16 research outputs found
Storytelling, women's authority and the 'Old-Wife's Tale': 'The Story of the Bottle of Medicine'
No full textThe focus of this article is a single personal narrative – a Shetland woman’s telling of a story about two girls on a journey to fetch a cure for a sick relative from a wise woman. The story is treated as a cultural document which offers the historian a conduit to a past that is respectful of indigenous woman-centred interpretations of how that past was experienced and understood. The ‘story of the bottle of medicine’ is more than a skilful telling of a local tale; it is a memory practice that provides a path to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of a culture. Applying perspectives from anthropology, oral history and narrative analysis, three sets of questions are addressed: the issue of authenticity; the significance of the narrative structure and storytelling strategies employed; and the nature of the female performance. Ultimately the article asks what this story can tell us about women’s interpretation of their own history
Preclinical Assessment of Nebulized Surfactant Delivered through Neonatal High Flow Nasal Cannula Respiratory Support
No full textHigh-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is a non-invasive respiratory support (NRS) modality to treat premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The delivery of nebulized surfactant during NRS would represent a truly non-invasive method of surfactant administration and could reduce NRS failure rates. However, the delivery efficiency of nebulized surfactant during HFNC has not been evaluated in vitro or in animal models of respiratory distress. We, therefore, performed first a benchmark study to compare the surfactant lung dose delivered by commercially available neonatal nasal cannulas (NCs) and HFNC circuits commonly used in neonatal intensive care units. Then, the pulmonary effect of nebulized surfactant delivered via HFNC was investigated in spontaneously breathing rabbits with induced respiratory distress. The benchmark study revealed the surfactant lung dose to be relatively low for both types of NCs tested (Westmed NCs 0.5 ± 0.45%; Fisher & Paykel NCs 1.8 ± 1.9% of a nominal dose of 200 mg/kg of Poractant alfa). The modest lung doses achieved in the benchmark study are compatible with the lack of the effect of nebulized surfactant in vivo (400 mg/kg), where arterial oxygenation and lung mechanics did not improve and were significantly worse than the intratracheal instillation of surfactant. The results from the present study indicate a relatively low lung surfactant dose and negligible effect on pulmonary function in terms of arterial oxygenation and lung mechanics. This negligible effect can, for the greater part, be explained by the high impaction of aerosol particles in the ventilation circuit and upper airways due to the high air flows used during HFNC
Understanding the current and future usage of donor human milk in hospitals: an online survey of UK neonatal units
No full textThe use of donor human milk (DHM) where there is a shortfall of maternal milk can benefit both infant and maternal outcomes but DHM supply is not always assured. This study aimed to understand current DHM usage in UK neonatal units and potential future demand to inform service planning. An online survey was disseminated to all UK neonatal units using Smart Survey or by telephone between February and April 2022 after development alongside neonatal unit teams. Surveys were completed by 55.4% of units (108/195) from all 13 Operational Delivery Networks. Only four units reported not using DHM, and another two units only if infants are transferred on DHM feeds. There was marked diversity in DHM implementation and usage and unit protocols varied greatly. Five of six units with their own milk bank had needed to source milk from an external milk bank in the last year. Ninety units (84.9%) considered DHM was sometimes (n = 35) or always (n = 55) supportive of maternal breastfeeding, and three units (2.9%) responded that DHM was rarely supportive of breastfeeding. Usage was predicted to increase by 37 units (34.9%), and this drive was principally a result of parental preference, clinical trials and improved evidence. These findings support the assumption that UK hospital DHM demand will increase after updated recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine. These data will assist service delivery planning, underpinned by an ongoing programme of implementation science and training development, to ensure future equity of access to DHM nationally
New Zealand breakfast cereals: are there sufficient low-sugar, low-sodium options?
No full textWe wish to respond to a letter by Gina Levy of Kellogg (Australia) Pty Ltd – Research and Technology, Australia entitled ‘The New Zealand breakfast cereal category is dynamic and responsive to consumer preferences’, published in Public Health Nutrition⁽¹⁾ in response to our published article ‘The nutritional quality of New Zealand breakfast cereals: an update’⁽²⁾. We thank the author for her interest in our publication and will respond to several of her comment
PTBP1 and PTBP2 Repress Nonconserved Cryptic Exons
No full textSummaryThe fidelity of RNA splicing is maintained by a network of factors, but the molecular mechanisms that govern this process have yet to be fully elucidated. We previously found that TDP-43, an RNA-binding protein implicated in neurodegenerative disease, utilizes UG microsatellites to repress nonconserved cryptic exons and prevent their incorporation into mRNA. Here, we report that two well-characterized splicing factors, polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 1 (PTBP1) and polypyrimidine tract-binding protein 2 (PTBP2), are also nonconserved cryptic exon repressors. In contrast to TDP-43, PTBP1 and PTBP2 utilize CU microsatellites to repress both conserved tissue-specific exons and nonconserved cryptic exons. Analysis of these conserved splicing events suggests that PTBP1 and PTBP2 repression is titrated to generate the transcriptome diversity required for neuronal differentiation. We establish that PTBP1 and PTBP2 are members of a family of cryptic exon repressors
Cerebral Outcomes in a Preterm Baboon Model of Early Versus Delayed Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
No full textDelayed Extubation to Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in the Immature Baboon Model of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Lung Clinical and Pathological Findings
No full textCerebellar Development in a Baboon Model of Preterm Delivery: Impact of Specific Ventilatory Regimes
No full textMedicated Meloxicam Pellets Reduce Some Indicators of Pain in Disbudded Dairy Calves
No full textDisbudding is a husbandry practice that causes pain and discomfort to calves. As a prominent welfare concern, it is now standard practice for calves to be given analgesic treatment such as a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) injection. Meloxicam is a commonly used NSAID as it provides pain relief for up to 44 h following disbudding. However, since symptoms can persist for up to two weeks, it was hypothesised that more prolonged analgesic treatment would promote better welfare outcomes than the conventional injection. This study tested a novel treatment whereby disbudded calves were fed grain-based pellets medicated with meloxicam over a 7-day period. Lower levels of horn site inflammation were observed for the pellet treatment across the 7-day feeding period in comparison to the conventional injection. The pellet treatment calves also exhibited less pain-specific and more positive social-specific behaviours during and beyond the feeding period. Together, these results suggest that lower levels of inflammation enacted by prolonged meloxicam administration have an active role in reducing pain and maintaining the affectivity of disbudded calves. With the goal of establishing sustained disbudding treatment as a new industry standard, future research will focus on larger-scale results reproducibility and maximising treatment practicality
Hawkesbury-Nepean River Phytoplankton and Water Quality Data (2006 - 2018)
No full text<b>External Organisations</b><br/>Sydney Water; Water NSW; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University<b>Associated Persons</b><br/>Merran Griffith (Creator); Stephanie Kermode (Creator); Cayelan C. Carey (Creator)This dataset package provides long-term monitoring data of phytoplankton communities and water quality from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, Sydney, Australia. Collected and analysed by the Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) as part of an ongoing ecological monitoring program, the data cover 13 sites along the river over a 13-year period (2006–2018). 

