Efficacy and safety of guanfacine in hospitalized patients with delirium: A scoping review.

Objective: To assess current evidence regarding guanfacine use in hospitalized patients with delirium.

Introduction: Delirium is a common and important complication of critical illness. Central alpha-2 agonists are often used for symptomatic management.

Provision of continuous renal replacement therapy in children in intensive care in Australia and New Zealand.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe current use, clinical practice, and outcomes of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) in children in the intensive care unit (ICU) in Australia and New Zealand.

Design: retrospective, binational registry-based cohort study and electronic survey of clinical practice.

Setting: ICUs that contribute to the Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Intensive Care Registry and a survey conducted in November 2021 including ICUs accredited for paediatric intensive care training that provide CRRT for children were part of this study.

Hospital-level volume in extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cases and death or disability at 6 months.

Objective: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a high-risk procedure with significant morbidity and mortality and there is an uncertain volume-outcome relationship, especially regarding long-term functional outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine the association between ECMO centre volume and long-term death and disability outcomes.

Design Setting And Participants: This is a registry-embedded observational cohort study.

Severe intensive care unit-acquired hypernatraemia: Prevalence, risk factors, trajectory, management, and outcome.

Background: Severe intensive care unit-acquired hypernatraemia (ICU-AH) is a serious complication of critical illness. However, there is no detailed information on how this condition develops.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to study the prevalence, risk factors, trajectory, management, and outcome of severe ICU-AH (≥155 mmol·L).

Timing of adjunctive vasopressin initiation for septic shock patients and hospital mortality: A multicentre observational study.

Objective: The optimal timing of vasopressin initiation as an adjunctive vasopressor remains unclear. We aimed to study the association between the timing of vasopressin commencement, pre-specified physiological parameters, and hospital mortality.

Design: We conducted a multicentre, retrospective, observational study.

Prone positioning of nonintubated patients with COVID-19 in Australian intensive care units.

Objective: To describe the use of and outcomes from awake prone positioning (APP) in nonintubated patients with COVID-19 in Australian intensive care units (ICUs) in comparison to those who did not receive APP, and to explore the temporal relationship between publication of APP research and changes in clinical practice.

Design: Multicentre, observational cohort study.

Setting: Seventy-eight Australian ICUs participating in SPRINT-SARI Australia.

ICU-acquired hypernatremia: Prevalence, patient characteristics, trajectory, risk factors, and outcomes.

Objective: Knowledge of intensive care unit (ICU) acquired hypernatremia (ICU-AH) has been hampered by the absence of granular data and confounded by variable definitions and inclusion criteria.

Design: Multicentre retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Twelve ICUs in Queensland (QLD), Australia.

Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales.

Variation in reproductive success is a fundamental prerequisite for sexual selection to act upon a trait. Assessing such variation is crucial in understanding a species' mating system and offers insights into population growth. Parentage analyses in cetaceans are rare, and the underlying forces of sexual selection acting on their mating behaviours remain poorly understood.

Peri-operative identification and management of patients with unhealthy alcohol intake.

Introduction: This consensus statement gives practical advice for the safe management of patients with harmful alcohol intake undergoing elective and emergency surgery. The wide spectrum of alcohol-related organ dysfunction observed in this cohort of patients may have a profound impact on care, and the additional effects of alcohol withdrawal may further exacerbate postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Methods: A working party was assembled based on clinical and/or academic expertise in the area.

Intertwined people-nature relations are central to nature-based adaptation to climate change.

Adaptation to climate change is a social-ecological process: it is not solely a result of natural processes or human decisions but emerges from multiple relations within social systems, within ecological systems and between them. We propose a novel analytical framework to evaluate social-ecological relations in nature-based adaptation, encompassing social (people-people), ecological (nature-nature) and social-ecological (people-nature) relations. Applying this framework to 25 case studies, we analyse the associations among these relations and identify archetypes of social-ecological adaptation.

Fetal growth restriction adversely impacts trajectory of hippocampal neurodevelopment and function.

The last pregnancy trimester is critical for fetal brain development but is a vulnerable period if the pregnancy is compromised by fetal growth restriction (FGR). The impact of FGR on the maturational development of neuronal morphology is not known, however, studies in fetal sheep allow longitudinal analysis in a long gestation species. Here we compared hippocampal neuron dendritogenesis in FGR and control fetal sheep at three timepoints equivalent to the third trimester of pregnancy, complemented by magnetic resonance image for brain volume, and electrophysiology for synaptic function.

