Lithium Use During Pregnancy in 14 Countries.

Importance: In pregnancy, the benefits of lithium treatment for relapse prevention in psychiatric conditions must be weighed against potential teratogenic effects. Currently, there is a paucity of information on how and when lithium is used by pregnant women.

Objective: To examine lithium use in the perinatal period.

Livestock abortion surveillance in Tanzania reveals disease priorities and importance of timely collection of vaginal swab samples for attribution.

Lack of data on the aetiology of livestock diseases constrains effective interventions to improve livelihoods, food security and public health. Livestock abortion is an important disease syndrome affecting productivity and public health. Several pathogens are associated with livestock abortions but across Africa surveillance data rarely include information from abortions, little is known about aetiology and impacts, and data are not available to inform interventions.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards fetal alcohol spectrum disorder among lawyers in New Zealand.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a developmental disability that can cause difficulties with communication, emotional regulation and executive function, making people with FASD vulnerable to adverse involvement within the criminal justice system. Justice professionals' knowledge and attitudes of FASD is critical to identifying appropriate responses, management and sentencing in the justice system. This research aims to understand the FASD knowledge, attitudes and practices among lawyers working in the justice sector in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

The roles of immuno-modulator treatment and echocardiographic screening in rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease control: research from Aotearoa, New Zealand.

This review summarises advances in research from Aotearoa, New Zealand (NZ) that have potential to reduce the inequitable distribution of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). ARF incidence and RHD prevalence are unacceptably inequitable for Māori and Pacifica. Recent qualitative research has demonstrated mismatches between the lived experience of those with ARF/RHD and health service experience they encounter.

Emerging alternative food protein sources: production process, quality parameters, and safety point of view.

The rise in the global population has increased the demand for dietary food protein. Strategies to maximize agricultural and livestock outputs could strain land and freshwater supply and contribute to substantial negative environmental impacts. Consequently, there has been an emphasis on identifying alternative sources of edible proteins that are more sustainable, sustainable, ethical, and healthy.

Unilateral posterior scleral defect was not associated with altered ocular biomechanics.

Technologies that describe the biomechanics of the eye are of emerging importance in glaucoma and keratoconus. A defect in the wall of the eye would be expected to affect biomechanics, resulting in the dispersion of mechanical energy and more viscous rather than elastic behaviour. Here, a mildly myopic man in his 50s was noted to have a deep conduit beside the right optic disc which appeared to pass posteriorly to the optic nerve sheath or orbit.

Heat Treatment of Bovine Milk Influences Gastric Emptying of Lactose but not its Apparent Small Intestinal Disappearance in the Growing Pig as a Model for the Adult Human.

Background: Heat treatment influences gastric emptying of proteins and lipids in bovine milk. Whether heat treatment influences lactose gastric emptying and small intestinal lactose disappearance remains unknown.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the gastric emptying of lactose and its disappearance from the small intestine of the growing pig as a model for the adult human.

Low utilization of skilled delivery services in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a case for facility delivery improvement.

Maternal mortality remains a pressing global challenge, with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) disproportionately affected. Despite efforts to improve access to skilled delivery services, utilization remains low, especially in rural areas. This paper synthesizes the extant literature and empirical evidence from rural Ghana to highlight the critical issue of low-skilled delivery services uptake in rural SSA.

Guidance for evaluating biomaterials' properties and biological potential for dental pulp tissue engineering and regeneration research.

Background: Dental pulp regeneration is a complex and advancing field that requires biomaterials capable of supporting the pulp's diverse functions, including immune defense, sensory perception, vascularization, and reparative dentinogenesis. Regeneration involves orchestrating the formation of soft connective tissues, neurons, blood vessels, and mineralized structures, necessitating materials with tailored biological and mechanical properties. Numerous biomaterials have entered clinical practice, while others are being developed for tissue engineering applications.

Co-occurrence of cancer and diabetes in a high-income country: Age-period-cohort projections 2020-2044.

Background: Cancer and diabetes are increasingly prevalent, and it is not unusual for an individual to have both conditions at the same time. This occurrence has significant ramifications to the person, the clinical team providing care, and the broader health system.

Research Design And Methods: For the period 2006-2019, we used national-level diabetes (Virtual Diabetes Register) and cancer (New Zealand Cancer Registry) data on nearly five million individuals over 44 million person-years of follow-up.

Decline of antibodies to major viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Surges in infections caused by respiratory pathogens have been documented in multiple settings after relaxation of pandemic restrictions. Antibodies to major antigens from respiratory syncytial virus and Group A Streptococcus waned significantly in a longitudinal adult cohort throughout the pandemic. This waning may have contributed to the pathogen-surges that followed.

Does Lower Psychological Need Satisfaction Foster Conspiracy Belief? Longitudinal Effects Over 3 Years in New Zealand.

