Pain in adults with cystic fibrosis - Are we painfully unaware?

Background: A previous Australia-wide pilot study identified pain as a significant burden in people with CF (pwCF). However, the prevalence, frequency and severity have not been evaluated using validated tools.

Methods: Australian adults, pwCF and healthy controls (HC) were invited to complete an online questionnaire from July 2023 - February 2024, consisting of four validated tools: Brief Pain Inventory, Pain Catastrophising Scale, PAGI-SYM and PAC-SYM.

Sleep and circadian rhythms modeling: From hypothalamic regulatory networks to cortical dynamics and behavior.

Sleep and circadian rhythms are regulated by dynamic physiologic processes that operate across multiple spatial and temporal scales. These include, but are not limited to, genetic oscillators, clearance of waste products from the brain, dynamic interplay among brain regions, and propagation of local dynamics across the cortex. The combination of these processes, modulated by environmental cues, such as light-dark cycles and work schedules, represents a complex multiscale system that regulates sleep-wake cycles and brain dynamics.

Pain and Physical Function are common core domains across 40 core outcome sets of musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review.

Objective: To determine common domains across existing musculoskeletal COSs. Secondary aims were to assess the development quality of existing musculoskeletal COSs and whether development quality and patient participation was associated with domain selection.

Study Design And Setting: A systematic review of musculoskeletal COSs.

Global impact of 10- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines on pneumococcal meningitis in all ages: the PSERENADE project.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) introduced in childhood national immunization programs lowered vaccine-type invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), but replacement with non-vaccine-types persisted throughout the PCV10/13 follow-up period. We assessed PCV10/13 impact on pneumococcal meningitis incidence globally.

Methods: The number of cases with serotyped pneumococci detected in cerebrospinal fluid and population denominators were obtained from surveillance sites globally.

Mercury levels in freshwater aquatic products across China: Spatial distribution, species differences, and health risk assessment.

Freshwater product consumption is a major source of mercury (Hg) exposure in China. This study analyzed Hg concentrations in 12,560 samples from 29 provinces across China (2010-2021) and conducted probabilistic health risk assessments across various life stages. The average Hg concentration in China's freshwater products was 40.

A retrospective case-control study of pregnancy failure in Thoroughbred horses in Australia.

Pregnancy failure is a serious economic and welfare concern in the Thoroughbred horse industry, yet its incidence and risk factors in Australia remain unclear. This retrospective, nested, case-control study investigated pregnancy failure in resident mares on studs in the Hunter Valley, Australia, in 2021-2022, in early (46-150 days), mid (151-270 days), and late (>270 days) gestation. We found an annual incidence risk of 5.

Social capital and maternal mental health: Findings from secondary data analyses of two linked longitudinal trials in Australia.

Problem: Low social capital has been identified as an important risk factor in the development of postpartum mental illness.

Background: Evidence suggests that new and expectant mothers with higher levels of support have lower rates of maternal mental illness, yet few studies examine this relationship longitudinally.

Aim: This study investigated the association between social capital in late pregnancy and maternal mental health up to 5 years postpartum.

Biocompatibility of variable thicknesses of a novel directly printed aligner in orthodontics.

Direct printed aligners (DPAs) offer benefits like the ability to vary layer thickness within a single DPA and to 3D print custom-made removable orthodontic appliances. The biocompatibility of appliances made from Tera Harz TA-28 (Graphy Inc., Seoul, South Korea) depends on strict adherence to a standardized production and post-production protocol, including UV curing.

Atomically thin high-entropy oxides via naked metal ion self-assembly for proton exchange membrane electrolysis.

Designing efficient Ruthenium-based catalysts as practical anodes is of critical importance in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Here, we develop a self-assembly technique to synthesize 1 nm-thick rutile-structured high-entropy oxides (RuIrFeCoCrO) from naked metal ions assembly and oxidation at air-molten salt interface. The RuIrFeCoCrO requires an overpotential of 185 mV at 10 m A cm and maintains the high activity for over 1000 h in an acidic electrolyte via the adsorption evolution mechanism.

Overlooked tripartite microbial interactions influencing chemical cycling in the ocean.

Inter-microbial interactions fundamentally govern ocean ecology and biogeochemistry. Recently, Henshaw and colleagues revealed that important inter-bacterial associations in the ocean can be shaped by viral infections, whereby infected cyanobacteria release specific chemicals that attract heterotrophic bacteria, uncovering a new tripartite microbial interaction that influences carbon transfer in the surface ocean.

Exercise capacity and the psychosocial effect in preterm born infants - Should we do more?

Physical activity is crucial for children's physical, cognitive, and social development, reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and improving overall well-being. A major legacy of extremely preterm delivery is respiratory limitation with reduced lung function and decreased exercise capacity which can be further exacerbated by inactivity and deconditioning. Strategies to increase incidental physical activities in early childhood and participation in sport and more formal exercise programmes in middle childhood have the potential to optimize cardiopulmonary function, improve quality of life, and foster social interactions in childhood and beyond, thereby providing benefits that extend far beyond the physical domain.