Developing an Integrated National Strategy for Varroa Mite Management in Australia: Balancing Bee Preservation and Agricultural Sustainability.

Australia is urgently confronted with the need to develop and implement an integrated national strategy for managing Varroa mite (Varroa destructor), external parasites that pose a severe threat to honeybee colonies. The manuscript advocates for immediate action, emphasizing the importance of importing expertise and strengthening educational programs to build long-term resilience against Varroa mite infestations.

evoke and evoke+: design of two large-scale, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 studies evaluating efficacy, safety, and tolerability of semaglutide in early-stage symptomatic Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Disease-modifying therapies targeting the diverse pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), including neuroinflammation, represent potentially important and novel approaches. The glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist semaglutide is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity and has an established safety profile. Semaglutide may have a disease-modifying, neuroprotective effect in AD through multimodal mechanisms including neuroinflammatory, vascular, and other AD-related processes.

Development of a PROM to measure patient-centredness in chronic care consultations in primary care.

Introduction: Validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are crucial for assessing patients' experiences in the healthcare system. Both clinically and theoretically, patient-centered consultations are essential in patient-care, and are often suggested as the optimal strategy in caring for patients with multimorbidity.

Aim: To either identify or develop and validate a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) to assess patient-centredness in consultations for patients with multimorbidity in general practice.

Variation of the Risk Associated With Potentially Modifiable Risk Factors for Dementia Between Ethnic Groups Within One Country. A Retrospective Cohort Study Using Routinely Collected Health Data in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Introduction: While risk factor prevalence of individual risk factors for dementia varies between ethnic groups in New Zealand (NZ), it is not known whether the effect of these risks is the same in each group.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified incident cases of dementia. Cox regression models calculated the hazard ratio for dementia for each of the risk factors, after adjustment for age and sex.

LiZrF-based electrolytes for durable lithium metal batteries.

Lithium (Li) metal batteries (LMBs) are promising for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries. However, Li dendrites formed by the reaction between highly active Li and non-aqueous electrolytes lead to safety concerns and rapid capacity decay. Developing a reliable solid-electrolyte interphase is critical for realizing high-rate and long-life LMBs, but remains technically challenging.

One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction.

Freshwater ecosystems are highly biodiverse and important for livelihoods and economic development, but are under substantial stress. To date, comprehensive global assessments of extinction risk have not included any speciose groups primarily living in freshwaters. Consequently, data from predominantly terrestrial tetrapods are used to guide environmental policy and conservation prioritization, whereas recent proposals for target setting in freshwaters use abiotic factors.

DJK-5, an anti-biofilm peptide, increases Staphylococcus aureus sensitivity to colistin killing in co-biofilms with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Chronic infections represent a significant global health and economic challenge. Biofilms, which are bacterial communities encased in an extracellular polysaccharide matrix, contribute to approximately 80% of these infections. In particular, pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are frequently co-isolated from the sputum of patients with cystic fibrosis and are commonly found in chronic wound infections.

Diet-wide analyses for risk of colorectal cancer: prospective study of 12,251 incident cases among 542,778 women in the UK.

Uncertainty remains regarding the role of diet in colorectal cancer development. We examined associations of 97 dietary factors with colorectal cancer risk in 542,778 Million Women Study participants (12,251 incident cases over 16.6 years), and conducted a targeted genetic analysis in the ColoRectal Transdisciplinary Study, Colon Cancer Family Registry, and Genetics and Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Consortium (GECCO).

The prognostic role of cardiac and inflammatory biomarkers in extubation failure in patients with COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: Extubation failure is associated with an increased morbidity, emphasizing the need to identify factors to further optimize extubation practices. The role of biomarkers in the prediction of extubation failure is currently limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of cardiac (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), High-sensitivity Troponin T (Hs-TnT)) and inflammatory biomarkers (Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Procalcitonin (PCT)) for extubation failure in patients with COVID-19 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (C-ARDS).

Oral Health Is Associated with Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction in Adult Women.

Background: The disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) form a heterogeneous group of gastrointestinal disorders that, to date, have no organic basis. The role of oral health in the development of these disorders has not been explored.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between oral health and the DGBI.

Prevalence and demographic profile of keratoconus among high school students in Kenya.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and demographic profile of keratoconus (KC) among high school students in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Methods: In this population-based, prospective, cross-sectional study, multistage cluster sampling was used to select the participants. All students underwent visual acuity measurement, auto-refraction, retinoscopy and corneal topography.