Although conspiracy belief may arise from a frustration of psychological needs, research has yet to investigate these relationships over time. Using four annual waves of longitudinal panel data in New Zealand (2019-2022; = 55,269), we examined the relationship between four psychological needs (namely belonging, control, meaning in life, and self-esteem) and conspiracy belief. Results from four random-intercept cross-lagged panel models reveal stable between-person effects indicating that those whose core needs are less satisfied tend to exhibit higher levels of conspiracy belief across time.

Exploring the effects of estrogen deficiency and aging on organismal homeostasis during menopause.

Sex hormone signaling declines during aging, from early midlife through menopause, as a consequence of reduced circulating estrogens and decreased receptiveness to these hormones in target tissues. Estrogens preserve energy homeostasis and promote metabolic health via coordinated and simultaneous effects throughout the brain and body. Age-associated loss of estrogen production during menopause has been implicated in a higher risk for metabolic diseases and increased mortality.

Comparative lipidomics profiles of planktonic and biofilms of methicillin-resistant and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus.

Staphylococcus aureus is a significant human pathogen causing acute life-threatening, and chronic infections often linked to biofilms. This study conducted a comparative lipidomic analysis of a methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and a methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) S. aureus strain in both planktonic and biofilm cultures using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Why go back?: Advantages and challenges of longitudinal qualitative research in social pharmacy, and recommendations for social pharmacy researchers.

Objectives: Although most qualitative research is cross-sectional, particularly in social pharmacy/pharmacy practice, there are many advantages of using a longitudinal qualitative research (LQR) design, i.e. re-interviewing participants over a period of time.

Divergence in expression of a singing-related neuro-plasticity gene in the brains of two Ficedula flycatchers and their hybrids.

Species-specific sexual traits facilitate species-assortative mating by reducing mating across species and reducing hybrid sexual attractiveness. For learned sexual traits, such as song in oscine birds, species distinctiveness can be eroded when species co-occur. Transcriptional regulatory divergence in brain regions involved in sensory learning are hypothesized to maintain species distinctiveness, but relatively few studies have compared gene expression in relevant brain regions between closely related species.

The role of early temperament on oral language development of New Zealand children speaking Mandarin or Cantonese.

This study investigated the role of temperament in oral language development in over 200 Mandarin and Cantonese speakers in the pre-birth longitudinal cohort study. Mothers assessed infant temperament at nine months using a five-factor Infant Behaviour Questionnaire-Revised Very Short Form. They also reported on children's vocabulary and word combinations at age two using adapted MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory short forms.

Psychological significance of name changes: A case study of (north) Macedonia's name referendum.

Multiple instances of rebranding of corporations or sports teams, or changes of personal names suggest that imposed change of symbols that people identify with leads to resistance towards the symbol change. In this paper, we examine the predictive role of sacred values, identity fusion, identification and essentialism in explaining such resistance, in a unique political context of a national referendum to change Macedonia to North Macedonia. Participants (ethnic Macedonians, N = 301) took a survey measuring these variables, along with their voting intentions and behaviour, 1 week prior to a national referendum on the name change, and again several weeks later.

Physical functions assessed by lower limb performance-based and self-reported outcome measures for knee musculoskeletal conditions: A scoping review.

Background: Physical function assessment is key for the management of knee musculoskeletal conditions. There are a wide variety of self-reported outcome measures (SROMs) and performance-based outcome measures (PBOMs) to assess physical function of individuals with knee conditions. However, the content of these measures has not been explored.

Representation of Asian ethnic subgroups in Aotearoa's regulated health workforce pre-registration students.

Aim: To provide a socio-demographic profile of Asian students enrolled in their first year of a health professional programme in polytechnics and universities in Aotearoa New Zealand and to explore differences in enrolment rates (ERs) within Asian sub-groups and by socio-economic deprivation, citizenship status, urban/rural location and gender.

Methods: Ethnic group/sub-group and socio-demographic characteristics of students enrolling within 21 health professional programmes were collected and averaged over 5 years (2016-2020). Age- and ethnicity-matched denominator data from the 2018 Census were used to calculate yearly ERs and ratios (ERR) using generalised linear modelling with the European ethnic group as the reference.

Assessing the impact of physical, mental and cognitive impairments on health-related quality of life in sepsis survivors following intensive care admission in New Zealand.

Aim: To assess the impact of physical, mental and cognitive impairments on health-related quality-of-life (QoL) of individuals who have survived sepsis after admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in New Zealand.

Methods: Survivors from a trial investigating vitamin C as an adjunctive therapy in patients with sepsis in Christchurch Hospital ICU were invited to enrol in a longitudinal QoL follow-up study. Patients were interviewed at hospital discharge, 30, 90 and 180 days, using validated physical and mental health assessment questionnaires (Short-Form-36, EuroQol-5-Dimension).

The effect of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and methamphetamine on sustained attention in the jumping spider (Trite planiceps).

Decreasing responsiveness to repeated visual stimuli (i.e., the inability to sustain attention) in jumping spiders (Salticidae) parallels that found in humans.