Exploring Occupational Therapy Practice for Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Occupational therapy's whole-person approach is well-suited to address the complex needs of children and youth with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). However, literature regarding best practices for occupational therapy practitioners working with this population is lacking. This article delineates the role and scope of occupational therapy practice for children and youth with FASD, focusing on holistic and strengths-based approaches.

Spatial numerical bias in acute vestibular neuritis.

Purpose: Number magnitude is often represented spatially in the mind by a mental number line, on which small numbers are located to the left of space and large numbers to the right. As vestibular dysfunction can affect aspects of spatial cognition, we wondered whether patients with acute vestibular loss would show a directional bias along the mental number line.

Methods: We gave 18 patients with vestibular neuritis (VN) (eight left VN, ten right; mean age 54 years, range 31-75 years; four females) and 15 normal age- and education-matched controls (mean age 47 years, range 26-75 years; 11 females) a mental number bisection task.

A novel prenatal alcohol use risk perception model: feedback from a Delphi process.

Understanding prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) risk perception is important for the communication and prevention of alcohol use during pregnancy. A previous systematic review has explored the dimensions and influencing factors of women's PAE risk perceptions, leading to the construction of Pregnancy Alcohol Use Risk Perception (PARP) conceptual model. This study aims to refine the PARP model using a Delphi process.

Connectivity of the neuronal network for contextual fear memory is disrupted in a mouse model of third-trimester binge-like ethanol exposure.

Background: In rodents, third-trimester-equivalent alcohol exposure (TTAE) produces significant deficits in hippocampal-dependent memory processes such as contextual fear conditioning (CFC). The present study sought to characterize changes in both behavior and Fos neurons following CFC in ethanol (EtOH)-treated versus saline-treated mice using TRAP2:Ai14 mice that permanently label Fos neurons following a tamoxifen injection. We hypothesized that TTAE would produce long-lasting disruptions to the networks engaged following CFC with a particular emphasis on the limbic memory system.

Frailty Index, Not Age, Predicts Treatment Outcomes and Adverse Events for Older Adults with Cancer.

Background: Frailty is an indicator of individual vulnerability and differentiates health status among people of the same chronological age.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether baseline frailty index (FI) was associated with systemic anticancer therapy treatment outcomes in older adults with solid cancers.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

The impact of behavioral weight management interventions on eating behavior traits in adults with overweight or obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Eating behavior traits (EBTs), defined as personal tendencies determining food intake, can be useful targets for behavioral weight management interventions. Previous reviews have examined the impact of specific intervention types on EBTs, not reflecting the breadth of interventions used in practice. This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized evidence on the impact of all types of behavioral weight management interventions on EBTs.

Temporal trends in the prevalence of GP registrars' long-term paediatric asthma control medications prescription.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses affecting children. Long-term asthma control medications (LTACMs) are an important aspect of asthma management, with under-prescription associated with poor asthma control and increased asthma deaths. This study aimed to document temporal trends in the prescribing of LTACMs for paediatric patients for asthma-related presentations to Australian general practice registrars (trainees).

Methane cycling in temperate forests.

Temperate forest soils are considered significant methane (CH) sinks, but other methane sources and sinks within these forests, such as trees, litter, deadwood, and the production of volatile organic compounds are not well understood. Improved understanding of all CH fluxes in temperate forests could help mitigate CH emissions from other sources and improve the accuracy of global greenhouse gas budgets. This review highlights the characteristics of temperate forests that influence CH flux and assesses the current understanding of the CH cycle in temperate forests, with a focus on those managed for specific purposes.

Risk factors associated with child maltreatment in the second generation of a prospective longitudinal Australian birth cohort: A MUSP study.

Background: Abuse and neglect affect over 1.7 billion children worldwide. While the consequences of child maltreatment (CM) across the life course are well understood, there remains ambiguity surrounding the risk factors associated with CM.

Prenatal alcohol exposure and associations with physical size, dysmorphology and neurodevelopment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a significant public health concern, yet there is no internationally agreed set of diagnostic criteria or summary of underlying evidence to inform diagnostic decision-making. This systematic review assesses associations of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and outcomes of diagnostic assessments, providing an evidence base for the improvement of FASD diagnostic criteria.

Methods: Six databases were searched (inception-February 2023).

The Australian Frailty Network: Development of a consumer-focussed national response to frailty.

Frailty is an important concept in the care of older adults. Over the past two decades, significant advances have been made in measuring frailty. While it is now well-recognised that frailty status is an important determinant of outcomes from medical illnesses or surgical interventions, frailty measurement is not currently routinely integrated into clinical practice.

The impact of behavioral weight management interventions on eating behavior traits in children with overweight or obesity: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Behavioral weight management interventions (BWMIs) are an evidence-based strategy for addressing childhood obesity. Targeting eating behavior traits (EBTs; individual tendencies determining food intake/occasions) could play a pivotal role in improving the effectiveness of these behavioral interventions. The present study describes a systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of BWMIs on eating behavior traits in children with overweight or obesity.

Clinical utility and psychometric properties of tools for early detection of developmental concerns and disability in young children: A scoping review.

Aim: To explore the clinical utility and psychometric properties of standardized tools for the early detection of developmental concerns or disability in young children.

