A review of the social and local dynamics in South Africa's water-energy-food nexus.

Socioeconomic and environmental factors significantly shape the availability, accessibility, and affordability of water, energy, and food (WEF) resources in households and communities. In this review, we identify a significant gap in understanding how these factors intersect in the South African context, where inequalities in resource distribution persist. We critically examine the conditions influencing resource availability and explore the conceptual value of the WEF Nexus in guiding decision-making at local levels.

Barriers and facilitators to exercise-based rehabilitation in people with musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review.

Background: Exercise-based rehabilitation is the first line of treatment for people with musculoskeletal conditions. However, uptake and adherence are suboptimal, compromising the success of rehabilitation.

Objectives: To identify the barriers and facilitators that influence adherence to exercise-based rehabilitation in people with musculoskeletal conditions.

Combining non-targeted high resolution mass spectrometry with effect-directed analysis to identify contaminants of emerging concern in the field of ecotoxicology: A systematic quantitative literature review.

Methods for measuring environmental toxicity and identifying chemical toxicity drivers using non-targeted analysis (NTA) were reviewed in this systematic quantitative literature review. Effect-directed analysis (EDA) was used to assess sample toxicity and prioritise NTA sample analysis. The most common bioassays performed were estrogen, androgen and aryl hydrocarbon receptor assays, with many studies using test batteries.

Validation of data capture in the Australasian shunt registry with a prospectively maintained institutional database.

Background: The Australasian Shunt Registry was established in 2016 with the aim of providing safety and quality data in addition to enhancing capacity for research to improve health outcomes for patients with cerebrospinal fluid shunts. The Queensland Children's Hospital is the largest single contributor of paediatric patient data to the Registry and maintains an independent institutional shunt database. The aim of this study was to validate the demographic data and outcomes captured by the Registry against that institutional database.

Outcomes following inferior vena cava reconstruction at an advanced surgical unit.

Background: Inferior vena cava (IVC) resection and reconstruction is a viable option for managing complex intra-abdominal tumours. This study evaluates the impact of surgical approach to IVC reconstruction on early oncological, post-operative and short-term survival outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients who underwent IVC reconstruction between January 2015 and June 2024 for any indication, at two tertiary referral hospitals in Sydney, Australia.

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD): Insights into pathogenesis and biomarkers of prognosis.

MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), an inflammatory demyelinating pathology, is typically associated with the clinical phenotypes acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), optic neuritis (ON), or transverse myelitis (TM). The mainstay of diagnosis is detection of antibodies targeting oligodendrocyte-expressed MOG (MOG-IgG). MOG-IgG-mediated demyelination occurs via complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), enhanced cognate T-cell CNS infiltration and activation, and oligodendrocyte cytoskeleton disruption, but the exact role of the immune system in MOGAD is still poorly understood.

"Deprived of my autonomy." Women's experiences and self-concepts of Hyperemesis Gravidarum - A qualitative study.

Objective: Hyperemesis Gravidarum affects women's health on a physical, psychological, and socioeconomic level, and they express a need for acknowledgement from family and healthcare providers. Historically associated with hysteria, Hyperemesis Gravidarum may still be stigmatised due to lingering perceptions of it as a psychological issue. To enhance understanding of the disease's impact on women's health, this study aimed to explore women's experiences and self-concepts of Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

The conceptualisation and evolution of psychological birth trauma in the absence of identifiable risk factors: A scoping review.

Background: Psychological birth trauma is an emerging area of childbirth research lacking a universally accepted definition.This scoping review explores how psychological birth trauma has been conceptualised in the literature, focusing on perinatal women without identifiable risk factors (e.g.

Using interactions of area dose and individual exposure to estimate effects of population health interventions.

Evaluations of natural experiments in population health studies typically construct and compare exposed and unnexposed populations classified by area or individual exposure. Populations are often dichotomised on one of these dimensions, even if the underlying dose of exposure is graded. We propose that effects of population health interventions can be estimated more accurately by using both dimensions, using an interaction of a continuous measure of dose at area level and the probability of exposure at the individual level.

