Reducing maternal smoking using Indigenous knowledge, practices, and online technologies.

Maternal smoking increases adverse risks for both the mother's pregnancy and the unborn child and remains disproportionately high among some Indigenous peoples. Decreasing smoking among pregnant Indigenous women has been identified as a health priority in New Zealand because of wide inequities in smoking-related harms. Using pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, this feasibility study assessed the acceptability and potential efficacy of a novel cessation program designed for Indigenous women by Indigenous experts utilizing traditional knowledge and practice.

Gestational diabetes and mental health: longitudinal analysis of data from the GEMS randomized trial.

Purpose: There is limited high-quality evidence about perinatal mental health among women with gestational diabetes. We aimed to assess the risks and longitudinal changes in anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life comparing women with gestational diabetes and those without among a contemporary cohort of pregnant women.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of participants in the GEMS Trial.

Development of a novel laboratory approach for evaluating the adhesion strength of biofilms to human dentine.

Introduction: Biofilms may show varying adherence strengths to dentine. This study quantified the shear force required for the detachment of multispecies biofilm from the dentine using fluid dynamic gauging (FDG) and computation fluid dynamics (CFD). To date this force has not been quantified.

Innovating to amplify the voices of young people from marginalized ethnic migrant backgrounds.

The meaningful participation of young people from marginalized ethnic backgrounds in civic processes is central to the social cohesion of increasingly diverse liberal democracies, but their participation is compromised by a range of barriers resulting in decision-making that is disconnected from their lives. To address participation barriers, a group of young people from marginalized ethnic migrant backgrounds joined a team of researchers, social innovators, and community leaders to co-design and pilot an innovation to increase youth participation in policymaking. Delivered in phases over an 18-month period, the project followed an approach that combined social innovation and evaluation methods.

Is "Rough Sex" Thing? A Survey of Meaning.

The term "rough sex" is widely used, but it is not always clear what it means. Through exploring people's working definitions of "rough sex," we asked what they revealed about the underlying phenomenon it is applied to, and whether it is actually thing. Our online survey of 567 New Zealand respondents (73.

Case report of the successful treatment of pemphigus vulgaris using ovine forestomach matrix graft.

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is a subtype of pemphigus and life-altering disorder that results in the formation of intraepithelial blisters in mucosa and skin. Though the etiology is not well understood, it is an autoimmune disorder resulting in acantholytic blisters due to auto-antibodies targeting proteins of keratinocyte adhesion. Rapid diagnosis and restoration of the epidermal layer is imperative for patients with PV as widespread epidermal damage can lead to high morbidity and mortality rates.

Metformin for low back pain: Study protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Chronic low back pain is a major cause of pain and disability with limited effective therapies. Metformin is a safe, inexpensive, well-tolerated drug that has pleotropic effects, including effects on pain pathways that may influence low back pain. The aim of this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is to determine whether metformin reduces low back pain over 4 months in individuals with chronic low back pain.

A non-randomised open-label exploratory 'window of opportunity' study of TG02 treatment in patients with locally advanced primary and recurrent mutant colorectal cancer.

Background: TG02 is a peptide-based cancer vaccine eliciting immune responses to oncogenic codon 12/13 mutations. This phase 1 clinical trial (NCT02933944) assessed the safety and immunological efficacy of TG02 adjuvanted by GM-CSF in patients with -mutant colorectal cancer.

Methods: In the interval between completing CRT and pelvic exenteration, patients with resectable mutation-positive, locally advanced primary or current colorectal cancer, received 5-6 doses of TG02/GM-CSF.

35th Australian and New Zealand Society for Neuropathology (ANZSNP) Scientific Meeting 2024: Saturday 31 August - Sunday 1 September 2024, Hotel Crowne Plaza, Queenstown, New Zealand.

The ANZSNP scientific meeting 2024 was held in the scenic city of Queenstown, New Zealand on 31 August and September 1. Dr Fouzia Ziad, President of the ANZSNP and Dr Laveniya Satgunaseelan, Secretary /Treasurer of the ANZSNP were the convenors of the meeting. The meeting was co-badged with the Australasian Winter Conference on Brain Research (AWCBR) 2024.

The Effect of Gender Ideal Adherence on Carer Burden and Help-Seeking in Male Carers of People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological disease that is commonly diagnosed in middle age and disproportionately affects women. Consequently, middle-aged men (as partners and husbands) are often the caregivers, a unique group in comparison with carers for people with other long-term neurological conditions, who are predominately women. Previous research has indicated that male carers respond differently from their female counterparts in terms of carer burden.

Beyond bronchial thermoplasty - where to now?

With the impending 'retirement' of bronchial thermoplasty (BT) for the treatment of patients with asthma, there is much to learn from this real-world experiment that will help us develop more effective future therapies with the same primary target i.e., airway smooth muscle (ASM) remodelling.

