Characteristics and determinants of quality non-directive pregnancy options counselling: a scoping review.

Non-directive pregnancy options counselling (POC) is a core component of comprehensive reproductive health care for pregnant people wanting support in making a pregnancy outcome decision. Approximately one quarter of people with unintended pregnancies and people seeking abortion care seek POC. This study synthesises global evidence on access to and characteristics of quality non-directive POC.

The gonorrhoea care cascade in general practice: a descriptive study to explore gonorrhoea management utilising electronic medical records.

Background Gonorrhoea notification rates in Australia have more than doubled between 2014 and 2019. We explored gonorrhoea testing patterns and management of gonorrhoea infection in general practice. Methods We analysed de-identified electronic medical record data for individuals who attended 73 Australian general practices (72 in the state of Victoria) between January 2018 and December 2020.

Cascade of testing for chlamydia and gonorrhoea inclusive of an annual health check in an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service.

Background To gain an understanding of chlamydia (CT) and gonorrhoea (NG) testing conducted within an annual health check (AHC) and in standard clinical consultations for clients aged 15-29years attending an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service in the period 2016-2021. Methods De-identified electronic medical record data were extracted and analysed on CT and NG testing by sex, age, Indigenous status and the context of testing (conducted within an AHC or not). An access, testing, and diagnosis cascade for CT and NG, inclusive of an AHC, was constructed.

Chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing and positivity within an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Health Service 2016-2021.

Background This study describes chlamydia and gonorrhoea testing, positivity, treatment, and retesting among individuals aged ≥15years attending an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service during the period 2016-2021. Method Utilising routinely collected clinical data from the ATLAS program (a national sentinel surveillance network), a retrospective time series analysis was performed. The study assessed testing rates, positivity, treatment efficacy, retesting and trends over time within an urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service.

General practice registrar evaluation of long COVID in patients presenting with fatigue.

Background Long COVID is a new and prevalent condition defined by persistent symptoms following acute COVID-19 infection. While increasing resources are being directed to management, there is little evidence on how general practitioners (GPs) have changed their assessment and differential diagnosis of patients with potential long COVID symptoms including fatigue. This study aimed to examine how often GP registrars consider long COVID in patients presenting with fatigue, how often they think long COVID might be the cause for fatigue, and patient, registrar, practice, and consultation factors associated with these outcomes.

Views of speech pathology educators on a learning resource for cognitive-communication disorders: a user survey of TBIBank Grand Rounds.

Background Cognitive-communication disorders are highly prevalent after traumatic brain injury and have significant impacts on rehabilitation outcomes. TBIBank Grand Rounds was developed as an online multimedia resource to support clinical education about cognitive-communication disorders. The objective of this study was to survey speech pathology educators to establish their views towards TBIBank Grand Rounds.

'Would you take a drug for this?': attitudes by individuals with traumatic brain injury towards medication to improve social functioning.

Background Many people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) report problems with social functioning that can have immediate and enduring impacts. We aimed to explore perceptions of social functioning after TBI and understand attitudes towards medication that could improve long-term social outcomes. Method A qualitative descriptive approach using interview methods was conducted in Victoria, Australia.

Systematic bias in malaria parasite relatedness estimation.

Genetic studies of Plasmodium parasites increasingly feature relatedness estimates. However, various aspects of malaria parasite relatedness estimation are not fully understood. For example, relatedness estimates based on whole-genome-sequence (WGS) data often exceed those based on sparser data types.

Attention-aware differential learning for predicting peptide-MHC class I binding and T cell receptor recognition.

The identification of neoantigens is crucial for advancing vaccines, diagnostics, and immunotherapies. Despite this importance, a fundamental question remains: how to model the presentation of neoantigens by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules and the recognition of the peptide-MHC-I (pMHC-I) complex by T cell receptors (TCRs). Accurate prediction of pMHC-I binding and TCR recognition remains a significant computational challenge in immunology due to intricate binding motifs and the long-tail distribution of known binding pairs in public databases.

Effects of blood flow restriction on internal and external training load metrics during acute and chronic short-term repeated-sprint training in team-sport athletes.

This study examined internal, external training loads, internal:external ratios, and aerobic adaptations for acute and short-term chronic repeated-sprint training (RST) with blood flow restriction (BFR). Using randomised crossover (Experiment A) and between-subject (Experiment B) designs, 15 and 24 semi-professional Australian footballers completed two and nine RST sessions, respectively. Sessions comprised three sets of 5-7 × 5-second sprints and 25 seconds recovery, with continuous BFR (45% arterial occlusion pressure) or without (Non-BFR).

Rehabilitation and intervention of developmental and acquired prosopagnosia: A systematic review.

Prosopagnosia is a neurological disorder; characterized by an impairment in facial recognition. It can occur from acquired prosopagnosia (occurring in approximately 5.6% of the population), or from developmental prosopagnosia (occurring in approximately 2% of the population).

The impact of a secondary, rare, non-pathogenic PKD1 variant on disease progression in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is caused primarily by pathogenic variants in the PKD1 and PKD2 genes. Although the type of ADPKD variant can influence disease severity, rare, hypomorphic PKD1 variants have also been reported to modify disease severity or cause biallelic ADPKD. This study examines whether rare, additional, potentially protein-altering, non-pathogenic PKD1 variants contribute to ADPKD phenotypic outcomes.