Characterisation of Tasmanian leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida) honey according to geographical origin.

In this study, the chemical composition, physico-chemical properties and antioxidant activities of leatherwood honey from different locations with different climate across Tasmania were compared. Concentrations of 14 volatiles in the GC-MS profiles, 9 volatiles in the GC-FID profiles and 29 phenolic compounds in the HPLC-DAD/MS profiles along with pH, electrical conductivity, colour, hydrogen peroxide accumulation and antioxidant activity differed significantly between South and North samples. Correlations were found between beehive elevation and four unknown compounds U226 (R = 0.

Age-dependent semantic interference effect on propositional speech production.

Older adults can find verbal communication in noisy environments challenging, but the underlying cognitive phenomena and the specific mechanisms contributing to age-related decline remain unclear. Using a newly designed propositional speech production paradigm, we examined how semantic distractors of varying levels of relatedness affect propositional speech performance in healthy adults. In the paradigm, participants were assessed on their ability to formulate verbal responses while distracted by semantically related or unrelated words, simulating real-world scenarios with meaningful auditory distractions (e.

Best practice guidelines and service provision for supporting women with birth-related trauma: A scoping review of international literature.

Problem: Birth trauma (BT) is a significant public health concern affecting approximately one-third of the 140 million annual births worldwide, yet it lacks a unified approach for effective intervention. This study investigates the global landscape of BT management, focusing on the current best practice guidelines and service provisions for supporting women with birth-related trauma and the practicable actionable gaps that needs to be addressed.

Methods: This scoping review followed the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, and systematically searched 13 electronic databases and websites for clinical guidelines, policy documents, care standards, practice recommendations and service provisions related to BT.

Women's perspectives on communication following the diagnosis of gestational or postpartum cancer: A qualitative study.

Background: Cancer during pregnancy or the postpartum period is rare, and the clinical management of cancer during this period is complex due to a lack of evidence-based approaches and logistical challenges. Effective communication between women and healthcare providers (HCPs) is critical in navigating these challenges, and communication gaps may contribute to unmet informational and emotional needs, affecting decision-making and overall care experiences.

Aim: This study aimed to understand women's perspectives on communication with their healthcare providers (HCPs) following a gestational cancer diagnosis.

Perspective: An overemphasis on vaccines for Mpox skewes important lessons from COVID-19 and the need for public health approaches.

The emergency declarations for Mpox triggered a flurry of appeals for 'vaccine equity' and the mass production of additional vaccine doses, citing a need to 'learn lessons' from COVID-19. We question whether the right lessons have been learned in terms of a supposed need to rollout vaccines quickly and widely, raising concerns about the consequences of an overreliance on expert-driven mass vaccination strategies over more diversified, context-specific and systemic public health strategies. Compared to COVID-19, Mpox has no such epidemic potential because it requires close contact for transmission.

Short communication: Evaluating laying curve models and estimating genetic parameters for egg production traits in chickens.

The Qingyuan partridge chicken, a highly valued indigenous breed in China, requires optimised egg production traits to maximise economic returns. This study analysed weekly egg production data from 6 776 Qingyuan partridge chickens to compare the Grossman and Wood models in fitting individual egg-laying curves and identify the most robust model for estimating egg production persistency. Genetic parameters were estimated for three key traits: age at first egg (AFE), cumulative egg number up to 28 weeks (EN), and persistency derived from the Wood model, alongside weekly egg numbers using a random regression model.

Transdiagnostic Clinical Staging in Youth Mental Health: A primer for clinical practice.

Clinical staging models are tools used in healthcare that have the potential to enhance diagnostic precision, improve treatment decisions, articulate more personalized care pathways, and optimize service models. In youth mental health, clinical staging has been increasingly applied to conditions where progression from non-specific symptoms to full-blown syndromes, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression, is possible. However, novel transdiagnostic staging models have also been proposed, recognizing the limitations of current classification systems and the substantial overlap of symptoms, particularly early in the illness course.

That's Not Fair! Navigating the Duality of Fairness in Insurance.

