Publications by authors named "N W Spencer"
Background: The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children need to be protected from 'any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development'. We aimed to determine the prevalence and correlates of child labour in five low-income African countries using the sixth wave of UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS6).
Methods: Data on child labour, reported by the household respondent for a randomly selected child (5-17 years), were extracted from MICS6 reports from Chad, Guinea Bissau, Malawi, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Although effects of stress-induced anxiety on the gastrointestinal tract and enteric nervous system (ENS) are well studied, how ENS dysfunction impacts behaviour is not well understood. We investigated whether ENS modulation alters anxiety-related behaviour in rats. We used loperamide, a potent μ-opioid receptor agonist that does not cross the blood-brain barrier, to manipulate ENS function and assess changes in behaviour, gut and brain gene expression, and microbiota profile.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPiezo ion channels play a role in bladder sensation, but the sensory afferent subtypes that utilise Piezo channels have not been fully explored. We made single-unit extracellular recordings from mucosal-projecting bladder afferents in guinea pigs with protamine/zymosan-induced cystitis. The Piezo1 agonist, Yoda1, significantly potentiated mechanosensitivity, while its antagonist, Dooku1, abolished this potentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The paper critiques adapted physical activity research for overlooking key assumptions related to ethics and values, specifically in studies involving adults with Down syndrome since 1990.
- - A review highlighted that research often prioritizes conventional ideas of movement and performance, limiting participants to merely being subjects rather than active contributors.
- - The authors advocate for adopting emancipatory frameworks in future research, emphasizing community empowerment and a broader understanding of the benefits of physical activity for individuals with intellectual disabilities, rather than adhering to normative standards.
Article Synopsis
- - The study examines the neurobehavioral functioning of neonates exposed to buprenorphine/naloxone during pregnancy, addressing the lack of research on the effects of this medication combination on infants.
- - Data was collected from mothers undergoing treatment for opioid use disorder, with the neonates assessed at three different points in their first month of life using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).
- - Results highlighted various neurobehavioral domains affected in these infants and identified maternal factors, such as high rates of smoking and psychiatric disorders, that may impact neonatal development.