Fear of Birth and Childbirth Preferences in BIPOC Women Prior to Childbirth Education.

The purpose of this project was to examine a free tailored childbirth education (CBE) program's impact on fear of childbirth and birth preferences in Black, Indigenous, and people of color women. Expectant mothers ( = 8) completed an investigator-designed questionnaire before attending a prenatal community-based CBE program. Post-CBE surveys were not analyzed due to participant data not matching the pre-CBE surveys.

Morphological characterisation of pediatric Turner syndrome aortae: Insights from a small cohort study.

Cardiovascular disease is widespread in girls and women living with Turner syndrome (TS). Despite this prevalence, cardiovascular risk evaluation using the current guidelines has seen life-threatening aortic events occurring at dimensions classified within the normal threshold. In this study, we characterized the three-dimensional aortic geometries of Turner syndrome children and their age-matched healthy counterparts to evaluate various morphological parameters.

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ethnic minorities in Manchester: lessons from the early stage of the pandemic.

This review summarizes the economic impacts of the pandemic on ethnic minorities, focusing on the city of Manchester. It utilizes multiple reporting sources to explore various dimensions of the economic shock in the UK, linking this to studies of pre-COVID-19 economic and ethnic composition in Manchester and in the combined authority area of Greater Manchester. We then make inferences about the pandemic's short-term impact specific to the city region.

Intratumoral CD16+ Macrophages Are Associated with Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Metastatic Melanoma Treated with Combination Anti-PD-1 and Anti-CTLA-4 Therapy.

Purpose: This study characterizes intratumoral macrophage populations within baseline melanoma biopsies from patients with advanced melanoma who received either anti-PD-1 monotherapy or a combination with anti-CTLA-4. Particularly, FcγRIIIa (CD16)-expressing macrophage densities were investigated for associations with response and progression-free survival.

Experimental Design: Patients with advanced melanoma who received either anti-PD-1 monotherapy or combination anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 were retrospectively identified.

Distinct pretreatment innate immune landscape and posttreatment T cell responses underlie immunotherapy-induced colitis.

Immune-related adverse events represent a major hurdle to the success of immunotherapy. The immunological mechanisms underlying their development and relation to antitumor responses are poorly understood. By examining both systemic and tissue-specific immune changes induced by combination anti-CTLA-4 and anti-PD-1 immunotherapy, we found distinct repertoire changes in patients who developed moderate-severe colitis, irrespective of their antitumor response to therapy.

High-Dimensional and Spatial Analysis Reveals Immune Landscape-Dependent Progression in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Purpose: The tumor immune microenvironment impacts the biological behavior of the tumor, but its effect on clinical outcomes in head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (HNcSCC) is largely unknown.

Experimental Design: We compared the immune milieu of high-risk HNcSCC that never progressed to metastasis with those that metastasized using multiparameter imaging mass cytometry. The cohort included both immunosuppressed patients (IS) and patients with an absence of clinical immune-suppression (ACIS).

Hemodynamic Abnormalities in the Aorta of Turner Syndrome Girls.

Congenital abnormalities in girls and women with Turner syndrome (TS), alongside an underlying predisposition to obesity and hypertension, contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and ultimately reduced life expectancy. We observe that children with TS present a greater variance in aortic arch morphology than their healthy counterparts, and hypothesize that their hemodynamics is also different. In this study, computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed for four TS girls, and three age-matched healthy girls, using patient-specific inlet boundary conditions, obtained from phase-contrast MRI data.

Cognitive behavioural therapy stabilises glycaemic control in adolescents with type 1 diabetes-Outcomes from a randomised control trial.

Background: To compare the impact of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with non-directive supportive counselling (NDC) on glycaemic control and psychological well-being in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM).

Materials And Methods: Participants aged 11 to 16 years with T1DM (duration ≥1 year) from 4 UK-based paediatric diabetes centres were randomised to receive either 6 weekly sessions of 1-to-1 CBT (n = 43) or NDC (n = 42), with 2 further sessions at 6 and 12 months. Follow-up continued for 12 months postintervention.

Methodological considerations for researching the financial costs of family caregiving within a palliative care context.

