Extensive Tracking of Nomadic Waterbird Movements Reveals an Inland Flyway.

Waterbirds are highly mobile and have the ability to respond to environmental conditions opportunistically at multiple scales. Mobility is particularly crucial for aggregate-nesting species dependent on breeding habitat in arid and semi-arid wetlands, which can be ephemeral and unpredictable. We aimed to address knowledge gaps about movement routes for aggregate-nesting nomadic waterbird species by tracking them in numbers sufficient to make robust assessment of their movement patterns.

Satellite telemetry reveals complex mixed movement strategies in ibis and spoonbills of Australia: implications for water and wetland management.

Waterbird population and species diversity maintenance are important outcomes of wetland conservation management, but knowledge gaps regarding waterbird movements affect our ability to understand and predict waterbird responses to management at appropriate scales. Movement tracking using satellite telemetry is now allowing us to fill these knowledge gaps for highly mobile waterbirds at continental scales, including in remote areas for which data have been historically difficult to acquire. We used GPS satellite telemetry to track the movements of 122 individuals of three species of ibis and spoonbills (Threskiornithidae) in Australia from 2016 to 2023.

improving Pain mAnagement for childreN and young people attendeD by Ambulance (PANDA): protocol for a realist review.

Background: Each year in England, 450,000 children and young people (CYP) under 18 years of age are transported by ambulance to emergency departments. Approximately 20% of these suffer acute pain caused by illness or injury. Pain is a highly complex sensory and emotional experience.

Incidence and risk factors of venous and arterial thromboembolic events among patients with ovarian cancer- data from a large Canadian database.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of thromboembolic events (TEEs) in ovarian cancer patients and to identify risk factors that are significantly associated with the development of venous thromboembolism (VTE), arterial thromboembolism (ATE), or overall TEEs in this population.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 4491 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer identified in the British Columbia cancer registry between 1996 and 2017. The presence of TEEs and risk factors were identified in administrative health records from fee-for-service provider visits and hospital data using ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM billing codes.

Hormonal contraception and thrombosis: Identifying the gaps in knowledge among females in post-secondary education.

Objective: To determine the current level of knowledge about hormonal contraception among young women so they may be better informed about the risks and various choices available to them regarding hormonal contraception (HC).

Methods: In an online survey-based study, data was analyzed from the anonymous responses of 675 female participants aged 18-30 years in various academic programs at two post-secondary institutions in Kingston, Ontario. Surveys explored demographics, use/type/duration of hormonal contraception, and knowledge of HC and thrombosis.

Testing the relationship between lateralization on sequence-based motor tasks and language laterality using an online battery.

Studies have highlighted an association between motor laterality and speech production laterality. It is thought that common demands for sequential processing may underlie this association. However, most studies in this area have relied on relatively small samples and have infrequently explored the reliability of the tools used to assess lateralization.

Inconsistent language lateralisation - Testing the dissociable language laterality hypothesis using behaviour and lateralised cerebral blood flow.

Background: Most people have strong left-brain lateralisation for language, with a minority showing right- or bilateral language representation. On some receptive language tasks, however, lateralisation appears to be reduced or absent. This contrasting pattern raises the question of whether and how language laterality may fractionate within individuals.

A narrative review of the late effects of paediatric cancer treatment within an educational setting: Existing evidence and where do we go from here?

Objectives: The late effects of paediatric cancer treatment within an educational context are an area that is relatively under researched within the United Kingdom.

Methods: To support this narrative review, systematic searches were conducted in key scientific databases between May and December 2020.

Results: Upon reviewing literature within this field, there are key considerations that should be addressed to provide clear and concise findings.

Evaluating cortical responses to speech in children: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) study.

Functional neuroimaging of speech processing has both research and clinical potential. This work is facilitating an ever-increasing understanding of the complex neural mechanisms involved in the processing of speech. Neural correlates of speech understanding also have potential clinical value, especially for infants and children, in whom behavioural assessments can be unreliable.

The relationship between lateralization patterns from sequence based motor tasks and hemispheric speech dominance.

Skilled motor praxis and speech production display marked asymmetries at the individual and the population level, favoring the right hand and the left hemisphere, respectively. Theories suggesting a common processing mechanism between praxis and speech are supported by evidence that shared neural architecture underlies both functions. Despite advances in understanding the neurobiology of this left-hemisphere specialization the cortical networks linking these 2 functions are rarely investigated on a behavioral level.

Twelve tips for novice academic staff supporting medical students in distress.

The importance of having university systems to support students' wellbeing and welfare needs has been well documented, with an increasing literature on best practice for structuring student support services from an institutional perspective. Nevertheless, individual members of academic staff are often required to deal with students who are experiencing challenging circumstances, and this is especially so in the pre-clinical phases of medical training. The prospect of advising and supporting students who are in difficulty and who may be distressed, can be daunting and can also negatively impact the wellbeing of the staff involved.

Disrupting the speech motor network: Exploring hemispheric specialization for verbal and manual sequencing using a dual-task approach.

Objective: The concept of overlapping neural networks supporting both speech production and fine motor praxis is well accepted; however, few studies have explored the lateralized behavioral characteristics of both functions when performed simultaneously.

Method: This study probes the characteristics of the dominant hemisphere by overloading cognitive processing via a novel dual-task paradigm. In 2 experiments, participants performed sets of motor and speech tasks under single-task and dual-task conditions.

Speech lateralization and motor control.

A relationship between motor control and speech lateralization has long been postulated by researchers and clinicians with an interest in the functional organization of the human brain. Exactly how motor control might be related to speech representation, however, is rarely examined. This chapter examines current issues relating to the organization, development, and measurement of motor control and speech representation.

Measurement reliability of atypical language lateralisation assessed using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound.

It is well established that some individuals present with atypical, non-left hemisphere, cerebral lateralisation for language processing. However previous studies exploring the reliability of functional blood flow responses to detect lateralised activation during speech have focused only on individuals with typical left sided dominance. Here we report test-retest and between-task reliability measures obtained with functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound in 47 participants, including 9 with atypical language presentation.

Hemispheric speech lateralisation in the developing brain is related to motor praxis ability.

Commonly displayed functional asymmetries such as hand dominance and hemispheric speech lateralisation are well researched in adults. However there is debate about when such functions become lateralised in the typically developing brain. This study examined whether patterns of speech laterality and hand dominance were related and whether they varied with age in typically developing children.

Atypical speech lateralization in adults with developmental coordination disorder demonstrated using functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound.

Research using clinical populations to explore the relationship between hemispheric speech lateralization and handedness has focused on individuals with speech and language disorders, such as dyslexia or specific language impairment (SLI). Such work reveals atypical patterns of cerebral lateralization and handedness in these groups compared to controls. There are few studies that examine this relationship in people with motor coordination impairments but without speech or reading deficits, which is a surprising omission given the prevalence of theories suggesting a common neural network underlying both functions.

Is digit ratio (2D:4D) a reliable pointer to speech laterality?

The relative length of the second and fourth digits (2D:4D ratio) is sexually dimorphic and a retrospective biomarker of prenatal hormonal exposure. Low ratios indicate higher prenatal testosterone (pT) and lower estrogen exposure, whereas the reverse pattern is associated with high ratios. Elevated levels of pT exposure have long been thought to modulate hemispheric specialisation; subsequently many studies use the 2D:4D ratio as a proxy index for pT to examine the effects of prenatal hormonal exposure on lateralised cognitive abilities.