Meta-analyses of the effects of high-intensity interval training in elite athletes - part II: relationships between the mean effects on various performance measures.

Introduction: Our recent meta-analyses have demonstrated that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) causes a range of mean changes in various measures and predictors of endurance and sprint performance in athletes. Here, we extend the analyses to relationships between mean changes of these measures and consider implications for understanding and improving HIIT that were not apparent in the previous analyses.

Methods: The data were mean changes from HIIT with highly trained endurance and elite other (mainly team sport) athletes in studies where two or more measures or predictors of performance were available.

Model-based design of a pneumatic actuator for a dynamically reconfigurable socket for transtibial amputees.

In this work, a cost-effective, scalable pneumatic silicone actuator array is introduced, designed to dynamically conform to the user's skin and thereby alleviate localised pressure within a prosthetic socket. The appropriate constitutive models for developing a finite element representation of these actuators are systematically identified, parametrised, and validated. Employing this computational framework, the surface deformation fields induced by 270 variations in soft actuator array design parameters under realistic load conditions are examined, achieving predictive accuracies within 70 µm.

Intra-articular Injections of CXCR4-Overexpressing Human Cartilage-Derived Progenitor Cells Improve Meniscus Healing and Protect Against Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis in Immunocompetent Rabbits.

Background: Meniscal injuries that fail to heal instigate catabolic changes in the knee's microenvironment, posing a high risk for developing posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Previous research has suggested that human cartilage-derived progenitor cells (hCPCs) can stimulate meniscal repair in a manner that depends on stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) pathway activity.

Hypothesis: Overexpressing the SDF-1 receptor CXCR4 in hCPCs will increase cell trafficking and further improve the repair efficacy of meniscal injuries.

Effect of ketamine on anxiety: findings from the Ketamine for Adult Depression Study.

Background: Anxiety disorders and treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (TRD) are often comorbid. Studies suggest ketamine has anxiolytic and antidepressant properties.

Aims: To investigate if subcutaneous racemic ketamine, delivered twice weekly for 4 weeks, reduces anxiety in people with TRD.

Paramedic assessment of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients in the out-of-hospital environment: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to develop a comprehensive collection of information about the current processes for paramedics assessing and referring suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients in the out-of-hospital environment.

Introduction: Patients with COVID-19 are frequently encountered by paramedics and ambulance service clinicians. Increased demand on ambulance services has resulted in many of these services developing alternative referral pathways to avoid unnecessary conveyance to emergency departments.

First Report of Postharvest Fruit Rot on Passion Fruit () caused by in the U.S.A.

The commercial production of passion fruit is geographically limited (California, Florida, and Hawaii), but the development of cold-tolerant varieties could expand it beyond warm-climate states (Stafne et.al. 2023).

Enhancement of anti-sarcoma immunity by NK cells engineered with mRNA for expression of a EphA2-targeted CAR.

Background: Paediatric sarcomas, including rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma, represent a group of malignancies that significantly contribute to cancer-related morbidity and mortality in children and young adults. These cancers share common challenges, including high rates of metastasis, recurrence or treatment resistance, leading to a 5-year survival rate of approximately 20% for patients with advanced disease stages. Despite the critical need, therapeutic advancements have been limited over the past three decades.

Reclaiming Indigenous systems of healing: experiences of disabled Māori of Māori-centric health service responses in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The impact of the pandemic on Indigenous and disabled people's access to healthcare has resulted in significant disruptions and has exacerbated longstanding inequitable healthcare service delivery. Research within Aotearoa New Zealand has demonstrated that there has been success in the provision of healthcare by Māori for their community; however, the experiences of tāngata whaikaha Māori, disabled Māori, have yet to be considered by researchers.

Methods: Underpinned by an empowerment theory and Kaupapa Māori methodology, this research explores the lived realities of tāngata whaikaha Māori or their primary caregivers.

The impact of a tailored nutrition intervention delivered for the duration of hospitalisation on daily energy delivery for patients with critical illness (INTENT): a phase II randomised controlled trial.

Background: Nutrition interventions commenced in ICU and continued through to hospital discharge have not been definitively tested in critical care to date. To commence a program of research, we aimed to determine if a tailored nutrition intervention delivered for the duration of hospitalisation delivers more energy than usual care to patients initially admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Methods: A multicentre, unblinded, parallel-group, phase II trial was conducted in twenty-two hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.

Commissioning health services for First Nations, regional, and remote populations: a scoping review.

Background: Commissioning for health services has been implemented as one approach to improve the quality and access to healthcare for First Nations, regional and remote populations. This review systematically scoped the literature for studies that described or evaluated the governance, funding, implementation and outcomes from health service commissioning targeting these groups in Canada, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and the United States (CANZUS nations).

Methods: Seventeen databases were searched for relevant peer reviewed and grey literature studies published in English from 2010 to 2023.

NOMPC ion channel hinge forms a gating spring that initiates mechanosensation.

