Trust in government moderates the association between fear of COVID-19 as well as empathic concern and preventive behaviour.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, behavioural scientists aimed to illuminate reasons why people comply with (or not) large-scale cooperative activities. Here we investigated the motives that underlie support for COVID-19 preventive behaviours in a sample of 12,758 individuals from 34 countries. We hypothesized that the associations of empathic prosocial concern and fear of disease with support towards preventive COVID-19 behaviours would be moderated by trust in the government.

Twists through turbidity: propagation of light carrying orbital angular momentum through a complex scattering medium.

We explore the propagation of structured vortex laser beams-shaped light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM)-through complex multiple scattering medium. These structured vortex beams consist of a spin component, determined by the polarization of electromagnetic fields, and an orbital component, arising from their spatial structure. Although both spin and orbital angular momenta are conserved when shaped light propagates through a homogeneous, low-scattering medium, we investigate the conservation of these angular momenta during the propagation of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams with varying topological charges through a turbid multiple scattering environment.

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against hospitalisation, death and infection over time in Aotearoa New Zealand: a retrospective cohort study.

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing COVID-19 outcomes when the Omicron variant was predominant in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using routinely available data (8 December 2020-28 February 2023). We evaluated the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of COVID-19 vaccines using the Cox proportional-hazards model, adjusting for covariates.

Controls on fluvial sediment evacuation following an earthquake-triggered landslide: Observations from LiDAR time series.

Catastrophic sediment overloading of mountain streams in response to coseismic landsliding causes river systems to fundamentally reorganize their morphology and sediment transporting characteristics, influencing sediment yields, bedrock incision, and the coupling between erosion and tectonics. A sequence of 13 airborne LiDAR surveys of an alpine tributary of the Hāpuku River, New Zealand, reveals patterns of sediment mass balance change over 5 years following delivery of 6.6 million cubic meters of landslide debris during the 2016 magnitude 7.

Are there potential costs for humility in a pluralistic democracy?: A longitudinal investigation of immigrants in the New Zealand attitudes and values study.

Introduction: In this longitudinal study, we examine the potential costs and benefits of humility for well-being and civic trust among immigrants in a pluralistic democracy.

Methods: With data from 14,864 immigrant participants from a nationwide random sample in New Zealand, we used multilevel modeling to examine the associations of general humility (i.e.

Does warming erode network stability and ecosystem multifunctionality?

Environmental warming is thought to alter food web stability and functioning, but whether warming reduces food web resistance and resilience to further climatic events remains surprisingly unexplored. Warming experiments that superimpose acute disturbances are urgently needed to understand how extreme events further threaten the stability and multifunctionality of ecological networks.

What Interventions Work to Reduce Cost Barriers to Primary Healthcare in High-Income Countries? A Systematic Review.

High-income countries like Aotearoa New Zealand are grappling with inequitable access to healthcare services. Out-of-pocket payments can lead to the reduced use of appropriate healthcare services, poorer health outcomes, and catastrophic health expenses. To advance our knowledge, this systematic review asks, "What interventions aim to reduce cost barriers for health users when accessing primary healthcare in high-income countries?" The search strategy comprised three bibliographic databases (Dimensions, Embase, and Medline Web of Science).

Multitask Learning on Graph Convolutional Residual Neural Networks for Screening of Multitarget Anticancer Compounds.

Recently, various modern experimental screening pipelines and assays have been developed to find promising anticancer drug candidates. However, it is time-consuming and almost infeasible to screen an immense number of compounds for anticancer activity via experimental approaches. To partially address this issue, several computational advances have been proposed.

Should I stay or should I go? Nursing and midwifery academics intention to stay in or leave academia: A scoping review.

Background: There is a chronic lack of appropriately qualified nurses and midwives being attracted into and remaining in the academic workforce. Reasons for this are not well understood but have been linked to stressful work environments related to balancing multiple roles in sometimes unsupportive environments, resulting in overload and demoralisation.

Aim: To illuminate factors associated with nursing and midwifery academics' intention to remain in academia and factors associated with intention to leave.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the German Version of the Upper Limb Functional Index.

Context: The Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI) is a popular tool with valid psychometric properties to assess upper limb function in patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The aim of the study was to cross-culturally adapt and validate the German version of the ULFI.

Design: Cross-cultural validation.

A Mixed Methods Study of Barriers to Help-Seeking for Intimate Partner Aggression in the LGBTQIA+ Community.

People in the LGBTQIA+ community (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and other gender/sexual minorities) experience greater rates of intimate partner aggression (IPA) than the general population and have fewer help-seeking pathways available.

Redox-responsive CpG-dextran conjugate enhances anti-tumour immunity following intratumoral administration.

Conjugation of a therapeutic agent to a polymer for enhanced delivery into target cells followed by its intracellular triggered release has proved to be an effective drug delivery approach. This approach is applied to the delivery of the immune-stimulatory unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) oligonucleotide for an anti-tumour immune response after intratumoral administration. On average four CpG-1668 molecules were covalently linked to a 40-kDa amino-functionalised dextran polymer via either a non-reversible (CpG-dextran) or an intracellular redox-responsive disulfide linkage (CpG-SS-dextran).

Patterns of spawning and settlement of reef fishes as strategic responses to post-settlement competition.

