Factors influencing women's and men's place of birth decisions in rural Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea: A qualitative descriptive study.

Background: Evidence shows that birthing with a skilled birth provider improves maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, whilst most women in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea seek skilled health care during pregnancy in a health facility, more than half give birth at home or in the village without a skilled birth provider.

Aim: To explore the factors influencing women's and men's decisions about place of birth in rural Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.

Hydrophobic dual-polymer-reinforced graphene composite aerogel for efficient water-oil separation.

Addressing the environmental challenges posed by oil spills and industrial wastewater is critical for sustainable development. Graphene aerogels demonstrate significant potential as highly efficient adsorbents due to their high specific surface area, excellent structural tunability and outstanding chemical stability. Among available fabrication methods, the hydrothermal self-assembly technique stands out for its low cost, high tunability and good scalability.

Does the site of research evidence generation impact on its translation to clinical practice? A protocol paper.

The research-to-practice gap is a well-known phenomenon. The adoption of evidence into clinical practice needs to consider the complexity of the health care system and a multitude of contextual issues. Research evidence is usually a form of extrinsic motivation for practice change, but works best when it aligns with the intrinsic values of the system and the people in it.

Effect of pregnancy intention on completion of maternity continuum of care in Sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The maternity continuum of care is a strategy to provide timely and quality maternal and child healthcare through preconception, pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal, and the early childhood periods. The maternity continuum of care effectively reduces global maternal and neonatal deaths. However, several factors are reported to cause low completion of the maternity continuum of care in sub-Saharan Africa.

How valuable is an implementation toolkit for midwives? An exploratory study.

Background: Incorporating evidence-based approaches in maternity care throughout the entire trajectory from pregnancy through to the postnatal phase is integral to good public health. Yet, despite developing theories, frameworks, and models to guide midwives' implementation efforts, implementing new evidence-based practices in midwifery practice settings remains challenging.

Methods: An exploratory study design was used to conduct an initial assessment of the appeal and suitability of an implementation 'how to' Toolkit for Australian change-leader midwives.

Lifting the Veil of Darkness: Thermal Technology Facilitates Collection of Flight-Initiation Distances by Night.

Flight-Initiation Distance (FID)-a direct measure of an individual animal's escape response-is a widely used method to study escape ecology in fauna. The technique has primarily been applied to bird species that are active by day. Indexing the escape behaviour of nocturnal species has been limited due to the need for light to detect and observe animals which confounds behavioural responses.

Patient Experience of Pain Management Following Cardiac Surgery: A Mixed Methods Study.

Purpose: Recovery following cardiac surgery via sternotomy involves weaning from invasive mechanical ventilation, maintaining hemodynamic stability, and preventing complications. In the early postoperative period, a key priority is adequate pain control to allow patients to actively participate in exercise. The purpose of this study was to (i) describe analgesic prescribing and administration practices following cardiac surgery via sternotomy and (ii) explore patients' pain experience and how this impacted participation in early postoperative care.

Uropathogen antibiogram regional variations-Are Australian antimicrobial guidelines appropriate?

Objectives: The objectives of this study are as follows: to assess the uropathogen antibiogram at two tertiary hospitals in Victoria to look at the difference in susceptibility patterns, to assess whether national guideline recommendations were applicable and to assess the feasibility of local antibiogram analysis to guide development of hospital-specific guidelines for empirical treatment of urosepsis and for pre-operative prophylaxis for urological procedures.

Patients And Methods: All positive urine cultures analysed at Barwon Health and Monash Health, two tertiary hospitals in regional and metropolitan Victoria, Australia, respectively, between January 2019 and December 2020 were retrospectively identified. Data obtained included the organism cultured and their susceptibility profiles.

Synthesis and characterization of carbonyl functionalized organotellurium(iv) derivatives.

The current study focuses on synthesis and characterization of carbonyl functionalized unsymmetrical diorganotellurium(iv) dichlorides (1-5), dibromide (6), and their characterization by elemental analysis, H, C{H}, and Te NMR spectroscopy. In addition to this, compounds 1, 4 and 5 were further confirmed single-crystal X-ray studies. Reduction of all the dichlorides with NaSO affords labile tellurides, which decompose quickly even at room temperature into the more stable symmetric ditellurides, ArTe.

Tracking of Vascular Measures From Infancy to Early Childhood: A Cohort Study.

Background: Atherosclerosis develops across the life course, and variation in aortic intima-media thickness (IMT) is evident from infancy onward, although most early-life data are cross-sectional. We investigated whether abdominal aortic IMT at age 6 weeks is associated with vascular measures at 4 years and the relationship of prenatal and perinatal exposures with these measures in early childhood.

Methods And Results: We analyzed data from 518 participants with 6-week and 4-year vascular measures from the Barwon Infant Study.

Differential impact of eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease.

Dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids improves cognitive performance in several animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), an effect often associated with reduced amyloid-beta and/or tau pathologies. However, it remains unclear to what extent eicosapentaenoic (EPA) provides additional benefits compared to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Here, male and female 3xTg-AD mice were fed for 3 months (13-16 months of age) the following diets: (1) control (no DHA/EPA), (2) DHA (1.

