282 results match your criteria: "University of Auckland Auckland[Affiliation]"

The built and natural environment can facilitate (un)healthy behaviors in adolescence. However, most previous studies have focused on examining associations between singular aspects of the environment. This study examined the association between the mixture of health-promoting and health-constraining environmental features in a Healthy Location Index (HLI) and physical activity and screen time among adolescents.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Cloud condensation and hydrometeor evaporation fractionate stable isotopes of water, enriching liquid with heavy isotopes; whereupon updrafts, downdrafts, and rain vertically redistribute water and its isotopes in the lower troposphere. These vertical water fluxes through the marine boundary layer affect low cloud climate feedback and, combined with isotope fractionation, are hypothesized to explain the depletion of tropical precipitation at higher precipitation rates known as the "amount effect." Here, an efficient and numerically stable quasi-analytical model simulates the evaporation of raindrops and enrichment of their isotope composition.

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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).

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Giant clams ( and ) are large marine bivalves occupying tropical and subtropical reefs in the Indo-Pacific. Giant clam populations have declined in many areas of the Indo-Pacific and continue to be threatened by harvesting and environmental change. The small giant clam () occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific and has been subject to several phylogeographic studies across its range.

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Building a DNA barcode reference collection of Hymenoptera in New Zealand.

Biodivers Data J

September 2024

New Zealand Arthropod Collection (NZAC) - Landcare Research, Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand Arthropod Collection (NZAC) - Landcare Research Auckland New Zealand.

Molecular tools used for the identification of species are heavily reliant on reference DNA sequences and taxonomic annotation. Despite this, there are large gaps in the availability of DNA sequences for many taxonomic groups and for different parts of the globe. Here, a DNA barcode library for the Hymenoptera of New Zealand is presented, based on the COI region for 3,145 sequences assigned to 837 BINs and which represent 231 genera and 236 species.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tumoral calcinosis (TC) is a rare disease that causes hard lumps of calcium to form in the body.
  • It happens often in people with severe kidney problems.
  • Doctors may need to do surgery to help with the symptoms if it gets too serious.
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  • Noble metal-based nanoalloys (NAs) have potential in energy and catalysis, but their synthesis is challenging due to the need for small-sized alloys with controllable shapes.
  • A new synthesis method, combining cation exchange and spatial confinement (CESC), was developed, creating a library of 21 NAs that can be controlled by adjusting non-precious metals.
  • The framed PtCu/HCN NA showed impressive electrocatalytic performance for both the methanol oxidation reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction, outperforming commercial catalysts in activity and stability.
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Obtaining reliable estimates of the effective number of breeders ( ) and generational effective population size ( ) for fishery-important species is challenging because they are often iteroparous and highly abundant, which can lead to bias and imprecision. However, recent advances in understanding of these parameters, as well as the development of bias correction methods, have improved the capacity to generate reliable estimates. We utilized samples of both single-cohort young of the year and mixed-age adults from two geographically and genetically isolated stocks of the Australasian snapper () to investigate the feasibility of generating reliable and estimates for a fishery species.

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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.

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Background: Patient outcome after stroke is frequently assessed with clinical scales such as the modified Rankin Scale score (mRS). Days alive and out of hospital at 90 days (DAOH-90), which measures survival, time spent in hospital or rehabilitation settings, readmission and institutionalization, is an objective outcome measure that can be obtained from large administrative data sets without the need for patient contact. We aimed to assess the comparability of DAOH with mRS and its relationship with other prognostic variables after acute stroke reperfusion therapy.

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This article summarizes the Special Issue of Evolutionary Applications focused on "Advances in Salmonid Genetics." Contributions to this Special Issue were primarily presented at the Coastwide Salmonid Genetics Meeting, held in Boise, ID in June 2023, with a focus on Pacific salmonids of the west coast region of North America. Contributions from other regions of the globe are also included and further convey the importance of various salmonid species across the world.