Evolution of Human Pair Bonds as a Consequence of Male-Biased Mating Sex Ratios?

Compared to our closest primate relatives, human life history involves greater longevity, which includes a distinctive postmenopausal life stage. Given mammalian reproductive physiology in which females build a finite stock of cells that can become oocytes early in life, which then continuously deplete mostly through cell death while males produce new sperm throughout adulthood, the postmenopausal stage makes the sex ratio in the fertile pool, called the adult sex ratio (ASR), male biased. Additionally, this affects a more fine-grained ratio, the operational sex ratio (OSR), defined as the ratio of males to females currently able to conceive.

Operationalizing the ICF Core Sets for Autism and ADHD: A Multiple-Methods Feasibility Study.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is the World Health Organization's (WHO) standard for assessing individual functioning. Over the last decade, the ICF has been made more accessible for autism and ADHD through the development and validation of tailored shorter ICF versions for these diagnoses, ICF Core Sets. To further enhance their applicability in research and practice, these Core Sets have been operationalized and implemented on an online platform, the ICF CoreSets platform.

Polystyrene Nanoplastics Hitch-Hike the Gut-Brain Axis to Exacerbate Parkinson's Pathology.

The neurological implications of micro- and nanoplastic exposure have recently come under scrutiny due to the environmental prevalence of these synthetic materials. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a major neurological disorder clinically characterized by intracellular Lewy-body inclusions and dopaminergic neuronal death. These pathological hallmarks of PD, according to Braak's hypothesis, are mediated by the afferent propagation of α synuclein (αS) via the enteric nervous system, or the so-called gut-brain axis.

Identifying metabolomic mediators of the physical activity and colorectal cancer relationship.

Background: Current evidence suggests higher physical activity (PA) levels are associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the mediating role of the circulating metabolome in this relationship remains unclear.

Methods: Targeted metabolomics data from 6,055 participants in the EPIC cohort were used to identify metabolites associated with PA and derive a metabolomic signature of PA levels.

Accuracy of two-compartment modelling of gas exchange with ventilation-perfusion mismatch in inhalational anesthesia.

Background: Multi-compartment computer models of heterogeneity in alveolar ventilation-perfusion ratios (VA/Q scatter) across the lung explain the significant alveolar-arterial (A-a) partial pressure gradients and associated alveolar dead-space fractions (VDA/VA) seen in anesthetized patients for both carbon dioxide and for anesthetic gases of different blood solubilities. However, the accuracy of a simpler two-compartment model of VA/Q scatter to do this has not been tested or compared to calculations from the traditional Riley model with "ideal", unventilated (shunt) and unperfused (deadspace) compartments.

Methods: Measurements of gas partial pressures in inspired and expired gas and arterial and mixed venous blood from 29 patients undergoing inhalational general anesthesia for cardiac surgery was used to compare the accuracy of two simple models of VA/Q scatter and lung gas exchange in predicting measured alveolar and arterial partial pressure differences, and associated alveolar dead-space calculations for the modern anesthetic gases isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane.

Multidimensional Classification and Prediction of Outcome Following Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify outcome clusters among individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI), 6 months to 10 years post-injury, in an Australian rehabilitation sample, and determine whether scores on 12 dimensions, combined with demographic and injury severity variables, could predict outcome cluster membership 1 to 3 years post-injury.

Setting: Rehabilitation hospital.

Participants: A total of 467 individuals with TBI, aged 17 to 87 (M = 44.

Combining magnetically isolated CD45 cells with serum maintains intact drug responsiveness for ELISpot analysis in clinical trials.

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot analysis is frequently used to investigate immune responsiveness during clinical trials. However, ELISpot classically utilizes peripheral blood mononuclear cell isolates from whole blood, requiring relatively high blood draw volumes and removing both granulocytes and bound drug. Here, we describe a novel protocol whereby CD45 cells are magnetically isolated from human whole blood and co-incubated with serum isolated from the same subject.

Exercising Self-Control Increases Responsivity to Hedonic and Eudaimonic Rewards.

The reward responsivity hypothesis of self-control proposes that, irrespective of self-control success, exercising self-control is aversive and engenders negative affect. To countermand this discomfort, reward-seeking behavior may be amplified after bouts of self-control, bringing individuals back to a mildly positive baseline state. Previous studies indicated that effort-an integral component of self-control-can increase reward responsivity.

A review of biogas upgrading technologies: key emphasis on electrochemical systems.

Biogas, consisting mainly of CO and CH, offers a sustainable source of energy. However, this gaseous stream has been undervalued in wastewater treatment plants owing to its high CO content. Biogas upgrading by capturing CO broadens its utilisation as a substitute for natural gas.

Topical review: Challenges and solutions for eye care in long-term care.

Background: The prevalence of visual impairment among individuals living in long-term care (LTC) is substantial, yet eye care is often disregarded and inadequately addressed. This neglect contributes to a decline in quality of life for residents. Thus, understanding the challenges faced by stakeholders in providing eye care for residents might suggest opportunities to improve eye health outcomes.