Fatigue After Stroke Educational Recovery Program: A Prospective, Phase III, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Poststroke fatigue affects ≈50% of patients with stroke, causing significant personal, societal, and economic burden. In the FASTER (Fatigue After Stroke Educational Recovery) study, we assessed a group-based educational intervention for poststroke fatigue.

Methods And Results: Two hundred patients with clinically significant fatigue were included and randomized to either a general stroke education control or fatigue management group (FMG) intervention and assessed at baseline, 6 weeks, and 3 months.

A bioinspired fish fin webbing for proprioceptive feedback.

The propulsive fins of ray-finned fish are used for large scale locomotion and fine maneuvering, yet also provide sensory feedback regarding hydrodynamic loading and the surrounding environment. This information is gathered via nerve cells in the webbing between their fin rays. A similar bioinspired system that can gather force feedback from fin motion could enable valuable insight into robotic underwater locomotion improving swimming efficiency and orientation.

Anti-inflammatory effects of kawakawa (): An integrative mRNA-miRNA approach.

Kawakawa () is an endemic medicinal plant widely consumed by Māori in New Zealand. Presence of diverse biologically active phytochemicals in kawakawa may underpin its putative therapeutic anti-inflammatory properties. However, no human studies on its anti-inflammatory effects are yet undertaken.

Adjuvant strategies to tackle -mediated polymyxin resistance.

The emergence of the () gene is a demonstrable threat contributing to the worldwide antibiotic resistance crisis. The gene is encoded on plasmids and can easily spread between different bacterial strains. encodes a phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase, which catalyses the transfer of the pEtN moiety from phosphatidylethanolamine to lipid A, the head group of lipopolysaccharides (LPS).

Highly efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated exon skipping for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

Gene therapy based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system has emerged as a promising strategy for treating the monogenic fragile skin disorder recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). With this approach problematic wounds could be grafted with gene edited, patient-specific skin equivalents. Precise gene editing using homology-directed repair (HDR) is the ultimate goal, however low efficiencies have hindered progress.

Synergistic antimicrobial interaction of plant essential oils and extracts against foodborne pathogens.

Essential oils (EOs) and plant extracts have demonstrated inhibitory activity against a wide range of pathogenic bacteria. In this study, the chemical composition of manuka, kanuka, peppermint, thyme, lavender, and feijoa leaf and peel EOs and feijoa peel and leaf extracts were analyzed, and their antimicrobial activity against , Typhimurium, , , and were determined. The results showed that the major compounds varied among different EOs and extracts, with menthol in peppermint EO, thymol and carvacrol in thyme EO, linalool in lavender EO, β-caryophyllene in feijoa EO, and flavones in feijoa extract being the most prevalent.

Effect of temperature on the CO splitting rate in a DBD microreactor.

A novel plate-to-plate dielectric barrier discharge microreactor (micro DBD) has been demonstrated in CO splitting. In this design, the ground electrode has a cooling microchannel to maintain the electrode temperature in the 263-298 K range during plasma operation. A small gap size between the electrodes of 0.

Association Between Onset of Type 2 Diabetes and Risk of Atrial Fibrillation in New Zealanders With Impaired Glucose Tolerance Over 25 Years.

Background The association between the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and atrial fibrillation (AF) risk in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the incident onset of T2D and 5- and 10-year (after the landmark period) risks of AF in people with IGT identified in South and West Auckland primary care settings between 1994 and 2019. Methods and Results We compared AF risk in patients with IGT with and without newly diagnosed T2D within a 1- to 5-year exposure window.

Ventilatory Efficiency Is Reduced in People With Hypertension During Exercise.

Background An elevated ventilatory efficiency slope during exercise (minute ventilation/volume of expired CO; V/VCO slope) is a strong prognostic indicator in heart failure. It is elevated in people with heart failure with preserved ejection, many of whom have hypertension. However, whether the V/VCO slope is also elevated in people with primary hypertension versus normotensive individuals is unknown.

Online interventions for reducing hate speech and cyberhate: A systematic review.

Background: The unique feature of the Internet is that individual negative attitudes toward minoritized and racialized groups and more extreme, hateful ideologies can find their way onto specific platforms and instantly connect people sharing similar prejudices. The enormous frequency of hate speech/cyberhate within online environments creates a sense of normalcy about hatred and the potential for acts of intergroup violence or political radicalization. While there is some evidence of effective interventions to counter hate speech through television, radio, youth conferences, and text messaging campaigns, interventions for online hate speech have only recently emerged.

Improved ventilatory response during exercise over time after concussion: A case report.

This case study reports the exercise ventilatory responses of a 17-year-old female who sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) which resulted in loss of consciousness. Subsequently, she suffered from post-concussion syndrome accompanied by orthostatic and exercise intolerance. A cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) was performed 2 years post-TBI.

Not out of the Mediterranean: Atlantic populations of the gorgonian are a separate sister species under further lineage diversification.