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The current generation of wearable sensors often experiences signal interference and external corrosion, leading to device degradation and failure. To address these challenges, the biomimetic superhydrophobic approach has been developed, which offers self-cleaning, low adhesion, corrosion resistance, anti-interference, and other properties. Such surfaces possess hierarchical nanostructures and low surface energy, resulting in a smaller contact area with the skin or external environment.

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The classification system and the higher level phylogenetic relationships of Pentatomomorpha, the second largest infraorder of Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera), have been debated and remain controversial over decades. In particular, the placement and phylogenetic relationship of Idiostoloidea are not well resolved, which hampers a better understanding of the evolutionary history of Pentatomomorpha. In this study, for the first time, we reported the complete mitochondrial genome for two narrowly distributed families of Idiostoloidea (including Idiostolidae and Henicocoridae), respectively.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore how serial measurements of NT-proBNP, a heart failure biomarker, relate to cardiac changes and patient outcomes, considering various clinical factors.
  • Analysis involved 1911 heart failure patients, revealing that NT-proBNP levels generally declined, especially in certain groups like inpatients and those on guideline-recommended medications.
  • An increase in NT-proBNP over time was linked to a higher risk of hospitalization or death, with variations noted based on patient age, atrial fibrillation presence, and heart failure types.
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The increasing spread of marine non-indigenous species (NIS) due to the growth in global shipping traffic is causing widespread concern for the ecological and economic impacts of marine bioinvasions. Risk management authorities need tools to identify pathways and source regions of priority concern to better target efforts for preventing NIS introduction. The probability of a successful NIS introduction is affected by the likelihood that a marine species entrained in a transport vector will survive the voyage between origin and destination locations and establish an independently reproducing population at the destination.

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is naturally found in the oral microbiome of cats and dogs and hence exposure, especially bites from these animals, is a major risk factor for human infections. is known to cause infections that persist despite antibiotic treatment and can have serious clinical outcomes. We present a novel case of complex lung abscesses associated with infection.

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Objectives: Dominant-activating (DA) lesions in have been reported in 18 individuals to date. Some have required haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for their (severe) combined immunodeficiency syndrome phenotype. We aimed to investigate clinical and cellular features of a kindred harbouring a novel variant in p.

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Tuatara are the sole extant species in the reptile order Rhynchocephalia. They are ecologically and evolutionarily unique, having been isolated geographically for ~84 million years and evolutionarily from their closest living relatives for ~250 million years. Here we report the tuatara gut bacterial community for the first time.

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Objectives: In this narrative review, we aim to present two cases of transperineal drainage of prostate abscesses with a good clinical outcome. Furthermore, we reviewed the literature on this treatment approach and aim to propose a minimally invasive protocol for managing this rare condition.

Patients And Methods: Our patients are 33- and 61-year-old males who both underwent uncomplicated transperineal drainage of prostate abscess with the use of a Precision Point device with rapid clinical improvement and complete resolution of the abscess within the follow-up period.

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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.

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Modelling spatial and temporal patterns in ecology is imperative to understand the complex processes inherent in ecological phenomena. Log-Gaussian Cox processes are a popular choice among ecologists to describe the spatiotemporal distribution of point-referenced data. In addition, point pattern models where events instigate others nearby (i.

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Sex- and state-dependent covariation of risk-averse and escape behavior in a widespread lizard.

Ecol Evol

December 2023

Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UAR 2029, CNRS Moulis France.

Article Synopsis
  • Mounting evidence highlights how personality traits impact interactions and survival, but the consistency of these traits in response to threats is rarely studied.
  • In a study with a viviparous lizard, researchers found that pregnant female lizards showed a correlation between risk-averse behavior (like hiding) and escape responses, unlike males or newborns.
  • The study also revealed that this correlation disappeared after giving birth, suggesting that reproductive status influences behavior, while parasites may further affect this relationship in pregnant females.
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