural setting.
Design: Observational, cross-sectional medical records audit comparing requests in ACDs with actual outcomes.
Setting: Rural Australian coastal district.
Background: Exposure to lead (Pb) is a major public health problem that could occur through contaminated soil, air, food, or water, either during the course of everyday life, or while working in hazardous occupations. Although Pb has long been known as a neurodevelopmental toxicant in children, a recent and growing body of epidemiological research indicates that cumulative, low-level Pb exposure likely drives age-related neurologic dysfunction in adults. Environmental Pb exposure in adulthood has been linked to risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdvanced genomic technologies such as whole exome or whole genome sequencing have improved diagnoses and disease outcomes for individuals with genetic diseases. Yet, variants of unknown significance (VUS) require rigorous validation to establish disease causality or modification, or to exclude them from further analysis. Here, we describe a young individual of Polynesian ancestry who in the first 13 mo of life presented with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, severe enterovirus meningitis and adenovirus gastroenteritis, and severe adverse reaction to MMR vaccination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompartment syndrome (CS) can be defined as an acutely painful condition that occurs due to increased pressure within a compartment, resulting in reduced blood flow and oxygen to nerves and muscles within the limb. It is considered a surgical emergency, and a delayed diagnosis may result in ischemia and eventual necrosis of the limb. The majority of cases in adults are associated with high-energy trauma, more specifically, long bone fractures of the lower limb, while supracondylar fractures of the humerus are highly associated with CS in pediatric patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA woman in her 60s with a past medical history of recurrent (. ) presented for surgical consultation after a colonoscopy revealed a mass in the rectum. Preoperative biopsy revealed mucosal excrescence with no dysplasia or malignant changes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGiant squamous cell carcinoma (GSCC) of the skin arising on the head presents a distinctive clinical challenge due to its rarity, aggressive behavior, and potential for disfigurement. A male in his 70s with a history of tobacco cigarette use presented to the emergency department with a painful, bleeding mass on the right parietal scalp. On admission, a brain CT revealed a fungating mass with no cortical breakthrough or osseous erosion, measuring 7.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMental health conditions pose a significant public health challenge, and low area-level socioeconomic status (SES) is a potentially important upstream determinant. Childhood exposure might have influences on later-life mental health. This study, utilises data from the Christchurch Health and Development Study birth cohort, examining the impact of area-level SES trajectories in childhood (from birth to age 16) on mental health at age 16 and from age 18-40 years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objective: Initially established to improve access to healthcare, particularly for primary care, the full potential of the nurse practitioner role is yet to be realised in most countries. Despite this, most countries are working to meet an ageing population's increasing healthcare needs and reduce healthcare costs and access disparities. Achieving these outcomes requires reform at multiple levels, including nurse practitioner practice pathways, education and regulation, and identifying the barriers and facilitators to optimising their primary care role.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinsonism Relat Disord
July 2024
A 72-year-old woman with a prior sigmoid resection for colon cancer underwent a right hemicolectomy after a colonoscopy revealed a mass in the hepatic flexure. A preoperative biopsy at colonoscopy showed tubulovillous dysplasia with high-grade neoplasm. The final specimen pathology revealed benign mucosal elements with mucin pools consistent with colitis cystica profunda (CCP).
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