Romantic and sexual relationships of young adults born very preterm: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

Aim: To compare romantic and sexual relationships between adults born very preterm (VP; <32 weeks of gestation) or with very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) and at term, and to evaluate potential biological and environmental explanatory factors among VP/VLBW participants.

Methods: This individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis included longitudinal studies assessing romantic and sexual relationships in adults (mean sample age ≥ 18 years) born VP/VLBW compared with term-born controls. Following PRISMA-IPD guidelines, 11 of the 13 identified cohorts provided IPD from 1606 VP/VLBW adults and 1659 term-born controls.

Association of Very Preterm Birth or Very Low Birth Weight With Intelligence in Adulthood: An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis.

Importance: Birth before 32 weeks' gestation (very preterm [VPT]) and birth weight below 1500 g (very low birth weight [VLBW]) have been associated with lower cognitive performance in childhood. However, there are few investigations of the association of neonatal morbidities and maternal educational levels with the adult cognitive performance of individuals born VPT or VLBW (VPT/VLBW).

Objective: To assess differences in adult IQ between VPT/VLBW and term-born individuals and to examine the association of adult IQ with cohort factors, neonatal morbidities, and maternal educational level among VPT/VLBW participants.

A Novel Graphical Method for Data Presentation in Alcohol Systematic Reviews: The Interactive Harvest Plot.

Aims: To demonstrate a novel method for presenting and exploring data in systematic reviews of the alcohol literature.

Methods: Harvest plots are a graphical method for displaying data on the overall pattern of evidence from a systematic review. They can display the direction of effects and risk of bias within studies for multiple outcomes in a single graphical chart.

Fifteen Years On: What Patterns Continue to Emerge from New Zealand's Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal?

Disciplinary tribunals are deserving of review, in the interests of fairness, transparency and educational value for key stakeholders. New Zealand's Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (HPDT) determines whether registered health practitioners have engaged in misconduct that warrants discipline. The current study considers patterns regarding HPDT hearing processes and outcomes (2004-2020) (420 decisions), expanding knowledge from a previous analysis of HPDT decisions (2004-2014).

Consensual Sexual Relationships between Health Practitioners and Their Patients: An Analysis of Disciplinary Cases from New Zealand.

Consensual sexual relationship between health practitioners and their patient are considered one of the most serious breaches of professional boundaries. Prevalence rates are difficult to establish since underreporting may occur, yet media attention may conflate the perception of prevalence. In this study we first reviewed the literature for risk factors for health practitioners and patients, professional standards, and responses of disciplinary bodies.

Psychometric Characteristics of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in People Undergoing Weight Loss Surgery.

The Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) has been used extensively across many health conditions to measure patient illness and treatment perceptions. The constructs have an association with treatment adaptation and adherence which, in turn, are considered core factors involved in bariatric surgery outcome. This study examines the factorial validity and internal reliability of a modified (IPQ-R) in bariatric surgery candidates.

Outcomes of Notifications against Psychologists in the New Zealand Health Regulation Context 2004-2015.

Research focusing on disciplined health practitioners is growing though exploring lower level decisions is also important. This study examines the outcomes and characteristics of psychologists subject to formal notifications between 2004 and 2015. Data were extracted from archived notification files (N = 396) held by the New Zealand Psychologists Board alongside publically available decisions of the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (N = 13).

Examining a staging model for anorexia nervosa: empirical exploration of a four stage model of severity.

Background: An illness staging model for anorexia nervosa (AN) has received increasing attention, but assessing the merits of this concept is dependent on empirically examining a model in clinical samples. Building on preliminary findings regarding the reliability and validity of the Clinician Administered Staging Instrument for Anorexia Nervosa (CASIAN), the current study explores operationalising CASIAN severity scores into stages and assesses their relationship with other clinical features.

Method: In women with DSM-IV-R AN and sub-threshold AN (all met AN criteria using DSM 5), receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis ( = 67) assessed the relationship between the sensitivity and specificity of each stage of the CASIAN.