The accurate delimitation of species boundaries in nonbilaterian marine taxa is notoriously difficult, with consequences for many studies in ecology and evolution. Anthozoans are a diverse group of key structural organisms worldwide, but the lack of reliable morphological characters and informative genetic markers hampers our ability to understand species diversification. We investigated population differentiation and species limits in Atlantic (Iberian Peninsula) and Mediterranean lineages of the octocoral genus previously identified as .

Detecting polystyrene nanoplastics using filter paper-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

This work presents a novel filter paper-based method using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), for detecting polystyrene nanoplastics (PSNPs). The SERS system used a simple mixture of spherical Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) and 20 nm nanoplastics deposited onto a filter paper which offered a detection limit of 10 μg mL with a sample volume of 50 μL, and in a rare case 5.0 μg mL (with four aliquits of 50 μL).

The priorities for future clinical trials and large cohort studies addressing health and healthcare for mothers and babies in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Aims: To identify priorities for clinical trials and large cohort studies addressing maternal and perinatal health and healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: An Aotearoa New Zealand specific Research Prioritisation Framework was developed. Knowledge gaps were collected from an Audience Group via online questionnaires, video call interviews, and by systematic review.

A rare case of pulmonary mucormycosis complicated by hydropneumothorax, successfully treated with non-surgical therapies.

Pulmonary mucormycosis (PM) is a rare but rapidly progressive fungal infection associated with high mortality. A review of the literature suggests that pleural effusions and pneumothoraces are uncommon manifestations associated with distant dissemination. Combined surgical interventions and prolonged antifungal therapy constitute the standard first-line management, with significantly poorer outcomes seen in patients managed with medical therapy alone.

Evaluating new species for aquaculture: A genomic dissection of growth in the New Zealand silver trevally ().

Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food production sector worldwide, yet industry has been slow to implement genomic techniques as routine tools. Applying genomics to new breeding programmes can provide important information about pedigree structure and genetic diversity; key parameters for a successful long-term breeding programme. It can also provide insights on potential gains for commercially important, yet complex, quantitative traits such as growth rate.

The intrinsic piezoelectric properties of materials - a review with a focus on biological materials.

Piezoelectricity, a linear electromechanical coupling, is of great interest due to its extensive applications including energy harvesters, biomedical, sensors, and automobiles. A growing amount of research has been done to investigate the energy harvesting potential of this phenomenon. Traditional piezoelectric inorganics show high piezoelectric outputs but are often brittle, inflexible and may contain toxic compounds such as lead.

Multigenerational exposure to increased temperature reduces metabolic rate but increases boldness in .

Acute exposure to warming temperatures increases minimum energetic requirements in ectotherms. However, over and within multiple generations, increased temperatures may cause plastic and evolved changes that modify the temperature sensitivity of energy demand and alter individual behaviors. Here, we aimed to test whether populations recently exposed to geothermally elevated temperatures express an altered temperature sensitivity of metabolism and behavior.

What keeps an island community COVID-19 free in a global pandemic?

The COVID pandemic has offered opportunities for islands and other relatively isolated communities to establish pandemic-protection boundaries. A July 2020 survey of Waiheke Island residents sought views on how the island had remained COVID-19 free, despite proximity to a city of 1.6 million (Auckland, NZ).

Prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and early childhood socioemotional development.

Background: Antibiotic exposure in pregnancy is associated with reduced microbiome diversity in the infant gut. Given that recent research has shown that early microbiome health can impact child socioemotional development, we examined the relationship between prenatal antibiotic exposure in pregnancy and childhood socioemotional developmental outcomes using a large, nationally representative longitudinal dataset.

Methods: A sample of 4800 diverse families were assessed from the population cohort of the Growing Up in New Zealand Study (GUiNZ), which prospectively follows children starting in the last trimester of pregnancy into early childhood.

Effects of disturbances on aboveground biomass of alpine meadow in the Yellow River Source Zone, Western China.

A field experiment quantifies the impacts of two external disturbances (mowing-simulated grazing and number of pika) on aboveground biomass (AGB) in the Yellow River Source Zone from 2018 to 2020. AGB was estimated from drone images for 27 plots subject to three levels of each disturbance (none, moderate, and severe). The three mowing severities bear a close relationship with AGB and its annual change.

Genome-wide analysis reveals the genetic stock structure of hoki ().

The assessment of the genetic structuring of biodiversity is crucial for management and conservation. This is particularly critical for widely distributed and highly mobile deep-water teleosts, such as hoki (). This species is significant to Māori people and supports the largest commercial fishery in New Zealand, but uncertainty about its stock structure presents a challenge for management.

Genetic divergence between isolated populations of the North Island New Zealand Rifleman () implicates ancient biogeographic impacts rather than recent habitat fragmentation.

This research investigates the extent and causal mechanisms of genetic population divergence in a poorly flighted passerine, the North Island Rifleman or Titipounamu (). While this species has a historically widespread distribution, anthropogenic forest clearance has resulted in a highly fragmented current distribution. We conducted analyses of mitochondrial DNA (COI and Control Region) and 12 nuclear DNA microsatellites to test for population divergence and estimate times of divergence.