Iron, lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis play pathogenic roles in atherosclerosis.

Oxidation of lipids, excessive cell death and iron deposition are prominent features of human atherosclerotic plaques. While extensive research has established the detrimental roles of lipid oxidation and apoptosis in atherosclerosis development, the involvement of iron in atherogenesis is not yet fully understood. With the emergence of an iron-dependent form of cell death termed ferroptosis, new attention has been brought to the complex interplay among iron, ferroptosis and atherosclerosis.

Effect of the First Laparoscopy in an Adolescent and Young Adult Female Population and Its Association With Chronic Pelvic Pain: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Background: Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a common and debilitating presentation for adolescent and young adult females. Medical management is often utilised as first line therapy with surgical management considered if medical treatment has been unsuccessful. Laparoscopy in this young population remains controversial due to the high recurrence rate of pain, requirement for repeat surgeries and surgical risks.

Unveiling pathways; the experiences that impact a female surgeon's journey to consultancy, a qualitative interview study.

Background: Despite progress in gender equality, female surgeons face unique career challenges. This dissertation explores the factors influencing female surgeons' careers, with the aim of identifying female surgeons' positive experiences, but also the obstacles they encounter, and the strategies they use to overcome challenges.

Methods: A qualitative research methodology was employed to understand the experiences of female surgeons working at a single healthcare facility in Western Australia.

A review of submandibular gland extirpation in an Australian quaternary referral centre: aetiologies and trends over 35 years.

Background: Submandibular gland pathology is common but rarely reported. This study was performed to evaluate demographic, pathological, and survival outcomes associated with submandibular gland extirpation.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients treated in a single quaternary-care institution between 1989 and 2022 was performed.

Disrupted callosal connectivity underlies long-lasting sensory-motor deficits in an NMDAreceptor antibody encephalitis mouse model.

NMDA receptor mediated autoimmune encephalitis (NMDAR-AE) frequently results in persistent sensory-motor deficits, especially in children, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the long- term effects of exposure to a patient-derived GluN1-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) during a critical developmental period (from postnatal day 3 to day 12) in mice. We observed long-lasting sensory-motor deficits characteristic of NMDAR-AE, along with permanent changes in callosal axons within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in adulthood, including increased terminal branch complexity.

The Utility of a Digital Glucose-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist-Supported Weight-Loss Service in Regional Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of Interviews With Current Patients of the Eucalyptus Program.

Objective: Against the backdrop of alarming obesity rates and growing concerns about access to specialist care across Australia, this study aims to assess the utility of the nation's largest digital weight-loss service (DWLS) in regional Australia.

Setting: This study focuses on patients of the Eucalyptus DWLS who live in regional Australia (Monash Modified Model classification 3-6).

Participants: Thirty-two adults living with overweight or obesity who have been subscribed to the Eucalyptus DWLS for at least 3 weeks were invited to participate in phone-based interviews.

Sleep patterns among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians: A South Australian descriptive exploratory study.

Aim: Irregularities with sleep patterns and behaviours are commonly observed in Australia, but there is lack of information regarding sleep patterns among Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adults. This study explores sleep patterns in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander adults, comparing it with non-Indigenous Australian adults in addition to investigating any potential effects on daytime behaviour.

Methods: A total of 730 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples aged 18 years and above were included in the study.

Multiple Long-Term, Landscape-Scale Data Sets Reveal Intraspecific Spatial Variation in Temporal Trends for Bird Species.

Quantifying temporal changes in species occurrence has been a key part of ecology since its inception. We quantified multidecadal site occupancy trajectories for 18 bird species in four independent long-term, large-scale studies (571 sites, ~1000 km latitude) in Australia. We found evidence of a year × long-term study interaction in the best-fitting models for 14 of the 18 species analysed, with differences in the temporal trajectories of the same species in multiple studies consistent with non-stationarity.

The Impact of Bolus Rheology on Physiological Swallowing Parameters Derived by Pharyngeal High-Resolution Manometry Impedance.

Background: The shear rheology of ingested fluids influences their pharyngo-esophageal transit during deglutition. Thus, swallowed fluids elicit differing physiological responses due to their shear-thinning profile.

Methods: Two hydrocolloid fluids, xanthan gum (XG) and sodium carboxymethylcellulose gum (CMC), were compared in 10 healthy adults (mean age 39 years).

Coefficients in Taylor's law increase with the time scale of water clarity measurements in a global suite of lakes.

Identifying the scaling rules describing ecological patterns across time and space is a central challenge in ecology. Taylor's law of fluctuation scaling, which states that the variance of a population's size or density is proportional to a positive power of the mean size or density, has been widely observed in population dynamics and characterizes variability in multiple scientific domains. However, it is unclear if this phenomenon accurately describes ecological patterns across many orders of magnitude in time, and therefore links otherwise disparate observations.

Shorebirds Are Shrinking and Shape-Shifting: Declining Body Size and Lengthening Bills in the Past Half-Century.

