Preventing upper respiratory tract infections with prophylactic nasal carrageenan: a feasibility study.

To observe upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) symptoms, rhinovirus levels and compliance with daily carrageenan nasal spray. 102 adults were randomized to carrageenan or saline placebo three times daily for 8 weeks and URTI symptoms were recorded. A control group (n = 42) only recorded URTI symptoms.

Residential mobility and potentially avoidable hospitalisations in a population-based cohort of New Zealand children.

Background: Residential moves are common in early childhood and associations have been found between residential mobility and adverse child health and well-being outcomes. Although there are studies on potentially avoidable hospitalisations (PAH) in children, few have examined PAH in relation to residential mobility. Our aim, therefore, was to investigate residential mobility and PAH in a population-based cohort of New Zealand children.

Stocktake of training resources.

Objective: To identify all past publications from with subject matter particularly relevant for trainees. The results of such a search could then be collated into an easily accessible resource available to trainees and their supervisors.

Method: An electronic search of the journal's back catalogue was conducted.

Ethnically Disparate Disease Progression and Outcomes among Acute Rheumatic Fever Patients in New Zealand, 1989-2015.

We investigated outcomes for patients born after 1983 and hospitalized with initial acute rheumatic fever (ARF) in New Zealand during 1989-2012. We linked ARF progression outcome data (recurrent hospitalization for ARF, hospitalization for rheumatic heart disease [RHD], and death from circulatory causes) for 1989-2015. Retrospective analysis identified initial RHD patients <40 years of age who were hospitalized during 2010-2015 and previously hospitalized for ARF.

Residential mobility for a national cohort of New Zealand-born children by area socioeconomic deprivation level and ethnic group.

Objectives: The aims of this study are to describe area deprivation levels and changes that occur during residential moves involving New Zealand children from birth to their fourth birthday, and to assess whether these changes vary by ethnicity.

Design: Longitudinal administrative data.

Setting: Children born in New Zealand from 2004 to 2018.

Neurobiology and Therapeutic Potential of Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) Inhibitors for Inflammation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder, are associated with significant illness burden. Accumulating evidence supports an association between these disorders and inflammation. Consequently, anti-inflammatory agents, such as the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, represent a novel avenue to prevent and treat neuropsychiatric illness.

Residential mobility and socioemotional and behavioural difficulties in a preschool population cohort of New Zealand children.

Background: Findings regarding early residential mobility and increased risk for socioemotional and behavioural (SEB) difficulties in preschool children are mixed, with some studies finding no evidence of an association once known covariates are controlled for. Our aim was to investigate residential mobility and SEB difficulties in a population cohort of New Zealand (NZ) children.

Methods: Data from the Integrated Data Infrastructure were examined for 313 164 children born in NZ since 2004 who had completed the Before School Check at 4 years of age.

Putative neuroprotective pharmacotherapies to target the staged progression of mental illness.

Aim: Neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, bipolar and schizophrenia frequently exhibit a neuroprogressive course from prodrome to chronicity. There are a range of agents exhibiting capacity to attenuate biological mechanisms associated with neuroprogression. This review will update the evidence for putative neuroprotective agents including clinical efficacy, mechanisms of action and limitations in current assessment tools, and identify novel agents with neuroprotective potential.

Gestational Age, Health, and Educational Outcomes in Adolescents.

Background And Objectives: As outcomes for extremely premature infants improve, up-to-date, large-scale studies are needed to provide accurate, contemporary information for clinicians, families, and policy makers. We used nationwide New Zealand data to explore the impact of gestational age on health and educational outcomes through to adolescence.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all births in New Zealand appearing in 2 independent national data sets at 23 weeks' gestation or more.

Influence of interspecific competition and landscape structure on spatial homogenization of avian assemblages.

Human-induced biotic homogenization resulting from landscape change and increased competition from widespread generalists or 'winners', is widely recognized as a global threat to biodiversity. However, it remains unclear what aspects of landscape structure influence homogenization. This paper tests the importance of interspecific competition and landscape structure, for the spatial homogeneity of avian assemblages within a fragmented agricultural landscape of eastern Australia.