Settlement is a critical transition in the life history of reef fish, and the timing of this event can have a strong effect on fitness. Key factors that influence settlement timing are predictable lunar cyclic variation in tidal currents, moonlight, and nocturnal predation risk as larvae transition from pelagic to benthic environments. However, populations typically display wide variation in the arrival of settlers over the lunar cycle.

Dual-network hydrogel capsules for controlled molecular transport via pH and temperature responsiveness.

We have developed innovative core-shell hydrogel capsules with a dual-network shell structure designed for precise control of molecular transport in response to external stimuli such as pH and temperature. The capsules were fabricated using a combination of microfluidic electrospray techniques and water-in-water (w/w) core-shell droplets templating. The primary network of the shell, calcium alginate (Ca-Alg), with a pK around 3.

Multiple Enol-Keto Isomerization and Excited-State Unidirectional Intramolecular Proton Transfer Generate Intense, Narrowband Red OLEDs.

A novel series of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) emitters, namely, , , and , endowed with dual intramolecular hydrogen bonds, were designed and synthesized. In the condensed phase, exhibit unmatched absorption and emission spectral features, where the minor 0-0 absorption peak becomes a major one in the emission. Detailed spectroscopic and dynamic approaches conclude fast ground-state equilibrium among enol-enol (EE), enol-keto (EK), and keto-keto (KK) isomers.

Risk factors of children's low birth weight and infant mortality in Bangladesh: Evidence from binary logistic regression and Cox PH models.

Background: Low birth weight is recognized as a pivotal risk factor affecting child survival and growth. Although Bangladesh has made commendable progress in public health, an infant mortality rate of 38 per 1000 live births and a 16% prevalence of low birth weight remain significant concerns compared to other developing countries. This situation poses a significant challenge for the formulation of future health policies in Bangladesh.

Calcium-Dependent Lipopeptide Antibiotics against Drug-Resistant Pathogens Discovered via Host-Dependent Heterologous Expression of a Cloned Biosynthetic Gene Cluster.

Historically, small molecules biosynthesised by bacteria have been an excellent source for antibacterial drugs. Today, however, the rediscovery of known compounds is a significant hurdle to developing new antimicrobials. Here we use a genome mining and synthetic biology approach to discover the ambocidins: calcium-dependent lipodepsipeptides that are active against drug-resistant Gram-positive pathogens.

Evolutionary Sparsity Regularisation-based Feature Selection for Binary Classification.

In classification, feature selection is an essential pre-processing step that selects a small subset of features to improve classification performance. Existing feature selection approaches can be divided into three main approaches: wrapper approaches, filter approaches, and embedded approaches. In comparison with two other approaches, embedded approaches usually have better trade-off between classification performance and computation time.

Re-Examining the Predictive Validity and Establishing Risk Levels for the Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression: Youth Version.

The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression: Youth Version (DASA:YV) is a brief instrument, most often used by nurses and was specifically designed to assess risk of imminent violence in youth settings. To date, it has been recommended that DASA:YV scores are interpreted in a linear manner, with high scores indicating a greater level of risk and therefore need more assertive and immediate intervention. This study re-analyses an existing data set using contemporary robust data analytic procedures to examine the predictive validity of the DASA:YV, and to determine appropriate risk bands.

Connected health services: Health professionals' role as seen by parents of a child with inflammatory bowel disease.

Objective: Connected health services will change the scope of health professionals' roles. It is unclear how parents of a child with inflammatory bowel disease perceive the role of health professionals in relation to these services and what their experiences and needs are. The purpose of this study is to highlight parents' experiences with this role.

Carbon Thin-Film Electrodes as High-Performing Substrates for Correlative Single Entity Electrochemistry.

Correlative methods to characterize single entities by electrochemistry and microscopy/spectroscopy are increasingly needed to elucidate structure-function relationships of nanomaterials. However, the technical constraints often differ depending on the characterization techniques to be applied in combination. One of the cornerstones of correlative single-entity electrochemistry (SEE) is the substrate, which needs to achieve a high conductivity, low roughness, and electrochemical inertness.

Aridity may alter the contributions of plants and fungi to grassland functions.

Grassland aridification threatens biodiversity which supports ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF), but the relative roles of biota in maintaining EMF are poorly known. A new study in PLoS Biology finds complementarity of above- and belowground biodiversity and a trade-off between fungal and plant richness in driving EMF with aridity.

Use of a Cyclic α-Alkylidene-β-Diketone as a Cleavable Linker Strategy for Antibody-Drug Conjugates.

In the fast-evolving landscape of targeted cancer therapies, the revolutionary class of biotherapeutics known as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are taking center stage. Most clinically approved ADCs utilize cleavable linkers to temporarily attach potent cytotoxic payloads to antibodies, allowing selective payload release under tumor-specific conditions. In this study, we explored the utilization of 1-(4,4-dimethyl-2,6-dioxocyclohexylidene)ethyl (Dde), a cyclic β-diketone featuring an active alkylidene group, to develop a novel chemically labile linker.

Autistic Co-Led Community Priorities for Future Autism Research in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Background: Previous studies of community priorities for autism research have been limited by low representation of autistic people and thus a bias toward the views of families and professionals. We aimed to determine the first community-led priorities for autism research in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ).

Methods: Autistic people were essential partners in the project, from inception and design through to methods and outputs.