The Role of Regular Eating and Self-Monitoring in the Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa: A Pilot Study of an Online Guided Self-Help CBT Program.

: Despite cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) being regarded as the first-line treatment option for bulimia nervosa (BN), barriers such as its time-consuming and expensive nature limit patient access. In order to broaden treatment availability and affordability, the efficacy and convenience of CBT could be improved through the use of online treatments and selective emphasis on its most 'potent' components of which behavioural techniques form the focus. Twenty-six individuals with BN were enrolled in an online CBT-based self-help programme and 17 completed four weeks of regular eating and food-monitoring using the online Food Diary tool.

Oxygen Saturation Targeting and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia.

Oxygen saturation targeting is widely used in neonatal intensive care, but the optimal target range in very preterm infants has been uncertain and is the subject of recent debate and research. This review briefly discusses the technology of oxygen monitoring and the role of oxygen toxicity in preterm infants. The background to the recent trials of oxygen saturation targeting in acute and continuing care of very preterm infants is reviewed, and the findings and implications of the recent trials, particularly with respect to bronchopulmonary dysplasia, are discussed.

The New Zealand 1986 very low birth weight cohort as young adults: mapping the road ahead.

Background: Very low birth weight (less than 1500 g) is associated with increased morbidity and costs of health care in childhood. Emerging evidence suggests these infants face a range of health and social problems as young adults. We studied all New Zealand very low birth weight infants born in 1986 (when 58% were exposed to antenatal corticosteroids) in infancy, with later follow-up at 7 to 8 years and 23 to 24 years.

Retinopathy of prematurity: New developments bring concern and hope.

Blindness from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Australian and New Zealand is an uncommon event although 3% of <31 weeks gestation infants receive treatment for the disease. New world-wide estimates of the incidence of blindness from ROP are much higher than previously at 20 000 children annually. The impact of severe ROP can be reduced through good evidence-based care of very preterm infants and careful organisation of eye examinations and follow-up services.

Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders.

Objectives: This clinical practice guideline for treatment of DSM-5 feeding and eating disorders was conducted as part of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) Project 2013-2014.

Methods: The CPG was developed in accordance with best practice according to the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. Literature of evidence for treatments of anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), binge eating disorder (BED), other specified and unspecified eating disorders and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) was sourced from the previous RANZCP CPG reviews (dated to 2009) and updated with a systematic review (dated 2008-2013).

Pharmacokinetic modeling of ascorbate diffusion through normal and tumor tissue.

Ascorbate is delivered to cells via the vasculature, but its ability to penetrate into tissues remote from blood vessels is unknown. This is particularly relevant to solid tumors, which often contain regions with dysfunctional vasculature, with impaired oxygen and nutrient delivery, resulting in upregulation of the hypoxic response and also the likely depletion of essential plasma-derived biomolecules, such as ascorbate. In this study, we have utilized a well-established multicell-layered, three-dimensional pharmacokinetic model to measure ascorbate diffusion and transport parameters through dense tissue in vitro.

Intracellular ascorbate enhances hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-hydroxylase activity and preferentially suppresses the HIF-1 transcriptional response.

Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 drives the transcription of hundreds of genes to support cell survival under conditions of microenvironmental and metabolic stress. HIF-1 is downregulated by iron-containing 2-oxoglutarate-dependent enzymes that require ascorbate as a cofactor. The HIF hydroxylases control both protein stability and the formation of an active transcription complex and, consequently, ascorbate could affect HIF-1α stabilization and/or gene expression, but the relative effect of ascorbate on these separate processes has not been well characterized.

Cross-linking methionine and amine residues with reactive halogen species.

Irreversible cross-links are increasingly being recognized as important posttranslational oxidative protein modifications that contribute to tissue injury during oxidative stress and inflammation. They also have a structural function in extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen IV. Likely contenders for forming such cross-links are the reactive halogen species that are generated by neutrophils and eosinophils, including hypochlorous acid, hypobromous acid, and their related haloamines.