Animals are predicted to shrink and shape-shift as the climate warms, declining in size, while their appendages lengthen. Determining which types of species are undergoing these morphological changes, and why, is critical to understanding species responses to global change, including potential adaptation to climate warming. We examine body size and bill length changes in 25 shorebird species using extensive field data (> 200,000 observations) collected over 46 years (1975-2021) by community scientists.

Outcomes of massive transfusion recipients administered ABO-incompatible fresh frozen plasma.

Background: The provision of ABO-incompatible fresh frozen plasma (FFP) in massive transfusion (MT) has become accepted to conserve AB FFP stock. There is an evidence gap in non-trauma settings. We compare characteristics of patients who received ABO-compatible or ABO-incompatible FFP during an MT episode due to any cause of critical bleeding, and assess the impact of incompatible FFP transfusion on inhospital mortality.

Exome Sequencing in the Diagnostic Pathway for Suspected Rare Genetic Diseases: Does the Order of Testing Affect its Cost-Effectiveness?

Background: Patients with suspected rare diseases often experience lengthy and uncertain diagnostic pathways. This study aimed to estimate the cost-effectiveness of exome sequencing (ES) in different positions in the diagnostic pathway for patients suspected of having a rare genetic disease.

Methods: Data collected retrospectively from 305 patients suspected of having a rare genetic disease (RGD), who received clinical-grade ES and participated in the Canadian multicentre Care4Rare-SOLVE study, informed a discrete event simulation of the diagnostic pathway.

Increased resilience and a regime shift reversal through repeat mass coral bleaching.

Ecosystems are substantially changing in response to ongoing climate change. For example, coral reefs have declined in coral dominance, with some reefs undergoing regime shifts to non-coral states. However, reef responses may vary through multiple heat stress events, with the rarity of long-term ecological datasets rendering such understanding uncertain.

A large-scale database of Mandarin Chinese word associations from the Small World of Words Project.

Word associations are among the most direct ways to measure word meaning in human minds, capturing various relationships, even those formed by non-linguistic experiences. Although large-scale word associations exist for Dutch, English, and Spanish, there is a lack of data for Mandarin Chinese, the most widely spoken language from a distinct language family. Here we present the Small World of Words-Zhongwen (Chinese) (SWOW-ZH), a word association dataset of Mandarin Chinese derived from a three-response word association task.

Maternity Care Experiences of African-Born Women Living in Melbourne, Australia: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Background: African-born women in Australia are more likely to experience poorer perinatal outcomes than their Australian-born counterparts. This disparity may be attributed to difficulties in accessing maternity care services. With a rapidly growing African-born population in Australia, understanding African-born women's experiences with maternity care is crucial for ensuring equitable access.

Fabrication of 3D printed hollow spheres for quality control and feasibility for use with xSPECT bone.

Quantitative accuracy and constancy of Siemens xSPECT Bone quantitative reconstruction algorithm (xBone) can be monitored using activity-filled hollow spheres, which could be 3D printed (3DP) to increase accessibility to phantoms. One concern is that 3D prints can have air gaps in the walls which may pose issues for attenuation correction and xBone tissue zone mapping. This study assessed the feasibility of using 3DP spheres (3DP-S) with materials PLA, PETG and Resin as substitutes for commercial hollow spheres (C-S).

Ecosystem Knowledge Should Replace Coexistence and Stability Assumptions in Ecological Network Modelling.

Quantitative population modelling is an invaluable tool for identifying the cascading effects of conservation on an ecosystem. When population data from monitoring programs is not available, deterministic ecosystem models have often been calibrated using the theoretical assumption that ecosystems have a stable, coexisting equilibrium. However, a growing body of literature suggests these theoretical assumptions are inappropriate for conservation contexts.

Sex differences in the association between family violence involvement and emergency mental health presentations: a longitudinal analysis.

Purpose: Females experiencing family violence as victims are at increased risk of emergency department mental health presentations. However, few studies have examined this association for males and perpetrators. We examined whether family violence reports to police were associated with contemporaneous mental health presentations and whether this differed for males and females and those that the police identified as perpetrators and victims.

Experimental study on the drag reduction performance of sodium alginate in saline solutions.

Since the discovery of the turbulence drag reduction phenomenon over 70 years ago, it has been recognized that the addition of small quantities of drag-reducing agents to fluids can significantly decrease wall shear stress, thereby enhancing fluid pumpability. In many applications, the fluids often contain salts, such as those used in fracturing processes within the petroleum sector. The aim of this study is to experimentally investigate the effects of salinity, flow rate, and polymer concentration on the drag reduction performance of sodium alginate in circular pipes.

Fates of nutrient elements and heavy metals during thermal conversion of cattle slurry-derived anaerobic digestates.

Thermal processes are emerging as promising solutions to recovering phosphorus and other nutrient elements from anaerobic digestates. The feasibility of nutrient element recovery depends largely on the fates of nutrient elements and heavy metals during thermal processing. This study assesses the partitioning of macronutrients (N, P, K, Na, Ca and Mg) and heavy metals (Zn, Cu, and Mn) between condensed and gaseous phases during thermal conversion of cattle slurry digestates in gas atmospheres of pyrolysis, combustion, and gasification processes.