Insurance serves as a social good, providing financial protection against disasters whilst operating within a profit-driven market. This dual role highlights the complex intersection of social and commercial interests, raising a fairness puzzle often portrayed as a trade-off between solidarity and actuarial fairness. Insurance organisations adhere to actuarial fairness by setting insurance premiums proportional to each individual's risk.

How do Design Characteristics Affect Respondent Engagement? Assessing Attribute Non-attendance in Discrete Choice Experiments Valuing the EQ-5D-5L.

Introduction: Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are increasingly applied to develop value sets for health-related quality-of-life instruments, but respondents may adopt various simplifying heuristics that affect the resulting health state values. Attribute level overlap can make these DCE tasks easier and thereby increase respondent engagement. This study uses choice tasks involving EQ-5D-5L health states to compare designs with and without overlap, constructed using different methods (generator-developed design, Ngene, SAS, and Bayesian D-efficient design) to assess respondent non-attendance to attributes.

A systematic review of how endocrine-disrupting contaminants are sampled in environmental compartments: wildlife impacts are overshadowed by environmental surveillance.

Endocrine-disrupting contaminants (EDCs) are frequently monitored in environments because of their biological impacts on wildlife and humans. We conducted a systematic review using Web of Science to identify global research trends for EDC environmental sampling. Specifically, we aim to better understand geographic variation in (1) the compartment that EDCs were sampled in the environment; (2) the types of EDC sampled; and (3) the taxa that are sampled.

Parent-Child Interactions in Context: A Comparison of OCD and Non-clinical Families.

We investigated the context role of family factors in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) by comparing observed parent-child interaction behaviors of OCD and non-clinical families during three parent-child discussion tasks. We examined whether behaviors differentiating groups would be consistent across all discussions, or present only during specific tasks. We also investigated the effect of family-based cognitive behavior therapy on parent-child interactions and aimed to identify interaction behaviors associated with OCD symptom change.

"It was time I could have spent better"-the barriers, enablers, and recommendations for improving access to financial aid when a child has cancer.

Purpose: A child's cancer diagnosis imposes both short-term and long-term stress on families. This study aimed to explore (1) the barriers and enablers in alleviating the financial impacts of a child's cancer diagnosis and treatment, and (2) areas for improvement in financial aid as suggested by stakeholders.

Method: This qualitative study utilised semi-structured interviews with five hospital social work team members, three charity representatives and eight parents of children treated for cancer.

Computed tomographic assessment of orbital and maxillary dysmorphology in craniofacial microsomia.

Introduction: Mandibular dysmorphology is well-documented in craniofacial microsomia (CFM), but data on midface abnormalities remain limited. This study aimed to compare orbital and maxillary dimensions between the affected and unaffected sides in patients with CFM.

Methods: The retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in South Australia comprised 31 patients with CFM and 31 age- and sex-matched control patients (median age 13.

The "20-minute Rule" in Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion. Fact or Fiction? A Multi-Center Analysis of 658 Patients.

Study DesignRetrospective Cohort Study.ObjectiveLateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) is a treatment option for correcting lumbar degenerative pathologies that uses a retroperitoneal, transpsoas corridor to the disc space. Conventional teaching of the LLIF technique has been to perform the procedure 'as efficiently as possible', with a goal of keeping the total retractor time to less than 20 minutes to prevent injuries.

Polymer Chain Modification via HAT Chemistry and Its Application in Graft Copolymer Synthesis.

Hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) chemistry has emerged as a powerful tool for selective molecular functionalization, with significant applications in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. More recently, HAT has been explored in polymer chemistry as a versatile strategy for introducing targeted functional groups onto polymer chains, enabling precise control over properties such as solubility and mechanical strength. This study investigates the use of HAT to synthesize reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agents (or chain transfer agents, CTAs) by modifying various substrates, including toluene, ethyl acetate, and dioxane, in the presence of bis(dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonyl) disulfide or bis(3,5-dimethyl-1-pyrazol-1-ylthiocarbonyl) disulfide.