Method: Systematic reviews and clinical practice guidelines containing psychometric data on tools appropriate for use with children from birth to 5 years 11 months were searched for in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, and PsycINFO for the years 2000 to 2023, with no language restrictions.

Results: Eighty-six systematic reviews and six clinical practice guidelines guided identification of tools.

On the role of parameterization in models with a misspecified nuisance component.

The paper is concerned with inference for a parameter of interest in models that share a common interpretation for that parameter but that may differ appreciably in other respects. We study the general structure of models under which the maximum likelihood estimator of the parameter of interest is consistent under arbitrary misspecification of the nuisance part of the model. A specialization of the general results to matched-comparison and two-groups problems gives a more explicit and easily checkable condition in terms of a notion of symmetric parameterization, leading to a broadening and unification of existing results in those problems.

Student experiences in a novel interprofessional neurodevelopmental clinic: a qualitative study.

Background: Student-led clinics can provide low-cost speciality care and practical interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities. In Australia, there are currently limited speciality services available that provide neurodevelopmental assessments that consider fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) as one possible outcome. The aim of the current study was to understand student experiences in a novel interprofessional student-led clinic for children and adolescents with suspected or confirmed prenatal alcohol exposure.

Unprecedented Harmful algal bloom in the UK and Ireland's largest lake associated with gastrointestinal bacteria, microcystins and anabaenopeptins presenting an environmental and public health risk.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are outbreaks of aquatic toxic microalgae emerging as a global problem driven by nutrient enrichment, global climate change and invasive species. We uniquely describe a HAB of unprecedented duration, extent and magnitude during 2023 in Lough Neagh; the UK and Ireland's largest freshwater lake, using an unparalleled combination of satellite imagery, nutrient analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and cyanotoxin profiling. The causative agent Microcystis aeruginosa accounted for over a third of DNA in water samples though common bacterioplankton species also bloomed.

Developing a community-based model of care for venipuncture in children and young adults with an intellectual disability: a retrospective study.

Background: Regular blood tests for monitoring metabolic side effects are often unable to be collected for people with an intellectual/developmental disability (ID/DD) and challenging behaviours (CBs) using usual pathways. We aimed to develop a model of care to facilitate venipuncture for children and young adults with ID/DD and CBs.

Methods: A systematic tiered model of care was developed for venipuncture to suit the individual needs of children and young adults with ID/DD and CBs.

Winter break? The effect of overwintering on immune gene expression in wood frogs.

Among terrestrial ectotherms, hibernation is a common response to extreme cold temperatures and is associated with reduced physiological rates, including immunity. When winter wanes and temperatures increase, so too do vital rates of both ectothermic hosts and their parasites. Due to metabolic scaling, if parasite activity springs back faster than host immune functions then cold seasons and transitions between cold and warm seasons may represent periods of vulnerability for ectothermic hosts.

Attitudes toward and preparedness for lung transplantation among individuals with cystic fibrosis in the era of highly effective modulators.

Background: Outcomes for individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) have improved due to highly effective modulator therapy (HEMT). However, lung transplant (LTx) remains an important treatment for people with advanced lung disease. This study assessed attitudes and knowledge about LTx in the HEMT era.

Lifestyle Dimensions of Public Safety Personnel Families: There's No Life Like It.

Purpose: The nature and cumulative occupational demands imposed on families of public safety personnel (PSP) are substantial, in many cases non-negotiable, and distinct from the general population accentuating risk factors for family well-being. Despite this reality, the contributions of PSP families are not well understood, and a conceptual framework is needed. The aim of this paper is to summarize contextual factors (lifestyle dimensions) that shape the lives of PSP families; factors supported in the existing, albeit limited, body of research.

Multicomponent perioperative interventions to improve outcomes for frail patients: a systematic review.

Background: Preoperative frailty is associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes. In 2017, McIsaac and colleagues' systematic review found that few interventions improved outcomes in this population and evidence was low-quality. We aimed to systematically review the evidence for multicomponent perioperative interventions in frail patients that has emerged since McIsaac et al.

The Knowledge Translation of Early Cerebral Palsy (KiTE CP) Study: Implementing Screening Among a High-Risk Prospective Cohort of Australian Infants.

Objective: To describe the implementation of the international guidelines for the early diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP) and engagement in the screening process in an Australian cohort of infants with neonatal risk factors for CP.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study of infants with neonatal risk factors recruited at <6 months corrected age from 11 sites in the states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, Australia. First, we implemented a multimodal knowledge translation strategy including barrier identification, technology integration, and special interest groups.

Stress related to wild canid predators near dairy sheep farms associated with increased somatic cell counts in bulk-tank milk.

We investigated the association between wild canid predators reported near sheep farms throughout Greece and somatic cell counts in bulk-tank milk as a reflection of milk quality. The study included 325 dairy sheep flocks, where bulk-tank milk somatic cell counts and total bacterial counts were measured and staphylococci were isolated. Farms were divided into three groups: Cohort A (farms with no reports of wild canid predators nearby), B (farms with canid predators (golden jackal and grey wolf) nearby yet with no experience of livestock losses to predation) and C (farms with canid predators nearby and livestock losses to predation).