Survival and prognosis of surgical head and neck cancer patients aged 80 years and older.

Introduction: Elderly patients (≥80 years of age) with head and neck cancer (HNC) can prove a management challenge due to concerns regarding their suitability for surgery. This study aims to describe the characteristics and outcomes of elderly patients undergoing HNC surgery.

Methods: A retrospective review of elderly patients undergoing HNC surgery was conducted.

Postmenopausal women's experiences of weight maintenance following a very low energy diet.

Introduction: Very low energy diets (VLEDs) effectively induce substantial weight loss in people with obesity, yet they are rarely used as a first line treatment. There is a belief that such diets do not teach the lifestyle behavior changes needed for long-term weight maintenance. However, little is known about the lived experiences of people who have lost weight on a VLED in the long term.

Effective population size in a partially clonal plant is not predicted by the number of genetic individuals.

Estimating effective population size ( ) is important for theoretical and practical applications in evolutionary biology and conservation. Nevertheless, estimates of in organisms with complex life-history traits remain scarce because of the challenges associated with estimation methods. Partially clonal plants capable of both vegetative (clonal) growth and sexual reproduction are a common group of organisms for which the discrepancy between the apparent number of individuals (ramets) and the number of genetic individuals (genets) can be striking, and it is unclear how this discrepancy relates to .

Historic and contemporary biogeographic perspectives on range-wide spatial genetic structure in a widespread seagrass.

Historical and contemporary processes drive spatial patterns of genetic diversity. These include climate-driven range shifts and gene flow mediated by biogeographical influences on dispersal. Assessments that integrate these drivers are uncommon, but critical for testing biogeographic hypotheses.

An epigenetic DNA methylation clock for age estimates in Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins ().

Knowledge of an animal's chronological age is crucial for understanding and predicting population demographics, survival and reproduction, but accurate age determination for many wild animals remains challenging. Previous methods to estimate age require invasive procedures, such as tooth extraction to analyse growth layers, which are difficult to carry out with large, mobile animals such as cetaceans. However, recent advances in epigenetic methods have opened new avenues for precise age determination.

Correlation with a limited set of behavioral niches explains the convergence of somatic morphology in mygalomorph spiders.

Understanding the drivers of morphological convergence requires investigation into its relationship with behavior and niche space, and such investigations in turn provide insights into evolutionary dynamics, functional morphology, and life history. Mygalomorph spiders (trapdoor spiders and their kin) have long been associated with high levels of morphological homoplasy, and many convergent features can be intuitively associated with different behavioral niches. Using genus-level phylogenies based on recent genomic studies and a newly assembled matrix of discrete behavioral and somatic morphological characters, we reconstruct the evolution of burrowing behavior in the Mygalomorphae, compare the influence of behavior and evolutionary history on somatic morphology, and test hypotheses of correlated evolution between specific morphological features and behavior.

A complex case of necrobiotic xanthogranuloma with IgG-kappa paraproteinemia: Disease regression achieved with melphalan and prednisone combination therapy.

Necrobiotic xanthogranuloma (NXG) is a rare dermatosis that is often associated with monoclonal paraproteinemia and hematological malignancies. We report the rare case of an 84-year-old gentleman with extensive truncal NXG and IgG-kappa paraproteinemia who achieved significant disease regression following six cycles of combination melphalan/prednisone therapy.

Double trouble: A case of fraternal twins with iron-refractory iron-deficiency anemia.

Iron-refractory iron-deficiency anemia (IRIDA) is a rare autosomal recessive disease that presents in childhood. We report the case of fraternal twins presenting with severe hypochromic microcytic anemia and hypoferritinemia. Two missense mutations affecting the gene were identified, consistent with IRIDA.

Multiple "" (Nudibranchia) species span the Antarctic Polar Front.

Despite strong historical biogeographical links between benthic faunal assemblages of the Magellan region of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula, very few studies have documented contemporary movement and gene flow in or out of the Southern Ocean, especially across the Antarctic Polar Front (APF). In fact, oceanographic barriers such as the APF and Antarctica's long geologic isolation have substantially separated the continents and facilitated the evolution of endemic marine taxa found within the Antarctic region. The Southern Ocean benthic sea slug complex, "," are a group of direct-developing, simultaneous hermaphrodites that lack a dispersive larval stage.

Adaptive monitoring of coral health at Scott Reef where data exhibit nonlinear and disturbed trends over time.

Time series data are often observed in ecological monitoring. Frequently, such data exhibit nonlinear trends over time potentially due to complex relationships between observed and auxiliary variables, and there may also be sudden declines over time due to major disturbances. This poses substantial challenges for modeling such data and also for adaptive monitoring.