Assessment of anorexia nervosa: an overview of universal issues and contextual challenges.

Aim: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a complex and clinically challenging syndrome. Intended for specialist audiences, this narrative review aims to summarise the available literature related to assessment in the adult patient context, synthesising both research evidence and clinical consensus guidelines.

Method: We provide a review of the available literature on specialist assessment of AN focusing on common trajectories into assessment, obstacles accessing assessment, common presenting issues and barriers to the assessment process, the necessary scope of assessment, and tools and techniques.

Survival of myeloma patients following the introduction of thalidomide as a second-line therapy: a retrospective study at a single New Zealand centre.

Aim: This retrospective study compares the overall survival (OS) of multiple myeloma (MM) patients following treatment at a New Zealand hospital over a period in which novel therapies were available but restricted, almost exclusively, to thalidomide as a second-line therapy.

Methods: Clinical, laboratory and OS data were collected on 361 MM patients who were treated at Christchurch Hospital during 2000-2010. Patients were subdivided according to the clinical criteria used to determine front-line treatment decisions.

Spectral and kinetic evidence for reaction of superoxide with compound I of myeloperoxidase.

Superoxide and myeloperoxidase (MPO) are essential for the oxidative killing of bacteria by neutrophils. Previously, we developed a kinetic model to demonstrate that within the confines of neutrophil phagosomes, superoxide should react exclusively with MPO and be converted to hypochlorous acid. The model consists of all known reactions and rate constants for reactions of superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, and chloride ions with MPO, except for the reaction of superoxide with compound I, which could only be estimated.

Identifying peroxidases and their oxidants in the early pathology of cystic fibrosis.

We aimed to determine whether myeloperoxidase (MPO) is the main peroxidase present in the airways of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) and to assess which oxidants it produces and whether they are associated with clinical features of CF. Children with CF (n=54) and without CF (n=16) underwent bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) for assessment of pulmonary infection and inflammation. BAL fluid was analyzed for MPO, halogenated tyrosines as markers of hypohalous acids, thiocyanate, and protein carbonyls.

Hypothiocyanous acid is a potent inhibitor of apoptosis and caspase 3 activation in endothelial cells.

Hypothiocyanous acid (HOSCN) is a common, thiol-specific oxidant with strong antibacterial activity. It is thought to be nontoxic to mammalian cells, although its ability to specifically target intracellular thiols may potentially cause cellular dysfunction. In this study we demonstrate specific effects of HOSCN on human endothelial cells, with exposure to high concentrations resulting in morphology changes unlike those seen with other oxidants.

Chloramines and hypochlorous acid oxidize erythrocyte peroxiredoxin 2.

Peroxiredoxin 2 (Prx2) is an abundant thiol protein that is readily oxidized in erythrocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide. We investigated its reactivity in human erythrocytes with hypochlorous acid (HOCl) and chloramines, relevant oxidants in inflammation. Prx2 was oxidized to a disulfide-linked dimer by HOCl, glycine chloramine (GlyCl), and monochloramine (NH(2)Cl) in a dose-dependent manner.

Burnout in hospital-based medical consultants in the New Zealand public health system.

Aim: To assess the prevalence and severity of burnout in hospital-based medical consultants, and investigate associated demographic and professional characteristics.

Method: Utilising standardised measures of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and job satisfaction (Job Satisfaction Scale) this cross-sectional study recruited 267 consultants working in a large tertiary hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Results: Seventy-one percent of all eligible participants were recruited.

Cytokeratin KRT8/18 expression differentiates distinct subtypes of grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

Invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast (IDC) are routinely assessed on hematoxylin and eosin stained paraffin sections, with limited use of immunohistochemistry (IHC). Most IDC are regarded as a single diagnostic entity, IDC of no special type (IDC-NST), which is subdivided further only by grading. However, recent research suggests that there is high clinical relevance in differentiating IDC subtypes.