The phytoplankton dataset captures spatial and temporal variations in community composition, enabling analysis of distribution patterns and responses to environmental change. Each record (row) in the dataset includes the calendar date of sampling, phytoplankton genus/species name, associated taxonomic group, site code, and quantitative measures of cell abundance (cells/mL) and biovolume (mm³/L). The data are provided in a CSV (comma-separated values) format with file name: Data_HN_Phytoplankton_SWC_13_3_2025.csv 

The water quality dataset provides key physicochemical parameters essential for river management. The measured variables are total phosphorus (TP, mg/L), total nitrogen (TN, mg/L), salinity (SAL, psu), temperature (TEMP, °C), ammonium (AMM, mg/L), nitrate (NIT, mg/L), phosphate (FRP, mg/L), silica (SIL, mg/L), turbidity (TURBIDITY, NTU), and total chlorophyll-a (CHLA, μg/L). Each record (row) in the dataset includes the date of sampling, concentration of the water quality variables, and site code. The data are provided in a CSV (comma-separated values) format with file name: Data_HN_water_quality_SWC_13_3_2025.csv 

This water phytoplankton and quality dataset serves as the input for the data-driven framework used in the manuscript titled “Phytoplankton group classification by integrating trait information and observed environmental thresholds”. 

The analysis code and additional data supporting the framework are available via the DOI links provided in the manuscript. 

The datasets can be made available upon request, via the “Request access” on this page. 

If users agree with the conditions, please sign the "data sharing agreement form" then send the signed form to Manuscript author ([email protected]). The form can be downloaded via this link: https://github.com/VuongHoangDang/Data_sharing_agreement.git 

Data files will be provided once the agreement is acknowledged