Exploiting angled thin film vortex microfluidics for expeditious syntheses of iminosugars.

Iminosugars are important compounds in the area of carbohydrate-based therapeutics. A simple synthetic methodology utilizing the vortex fluidic thin film microfluidic reactor is effective in the synthesis of such compounds for diverse reaction types, with the optimal tilt angle of the reactor at 45° and the optimal rotational speed dependent on the nature of the liquid.

Genomics reveals the history of a complex plant invasion and improves the management of a biological invasion from the South African-Australian biotic exchange.

Many plants exchanged in the global redistribution of species in the last 200 years, particularly between South Africa and Australia, have become threatening invasive species in their introduced range. Refining our understanding of the genetic diversity and population structure of native and alien populations, introduction pathways, propagule pressure, naturalization, and initial spread, can transform the effectiveness of management and prevention of further introductions. We used 20,221 single nucleotide polymorphisms to reconstruct the invasion of a coastal shrub, ssp.

Perspectives of socioeconomically disadvantaged parents on their children's coping during COVID-19: Implications for practice.

Disruptions caused by COVID-19 have the potential to create long-term negative impacts on children's well-being and development, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged children. However, we know little about how socioeconomically disadvantaged families are coping with the pandemic, nor the types of support needed. This study presents qualitative analysis of responses to an open-ended question asking parents how children are coping with the restrictions associated with COVID-19, to identify areas in which these cohorts can be supported.

Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families to Stay Together from the Start (SAFeST Start): Urgent call to action to address crisis in infant removals.

Reducing the rate of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care (OOHC) is a key Closing the Gap target committed to by all Australian governments. Current strategies are failing. The "gap" is widening, with the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in OOHC at 30 June 2020 being 11 times that of non-Indigenous children.

An unusual case of multiple gastrointestinal stromal tumors in the small bowel presenting as occult and overt gastrointestinal bleeding.

We present a case report of a 59-year-old woman with multiple gastrointestinal stromal tumors as a cause of gastrointestinal bleeding. She initially presented with recurrent iron deficiency anemia and subsequent gastrointestinal bleeding over 10 years. An initial angiodysplastic lesion was identified, treated, and spot tattooed.

Urban Water Storage Capacity Inferred From Observed Evapotranspiration Recession.

Water storage plays an important role in mitigating heat and flooding in urban areas. Assessment of the water storage capacity of cities remains challenging due to the inherent heterogeneity of the urban surface. Traditionally, effective storage has been estimated from runoff.

Distribution and population structure of the smooth-hound shark, (Linnaeus, 1758), across an oceanic archipelago: Combining several data sources to promote conservation.

Sharks play a key role in the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems. More ecological information is essential to implement responsible management and conservation actions on this fauna, particularly at a regional level for threatened species. is widely found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and catalogued as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN European assessment.

Abiotic and biotic responses to woody debris additions in restored old fields in a multi-site Before-After-Control-Impact experiment.

Ecological restoration of former agricultural land can improve soil conditions, recover native vegetation, and provide fauna habitat. However, restoration benefits are often associated with time lags, as many attributes, such as leaf litter and coarse woody debris, need time to accumulate. Here, we experimentally tested whether adding mulch and logs to restoration sites in semi-arid Western Australia can accelerate restoration benefits.

The comparative energetics of the turtles and crocodiles.

The Add-my-Pet collection of data on energetics and Dynamic Energy Budget parameters currently contains 92 species of turtles and 23 species of crocodiles. We discuss patterns of eco-physiological traits of turtles and crocodiles, as functions of parameter values, and compare them with other taxa. Turtles and crocodiles accurately match the general rule that the life-time cumulated neonate mass production equals ultimate weight.

Taking the bait: Developing a bait delivery system to target free-ranging crocodiles and varanid lizards with a novel conservation strategy.

In tropical Australia, conditioned taste aversion (CTA) can buffer vulnerable native predators from the invasion of a toxic prey species (cane toads, ). Thus, we need to develop methods to deploy aversion-inducing baits in the field, in ways that maximize uptake by vulnerable species (but not other taxa). We constructed and field-tested baiting devices, in situ with wild animals.

Isolated diaphragm weakness and the diagnostic value of phrenic nerve stimulation.

Acute onset, atraumatic, bilateral diaphragm paralysis due to isolated bilateral phrenic neuropathy is uncommon. Respiratory physicians should be alert to this disorder because it is associated with considerable morbidity and diagnosis is often delayed. These case reports highlight important aspects of the presentation, investigations and management of this disorder.