A scoping review of the reporting quality of reviews of commercially and publicly available mobile health apps.

Objectives: There is no guidance to support the reporting of systematic reviews of mobile health (mhealth) apps (app reviews), so authors attempt to use/modify the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). There is a need for reporting guidance, building on PRISMA where appropriate, tailored to app reviews. The objectives were to describe the reporting quality of published mHealth app reviews, identify the need for, and develop potential candidate items for a reporting guideline.

Adolopment of Recommendations for Standardized Reporting of Protein Electrophoresis in Pakistan.

Introduction: The standardization of reporting in clinical laboratories, particularly regarding Serum Protein Electrophoresis (SPEP) and Urine Protein Electrophoresis (UPEP), is crucial for effective communication of findings to clinicians and optimal patient management. However, in countries like Pakistan with limited healthcare resources and a prevalent self-payment model, challenges arise in achieving standardized reporting practices. This manuscript addresses the need for standardized guidelines for protein electrophoresis reporting in Pakistan, aiming to enhance laboratory practices and patient care.

Kneeling tolerance when using quadriceps tendon autograft for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is superior to hamstring tendon autograft.

Purpose: To investigate kneeling tolerance in patients undergoing hamstring (HT) versus quadriceps (QT) anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) and investigate correlation with patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Methods: After recruitment and randomisation, 112 patients (HT = 55; QT = 57) underwent ACLR. Patients were assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months using the Kneeling Tolerance Test, which evaluates patient-reported pain in a position of both 90 (KT90) and 110 (KT110) degrees of knee flexion.

Eating disorders in minority ethnic populations in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and the UK: a scoping review.

Background: Historically, eating disorder (ED) research has largely focused on White girls and women, with minority ethnic populations underrepresented. Most research exploring EDs in minority ethnic populations has been conducted in the United States (US). The aim of this scoping review, the first of its kind, was to systematically examine research on disordered eating and EDs among minority ethnic populations in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom (UK), four countries with shared sociocultural and healthcare characteristics.

Early life microbial succession in the gut follows common patterns in humans across the globe.

Characterizing the dynamics of microbial community succession in the infant gut microbiome is crucial for understanding child health and development, but no normative model currently exists. Here, we estimate child age using gut microbial taxonomic relative abundances from metagenomes, with high temporal resolution (±3 months) for the first 1.5 years of life.

Random walk models in the life sciences: including births, deaths and local interactions.

Random walks and related spatial stochastic models have been used in a range of application areas, including animal and plant ecology, infectious disease epidemiology, developmental biology, wound healing and oncology. Classical random walk models assume that all individuals in a population behave independently, ignoring local physical and biological interactions. This assumption simplifies the mathematical description of the population considerably, enabling continuum-limit descriptions to be derived and used in model analysis and fitting.

DNA and spores from coprolites reveal that colourful truffle-like fungi endemic to New Zealand were consumed by extinct moa (Dinornithiformes).

Mycovores (animals that consume fungi) are important for fungal spore dispersal, including ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi symbiotic with forest-forming trees. As such, fungi and their symbionts may be impacted by mycovore extinction. New Zealand (NZ) has a diversity of unusual, colourful, endemic sequestrate (truffle-like) fungi, most of which are ECM.

Intrapartum hydration assessment and management: A cross-sectional survey of Australian and New Zealand maternity units.

Background: Hydration assessment and management during labour play an important role in maternal and newborn outcomes. Studies indicate that clinical practice is inconsistent, with limited consensus evident in clinical guidelines. Current practices in fluid management across public and private maternity units within Australia and New Zealand remain unknown.

Strong legacies of emerging trends in winter precipitation on the carbon-climate feedback from Arctic tundra.

Changes in winter precipitation accompanying emerging climate trends lead to a major carbon-climate feedback from Arctic tundra. However, the mechanisms driving the direction, magnitude, and form (CO and CH) of C fluxes and derived climate forcing (i.e.

A Kinetic Enhanced Tuck Jump Assessment Exposes Residual Biomechanical Deficits in Female Athletes 9 Months Post Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

Kember, LS, Riehm, CD, Schille, A, Slaton, JA, Myer, GD, and Lloyd, RS. Residual biomechanical deficits identified with the tuck jump assessment in female athletes 9 months after ACLR surgery. J Strength Cond Res 38(12): 2065-2073, 2024-Addressing biomechanical deficits in female athletes after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) is crucial for safe return-to-play.

Recruiting Young People for Digital Mental Health Research: Lessons From an AI-Driven Adaptive Trial.

Background: With increasing adoption of remote clinical trials in digital mental health, identifying cost-effective and time-efficient recruitment methodologies is crucial for the success of such trials. Evidence on whether web-based recruitment methods are more effective than traditional methods such as newspapers, media, or flyers is inconsistent. Here we present insights from our experience recruiting tertiary education students for a digital mental health artificial intelligence-driven adaptive trial-Vibe Up.