A follow-up study with a double-blinded, randomized controlled vitamin D supplementation trial in patients with major depressive episode (DepFuD): A study protocol and baseline characteristics.

Promising initial studies on vitamin D (VD) supplementation as an adjunct treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) require rigorously designed randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We aim to investigate the effects of augmenting standard MDD treatment with VD supplementation and examine factors influencing the treatment outcome. This article describes the study design, measures, and baseline characteristics.

Reviving the poppy seed test for the diagnosis of colovesical fistula: A case report from a single rural center experience.

Key Clinical Message: The poppy seed test is a valuable, cost-effective, and sensitive initial diagnostic investigation to identify the presence of colovesical fistula, particularly for clinicians in remote or rural areas with lack of access to specialist radiologic, endoscopic, surgical, or urological support. The poppy seed test therefore may act as a bridge toward the commencement of appropriate referral pathways for the management of colovesical fistula.

Abstract: The diagnosis of colovesical fistula is resource intensive, often requiring a combination of radiological investigation and endoscopy.

What it takes to develop self-confidence and competence in midwifery students for midwifery practice.

Background: Midwifery practice is multidimensional and complex in supporting women's reproductive health. Midwives provide care through pregnancy, birth, and the puerperium and may extend to sexual and reproductive health. Midwifery education must develop self-confidence and competence within each midwifery student.

Association between pregnancy intention and completion of newborn and infant continuum of care in Sub-Saharan Africa: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The newborn and infant continuum of care such as essential newborn care, early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding, and immunisation are highly recommended for improving the quality of life and survival of infants. However, newborn and infant mortality remains high across Sub-Saharan African countries. While unintended pregnancies are associated with adverse newborn and infant health outcomes, there is inconclusive evidence on whether pregnancy intention influences newborn and infant continuum of care completion.

Chemical characterization and biological activity of Curvularia Lunata, an endophytic fungus isolated from lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus).

Exploration of medicinal plants for bioactive-producing endophytic fungi is a relatively unmapped source of pharmaceutically important compounds. In this study, the endophytic fungus Curvularia lunata AREF029 isolated from the medicinal plant Cymbopogon citratus (known as lemongrass) was assessed for its biological activity. The methanolic extract of AREF029 had minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) ranging from 38 to 174 µg/ml against phytopathogenic fungi Alteranria solani, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani.

Achieving gender equity in academic psychiatry - barriers to involvement and solutions for success.

Objective: Women face considerable barriers in pursuing careers in academic psychiatry.

Methods: A group of Australian and New Zealand academic women psychiatrists convened in September 2022 to identify and propose solutions to increase opportunities for women in academic psychiatry.

Results: Limiting factors were identified in pathways to academia including financial support, engagement and coordination between academia and clinical services, and flexible working conditions.

Mapping Australia's COVID-19 quarantine cohort journeys.

Background: Australia rapidly developed COVID-19 quarantine programs to reduce the adverse outcomes of a novel pathogen imported by visitors and returned travellers. Different quarantine pathways were utilised over the pandemic, yet no definitive cohort map exists to guide future preparedness. We created a whole-of-system cohort journey map of Australian quarantine cohorts to inform future pandemic preparedness activities.

Spontaneous omental infarction as a rare differential for right iliac fossa pain: A case report and review of the literature.

Omental infarction is a rare cause of acute abdominal pain, often benign and self-limiting. The significance of infarction lies in the fact that it can mimic other abdominal pathologies including appendicitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, or reflux disease. Diagnostic laparoscopy provides the definitive diagnosis of omental infarction, but it is invasive and limited due to resources.

How do invasive predators and their native prey respond to prescribed fire?

Fire shapes animal communities by altering resource availability and species interactions, including between predators and prey. In Australia, there is particular concern that two highly damaging invasive predators, the feral cat () and European red fox (), increase their activity in recently burnt areas and exert greater predation pressure on the native prey due to their increased exposure. We tested how prescribed fire occurrence and extent, along with fire history, vegetation, topography, and distance to anthropogenic features (towns and farms), affected the activity (detection frequency) of cats, foxes, and the native mammal community in south-eastern Australia.

People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease Prefer Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Fatigue Management: A Conjoint Analysis.

Background: Psychological interventions are a promising area for fatigue management in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, most interventions trialled to date have been pilots with limited direct input from patients about the type of intervention they want. Thus, this study aimed to explore patient preferences for a psychological IBD fatigue intervention.

Realist synthesis of a rapid response system in managing mental state deterioration in acute hospital settings.

Mental state deterioration in patients poses significant challenges in healthcare, potentially resulting in adverse outcomes for patients and continued reliance on restrictive interventions. Implementing evidence-based approaches such as a rapid response system that prioritises early identification and intervention can effectively manage adverse outcomes. However, little is known regarding the effectiveness of these interventions.

Population density effects on gamete traits and fertilisation dynamics under varying sperm environments in mussels.

Gamete traits can vary widely among species, populations and individuals, influencing fertilisation dynamics and overall reproductive fitness. Sexual selection can play an important role in determining the evolution of gamete traits with local environmental conditions determining the strength and direction of sexual selection. Here, we test for signatures of post-mating selection on gamete traits in relation to population density, and possible interactive effects of population density and sperm concentration on sperm motility and fertilisation rates among natural populations of mussels.