Background: The financial impact of family caregiving in a palliative care context has been identified as an issue which requires further research. However, little is known about how research should be conducted in this area.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the opinions of family caregivers in New Zealand regarding the need to conduct research relating to the financial costs of family caregiving and to explore their perspectives on acceptable and feasible methods of data collection.

'No matter what the cost': A qualitative study of the financial costs faced by family and whānau caregivers within a palliative care context.

Background: There has been significant attention paid in recent years to the economic costs of health service provision for people with palliative care needs. However, little is known about the costs incurred by family caregivers who typically provide the bulk of care for people at the end of life.

Aim: To explore the nature and range of financial costs incurred by family caregiving within a palliative care context.

Receiving support when older: what makes it ok?

Purpose: Older people are seen as needing to receive support from other people as they age. But what are the experiences and expectations older people have of being "support receivers"?

Design And Methods: Community-dwelling childless elders (n = 38, aged 63-93) were interviewed about their experiences and expectations of support, as they comprise a group "at risk" of lack of support. Responses were analyzed within a narrative gerontology framework of positioning theory as to how receiving support was "positioned" and how it related to growing older.

The utility of positioning theory to the study of ageing: Examples from research with childless older people.

Growing older is hard to make sense of. Opposing perspectives are presented on everything from individual to population ageing, and there is widespread ambivalence towards many aspects of ageing. Positioning theory is a research approach that can tolerate such ambiguity and provides a clear, useful framework to make sense of research data, while doing justice to its complexity.

Resilience from the point of view of older people: 'There's still life beyond a funny knee'.

Resilience is a concept of growing interest in relation to older people and within the context of population ageing. In this paper we explore older people's understandings and experiences of resilience, drawing on interviews and participant-led focus groups with 121 older people living in two case-study communities in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Close reading of extended conversations about what characterises resilience, such as positive attitude, counting blessings or keeping busy, reveal how all of these apparently internal or personal characteristics are deeply embedded in social and physical contexts.

Forefoot pathology in rheumatoid arthritis identified with ultrasound may not localise to areas of highest pressure: cohort observations at baseline and twelve months.

Background: Plantar pressures are commonly used as clinical measures, especially to determine optimum foot orthotic design. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) high plantar foot pressures have been linked to metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint radiological erosion scores. However, the sensitivity of foot pressure measurement to soft tissue pathology within the foot is unknown.

The meaning of "aging in place" to older people.

Purpose: This study illuminates the concept of "aging in place" in terms of functional, symbolic, and emotional attachments and meanings of homes, neighbourhoods, and communities. It investigates how older people understand the meaning of "aging in place," a term widely used in aging policy and research but underexplored with older people themselves.

Design And Methods: Older people (n = 121), ranging in age from 56 to 92 years, participated in focus groups and interviews in 2 case study communities of similar size in Aotearoa New Zealand, both with high ratings on deprivation indices.

Predictors of immune response and reactogenicity to AS03B-adjuvanted split virion and non-adjuvanted whole virion H1N1 (2009) pandemic influenza vaccines.

In 2009, 943 children aged 6 months to 10 years were randomised to receive two doses of an oil-in water AS03B-adjuvanted split virion or a non-adjuvanted whole virion H1N1 (2009) vaccine. The large numbers allowed investigation of possible predictors of immune response and reactogenicity. We used regression analysis to examine the effect of variables including past receipt of seasonal vaccine, antipyretics post-vaccination, interval between doses and pre-existing antibodies to H1N1 (2009) on immunogenicity.

A type of lady's corset? support for older people.

'Older people need support.' What sense do older people themselves make of this apparently simple statement? Comments drawn from qualitative research underway with older New Zealanders highlight the gulf between the language of older people and the well-meaning assumptions of primary health care professionals about support needs. These thought-provoking vignettes show it is crucial to delicately negotiate the ways that support is offered and delivered to people who have long achieved the autonomy and self-sufficiency prized in Western societies.

Exposure to atrazine and selected non-persistent pesticides among corn farmers during a growing season.

The aim was to develop quantitative estimates of farmers' pesticide exposure to atrazine and to provide an overview of background levels of selected non-persistent pesticides among corn farmers in a longitudinal molecular epidemiologic study. The study population consisted of 30 Agricultural Health Study farmers from Iowa and 10 non-farming controls. Farmers completed daily and weekly diaries from March to November in 2002 and 2003 on pesticide use and other exposure determinants.