Single-centre, double-blinded, randomised placebo-controlled trial to determine the effect of a 12-week home-based programme of footplate neuromuscular electrical stimulation on walking capacity in people with peripheral artery disease: a protocol for the Foot-PAD trial.

Introduction: Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) can experience intermittent claudication, which limits walking capacity and the ability to undertake daily activities. While exercise therapy is an established way to improve walking capacity in people with PAD, it is not feasible in all patients. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) provides a way to passively induce repeated muscle contractions and has been widely used as a therapy for chronic conditions that limit functional capacity.

Clinical and intracranial electrophysiological signatures of post-operative and post-ictal delirium.

Objectives: (1) Gain insight into the mechanisms of postoperative delirium (POD). (2) Determine mechanistic overlap with post-ictal delirium (PID). Epilepsy patients undergoing intracranial electrophysiological monitoring can experience both POD and PID, and thus are suitable subjects for these investigations.

Roles and opportunities of quorum sensing in natural and engineered anaerobic digestion systems.

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process in which anaerobic microorganisms convert organic matter into methane-rich gas, contributing to the cycling of carbon and other nutrients. Quorum sensing (QS), a microbial communication mechanism, plays a critical role in regulating population-level behaviors within AD systems. This review systematically examines the roles and applications of QS in AD, emphasizing its importance in enhancing process efficiency.

Use of the structured emergency nursing framework HIRAID® improves patient experience: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised control trial in rural, regional and metropolitan Australia.

Background: Emergency departments have high levels of uncertainty, long wait times, resource shortages, overcrowding and a constantly changing environment. Patient experience and patient safety are directly linked, yet levels of patient experience are stagnant. To improve emergency nursing care and patient experience, an emergency nursing framework HIRAID® (History including Infection risk, Red flags, Assessment, Interventions, Diagnostics, communication, and reassessment) was implemented in 29 Australian emergency departments.

The experience of transition from student nurse to registered nurse among newly graduated nurses in the paediatric setting: An integrative literature review.

Aim: This integrative review explores the transition to practice experiences of graduate nurses working in either acute or non-acute paediatric settings across different countries.

Background: Graduate nurses frequently experience feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, increased accountability, and workload pressures during their transition, particularly in paediatric settings. However, research specifically examining their experiences in paediatric healthcare is limited, with most studies focusing on broader nursing contexts.

Are AI chatbots concordant with evidence-based cancer screening recommendations?

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether information from AI chatbots on benefits and harms of breast and prostate cancer screening were concordant with evidence-based cancer screening recommendations.

Methods: Seven unique prompts (four breast cancer; three prostate cancer) were presented to ChatGPT in March 2024. A total of 60 criteria (30 breast; 30 prostate) were used to assess the concordance of information.

Heterogeneous distribution of the reported prevalence of Dirofilaria immitis infections in Australian canids - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Reports of Dirofilaria immitis infection vary by location in the USA and Europe, with an occurrence gradient increasing towards the equator and warmer climates. In Australia, heartworm preventative guidelines are not climate specific, implying homogenous risk of infection across the continent. We systematically reviewed the published literature to assess if the distribution of D.

Machine-learning based risk prediction of outcomes in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Australia: the AUS-COVID score.

Objective: We aimed to develop a highly interpretable and effective, machine-learning based risk prediction algorithm to predict in-hospital mortality, intubation and adverse cardiovascular events in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Australia (AUS-COVID Score).

Materials And Methods: This prospective study across 21 hospitals included 1714 consecutive patients aged ≥ 18 in their index hospitalization with COVID-19. The dataset was separated into training (80%) and test sets (20%).

Pharmacological, computational, and mechanistic insights into triptolide's role in targeting drug-resistant cancers.

As a promising candidate for tackling drug-resistant cancers, triptolide, a diterpenoid derived from the Chinese medicinal plant Tripterygium wilfordii, has been developed. This review summarizes potential antitumor activities, including the suppression of RNA polymerase II, the suppression of heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP90), and the blockade of NF-kB signalling. Triptolide is the first known compound to target cancer cells specifically but spare normal cells, and it has success in treating cancers that are difficult to treat, including pancreatic, breast, and lung cancers.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces sclerostin secretion by extracellular vesicle via TLR4/miR-92a-3p/PTEN/NF-κB signalling pathway in murine macrophage.

Background: Sclerostin (SOST) is traditionally regarded as an osteocyte-derived secreted glycoprotein that regulates bone mineralization. Recent studies reported that SOST is also released from non-skeletal sources, especially during inflammation. However, the cellular source and regulatory mechanisms governing SOST generation in inflammation remain unclear.