The sensation of mechanical stimuli is initiated by elastic gating springs that pull open mechanosensory transduction channels. Searches for gating springs have focused on force-conveying protein tethers such as the amino-terminal ankyrin tether of the Drosophila mechanosensory transduction channel NOMPC. Here, by combining protein domain duplications with mechanical measurements, electrophysiology, molecular dynamics simulations and modeling, we identify the NOMPC gating-spring as the short linker between the ankyrin tether and the channel gate.

Aberrant splicing in Huntington's disease accompanies disrupted TDP-43 activity and altered m6A RNA modification.

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene, leading to altered gene expression. However, the mechanisms leading to disrupted RNA processing in HD remain unclear. Here we identify TDP-43 and the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) writer protein METTL3 to be upstream regulators of exon skipping in multiple HD systems.

Ferric carboxymaltose for anemia in late pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial.

Over 46% of African pregnant women are anemic. Oral iron is recommended but often suboptimal, particularly late in pregnancy. Intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) could treat anemia in women in the third trimester in sub-Saharan Africa.

The incidence of cardiac surgery in adults with treated kidney failure in Australia: a retrospective cohort study.

ObjectiveKidney failure increases people's risk of cardiovascular disease, sometimes requiring cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to estimate the risk of cardiac surgery for adults with treated kidney failure in comparison with the general population in Australia.MethodsWe performed a population-based retrospective cohort study by linking data between the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Cardiac Surgery Database, for 2010-2019.

Non-genetic risk factors for keratoconus and its progression.

Keratoconus is a multifaceted corneal ectatic disorder characterized by a range of genetic and environmental risk factors. While genetic predisposition significantly influences global disease prevalence rates as well as severity and progression rates, emerging evidence highlights the critical interplay between environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. This article provides a comprehensive overview of environmental risk factors implicated in the onset and progression of keratoconus.

Birth weight and head circumference for 22-29 weeks gestation neonates from an international cohort.

Objective: Size at birth is a key indicator of in utero growth. Our objective was to generate sex-specific percentiles for birth weight and head circumference in neonates born between 22 and 29 weeks gestation from pregnancies without hypertension or diabetes and assess differences between vaginal and caesarean births and between singletons and twins.

Methods: We used data from 12 countries participating in the International Network for Evaluating Outcomes in Neonates database from 2007 to 2021.

MtrAB two-component system is crucial for the intrinsic resistance and virulence of Mycobacterium abscessus.

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) poses serious therapeutic challenges, largely due to its intrinsic resistance to many antibiotics. The development of targeted therapeutic strategies necessitates the identification of bacterial factors that contribute to its reduced susceptibility to antibiotics and/or to the killing by its host cells. In this study, we discovered that Mab strains with disrupted mtrA, mtrB or both, or a gene-edited mtrA encoding MtrA with Tyr102Cys mutation, exhibited highly increased sensitivity to various drugs compared to the wild-type Mab.

Subthalamic nucleus oscillations during facial emotion processing and apathy in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is primarily characterized by motor symptoms, but patients also experience a relatively high prevalence of non-motor symptoms, including emotional and cognitive impairments. While the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a common target for deep brain stimulation to treat motor symptoms in PD, its role in emotion processing is still under investigation. This study examines the subthalamic neural oscillatory activities during facial emotion processing and its association with affective characteristics.

Position statement on the diagnosis and management of acute leukaemia and aggressive lymphomas in pregnancy.

Haematological malignancies affect 12·5 in 100 000 pregnancies. Over the past two decades, the number of haematological malignancies in pregnancy has substantially increased. Life-threatening haematological malignancies in pregnancy, such as acute leukaemia and aggressive lymphomas, pose a unique therapeutic challenge: clinicians must consider both maternal and fetal wellbeing, aiming to deliver optimal curative therapy for the patient and a successful pregnancy outcome.

Examining the Emotional and Physical Health Impact in Users of Open-Source Automated Insulin Delivery and Sources of Support: Qualitative Analysis of Patient Narratives.

Background: Although commercially developed automated insulin delivery (AID) systems have recently been approved and become available in a limited number of countries, they are not universally available, accessible, or affordable. Therefore, open-source AID systems, cocreated by an online community of people with diabetes and their families behind the hashtag #WeAreNotWaiting, have become increasingly popular.

Objective: This study focused on examining the lived experiences, physical and emotional health implications of people with diabetes following the initiation of open-source AID systems, their perceived challenges, and their sources of support, which have not been explored in the existing literature.

The effects of acute hot-water immersion on force steadiness and motor unit discharge rate variability in young, healthy adults.

This study examined the effects of core and muscle temperature on force steadiness and motor unit discharge rate (MUDR) variability after a hot-water immersion session. Fifteen participants (6 women; 25±6 years) completed neuromuscular assessments before and after either 42ºC (hot) or 36ºC (control) water immersion. Force steadiness was measured during knee extension, while HD-sEMG signals were recorded from vastus lateralis and medialis for MUDR variability analysis.

A Core Outcome Set for Adult General ICU Patients.

Objectives: Randomized clinical trials informing clinical practice (e.g., like large, pragmatic, and late-phase trials) should ideally mostly use harmonized outcomes that are important to patients, family members, clinicians, and researchers.